of fishes and horses

2011-03-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

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 weren't really able to see anything 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.

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. =)

mommy musings

2011-03-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

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. =)

arbitrary musings of an earthbound star

of fishes and horses

mommy musings