It is better to be “unfashionable” than to freeze to death Lauren, in San Francisco

That is the quote of my eldest daughter who visited San Francisco eight years ago and gave some tips to the stylish tropical native visiting San Francisco . It was supposed to be summer over there but well, it takes time to get used to cool weather.

When I visited my daughter in Melbourne that August month, it was winter. I was all packed with my winter coats, and the warm clothing but the heavy material would make me go over my baggage allowance. I had to discard the winter coats but managed to squeeze in a few trench coasts and left my scarves and shawls intact. It helps that my daughter and I share almost the same size so I bought clothes that both of us can share.

It does not matter if I don’t look stylish in this cold weather. I was just happy to be with my daughter.

I enjoyed spending my day just going around the city, briefing me on how the public transportation system worked. It amazed me at how my daughters are all grown up. I used to chaperone them on choir trips abroad. During one of those tours, I figured they needed to learn to travel on their own. I taught them how to pack their clothes, to be alert for their boarding times, to keep tab of their passport and documentation requirements. And of course, the nagging word “be careful”. True enough, my daughters started to travel without their mom by the age of 13 years old.

It’s their turn now to teach me how to travel around. Quite amusing, really. It is their turn to tell me ” don’t wander out at night…don’t get lost etc”. Of course I behaved like a good mother, listened to my daughters and took their words of caution.


Of all the haunting moments of motherhood, few rank with hearing your own words come out of your daughter’s mouth. ~Victoria Secunda

Here are some photos of my trip . I dragged my mobile office through my “walking bag”. Visiting art and photo galleries filled my first day.

I could not resist taking photos of protest against the communists. I must have looked too interested , even asking for the pamphlet, that the woman asked if I was a communist.

My daughter, my tourist guide, my photographer.

About Noemi Lardizabal-Dado

You may contact Noemi (noemidado @ gmail.com) for speaking and consultancy services in the following areas: Parenting in the Digital Age (includes pro-active parenting on cyber-bullying and bullying) ; Social Business ; Reinventing One’s Life; and social media engagement. Our parenting workshop is called "Prep to Prime (P2P): Parenting in the Digital Age (An Un­Workshop)" P2P Un­Workshops are conducted by two golden women in their prime, Noemi and Jane, who have a century’s worth of experience between them. They are both accomplished professionals who chose to become homemakers. This 180­degree turn also put them on a different life course which includes blogging, social media engagement and citizen advocacy. They call their un­workshops Prep to Prime or P2P, for short, to emphasize the breadth of their parenting experience. They tackle different aspects and issues of parenting ­­ from managing pregnancies, prepping for the school years of children, dealing with househelp, managing the household budget, to maximizing one’s prime life and staying healthy through the senior years.

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