(from google images) the giant christmas tree at araneta center. by now, the giant christmas tree would have been lighted. if you look at it from afar, it may not be that grand but when you stand at the base of it, it provides a different kind of glow, a magical one that uplifts every person's mood. hay i miss cubao in general.
sep 21
changi airport, 3pm. i checked in early for my flight. i was quite excited to go home because this was unplanned. with the meager budget of a graduate student, i managed to buy pasalubong for nicko and sam and also some for the oldies. knowing that its gonna be a long night, i even brought home ulam which i know my dad would enjoy with his appetite for food.
naia centennial terminal 2, 6pm. i shed a tear the moment the plane touched down. i dont know why. i didnt expect that i would become that melodramatic. jusko, 2 months pa lang akong nawawala.
kuya was already waiting for me at the arrival area. he had that tired, serious look. i asked him about daddy and he said he was waiting for me. while walking towards the car, he was telling me stories about how daddy has somewhat changed.
on the long drive from naia to the national kidney institute, he filled me in about daddy's dialysis treatment. how he was shouting inside the room because it was so painful. kung paano sya nagsumbong na parang bata. he said he didnt know how to react that time, whether to laugh or cry. daddy was telling him "muntik nila akong patayin. binutasan nila ako sa leeg. tapos tinuli ulit ako. ang sakit!" while he was telling me this, we were both laughing but we know deep inside we're both dead worried about our dad. it was also the first time i heard him say, "ano na kaya mangyayari kay daddy?".
when we got to the hospital, i went straight to the emergency room. he cried upon seeing me, saying "binobola nila ako". i hugged him and said "hindi ka nila niloloko. im here, hindi ka nila niloloko."
a few minutes later, the discharge papers were signed. we were told to follow the prescribed home medication and to call after a week for his check-up. only then would we know if he needs another dialysis treatment. we asked the doctor what the real deal is. he said my dad had gallbladder stones, his kidney doesnt look so good, has liver enlargement, etc. but his laboratory results are already good, meaning everythings going back to normal so theyre letting us go. i felt numb that time. didnt really know how to react. kept my cool.
so we went home. we dropped by chowking and bought his favorite wanton noodles. we had dinner at home. but he didnt eat much, just about 3 or 4 spoonfuls i think. normally, he would eat a lot even if he's sick. but this time, he only ate a little.
we went to bed at around 11 or 12. i stayed in bed with him so that mommy, my sister and my nephew can regain their sleep. they havent slept for days so this time, i would be the one on duty.
i felt what they had to go through for the past few days. my dad doesnt sleep. he would just lie down on bed. close his eyes for a few minutes. move around in bed. there are times when he would want to get up and try if he could carry himself on his own. but he cant, so i have to assist him. he would try standing up and walking, but he would find it difficult so he would go back to bed. it wasnt like this before. during his past confinements, he wasnt this weak.
few minutes before 2am, i managed to get a nap. but around 2, he was complaining about how his entire body aches. he was looking for kuya because he gives him good massage. but kuya lives an hour drive away from us. so i would massage him, but tell him im very bad at it. but the pain wont subside. we ran out of pain relievers so my sister and my nephew had to go out to buy some. we managed to give him a tablet around 3 am but its effect could only be felt after an hour. so for 2 hours, he was in total pain, rolling in bed, shouting. our massage was not helping him. finally, at around 4, he was able to go to sleep.
sep 22
6am. he woke up again because of the pain but we were telling him to sleep some more. he would fall asleep but would wake up every now and then, probably because of the pain.
at around 10am, we had breakfast. we gave him oatmeal but he ate just a little. that time, he was in his wheelchair so it was easy for him to move around the house. whenever we would notice him become sleepy, we would bring him to bed. but after a few minutes, he would complain of how his body aches so we would let him sit again.
we called up ate but i dont remember if no one was answering the phone or we cant connect. so we called up uncle and they talked. he was telling uncle that he wants to go now. and uncle would tell him that its not for him to say. only God can tell when he needs to go.
after their talk, we were all still so sleepy so we went back to bed. i remember sleeping on the edge of the bed and he was on his side, holding my arm.
at around 130, he woke up, again complaining about the pain. we told him we cant give him pain killers until he gets some food. so he ate, about 5 spoonfuls. when we were giving him his medications, mommy noticed that he was sweating profusely. and his sweat was cold, just like when he had his second stroke. i also noticed that he was a bit pale. i called kuya up and told him we might need to bring daddy to the hospital again. suddenly, we noticed daddy catching up his breath. thinking that its because of the phlegm, mommy prepared the nebulizer. my sister and nephew were helping daddy sit. while i was removing the medicine's cap, the breathing got worse and he mumbled "maybe this is how dying feels like". after saying that, his stare just went blank and he slumped. (my sister later on said that she saw a tear fall from my dad's eyes when his stare went blank and closed his eyes)
i ran out of the house and looked for a cab. when i came back, i saw my sister doing cpr on him. our neighbors carried him to the cab, while i grabbed my purse and my eyeglasses.
he was not breathing while in the car. and i didnt feel his pulse. i was tapping his cheeks and telling him "wag muna, wag muna". and to make matters worse, traffic was soo bad so my sister has to get out from the cab and plead to the other drivers to give way because we have an emergency.
we got to the nearest hospital a few minutes after. they tried cpr on him but they were not getting any response. so the doctor asked permission from us to insert a tube in his trachea to facilitate air flow. we told him to do whatever he needs to do.
around 310, the doctor talked to us. he explained that the brain can only function for 20 minutes without air. after that, no amount of revival techniques could bring it back to work. so he told us that they will resuscitate him until 320, but if he doesnt respond within that timeframe, it means he's gone.
so they revived him. i think there were 3 doctors on his bed, and 2 nurses taking turns pumping his rib cage. thankfully, they were successful. different drugs were administered, i dont remember most of them now but i know one is to help the heart keep on pumping blood. parang 7 swero yata nakakabit sa kanya. but he would go on arrest every now and then. on his third arrest, we thought that was it. mommy was wailing. we were all already crying, prepared to hear the doctors' confirmation. but he would fight, and the heart monitor would again show signs of life. from the time we got to the hospital (doctors said we got there at 3) until 6pm, i think i saw him being revived 4 or 5 times. going through that was emotionally and physically draining. thankfully, we had relatives and friends who were there with us.
around 8pm, his condition became stable so they transferred him to the icu. my mom went home to sleep but my sister and i stayed behind.
sep 23
530am. my sister and i were woken up by the nurse, asking for our consent on another dialysis treatment. my sister said that doctors from the kidney institute didnt think having a series of dialysis is good for him because of his condition. so the nurse left. a few minutes later, the nephrologist came. he told us our chances. it was not even 50-50, it was worse than that, 30-70. in a coma scale of 0-20, with 20 having the highest chance of survival, daddy is only at 3. so he told us to talk to our other siblings and plan on how to break the news to our mother. but he said if we are willing, we will take our chances and give dialysis another try. its very risky at his condition, but its better than doing nothing. so i signed the papers. at that point, i couldnt contain it anymore so i just broke down. i called up kuya and asked him to come over. i texted ate and told her about it. what made me cry more was when she texted "kiss daddy for me and if he is in pain, tell him its ok to rest already. we will take care of mommy. lets be strong together."
but we cant just keep on crying. we had to be strong.
at 9am, i went with daddy to the dialysis treatment room. he was still in deep coma. my mom came around 930. one of my friends came around 10 so i went out of the room first and had to talk to him about the blood donation thing. i also texted my cousin, telling her to look for a priest who could annoint daddy. around lunchtime, my other friends came over so i told them what happened.
it was already 1pm when the dialysis treatment was over. some of my friends came to donate blood but the extraction was to be done at another hospital so i accompanied them. but administrative blunders came up so they were not able to donate blood. kuya and i ended up buying blood at the red cross office in pasig.
when we came back to the hospital, i rang uncle and updated him about the situation. when i went up, i think we had a few friends and relatives there. i dont remember anymore.
at around 630, my sister and i were in the toilet when my brother called up. he told us to come down. its an emergency. when we got there, my cousin was hyperventilating because she saw how the nurses performed cpr on daddy. my brother told us daddy had another attack. i hugged my mom, i think. or my sister, i and my mom hugged each other, crying. i dont know how long it took, but i heard my brother say, "are we going to stop it? daddy is in so much pain already. he's so tired." and then i felt it, that was it. we're losing our dad. we asked our mom what she thinks. she said yes, lets stop it. let him rest. i had no strength to tell it to the doctors. i told kuya to do it. but before he went into the room, the four of us stood there at the hallway for a minute and hugged each other tight. then kuya went into the room crying. i didnt go inside. i stayed outside, hugging my mother and my sister all the while.
then the doctor told us we could go inside now and say goodbye. he was just like sleeping, except that he had no heartbeat and breathing. he was still warm. he was still soft. i hugged him tight. my sister removed the things that were on him. we were talking to him like he was just sleeping. i think there was a point when we even kidded him. that was us. thats how we are.
a few more minutes after, the attendant came. they are going to prepare him now. so we hugged him one last time.
that was 40 days ago.
today's class was about studying a traumatic part of nation's history, the genocide in cambodia, oct 1976 massacre in thailand and oct 1965 event in indonesia.
i have read about the khmer rouge but it was my first time to encounter the thailand massacre and the indonesian event. reminds me of the mendiola massacre and the hacienda luisita incident a few years back.
on a personal level, i think of my own experience.
in some sense, the passing away of a loved one could be a traumatic chapter of one's life. but i dont want to focus on the trauma, i want to talk more about the remembering and forgeting part.
during the wake, i suggested that we wont have that typical family picture when all the members of the family would stand beside the coffin and have a "family picture" taken. i dont get the point of having the picture. i mean, pictures are suppoed to "capture the moment" and i dont want to capture that moment. hence there was no family picture beside my dad. in fact we didnt take a lot of pictures during the wake, even when there were a lot of opportunities for it because long lost friends and families were reunited.
i remember after the burial, ate cleaned the house and wanted to throw all the old stuff away. my mom was objecting but was not able to do anything. so some of our old clothes, including my moms clothes back in the 60s, were given to relatives.
i was in charge of fixing my dad's clothes, all 3 cabinets of them. initially, they were also meant to be given away. but my mom became emotional. she was crying, explaining that she wanted to keep the clothes first to give her a feel that my dad is still there. seeing his clothes makes her feel that my dad is still her. so i just folded the clothes neatly, and placed them in the biggest cabinet. i told my mom that i placed my dad's clothes there so that when she's ready to give them out, it would be easier for her. i asked her if she's happy with what i did with the clothes. she said no, and cried again. i just hugged her to comfort her.
last friday, i dreamt of my dad. one my regrets when he was in the hospital was that i should have hugged him more. i should have hugged him longer when he was in his bed, just before the hospital staff bring him down to the mortuary because that was my last chance to do so. that was my last chance to touch him and hug him and see him up close. but i dont think i hugged him enough. the next time that i saw him, he looked different with his face a bit bloated, plus there was a glass divider between us.
so that night, i prayed to God to give me another chance to hug him, even just in my dreams. and God was so good, he granted me that prayer.
this was my dream. setting was in the province (he would always want to go home whenever he's in manila).
first scene: he and my mom were standing along the highway, waiting for something. they were going to japan (he's always fond of his pal memories but he was not able to go to japan).
next scene: i was telling my mom to take care of my dad because i dreamt that he got sick and i told her that i was crying in my dream.
next scene: a jeepney stopped by the house and my mom in that jeep (it reminds me of the scene when we went to sta ana for his birthday this year. he was in his stubborn self but my cousin was able to urge him to come). we were calling my dad to come out or else he's gonna be late.
so he came out, but this time, my nephew (who helped my mom and my sister take care of my dad when he was in the hospital) was already helping him walk. it was quite funny though because he was eating in that scene (he looooves to eat). he was smiling and nodding at the people along the road although he doesnt recognize some of them (after his 2nd stroke, he sometimes have difficulty recognizing people unless he goes very close to them).
next scene: i was helping him walk back to the house, the kind of support wherein i was almost hugging him and carrying a lot of his weight (the way i did when i was helping him get up when he was in bed). i was asking him if there's anything painful and he said he's feet are killing him.
and then i woke up.
last sunday, it was my sister's turn to see him in her dream.
two days ago, i was talking to my sister and my mom on skype when my mom asked if ive dreamt of my dad. when i said yes, she asked me how the dream went. my sister was messaging me not to tell her anymore because she might just cry. my mom cried when my sister recounted her dream to her. and when you tell a story to my mom, she's the kind who would want a "thick description" of events. but skype was uncooperative that day. so the burden of telling the story went to my sister.
after my dream, i was planning to write immediately about it because its something that i would want to remember. but i changed my mind. now, after class, i changed my mind again. i finally decided to write about it so that its etched forever.
i dont know if this is gona help me. when i was heartbroken, writing helped me moved on. i think i even wrote good pieces back then. but in this kind of grief, i think it will take a long time before i can move on, before the entire family can move on.
im not even sure which part i would want to remember and which part to forget.
we finished early today because of hari raya. as promised last week, we were dismmissed at 8pm.
i was supposed to go straight home and start reading for my response essay but the kaladkarin me has proven once again her weakness for food invites so i said yes to fong's supper invitation and went with her, py, shi ya and quian for a prata. sarap!
it was fun spending 3 hours just eating and chatting about school, travel, culture and yeah, boys haha i feel like an undergrad.
(this post is a bit scattered because my thoughts are scattered)
its tuesday...and every tuesday, i always have thoughts to ponder on while im on my bus ride home.
before the bus ride....
my cultural landscape professor is the kind who's so passionate (i think) with what he does and gets so engrossed with the lecture that he usually forgets to dismiss the class at 930. i dont mind this at all because i enjoy his lectures very much. this just means though that 1) i will miss the free shuttle to bukit timah and 2) additional 20 minutes of travel time.
tonight, we were dismissed at 935 by my watch so i was resigned to the fact that ill miss my bus. i was walking leisurely with 3 of my classmates, 2 of whom were also heading to the same bus terminal where im going. when we got out of the adjoining building and were walking towards the 1st bus terminal, i saw my bus! didn't bother to run though cause it was still a long way to go since i would have to go around the corner and sort of make a u turn cause of the slope of the place. i would surely catch the bus if i would jump from where i was, but i didnt do it for 'civilized' reasons hehe so i walked slowly, not minding my bus. but when i reached the corner, the bus was still there! so there, i hurriedly said goodbye to my classmates and ran like san cai calling for dao! kakapagod tumakbo!
now, for the class proper...
the topic for today was globalization so there was a lot of discussion was about culture change and all that. when our professor got to the part on base ethnic cultures like patron-client relationship, clan relationships, etc, he mentioned about the patronage system in the philippines.
he went on saying "this is still very strong in countries like the philippines even with their democracy and stuff. i know there are filipinos in this class but im sorry, i think its just rubbish"
in college, we have had a lot of discussions on patron-client relationship and patronage politics and at that time, criticizing our nature of politics was just fine. but when these words came out from a foreign professor with me sitting alone (anne, the other pinay in class was absent) in a sea of foreigners, i felt uncomfortable. when he was saying his thoughts out loud, i was even smiling because i know what he's saying and its true. but when the class looked at my direction and i realized that i was in a sea of foreigners, i froze for a moment and became uncomfortable. what he's saying is so true yet i had that feeling that i had to protect my country from the 'judgments' that my classmates might develop out of this statement. but, what will i say? that its not true and tell something i dont believe in just to save face? at that moment, i realized how different it is to talk about the negative things about your country when youre in your country compared to when youre abroad. the truth is not just something that you accept but becomes a bitter pill to swallow.
anyway...
some bits and pieces from the lecture
- he uses bello as a reference. i was actually tempted to raise my hand and say "he was my professor in college'. hehe epal lang. but i didnt.
- the trend of teachers going to other countries to look for better-paying jobs is not exclusive to developing countries. singapore has the same kind of problem. nus lacks geography teachers. contrary to the common belief that graduates of soc sci courses would be automatically absorbed to the academe, what actually happens is they go to private companies or go abroad to become consultants in private corporations.
- singapore is one country who has a motto of "educate, educate, educate!" they believe that their people is the only resource that they have so the government is investing on its people. nus' operating cost per year is 700 million sgd and 75% of that goes to salaries of professors.
- it was interesting to listen to one of my local classmates talking about how some singaporeans have a materialistic culture. she said that she just cant stand how people seem to 'show off' their new LV bags or how their lawyer boyfriends make huge amounts of money or how they were treated to a bali holiday like these are all that matter
my professor agreed with this and shared how some people tend to focus on the glossy side of singapore and forget about the poor part of the society. he said that some people are so insenstive that they make a huge issue out of congested mrt trains when in fact, every city in the world has this same kind of concern. he was stressing how this 'problem' becomes so trivial compared with problems of people who cant afford to a decent meal. and singapore also has these kinds of people. one classmate even mentioned about how some think that their biggest problem is a space for their third car.
another note about the irony of materialism. he was telling a story about his former student whom he saw driving a jaguar. of course, he was so impressed with how his student was able to afford that kind of car. and then the former student started saying "oh i dont have money. im paying 3k/month for this car. im using this to pick up girls because i dont have money to go to bars." hehe the typical yuppie. looks so rich outside, but...
and for some trivial matters..
- zara (daw) changes their display every week. after the 9/11 attack, they only had black and white collections as a sign of mourning
- coach (daw) is the only brand of bag in the u.s. which manufactures their bag locally. i.e. made in u.s. ang tatak ng bag nila when bought in the us. other brands are manufactured abroad.
original scene
930 ng gabi, umaambon ambon. konti na lang ang tao sa school. habang nasa gitna ako ng kalsada (intersection), may naulinigan akong tumatawag. pagtingin ko, nabungaran ko ang isang gwapong runner, sabay sabing, "excuse me, is this the way to the pgpr?"
original scene me: yes, go that way
revised scene 1 me: oh, im on my way there. lets run together
revised scene 2 me: i wont tell, habulin mo ko!
revised scene 3 me: i dont really know. but i know one thing, i wanna get lost with you...
scene 1 (sa klase kagabi)
teacher: so, is it really possible to have an autonomous history?
classmate 1; yada yada yada ....
teacher: if smail would you ask you to write history, what would you write, pre-colonial, colonial or post-colonial?
classmate 1: blah blah blah
teacher: he wouldnt be too happy if you write history that way
epal me: if i read it right, i think what smail is saying is its possible to write an autonomous history, you just have to focus on the locals. he is not saying though that we should discount our Eurocentric or Americo-centric histories. histories written in those perspectives are helpful in understanding our colonial histories. theyre important in understanding our overall history as a region. but he would want us to write a history of the region in itself, something which does not focus on foreign relations.
teacher: so what kind of history would you write, pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial?
epal me: i think he would want me to write a post-colonial history blah blah blah
classmate 2: i think blah blah blah
classmate 3: blah blah blah
teacher: he would want you to write history say from 1940 onwards, something that is NOT CENTERED ON THE COLONIAL because if you write history that is centered on that, you are giving very high importance on the colonial and not on southeadt asia as a region.
epal me: (aaahhh...yun pala yun!)
=====
scene 2
(nasa booth ng nus student union, titingin ng planner)
me: you still have copies of the planner?
tao sa booth: yes, we still have a few stocks left
me: can i borrow one, il jst browse through it
tao sa booth: sure. (binigay sa kin ang planner)
me: (hmm...mukha namang ok. pero dapat hindi sya lalampas ng $10) how much is this?
tao sa booth; oh, its free. do you have your matric card?
me: yeah, here. (biruin mo yun, pinapamigay ng libre ang planner!)
====
scene 3 (sa klase kanina)
teacher: (discussing about dispute settlement mechanisms in wto) there's a joke that asian's dont complain or have few complains because they dont speak english well. so instead of writing, they just dont complain. thats why the asean agreement (or treaty, i forgot) has only a few pages
epal me: maybe there's some degree of truth to that because as mentioned in the readings, developing countries have fewer complaints because they dont have enough capability to gather information that would support their claim
classmates: yeah, yeah
Pero pagkalipas ng 2 taon, aba, pakiramdam ko gusto mong magpasikat sa akin. Binigyan mo ako ng pagkakataong mag-aral ng libre sa iyong pinagmamalaking unibersidad. Ginantihan mo ng kabutihan ang katarayan ko sa yo. At nagpapasalamat ako dun.
Paglapag ng eroplano ko, sinalubong mo ako ng makulimlim na langit. Umulan ka pa nga eh. Hindi ko alam kung gumaganti ka. Ilang araw pa ang lumipas, malamig pa rin ang pakikitungo mo sa akin. Lagi mong itinataon ang pag-ulan sa tuwing lalabas ako. Gumaganti ka nga!
Ngunit nang masimulan kong makita ang kagandahan mo, aba bumait ka na sa akin. At nalaman kong sadya ka lang palang moody. Sala sa init, sala sa lamig.
Sabi ng ibang mamamayan mo, isa kang bansang mahilig magpasikat. Hindi ko alam kung totoo pero so far, pinapabilib mo nga ako.
Naunawaan kong ang katahimikan mo at kaayusan ay isang paraan upang mapangalagaan mo hindi lamang ang mga mamamayan mo kundi pati na rin ang mga bisitang tumatapak sa lupain mo. Pati nga mga puti na galing sa kanluran, bilib sa yo eh. Ang ayos mo kasi. Ang mga propesor mo, ang gagaling! Laging handa pagpasok sa klase. Ang facilities mo, astig! Lahat ng kailangan ko, naibibigay mo. Minsan nga, pati yata hindi ko kailangan, binibigay mo pa rin eh. Baka masanay na ko sa pag-spoonfeed mo.
Naunawaan ko din na mabait ka naman pala. Nagsisilbi kang tahanan sa iba't ibang lahi na gustong magkaroon ng maayos at tahimik na pamumuhay. Kaya pala, halu-halo ang mamamayan mo. Sari-saring kulay, itsura, amoy at kultura. Punung-puno ka pala ng kultura.
Dati, akala ko para ka lang Fort. Yun pala, para kang pinaghalong Fort at probinsya. Meron ka ng lahat ng basic services pero ang mga mamamayan mo, pwede pa ring umuwi ng bahay ng may araw para makapaghapunan kasama ang pamilya.
Sa loob ng isang buwan, naging mabait ka naman sa akin. Wala naman akong naging problema sa iyo maliban sa mali-maling baba ko ng bus stop. Pero hindi mo kasalanan yun, ako ang may mali dun. O sige na nga, tayong 2 may mali dun. Yung mga driver mo kasi, kinakausap ako ng intsik eh hindi ko naman maintindihan.
Tsaka yung ibang mga lalaki mo ha. Nung isang araw, may nakatabi ako sa bus. Nananahimik ako tapos biglang sumigaw. Yun pala may muntik ng bumangga sa amin. Tapos nagsimula ng usapan. Eh hindi naman ako interesado. Tapos nung nalamang Pinay ako, tinanong agad kung gusto ko daw ng bagong kaibigan! Sinabihan ko ng no, its ok pero binibigay pa rin ang number. Turuan mo naman silang gumalang! Hindi porket may mga kababayan akong pumapatol sa mga mamamayan mo dala ng pangangailangan eh lahat kami ganun na din. Nakakasama yun ng loob ha!
O sya, mag-aaral pa ko. Para naman hindi sayang ang pagpapaaral mo sa akin. Basta, sana, maging maayos ang pakikitungo natin sa isa't isa. Huwag kang mag-alala, hindi ako magpapakarebelde dito. Nagrerebelde lang naman ako pag pinipilit akong sumunod sa hindi ko pinaniniwalaan eh. Pero ikaw, nakikita ko naman ang kahusayan at kabutihan mo, kaya promise, susunod ako sa yo.
Happy monthsary! Sana maging maayos ang mga susunod pa nating monthsary =)
Eto, kumakain ako ng paborito kong egg tart para ipagdiwang ang monthsary natin. At boring ka pa rin, walang libreng gravy ang manok mo sa KFC. Ok fine, titigil na ko =)
(this is a late post) monday. binulabog at hinatak ko si lito para suportahan ang philippine team. as usual, naamaze na naman ako dito. the ticket was $10 and it comes with this free debit card which also serves as an ezlink card. ergo, free ride sa bus at tren for the entire day. way to go!
this is team philippines with coach mon jose
and team us virgin islands
team pilipinas supporter
at isa pa uling team pilipinas supporter
chito loyzaga: san ba ok umupo dito?
anthony suntay: dun o sa likod, may bakante pa
coach eric altamirano (in white, nakatayo): nakakagigil! hindi ko mapigilan ang pagiging coach!
bobby parks sr (in blue, sitting): oist, eric, sit down. i wanna see my son play!
ok team, 9 points ang lamang. habulin natin.
para sa philippine flag!
magaling naman ang mga bata. eto patunay
eto pa
kaya lang, eto ang tinik sa lalamunan ng team pilipinas. ang 3-point shooter ng us virgin islands. bawat bitaw sa bola, pasok!
ok na sana
pero eto ang nangyari, 34-28, in favor of us virgin islands
the 2 coaches
===
team greece vs puerto rico
team angola vs belarus (yata)
madami pa iba pero wala na kong magandang kuha
I was watching the National Day parade on tv earlier and while the SAF was showing off (yep show off talaga) their capabilities with all the F15s doing acrobatics in the air; the tanks, the amphibians, etc in parade, deep inside, naiiyak ako para sa AFP natin.
I dont know if its because theyre only 45 years old and we're 112 years old, but the celebration of their national day is very much different from the way we celebrate our own independence day.
I know not everyone is hyped up but at least, the celebration goes beyond the laying of wreath on their hero's monument or announcing that the day is going to be a holiday so that people can go to the beach or to the mall and forget what the holiday is about.
I dream that one day, we can come together not just to topple a corrupt official, or remember the birth/death of someone prominent or welcome a victorious boxer but to celebrate a collective achievement as a nation. A celebration not limited to personalities but is concentrated on the achievement of the Filipino as a people and the Philippines as a nation.
I dream that one day, we as a nation can rise above what we are now and have a taste of what it feels like to live in a state where systems work.
Sana.
found a bank today with just 500 dollars of average maintaining balance. good for me
had this for lunch. 4.50 worth of shabu shabu
i really have to train my ears on the way some words are pronounced here. i was wracking my brains over what "course peck" is. iniisip ko baka short cut ng course prospectus. yun pala, course pack.
i went to the library orientation at the central library this afternoon conducted by one of the librarians. it was an interesting orientation. with the way the school uses the world wide web to widen the student's access to its resources, there would be no excuse for anyone not to read. as in ang dami dami daming resources. and looking for them is so convenient. things were so different when i was in college. feeling ko super high tech na ang OPAC sa library. soo archaic haha
and because of the accent, a lot of things said by our lecturer were understood by moi through contextual clues
i walked from the engineering auditorium all the way to the central library today! feeling ko practice for amazing race =)
got some stuff at the IT coop also. syempre dun lang ako sa 10 dollars and below ang presyo. hay buhay...
i whipped up 3 dishes today: stir fried toman fillet with shiitake mushrooms, garlic spinach and menudo.
the toman fillet was an experiment which turned out to be successful. sauteed spinach and menudo were old recipes.
i checked IVLE today and voila, the reading lists were there already. and i have one submission to do on aug 12, first day of class.
as ive said, tapos na ang maliligayang araw ko.
eto na to!
being here for the past 2 weeks have also been a food adventure for me. trying old and new food.
here's something i prepared for lunch.
stir-fried bean sprouts with tofu, cabbage and carrots.
this one is what i had for dinner when we first went to funan.
ayam penyet, an indonesian fried chicken recipe. its your deep fried chicken with sambal, lettuce and cucumber topped with dried lemon grass which looked like flossed coconut husk.
sugar cane juice to go with it because the sambal is so spicy. drinking this juice reminds me of my childhood days when we would just chop off a meter-long sugar cane from the backyard and munch/bite it off while playing.
fried dough (bicho bicho without the sugar) and soya milk from the bean house across the street, which hoys warned me about due to sanitation issues. ok next, i wont buy from there hehe
chicken sambal. a really large serving of chicken with sauteed string beans, cabbage, biryani rice and prata.
last night, i had a weird but happy dream. i dreamt of being with mimi, sezy dezy, jam, and i think some of her officemates whom i dont even know. i just knew theyre were her officemates because she told me so.
and guess what we're doing? we're planning a trip from cagayan to manila, on a motorcycle/tricyle designed like a caterpillar. there were six seats in all, one for the driver, who'll be sitting at the left seat on the front row, and the rest of the seats are for us, the passengers. its like one of those rides in the carnival.
sezy dezy is the designated driver of that ride, and she doesnt know how to do it. she's just baking on a manual which directs one how to drive that motorcycle. and we're all confident that we can reach manila with that. my biggest concern though is passing by sta fe, the biggest challenge in our ride. sta fe is a zigzag road that you have to pass through to get through cagayan. i was worrying how dezy can manouever that ride. but aside from that one "minute" detail, we were all excited about the trip.
and then i woke up.
