Archives for posts with tag: San Diego
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What to do on a rainy day in San Diego

November 19, 2025 //
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In honor of the rain that has seemed to arrive early in the San Diego region this week, I’m resurfacing my 2019 piece published on Medium. It’s a beginner’s guide to visiting an art museum, which is a practical activity to do on a rainy day in San Diego given we’re blessed with more than 300 days of sun a year.

Not only that, but if you’re into stretching your cognitive limits, immersing oneself in art may help refine those soft skills too. Skills like critical thinking and empathy.

“It’s good to stretch ourselves,” by working through our discomfort with a work of art we don’t quite understand, notes Anita Feldman from the San Diego Museum of Art.

Art also gives voice to things that are hard to articulate. “An emotion, idea, experience,” says Katherine Hall of the Houston Center for Contemporary Craft. “Art can succeed in this space.”

Read the entire story on Medium here.

Pro tip for San Diego residents: Did you know you can get in free to many museums at Balboa Park? Make sure to bring your ID and check this link to participate in Residents Day at museums including Fleet Science Center, Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego Museum of Art and more. A couple of museums, including ICA San Diego, offer complimentary admission year-round. I’d recommend going early to beat the crowds, especially after January 5, 2026, when it’s been reported that Balboa Park will now charge for parking.

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Categories California, Excerpt from, Travel

San Diego Cooks Turns 1!

November 6, 2025 //
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Cover of cook book, San Diego Cooks by Figure 1 publishing. Authored by Ligaya Malones and photographed by Deanna Sandoval.

About a year ago, San Diego Cooks (2024, Figure 1) finally made it out into the world. It is a collection of recipes from the region’s chefs, from Oceanside to La Mesa and everywhere in between. It is my first book, and defining myself as a published author still feels strange, like trying to identify something you’ve just tasted—that flavor, a spice or some other ingredient, is vaguely familiar, but you can’t quite place it. 

San Diego Cooks took five years to complete. It’s made for the home cook, meaning if you don’t need Michelin-worthy culinary skills to make the recipes in this book. But if you are up for a cooking challenge, those recipes are also included.

With the holidays sprinting toward us, I hope you’ll consider the cook book as a gift idea for some of your favorite people in your life, whether they’re a self-proclaimed foodie or not.

I’m grateful to the local and regional publications and broadcast programs who have helped share word of the book’s launch last fall, including:

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Categories California, Curious Palate, San Diego

The Update: I’ve Joined San Diego Magazine!

May 13, 2022 //
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San Elijo Vine & Tap (photo: Studio Comer)

Some professional news, as they say: In March 2022, I joined San Diego Magazine as a contributing food writer! I am excited to help illuminate the faces and places that have fed and hydrated (think: beer, wine, kombucha, spirits, coffee, juice!) our desert region for years, as well as those new to the scene.

Since I started, I’ve covered:

The story of San Elijo Vine & Tap, where owner Chris went from washing dishes and polishing glassware to ownership

Wine and game day foods pairings, thanks to the wine experts at SIP Wine & Beer in Escondido, and Vino Carta in Little Italy and Solana Beach

Notable sushi chef Rob Ruiz’s new social impact passion project in Vista

(Subscribe to San Diego Magazine here)

There’s a lot happening in San Diego’s food and beverage world—most immediately, I think of the groundswell happening in coastal Oceanside (all of North County, really), University Heights, and Little Italy’s transformation.

I’ll still write about San Diego, Hawaii, Mexico, and other destinations for national publications. For example, here’s a piece for Lonely Planet about San Diego’s underrated yet thriving live music scene. 

And my head is spinning with all of the ways I can lend my curiosity about the people and trends shaping my home city, in the same wide-eyed way I’ve approached travels to Japan, or Puerto Rico. 

Why we do what we do, how do we navigate challenges and prioritize joy? These are some of the driving questions at the core of my work. Every other week or so, I chronicle the city’s collective response, for San Diego Magazine. Join me.

Connect with The Curious Passport

  • Keep up with my real-time travels and eats from San Diego and beyond on Instagram
  • Join me on Facebook
  • Support my immersive, sensorial travel and food journalism: send me a coffee!
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Categories Bylined, California
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