Eating with chopsticks

Eating at Japanese restaurants has never been a fave of mine, not only because I am not really into Japanese food, but also because I do not know how to use the chopsticks  (Psst, I hate using it!). I tried to learn how to use chopsticks but never succeeded. One, because I did not have the patience, and two, because of pride.

Okay, let's talk about pride, lol. I said I am a Filipino, I am comfortable using spoon and fork, and even in Japanese restaurants, customers are allowed (though, most often than not, frowned upon, duh!) to use spoon and fork, so why bother? I said to myself and to my friends that I will probably just die not learning the art (yes, art!) of using the chopsticks and that I don't care at all. Pride, ha?

Now, why talk about eating with chopsticks? Because, while I am proud to be a Filipino, it makes sense that when I am in a Japanese restaurant or eating Japanese food, eating with chopsticks is the appropriate thing to do. And because all my colleagues use  chopsticks while I stick to my spoon and fork and when I look at them having fun eating sashimi and sushi and maki rolls with chopsticks on their hand, there I was, looking (and feeling!) so dumb, holding my fork and having the most awkward moment of trying to eat a maki roll without breaking the roll apart! Whew, I often feel so out of place.

So at 41 (hey, no one is too old to learn something new!), I studied the proper use of chopsticks and even the proper way of eating a sashimi and a sushi, AND IT FEELS GOOD man! Hahaha. Okay, not only did I learn the trick, one of my twin sons learned it, too. He was around when I was watching the videos and he got so interested he said he wanted to learn how to use the chopsticks.

So you see, it's time to practice what we've learned and share the lesson with my other children. It's high time they learn it, too. Happy eating with chopsticks (or your finger, lol)!

Lessons from children

Should I post this under Life Lessons? No, I want to post it here. I want it here because these are lessons realized, learned, and shared by someone else, someone I respect: Paulo Coelho. 

Isn't it great to be happy for no reason? It is. But we, adults, always find a reason to be happy and more often than not, we rely on other people to give us happiness. One thing I learned in life, we have to be content to be happy. We have to be true to ourselves to be happy. We have to love ourselves, not necessarily more than we love others, to be happy. 

To be always curious. Yes, children are curious and they just don't care about the consequences of their actions. I call that spontaneity. As an adult, it's not always a good thing, lol, but it can be real fun to just poke at things, unturn some hidden stones, break a rule, ahhh, this is endless....But we are adults, and we need to learn and be responsible for our actions. Sometimes, curiosity just doesn't cut it.

To fight tirelessly for something. Kids are stubborn, and most of the times they don't understand what "give way" means. Oftentimes they wail and fight tirelessly over something without realizing that these things can be bad for them. But again, kids are spontaneous, they don't stop and think whether doing something can hurt them or whether saying something can hurt others. They just do it. That's how kids are.

Sometimes I wish I were a kid again. Sometimes I wish I could go back to that time when I don't have a care in the world, when I don't think but I just do because it gives me pleasure...When I can laugh out loud and not care if I offend someone, when I can howl no end because I want something and I can't have it, when I can be honest with whatever I say and not feed bad about it....

Ahhhh, to be a kid and be loved and pampered and cared for.... I miss being a kid.