Growing Old with Soda?

Regardless of age, soda shouldn't be the drink with every meal. Easy to say but hard to do? I see a lot of parents in fastfood restaurants giving their kids (as young as 1 or 2 years old) soda to drink. Kids drinking coke or spite doesn't seem to be a frightening sight but how about putting 3 spoon-full of sugar in one glass of water and make a 1 year-old kid drink it all up? But some parents even enjoy watching their kids wincing at the soda effect on the kids' throats.


If kids should not drink sodas, lolo shouldn't do more.

Facts are:

1. Sodas have NO nutritional value. Nothing at all except filtered water and refined sugar.

2. 330 ml can A DAY translates to more than a pound of weight gained every MONTH. So if you drink at least 3 sodas in one day, you are almost like adding 3 months of weight gain. For each additional soda, you are increasing an additional risk of 1.6 to getting obese.

3. It promotes weight gain and DIABETES. Diabetes can kill you. Your wounds heal longer with more sugar in your body.

4. Osteoporosis. I wonder why lolo is drinking Sprite in McDo Divisoria.

5. Gives you beautiful teeth (actually, it's the opposite)

6. (times six) and more.



In fact, Soda drinks are even more dangerous than cigarette smoking.

New Generation of Street Kids

This picture says, "If there are only thousands of Efren Penaflorida in the Philippines."

Efren Penaflorida of the Philippines is CNN's 2009 Hero of the Year. He created a program to educate youngsters that they have choices other than being in street gangs. - NYDailyNews.com

It would be a nicer world to see kids playing scrabble on the streets rather than sniffing and inhaling destructive substances. Can Kagayanons do it?

Betting or Giving?

Sunday is a quiet day in Cagayan de Oro City. Stores are closed. Families are spending more time at home. Couples spending more time on their beds. Worshipers starting to fill the churches. Homeless kids are still asleep on their concrete abodes -- either hungry or full (if the Night Cafe became a blessing for them). And a Lotto window just opened up for one early bettor unmindful of the homeless kid lying near his feet like a bearskin rug.

Both are in need. The man needs luck. The boy needs everything he should have. Did this boy intentionally sleep near the Lotto window? Should we be betting or giving? Mother Theresa said, "If you have time to think whether to give or not, then you have no time to love."

Rugby Boys

At first you thought they have sniffles or flu. But they were not wiping their noses but sniffing addictive rugby substance from bottles behind those shirts. These boys also inhale gasoline from motorcycle tanks or even glue. The effects are fatal and I don't have to put the details since anybody can search and surf more info about it.

These boys are hanging out in the open at the Bonifacio Park in Divisoria Cagayan de Oro City and people don't seem to bother. But if they or we do, it will be useless. They'll just run and make faces at you. Not even the policemen and traffic aides can deter these kids.

Solution? This is not for the long run but it can help. Each time you see boys sniffing and inhaling these substance, buy those bottles with food if not with money. The bad thing about doing this tho is they might do this more often to get money or food .. but I guess that's better than letting them damage themselves. Anyway, they never started sniffing those stuff only if they are full.

Idle minds and empty stomach are two of the causes of anything evil doing.

Bread Matters

After a good jogging to and around SMCDO, it's good to have Pan de Pugon nearby. My wife is not a bread person but after a few jogging and a few morning sunlight exposure, hot pan de sal from Pan de Pugon is just irresistible.



Soon more commercial buildings will rise nearby. They are paving the zones now to put some parking spaces for future buildings. If I am to choose, bars and cafe fit best the location.

CDO Dog Show Finalists

The Cagayan de Oro Kennel Club Inc. held a back to back championship dog show at SM CDO on August. I didn't see anything special tricks but just a ramp show -- perhaps, it was a show of who is the more behaved and disciplined dog.

Personally, I think they have done it over and over with the same dogs joining the show and almost getting the same results. The winner tho was a Siberian husky (second from left). The second was the Chihuahua (farthest right). If I remembered it right, a beagle won third.

Plus: the Siberian Husky stayed inside its crib the whole day except when it was its turn to ramp. Dang, grrrr!

Victims' Footprints

Flood came. Food gone. Help came. Footprints tell the hungry victims. This girl is patiently waiting for her share of "lugaw / aruscaldo"