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Monte Maria

Flora in the City

These are some flora I have been cultivating for the past 2 years in pots. I keep them at the laundry area outside my room on the 3rd floor of the flat. I started going green about 4 years ago when I purchased an oregano plant outside the Quiapo church. It was quite an experience since Quiapo is the place to go to if anyone wants almost anything --including abortifacients. Horrible, but true. To my consternation, while looking at the strange herbs and roots on display, I was mistaken as someone looking for the "fix". Ugh. Mortified, I hurriedly asked for oregano, paid for it and went home.

Oregano, being not fussy, is very easy to grow--all you need is a leaf ,loam soil, water and the sun. No need to pay too much attention either; just remember to water it every other day, and before you know it, the plant has taken over the whole place. It is so unlike other plants which require constant watch for bugs like aphids or killer caterpillars--the ones that don't metamorphose into butterflies. Oregano is not only a low maintenance plant, it generously emits a certain minty scent too, once anything brushes against it.

My plant population started to grow when my Mother brought home a foot-high Angel plant from the mall. It is now almost 8 ft tall, lush with green leaves and white flowers, providing afternoon shade outside my room.

The yellow-orange hisbiscus (aka gumamela)has been with me for about a year now, and its stems are pregnant with flowers, always a delight to see first thing in the morning.

For fertilizers, I keep a covered container where I let vegetables and leaves putrefy. It's a sort of a compost pit in a bucket.

Tin and Patrick

Since I put up the Christmas tree a few days ago, our 4-yr- neighbor, Tin Tin has taken to her daily afternoon visits again. Yesterday was no exception. I barely opened the door locks when the little girl appeared from nowhere, grabbed the doorknob, eagerly turning it, so she can enter the flat. Upon successfully opening the door, she immediately made a beeline to the waiting tree. Busying herself inspecting the little toys hanging on the branches, she immediately spotted the aquawoman toy and turned the winding key at its side. Tin has fancied the same toy the moment she laid eyes on it last year, and I gave it to her when she asked for it, but she always returned it afterwards, just like she did a while ago.

There are other winding toys by the tree, some hanging on the branches, others are at its foot, and Tin found them all. After sampling each toy and getting tired of them, she spotted the Grimace paper hand puppet. The ever curious preschooler took it from its perch and asked " Ano 'to?" (What is this?) I showed her how to play with the puppet, and the tyke, in her 4 year old self,rightaway launched a question and answer game. She also named the hand puppet Patrick. Ha! Ha! It must have been a mouthful to say Grimace, especially because she has no front teeth.

Here's a sample of her questions: "Sino'ng mahal mo?" (This roughly translates to who is your sweetheart?)- "Ikaw." (You.)Upon hearing my answer, she just flung herself at me, and kissed my cheek.

Kids have a certain simplicity and spontaneity devoid of malice and schemes, which allow them the freedom to express affection and to be easily accepted and reciprocated. Few people manage to keep this simplicity without becoming simpletons. How fortunate are the little people, how blessed they are for indeed they get to open locked doors, appreciate little things, share their blessedness and be blessed in return.

Tin ended up coming and going at least 5 times last night. She made her presence known with a knock and "Hello po." She returned again this morning, as I was brushing my teeth, to play with Patrick the hand puppet. When I return home this afternoon, I'm looking forward to another few moments of pure, unadulterated bliss rendered by an extremely gregarious little girl.

Sunset

One fine day, while I was doing my laundry at the third floor outside my room, I glanced upon the sky and saw the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. I immediately ran to the ground floor--I don't have an elevator/escalator--to fetch my camera, but upon my return, the picture I wanted to immortalize has vanished. Kaput. Henceforth,I decided to keep the camera in my room next to the laundry area and tried to find the same sunset with the palest purple clouds, of course, to no avail. Sunsets, like any other thing we take for granted in our daily lives are never the same day after day, after day, no matter how much they seem to remain unchanging. Here are some shots I have taken so far. I'm still hoping to capture the purple sunset in the future.

The Christmas Ball

“Merry Christmas”, my Dad cheerfully greeted me one day in August of 2008. It was my birthday. Dad is a post stroke patient and he has recovered most of his motor functions, but he has speech deficit. Either he cannot say what he means, or he utters an entirely different word or words, or says something gibberish. But he hasn’t lost his excellent sense of humor, so whenever he’s stumped or in this case, to both our surprise, “Happy Birthday”, came out as “Merry Christmas”, we have a good laugh and go on with the business of the day. Until this day, he cannot say my name or any other name of family members, and he still has difficulty saying what he means, but in our last telephone conversation a few days ago, he was able to tell me in English that he “ can now think clearly and is able to express” himself more.

This year, my parents will experience their first White Christmas with my siblings and their children. If they were here in the Philippines, we would have continued with the family tradition of decorating the Christmas tree together. As a young family, many decades ago, my siblings and I grew up sprucing up the tree which Dad made in the backyard from bamboo sticks. You see, aside from being the best general practitioner in our little town, Dad is also a hands-on parent, a carpenter, a gardener and a farmer. When it’s time to make the tree, Dad would proceed to the backyard, after his patients at the clinic have gone and before going to his rounds in the hospital, to perform his most important task of the day. Having finished the bare tree, Dad and Mom would usually go downtown together to purchase crepe paper, paste, glitters, Christmas balls, Christmas lights and some cotton. The sound of the motor of the vehicle would announce their arrival and my siblings and I would all gather around the bamboo tree in eager anticipation. The fastest child would normally grab the clothes scissors—the biggest pair in the house and take the paramount task of cutting crepe paper for leaves. The rest would either try to make more leaves while struggling with a small pair of school scissors, or curl the cut leaves with a spoon, or paste the leaves on the branches. We would sometimes quarrel as children were wont to do when they didn’t get the tool they wanted, but it wouldn’t last long since the tree was like a strong magnet and the materials are a plenty. Soon, the bamboo tree transformed into the most magical Christmas tree, adorned from top to bottom by busy little hands, and completed by a touch of cotton here and there, to mimic snow. We always had our White Christmas even then. The highlight of the event was Dad’s lighting of Christmas lights…

Last year, in November, about nine months after Dad returned home from hospital confinement of about three months, I made him join me in decorating our commercial Christmas tree. He has made a lot of progress since his day one at home. Among other things, he relearned how to walk, how to talk, how to feed himself, his relationship with us, even how to operate the video machine. But Christmas was to be remembered. He was confused at first, and refused to participate, probably not comprehending what I was about to do. So I just went ahead, I slowly assembled the different parts of the plastic tree, until it resembled a Christmas tree. I opened the box containing lights, Christmas balls, small toys and glitters, then proceeded to randomly hang the tiny decors on the branches. Seeing and maybe recalling our family Christmas tree tradition, Dad eventually took part in the activity, though tentatively at first, still unsure of how to express his artistic side. Gentle persuasion, plenty of patience and continuous praise never faltered in motivating him. Before I knew it, Dad, was zealously furnishing the tree with glitters and cotton on the branches. With a twinkle in his eye, he even managed to string a ball which lost its original string and proudly showed it to me, before finding the perfect spot for it on the tree. The next day, Dad joyfully ushered the neighbors’ kids into the living room to admire the Christmas tree.

The Christmas ball and its string are still there, proudly hanging on the tree. I’ll show it to him when he returns home with Mom come January 2010.

Should teaching focus on Science and Math only?

The raison d'etre for schools is to formally mold the minds and character of children who have been initiated on the foundation of learning by parents' home tutorial. This preponderant task of shaping future reliable and responsible members of society is accomplished via instructions aimed to exercise both hemispheres of the brain by teaching balanced pre-selected subjects which include music and sports. However, there exists a belief that learning should include math and science only. I find this undue emphasis on academic subjects delimiting, unbalanced and curtailing the child's capacity to grow as a full human-being, hence, I propose the continued inclusion of non-academic subjects in the curriculum.

The shaping of personality comes not from studying numbers; neither does it result from examining the molecular structure of chemicals. Character-building is a painstaking offshoot of daily encounters among children in the medium which encourages self-expression, play and friendship. Music is one such venue which also leads students to appreciate different tones, beat and rhythm. Most of all, it instills self-discipline, teaches the value of perseverance and hard-work, and enhances awareness of their part in the choir or in the orchestra. Meanwhile, sports foster sportsmanship, teamwork, quick-thinking and being a good follower. Far from being superfluous, these minor subjects develop exceptional multi-tasking and time management skills. Not only that, they also serve as healthy vents for extra energy or emotions. In addition, sports undeniably contribute to the physical well-being of the team. Still, when fully honed, talents in either music, sports or both can be turned into profitable economic ventures. Child prodigies in music can have records sold in markets or they can perform in concerts, while sports virtuosos can become the youngest members of professional games, like chess or billiards for example.

Conversely, math and science complete the erudition of children. Procedures used to arrive at correct answers and steps used in checking them indubitably formulate the basis for problem-solving. Furthermore, this contributes to abilities related to theoretically mapping-out strategies that can be used to ferret solutions to any questions encountered. Science, on the other hand, piques children's perpetually asking minds by introducing concepts designed to do such. It also builds the foundation for organized and systematic methods of thinking and data gathering in the quest for answers to pre-formed hypotheses. Together, math and science are solid pillars that can unshackle the minds of the young from inanities that easily derail and trammel them in ways discordant to scientific approach. However, these academic subjects may successfully intensify inherent intelligence, but they bear no contribution towards personality enhancement.

Major subjects do not necessarily bear hegemony over minor ones. Molding the minds and souls of the young necessitates the inclusion of all these subjects since math and science focus on logical thinking and problem-solving while music and sports cater to creativity and character-building. It is therefore categorically imperative that the edification of children include academic and non-academic subjects.

How to manage photos?

It's my first time to upload photos and it seems like they're all over the place... Hmmm.

This was a forwarded e-mail--on growing older...

Seems like only yesterday... Tweety bird was a tiny and helpless-looking chick and Barbie was a svelte-looking doll,



This year, Barbie is 50 years old, while Tweety is turning 60, and what about our childhood super heroes?

Wonder Woman (touch of menopause here I think?)



SPIDERMAN




Batman and Robin




Thor




SUPERMAN





"Life is short, break the rules, forgive sooner, love with true love, laugh without control and always keep smiling.

Maybe life is not the party that we were expecting, but in the mean time, we're here and we can still dance....."

Growing old is not for whimps.....

Christmas tree

Yesterday, my younger sister came over to gather some of her books and stuff. The last time I saw her was when I gave her some shirts and new duty pants, maybe a month or two ago. BaNing looked radiant in the fuscia shirt with a fuzzy teddy bear design and she was really animated and happy as she related her latest updates. I can almost forget her "I am dying" text messages in the past months. We swapped stories on what we've been doing, etc. It's really good to have family members around. I miss my parents. (They're still with my brother and they will have their first white Christmas.) After my sister left, I hauled BaNing's Christmas Tree from the cabinet and took my time decorating it with trimmings. Last Christmas, to celebrate Dad's first year of his new lease to life post stroke, I made him participate in the Christmas Tree moment. He was hesitant at first, maybe because the different sizes, shapes and colors were still confusing to him or maybe, he couldn't remember the Christmas Tree idea just yet. Eversince we were kids, we had this Christmas Tree decorating tradition. Every year we had a new Tree because Dad started the tradition by choosing the best bamboo sticks from the backyard which he would patiently cut and whittle into shape and then hammer together to form our family Tree. This would be followed by our going to the store for the trimmings which included lots of cotton, paste, crepe paper, and Christmas balls. Once all the materials are gathered, everyone in the family, including the youngest scramble to take part in the different tasks ahead. It was funny when we were kids because we always quarrelled over the paste or the size of the leaves, or the curling spoon. Somewhow, we managed to cut the crepe paper into shape, curl the cut shapes into leaves, and paste the ready leaves on the bare tree. To give a white Christmas idea, we put cotton on the leaves. I miss those moments. Nowadays, all we do is buy plastic trees from the shop and put colored lights around it.

My commercial Chrismas tree has a hodgepodge of red ribbons, tiny toys, shiny balls, yellow and red lace, blinking lights and an orange poinsettia on top. I hope Dad gets to help decorate the Christmas Tree with my brother's family this year.

Audience participation

These past few Sundays, I have been able to listen to the Magic radio station where an adult and child are tandem jocks for about an hour. The program features a game for kids where they get to sing with the Sponge Bob jingle on the air and normally, those who call are either dads or aunts or uncles, so they can get free bees for their beloved kids. This morning however was special. A five year old boy called the station, and when the singing part came, he announced that he didn't know the jingle. The kindly man at the end of the line immediately asked him what song he knew. The tyke just belted it out. Now, that's what hitting the right audience means.

What money?

I was reading back issues of the Philippine Inquirer in the net (taken from The Philippine Star, updated January 23, 2009)a while ago and I came across an article regarding the pork barrel. I'm sure almost all pinoys are well aware that most of Philippine money go down the gullet of certain crocodiles never to be seen nor heard of again. (Maybe this time, we can have a full report?)

I found it incredulous--appalling! Revolting is the right word; I think I'm going to be sick! I have neighbors who go hungry not voluntarily and there are kids who go from house to house asking for garbage daily! Not to mention the countless ubiquitous street urchins and FAMILIES living on a street not far from a government
hospital!

The Congress ratified P1.415 trillion budget for 2009 (although it was still open for amendments..) Different sectors were allocated some amount as follows:

DPWH P129.9 billion
DTC (Dept of Tansportation and Communication) P25 B
Education P158.3 B
PDAF P9.7 B
Economic stimulus P10B : == Talinong Pinoy P500 M
== Kabataang Pinoy Educ and Skills Dev't P1B
== Training assistance for laid off workers P1B
== School buildings P3B
== Medicines/med supplies P1B
== Food production P2.5B
== Bantay Kalikasan and Bantay Dagat P1B
Congress budget===P7.4B
Each senator gets==P200M
Each House member== P70M

With that much money, why is it that the government has been saying that there's no budget for whatever needed to be addressed after Ondoy? Meanwhile, NGOs are busily distributing goods to the evacuees. (Strange isn't it--the public were immediately able to collect what was necessary and proceeded to assist the needy... No buts, no excuses.) Then, as if they forgot saying that there's NO MONEY, each senator parted with one million each with the exception of one who found it in himself to be munificent and donated--was it 13 million pesos? Yes, this occurred days after Ondoy decimated the metro.

How can some people get millions while all they do is waste the public's money in squabbling about a certain person's sex scandal, or pin point to X's involvement in past scrapes when all along, he was also involved in it? Aren't they supposed to be drafting or reviewing laws for the betterment of the people?

I have always thought that my country is the land of milk and honey, but it is being run by @#$%!?!!!. In a few months time, we will be electing a new set of public officials. Have we learned enough so that we will be wiser with our choices? Or shall we remain apathetic and let the dogs have it their way?


Two hundred million pesos for one person, and there's the pdaf too or is it already included? Tsk. Tsk. That much money can send many children to school,and provide the much needed employment across the board--regardless of social status. When are we going to realize the need to distribute resources fairly?