Write Diet

Studying in Germany

Sometimes, communication is all mixed up when you mean differently from how other people take your words. You say the words correctly and they hear them perfectly, and yet somehow the signals go awry somewhere. Ever had that happen to you before? A perfect conversation turned something else? A conversation on Earth that ended up somewhere on Mars?

A perfect food dish turned hopia soup?

I told my youngest to "write Diet." And he asked, "Okay, yet what?"

"Huh?" I said, giving him a raised eyebrow, not knowing what he was trying to say. So I told him again, "Write diet." He gave the same answer. "Okay, yet what?"

"What do you mean 'yet what'?" I asked.

"You told me to write 'Die yet.'  Didn't you? So what follows 'yet'?" he asked, making me even more confused. He tried to clear things up: "Do you mean 'Die yet live'?"

That's when my dear wife butted in: "Your dad wants you to eat a right diet."

"Oh my," I told myself mentally. She even winked at me, as if saying we got him there. I cleared my throat and reminded her that I never said eat but write. She insisted it should be eat. That settled it. My youngest ate a right diet from then on, but you could see how he wondered about what really happened.

Write diet is what overweight people who want to lose weight ought to be doing repeatedly---on paper or on the blackboard. My youngest was putting on a bit excessive weight so I told him to write diet. But life had become too complicated, as I have narrated earlier, and another completely different thing happened. Well, not too different, actually, because my kid ended up eating healthy food. Though in another sense, it was also something different.

If you're overweight, try it. It works for naughty kids at school. Could work for you, too. What I mean is, tell them to write "I will never be naughty again" repeatedly on paper or on the board and you'd see marked behavioral improvement. Write diet several times each day and the idea will stick to your subconscious like glue and register in your mind and control your will---hopefully.

Did you know that writing influences the mind, particularly the memory and subconscious? Make it a habit to write your thoughts or anything you'd like to dominate your thoughts. Write the phrase repeatedly like a written chant or write a long essay or blog on it. Blog's better. Then it gets programmed in your mind and sent to your will and motor tendencies. Then it becomes part of you. You'd just see yourself doing it automatically, almost effortlessly. Like magic. Yup, and something different.

Remember the saying---the pen is mightier than the sword. Well, it's mightier than the appetite, too, if you use both the power of the pen and your mind.

So write diet. Write healthy and weight loss recipes and menus and picture how the super nutrition would change your health and fitness for the better. Write nothing but this. Write them right now and make them your thought content each time you think, like how hopia soup would always be on the intellectual dinner table of those who love something different.

K to 12? Is that What Our Kids Really Need? Or Are We Barking Up the Wrong Tree Again?

ucanews.com

When you let technocrats run government, they often come up with amazing things that bark up the wrong tree. They impose heavy tax policies on the poor and working class but let the billionaires go scot-free. They penalize new car owners with late registration when it's LTO and car companies that are to blame. They get strict with private schools but look at the sorry state of public schools.

And now they think of extending school days to improve education when what kids really need are more decent classrooms and facilities and better teachers.

I notice how most people today are just after titles--they want PhD degrees as if titles and positions are the solutions to our problems. I saw one government office where every employee is a PhD holder. Wow! But is that government office doing a good job? NO. In fact, it's among the incompetent government agencies I know.

And now there's the K-to-12 program which is supposed to improve education in the country. They think the added years in school would make the difference. But even if you added 100 years to schooling, it wouldn't do any good as long as there is a dire lack of decent classrooms and able teachers--teachers able to write and speak well in Tagalog and English.

The problem is so basic--we don't need more school days. We need more quality schools and teachers. I'm often astounded how a lot of teachers I see (public and private) cannot speak or write in English and some of them pronounce Tagalog words ridiculously. I always wonder what they teach their pupils. Reading and writing are basics and if you don't start there, you'd end up nowhere.

How to Cook My Steamed Fish in Oil and Sauce: How About My Sauteed Aubergine?

extra-relish.com

I like to cook and believe me I can cook a lot of delicious Pinoy food dishes like sinigang, adobo, mitsado, almon bigas, and tinola, to name a few--and of course, rice. But often, what I cook for lunch or dinner is my expertise--what I call steamed fish in oil and sauce--which sounds complicated but is actually a dish anyone can cook, even folks who hate cooking.

How? You simply open a can of Ligo sardines in oil and tomato sauce and put that on top of your stove. You may want to close the lead a little bit to make it steam. And there you have your steamed fish in oil and sauce. It's delicious but easy to cook and prepare (preparation is simply getting a can opener and open the lead--but wash it first with soap and water).

I like topping it with thinly sliced fresh onion rings and maybe put a teaspoon of soy. This is specially appetizing when you top it on steaming hot rice--steamed fish on steamed rice. Perfect, isn't it? And how do you steam rice? I do it simply--whisk enough water on rice leftovers from last night and put the pot they're in over the stove.

But my eldest son insists that, since he's learned to  appreciate simple living, he can live with steamed Ligo sardines daily as long as they are partnered with at least 3 thick pieces of grilled pork chops--plus Coke.

How do you make my steamed fish in oil and sauce really healthy? Try partnering it with my sauteed aubergine (the last word pronounced as o-be-gzine). Again, it just sounds complicated with a French term inserted in it, but it's actually nothing but sauteed eggplant. You boil the eggplant until it gets tender enough to easily peel and then saute it in chopped tomatoes and onions. Or just plain boil and peel off its skin.

Now, the real question is, where do you think I learned these recipes? From chefs or cooks? From my grandma or mom who were experts in culinary arts?

Nope--I learned them from carpenters who loved to bake..

Hopia Soup: My Kind of Life

iadorefood.com

The life I really want is what I'm not living right now. Now, don't take me wrong. I'm not dissatisfied or complaining. I have a wife and kids I love and we're happy and content in God. But being content doesn't take away dreaming and being ambitious. You have the freedom to pursue them while in contentment, and if per chance they remain elusive, then it doesn't matter.