in my dream i had a vision

i've dreamt of water countless of times. tornado in the water, floating on water, tsunami, etc. lately, i've been dreaming about it more. last night i dreamt of a great flood. my dream last night had a movie like quality to it. heck, it had a storyline worthy of a sci fi flick. most of the time dreams are like collages of various short dreams. last night it wasn't like that. it was continuous. it began and it ended.
it started with me in a house i wasn't familiar with but it seemed like i lived there. i was with my sister and we were watching TV. the news was about a new disease, a virus that was affecting people and making them wild and cannibalistic. resident evil and i am legend comes to mind. the virus was spread by biting. doctors in a secret warehouse were scrambling for a cure they say. yet, people still went about their own way and didn't mind the news very much until there were so many people infected in the streets. i got bitten in the hand while walking in the street but, strangely i wasn't infected, instead the person who bit me had a sort of allergic reaction to my blood. doctors then got a sample of my blood to study its effect on the virus. weird, i know.
then there was darkness. there was no day anymore. it was just always night and demon-like creatures started roaming the earth. people hid in their houses or offices or whatever shelter they could find. there were lots of people hiding in the house where i lived. we locked all the windows and doors. we had one gun. food was scarce, people were scared, children were crying and some were getting sick. we were afraid to go out into the darkness but their were some who braved it to find help. the government said they could do nothing. they were also trying to save themselves.
i was trying to calm people down when my mom found a statue of Mama Mary. the statue was crying. my mother got a bowl to collect the "tears". when the Mama Mary stopped shedding tears, we had enough for a small bowl and mixed it with raw rice. i applied the white liquid on the arms and head of each person, hoping it would protect them from the evil trying to get inside the house and also heal their ailments.
i went to the room where the statue was to get more "tears" but when i touched Mama Mary's face, it was soft, not hard like a statue should. i touched Her face with both hands and couldn't believe what i was feeling with my hands. then, the face became a swirl of colors and i felt like i was being sucked by a vacuum backwards. then there was a blast of brightness and i felt like i was floating. the feeling was incredible, like you were in the presence of something so great. it was very bright but i could see a slide show of images and words written in a language that i don't know but in my dream i understood. i remember praying or talking to God but i didn't hear His voice. i just know i was telling Him things and He was showing me images of the world or what will happen to the world, i think. as sudden as the images begun, it stopped and i was lying on a sofa with my eyes open. i heard people rejoicing outside. i went out and saw that there was water everywhere. it was flooding waist deep. i knew then that the demon-like creatures and the virus stricken people were gone, and whatever bad was in the world was washed away. i could see people playing with orcas. orcas in waist deep water! weirdly impossible i know, but in my dream everyone and everything was happy.
i was there standing and thinking about the last image shown to me. i can't remember much of the other images and writings but i remember the last one. then i heard my daughter say, "good morning! open your eyes mommy", and i woke up with goosebumps on my arms, an urge to cry, and thinking that was one weird dream.
i think the end of the world as we know it is going to happen sooner than we think. that last image was ingrained in my head. that image was that of hope!
 

For Charmine... Steamed Fried Rice / Rice Topping

I thought setting up a blog would be a good idea to pass the time more productively, but, suddenly, I can't find the time to post anything. I'm so busy, I hardly have the time to sit down and breathe! I promised my sister, though, that I'd post the recipe for steamed fried rice for her friend, Charmine (who's now abroad), once i get a few minutes of free time. Unfortunately, the real recipe for steamed fried rice is very time consuming, requires a lot of ingredients and quite complicated. I simply don't have the time to articulate it right now. Since I'm a very busy mommy, I experimented and came up with a new steamed fried rice recipe with easy to find ingredients and can be ready to serve in 30 mins. or so, but still yummy. This recipe can be adjusted according to taste and the number of servings. So feel free to make it your own.


Rice
Steamed white rice (put in ref to dry up a little)
Eggs, beaten
Cooking oil


Stir-fry rice in oil. Add the beaten eggs to the rice and mix well until the rice is completely coated with the eggs. Set aside when cooked.


Topping
Pork tenderloin, cut into small cubes or strips
Canned Campbell's mushroom soup + 1/2 can milk + 1/2 can water
Onions, sliced
Garlic, chopped
Oyster sauce
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Button mushrooms, sliced
Green peas
Sugar
Salt
Pepper


Saute onions and garlic in sesame oil. Add pork and stir fry. Season with oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Add button mushrooms and mushroom soup. Let simmer, stirring occasionally. When sauce is thick enough, add a little sugar and a few drops of sesame oil. Stir in green peas. Serve hot on top of the steamed fried rice.


To Charmine: Now you don't have to wait until you're here in Cebu to get your steamed fried rice fix. Sorry didn't get to take pix. Anyway, enjoy!

mommy musings2

I have observed that children need to have choices. They need to be able to make comparisons. When a child has only one role model with him/her always, for example, just the main caregiver, the child will emulate the traits of the main caregiver, good and bad. But if a kid has more than one role models, then he/she can make comparisons and see what works for him/her, ergo they not just imitate but develop their own character. If both parents are involved in the child's upbringing and the kid can look up to both parents, then he/she have points of comparisons and both parents can guide the child on how to act and react in certain situations. Kids don't have innate fears or a sense of right and wrong yet. They take cues from what they see and hear around them. They say that it takes a community to raise a child which is true to a point. It is important for kids to be in a good environment, to be surrounded by people who love them and care for their well-being. They need to be exposed but at the same time they need the grownups to guide and reign them in when they're about to go overboard.

Be there to guide them...

Children are very keen observants and the great thing about kids are that they are spontaneous and honest. You get instant feedback. Grownups can really learn so much from kids. One just needs to listen and be sensitive to their actions. They also have a great sense of justice. So it's important to be good examples to kids. Don't be too uptight and make sure that you can walk the talk.

...but allow them to develop their own character.

That said, education also plays a big role in the development of a child's character. Education is not just the responsibility of the teachers nor is it just the parents'. Parents and teachers should be open-minded and be able to work hand in hand, so it's vital to find the right school or course of education (e.g. homeschooling, private, public, religious, Waldorf, Montessori, etc.) for your child and you.

I'm a first-time parent and don't claim to be an expert in parenting. I am learning and still has so much to learn.

of fishes and horses

My daughter goes to a preschool that makes you wish you had this kind of school when you were a kid. ECEC regularly conducts Activity Fridays where the teachers bring the students out of the school to have an adventure and experience things they would otherwise not experience in a conventional classroom. The little tykes also learn how to conduct themselves properly in public. The kids look forward to these Activity Fridays and honestly, I do too! It's great bonding for teachers, students and parents.

Last Activity Friday, we went to Papa Kit's Marina and Fishing Lagoon. It is located in Silot Bay, Poblacion, Liloan, Cebu. The place is huge with a number of activities you can do, at a cost, of course. The entrance fee is Php 100/person, totally reasonable, considering that it's consumable on food and fishing equipment rentals. It is advisable to have a car or a vehicle to go around in, like i said the place is huge, you'd be sweating buckets if you had to walk around from one activity area to another. 

We were told that they open at 8am so imagine our dismay when we arrived there at quarter to 9am and their service crew hasn't arrived yet. We had to wait until 10am to try the zipline. Nevertheless, we didn't let that nor the slight drizzling dampen our spirits. So when 10am came, we promptly paid the Php200/person back & forth zipline fee and carefully climbed the stairs up to the platform. 

We conquered the 800m zipline over the sea!

I rode the 800m zipline in tandem with my daughter while Teacher Y. rode in tandem with BJ, my daughter's classmate. It was quite exhilarating and I was glad to share this first time experience with my spunky, fearless 2-year old. She kept saying, "It's too windy mom... my hair!". She was more worried about ruining her hairdo than falling and plunging into the sea, I had to laugh and forget about being scared.

M and I

The horses came next. I've always loved horses and ever since my daughter got to ride one during our last vacation in Baguio, she has been bugging us to get her a pink horse, as if we have the space to tend a horse, and a pink one at that! We had to wait for a while for the horses, but when they came, my daughter, M, was so delighted that she didn't care if the horse given to her was white and not pink. We rode horseback around the marina. The caretaker even allowed us to ride the horse at a slow gallop. It was fun, albeit a little sore on the behind. The sun was shining by this time so I was really glad I slathered sunscreen on M before we went out. Sunburn can be quite a hassle for little kids. Horseback riding costs Php 100/horse/30 mins; their laughter... priceless!

M and, her classmate, B sharing a laugh and a horse!

After the horses, the kids wanted to ride a boat so off we went to rent the glass-bottom boat. It cost Php 500/30 mins/max 10 ppl. They provided life vests but they didn't have life vests fit for kids. They should really secure kid-friendly life vests. We went around an islet along Silot Bay. The waters were murky so we didn't actually see anything exciting from the glass-bottom of the boat. There was also a thrilling moment when the boat broke down. Good thing the man in-charge was able to fix it.

Looking through the glass-bottom of the boat.

We were quite famished after the boat ride so we decided to grab lunch in Papa Kit's restaurant. Like the zipline and the horses, we also had to wait some time for our food to arrive. We should have ordered ahead, before we rode the boat. They served good food though at mostly Php200+/dish. We used our consumable coupons to help pay for the food. I just wish their serving time didn't take so long. 

Fishing was a lesson in patience. They charge Php 50 for fishing rod rentals. M was almost bored holding the fishing rod and trying not to move so as not to scare the fishes. That must have been excruciating for her but she didn't dare move. Everyone got excited when she caught her first fish. I was so proud of her!

M and her bangus!

When M got her fish, we were ready to go, but her classmate, BJ, refuses to go home until he catches a fish too. Kids can be so competitive. Haha! So we waited for BJ to catch a fish while M cheered him on. We paid Php 45 for both of their milkfish and had it placed in plastic bags to take home.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Activity Friday in Papa Kit's. M, exhausted from the adventure-filled day she just had, gladly slept while Teacher R. drove us home. =)


P.S. Thanks to Teacher R. for the pix!

mommy musings

I want my daughter to grow up knowing that her body is her own, that she has a say over it, and that she has the power to say no. It would be really great if people would just ask her permission if they want to kiss or hug her and not be offended when she refuses. She's not a toy that anyone can just hold or hug, nor meat that can be pinched without a care. I mean, would a grown-up like it if a completely random stranger pinches you in the mall or suddenly hugs you? I get that my daughter is cute and all but, admit it, it's just not okay. What's worse is when relatives or friends force a kiss or a hug and when she squirms, they call her a snob to her face. I really don't like it when my daughter is given negative labels especially when she's actually doing nothing wrong. When you call something or someone a label, for example you call a kid a snob, it can get stuck, and she might believe it and actually act a snob even if she was not in the first place. It's not just about being hygienic or not being a snob, it's about teaching her respect. She may be young but she's a person and like any other person she deserves respect. That way she would learn to respect herself and others too. Also, I want her to know that it's okay to say NO. This may be very useful when she gets to her adolescent years and there's so much peer pressure. =)