7 Things I Think the Philippines Should Adopt From Europe

   I have been to Europe before but only for a couple of days for a company training. This time however is my first time to stay in Europe relatively longer. I am staying in Rotterdam, but I was able to visit several cities in the Netherlands such as The Hague, Utrecht, Amsterdam, Gouda, Delft, and my most favorite – Den Helder. In the three months of stay here, I have been amazed of some habits and conducts, I think would be good if the Philippines, say the Filipinos, would adopt. These are:

1. Four-lane roads

When I say four-lane roads, I don’t mean the lanes are wide enough for a faster vehicle flow. The four lanes I mean here are the lanes for car vehicles, for motorcycles, for bicycles, and the sidewalks for pedestrians. Some drivers may drive crazily but bikers and pedestrians feel safe because they are provided with their own lanes. Biking on the main roads is not a thing in the Philippines. But with the prices of fuel, maintenance cost of cars, traffic jams, environmental concerns, I believe it is also nice to bike in a tropical sunny weather, most especially with a lane intended for it. Well, this is the government’s call. Therefore we, ordinary Filipino citizens, should vote our leaders wisely :)

2. Honking  only when necessary

According to the Smith system of driving, you should make other drivers aware of your presence. This is one of the principles for safe driving. In the Philippines, we do that by honking our horns – ALL THE TIME. Our roads generate noise pollution because of this. According to several studies, honking is one of the biggest contributors to noise pollution and it causes stress, headache, and many sorts of health hazards. I stayed 3 months in the Netherlands, and I have heard honks only thrice. Cars here wait for pedestrians. They also wait for the cars in front of them to move. In the Philippines, drivers use honks to tell the cars in front to move quickly, or to assert their position. It is just plain disrespectful and annoying.

3. Respecting pedestrian lanes

Do you know what are those white parallel lines painted perpendicular to the road? I hope you do. Because in the Philippines, those lines are mere decorations. Pedestrian lanes are designed to allow pedestrians to cross the roads. Drivers must slow down and stop before the pedestrian lanes to allow the people to cross and not the other way around. In the Philippines, drivers don’t seem to respect pedestrian lanes. But here in Europe, specifically in the Netherlands, I am so impressed with how patient the drivers are in allowing pedestrians to cross before they accelerate. Filipinos, pedestrian lanes are not just for insurance claims (kidding aside).

4. Observing respect to traffic/stop lights

When I was in grade school, I was taught that in traffic lights, red means stop, orange/yellow means prepare/get ready, and green means go. In the Philippines, well, in most of the cities, drivers only see green lights. Traffic lights are designed for safety, and I have seen a lot of accidents due to failure to observe respect to the traffic lights. Here in the Netherlands, people have good eyes. They know what is red, green and yellow.

5. Reduced use of plastics

Enough about the traffic. Let’s talk about plastic. I beg to disagree with Barbie. Life in plastic is not fantastic. The United Nations Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution (GESAMP), estimated that land-based sources account for up to 80 percent of the world's marine pollution, 60 to 95 percent of the waste being plastics debris. It is but proper to reduce the use of plastics. In the Netherlands, plastic shopping/grocery bags are not free. In the Philippines, when you buy stuff from the groceries, you are given free plastic bags. I am used to that. I always forget to bring plastic bags every time I buy groceries. Right now, I have a vast collection of plastic bags – Albert Heijn plastic bags, Action, Bazar, Spar, name it. With the plastic bags not given for free, it is practical to reuse them. Imagine if it is practiced in the Philippines. Waste generated from plastics will surely reduce. We don’t want to pay for a plastic bag. We want everything free.

I have collected a lot of plastic bags. I could've saved a couple Euros if I just reused the bags I first bought.

6. Cleaning up own mess

When you eat in Jollibee, McDonald’s, KFC, Chowking or in Mang Inasal, I bet you just leave the place with the plates, condiments and all the mess in the table. Then the next customers will wait for the service crew to clean all the mess before they can sit and use the table. That’s just how it is in the Philippines. Come and eat in fast food chains here in the Netherlands. You don’t have to wait for a service crew to clean the table. People buss the table and leave it clean for the next customers. How courteous, right?

7. Everyone greets each other

I don’t have a lot of friends. I keep my circle small. But here in the Netherlands, you seem to be friends with everyone. When you encounter someone, may it be in the elevator, on the roads, or wherever, everyone stops to say hi. I found it weird at first, but when I got used to it, I found it very nice.  Also, Dutch people are straightforward. We Filipinos use to sugarcoat. I just wonder how nice our environment would be if we find sincerity in every person.

There are also other things which I consider as honorable mentions, but I think, we couldn’t just ask for those things and level-off with these European countries because we are still developing. One is about work-life balance. Work-life balance here is amazing. We couldn’t just ask for that in Philippines. Our country is still developing, and we need to hustle and grind. Also, Europe is in the stage of energy transition. I can see a lot of efforts to reduce CO2 emissions, and to transition from the use of fossil fuels to a renewable source of energy. Our country can’t afford that for now. We have a lot of coal-fired power plants, which I believe is one of the few considerable choices we have for now because we are still in the build, build, build phase. We need cheap and readily-available energy source to fuel our developing economy. Hopefully nature will not take its toll on us.

I am sharing this based on opinion at a personal level. You may agree or disagree with some points. I love the Philippines. I really do. With my experience in Europe, I can just imagine what our country would look like if the Philippines, our people - the Filipinos will share the same practices mentioned. It would be very lovely living in a tropical country with safe roads, respectful and courteous people, and a clean environment. We don’t expect utopia, we just want a lovely place to live in.  

Mindanao's Enchanted River

               On one sunny Saturday, our team decided to unwind after a very tiring series of farmers’ meeting. Our destination was on one of the Filipinos’ sought-after places in Mindanao; the Surigao del Sur’s Enchanted River.  From Trento, we traversed the road going to Bislig City. It was a string of winding roads. As of that moment that track was somehow very wearing to be travelled because most of the roads are under repair. So if you will travel via that road, I suggest you travel only in the morning. Avoid traversing that road at night. The other way to get into enchanted river is to travel via San Fransico, Agusan del Sur.

                The enchanted river is a part of Hinatuan, one of the municipalities of Surigao del Sur.  From the highway, you will travel couple more kilometers to get into enchanted river.

Pasalubong and souvenir stores in the right

                After 2 hours of travel, we have finally arrived in Enchanted River. In the entrance, you will find stores for pasalubong and other souvenir items. Just our luck, we arrived just before the feeding time.

Everyone's keeping their eyes on the fish on feeding time

                Feeding time for the fish in the enchanted river is scheduled during 12 noon, 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock in the afternoon. During feeding time, everyone is asked to rise from the water. No one is allowed to swim during those times.

                If you wonder why it is called enchanted river, folks out there share common stories. According to them, the river was called enchanted because no one knows where the source of water is. Also, there has been no one who was able to get into the basest part of the river. One time, a diver tried to locate the source of water, but he only died trying. He ran out of oxygen and was trapped underneath. Also, some people say that the fish out there can’t be touched. Maybe, just maybe, the river is protected by other life forms not like us.

Fleet of boats waiting for passengers

                Aside from the river’s enchanting deep, blue and clear water, there's a lot more in store for tourists in enchanted river. On the edge of the river, where the river and the sea meet, tourists can go boating. The boatmen will lead you to the place where they call the “vanishing island”. According to them, the island sometimes does appear but sometimes it also vanishes. Added to that, they can also lead you to an underground adventure. There’s a cave where you can enter. The cave houses many stone formations, bats and other species living underground. But beware, during our underground adventure, we were able to encounter baby king cobras. Fortunately, they were asleep that time. According to the people there, the cave was once a hideout of the Japanese troops during Japanese-American war in the Philippines. There were also treasures hidden underneath, but no one is allowed to hunt for those treasures.

Inside the cave

                The day was really short for us that time. How I wish I could extend the length of the day to extend our adventure as well. The enchanted river really is very enchanting. The place is very rich with mystery and history. It enchants you to come back for more. The next time I visit the place, I will make sure to allot more time for extreme escapade.

yours truly :)

Top Ten Biggest Brain Damaging Habits

                Brain damage refers to the degeneration of the cells of the brain. Obviously, it is one thing that we want to avoid yet sometimes we unconsciously do some things that are damaging to the brain. With the modern lifestyle that we have, we just don’t know that we are on the verge of getting our brain cells tear off. Thanks to the World Health Organization, we were given a list of the Top 10 Biggest Brain Damaging Habits. Try to look if you do some or maybe all of these.

1.       Having No Breakfast. 

              

      If we wake up late and we find ourselves being in the rush hour, we tend to leave the house without eating a complete meal. Breakfast is considered to be the most important meal because it refuels our body after eating no food because of sleeping. If we skip breakfast, we also missed the chance of refueling our body with glucose. Glucose is a type of sugar that is essential to the brain and is a main source of energy. Without breakfast, insufficient supply of nutrients is fed to the brain and will eventually cause damage to the brain cells.

2.       Overeating. 

The brain, as we all know, is the control center of all the body operations. The brain and the stomach have an amazing relationship. Every time the digestive organs experience weakness due to ailments, signals are sent to the brain that will suddenly give you some kind of a whisper that you have to eat. That’s the time you start to hear your stomach making some weird sounds. If you overeat, the brain nerve-energy malfunctions and will benumb that may even be paralyzed. The brain arteries will harden that will result to a decrease in mental power.   

3.       Smoking. 

      Smoking may not only destroy the respiratory system but it destroys the brain cells as well. A cigarette stick contains over 35 carcinogenic substances, 400 toxins and more or less 4,000 chemicals. These chemicals cause ailments that can lead to heart attack and stroke due to the blocking of the carotid artery. Once the artery has limited space for the blood to flow, blood supply to the brain cells is cut that may result to brain shrinkage and brain disorders and worst, it may result to Alzheimer’s disease.

4.       High Sugar Consumption.

    Everything that is over is destructive. This holds for sugar consumption. Sugar is essential because it provides energy for the body. However, too much sugar can cause the release of adrenal hormones that raise the blood sugar level. These hormones are called “sugar high”. Having a high level of blood sugar interrupts protein absorption as well as nutrient absorption that will cause malnutrition that may impede brain development.

5.        Air Pollution. 

      We inhale due to the primary reason that we need to take in oxygen because of the demands of the brain. If we inhale polluted air, we let our brain consume toxic substances that may cause inflammation and abnormal protein deposits in brain tissues. This also decreases oxygen supply in the brain that leads to brain inefficiency. Particles from polluted air that goes inside the body can accumulate brain tumor.

6.       Sleep Deprivation. 

        We sleep not just because our body tells us to do so. We sleep due to the fact that our mind and body need to rest for the cells to regenerate and rejuvenate. If we deprive ourselves to sleep, there’s no way our cells would regenerate and repair. That would lead to malfunctioning of the neurons that may eventually lead to the death of brain cells. People who lack sleep also become less sensitive to insulin that leads to high blood pressure and an increase risk of diabetes. Those two ailments affect the brain and its performance.

7.       Head Covered While Sleeping. 

        Covering the head while sleeping – maybe by covering the head with a pillow, a blanket or other things that cover the head, can damage the brain. If the head is covered while sleeping, there will be concentration of carbon dioxide in the covered area that counters concentration of oxygen. Then again, the decrease in oxygen supply in the brain leads to damage to the brain tissues.

8.       Working Your Brain During Illness.

        During illness, you can observe that you can hardly think properly. That is just because you are just too weak for your brain to think. If you try hard during this situation, your brain will just be stressed out and that may lead to its ineffectiveness , or worse it may lead to its damage.

9.       Lacking In Stimulating Thoughts. 

         The way to train your brain is by thinking. We can solve math problems by solving and solving and practicing. We think hard that’s why by the time we get to encounter hard problems, we can just easily solve them. The brain is stimulated that’s why our brain becomes more effective. Stimulating the brain by just simply thinking is a good way to make the brain grow. However if we lack brain stimulation or we don’t think and think, our brain will shrink – making it dull and ineffective.

10.   Talking Rarely. 

        Sometimes if we talk rarely, we don’t think that much or we just simply let our mind wander around. In relation to the ninth factor, thinking is one activity that stimulates the brain. If we rarely talk, we actually don’t stimulate our brain. We talk because we think, we socialize, we question, we provoke we share ideas and those things lead to brain stimulation.

Those habits are just simple things that we do in our everyday living. Now that we are aware, let’s just try to avoid those things and let’s maintain a good lifestyle. Always remember that a healthy mind leads to a healthy and wealthy life.