dear DepEd

Dear DepEd, I am extremely thrilled to hear that you have partnered with Johnson & Johnson and Play Pilipinas on the advocacy campaign 'Di Lang Laro Ang Laro. I totally agree that 1 hour of daily active play will ensure a child's holistic development. 

But I really wish you could do something about the volume of homework and the highly-advanced lessons in private traditional schools nowadays. By the time kids finish studying for quizzes (Noah's school has a not-more-than-3-quizzes-per-day rule at that) and doing their homework, there is very little time left to play (worse, if your child rides the schoolbus home).

It doesn't help that the lessons are harder nowadays with preschoolers tackling multiplication (I swear, those flash cards came out not earlier than Grade 4 during my time) and Grade 1 students already studying fractions and capacity. My Grade 1 Noah even had to memorize how long it takes for each planet to revolve around the sun (from Mercury's 88 days to Neptune's 165 years), including the number of moons of and the gases (like carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen & methane) found on each planet, for his 4th Quarter Exams this year!

I am pleasantly surprised that they are able to learn these things at such a young age, but I think it is much too taxing on them -- limiting their time to play, their time to enjoy childhood.

I know that it probably isn't you, dear DepEd, that requires these levels of academic excellence. It is highly likely that this is the schools' own doing. But just as you impose the minimum academic requirement on these schools' curriculum, I wish you would also set the maximum. After all, while too little is indeed bad, too much is just as bad.

Don't get me wrong, dear DepEd. I am glad that the stewards of education of our country understands that the playground is also a classroom for mental development...

... for physical development...

... and for social development. 

I just really wish that my child had more time to learn these things in the playground rather than doing worksheets on his study desk.

Disclaimer: I am writing this without having done any research on DepEd's required curriculum. I am just writing as a mother who, while watching her child study every day after school, worries that he is missing out on his childhood.

Photos are from  annnniegirl and courtesy of Johnson's Baby.

Click here for previous posts from the Dear... series. Click here for the of-dots-&-things version of this post.

life on steady ground

Now that I'm on sabbatical and have time on my hands, I've been meeting up with old friends and talk of travel keeps coming up.  Because the old constraint of conserving vacation leave days no longer exists, there have been talks of month-long cruises and overnight train rides.

Oh, don't get me wrong. The idea of visiting new places totally excites me! It's just that my motion sickness here limits me.

I get dizzy just watching this moving photo of a train's hallway...

And even looking at the water here...

I used to think my motion sickness gave me life in slow motion. Turns out, I would have been lucky if it did. Life on steady ground is what it has turned out to be.

Sigh...

Photos from annnniegirl.

dear home-service pedicurist

I had a jam-packed weekend recently and had no time to go to my usual nail salon at the mall. So I called a home-service nail salon I had tried twice before. I was pretty satisfied the first two times because they weren't obsessed with turning your feet pink. Their cuticle remover was a white liquid and not the common pink one at cheapo parlors (yes, I think "parlor" is more apt). They also didn't try to put merthiolate on my toenails or that thing they call "foot blush" in some parlors. I had watched the pedicurist like a hawk the first two times so I could immediately stop the use of pinkening products, if they tried. Since they didn't those two times, I thought I could relax on this latest appointment.

I was wrong. The pedicurist put merthiolate on my toenails when I wasn't looking! I was going to a wedding that evening so I was quite horrified! As you know from here, I am allergic to nail polish so I couldn't hide my merthiolated nails under polish. So the pedicurist spent more time trying to "erase" the pink from the merthiolate than the pedicure itself.

It's too bad because there's something relaxing about having your nails done at home. The nail salons I frequent get pretty full on weekends so I usually have to set an appointment way ahead (all the time at Nail Spa in Shangri-la Mall) or if I decide to do a walk-in (usually at Dashing Diva Power Plant Mall), I end up waiting a few hours until they have a free slot for me. Even during my long-awaited appointment, having so many other people around you, somehow takes away from the pampering (I did like the Nail Tropics hidden inside Rustan's Shangri-la Mall because they had only 2 chairs. But I haven't tried it on a weekend so not sure how hard it is to get a slot.). I imagine home nail service could keep me from having to deal with filled-up parking lots, or rushing to get to my appointment (because for some reason, I'm always late). I prefer to have my nails done when I want rather than when the salon can accommodate me. Plus, I imagine napping would be possible at home - without fear of my valuables getting stolen while I'm asleep.

So dear home-service pedicurist... please don't assume everyone wants pink feet. I really wish I didn't need to watch your every move, ready to stop you from putting pinkening products on my feet. I wish I could relax just as much as I do at my usual nail salons when you do my nails at home. After all, my room is intrinsically more suitable to relaxing than a mall, right? I sure wouldn't mind dreaming away while you scrub, cut, clean & massage my feet into a non-pink dreamy state.

Photo from annnniegirl.

Click here for previous posts from the Dear... series. Click here for ocmominmanila's review of a particular nail salon. 

my impossible wishlist

After writing that post on my excessive wishlist, I got to thinking about an impossible wishlist...

1. To watch a Friends episode live. When we went on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank, California two years ago, we went inside the Two and a Half Men studio. Filming the show wasn't scheduled that day but we got to sit where a live audience would and right in front of us was the set of Charlie's house. It hit me then how sad it was that I would never get a chance to watch the filming of a Friends show. Good thing the Friends Central Perk set was part of the WB Tour so I at least got to see it up close. 
2. To taste Trattoria Uno's Zuppa Marinara again. When I was growing up, there were very few mall choices. One of them was Ali Mall and they had this quaint little Italian restaurant there with patrons' graffiti all over the walls. We ate there all the time. They had freshly-baked bread and the best Seafood Marinara soup! If I am not mistaken, it was owned by the Aranetas and in later years, would sometimes be closed because the chefs were busy with a private party of the Araneta family. I remember going there in later years and Zuppa Marinara was no longer on their menu but the chef would gladly cook me and my mom our favorite tomato soup! But a few years ago, Trattoria Uno closed down. And tasting their Zuppa Marinara again sadly lands on my impossible wishlist. Sigh.  
3. To munch on Jack & Jill Barbecue Curls again. I haven't found anyone who remembers Jack & Jill  Barbecue Curls because only Chiz Curls survived the test of time. People remember Munchees (which I wasn't a fan of) but nobody remembers the Barbecue Curls packed in a red and yellow foil pouch. I remember loving it when I was a kid. But to be honest, decades later, I have a very faint recollection of it's actual taste. So I'd sure love to try it again! A snack I do remember so well - that I can almost taste it - is the original Planters Cheese Curls that came in big cardboard canisters. I remember they brought out the "selfish" in me. When my friends were over at my house, I'd hide my big can and offer everything we had to eat at home - except for my salty, cheesy Planters Cheese Curls. Now sometimes, a Cheetos Crunchy would start out tasting like my old Planters, but the flavor at the end will be quite different. And don't be fooled by the Cheese Curls you might spot nowadays in a blue canister and yellow lid (even those that use the Planters brand), they are so NOT the same. The Cheese Balls versions are pretty close to the original. But the Cheese Curls are never like the original.
4. To see a photo of my old toy creations. When my brother and I were little, we would make pretend horses using side tables as the body (with a pillow so it would be soft to sit on), our mom's belts as reins & stirrups, and our teddy bears as our horses' heads. I also remember building various things out of Lego... Like a dog with an open slit as his mouth. The flat hole led to his belly so we pretended the "smooth flat two" Lego pieces were dogfood. The memories are so clear in my head but it would be great to have a photo as a souvenir.

5. To be one of those names in the credits of Disney's Beauty and the Beast or Toy Story. When I first watched Belle, I was so in awe of her expressions & actions - how her eyebrows furrowed, how her eyes widened with emotion, how her hair would fall down her face and she would brush it off. She seemed like a real person! I was also captivated by the very realistic majestic ballroom. And to this day, I love the songs! As the credits rolled down, I remember wishing my name was one of those many names. It would have been great to be a part of such a grand project. It was, after all, the first ever animated film to be nominated in the Academy Awards for Best Picture. I would have also loved to be part of the Toy Story production team. The first-ever animated film in CGI with three-dimensional characters... and toys I grew up with as the characters! That would have been awesome! Oh and just so it's clear, this wishlist item is not only impossible because the movies were made a long time ago, but more because I have no idea how animated films are made! I don't even know how to use Photoshop! It's just really fun to dream of being part of such a Creative Team.

Oddly, I thought thinking up this impossible wishlist would make me sad. But dreaming up the possibility of these impossible wishes was actually quite enjoyable! 

Friends photo is my own and the Beauty & the Beast animated gif is from annnniegirl.

Click here and here for previous posts that show my addiction to Friends. Click here for another nostalgic post on Ali Mall and other old malls.   

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

It feels kind of odd that this moving photo (click here for previous posts on animated gifs) does not come with sound. Though even if it did, I wonder if we'd be able to decipher what he's saying because I could never understand when Donald spoke.

And since we're on the subject of Donald Duck, I just need to point out something that I've always found puzzling: Why is it that when Donald Duck comes out of the shower, he has a towel around his waist? But when he's all dressed up, he only wears a top?

Have a merry, merry Christmas!

Photo from anniegirl.

tomato weirdness

I don't really understand why.

I looove tomatoes in Italian food... I love Italian tomato soup (My absolute fave is still the Seafood Marinara Soup of the Aranetas' chef. This used to be available to the public in Trattoria Uno in Ali Mall.) and Italian tomato-based pastas & pizzas (Penne Arrabiata, yum!).

But I hate tomato-based sauces in Pinoy food. I just cannot eat Afritada, Kaldereta, Mechado and Menudo. Though I do love tomatoes with salted egg or ensaladang mangga!

So odd because they're exactly the same tomato, right?

Another one of the lovely animated gif photos of Jamie Beck in frommetoyou.

Click here for previous posts with moving photos from frommetoyou.