What Were Your Favorite Memories?
*We all love reminiscing good old memories, dont we? It gives us this feeling of sadness and joy all at the same time. Today, I travelled back in time through the memories in my head. Come on and join in the ride with me as I recall my favorite memories.*
**Roadtrip by Foot**
When I was a kid my granny has a sister and she lives in the next barrio and whenever there are celebrations in her house we would go there and walk by foot. The barangay road is not as big as the ones in the city so we would trudge along the side of it making sure we don't get ourselves hit by the trucks and bikes that passes there too. These walks as tiresome as it may seem, are one of my most favorite memory because I had fun doing them. I would walk with my cousins, my granny, my other siblings and many others. When we reach my granny's sister's house, we would be greeted woth snacks. My favorite snack, way back was mango juice filled with ice and bread. In those days, snacks like that are heaven to me coz we don't get to eat that on a daily basis.
**First Day High**
I love reminiscing first days of school. When I do so, I think I can smell that strawberry eraser and the scent of the brand new notebooks that's been waiting to scribbled on. First days of school are indeed filled with excitement I bet you know that feeling of going to school with not just having a bag filled with new notebooks and things but also with a mind filled with many questions like,"what's my teacher's gonna be like, " who will be my seatmate for the entire school year?", how's my classmates after the two-month long vacation, and etc., Nowadays whenever I see kids wearing their school uniform I remember that little me who loves going to school even though I only have two pesos (sometimes none) pocket money.
**Farming**
My grandparents in the maternal side has this small parcel of land that they tending. They planted crops like corns, maluggay,spinach, taro, string beans and many others. That little farm is situated at the top of a mountain and whenever they go there to tend it they pass through this very steep side of the mountain. I remember one time when I first went with my grandparents, I was literally crawling and was almost crying because I have fear of heights. But as soon as I reached the top, my fears were all worth it because the overlooking view was so exhilarating. I could see our school, our little home and the barangay road where cars looked like toys as they run along it. My grandparents would being home made lunch with them and we would eat it under the trees in the corner of the farm. This memory always paints a smile in my face, maybe its because I had always loved nature and farming.
**Drinking Sweet Coconut Wine**
My mother has a land that she inherited from her mother. This land had been divided among the five of them and the part that my mother recieved has two to three coconut trees in it. Some these coconuts had been a source of vinegars back in the day. I remember how we would ask a glassful of vinegar whenever he comes home bringing some of the newly collected saps. He would place it inside a large bamboo tube called "sogong". These newly collected ones were sweet and we would pair it with some rice. My grandpa has large plastic containers at home and he would then place all the collected vinegars in those containers and he would let it sit around so it would ferment and become coconut wines. He will add some red barks called " tongog. These barks would give the white vinegar its red color. When these coconut wines are fermented well my grandma would sell it in the city. When she comes home after selling some wines, he would bring us some yummy treats. Oh those were the good old days. My grandpa was so fond of collecting and making coco wines. It in fact caused his death when he fell from a tree and suffered bad internal hemorrhage. He left when I was still 7 years old and that was my first heartbreak.
Hope you had fun reading these sweet eternal memories as much as I do. Until next time folks! Thanks for stopping by!
Things That Make Me Happy
I came across a question that asked what makes me happy. And as soon as I read it, I realized that it is something that I might want to write about. After all, each of us cling to happiness or at least we crave for it every single day. With no further ado let us talk about the things that makes me happy.
**Family**
My family has always been and always will be one of my happiness factors. When I see my family members, such as my spouse, my parents, and my siblings in good condition, I am automatically filled with happiness. I am happy when they have food in their tables, when they earn good incomes and when they are growing towards becoming a better person. Where I live, it is a common thing to have a feeling of oneness with your family. I learned at school that this feeling of being family-bonded is a distinguishing feature of families that live in the Orient. It is already part of our culture to feel connection with those we are related biologically. Our religious beliefs has a big contribution to this. It is evident in the way we look after one another and in the way we feel abut their successes and failures. When I learned about this, I found an answer to why I would get angry of get upset when someone in the family would misbehave, because just like what the experts say, I have a deep connection with them that is already embedded in my system, that whenever they do bad things I feel as if I would also take part in the shame and problem that it would procure.
**Food**
Oh no, this one is a no-brainer. Who would not be happy when there is food? I think most of us would have eyes that lit up in gladness when we are presented with yummy foods, right? I am one of the billions of people who loves eating. With this love for eating and consuming delicious food also comes the love for cooking and exploring many dishes from around the world. In fact, I am so into cooking videos and tutorials.I find it very therapeutic to look at people who records themselves in preparing their foods. I dreamed of one day being able to have my tiny kitchen where I can also record myself preparing meals and then upload it in platforms for monetization. I remember last time, my husband was looking for some anime that he wants to watch for pastime, I told him that I love watching anime that features cooking. Maybe he finds it odd but as for me, it makes me happy like a child.
**Gardening**
Even when I was a child, I would make tiny garden beds in our backyard, and would plant some spinach and chilies. Time passed by and I am still that kind of person who loves gardening. Last year I bought some seeds online because I was so determined to start my gardening even though we have a limited space. I went on with my plan until realize that it is not only the limited space that I had to deal with, but also the rodents and rats that would eat my seedlings and plants. I planted some lady finger in our balcony, and was happy because of all the plants that I have planted, it was the one that showed exceptional growth. It grew into an adult plant only to be murdered by a giant rat before it could even bear its first flower. There and then, I put my plans to a stop because know that with all the nasty rats around, I wouldn't be heading anywhere with my gardening. I am glad that we decided to move to a new place where there are no rats. Up to now, still have my seedlings and I am planning to continue my gardening this July. Hopefully it would thrive this time. (Fingers crossed).
**Books**
I love reading books! I was four years old when I started it. My mother was my mentor, and she was the one who ignited my love for books. I can still recall the name of my most favorite book, it was entitled, "Folk Literature of Central Visayas. It was given to us by our teacher in Grade 1 and I have read every single story in that book repeatedly. Most of the stories in that books were myths and legends in our region. I was so drawn towards the mystery and the characters in almost every story in it and I can still recall some of them to this date. How I wish I still have that book. Up to date, I always find time to read books each day because I feel happy when I do so. Right now, I am reading 1984 by George Orwell. Maybe I will write a review of that books when I am finished reading it. My friend says it is a very nice book.
Savings
This one right here makes me feel so old. (Laughs). I guess I really am. I never knew that when I reach my late twenties, I would be so caught up with financial security and the like. I am so concerned with the uncertainties in the future, and I want to be as secure as possible. That is why, one of the things that makes my adult-heart happy is savings. It gives me a sense of independence and security. Even though my savings says zero right now, I am not giving up in achieving this goal of mine because it is one of my many motivators why hustle hard each day and why I work hard and smart.
There you have it! Did you read something in my list that makes you happy too? What was it? I would also love to hear from you as you share the things that makes you happy. Come and join in the fun and write about it. Feel free to tag me if you like!
Thanks for reading!
The Covid-19 Pandemic: Did it make you or did it break you?
**Who would have thought that 2019 would give all of us the greatest plot twist?**
None of us, unless we have been gifted with the gift of prophecy, could have guessed that it would change us and the rest of the humanity. With the ever rising number of positive cases, the word quarantine has become a common thing that year. Some people lost thier jobs while others lost thier loved ones. Some businesses were shut down while others were able to make profit by selling the so called COVID essentials. Some people grew more in their career by working at home while some slacked down and experienced a major decline in terms of career growth. These and many others were some of the disadvantages of the pandemic towards all of us.
Alongside with these many struggles I am certain that we all have individual struggles too. One time, I had a friend who gave a talk at church and she asked a question that I had never forgotten. She asked all of us in the congregation," what have you become because of the pandemic? " That question stirred in my mind for a long time. Even when I got home after that church service, I kept asking it in my head. It caused me to look into what I have been through during the two long years of COVID Madness. It made me evaluate behaviors and challenges that some people went through. In short, that question, asked by my friend allowed me to have a retrospective vision of the years that passed by.
And so, today I wanted to share with you some realizations that dawned upon me because of that inspired query.
Let me begin by posing the question again in my own words; **did the pandemic make me or did it break me?**
Well, I could say that it broke me first so I would be made meaningfully whole again. The "*break-me*" type of thing happened to me so that the "*make-me*" part could occur.
In simpler words, I had been broken numerous types during the pandemic.
In those two long years of uncertainty and volatility, I ****almost lost my marriage****, I ****almost lost my family**** and I ****almost lost my sanity****. Lets go over these things one by one.
**I almost lost my marriage.**
We were married last 2019, so when the pandemic hit, we were married for more than a year already. In those times, I have felt the joys and sadness of marriage life. The rollercoaster ride of "*getting-to-knows*" and "*getting-alongs*" has been challenging but at the same time fulfilling. For me, who yearned for a life-long companion and marriage, the adjustments looked petty. But for someone who thinks that marriage is a trophy, coping stages would be annoying. When 2020 were drawing to its end, things unnoticibly changed without both of us knowing. We became at ease with silence after getting into an argument. We became fine if we won't talk for days. As I turned to heart-to-heart talks with my close friends and deep studies for sanity I did not know that my husband found comforts in the sweet words of a girl friend from a social media app. I have been broken a thousand times with his infidelity but I have also learned so many things. Looking back, I realized that the pandemic played a role in that difficult moment. The quarantines, the lesser exposure to people, the long hours of being at home, the accessibility of social media and its immediate gratification and many others were drivers of the infidel acts. I can attest to what Cheska and Doug Kramer said in an interview with Toni G in her famous talkshow, ToniTalks, to not be comfortable with silence. I testify to that because I had experienced that. Me and my husband were too comfortable with silence when we have fights and it led to many things that could have been avoided if we communicated with each other in love and honesty. Because we became fine with not talking for days after a fight, my husband found a breeding ground for his disloyalty and infidelity.
**I almost lost my family.**
With the heartache that resulted from the infidelity, I was ready to throw the towel and be a single mom. I sent my husband away. I cursed him and hated him so much. He had no choice but to leave us for two weeks. And those were some of my loneliest days. Typing this now, I can still feel how my chest hurts on those days, knowing that he is not around. I was so hard on him that time. I can't seem to forgive him. And though his absence in our home were the most difficult , it was also a teaching moment for me. His absence showed me how difficult life is without him. Not in terms of money but his presence alone made me feel secured and complete. Because of that realization, I swallowed my pride and picked him up despite the shame. Things were not easy even after my move for reconciliation, but it was worth it because I still have my family until now. I am more than grateful, that my God illuminated me in those dark days. Had I not been showed the the right thing, I could have lost my greatest treasure- my family.
Looking back, I can also see the contributions of the worldwide pandemic to why I almost lost my precious treasure. The pandemic can make you think that you'll gonna be fine as long as you have a gadget and a wifi connection. That you'll be happy still even if you dont have a family. Our dependence upon the online world can make us forget that we live in an actual world. Nothing in this world can replace the real and lasting joy that our family relations give us. Surely, they are irreplaceable.
**I almost lost my sanity**
With all these things that were happening to m to me like an avalanche, I was in the edge of getting crazy. I was barely holding everything together. My thoughts were so destructive and suicidal. Mornings and late nights that once used to feel like home, felt like torture for me in those days. My chest felt heavy and sad. It felt like my chest is literally torn apart. I lost my anger management and I couldn't control my emotions. I can still remember how I told one of my colleagues that I never thought I would be in a state where I struggle so much in keeping my sanity. My 5-year old self surely have never thought that she would be calling herself nearly crazy when she reaches her late twenties. I have never thought of reaching this, and no one would wish that any of us would reach stages like this. But in the advent of the worldwide health crisis, most of us were gripping to our sanity like a last dime. We all struggled in keeping a healthy and productive mind because of the many uncertainties that the crisis gave us. Some of us succumbed to insanity while others battle with it every single day. It is sad to think that even though this pandemic is almost over, its effects still lingers.
It is my hope and wish that we all get over the effects of the malady that hit us. May we rise from it and be our own victors. I know it won't be that easy but it sure is possible. Hope we all get the healing that we all prayed for.
Love,
Betha
How to Screen Fake News
I am currently acting as a proctor of the Essay Writing Competition of our school's Academic Days. As I was watching over them as they put to words their own thoughts and craft their original essays, I was prompted to make my one as well so I can also experience the flow of ideas related to the theme that I have presented at the start of the competition. This is open for all college students of our school. Each department were asked to send in two participants.
And the theme for this year's Essay Writing Competition, it is #fakenews. Let's go write down my thoughts about this thing.
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Group chats is the new normal just as how GM's or group messaging was ten years ago. Conversations, video calls became very handy and even a 4- year old can do it. It has become a channel of comforts and congratulations, but it has also become a challenge for frauds and fake news too. Today, I wish to draw attention to the last two words in the sentence prior to this.
I know most of us had an encounter with such kind of news. Like, when someone told you about Mr. So and So and how he is like this and like that. Or like when you heard from a colleague that a lot of people were wrapped in plastics in hospitals nearby because they can no longer handle the many COVID victims who died recently. And you, being so frightened, you believed the news without verifying it first, only to find out that it was untrue. Or maybe you were one of those who brewed some random leaves because you saw somewhere that it was a cure to an illness that you were having, later you had diarrhea. Or maybe, you read a post that said something about turning on your inverter type air-conditioner 24/7 won't consume electricity that much, so you did the same and when you received your electric bill, you felt electrified because it’s true that it did not affect you bill that much but rather it affected it way too much. Lol. I could go on and on with so many instances like the ones above, but the bottom line of all those is that we all had these encounters because fake news is around us.
Because of the advent of technology, it has become easier for us to be exposed to a massive amount of news and information, some of which are true while some aren't. Yes, there are many benefits that we can get from the many technological advancements that we now have, but there is also a challenge, because amidst these many wise and intelligent people who wants to genuinely share what they know to the rest of the world, there are also people who are cunning in money making and would invent and create hoax for them to be noticed and be viewed and in return monetize their false contents. They flood the internet. They are everywhere. They are present in almost every social media platform, and they make their false news appear so enticing that sometimes if we don't pay much attention, they get us hooked to them. So how do we get ourselves able in discerning truth and error in every news and information that we encounter in this digital age? Let me offer some **personal suggestions that might help you in fleshing out truth from the array of information.**
**First**, know the author of the news. Is he reliable? Who is he? What kind of person is he? Does he give basis to his propositions or are they all based on lies and predictions. Does he have a good reputation? What is his purpose in making this content? When you asked these questions (you can more according to your standards) you are giving yourself a stronger ground to whether believe or decline the information before you. The answers to this question will help you determine whether the source is true to what he was saying or not, allowing you to remove those whose tongues are split up like the serpent.
**Second**, get the meat of the news. What is the news all about? Is it backed up by concrete data? Is it a first-hand news or had it been handed down and had been twisted and turned? When you check on the news itself, you are verifying if its right to the core of it or not. You don’t just accept it as it is, you question it and you understand what it is all about, making you more knowledgeable when someone else's ask you about it.
**Third**, is it important or not? With the many things that is before us we confuse what's important with what is not. Asking the question regarding the importance of the news allows us to funnel down to the essential things that needs our attention. Sometimes the news is nice but its not going to change you for good neither will it promote growth in you. And when something does not contribute to our growth and well-being it is not worth our time. Having this mindset leads us to a more peaceful and more serene online interaction. Our minds will automatically draw away from whatever it is that is not worth our time.
For me, asking these three questions helps screens away fake news. Making us lesser prone to unimportant stresses and headaches caused by it. Cunning content creators and news writers won't cease doing their job allowing the entry of more and more hoax around us. Are we going to let ourselves their medium by spreading the same falsehoods? Of course, we won't be so let us be the kind of consumer of information who verifies before spreading, making the world a happy and more genuine place to be.
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Hope you liked my entry to the theme. You think I could have won it if I happen to be a contestant earlier? well, you be the judge! Speaking of contestant, let ,e give you a glimpse of the contestants earlier. See photo below.
Thank you for reading!
Which One is Worse?
*Hello everyone! How are you all doing? Its me Betha once again! I had a long day at work today, but it is a good and productive one. Productive because I was able to finish the midterm grade, submit my workweek schedule and my examination report, went home for lunch, (something I did for the first time since we transferred to a new home coz its farther than the last one) and many more.*
I bumped into this prompt when scrolled in read.cash’s home page and saw the article of @meitanteikudo and its nice, so I decided to jump into the fun and do my own version of **"Which is Worse?"**
Come on and let’s get the ball rolling!
**"Late for a Date" or "Break a Promise"**
**Answer**: *Breaking a promise is worse than being late on a date. Growing up, I have always valued "palabra de honor"-it is the Spanish term of “word of honor”. A promise is something so binding for me. When someone makes a promise to me, I take that seriously. In same manner when I make a promise, I do my best in keeping it. So, breaking a promise is breaking someone else's trust and confidence. Being late, you can always make up to the one you were supposed to have a date with, and I think it’s less impactful than breaking a promise.*
**"Get Rejected by Crush" or Crush doesn’t Know the Feeling"**
**Answer:** *Getting rejected indeed is worse than "crush doesn't know" for me. Lol. It is tolerable if not beneficial if your crush does not know. It is nice when the admiration is unknown, so you won’t feel weird. This reminds me of the experiences I have had where my crush knew that I had a crush on him and all of a sudden, he hates me as if I have killed someone. He looks to me with a stern eye. Rejection is unacceptable and painful most of the times. I also had moments when I had a crush on someone, and he had same feelings towards me too. But that's kind of rare, you know. And when that happens, both of you ends up in a relationship.*
**"A Hero Dies in a Movie" or "A Dog Dies in a Movie"**
**Answer:** *Oh no! Its more heartbreaking when a dog dies! Why is that so? Maybe because they are so innocent, and they can’t voice out their pains that much. I am not saying that a dog's I life is more precious than humans, no, because both lives are precious. What I am trying to say is that its worse when dogs die in movies because of their innocence and vulnerability. Though I can't remember one movie where a dog dies (maybe I watched one, but I forgot already) I can imagine the pain of it coz I have seen real dogs die in real life and it’s excruciating to watch. So yeah, for me, it’s worse when a “dog dies in a movie" than when a "hero dies in a movie”.*
**"Send a Screenshot to the Wrong Person"** or "**Like an Old Photo of Crush"**
**Answer**: *The first is obviously worse than the latter. It’s horrible to send a screenshot to the wrong person. Though now, you can always unsend it or delete it but I’d rather like an old photo of my crush than do the first one. Speaking of unsent messages, I had a funny memory about that is related to it. One time my fellow young adults were planning an outdoor activity. Things were going just fine when suddenly one among us, by the name of Princess, made a funny joke on someone older than us whom she thought is not in the group chat. When she sent the message, someone then said, "Oh no, President is in the GC". Someone replied to and said "Hey, Princess, President is actually in this group chat, and he is going to read this, lol". Princess was panicking because she doesn't know what to do. She removed the message, but it is only removed in her end. Maybe until now, if I can locate that GC, the joke might still be there. Lol. Lesson learned; never make fun of older people.*
**"Too Cold" or "Too Hot"**
**Answer:** *I am weak when it comes to extreme hotness, whether it be on food or weather. I can brace the cold and rainy season but walking outside on an extremely hot weather is surely a torture. With foods, I can gulp up a very cold Coke, just like what I did earlier during our lunch, but I won’t be able to do that with a bowl of soup. When soups are hot, we wait for them to cool before we can enjoy them, right? So, for this one, too hot is worse than too cold!*
**"Can’t Clean Your Tongue" or "Can’t Clean Your Teeth"**
**Answer:** *Not being able to clean your teeth is surely worse! Tongue cleaning can be done with a few rubs to the gums. But with teeth cleaning, it’s a worse thing if you won’t be able to clean it for days. And it’s something you can't hide because your breathe will say it all and people can always tell that you have cleaned your teeth when they talk to you.*
**There you go folks! These are my choices. If you wish to join in the fun, come and write your own version of this prompt. You can tag me if you like. Enjoy!**
What If Your Partner Cheats?
Hello everyone!
I hope you guys are safe and in good health. There has been rumors of the increase in COVID cases in our place. So I hope you guys say safe and sound both mind and body amidst this ongoing pandemic.
I miss writing articles. Really. I had a rough time managing my time because of the recent submission of grades for the Midterm period. I am glad I was able to submit 75% of it. It was funny coz if I happen to have not submitted my grades on the deadline. I wouldn't be able to get my pay for the last fifteen days. So I had no choice but to finish at least seventy-five percent of yhe total sections that I am handling. I am glad I did. And now, I am more than happy that I found time in my busy schedule to write some articles.
As the title suggests, we will talk about infidelity, or at least the what if's of this horrible act. To those who are in a relationship,have you ever thought about what if your partner will cheat on you or has cheated on you? What if one day you will wake up and found out about his or her infidelity? Consider this scenario:
*It was Christmas Eve and you were busy cleaning the house and making some yummy snacks for the family. You were outside the house while your partner was in yhe living room with the baby. He or she was busy with the laptop and you were busy with yhe chores that yiu have no time to do some social media scrolls or some social media chats. All of a sudden your partner said the baby is sleepy and that they need to go upstairs so the baby could rest well in the bed. You gave out an unconscious nod because you were busy piking up the Graham Crackers for the Mango float you were making. An hour or less pass by, you noticed the stillness of the night so you washed your hand and went inside to play some Christmas songs. You opened the closes laptop, and guess what you see. A chatbox labeled "love". At first you thought it was just some random friend that your partner have who calls your partner love. You scrolled through the messages and realized it wasn't but indeed a real mistress from the cyber world. You read all the nasty stuff they did without you knowing it. All the lies and the ugly things. How would you feel? I am certain you felt like your chest has been lashed away. You ran out of breath and you feel like you are dying. I guess that's how infidelity feels like . You thought of many things that you abhorred and you realized that the thing you abhorred the most happened to you. The most painful part was that you don't deserve it after all the hard work you did for the family. You worked your but out 24/7 and here's your partner playing with fire with some other person they've met in the online world. Again, let me ask, what will you do?*
There you guys and gals. What would your answer to the last sentence of the scenario above? How would you feel if it happened to you? Do you think forgiving yhe one who caused it is easy?
Well, as to my friend who experienced that exact scene, she thought she would die. Yes, you are reading it right, its a she. The one who cheated in that scenario was the man. The worst thing is that it was the woman who has been the breadwinner of the family. Imagine how painful it could have been to her. She worked with all her might and little did she knew that her partner is playing in the other team.
I sometimes wonder how far a woman can forgive an infidel husband. As for that friend of mine, she went upstairs and confronted her partner asking him why, you know what is worst? They just finished their phone acts that night . And there's my friend crying while asking where did she go wrong all those times for her to deserve such pain.
I cant help but hate the fact of how lustful men can become. Is it too hard for you guys to have one woman in your life? Is it difficult to love only one your whole life?
If this would happen to me. I dont know what I will do. I might die out of heartache and regrets. What about you? Have you been cheated on? Have you caught your partner cheating on you? If yes, what did you do? Please do not hesitate to share it in the comments.
Thank you so much for reading this write up.
May God bless your relationships that it may blossom and grow even more.
Love,
Ms. What If
Dear Cupido,
Hey everybody!!
How are you all doing now?
I am doing good, and I hope you guys are doing fine too.
Let me jumped into this writing prompt that was started out by one of the writers that I looked up to, here in read.cash. No other than @meitanteikudo . He wrote an article that talked about crushes and invited whoever reads it, to jump in the fun, here is my answers to the questions posted at the end of that article.
E N J O Y ! ! :)
**Who was your first crush?**
*I am not gonna talk about my first crush, but I would rather talk about my first high school crush because the first one was a bully, in fact, he was angry when he knew that I had a crush on him. LOL. He disliked it so much to the point that he called me ugly. Can’t blame him though because I really was ugly way back when I was 7 years old and it is no big deal because it was just a puppy crush (if there is such a thing). What I want to talk about in this article is my crush on this boy, during my high school days, let’s just call him, Cupido (not his real name).*
How do you know each other?
I saw him on the first day of school. We were both Freshmen that ti8me but were on a different section. I was in Section A and he is in Section C. during my high school years, we have to transfer from one classroom to another every after each subject. That was how I got to see him, and it was like crush on first sight. LOL. The day after the first day, I started looking for him during breaks and recess. There was not a formal getting to know each other, I was fine with being able to see him and admire him from afar.
What was your crush like?
He is tall, taller than me, I am 5’4 so he probably is around 5’7. He has a light complexion; his hair is a bit of a blonde and his eyes sparkles like the stars in the sky (or maybe it’s just me when I look at him). He has a very jolly personality, smiling and very friendly. He is a basketball player, and he is good at it. I love watching him play basketball at the school ground every after classes.
What made you admire this person?
I admired him because on top of his good looks, he has a nice personality. Very congenial and very genuine in his gestures not just towards his friends but towards random people that he would encounter in our school. Plus, he is so good in playing basketball and I have this funny admiration for men who are good at basketball that I kind of like them automatically when I see them do the 3-point shot or maybe the alley-oop. I love basketball, I was even part of our department’s team of basketball for girls. So, even until now I still admire men who plays ball as great as Derrick Rose.
What's their best characteristic?
Based on my description and my knowledge of him, it is going to be his congeniality towards everyone. He is a friend to all. He is so friendly that when he kind of bully some of my schoolmates, it doesn’t look or feel like bully at all. He is also childish, and I find it cute. LOL. He acts like a little kid wanting a candy from a candy store every time he asks me some snacks or whenever he sees me buying some banana cue from Aling Belen’s Store and he wants to have some. While typing this, I suddenly miss the good old days of high school years.
Can you share any stories about you two?
I have proven how friendly he really was for the Nth time when l we accidently bumped into each other last year while I was doing some groceries. He saw me first and he was not hesitant at all to call me out loudly. And same as before when were still high schoolers, he still got that sparkling eyes and ear to ear smile as he talked to me and asked me how I was after all these years. I can’t remember now as to whether he was already married or not, what I fully remember was how genuine that encounter of ours was. I’m now wondering where he could be and how he is doing.
This was such a fun writing prompt. I had the chance to look back and reminisce the people I had close connections with during my younger years in high school. Oh how I missed them. I walked a few yards down memory lane while writing about this special person in my life. And I can actually say that I miss him a little bit. I think we can actually be good friends Hope we get to cross paths again in the future. Hope life is good to him and that he gets the righteous desires his heart. God bless you, My Cupido!
That's it for now! I hope you had fun reading a portion of my life. If you want to join in the fun you can also answer the questions above., do not forget to tag us. I am sure you'll love it. Its fun!
Thank you so much to my sponsors, who continuously show their support to me. They have good write ups too.
What is Love for You?
*It is not Valentine's day today but I want to write about the thing that makes the world go round. Maybe its because I am always drawn towards understanding this topic or maybe it is because I have just read @gertu13 article entitled* *"Its Too Late for Love"* *and the article from @Amazing-Grace* *"What Love Looks Like in Action"* https://read.cash/@gertu13/its-too-late-for-love-d74bec6d https://read.cash/@Amazing-grace/what-love-looks-like-in-action-212b68ad
Today, I am inspired to write about love. While thinking about this topic, I have thought about the question,***"What is love for me?"*** ***What is love for other in people?*** But since you guys will be reading this, let me throw this question to you all, as I answer this based on my experiences and point of view. ***What is love for you?***
Here are my answers;
**Love is making time for those you love.**
I once read a quote by Dieter F. Uchdorf that goes," Love is spelled T-I-M-E." Which I believe to be true because if you love someone, you will spend time for them, make time for them and be with them. We show our love for those we love by being there for them not just on times of laughter and joy but also on moments of grief and sorrow. We mourn with them, we sing with them and we want to experience the pain when they are suffering-that for me is love, true love. So when a person do not make time for you, be with you on moments when you need them the mots, it is clear where you stand in their life.
**Love is forgiving the unforgivable.**
I know someone who was betrayed by her husband. She was a hard working mom, juggling two jobs while his husband stays at home and takes care of their son. You know what was very painful with the infidelity, she caught him on December 24th-yep Christmas Eve . The most painful yet the best rescue gift ever. She said she felt as if her whole world came down and that her heart felt like it was lashed out of her chest. After following through her husband's conversation with her mistress on a different device, he confronted him and asked the very cliché yet most painful question of all time,"what did I lack?". My heart went out to this girl. I have seen her struggles. I have felt her pain on days when his husband has been such a jerk. I can say with all sincerity how she does not deserve anything like that. But you know what she did? She forgave him. And that to me is love.
**Love is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings.**
We are all imperfect. One time, I realized how ironic we humans are because we keep on saying how imperfect we are but we criticize, belittle and ridicule when our fellow being fails. Isn't that ironic? Accepting the fact of our fallibility but making fun of others when they fall towards it? Well, that is one are of growth we should work more on. Since we all are imperfect, we do things that hurt those that we profess to love. Or sometimes we have shortcomings that no matter how we try, we just can't overcome. And you know what's funny when you love someone? You overlook all these! You turn a blind eye to their weaknesses their shortcomings and all. Why? Because your heart roots for them endlessly. You just sincerely love them.
**Love is communicating daily.**
Communicating daily is one of the best tool in nurturing a relationship. It is the water that keeps us alive. It builds trust and destroys doubt. What is funny about this whole communication things is that you can tell when someone is just doing it unwillingly or if someone is doing it sincerely. We can always tell that, through their efforts in talking to us and letting us know about their whereabouts.
**Love is saying sorry.**
Would you believe that "sorry seems to be the hardest. Well, its a kine from a song but it is true in real life. Have you tried saying sorry when you have done something wrong? If yes, then you have practiced that culture of humility in you. But have you tried, saying sorry when you were right and you did nothing wrong? Because if you say yeas, then you must have loved that person so much that your relationship with him or her is more important than your pride. Love apologize even if it wasn't even your fault in the first place.
**Love is lowering your pride**
Pride is a stumbling block, it is a blockage a hindrance to any relationship. When you have pride you act as if you are always on the top, always right, always the boss. And that is not nice nor handsome at all. Pride is ugly! It is a pest that eats up the good in us and the good in our relationship with others. When you lower your pride, you accept other people's perspective into your own. You try to see through their eyes and you look at the world via their lenses. When that happens you begin to understand them and love them even more. True love blossoms more when two people are willing to lower their pride and let love and God prevails in thier lives.
I am not a love expert nor am I a sociologist. But I think there is no need for someone to be a master in those two fields to be able to explain and experience what love is. We all have our escapades and experiences in life that caused us to somehow understand this feeling. I am in awe of how amazing love is and how it makes the world go round.
Thank you for reading my article dear friends! Love you all!
Its Q and A Time!
Thank you to @joydigitalsolutions for your prompt. Answering random questions helps us writers, overcome a road block in writing. You might want to check on her article here. https://read.cash/@joydigitalsolutions/prompt-questions-random-edition-f8166e1d
Let us begin!!
**What would be the absolute perfect day?**
*"For me its going to be a day out with my little family at a 5 star hotel or a beach resort with all expenses paid. Hahaha. My husband loves the beach, I love the sea breeze and my little baby loves playing with the waves, so going to places that has these three will be a perfect for us three! I remember last December we went on a family day out at Turtle's Beach. And it was such a nice memory to remember. Though there was only one bay turtle there, and even though the rest were all statues and man- made, we still had one of yhe best days because we get to enjoy and relax for a day. "*
**What did you learn a little too late?**
*"That it is important that you get to know your spouse very well before getting married. You must know how he gets angry, how does he handle stress, is he a dreamer, is he lazy, is he responsible, is he a family man and all. Knowing him in and out will help you decide whether or not you can live with his overall personality or not. It will also help you adjust and change so you two can meet half way. Marriage is not just saying that you love him or her head over heels but it is about being able to live harmoniously when times are chaotic. Marriage is not just loving each other on the good times but it is loving one another especially on times when you both are hard to love. "*
**What gross and unhygienic things do people do that bothers you?**
*"When people clear their throats loudly and then spit it out in public. I super hate that. Sometimes when I get so unlucky, I get to hear someone do it on times when I am enjoying some food or snacks. Super gross! Why can't people do it on comfort rooms? That's one of the biggest question in life."*
**What habits do you have that annoy other people?**
*"I don't know, if I have any but according to my husband its going to be my nagging. It is the most abominable thing in the world for him. Something he wished, women were not born with. Well, few women do not nag. But mos of us do. I do not know why I just cant help it and why I cant stop doing it. There are days when I wish I would just stop but then again it has become a habit. Like when I see him always leaving his soiled clothes in bathroom and not in the laundry bin, there I go again or when he forgets to close the window when he leaves the house, there goes my mouth again. And it just go on and on and on.(Sigh) Any tips on how to stop being a nagger?"*
**What do most people overestimate or underestimate about you?**
*"Some people underestimate my keen eye and my instinct. They think I dont notice or that I dont know. One of the funniest thing in life is when I listen to a liar telling me about his lies. Its a torture to pretend that you dont know that someone is lying. If you have experienced this I am sure you will agree with me on how funny and how awkward it is when you pretend you dont know. So yeah, I have had many experiences when my instinct is underestimated."*
**What do you most look forward to about getting old?**
*"I look forward to sitting in yh porch in a rocking chair while reading classic literary works by renown authors from around the world. Probably I will have some cats around me too. I would also have a garden,- a flower garden and a vegetable garden to tend to. I am looking forward to growing my own veggies and harvesting them along too. One of my goals is to get insurance so that by my old age I wont have to worry about my finances. Do you have that goal too?"*
**What makes you nervous?**
*"So many things makes me nervous but today let me choose a nervous moment that usually occurs when I am asked to speak impromptu about something that I am well versed at. Well, you might ask why would I get nervous when I am already an expert at something to which I am asked to speak about? It is because of the perfectionist in me that nags me to make things perfect. I get nervous of the fact that I might gush out at explaining things. In short, I am nervous that I might do it wrong hahaha. Hope it makes sense. "*
**How do you feel about pets and animals?**
*"I love them! Who wouldn't?! We have a pet at home, his a male kitten and his name is Oreo. My younger brother has two pet dogs and my mom has a pet cat, its name is Nana. I have come to love pets because I have many encounters with people that loves pets and animals too. I have come to believe that love for pets and animals are very contagious because it happened to me. I did not thought that loving them is something that we humans can learn. When I was a kid, I got bitten with our neighbor's dog and from that time on, I get scared when I see dogs or when I hear them bark. But since the time that one of my siblings cared for a dog. My phobia started going away and now I love having them around."*
There you go! Thank you for reading my article!!
Hello read fam! Haven't posted anything in a while due to lack of internet connection. Hopefully we will have it transferred to our new hope ASAP.
By the way, salamat sis @renren for renewing your support! May God bless you more mare. Labyu.
An Unexpected Trip to North- feat. Tyche Resort
*So many things in life are like this trip- unexpected.*
Today, we had an unexpected ride heading to the Northern part of Cebu. One of my colleagues wanted to find a good venue for their church gathering this weekend so we decided to hop along with her. Before we head on to the resorts we had lunch at Juans Eat-All-You Can. And I did eat all I can. Hahaha. Because why not? I ate until I ran out of stomach storage. Sounds so glutonous right?
They had salmon heads today and it was cooked nicely. The meat was very tender and you can even chew the bones. There were scallops, shrimps, fish larang, spaghetti, seaweed salad, chicken afritada, pork binagoongan and many other side dishes. Each of us were really full. As a result we were sleepy. Hahaha.
I was thinking we will come back here with Dada and Princess. We already went here but he didn't liked it that much last time because I had him finished all the leftovers and it made him feel sick. He told me we are not coming back to that place. But earlier while we were there, I was thinking of bringing them back to that eat-all-you-can coz they actually change menus every day. Maybe next month, still not sure tho. But surely we'll come back here with them.
Alright, now let us talk about one of the resorts that we went to that I really liked. Its called Tyche Beach Resort. I will show you some photos of that resort. Alright, fasten your seatbelts and let's begin the tour around Tyche Beach!
The location of the beach is it is 59 km. from Cebu City. Its funny because you will find many resorts there that are named after how far they are from Cebu. Some names were, KM 47 Resort, KM 48 Resort , etc,. These beautiful beaches are just lining up the highways and so they are very accessible! If you are from outside of Cebu Island and you are at the heart of the City you can ask for directions on how to go to North Bus Terminal. Once you are there you can look at the signages in the Ceres buses. Once you see a signage that says " Bogo" or Tabuelan you can ride on them because that will pass by Catmon. You can set beside the driver and tell him to stop at Tyche Resort. Drivers wont give drop you off incorrectly, that I am 93% sure based on experience.
This is their information desk. We learned that the beach was a newly acquired property and is currently undergoing intensive renovations. This beach was formerly called Recuerdo Beach. When it was sold, it was renamed Tyche Beach Resort.
This part right here is their rooms. I love its native an a but rustic style. The beach are made of bamboo and the roof is of cogon grasses. This part is located close to the beach so you get to hear the sound of the waves while you are chilling in one of these rooms. Imagine, waking up to the sound of the waves or staying late at night enjoying the moonlit night! Ahhhh! That is what we call the beach life!
Speaking of waves, oh would you look at that beautiful view. This leads to the room area. I think you can now vividly imagine that breezy morning and that moonlit night by the beach. Is someone missing the beach already? Paint some colors on your drawn vacation now!
Probably the most romantic or the most lonely part of the resort. Its going to be the most romantic if you have you sweetheart with you but if your single, heartbroken, bitter, betrayed, and the like, well you might think of cutting down the ropes of these swings. Hahaha. Kidding aside. I love how simple yet romantic this one is.
To the right side of the swing you will find a nice spot that's good for afternoon chatting with hot choco and snacks. These bamboo benches are located under a tree and is at the front of their cafeteria. They sure got a big space perfect for group games or volleyballs.
This is the look of their cafeteria. The roofs are made up of cogon grasses still just like the rooms. The chairs are made of rattan-like plastics and so as the tables. It also bamboo has window blinders to block the light. I love the ambience of thier cafeteria. You might want to think of a scene where you are sipping some mango shake while listening to Kolohe Kai's album.. Oh man! Give me some beach!
Heading back outside this is where you'll pass through. The coconut trees are fully established and is already bearing fruits. I do not know if the limited soil sill cause the tree to shiver and die. But I guess the coconut tress' roots will adjust and find its ways randomly beneath the ground. I just hope that will be the case.
These are my friends waiting for me while I take some photos of the resort. They were busy chatting haha. Love them xoxo.
I asked my colleague to take a picture of me but that she should focus on the phrase in the water bottle because it is so me! Forgive my nails, I am not fond of flashy nail colors. That what I call mom nails-short and always trimmed.
There you have it folks! If you are in Cebu, hope you will come and visit Tyche Beach Resort in Catmon Cebu. Its worth it and its a sire stress-relieving stay. Enjoy!
Thank you for reading my article.
Just want to make a quick but loud shout-out to lodi @DennMarc for the present! So happpy po ehehehe. Kamsahamnida!
"How was your life in college different from when you were n HS or grade school?"
Yesterday I told you about how I woke up so early at 2 AM past. Today was still early and I am loving it but it was not as early as yesterday. I woke up around 4 AM today.
Same as usual I checked on my writings, read some articles and I came across an article by @Jane where she talked about a new blogging site where, like here in read.cash, you are going to earn something as well. I signed up there using her referral link and boila I now have an account in that platform. You can also check out Jane’s **article** .Its name is Publishox. Just in case you might be interested in signing up there too you can click on here, its up yo you tho. https://read.cash/@Jane/how-to-write-articles-on-publishox-39e5736b https://www.publish0x.com/?a=xkaz69N8aJ
While I explore that newly-found platform I cant help but compare it to read.cash. At first glances and scrolls I readily felt how user-friendly and well organized this site is( well that is just my opinion though). It is **user-friendly** for me because, here, we are allowed to write about randomly anything that we want to write about. There most of the writings that I saw earlier are, if not all, about cryptocurrencies. **Well organized** for me because you cannot see any blinking things on the interface that look like ads. Here in read.cash, you only see the notification bell that’s blinking, but there, there are so many blinking ads that might trigger the OC in you (hehe kidding aside). And one more thing, they can ban you anytime and you must reason out so you can have your account back. If they don’t like your reasons, sorry but it’s a goodbye. Well, maybe I will write an article about that platform once I explore it more. But still read.cash is the best!
Having thought about my appreciation for this platform , I was actually thinking about writing an article that will talk about why I love it, but I remember that I still need to continue writing about the educational system that I started yesterday and I still got four questions that I haven’t answered from that article. So I will park the topic about the wonders and beauty of read.cash and finish that one first.
Let’s get back on the list of questions from yesterday.
`Question Number 3:`
**"How was your life in college different from when you were n HS or grade school?"**
**Answer:** *"There is a big difference of course, aside from the subjects, the class schedules, and the experience itself. The subjects they are of course very advanced and complex than that during Hs and elementary. Its funny because when I have decided to go back to school after six years of academic hiatus, I was thinking about what course has no Math subject in it. Since I love teaching, I always have known that I will get and education course or if not, I thought that I will get a criminology course and be a policewoman. But since that local school did not offer criminology, I chose an education course, and I di made it a surety that there is no Math in it, so I got Based Major in English. To my surprise I still got a Math subject (LOL)It was something that I did not like at all. I had an experience where I cried because I got zero and would not copy my classmates’ answers because, how will I know If I will just copy? I can still recall how my instructor sat beside me and taught me one-on one. (LOL). Those were the days. And so yeah, the subjects or they call it “courses” most of the times are very different from the lower years.*
*The class schedules are very different too because you get to choose what subject you will enroll and whether you go by a day schedule or a night schedule. You are also free to choose if you will go full load of subjects or go underload. One more thing you can even choose to work while you study, which was the case for me because I was not born with a golden spoon in my mouth. I need to work my heart out so I would be able to sustain myself and my schooling needs.*
*And of course, the experience itself is very different because some of the college years are already adults, some are already married have kids and are already experienced in life. And when you get to have mature classmates, your way of thinking changes too. You don’t think about what games you will play during recess or vacant times anymore. Will Susan let me play with her new jumping rope? No. Those type of questions cease because you are now an automatic adult. You now worry about your future and think of the possibilities in life. You will think about what type of person you like. What job you will have in the future. Still there are teeny weeny questions like crushes and the like though but most of your experiences in college is heading towards a more mature level.*
*That is why they say that the High school years are the most unforgettable among the schooling years. That is so true. It is better to spend it with glee and laughter by enjoying it to your hearts content. I remember the lines of the song twat was written in the TagLish (tagalog with a mixture of English)language, the lyrics goes like this;*
"***High school life, oh my high school life***
***Every memory kay ganda***
***High school days oh my high school days are exciting kay saya."***
***There are time may problema ka***
***Kung ang homework left undone***
***Pray ka lang wag tawagin ka***
***Upang di pag tawanan.."***
**This song is titled "High School Life and was sung by the famous actress/singer Sharon Cuneta who was labeled as the Mega Star because of her ward winning acting skills. It tells the feeling of a teenage school person and the sweet memories of that educational sojourn.**
So there you have it friends! That is my answer to one of the questions that wa asked by @meitanteikudo in the article about the educational system.
Till next time folks! Gotta do some paperworks.
The Spiral Curriculum
*Its funny when you wake up at dawn and one of the things that you think of is your articles. Hahaha. Let me tell you that some of my new habits is to check on read.cash as much as possible in the morning. I couldn't be more proud of myself for having that routine now. You see I have been here for almost eight months already and there are times when I am so busy with work and home that I sometimes do not have the time to write an article. But since last month, I have decided to make it a goal to publish at least one article per day. That sounds like a very simple thing to do, but for those who have other priorities, I am sure you will attest with the fact that it is not as easy as 123. Right?*
I am so glad that I was able to wake up as early as 2 AM today because I get to do many things already-**read a few articles**, **study my scriptures** and **meditate** a bit. Now I am here facing my laptop, typing this article while keeping in my mind the topic that I would want to write about today.
I came across this article by @meitanteikudo entitled The Educational System, and since I am a lover of learning and growing and is a teacher by profession too, I was enticed to answer the questions that were posted at the end of that writing. So with no further ado, let us get the ball rolling and answer some of those questions that he has mentioned. https://read.cash/@meitanteikudo/the-educational-system-95761c6f
As you can see above, the author asked a total of six questions. Let us begin with the first one, "****what was something that totally surprised you?"****
*It is going to be the fact that some parents think that they are the ones that were enrolled and not their sons or daughters. I am currently teaching at a local college and l I had this experience where a mother seems to be the one who always communicates with me checking up on things that needs to get done, complaining to me when a task is too tedious, so on and so forth. I felt like she was my student and that shocked me because I thought that that is only in the elementary years where parents can be so much of stage mother. I did not thought that I would find one in the college years. It was such an unforgettable experience for me beacse as young as I was in the profession, I did not handle it as smooth as a veteran teacher would. I reached a point that I got so fed up of her naggings that I ended up being called up to the Presidents office. Hahahah I cried man, I did! And so while we were there , I can feel here raging emotions towards me. And you know what is the most shocking fact of this whole experience? It is the fact she too is a teacher teaching in the public school. That fact makes this encounter so ridiculous because out of the people that could have understood or at least helped me in a positive way it could have been her knowing that she knows ho difficulty the teaching and learning process is since the pandemic started. But no, it was her who added agony and pain to my tasks as a teacher to her son. Saying that I am shocked by this experience is and understatement. Still I am thankful that she too is a professional because she said that if she wasn't, she could have punched me already.*
**2. "Changing years from grade school to high school, or from HS going to college, what were your expectation for the new level of education? Did the reality meet your expectation?"**
*Well, I was really expecting that the new curriculum that we have now will be difficult aside that it is going to be demanding too. The phrase “globally competitive students” are always attached to the new curriculum. And by that we can readily infer that it is going to be very demanding and that it would really require a stretch on the part of the teachers and the students because we are not just complying with our local standards, but we are adhering to the global standards. And I think I was not disappointed with what my expectations were because, it was really the case now. For example the Math and Sciences subjects in the Basic Education years ( Grades 1-6) were really spiraled. Which means that the topics are arranged and presented repeatedly through out the curriculum with a deepening level of complexity and applications. I think this would be a good move though because during 2019 we were the one of the three countries who hasn’t still adopted the K-12 Curriculum. But you know where the problems lie? We were not made ready for this before they implemented it. I have not seen the whole scene of the educational system of the country but If I am asked basing on what I know, I can say we were not made ready for this. I might be wrong when I say that and that is okay because its just my opinion. What I hoped to have been done is a better orientation of the parents the communities and stakeholders about the K-12 Curriculum before it was put to use. Just my two cents though.*
And there you have it folks. Thanks to @meitanteikudo for writing such a good article that made me want to write about it too. One of the beauty of read.cash is we come here and do help each other grow even though we dont know each other personally. I think that is something so cool.
Until next time then, gotta make some breakfast!
Title: The Spiral Curriculum
Writer: Betha
Date April 26, 2022
Who is Your Country's National Hero?
If you are living in the *Pearl of the Orient Seas*, you probably know the name of our national hero, he is none other than Jose Rizal.
Today, I have decided to write an article about him. Even though he is well-known locally, I am sure many people from around the world knows him too because he has travelled much during his studies abroad and has interactions with people from other nationalities.
**He went to Spain.**
**He visited Berlin.**
**He walked the streets of Europe**
**He went on a trip to Hong Kong.**
**He had a romantic interlude in Japan.**
**He ventured the path walks of the United States of America.**
**He marched the streets of London**
**He sojourned in Paris.**
**He set foot in the streets of Belgium.**
**And lastly he had some serious misfortunes in Madrid.**
Having mentioned the places that he went to abroad, it is indeed not a surprise if other people knows him too. In fact, the Britons had an entry in their website about him. In their official site called, ***The British Museum***, they stated that, **“Dr. José P. Rizal was a Philipino polymath, nationalist, and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered the Philippines' national hero and the anniversary of Rizal's death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal's 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.”** https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG184443#:~:text=Dr.,Philippine%20holiday%20called%20Rizal%20Day.
I was amazed when I saw that they did include him in their official website. He is one of the very few people who were able to accomplish so many things in their short mortal life. He was an author, a poet, a revolutionist, a scientist, a novelist, a playwright, a journalist, an ophthalmologist, a sculpture, and many more!
His literary works are very influential in helping our country and my fellow men have the freedom from the foreign colonizers in the early times. Two of his famous novels were the *Noli Me* *Tangere* and *El Filibusterismo.* During my high school days, I remembered how common it was for a student to write his or her reflections about the two novels. In those days, the last two years of high school have the *Noli* of the *El Fili* (as we fondly call them). Now I can only recall bits and pieces of the novel, but there were some lessons that really stayed with me though some of the events are unknown already. One of which, is how toxic greed and carnal desires are.
But today I am going to share with you another work of Rizal, hoping that you will also get an amount of realization from this work of art. It is the poem entitled, **“Through Education Motherland Receives Light”.**
This literary art talks about **education** and its countless benefits to our dear Motherland. There is a specific line from the poem that for me represents the great advantage that a nation can get when its countrymen are filled with literacy;
*She lifts the motherland to highest station*
*And endless dazzling glories on her shower*
As I was reading this line, I realized how great the vision Rizal has for his country. He surely saw how education allowed him to see things in a better way. As we all know, Rizal pursued education even when he was still little up to the time when he was fit enough to acquire higher education. In fact, he went abroad in order to learn and gain more knowledge. Because of Rizal’s education, he had a lot of realizations. He realized that we were wrongly treated by our colonizers, he found a way to fought them through the use of his mighty pen, he found a way to awaken his fellow Filipinos and fight back, and so many other things that he was able to do- all because of his education.
Now, I was imagining the great advantages if all of us Filipinos are well educated. I know that literacy for all is a difficult task to achieve but just like what Rizal mentioned in his poem, there will be challenges in pursuing education but the rewards of it will make all the hardships worth taking. So even though we will encounter stumbling blocks along the way, Rizal encourages us to pursue education and face the storms that it brings along, for out of it we will gain rewards of goodness, truth and honor, not just for ourselves but also for our dear country.
He also stressed out the importance of religion in education in this part;
*“And by the love of goodness ever lived,*
*The lords and governors will see implanted*
*To endless days, the Christian Education,*
*Within their noble, faith-enrapture nation’*
*So skillful noble Teaching doth unfold*
*To living minds the joy of virtuous ways.*
*She offers our dear motherland the light*
*That leads us to immortal glory's height.”*
After reading this I realized that he is admonishing us to acquire virtue and light by gaining values along with the facts and truths that we can gain as we learn and educate ourselves. And I agree with him because it is such a great thing if we are not only well educated in various professional fields but are also well educated with values and good manners. For me it is very refreshing to see a person that is not just intelligent in his profession but is also well mannered and humble just like Rizal. I see in him the values that his parents taught him even though he already learned so many things abroad. And I think he also wants us to be like that- to be learned in the ways of men but still be good and kind towards all men.
I was not the same when I read this poem of him. It changed me and I hope that it can also help you gain insights that will impact you for good. Literatures like this are **timeless** and **worth the share**.
Hope you guys enjoyed reading this. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my articles. Anyeong!
Article Title: Who is Your Country's National Hero?
Writer: Betha
Date: April 25,2022
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My Food Preferences
Hello dear friends! How was your Holy Week? Did you have some sacred recollections about your life and the choices you have made or will make ? Whatever it was, I hope that it was life changing. The Holy Week is celebrated by most Catholics around the world as a commemoration of the sacred sacrifice by Christ two millennia ago. I am not a Catholic but we also commemorate the sacred Atoning Sacrifice, but we do it every week on Sundays during our sacrament meeting and not just on a specific season. But we honor this season too as a respect to our brothers and sisters from the different sects.
Since this week we have no work due to the Lenten Season, I spent most of my time doing the laundry and cleaning the house aside from the personal recollections that I do too. The chores are just light because I just had a molar tooth extracted five days ago. Speaking of which, I actually wrote an article about my escapade on that day. You can check it out by clicking on it below.
Dentist Appointment Amidst the Storm https://read.cash/@Betha/that-sweet-filipino-tooth-8e01a28b
I have been browsing through some articles here in read.cash and I saw one that caught my attention, its the "This or That Food Edition". And since I love food, I have decided to jump in on that trend and write my own version of the This or That Food Edition. Come on in and let's get the ball rolling.
**Rice**
**Or Bread**
As a Filipino, rice is a staple here in our country and for that reason, I would choose rice over bread. Why because its cheaper and easier to make than bread. You can pair it with any viands because its taste is compatible with anything, may it be sweet, sour, bitter or just right. But I like bread too because its so tasty and it can also come in many different flavors and it can be paired with milk or hot chocolate. The thing is, you cannot just make it at home without an oven or without flavorings or additional ingredients unlike rice where you just add water and then that's it. When I was little I knew so liitle about rice and yhe many varietes of it because we depended largely on corn since my grandparents on bith sides had farms where they grew it abundantly. Also, corn was cheaper than rice too that time. I can still remember when I was young that we can only eat rice when my Father gets a good pay from his job. Now that I am an adult, and I usually do the groceries, I realized that there are many kinds of rice grains, like Sinandomeng, Jasmin and Denorado and many more. I never thought they could come in many names and kinds And the taste are different too. Hahaha. I didn't knew. But yeah, sorry for making it a bit long, it's rice over bread for me.
**Pasta**
**Or Pizza**
Oh my, of course its pizza!! Because I really love it! So when asked which one between the two, the first of course. I love thin pizza crust that are so crunchy and yummy but I also love those cheese-filled dough that are so fluffy and tasty. We had this pizza parlor near our place that sells some yummy Hawaiian flavored stuffs and it is a love at first bite kind of thing. Ever since we had a taste of it, we come back for more whenever we crave that Hawaiian flavored pizzas!
**Sweet**
**Or Spicy**
I choose sweet over spicy because I have low tolerance over spicy foods. I feel like I am hoing to die whenever I eat too much red hot peppery stuffs! My husband would always remind me of how I love sweets, which I think is the reason why I struggle with losing some pounds. I am fond of cakes, desserts and the like and it is often one of the things that I look forward to when there are parties and celebrations. Sometimes I even bring home some, especially if the host is a close friend. Hahaha.
**Bitter**
**Or Sour**
Sour for me is better over bitter foods but I do eat "ampalaya" or in English they call it bitter gourd still. That I think is the only bitter vegetable that I eat. Now, in terms of soury tastes, I have a ton of favourites in that flavor like, lemon, tomatoes, green mango, vinegars and many more. My face would go wacky whenever I eat fruits and foods in that flavor but I am fine with that because it is more tolerable than the bitter ones. I even heard there is this meat dish that is called "papaitan" , and its a bit bitter because the vile is cooked with it. When I heard that I cant imagine eating that with a happy face. Hahahaha. I cant even imagine how it taste like. Sounds weird to me. I forgot what meat is used in the "papaitan" dish, I think it is familiar in the Northern part of our country.
**Fruits**
**Or Veggies**
Fruits of course! Because most of them are already edible and delicious even though you haven't cooked them yet. With vegetables you have to cook most of its kind first, though there are still some that can be eaten raw like in a salad. Fruits are so convenient too. Some you can just hold when you are busy doing some other things. You can eat most of them readily, no cooking needed. Right?! I am sure you guys would agree with me on that.
`There you have it dear folks! Its my very own version of the This or That Food Edition. You can hop in the fun to and make your own version of this one. Enjoy!!`
That Sweet Tooth
Who wouldn't love dessert and sweets at the end of a meal? Maybe a few of us are not fond of eating sweets, like my husband, but I am certain that for most of us desserts are one of the exciting part of a meal because look forward to it. Am I right?
Today I am going to take you to a trip to my country and I will introduce to you the sweet side of our race. Yes! It is time for, Top Ten Filipino Desserts and Sweet.
SUMAN
***Suman*** is made up of glutinous rice and often comes in many varieties. One of my favourites are the ones that's made up of ground cassava flour with tons of shredded young coconut in it. But the common kind of suman that you will see in celebrations are the ones that is made out of glutinous rice, coconut milk,ginger, salt and sugar. As far as I have known the procedure is, you cook the rice as usual but you will add the salt, sugar,ginger and coconut milk when you cook it. When it is cooked you then get green banana leaves and wrapped the cooked rice. Put it in a pot ad some water and boil it until the inside os fully cooked. Its seems like its double cooked but trust me its more delicious because you have wrapped it in green banana leaves, green coconut leaves or palm leaves The aroma of coconut milk,ginger and banana leaves will surely have you wanting for more of this native Filipino delicacy served as dessert or snacks on some occasions.
BIKO
***Biko*** is also made out of glutinous rice but unlike *suman*, it is not wrapped in a leaf but rather it is just laid in a container and topped with fresh coconut jams. It is less complicated to prepare unlike suman because you just have to cook the glutinous rice alone just as how you would normal rice grains. So you wash the glutinous rice add enough water, depending on the amount of water because some rice rise more than the others. When the rice is cooked you set it aside. In a pan you add the coconut milk and muscovado sugar and stir it until it becomes a jam. When the jam is made you add the cooked rice but you must make sure you set aside a portion of the jam to be put on top of your finished product. Some would love to add some coconut crispies too.
PUTO CHEESE
**Puto Cheese** is like a cute little muffin that has a cheese on top. It is made out of cake flour,eggs, salt, sugar and milk. Some would want to add yeast so it would rise. You wix all the ingredients and when the batter is ready you out in a mold and you steam it. Yes no need to bake it, you just have to steam it and you will have yummy snacks for everybody. This one is so convenient cause it has a wrapper underneath and you can hold it with your hands while chatting with a friend.
GULAMAN
**Gulaman** I think is the most convenient dessert to make. My brother-in-law used to make this when there are family gatherings. But now that he has gone on a voluntary service for two years, I miss his specialty. Glad that he will be returning home this year, which means that he will be making some of these when there are family gatherings again. Hopefully he will. Hehehe. Well, this one is super easy to make. You just buy some seaweed powder in the grocery stores. You cook them and let it cool. When it is cool enough to be cut, you cut them into cubes. I like buying the buko flavored ones. When its cut, you mix it with evaporated milk, condensed milk and cream and voila, you now have a yummy dessert. Its a very affordable and easy to make, you might wanna try it at home.and oh, by the way, it is best served when chilled.
MANGO TAPIOCA
As obvious as its name, **Mango Tapioca** is made out of mango and tapioca pearls. Tapioca are made out of cassava flour rolled into tiny balls of many sizes. This one's easy to make too. You just shred the ripe mangoes add the cooked tapioca, condensed milk and cream. You put it in the chiller and it's ready to be served after a few minutes. This dessert has been a common business by entrepreneurs in our place lately. Some would bottle it and some would put it in tiny tubs. It's a hit actually because its yummy and very refreshing.
**MAJA BLANCA**
**Maja Blanca** is one of my personal favourites. I love it especially when it is a little bit frozen. Maja Blanca is a bit complicated to make because if you overcooked it its gonna be awful and if you undercook it its gonna be yucky in texture and taste. You need to cook it just right in order to get the right consistency and the right taste of course. I remember once,my classmate in college cooked it and she failed to put in the right amount of water, it tasted weird. Cornstarch is the main ingredient of Maja Blanca. You add water, evaporated milk, cooked sago, sugar and peanuts. Some would add corn too. I love it when there is corn in it. So you mix everything in a container and when cornstarch is well dissolved already including the sugar , you put it in a pan and and heat it in low fire. You stir it until a good consistency is achieved and then you put it in a container and sprinkle it with ground peanuts. Yummm! Its even more delicious when it is a bit frozen (well at least for me) some like it when its chilled. Either way it is good.
**MANGO FLOAT**
Since the Philippines is a tropical country, we grow so much tropical fruits such as pineapples, bananas, coconuts and of course mangoes. Because of its abundance there's a lot of desserts that we Filipinos can make out of this golden fruit. I have already mentioned one which the Mango Tapioca dessert and this time I have another dessert which has mango as its main ingredient. Some people actually calls this dessert mango ref cake because it can taste like a creamy mango cake. But it is named, **Mango** **Float** Plus, its steps is as easy as 123. You just gotta need mango, cream and graham crackers. By the way,make sure that your mango is really ripe and sweet. So first, you shred a mango for toppings and you set it aside. Then you blend cream and mango and set it aside. Then you put a graham crackers in a container as a base, you add the blended mango and cream then you lay another set of Graham crackers on top of it an repeat putting mango and cream and crackers alternately. When you almost done, you out the shredded mango on top and sprinkle some crushed Graham's crackers, chill it overnight and thats it!
**LECHE FLAN**
It gets so exciting as we go down to my favourites! I am sure you guys are familiar with flans. I am not sure if this one is originally from the Philippines or maybe its borrowed from other cultures. But either which it is super delicious! **Leche flans** are made out of egg yolks, milk and a little salt. You mix them all up and set them aside. You bring an aluminium mold with a spoonful of sugar in it and you melt that sugar to make caramelized syrup after that you add the batter that you made earlier, cover it with aluminium foil and then steam it for 25 minutes, you take it off from and i let it cool and then serve it! I can imagine that sweet yummy dessert eaten on a sunny day. Oh my I am drooling!
**FRUIT SALAD**
When you hear the word fruit salad you might think of the many fruits being mixed together. But this one isn't that kind of dessert, instead it is made with cream and canned fruits most of the time. The Filipino style **Fruit Salad** is a little different. So what you do is you buy a fruit cocktail (canned fruits) open it up and drain the juice. You then put them together with cream and condensed milk you out cheese on top and that's it! Yummy, creamy and fruity the Filipino style! Perfect for your sweet tooth cravings.
**BUKO SALAD**
This is my most favorite dessert of all! Coconut, especially the young ones, has always been one of my favourite tropical fruit. We call the young coconut as "buko". **Buko** **Salad** is as simple as the fruit salad that I have aforementioned. You just shred the young coconut's meat, add it in a bowl with a little can of fruit cocktail. You mix it with cream and a little condensed milk and your buko salad is good. Of course always best when you serve it frozen or chilled. Some add some twist to it by adding a little coconut water to it. But even without the young coconut water, it will still be good because of the young coconut meat (buko) in it!
There you have it friends! A series of ten desserts according to my taste. I am sure some of you likes different desserts other than this. This article is actually an entry to the writing prompt that @JonicaBradley made entitled Sweet and Savory. You can check out her article through this **link****.** https://read.cash/@JonicaBradley/writing-prompt-26-sweet-and-savory-563fc1ba
Thank you for reading my article friend. Which among my top desserts are your favourite too?
Come join the fun and write about something sweet and savory. It will surely be fun!
Dentist Appointment Amidst the Storm
Last week, I had a terrible toothache. It was one of those really terrible ones because it got me banging and wailing at night. My husband pitied me coz I cant get a good sleep because of it. This wasn't the first time that I had a severe toothache, in fact the ones that I experienced after childbirth was even more serious and severe than this one. But since this has been a recurring pain and is indeed very paralyzing, I have made up my mind that as soon as the pain subsides, I am going to have this tooth extracted so I wont suffer more. My husband agreed to the idea of tooth extraction since he saw how painful it was for me. And so, today is the day to get my tooth extracted. I was a bit hesitant because its raining so hardin our place due to Typhoon Agaton. I messaged the dental clinic to make sure that they are open. I did not receive a reply but I was so determined to go there because I remember that the dental clinic is just near the dentist's house. And so yeah, I went there. Let me take with you on my journey to tooth extraction. Hahaha
I waited for thirty minutes along the highway. I was expecting that it will take me one hour because of the weather. Gladly this one passed by. I remember that the LFTRB for Region 7 relaunched their LIBRENG SAKAY. In my mind I was hoping that this bus is one of the many buses that they've hired for their project.
Even if I had my umbrella today, I still got wet because I had to fold my umbrella upon entrance to the bus. I was shivering a bit while I am inside due to the breeze from the outside. The rain is just a little drizzle when the bus went on its way after picking me up.
Can you tell the the rain has started to get so hard just by looking at the driver's window shield? Yep! The fog tells whoever sees this photo that the rain has gotten really hard. I think it was around 9-10 AM this time. And it was the time the the other Typhoon named Malakas is predicted to enter the country. That explains the sudden downpour coupled with some winds.
I was not able to take a photo of the corner of the street where I got off because of the downpour. From the highway where i got off, I had to walk for five minutes inorder to get to the pedalcab station. The pedalcab driver was so chatty, he told me of the brother of the mayor who was a musician and has returned home from abroad. He said that the guy gave them groceries and cash yesterday. This guy always does this generous act everytime he comes home. Well, I remember that the reason why our conversation reached that generous guy is because I asked him where is Wagas Ukelele located, after he pointed me to where that Ukelele Store is, he then talked about that generous guy who happened to be related to the owner of that Ukelele store. And so yeah that's how we cane to takk about that generous guy from abroad. Until the time I got off, he was so bubbly and chatty-thing you dont usually get when you ride pedalcab because sometimes the drivers are so tired in pedalling, they don't have the time to chat with you. I cant help but think that these pedalcab drivers have well toned muscles due to their daily pedalling. You think so too?
After my pedalcab ride, I reached the gate of the dentist's residence. Her clinic is just inside the gate close to her house. Which I think is amazing, right? Imagine, your office is just near at home, you can chill and watch movies and just pause it if patients are in. Hahaha. I am jealous to the point that i want to work hard and be like that- work and earn while at home.
I was gleefully welcomed by the secretary, they took my temperature, had me write personal information for record-keeping and went through a short alcohol misting for sanitation. I am glad that I am the first patient. The waiting game was just around ten to twenty minutes. I was then asked to enter the dentist's operating room.
Me and Doc had a little chat about what tooth would I want to be extracted. I told her that if it is possible I would want to get those three tooth that has holes to be extracted. But she told me that she cant extra teeth that are on the opposite position to each other. So I just told her to remove the lower molar. Because that was the one that keeps giving me pains. She agreed to that but she suggested that it would be better if I get those molars which has black dots for some restoration before they get totally eaten up by cavities. That way it would not be filled with food residues. I consented her suggestions and she went on and do the needed repairs.
After the restorations, she began cleaning and injecting the needed anesthesia. In my previous tooth extraction, the injection of anesthesia was the most painful part. I was hoping that it will be the case for this extraction, but it wasn't. When Doc injected the anesthesia, I felt just a little pain.
I felt the left side of my face slowly becoming numb. When Doc asked me of it is already numb, and i said yes, she called her assistant so someone can hold me while she do the pulling. Doc told me to not exert strength as she pulls and to just relax. She made a hard pull but it was too painful so she injected another dose of anesthesia. Pulled again the second time and this time it was successful. She got my tooth out and it was really a big one, I mean super big molar, no wonder why it was very painful. Even Doc uttered her praise when the tooth was finally extracted.
I was thinking whether or not to include the photo of the tooth here, but for decency I wont.
Doc put some betadine and antiseptic on gums and told me the dos and dints as she handed me the medicines and I handed her the payment. I could not utter a word due to the pain and numbness. I walked outside the gate and rode another pedalcab. When the driver asked me where to go, I could only mumble unrecognizable words and motioned hi to just go. Hahaha. He then asked if I just got a tooth extraction and I said yes. He smiled. That was funny, now I know how kids feel when they cant say exactly what they wanted to say and their parents don't get what they wanted to say. Hahaha.
When I got to the highway, another waiting game. I waited for more than 30 minutes I guess. And it was worth it because I was blessed enough to ride on a LIBRENG SAKAY (Free Ride) Bus! Wohooo! Happy but in pain, that's how I feel. How I wish I would catch this same free ride if I go to the city next time.
Look at this clicks that I've got on my way. You can tell that there really us a typhoon.
Its sad to think that we are again experiencing another typhoon when in fact, some of us are still recovering from the effects of Odette.. But that is the kind of life that we have to deal with nowadays, these are the effects of global warming, we get strong typhoons and typhoons on summer time. Hope we recognize Mother Earth's call this time.
**And that's it! Thank you for joining me on my dental checkup today. It has been a great experience despite the Typhoon.**
All photos are captured by yours truly.
Free Chicken Meal at a Local Agripark
I am a lover of nature and adventure. I feel invigorated when I am out with trees and green things. So whenever a chance to go see a beautiful agricultural park or something comes up. I am up and ready for it. Let me share with you wine of the agricultural parks that we went to this year. It was called PORTLAND AGRIPARK and its really nice for me.
Since we live in the city, we have to hire a multicab to take us there. The multicab that we rented cost only 1000 pesos for the whole day. Its very economical. And since we have someone who knows gow to drive, we need not hire someone and spend money for the driver. We agreed to gather at around 10:00 AM at my friend’s house. The call time was a bit late for me actually, but I was okay with because we went to my brother in law's house for a sleepover. When all of us were there, we went to pick up the foods, good thing the foods been ordered in advance, so all we need to do is go there and pick it up.
They call it food package, it has lechon and five other viands. According to my friend who ordered this, it costs around 9000 only. I was thinking about the price and the foods, I thought that its worth its price. The foods didn't just look yummy it was indeed yummy!
As soon as we pick up the food, we started our travel up to the mountain barangays. if I am not mistaken it took us 2 hours plus to reach the Agri-park. The roads were not easy because some parts of the way were not yet cemented. So, we had to really hold our seats if not we will fall on our faces or hit our head. But though it was a long and tiring ride. The view was so worth it. Because when we get there, it is very relaxing.
So yeah now, let me take you to a trip around the beautiful and relaxing place called PORTLAND AGRIPARK through the pictures that I got.
This is what the resort looks like when we came near their gate. The parking area is a little far from the resort itself. The gate is where the parking area is. The guard says that we can have our muticab send us inside the resort but it can’t be parked inside to avoid crowding. So, we rode back in the multicab and got off when we finally got our things into the cottage that we rented. What’s amazing abut this mountains resort is that the snacks and drinks are not expensive. You know, it’s a common thing that when you get onside a resort the process of almost everything at their cafeterias is doubled sometimes even tripled but here, no its not, it is very cheap. Plus, out of the 150 pesos that you pay as an entrance fee, you get a chicken meal out of it for FREE. Yeas for free! Isn’t that amazing?
This is the first set of cottage that you will see when you get past the entrance. Right there and then you will notice that they are very clean ang well organized. The curtains on each of those cottages are clean and the floors are well swept too!
Look at those elegant cottages. They're so lovely right?! They seems like the one that we see on a Bali-inspired resorts! So nice indeed!
This is the view form our cottage. We rented a big one so we will have enough space for our things and plus we had some friends who will join us in the later part that day. So we made sure that we have enough room for everybody. Our cottage is near the pool area not really that near though, just enough that we can see the nice view of the pool.
This is the view from our cottage. Lovely and relaxing,right?! The sun was shining so bright that day. The temperature was so hot but when you jump into the pool you will feel like you are bathing in a tub full of ice because its so cold. They say that the water in the pool comes from a mountain spring nearby. You can even drink out of it because its sweet. I mean not the ones in the pool but the ones that come out of the faucet. We tried it and yes it was true! The water was sweet and has no aftertaste at all. So naturally refreshing!
Let me show some flower clicks that I got from there too.
They are all lovely aren't they? I enjoyed going around taking pictures of them. They all glisten under the sun that day. Seems like talking to me telling me to come take a picture of them. And so I did.
That was indeed a beautiful relaxing day at a beautiful and relaxing place. i was so glad we went with our friends that time. It was worth the hustle and bustle of getting there. It seem to like a hidden paradise in the mountains! I would surely go back one day. Bye for now, Portland Agripark!
Hi guys, after that devastating typhoon and after all the typhoons that raged my lfe, I am back!! I missss you alll! It was a bummer to have missed some sponsorship like the ones from @scottcbusiness . That's okay though. Laban!
Where Am I At After Three Years of Being Married?
Today marks the third year of my marriage to my husband. Since this morning I have been asking myself, where am I and how am I after three years of being married? I honestly do not know how to start answering that question. I have so much to say but I am also speechless- I don’t know where and how to begin.
After thinking some time and staring at my keyboard, a word came up and it was **growth**. Marriage offers a ton of opportunities for growth. There will be times when that growth is very unattractive, but if you want your marriage to work you got to have that desire and love for growth. Of course, love for one another got to be there, in the first place, after all it was the reason why you two started-you fell in love with each other.
Now, I do not have a degree in Marriage and Family Life Studies, but please allow me to share with you, things that I have learned in the course of three years. Hopefully after writing what I learned, I might be able to figure out the answer to the question that I have asked myself early this morning.
**Love**. Love is the soul of marriage. Remove it and all will be left maybe is pity for one another. Love is the catalyst of all the goodness marriage offers. When you love your spouse, you will see the good despite the bad. You will see sunshine amidst the storms. When weird habits and old traditions starts to show up in the surface, you will have the ability to brush it aside saying, Oh, that’s fine! Why? Because you LOVE your partner. Only those who have seen their spouses in their lowest stage and still loved them, can understand what I am trying to say here.
**Selflessness**. There has always been that tendency to think that because I am a woman, my husband should prioritize me because I am his wife. But right now, while I am typing this, I realized how selfish I was and sometimes am. Wait, let us not forget the fact that each of us has the tendency to be selfish in terms of attention and care without us noticing the very act. So, forgive yourself if you happen to be so selfish in terms of those things in your relationship. It usually happens because we assure ourselves that our person loves us back in a way that we love them or maybe at least reciprocate the love that we give to them. But whatever the reason we have in being selfish at times I hope we don’t let it run our relationship. Were heading down south if we do that.
**Patience**. Patience takes on a lot of form and is required in almost every situation. From the smallest to the largest one, I mean from the scattered pair of socks up to the irresponsibility that men sometimes show and many other stuffs. I noticed that most of the things that ruins my day are my lack of patience towards my husband over the petty things that he keeps on messing up. I remember when I watched the movie Little Women and Marmie spoke to Joe after she fought with Amy. Marmie said that she is angry almost everyday of her life, Jo then asked, how does she handle it and Marmie said,” I try.” I love that conversation of Jo and Marmie because it helps me find a way on how I can control my anger. It teaches me of patience at a whole new level. That if I find myself falling into the pit of anger, I should not let it get the best of me but rather I should try. Try not to get angry. That’s when patience gets into the picture.
**Dates**. If you happen to think that dating is only for couple who are starting their relationship, you are in the wrong side of the boat. Dating is like water to a plant. It nurtures it and it refreshes it along the passing of time. Some wives and some husbands think that they re too busy and that the other one will surely understand because what they are doing is for the family, I say no, there is no definitely replacement for the feeling of joy and adventure that married couple feels when they go out of their house and go somewhere nice and just talk about random things and feel the moment. I know it is quite tough when you got kids because of course, you have to bring them with you and sometimes they wail and gnash their teeth in public (hahaha just kidding with the teeth gnashing) but yeah seriously, they could throw tantrums randomly anywhere. But when you a know that a date is going to refresh the husband-wife relationship that you have, it is then worth every tantrum your child could throw.
**Conversations**. Its bad that this came last, but that does not demean its high importance, no. When couples talk about life, goal, dreams and the future, they talk about what is inside them. They talk about something that each of them value and that is very levitating! It builds them and it reassures each of them that they have a companion as they venture into the uncertain future. Isn’t that something that each of us craves? I realized that I when I feel hurt, disrespected or unseen, the remedy to that is to speak and have conversations with your husband or wife. When I say speak, I meant speaking softly and not harshly. Conversations that are spoken in love and compassion can cure almost all chaos that couples experience.
(Sigh) I think I am beginning to understand where I am now after these three years. I am glad. I think that is what I feel. I can say I have been through a lot but I am glad. I am glad that we are still together that we still love each other. I am not a perfect wife and nether is my husband, but we try and after all that is the most important-when couples try no matter how difficult it seems. Through the years, I have seen how powerful trying is in the marriage life. Like, when you do not want to agree with your husband, but then you try. When you don’t want to forgive your spouse cause you think he does not deserve, but then you try. When you don’t want to care cause, he has been so insensitive but then you try. Trying makes all the difference and I think its where most couples fail. Cause when things get hard, human nature makes you tired enough to try.
Been a while since my last article.
I am glad I survived my dark days and silent battles.
So glad to be back! ♥
"Anything Chicken"
When we were just newlyweds, my husband asked me what my favorite dish is and I told him this phrase,” anything chicken”. So, the next time he asked me what I would love to it, he just answers himself with “anything chicken”. One time when I was chatting with a friend and I was asked what would I want to eat, he answered for me so fast and said the same thing “anything chicken”. Hahahahaha
Why do I love chicken very much? Well, I love pork as well and other types of meat as long as it is edible and not poisonous. I am not really choosy and would eat anything if I have no other option because I grew up not having much to choose as to what viand will mom cook for us on a certain day. But my specific love for chicken meat has been so strong that it’s the first thing that would arrive to mind when I am asked about my favorite dish. So today, in this article let us talk about some of the chicken dishes that I love. Are you ready to get hungry? Let’s go!
**Chicken Soup (*****Tinola*****)**
This is my most favorite chicken dish, especially when Papa makes it. Back in the province, papa has free range chickens we call it *Bisayang manok*. When we would come home on weekends, he would catch one or two and slaughter it for a fresh chicken soup. He would then add green papaya, ginger, lemon grass and spices. Oh my, I can picture out in my mind’s eye the yummy boiling soup in the *abuhan*. And then if you are lucky to have fine grinded corn, it would be such a delish!! Oh my, miss going home on weekends.
**Chicken Estofado**
Same thing with Tinola, this is another recipe that Papa would make with the free-range chicken that we have at home. If you are wondering what a free-range chicken is, it is simply are those chickens that are not caged or tied but are rather let out to roam in the neighborhood, which means that they are able to exercise daily because they get to hike and move around which results into a heathier meat compared to those which are tied or caged. So going back to the *estofado* that Papa would make. He adds a generous amount of tomato paste and ketchup to it along with red bell peppers. He would let it set there for more than an hour until the meat is tender and it has absorbed the sauce and the spices. I can imagine the smell of that dish and I kind of think of the tender chicken meat bathing in creamy tomato sauce. Yum!
**Fried Chicken**
Now, this one is so easy to make that even a grader can make this. You just clean the chicken meat, season it with salt and pepper and let it set for like one hour and deep fry it in the frying pan. My husband loves dipping it in a Mang Tomas All Around Sarsa sauce-it is a Filipino made dipping sauce. He loves the Siga Style because it is extra spicy compared to the classic one. Speaking of fried chicken, this was our dinner last night actually. When I came home form work, I was welcomed with the aroma of fried chicken in the kitchen.
**Chicken Adobo**
Chicken adobo is a Filipino Chicken dish that has a ton of version across the archipelago. If you go to the Northern part of the country, they have their own version of adobo, theirs is a little saucy and it has potato and sometimes a little bit of carrots. And if you roam around the Northern part you will find a variation of this style too. But if you some to the middle island of the archipelago (Visayas), you will find a different style of adobo which very similar to fried chicken. Since hubby grew up in Luzon he would usually cook me the Tagalog style adobo. His mom makes the best adobo by the way.
**Chicken Barbecue**
Same with fried chicken, chicken barbecue is a very common recipe too. Some people use a personal mix in seasoning their barbecues but there are also ready-mix seasonings for barbecues that are sold in departments stores. If you want a sure yummy mixture minus the hassle of mixing all the spices, you might want to opt to buying those ones. I love dipping barbecues into a sauce that is made out of soy sauce and calamansi juice. Oh my it is mouth-watering!
So, there you have it folks! The abovementioned chicken dishes are just a partial list of the chicken dish that I know and love. Next time I am going to write another list of them. What about you dear read.cash family? What are your favorite chicken dishes? Come and write about it here!
Alejandro
Most of the time every day, I wake to the shaking of the tiny transparent container where I am living. The waters where you have put me in, would shake due to the chair that you would often push underneath the table where I am situated. Every morning and evening you or Dada would feed me with those tiny round pellets that would usually get soggy once they are in the surface of my waters. I love biting them from time to time before they get into their balloon state and eventually settle down below me.
I remember when you bought me from Boboy for the amount of 110 pesos. I overheard him speak to her ate that he got an order from you of a pair of guppies because you were stressed and would want to buy a pet fish to at least help relieve that stress that you have been talking about. When Boboy scooped the aquarium for a male and a female pair, I was sure that it will not be me, because I was at the corner of the water tank and his tiny arms would sure not reach there. But then when the water surged due to the swashing of that scooping thing (which was actually having a long pole attached to it), I was moved a bit but I just steadied where I was and that was I guess when you saw me cause I saw the thing extending directly to me and before I knew it I was in that scooping thing swaddling in the tiny waters that went in when I was caught. Boboy then scooped me out from the waters and placed me in a dipper as he scooped out another guppy fish and this time a male one. He then put us in a tiny plastic bag (those one usually used in making iced water) and tied it. I think me and my partner was sitting there for almost four hours because I overheard Boboy say you will come by after shift around 6 PM.
When you got there, he picked up the plastic bag and brought me downstairs and handed me to you. I heard that you mentioned a time when you once a had a goldfish, but it died because you put it in a tiny mayonnaise jar. You even said how you cried cause that one was so cute and unique because it only has one eye. You even mentioned that it was when you learned that gold fishes can not live in tiny spaces and should have an oxygen pump (yup, unlike us guppies, the gold fishes need more oxygen in water or else they’ll die). After a moment of chatting you rode on a tricycle and head off home where you giddily told you Dada and Little Princess about me.
You put us in a tiny transparent lunchbox since you just knew at that moment that the fish bowl where you would supposedly put me in was broken and has a hole on the side. After feeding me with those tiny round pellets, you talked about where you will but a fish bowl and aquarium plants and from then on until now the search is still up. You just weren’t able to find that perfect fish bowl. That is okay, I will just wait.
Now, your readers might wonder where my partner is. Well, let me tell them about him. First thing first, I love calling him Alejandro. Do you love his name? I do too. I think Alejandro is such a masculine name and cute at the same time. I can still remember how we play in waters when the day feels lazy and we got nothing to do but paly and swim and swim and swim again. He loves flaring his charming tail in face and would love to paly it with me. Well, I forgot to tell everyone that I am pregnant the moment you fetch me from Boboy’s house. And so, when Alejandro would ask me to play it with him, I would easily get tired and out of breath. But he would patiently stop and wait for me catch my breath so I can swim after him and catch him. Not until one tragic morning while Dada was hushing Princess sleep, he saw him lying lifeless in the water’s surface.
He then told you that the male guppy fish (that I have come to love) was gone. The both of kept on asking yourselves what could have gotten wrong. You want to know why, right? Why he died? Well, now let me tell you.
He died because you failed to change our water. It gets murky when you feed us with those round pellets and you thought that we will just be fine with all the settlements of those pellets beneath us. The answer is NO, you should know now that the water gets toxic as time passes by because of those pellets and I hope you learned your lesson, that after 4 days you must change our water cause if not, its not just going to cost me this time, its going to cost my babies to. Oh, how I miss my Alejandro.
Hey everyone, I apologize I was not able to read most of your articles lately. Promise I will do my best before this week ends. I hope you enjoyed reading my pet- a guppy fish who wishes to be anonymous. He talks of her experience from that moment I got her from a kid named Boboy and how she lost her partner whom she has named Alejandro.
If you would name my female guppy, what would it be?
The idea of writing from a different POV (point of view) was taken from the article of @Meitanteikudo entitled *Through His Eyes*
Come join the fun and write as if you are your pet and you are talking to you as their owner. I am sure you will love it! https://read.cash/@meitanteikudo/through-his-eyes-d3d815e9
Street Foods in My Place
I love street foods and, in our country, we have a ton of different variety of foods that is sold in the streets. That is pretty much the reason why they were called that way- they are sold in the streets. Today I would take you on a trip and show you some of the street foods that are sold in my place. Let us begin!
Buckle up we will now begin the ride!
**Kwek-kwek**
**Kwek-kwek** is made out of quails eggs and then they are wrapped with breaded mix with an added orange food coloring to make the look yummy (but for me eve without it still tastes really good so long as you put a good amount of seasoning on the batter. It’s a pretty big of work to make this street food. You have to boil the quail eggs first, peel them and set them aside. After that you create a batter mixture by combining flour, salt, beaten egg and other spices. This is where you will soak the peeled quail eggs and then fry them in a boiling cooking oil.
**Tempura**
When I was in college, due to the desperate need of income for my schooling, I worked at a local supermarket where friend has a stall of frozen good supplies like hotdogs, tempura fish balls, kikiam and many more. That was when I realized what tempura is made of, now, I have to clarify that this is not the common tempura that we see in Japanese restaurants where shrimps, veggies and other seafoods are dipped in a butter and are fried out. This I think are a bit similar to the fish cakes in Korea but the only difference is its shape, the fishcakes in Korea are cut into strips and then soaked in a boiling pot of yummy soap while the tempura in our place is long and is fried when sold. It think when it is soaked in seafood stock it will taste very similar to that fish cake that I have tasted because it is made out of flour and fish meat.
**Fishballs**
Now this one is similar to tempuras but I think it uses a different type of fish as its base meat and also its size is different because it is round, which o think explains why it is called fish balls. Same thing with tempuras it is fried and are topped or dipped in sweet and spicy sauces made out of vinegar, ketchup and spy sauce. Now you might even get lucky if the street food vendor has free seaweed and cucumber to top your fried fish balls. (Ohmooo I am drooling)
**Kikiam**
I have heard that kikiams are a famous ingredient in the Chinese cuisine and I think we got it from them. Originally Kikiam are made mixed pork and seafood and then wrapped around a bean curd sheet. Nowadays, the ones tat are sold in the street are not made out of that same ingredient, they are made out of highly processed seafood paste and then molded into a sausage like form and are still called kikiam. Some with tempura and fish balls, they are fried out and then dipped in sweet and sour sauces.
**Hotdog in a stick**
I think other country have this too as a common street food. This very common maybe because it is very easy to prepare, you just peel off the plastic of the hotdog an then fry it and put it in the stick, if you want to pair it with rice our street food vendors also have hanging rice or "*posu"*-made out of coconut leaves and then woven into a heart shape container with cooked rice inside.
**Barbecue**
I think this one is also very common and I think everyone is very familiar with this one, may you be a Filipino or not. I love barbecue too and it could be different types of meat that can be barbecued, it could be fish, pork, chicken and many others can be one. We have more than a dozen barbecue stalls in our town and as a matter of fact we have one that is just a stone-throw from where we are living now. And what I love about this barbecue stall that I am talking about, is the fact that they do not color their barbecues. Some barbecue vendors would color their barbecue with orange or red to make it look dashingly fresh and the bad thing about that is you cant spot if it is old meat or what (well, if you smell it you will know but it would be rude to do that so we all just rely on the look, but then they would color it so you can’t tell). And plus, when food colors it is bad for your kidneys that is why I love buying barbecues which are not colored.
**Balut**
I know most of my foreign friends has heard about it. It is a duck egg that is days old that is boiled at a certain period of time and then eaten with spicy vinegar. Yum! The thought of eating it makes me drool. Some likes it 21 days old but me, I like it 16 days old because it has the smallest chick inside and is hardly recognizable (just don’t stare at it and be sure to eat it after dark). I love balut. I really do. How about you?
Well, that’s just it for now folks! We will talk about other street foods the next time. Let me take a roam around our town and I will take a picture of each street food that I haven’t included in this article now. Sayonara!
Trip Around the World at a Local Mall's Annex.
Last Saturday, me and my husband together with our little princess, went out for a walk at a local mall. We did not go inside since babies are still not allowed; we just went to the annex of the mall where there is a nice display of famous tourist spots around the world. Today, let me feature what we have seen in the annex during our family activity.
Now let us begin our trip around the world. First stop, the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
The Leaning Tower is a freestanding bell tower of the cathedral in Pisa, Italy. It is known worldwide because it is leaning for at least nearly four-degrees. They said that the reason why it was leaning is because of the soil quality on which it was built upon. It is said to be the third-oldest structure in the city's Cathedral Square.
Next in line we have the Eiffel Tower!
Eiffel Tower is the most popular tourist place in Paris. According to many, it has been there for almost 127 years. You would be surprise of I tell you that this wonderful edifice which is now symbolic of France, was not actually meant to last. The year 1889 was the year that seemed to be the turning point of this historic Eiffel Tower history. During that year an event was held as a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution and as a tribute to that, a competition was organized with the aim to “build on the Champ-de-Mars, a 125 meters wide and 300 meters high iron tower with its square-shaped base.” Many proposals were submitted but out of the 107 proposals submitted, Gustave Eiffel’s was chosen. With him were engineers Maurice Koechlin, Emile Nouguier and the architect Stephen Sauvestre. Around two million people visited the tower during the Universal Exposition, since it attracted so much tourists, the team that constructed it were said to have made laborious studies and efforts to keep it standing even until the very day. And up to now it has been a symbol that represents the industrial power of France.
Next stop is Taj Mahal.
According to UNESCO, Taj Mahal is located on the right bank of the Yamuna River in a vast Mughal garden that encompasses nearly 17 hectares, in the Agra District in Uttar Pradesh. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is considered to be the greatest architectural achievement in the whole range of Indo-Islamic architecture. It is a symbol of Sha Jahan’s eternal and undying love for his wife Mumtaz Mahal who died while giving birth to their 14th child.
Now, let us go to the Liberty Statue.
This famous sculpture is found in Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, USA. This copper statue is a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. It was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. You might be surprised if I tell you that the same person who authored the framework of Eifel tower is the same person who created its metal framework, no other than Gustave Eiffel. This said statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886. It is a symbol of freedom and friendship between the people of France and America.
This time let us have the wonderful Windmills of Netherlands!
This one is clearly, a windmill but its blade must have fallen off or must have been destroyed by the visitors or have flown by the strong sea winds. Either way, this one is for sure a windmill. If you are familiar with the windmills in Netherlands, or if you have been to Netherlands, I am sure you would agree that your visit is incomplete if you haven’t gone near their iconic windmills. I think it would also be impossible to finish you visit to that country if you haven’t seen one because the country is dotted with windmills. One village in Netherlands, named Kinderdijk, has a total of nineteen windmills. Now you may wonder why Netherlands have many of these infrastructures, well, this is actually a strategy done to ensure water management, If you haven’t known, Netherlands is actually 26% below sea level and windmills help in making sure that water is well drained and the country is not flooded.
The last stop is the Big Ben.
Big Ben is the nickname for this big striking clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster area in Central London. Its official name is the Great Bell . Although people say that the name is frequently extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower, its official name of the tower in which Big Ben is located was originally the Clock Tower, but it was renamed in 2012 as Elizabeth Tower in order to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II.
After our walk in the annex, we were supposed to take-out some Jollibee meals but the store won't accept GCash payments, so we just went to a local cafeteria and ate some batchoy! It was yummy by the way (too bad I did not took a picture of it).
Yep yep!! There you have it! A glimpse of the small family activity that my little family did last Saturday. As I was looking at the version of these different heritage sites around the world, I could not help but remember my dream of one day travelling the world my little family. Traveling around the globe is truly one of my bucket lists. If ever I will become wealthy enough, first place I would go to is Japan! (crossing my fingers for that). What about you? Do you wish to travel the world with your loved ones too? What places will you think you will visit first? I would love to hear what country and why. Come write about it now!
`Thanks for reading!`
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I Don't Deserve It...
I will never forget the day I met you. It was raining so hard on an April evening and I was stranded at the bus station, soaked and wet because I forgot to bring my umbrella the morning, I left the apartment. I was standing at a corner of the bus station while rainwater drips from my office jacket. Suddenly I felt a soft nudge on my shoulders followed by a man’s voice that says, “Miss, you can take my seat”. I looked to the direction from where that voice was coming from and I saw you- a 6-footer tall man wearing a black leather jacket and faded jeans. Yup, I can still vividly recall how you looked that evening and yes, I still remember even until now how I felt that familiar thug when I saw you beckoning me to sit down on a seat where you used to have seated. I never liked it when someone notices me or pays attention to me or out me in a position where other people would start looking at me, but on that night, I wonder why I was not mad at you even tough you made me feel a bit awkward. Did you made some incantations before you asked me to sit down? Because instead of blurting out my cliché,” No I’m good. I felt a seeming hypnosis that pulled me to the seat that you have been offering. And instead, I said,” Thank you Mister!” as I bowed down my head like how characters of a Japanese do. Do you still remember how you responded to me, or is just I who can still perfectly recall how our first encounter transpired? Well, you just told me this one sweet line that had my heart beating like a drum on a local bugle corps, “You looked tired over there, kaya sayo nalang yung chair “. I have been so used to not having someone noticed me when I am tired and sad. And that night, you really got me, because I was really tired and plus my seasonal affective disorder triggered by the rain, had me feeling so sad. My love, that was way way back. Until now whenever it rains, I still get sadness due to that seasonal affective disorder, but what is new now is I get a sweet smile on my face because rains remind me of that fateful April evening a long time ago when the universe conspired and has brought you to me an me to you.
You have no idea maybe, as to how much you change the way I look at myself, love. That fateful night in the bus station was one of the many sweet memories that I have always treasured. On that night, for the very first time, someone *SAW* me. All my life I thought I was really *INVISIBLE*, and I was so used to that. I spent 24 years alone, hiding from everyone, I was so used to fighting my battles because I thought no one would do that for me or that no one would be so interested to get to battle in behalf of me, but then you came along and we fell in love. I'm not used to being seen this much by anyone. Love, I am writing this to let you know how blessed I was and am to have you in my life. You should know that I love the person that I am, when I am with you. The way you talked to me about your dreams and the things you believed we can accomplish together made me feel that I am worth something. You made me feel so happy, that I want to cry. I used to be so good at comforting myself when I cry but now, I crave for your presence whenever things don’t go right, coz I know you have that talent of uncovering the brighter side of almost every single dark tunnel that I am put in.
The simple things that you do, the way you look at me, the way you ask me how I am doing, the way you take the time to listen to me, love, it's all too much. The way you talk to me and the simple things that you do for me, makes me the happiest but every now and then, I feel like I don't deserve it. Because the way I see myself, my flaws, my tantrums and my syndromes-they make me feel that I am undeserving and unworthy of a minute of your time but then you are still there. No matter how difficult I am to deal with, no matter how many times I shut you out of my world you are still there, waiting for my insecurities to settle down so you can hug me tight. Above all the manly features that you have, the part that I love the most is your arms. Why? Because it is my favorite place to cry my heart out, it is where I have repeatedly said, “I hate me, I hate me, I hate me” over and over again but it is the same place where you have countlessly hushed my insecurities and calmed my troubled seas. My love, I can never imagine life without you. You mean the world to me. Though my insecurities are unceasing, your love and understanding has been constantly increasing and I love you for that my love from that rainy April evening.
Hi my dear read.cash fam! Hope you had fun reading my article! This article is inspired by the song entitled *I Don't Deserve It by Lisa Cimorelli*. Its one of the countless songs that I would listen to when I am sad. She wrote it from her experience with past relationships and her insecurities. She felt it was so difficult for her to move on and see herself as someone that is worth a man’s love and care. But on top of that, I am writing this because there are certain moments in my life where I felt like Lisa. I felt undeserving of any love that people gives me. I have felt that I don’t deserve to be loved by someone who has loved me unconditionally because I know I am not the best and the fact that someone sees me in a special way just don't make sense to me. Countless times I have asked my husband why he choose me, why does he love me when all I see in me is someone who is teeming with insecurities and imperfections. But then there he is, he continues to do and even until now, I still do not understand, and I thank him so so much for loving me unconditionally.
So yeah, that's it, I hope you liked it my dear fam! A big thanks to @meitanteikudo for the article he wrote which contained a ton of ideas that you can write about. If you want to join the fun, come and write a story about your favorite songs. Do not forget to tag dear @PeterMolnar since he was the one who taught of this wonderful prompt and @meitanteikudo too. Do not forget to use the hashtag #InspiredBySongs. Enjoy! https://read.cash/@meitanteikudo/heres-a-prompt-8c206991 https://read.cash/@Peter-Molnar
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A Trip That Made My Farmer-heart Super Happy
Last Sunday, we went to see a farm in the locality of Sodgod that is named Rise and Rebuild International. According to their Social Media Page, Rise and Rebuild International Foundation - Cebu Site aims to help the malnourished children in the island of Cebu. The produce in their farm in Barangay Ampongol, Sogod, Cebu is intended to feed these children for them to have proper nourishment. I do not know the exact measurement of their vast land area, but I did see with my own two eyes how big the area is and how beautiful the green plants to look at. I will let you have a sneak peak of their place through the photos that I was able to capture last Sunday. Fasten your seatbelt and we will go on a muddy walk across the garden paradise. Let’s go!
The climbing vegetables and the fruit plants. As you can see, they built T-frames that will house the aforementioned type of plants. This was actually a good move by the farm directors because these T-frames are durable compared to the ones that they once used which made out of bamboos. They have many vegetables and fruit bearing plants planted there; some are still on its first few weeks after being transferred to the plant beds while some are already bearing fruits like this eggplants below. They have big purple ones, small green ones and big green ones, too bad I was not able to take a picture of each of them, I only took a picture of one of the eggplant variety.
They also have pechays and cabbages that were looking so good and green. The farm manager told us that in harvesting cabbages, you have to hold the middle part, the bulky part and if it is sturdy enough then it is ready for harvest. The inner part are the only ones that are harvested since it is the part that is edible, she said they give the outer layers to the native pigs that they are also raising since it is a bitter when used as an ingredient for dishes.
Aside from cabbages and eggplants they also have corns which were heavily laden with corn flowers during the time of our visit. These corns were very tall already and they were planted separately at different parts of the farm to better utilized the unused areas of the farm. The farm manager did some explanation as to which part is the male part of the corn and which part is the female part. I did not actually know that so when she told us, it was another good-to-know information for me.
It was so much fun walking in the muddy fields. I actually took a picture of how heavy my borrowed slipper has gotten. Since going to the farm was not part of the plan, I was actually wearing shoes, so when we got there, I borrowed a pair of slippers for one of the farm directors. And look what happened to it. Hahahahaha.
They also had a mushroom farm, but it was already old and used up at the time of our visit. If you haven’t seen a mushroom farm in fruiting bags, you probably pictured out what I meant with a mushroom farm. It was hanged and the fruiting bags were layered one to another. The mushrooms would grow out of those fruiting bags. Too bad I was not able to see good and healthy mushrooms at that time. Mushrooms I think grow more in the dark so they covered the mushroom area with a large piece of plastic.
Aside from plants they also have live stocks that were fed with veggies and not commercial pellets. They have a bunch of wild boars that roam around a fenced area of the farm. When we got there, we saw how muddy their dwelling place is due to the rain. There were even small piglets that were partially soaked due to the rain. I looked at them and I kind of thought maybe the piglets are cold and sleepy. My mother heart always feels sad whenever I see small creatures who are cold and sad. I guess that is a default feeling when you are already a mom.
They did have wild boars which is a good source of protein-rich pork meat and they also have chicken that lays eggs. Yep, they have layers as they call it. The farm director said that their chickens can lay up to two trays of eggs per day. And I was amazed just by thinking about how many eggs can these layers lay.
Also, they have turkeys in the farm. As usual they were noisy. Have you heard how turkeys make their sounds when there are people around? The kids in my place loves to imitate a noisy turkey. Ahahahaha.I love doing that when I was a kid too. The turkey were located just beside the wild boars, too bad I did not take a picture of them but they look like the ones in the picture below. There were many of them by the way.
Aside from boars, chickens and peacocks, they also have rabbits! Yup, you are reading it right, they have rabbits for meat consumption. I was not that familiar with the different rabbit specie that was there, but my friend who were with me at that time, said that there was different rabbit specie there and that they are good types of rabbits according to him.
Man, that was so much fun! I feel like I was walking in a scene in my dreams. I haven’t mentioned it but one of my ultimate dream is to buy a small lot one day and farm and farm to my hearts content. Walking in that spacious fields with lots of plants to see is paradise to me!
By the way, did you guys know that the intent of RISE AND REBUILD INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION is to feed the less fortunate with healthy foods. The founder of this foundation served a voluntary service years ago, and during that time, he saw the increasing number of kids who were poorly nourished due to poverty. So since he was wealthy enough he created foundations here in the Philippines (and yes that was RRIF). They said there were other foundations in the country, one in Lucban Quezon, one in Tarlac and this one here in Sogod, Cebu, making it three in total.
Can you imagine how wonderful the vision is of this foundation, which is to use our wealth to feed the hungry and contribute goodness to the world. I can’t help but be grateful to the Goodson’s for there philanthropic and life-changing acts. They said that since the time they started their feeding program and now, they have seen that some kids are improving in their health. Soon they will not just feed the kids from Catmon, they said they will tap the LGU’s of Danao and other neighboring cities. I am so happy when I heard that.
After writing about this experience, I thought of a question that goes; “If you will be given a good amount of wealth, what will you do with it?” I would love to her you share your thoughts with me in the comments below. Will you be like the Goodson's?
All photos are mine except those that were tagged as taken from Unsplash.
Credits to owners of those photos!
Thank you so much for your generosity @King_Gozie! I appreciate it so much!!! God bless you po.
Hello everyone!
I was away during the weekend. And when I checked back, saw a sponsorship from my friend @Sequoia! Thank you so much po!
My Dear Earth,
Dear Earth,
I was supposed to start this epistle of mine by the cliche`statement," How are you?". But I realize that it will be wrong for me to ask you how are you since it is pretty obvious that you are not fine. I have been with you for more than twenty eight years already and I have seen your declining health for most of my teenage and adult years. Oh my, I have this very vivid memory in my head that makes me tear up whenever I come across it. Wanna know what it is? Its a memory of a wonderful Sunday morning around six AM, I was sitting on a bench facing the East looking at the rays of sunlight passing through the dancing leaves of the Madre de` Cacao tree, and I was filling my libgs with the aroma of the home-cooked meals mixed with breeze of the early morn. Whenever I remember that is memory, I kind of think that I am enjoying that aame scent in my memory, I am then sent to memory lane. How I miss that scent! It reminds me of the green grasses, tall trees and the cool morning breeze that we used to enjoy until 8 AM. I haven't smelled it for a very long time.
Now what I am even talking about it? Why am I talking about that memory and that scent? Because the very same thing that caused the disappearance of the vivid scene in my memory, is the exact same thing that has caused your suffering and deterioration. My kind calls it deforestation, some calls the culprit factory emissions, but me, I call it- **development**. *Yup, development!*
Oftentimes when we speak of development, we think of good things (and yes it do means many good things) but then we haven't flip it over and we've never seen the other side of it or the negativity of it. I know I have said a lot, but what I really want to say is. I AM SO SORRY. I am very sorry for the many advancements that my kind are making, which have caused your destructions. I am sorry, I really am.
I want to say sorry for the dark smokes our vehicles emitted. I want to say sorry for the trees we have cut to make good furniture. I want to say sorry for the mountains we have flattened, so we can build our subdivisions. I want to say sorry for the CFC's that comes out from our aerosols and refrigerators that hurts your ozone. I want to say sorry for the fossil fuels we need to burn so our factories can run. I could go on and on with the lists of things that we have done, and again, I am so sorry. Though my sorry is only a speck in the vast variety of things that we humans did to harm you, but still,my Dear Earth, let me still say it; I am sincerely sorry.
I hope the little things I do, help bring back that health of yours. I hope my effort to wear washable masks lessens the tons of disposable masks being dumped everyday. I hope me buying big packs lessen the tens and thousands of tiny plastics garbage in the dump. I hope my garbage segregation helps in reducing garbages. I hope me, teaching my students about many things about you will help increase in them the awareness so they too will help in restoring your precious health. I know my efforts are small my Dear Earth, but they are sincere. Sometimes I fail,but most of the times I strive. I hope you feel that. I hope you can forgive us with what we have done. I hope you will accept my little efforts of bringing your health back.
Xoxo,
Betha
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Hello dear read.cash family, I stumbled over the article of @meitanteikudo about writing an epistle to our dear Earth,I found it very touching since I am an environmentalist at heart. I dont know exactly when it started but I do have this inner desire to help preserve the Earth through the small things that I can do such as, reducing the use of plastics or buying products that are environment-friendly. I was very happy when one of the subjects that was given to me was Environmental Science because it give me the platform to raise awareness and warning to the young people of our time about the environment. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to have them plant trees asa project in our subject. Just like what I mentioned in my letter to Mother Earth, my efforts are small compared to the problem that we humans are causing her, but my efforts though they be small, they are sincere.
I hope you found some environment-friendly ideas while reading my letter, that will help Mother Earth recover.
I hope you too have your small efforts that will help bring back Mother Earth's health. Because no matter how small our efforts are, they can create big things. As my an adage says, "with small things, great things come to pass."
If you want, you can come and join the fun. Come and write a letter for dear Earth too!
@Betha
