The most important thing to know about halo-halo, I announced at the mixer we arranged last Friday, is that there is no wrong way to make halo-halo. Whatever you want to do is fine.

(My father likes to use condensed milk instead of evaporated and to sprinkle pinipig on top. My mother likes mung, garbanzo, black, and kidney beans along with banana but prefers to leave out the ice cream. These days I especially like langka although when I was younger I really favored nata de coco.)

Try everything! I advised the students. If you like something, add more of it. If you don’t, that’s fine too. You can use any amount of shaved ice, evaporated milk, and ice cream you want. Just be sure to mix it all up.

Halo-halo, which does literally mean “mix-mix,” is a wonderful metaphor for multidisciplinary studies as well as for bringing together students from several academic programs. It was great being there with my parents and my children, sharing stories with the students over Filipino dessert.