Dinuguan, Stupidity, Pancit Canton, et al...

Mood: ALT + 032 (Thinking... the SPACE between the ears.)

Caution: LONG BLOG TODAY TO MAKE UP FOR 6 DAYS. :)

I met my mom in Glorietta to accompany her home to Laguna. We settled on meeting in Goldilocks near the Ayala terminal. I think she was craving for dinuguan ('coz i was. hehe). So off I went to makati via LRT2 (like a minute away from my place) from Katipunan and then MRT from Cubao. Lugging with me was Delta ofcourse. I always bring her wherever I go (usually). I was a bit late when I arrived, but good thing that her co-teacher was there to keep her company. And so, as you've guessed, I ordered Dinuguan. yeah, I just love it. The best places to get Dinuguan are:

Chocolate Kiss in UP Diliman - 90 bucks for a serving with puto binan. kinda pricey for just dinuguan, but it's worth it since the sauce is thick and creamy and the mixture is just perfect! Yum! my other favorites there are eggplant parmignana (tama ba ispelling ko?), Caldereta (mejo nagdecrease na yung quality over the months, but still good), and seafood pomodori (for 200 bucks, it's good, but pricey).

Rodics - surprisingly, rodics does serve yummy dinuguan. for just 50 bucks ( or is it 55?) you get dinuguan and a serving of rice. minsan lang, mejo malamig na, but the taste is still ok. there are times na matetiempohan mo na mejo maraming taba, pero meron ding lean meat.

Lutong Bahay - it's been a while since i've last eaten here. Yet i do recall that they have good dinuguan and food. Tumaas na yata yung prices nila to like 40 or 50 bucks per meal. but still yummy. Of what I know, taga-UP din yung mga anak nung owners nito. kakilala nung sister ko nung kapanahunan nya sa UP.

So, back to Goldilocks, while eating, my mom started this discussion on literacy. We had this discussion before while eating breakfast. We had this same idea that Filipino kids aren't stupid. nor are they poor in math and science. It's just that the mode of instruction isn't understood fully. I firmly believe that Filipinos in their respective towns, should be taught these subjects in their own native tongue. Why? 'coz it's hard enough to learn english for a child as a second language, and it's harder to understand instructional modes and problems in a foreign language. Take for example Japan and Korea. Their children do well in math and science aptitude tests, but they aren't good in english. So why are they good in these respective subjects? 'coz they are taught in their own native tongue. My mom, a very good educator, taught us english as the first language. Not because she thought english was more superior, but becuase she knew that we had to understand concepts taught in classes with english as the instructional medium. Also, she knew that since we live in a country where most people speak in Filipino, we would eventually inculcate the native tongue easily. And I think that helped me alot in school.

So now, I heard about this new plan to pass a bill of making english as the choice of medium in all schools. Wouldn't this make things harder for Filipinos who naturally speak in Bisaya, Illongo, Tausug, and other Filipino Laguages? (Note: These are not dialects, they are LANGUAGES. a dialect is a derivative or a veriant of a language. Bisaya is not a variant of Filipino. It has its own structure. Laguna Tagalog is a dialect of Tagalog. but Tagalog is a language. Don't ever confuse the two. I owe this to Atoy Navarro) Why not teach younger levels in their native tongue, while still teaching english as a second language in another course, then just supplement this with a reading subject for youngsters to improve their reading appreciation. I have to admit that i'm not a person who reads often, but I do try to force myself to read when i have the time. Once I start leafing through the pages, I do get to be engrossed and finish the book. I've appreciated lately the value of broadening my thoughts with literary reading.

Anyway, I also heard that a survey shows that Filipinos are having worse english proficiency compared before. as 2 out of 10 call center applicants only pass the application process. -- So now, our basis for intelligence and literacy is our English skills? And now, we have to settle our statistics to call center stats? Yeah, in the future, we'll be one big super call center country. Ready to rule the world by calling all your homes and bug you with outbound sales calls if you dont pay up protection money. bwahahaha! But don't get me wrong, call center jobs are dignified, yet, we can't put the future of our country in the call center business. There's always a saturation point somewhere.

So where does the damn PANCIT CANTON enter this blog? ah, yes, upon arriving home, my brother had McDo delivered for dinner (he's not aware that we had dinner already, so we just had dinner nalang ulit). Anyway, my mom and I were talking and we somehow got to the topic of pancit canton. I told her that alot of people like eating pancit canton. lalo na kapag nagtitipid. Which is true. Magkano lang ba naman ang pancit canton? 6 pesos? masarap naman (lalo na yung lucky me na chili-mansi). pero the question is, what nutrients do we get from such food? Jokingly, i told my mom, "Kaya siguro nabobo tayong Pilipino kasi pancit canton nalang parati kinakain natin". Which is true. I had a friend before who ate pancit canton with rice as his meal. Talk about carbo-loading. But I guess since a huge portion of this country is having a hard time earning for a living, this country shall continue to be filled with pancit canton... malnourished.. weak bodies... jobless... poor... and all that's left to eat is still pancit canton. a vicious cycle.



Thought Chain: I just rememberd, I still have two packets of pancit canton on top of the fridge. haha. yeah, like many, I DO eat pancit canton. But i also remember to eat a balanced diet. protein should come with eating a carb based meal like such. I just started my diet again this week. hopefully, I can continue. arghhhh! honestly, i can't live with salad every day! Tutubuan yata ako ng halaman! waahhhh!