Proud Filipino (Pinoy) and American. I grew up in a hometown called Marikina, a place with a lot of delicious food and relatives to share these with. My educational background includes the disciplines of Entrepreneurship, Environmental Studies, and Culinary Arts and Culinary Science. I communicate in Tagalog, English, and Japanese (getting rusty). Interests include culinary history, culinary arts, food science, travel, and the broad matter of human relations. I enjoy reading books (mostly non-fiction) and comics, Japanese animation, Yoga Nidra, and Qigong.