The Golden Pearl

The Philippines tops foreign inflows among TIPs in 2010

2011-11-07T05:19:00.000-08:00

Comparative Foreign Inflows to the Philippine Stock Exchange (ALLPI, PSEi) , Jakarta Composite Index , and Stock Exchange of Thailand for the year 2010

Philippine Stock Exchange

Foreign Inflows: $ 2.77 billion.

2010 All Shares Index Performance: Up 56 %.

2010 PSEi Performance: Up 38 %.

Jakarta Composite Index

Foreign Inflows: $ 2.18 billion.

2010 Performance: Up 46 %.

Stock Exchange of Thailand:

Foreign Inflows: $ 1.9 billion.

2010 Performance: Up 40 %.

The Philippines: Top Ranked in Wind Power Potential

2011-11-07T04:58:00.000-08:00

The Philippines and Indonesia have the greatest wind power potential worldwide.

Being an archipelago, the Philippines naturally has immense wind power potential and this is largely untapped with only 1 wind farm in Ilocos Norte but further projects are firmly in the pipeline. These include:

1. PNOC-Energy Development Corp. (PNOC-EDC) 140 MW in Ilocos.

2. UPC Asia (100 MW)

3. Energy Logics (40-60 MW)

4. A Spanish firm in Burgos province (10-15 MW)

5. Aklan project (10-15 MW)

6. Bulalacao project (40 MW)

Further projects in 16 sites that are ideal locations for wind farms have been offered by the Philippine Department of Energy to investors. The sites are:

Bago City and Cauayan in Negros Occidental; Carmen and Oslob in Cebu; Allen-Lavesares and Calbayog City in Northern Samar; Siquijor; Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte; Bantay, Ilocos Sur; Bani and Bolinao in Pangasinan; Maconacon, Isabela; Tagaytay, Cavite; San Andres, Quezon; and Mercedes and Daet in Camarines Norte.

Other projects being studied include those US firm Constellation Energy Corp. The company is studying two projects in Ilog, Negros Occidental and Bais City, Bayawan, Tanjay and Pamplona in Negros Oriental.

The best places for wind power projects in the Philippines are found in the islands of Batanes, Babuyan Island, Ilocos Norte, Mindoro, Samar, Leyte, Panay, Negros, Cebu and Palawan.

Source: alternat1ve.com

The Philippines: Tremendous Potential in Renewable Energy

2011-11-07T04:54:00.000-08:00

A study conducted by the Renewable Energy Coalition states that the Philippines has the following renewable energy potential:

1. Geothermal - 4,531 MW (200,000 MW based on the United States Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory)

2. Hydro electric - 13,097 MW

3. Wind -76,600 MW

4. Wave (Ocean) - 170,000 MW

5. Biomass – 500 MW (conservative estimate)

6. Solar Power - 5 ~ 5.1 KwH per square meter per day.

Source: Alternat1ve.com, renewableshub.com

The Philippines: Number 1 in Geothermal Energy

2011-11-05T06:01:00.000-07:00

The Philippines is the second-largest producer of geothermal energy in the world (behind the United States) with 2027 MW installed capacity but is poised to overtake the United States as world leader in geothermal energy. Under an earlier plan, the Philippines’ goal is to raise its capacity to 3131 MW by 2013, allowing it to overtake the US. The plan needs to solve the problem of pipe corrosion due to high acidity associated with active volcanoes prior to realizing the goal.

The United States Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has shown that the Philippines geothermal resources have a potential to generate 200,000 MW of power.

Source: Philippine Department of Energy, US Dept of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

The Philippines: Leader in Renewable Energy

2011-11-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

First in Southeast Asia

The Philippines has the first large-scale wind farm in Southeast Asia located in Bangui, Ilocos Norte. The wind farm has been generating clean energy since 2005.

In 2002, the Philippines was able to source out 36% of its energy requirements from renewable sources. The biggest contributor to this was geothermal energy (21%) followed by hydropower (15%).

The government has committed to double this to an impressive 72% by 2013.

This leadership is attracting investors from all over Europe, America, Australia and Asia.

Top 5 Biggest Green Tech Projects in the Developing World

Leyte Geothermal Field
1. Location: Leyte, Philippines
2. Capacity: 708.5 megawatts
3. Status: Operational at Full capacity
Suzlon Wind Farm
1. Location: Dhule, India
2. Capacity: 1,000 megawatts
3. Status: Operational at 650 megawatts capacity
Acme Solar Thermal Plants
1. Location: Haryana, India
2. Capacity: 1,000 megawatts
3. Status: Not Operational
Qaidam Basin Solar PV Installation
1. Location: Qinghai Province, China
2. Capacity: 1,000 megawatts
3. Status: Partially Operational?
Econcern Wind Farms
1. Location: China
2. Capacity: 720 megawatts
3. Status: Not Operational

Source: renewableshub.com

The Philippines is one of The Next Eleven

2011-11-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

The Next Eleven (or N-11) are eleven countries — Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, Turkey, and Vietnam—identified by Goldman Sachs investment bank as having a high potential of becoming the world's largest economies in the 21st century along with the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China). The bank chose these states, all with promising outlooks for investment and future growth, on December 12, 2005.

Goldman Sachs used macroeconomic stability, political maturity, openness of trade and investment policies, and the quality of education as criteria. The N-11 paper is a follow-up to the bank's 2003 paper on the four emerging "BRIC" economies, Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

http://www.chicagobooth.edu/alumni/clubs/pakistan/docs/next11dream-march%20'07-goldmansachs.pdf

http://www.ryanallis.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/expandingmiddle.pdf

http://www2.goldmansachs.com/our-thinking/brics/brics-reports-pdfs/long-term-outlook.pdf

Philippine Pride beyond wearing a shirt with the Philippine map

2011-11-04T07:37:00.000-07:00

Beyond wearing the map-bearing shirt, beyond wearing the flag-bearing shirt, I am proud to be Filipino.

The blog will constantly evolve as a compilation of anything and everything that I can be proud of as a Filipino.

I'm not really that patriotic, I regrettably admit, but I do feel happy for my country. It is looking brighter. ",) We have had few things to be proud of, but now the numbers are increasing, and they all deserve to be celebrated accordingly.

It’s not all-encompassing pride for anything and everything Filipino. I am an idealist, an optimist, but also a realist.

It is best to assess things objectively while trying to take into account every circumstance. For example, there is nothing to be proud of when you see the slums. There is nothing to be proud of when you see the unhygienic practice of spitting left and right in public. There is nothing to be proud of when you see a Filipino migrant coming back to the Philippines acting pompous and arrogant indicating clearly that he is unaccustomed to his newfound wealth...or perhaps he is just a plain egotistical bastard. There is nothing to be proud of when you see the old rich of the Philippines abusing a waiter who is earning an honest living. There is nothing to be proud of when you hear in the news that a Filipina housemaid is bullying and exploiting a fellow Filipina housemaid in Hong Kong.

Enough of my personal disclaimer and on to the good news.

Earth Hour

2009-03-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Showered with just the light of a tea candle during Earth Hour 2009. Vote Earth.

Cloud 9, Siargao... Surf Capital of the Philippines

2009-01-14T04:27:00.000-08:00

CLOUD 9, SIARGAO

I was perhaps the only snorkeler in the surf territory... but it didn't keep me from snorkeling in their waters with big waves... thus I got the best seat in the house to watch. I was watching 3 surfers from 20meters away... and later, out of luck, I met one of them, a British surfer. He told me that they spotted me too, and by his exact words, he told me "You were outrageous!"

The Grand Lady of Jaro by Toto Gonzalez

2008-10-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

Among the many splendid mansions of Old Jaro, Iloilo, there is only one grand residence that enduringly captures the full essence, and the length and breadth of the wealth and splendor of the legendary Iloilo Sugar Fortunes at their Height in the 1920s to the 30s: The “Nelly Gardens.”

The imposing, Beaux-Arts style ”Nelly Gardens” mansion was built in 1928 by Don Vicente Lopez y Villanueva [ 1879 - 1963 ] and his wife Dona Elena Hofilena y Javelona. It was named for their eldest daughter Nelly. Their first residence was along Calle Iznart, Jaro’s main thoroughfare, but Dona Elena found the street noisy and bothersome, and since she liked flowers, plants, and gardening, Don Vicente decided to build their new residence on four hectares in [ what was then ] the outskirts of Old Jaro. The residence began as a simple two-storey affair that was continually enlarged and embellished as the family grew, as their fortunes multiplied, and as their social obligations increased.

Don Vicente Lopez and Dona Elena Hofilena had four children: Nelly [ married Salvador Zamora ], Benito [ married Leonor de la Rama ], Lilia [ married Francisco Lopez Jison ], and Vicente [ married Maria Rita Lopez Zamora ]. In the aristocratic fashion of those days, all four siblings could play a musical instrument proficiently: Nelly played the piano; Benito, the cello; Lilia, the harp; and Vicente, the violin. To this day, there is still a large PreWar photograph of them on top of the black Steinway grand piano in the ”Sala” [ living / drawing room ] of the mansion.

Don Vicente Lopez y Villanueva was among the richest in the affluent Lopez Clan: a sugar planter and industrialist with immense holdings. When his elder brother Don Benito Lopez y Villanueva [ o 1877 ] was assassinated in 1908 by a rival political faction [ who happened to be their Jalandoni relatives ], He undertook the guardianship of the two sons, Eugenio “Ening” and Fernando “Nanding” [ who later on became THE tycoon Don Eugenio Lopez and The Vice-President Fernando Lopez ], and took them to live in his Calle Iznart house and later on at the “Nelly Gardens” [ Their mother, Dona Presentacion Hofilena viuda de Lopez, retired to the old { turn of the century } house perched on an islet --- the storied "Roca Encantada" --- on the 400 hectare ancestral Hofilena "hacienda" in Guimaras island ]. The brothers Eugenio and Fernando Lopez y Hofilena and the siblings Nelly, Benito, Lilia, and Vicente Lopez y Hofilena were first cousins twice over: their fathers Don Benito and Don Vicente Lopez y Villanueva were brothers and their mothers Dona Presentacion and Dona Elena Hofilena y Javelona were sisters. The younger Lopez-Hofilena first cousins always addressed their elder first cousins respectfully and affectionately as “Tatay Ening” and “Tatay Nanding.” In fact, when Eugenio Lopez y Hofilena married Pacita Moreno y de Santos, they spent the first years of their married life at the “Nelly Gardens.” To this day, there are twin, late 1800s four-poster beds with the initials “BL” [ "Benito Lopez" ] and “PH” [ "Presentacion Hofilena" ] in a second-floor bedroom facing the front garden.

According to oldtimers, The “Nelly Gardens” mansion was the very place where the legendary lifestyle of the Iloilo Sugar Barons was ultimately defined. It became the definitive Iloilo residence as the most important receptions of the province during PreWar and PostWar were held there. In PreWar, the grandest occasion in The Lopez Family was the annual birthday ball of Don Vicente held every 22 January, to which only The Family and The Elite of Iloilo were invited. It was always a formal affair that required long dress and black tie, magnificent jewels and black limousines; full orchestras played dance music throughout the evening. The invitation from Don Vicente Lopez was an indication of one’s rank in Iloilo [ and Manila ] Society.

The mansion eventually devolved to the second daughter, Dona Lilia Lopez y Hofilena [ Mrs. Francisco Lopez Jison ]. She and her husband Don Francisco Jison y Lopez of Silay, Negros Occidental were second cousins through the Lopez line. Dona Lilia’s father Don Vicente Lopez y Villanueva was a first cousin twice over of Don Francisco’s mother Dona Maria Juana Dolores Lopez y Villanueva [ married to Don Albino Jison y Golez ]. Don Vicente’s father Don Eugenio Lopez y Jalandoni was an elder brother of Dona Dolores’ father Don Marcelo Lopez y Jalandoni. Don Vicente’s mother Dona Marcela Villanueva y Felipe was an elder sister of Dona Dolores’ mother Dona Julita Villanueva y Felipe. To further underscore the close relations, Dona Rosario Lopez de Santos [ Dona Rosario Lopez y Villanueva, married to Don Francisco Santos; they had no children so She adopted several Lopez nieces and nephews as her heirs ], the formidable “Nanay Sayong” [ "Mother Sayong" ], adopted the young Francisco Jison y Lopez [ her first cousin Dona Dolores' son ] and made him one of the heirs of her vast fortune. “Nanay Sayong” was an older sister of Don Vicente Lopez y Villanueva, a very capable and very willful lady who created her own immense fortune in sugarcane plantations and sugar mills. She was among the richest of her generation of Lopezes. So such are the interrelations of The Iloilo Aristocracy…

*************

These days, The “Nelly Gardens” is actively managed by the daughters of Dona Lilia Lopez y Hofilena and Don Francisco Jison y Lopez: Lourdes Lopez Jison-Ledesma and Elena Lopez Jison-Golez. Their brother, Francisco Lopez Jison Jr., resides at the estate year-round. The mansion itself defies time as it is excellently maintained and remains as it was during the lifetime of Dona Lilia Lopez de Jison; but the grounds are being redeveloped to best utilize the opportunities of the 21st century. Constant Reinvention is one of the Secrets of the Lopez Fortune.

El Nido and Sabang, Palawan

2008-07-29T02:58:00.000-07:00

EL NIDO, PALAWAN

WOW!!!!... i had a great time there. i met lots of cool people too... and we ended up traveling together even in Puerto Princesa. the seascape is simply breathtaking. AWESOME! my jaw literally dropped when i saw the first glimpse... and the people seated around me all turned to look at me when they heard me gasp when my jaw dropped. i was so excited... i was like a little boy, and my heart was beating so fast in excitement.

first day, i didnt do much.... just rested. met a german doctor (Thomas) and a french osteopath (Thierry)... Thomas told me that he swam to the nearest island the day before... shucks! "Power Swimmer".

the following day... met 2 swedish students, Johanna and Madeleine, and a taiwanese interpreter (Nono). then had a swim with Thomas and Nono later that day in jellyfish-laded waters... it was quite a painful swim!!!! i was swimming right into a sea of small, half-centimeter jellyfish, and they were stinging all over, good thing i had my rash guard. but i was scared that i would be swollen all over after the swim, especially coz they were stinging my lips very often. it was terrible. but we found a nice secluded beach after swimming around one of the corners though.

the following day... met 2 norwegian fire performers, Thomas and Kristin. they were a cool pair... so much fun... and i ended up traveling with them the longest during this trip. we went island hopping that day. there were 7 of us during the island hop, the Thomas, Nono, Johanna, Madeleine, Thomas, Kristin and me... lots of fun. we went to some secluded beaches where in the boat has to skirt its way though some narrow parts between rocks, and we also had to SWIM into one of the lagoons. the opening was just as small as that tiny crack that Barry, Terai and I had to negotiate in Sagada, except this time we had to swim through it. it was amazing!!! the opening turned out to be narrow near the top, but it gets bigger when you dive deeper, then it opens up to another lagoon. when the boatsman stopped in front of a rockwall, we were all clueless on what to do... we were asking ourselves if he took us to a nice snorkeling spot... but it was a good adventure. the snorkeling was terrible though, the coral was having a hard time regrowing. they were blasted away by dynamite... and now the tour boats are dropping anchor everywhere. but the view was TOTALLY AMAZING for almost the entire trip, sometimes i just stop & stare at everything around me... it was so easy to forget taking pictures. :-) it was so cool when we swam into one of the lagoons, i was just totally in awe and i screamed "I LOVE THE PHILIPPINES!!!" and they screamed "SO DO WE!!!" in reply to me.

the following day, we planned to go hiking into the waterfalls. but thats when Typhoon Frank struck. it transformed the seascape into one of those National Geographic shows entitled Violent Earth. the waves were battering our lodge, it was slamming and going under it... and the waves didn't sound very soothing anymore... you could hear rolling and rumbling waves, and they would hit the first level hard but the water spray goes above the 2nd level. we just took it easy that day. Johanna and Madeleine had to leave this day, and we said goodbye to them.

the following day, the weather made the decision to leave el nido easier for us. the Kristin, Thomas, and Nono and I traveled to Puerto Princesa together. German Thomas decided to stay behind and take the 5 am bus despite all our powers to convince him to travel during that day coz he had to catch his flight the afternoon of the following day. the bus operator later told us that the 5am bus was being cancelled... so until now we don't know what happened to German Thomas. we left El Nido late, more than 1.5 hours late coz of this stupid filipino tourgroup.. they were scheduled to go to Coron but their rented boat got cancelled... so they encountered problems with the refund, so now they made the entire bus wait for one of their companions while they sorted out the problem. well, the bus left much much later, and it was prompted by one of the passengers going wild (no, that wasn't me.) the bus was part of the adventure... it had a hole at the side... it was carrying a motorcycle at the back.... there was a puppy inside the bus... and a chicken inside the bus too... and a goat on top of the bus. so, let the 9 hour bus ride begin. then we had to stop behind what looked like a long queue of vehicles. vehicular accident probably? nope... i had to relive a nightmare... a landslide!!! we caught up with the buses that left el nido at 5am and 7am and all the vehicles in between. and there was a bulldozer trying to get all the mud away... of course everybody had his own idea about how the bulldozer should accomplish its task and everybody was talking about it. there were some moments when the stupid bulldozer operator would just go straight at the huge pile of earth that was much much bigger than the machine, it was even sliding dangerously close to the metal rails at the other side of the road, dangerously close to falling by the the side of the road. but he accomplished his task after a while to much applause and rejoicing from the audience. everything looked flooded while we were traveling. then my fone decided to join and complicate things, it just died, it would turn on for 2 seconds then turn off again, then turn on again for 2 seconds then off again, then all over again. then we had to stop AGAIN. in front of us... the road, bridge, river, and farmland just merged into one... absolutely no distinction between them. but we were able to cross again due to some resourceful filipinos who placed wooden planks for the vehicles. suffice to say, we were able to reach puerto princesa, but almost everything was flooded during the travel south.. we were so tired, and hungry. we went to kalui after to recharge... we had their special... but it wasn't so enjoyable when everybody is dead tired. we turned in early after dinner.

the following day, we had to say goodbye to nono, what's left of the group was now me, kristin and thomas. we still had stormy weather so we decided to take the day easy... we just ordered a grandslam pizza from shakeys for just the 3 of us. hehehe! we were just talking and making lots of crazy jokes. and it was so refreshing to be with these 2 norwegian fire performers, everything was so light and happy and funny. at this point, i realized that it is so much better to be with people that have professions that are extremely different from my own when i travel. we had some serious conversations during the stormy weather days... but most of the time it was light and bubbly. and we were not planning for the next day... we took them as they arrived. i was traveling without a plan during the whole time, I LOVED IT.

the following day, we had brunch at badjao inn. we went to their street dancing parade... a lot like Masskara festival but on a smaller scale... they only had 10 performers... and there were gaps in between the crowd unlike the totally packed Masskara streets. then that night we went to the 3 km seafood grill. i had to take my antihistamine 2 hours before to be able to eat. then went to the fireworks show... there were only 4 performers but they dont come close to the ones that we watched at mall of asia. then we had dinner at kinabuchs, and i had a very refreshing mango-ginger shake. then it was all fun and laughs with beer at the roofdeck of Aniceto's Pension. we stayed up until 2am. and we were all laughing that i had to be at the bus terminal at 4am. Mwahahaha!!! that was a joke indeed. then we said our final goodbye's, hugs and kisses from everybody for such a wonderful time.
..........

SABANG, PALAWAN

later that morning, i indeed missed my 4am schedule. as they say, travelers are not known for their punctuality. i was there to catch the next bus that leaves at 9am... but as luck would put it.... the 9am bus wasn't traveling that day due to repairs being done to it. i had to wait for 3 hours at the terminal... had to take a jeepney instead, and it left at 12nn. now, the jeepney was quite interesting. i was seated at the front, i thought that would be the most comfortable place. the jeepney had a windshield, but it was angled forward to allow air to go through. then it started to rain and that made it more interesting.... the rain would bounce on the front of the jeep and then bounce painfully on our faces and chest.. then and only then will the driver realize to put the windshield down.

arrived in Sabang after 2.5 hours. Sabang is a very nice place. i met this cool american surfer (Bryce) upon arrival in Sabang. he told me that he has been living on fita crackers and noodles for most of his backpacking trip and we both laughed when i told him that i have been living on chocolate-cereal bars for most of my trip (dinners are a totally different matter though). we had a carabao with a cart carry our bags while we walked to Mary's where we were staying. but we needed some serious lunch (and dinner combined) though coz we arrived late, went for calamares at the tribal restaurant upon the suggestion of my norwegian friends, but unfortunately, it wasnt available. i had wild boar instead. yummy! saw the resident eagle of sabang that nests on one of the coconut trees that lost all its palms. was very lucky that the waves were high when we were there. it was cool... i got one really big wave and it sent me spinning in all directions.. Bryce told me later that its called the washing machine. just chilled in the garden after dinner. then we decided to do both trails and the underground river the next morning, then catch the last bus/jeepney back to Puerto Princesa... that was pretty gung ho!

we asked one of the girls at Mary's to wake us up at 6am but they didnt do that... we woke up at 730. but we were able to accomplish it. 2 dogs just decided to go with us during the monkey trail going to the underground river. then inside the underground river, i was carrying the light, so cool. after the underground river, we met our white guide dog again, she decided to wait for us while we were inside the underground river. then she led us again through the jungle trail, we got lost at one part of the trail and she led us to the right path. awesome dog. had lunch again at the tribal restaurant while waiting for our bus back to puerto princesa, still no calamares though. had fish and chips, it wasn't so good... couldn't really find the 'fish' in my fish and chips dish. the bus was again interesting, there was again a puppy, a chicken, and to my surprise... a huge rusty boat anchor and engine at the back of the bus. Hehehe!! Bryce and I traveled together to puerto princesa. then i surprised my norwegian friends who were still staying at the same place. it was a very nice reunion... all i had to do was say "Surprise! Miss me?" and it was quite a surprise for them indeed, we were all smiles, and big big hugs from everybody, after that we were just chilling at the roofdeck of Aniceto's Pension in puerto princesa with Thomas playing with the drum. then had dinner at kinabuchs with Bryce. i again had my favorite shake at kinabuchs, mango-ginger, 2 of them in fact.

the following morning was all goodbye for everybody, Bryce traveled to El Nido, Thomas and Kristin flew to Manila, and I flew to Cebu.

I've had so much fun in this spontaneous backpacking trip.

Crossing Camiguin Island via Mt. Itum

2008-04-26T22:02:00.001-07:00

Climbing Camiguin's Mt Hibok-Hibok

2008-04-26T08:58:00.001-07:00

Camiguin Island

2008-04-26T08:06:00.001-07:00

Mantigue Island, Camiguin

2008-04-20T00:49:00.001-07:00

Sun Worship at Kebila Beach

2008-04-19T23:23:00.001-07:00

Hostility in my Civil Service answers

2007-11-02T07:45:00.000-07:00

This was written as a response to one Case Study in the Civil Service Distance Learning Program. The case involves Roy, a rank-and-file employee who gets late frequently and his lates are being recorded and he is getting cited. While Mr. Sanchez, the Director of the Department also goes in late but does not get cited.

My response:

Roy is envious. He should resign and find a nearer job.

The director deserves the flexible working schedule. This is how it works in corporate management. You provide incentives to the top brains, to the top managers, to the top salesmen, so that they remain in the company and stay happy working for the company. These incentives may come as a flexible working schedule, bonuses, service cars… and they deserve it because in the long years that they have stayed in the company, they have proven that they are capable of bringing more for the company despite the expenses spent on them. Now if we expand that to a larger scale and substitute “COUNTRY” instead of “COMPANY”, we can say “The top brains, the top managers, the top salesmen, the top professionals, deserve the incentives given to them because in the long years that they have stayed in the COUNTRY, they have proven that they are capable of bringing more for the COUNTRY despite the expenses spent on them.”

Providing the same incentives for top managers and rank-and-file employees is a Communist Ideology and it does not work in this day and age. It becomes counter-productive in the long term. How? It starts when employees in a company make this very simple observation: “the lazy do not work, the diligent work hard, but yet they get the same.” If we substitute the names in this case, it becomes: “Roy does simple clerical work in the office, and comes in late. Mr. Sanchez with all the stresses of managing the department as a Director comes in late too.” Now, why would Mr. Sanchez work so hard through those long years to become top manager if he will only have the same privileges as a rank-and-file employee? This is the downfall of this Communist Ideology, of providing the same incentives to the top manager and rank-and-file employees. No motivation to work harder, no motivation to become better. No motivation to get a Doctor of Medicine Degree or a Masters in Business Administration or a Doctor of Philosophy or a Degree in Economics or a Degree in Engineering. The entire society suffers in the long-term due to the lack of motivated and brilliant professionals. Why would I study 5 years to get a Degree in Economics or Engineering or Architecture or Nursing or Physical Therapy or Education or Accounting or Banking and Finance if I only get the same privileges as the person putting folders in the cabinet? Why would I study 7 years to get a Masters in Business Administration if I only get the same privileges as the person putting folders in the cabinet? Why would I study 10 years to get a Doctor of Medicine if I only get the same privileges as the person putting folders in the cabinet? Why would I study 13 years to get a Doctor of Medicine and a Diplomate in Medicine if I only get the same privileges as the person putting folders in the cabinet? Why would I study 15 years to get a Doctor of Medicine, a Diplomate in Medicine and a Fellowship in Medicine if I only get the same privileges as the person putting folders in the cabinet?

We live in a Capitalist World and the Capitalist System predominates. Roy and other rank-and-file employees should wake up to this reality. The Capitalist System is a just and fair system, we have EQUAL RIGHTS but we have DIFFERENT PRIVILEGES. The Capitalist System is a just and fair system; it rewards the hard-worker, the motivated, and the brilliant.

Jake E. Hofileña, M.D.

Total Democracy for the Philippines?

2007-11-02T07:34:00.000-07:00

Total Democracy for the Philippines?

The Philippines and the Filipino people is NOT READY for a TOTAL ALL-ENCOMPASSING DEMOCRACY. Instead, what the Philippines needs is a selective limited democracy. The Filipino people must learn several things prior to being able to handle and appreciate total democracy.

What I have to say may sound elitist but this is only my opinion and my argument in the subject matter. My word is not to be taken as the authoritative opinion regarding the subject matter.

It is a known fact that the majority of the Filipino people is poor, thus it follows that the majority is also poorly educated, thus it follows that the majority of the voting population is also poorly educated.

It is very dangerous to entrust the election of public officials and leaders in the hands of the poorly educated. The poorly educated are prone to making unreliable and misinformed decisions. They are also prone to bias and may also fall prey to bribery. They are incapable of distinguishing false and hollow promises from concrete plans. They are incapable of distinguishing selfish and corrupt officials from honest ones. Thus, the poorly educated have been chronically electing officials that are inappropriate for their needs and inappropriate for the general public.

It is my hope that with continued improving education, the Filipino people will make better and well-informed electoral decisions. The Filipino people already showed signs of improving decisions when president Estrada was ousted and in the succeeding general elections refrained from electing actors, actresses, newscasters and other inappropriate officials. But the Filipino people is again in danger of forgetting these painful lessons, and I think it is the obligation of the well-informed to constantly remind the poorly educated to make better decisions.

Poor education, in my opinion, is the root of the problem. One can not skip into solving a problem as complex as democracy when one has not yet solved the simpler problem of education. Educate the Filipino people, and they will naturally gravitate towards a democratic society because they will now be able to appreciate all the aspects of democracy.

These aspects of democracy are the ones that need to be taught to every Filipino, prior to granting them full democracy. Without knowledge and mastery of these aspects of democracy, granting full democracy to a poorly educated population is ANARCHY.

These aspects of democracy that I am referring to are: RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, DISCIPLINE, and JUSTICE. When every Filipino has mastered these values and ingrained them in every fiber of their being; then and only then can the Filipino people appreciate full democracy; then and only then should the Filipino people be granted full democracy.

RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS is the core value and it is strongly intertwined with freedom and democracy. How? Because YOUR FREEDOM ENDS where MY RIGHTS BEGIN. When people understand this, they will respect each other’s rights. Mastery of respect for human rights means that everybody is fully aware of the rights of other people, and fully aware when a person is going beyond his freedom and already stepping on the rights of others.

The second value is DISCIPLINE. Awareness of the rights of others is not adequate, discipline reinforces respect for human rights because it means that a person will uphold in concrete action and behaviour his awareness of the rights of others. With discipline, you trust that your neighbor will equally respect your rights just as you respect his rights.

The third equally important value is JUSTICE. If in any case, a person violates the rights of others, then he is given a commensurate punishment for his action. Every person, therefore, will trust that his neighbor will not be allowed to violate his rights without punishment.

These are the core values that every Filipino must learn. Learning these values take precedence over achieving full or total democracy.

Full or total democracy means that one is free to walk the streets of your neighborhood free of worry that a person will violate your rights, because everybody is fully aware of your rights, because everybody possesses the discipline to uphold those rights, because everybody is aware of the commensurate punishment when your rights are violated.

The next step towards preparing for a total democracy is having a Code of Ethics upheld by everybody based on Mutual Respect.

In conclusion, these are the values that need to be ingrained in every Filipino in preparation for a total democracy, then the Filipino people will be prepared to appreciate their total democracy.

In a just and human society that respects human rights without external guidance, every citizen is free.

Patient Bloopers

2007-10-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

Doc, how is my 'pro-stage'?

'pro-stage' = prostate

24-hour Duty - Camiguin Style

2007-09-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

Common Lines of Patients that can either lighten up your day or make a dark day even darker.

Common Line and it's intended meaning

X-tray = x-ray
undersound = ultrasound
philearth = philhealth

Some Peculiarities in the Philippines

2007-08-28T09:17:00.000-07:00

Some Peculiarities in the Philippines

1. The LOO VALLEY located in the Cordillera mountains in northern Philippines.
Need a shower after visiting that place?
2. The POO RIVER, which rightfully runs through the LOO VALLEY.
Need to shower again?
3. Silliman ‘Silly Man’ University in Dumaguete City.
Are you sure this is a center for education?
4. The town of LOON in Bohol.
What do you call the residents of the town of LOON? Loonies?

Travel Log: Balicasag Island

2007-06-05T12:57:00.002-07:00

Sunset on Balicasag Island

The Beach - Balicasag Island

Sunset on Balicasag Island

Bohol

Sunrise

I traveled to Balicasag Island in Bohol, Philippines, during the first week of May 2007… on my own. ADVENTURE!!!

From the main city of Tagbilaran in Bohol, I took a Habal-Habal motorcycle to Bohol Museum; it will cost only 10 pesos.
There is a jeepney terminal right across the street from Bohol Museum. The jeepney will take you to the town of Panglao. The jeepney ride costs 18 pesos. It would be advisable to get down on Panglao church instead of the market center of Panglao town since it is nearer the boats/bancas. From the church, one can walk to the small dock where the boats to Balicasag Island are. The boat/banca ride to Balicasag Island costs 600 pesos one-way. It is possible to hitch with some of the boats going there for 150-200 but those boats are very infrequent.

While on Balicasag Island, I found a nice place to stay – Rosa’s Lodge… but I also like to call it Detrose Place… sounds cooler. They are renting out 1 room that costs 800 pesos per night whether you are alone or going as a group. It comfortably has room for 4 with its 2 queen-size beds. Electricity is only until 12 midnight, and it gets pretty warm without the electricity, but its not a problem since you can also opt to sleep in any of their 3 open-air huts along the beach (just bring your pillows and blanket, put on some Off Mosquito Lotion, and get comfy). Fresh water for taking a shower is limited, but understandably so, because they have to ship the freshwater from Panglao Island and that carries some costs… but it wasn’t a problem with me… I always supported water conservation and staying green and eco-friendly.

The meals cost 75-175 pesos, but the portions are usually good for 2. And they are delicious! I had squid for one meal; and fresh-grilled tuna for another… the tuna was so huge that I wasn’t able to finish it even without touching my rice. But my favorite would have to be the eggplant-vegetable dish that Ate Rosa cooked. I miss it so much… I wish every meal would be like the meals I had in Balicasag Island. And what’s a meal without conversation… Ate Rosa and Kuya Detrose are so pleasant to talk to; they kept me company the whole time that I was in Balicasag. And I even had a celebrity moment during one of my meals! After waking up in one of the open-air huts that I slept in during the night, I went back to my room to freshen-up. And when I went back out, all the open-air huts were filled with guests who rented them for the day (Php 200/day). I went out in my shorts and sunglasses (but shirtless) and carrying my sunblock… found some shade under one of the trees by the beach… and put on some sunblock. By the time I came back, Ate Rosa had prepared for me a BREAKFAST FOR A PRINCE!!! I had my own little table under the trees overlooking the beach and the sea and the 3 huts. Perfect! Soon, Kuya Detro approached me and informed me that one of their guests asked him who the celebrity is (referring to me). Hehehe!! No wonder I was getting strange stares. CooooL!!!

My primary goal in Balicasag was snorkeling… and boy did I snorkel… I snorkeled half the island. I’ve read of 5-star snorkeling and dive sites on the island and I was finally there, among them were Black Forest and its spectacular reef of black coral, Rudy’s Rock, Rico’s wall, and Turtle Point. I particularly enjoyed snorkeling along a huge length of the reef wall, it was hypnotic… you have a very nice feeling of being drawn to the blue ocean with the sparkling light that would get through from the surface. It was pretty much like the reaction of Dori in Finding Nemo. It was awesome, some parts of the reef wall were laddered; the first drop of the reef wall was followed by a much deeper drop further out. It was beautiful; I was finally able to see Gorgonian fans and large wrasses.

Balicasag Island is most likely a volcanic island. The island is surrounded by these huge rocks with embedded shells and corals that the rocks have been smoothened by centuries of waves crashing on them, they almost look like concrete slabs but I was told they were natural rock formations. Balicasag got its name from the root word casag which is local for crab. I saw numerous small crabs but only one big crab. Balicasag was also known for being a turtle nestling ground before, and that could be the reason why one of the dive sites was named Turtle Point, or perhaps it could be due to the shape of the rock formation. However, very few turtles lay their eggs on the island nowadays, due to tourist development. It is a good thing that ecological legislation is set in place in Balicasag though, a marine sanctuary has been established, it is approximately 700 meters long and boats are not allowed to drop anchor within its boundaries. National legislation protecting turtles is also strictly enforced in the little island; I was told that a Naval officer was removed from the Naval service after being caught eating turtle eggs. I also had the general sense that residents of the island are well aware of benefits of protecting the environment around them. I would still prefer though, that the whole island be made into a marine sanctuary, with only a 700-meter stretch of shore allocated for anchorage, instead of the other way around. And that corals are to be strictly banned from being taken from the sea… whether it’s inside or outside the sanctuary… because sometimes, some tourists get away with it.

I was also able to see the dolphins coming from Balicasag Island, no need to go to Pamilacan Island to be able to see the dolphins. One could hire a banca from Balicasag Island, Pamilacan Island, or Panglao Island to see the dolphins. The dolphins could be seen at around 6am in a location approximately in the middle of the 3 islands. So it was an early wake-up, some coffee and bread and off we went. The sunrise that greeted me was spectacular, and I was blessed with a perfectly calm sea to provide perfect weather for dolphin watching. And I was totally delighted when we arrived at the site after 30-45 minutes. There were hundreds of dolphins. I even saw 2 or 3 playful dolphins that would totally burst out of the water, and do 3 or 4 twists, before plunging into the water again. I screamed ‘whooohooo!!!’ at the top of my lungs when I saw those playful dolphins, and I didn’t care that there were 2 other boats with other people watching dolphins in them. After I while, I took out my mask, snorkel, and fins… ready to go in the water… but it’s not allowed… I was told by Kuya Detro that the dolphins are not accustomed to humans swimming with them so they would hit humans with their snouts. I took his word; they know more than I do. Most likely, there was an incident in the past and they learned from it. All in all, I was just delighted to see them so close. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!! I did what I came to do in Bohol. 

Dolphin watching will cost 1200 pesos (alone or as a group). Dolphin watching plus a ride back to Panglao town will cost 1600 pesos. I took this option.

The other option to get back to Panglao town from Balicasag Island is to hitch with one of the boats/bancas. For some reason, it’s easier to hitch going to Panglao town from Balicasag Island than the other way around. The boats are anchored in front of the Naval Center of the Philippine Armed Forces. The hitch will cost the person 2 litres of petrol (approx P90). This is amount the locals pay but perhaps it could cost around 150-200 for tourists.

After arriving in Panglao town, I took a walk around to see the old watchtower and church. After that, I took a habal-habal (Php 10) to Alona beach just to see it. I didn’t really like Alona beach… it’s only a short strip of beach, unlike Boracay, or Bantayan. The other beach that we went to, Dumaloan beach, is even better than Alona beach. It is longer and does not have much development. Plus, Dumaloan beach has a nice coral reef in the deeper parts and a nice reef wall that is good for snorkeling and/or diving. The coral reef and the reef wall are probably little known to most people since I did not see a single person snorkeling or diving in the area. I found Alona beach to be too developed (lots of resorts… and too much concrete for my preference), and the beach is crowded by bancas, you could hardly swim in them. I just took a walk around the beach and decided to go back to Panglao town. Another thing I didn’t like about Alona beach was the opportunistic and dishonest people. A tricycle driver and a habal-habal driver tried to cheat me by overcharging me Php 50 for a ride back to Panglao town. Hehehe! No thanx! Little did they know that I just came from Panglao town.

Traveling back to Tagbilaran, Bohol; I took a Habal-Habal motorcycle to the Panglao town market for 10 pesos, and then I took a jeepney from the Panglao market to Tagbilaran for 18 pesos.

From Tagbilaran, there are ferries (via Oceanjet) to the cities of Cebu, Dumaguete, and Dapitan if you plan to travel further. Tagbilaran-Dumaguete one-way costs 500 pesos. Tagbilaran-Cebu one-way costs just less than 600 pesos.

The ticket area in the Tagbilaran terminal is chaotic but the pre-departure area is ok. It is wise to ask around while in the ticket area, and also be prepared to assert yourself because there will be a lot of people who will try to cut in line. I yelled “Hey! Hey! Hey!” to this guy who cut in line just in front of me, and when he justified himself… he received a piece of my mind when I told him that he didn’t have the basic courtesy of waiting his turn.

In Dumaguete, I took an air-conditioned bus back to Bacolod. Always, always, always, take the air-conditioned bus because the non-airconditioned buses can get VERY overcrowded. In one bad experience, the non-airconditioned bus was overcrowded to the extent that a stranger’s ass was resting on the shoulder of one of my friends, while one of my friends had half of her body out of the window… the whole time, the 3 of us couldn’t move an inch. Another caveat, the guy in the information desk at the Ceres terminal in Dumaguete is not known for being helpful at all. He will not volunteer to give you additional information, so be prepared to pry it from him. It is most important to ask the Bus Number of the bus going to Bacolod because they could sometimes arrive early and park at the back. Local people know this so they would often get on the bus while it is still parked at the back, so it gets filled very quickly. The bus that was scheduled to leave after 12noon got filled within 5minutes upon arriving in the terminal.

I also sent parts of this as a contribution to Lonely Planet (Philippines). I hope it helps in further editions of the book.

Siquijor Island vacation reaches Top of the list.

2007-06-03T10:44:00.000-07:00

Kiwi Dive Resort Sunset

Kiwi Dive Resort Coral Reef

sea anemone clown fish

reef wall

Bumped into one of my high school teachers today and our Siquijor Island vacation came up when she told me that she was pretty sure that she saw a video of Julius on YouTube when she searched for Siquijor.

I had to confirm it… and WOW!!! When I searched for Siquijor on YouTube, our video was the most-viewed video at 5575 views. Top of the list man!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtlE0vjC66U

To add to that, our blogsites also feature highly when you search for Siquijor Blog on Google.

Are we becoming local experts on Siquijor? Oh Yeah!! So CooooooL.

The Philippines finally ROARS!

2007-05-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

In Defense of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s Team. The Philippines finally ROARS!

The Philippines grows by 6.9% in the first quarter. And it takes its rightful place among the top-10 fastest growing developing countries in the world.

Infrastructure and Energy projects planned all the way until 2013 are only going to further support this growth.

Want proof? Go to the websites of First Philippine Holdings, International Container Terminal Services, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, and PNOC.

My Past Life

2007-05-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

I don't know how you feel about it, but you were female in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Central England around the year 975. Your profession was that of a jeweler or watch-maker.
Your brief psychological profile in your past life:
Such people are always involved with all new. You have always loved changes, especially in art, music, cooking.
The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:
The world is full of ill and lonely people. You should help those, who are less fortunate than you are.

My Letter to the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

2007-05-18T09:43:00.000-07:00

Mailed to: Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade
URL: http://www.mofat.go.kr/me/me_a002/me_b100/me02_06.jsp
Email address: web@mofat.go.kr

Good day gentlemen:

I would like to report an incident that occurred several months ago. This is a bit late, but it is better than not reporting it at all.

It occurred during Ash Wednesday of this year, 21 February 2007.

I attended the Ash Wednesday Mass in the San Agustin Church in Intramuros. Before entering the church, I saw a sign that said ‘Tourists are not allowed to enter while mass is going on.’

In the middle of the mass, 6 Korean tourists who did not even bother to take off their baseball caps and visors went inside the church. As far as I’m concerned, removing a hat is required as a sign of respect when entering a place of worship, whether it’s a church in the Philippines or a temple in Korea. And there is a very visible sign in front of the church ‘Tourists are not allowed to enter while mass is going on.’

How would Koreans react if Filipino tourists went inside Korean temples without removing their baseball caps and visors?

Furthermore, the female tour guide of the tourist group soon entered the church, and explained very loudly to the tourist group. She was not even sensitive enough to observe that the people around her were already being bothered by her very loud voice.

Again, how would Koreans react if Filipino tourists went inside Korean temples and talked loudly while Koreans were worshipping inside the temple?

Lastly and most notably, the female tour guide forcefully stomped her feet numerous times on a tombstone located inside the church, while explaining to the tourist group.

Again, how would Koreans react if Filipino tour guides went to Korea and desecrated the tombstones of Koreans?

In the spirit of MUTUAL RESPECT, I would have to say that the behavior of the tour guide is unacceptable by any civilized culture and any civilized religion in the entire world. It is unacceptable behavior based on Philippine Culture, it is unacceptable behavior based on the Roman Catholic Religion, it is unacceptable behavior based on Korean Culture, it is unacceptable behavior based on the Buddhist Religion, it is unacceptable behavior based on European Cultures and Religions, Middle Eastern Cultures and Religions, Hindu Cultures and Religions, North and South American Cultures and Religions, and Asian, Australian, and African Cultures and Religions. I would just like to emphasize that her behavior is unacceptable wherever she went in the entire world.

Places of worship, whether it’s a church in the Philippines, or a mosque in the Middle East, or a temple in Korea, are the same. These places require that people show respect when entering them. And showing respect in a place of worship is the same almost everywhere in the world, like removing a baseball cap, and by being quiet. These are very basic and common sense gestures of respect.

Lastly, may I recommend that it should be the responsibility of the tour guide and the company that the tour guide works for to remind the tourist group of the proper behavior when visiting such places, even though they are common sense. If he/she can not take on such responsibility, then perhaps he/she should not be allowed to work as a tour guide, and the company that he/she works for should not be given the license to conduct the business of individual and group tours.

I hope action will be taken regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jake E. Hofileña

Landslide!!! U-Turn!!!

2007-03-24T02:21:00.000-07:00

Ambuklao Lake

Opdas Cave

20 March 2007:

We left Sagada very early in the morning (first bus out of Sagada to Baguio at 5am) to catch the last bus leaving Baguio to Kabayan (famous for Philippine mummies) to make-up for lost time. I’m responsible for the lost time because of my hang-over. It was raining lightly by the time we woke up, we passed areas with rain and areas without rain. There was no rain around the area of the town of Catubo, from there it is possible to hike to Kabayan for 4-7 hours (depending on your speed and the weight of your backpack). That did not sound like a good option for me, with 2 huge backpacks. We arrived in Baguio just in time. We were able to catch the last bus to Kabayan in ‘Foto-Finish’ style. The bus line is Norton Trans, YES, it is that bus line that is famous for that bus that fell off a ravine. Unfortunately, it’s the only one going to Kabayan. They renamed it A-Liner, but it’s still the same to me. It seemed as if everything was falling into plan perfectly, we will be able to make up time by traveling straight to Kabayan. We left Baguio at 12nn, and we encountered some rain along the way but it was not the alarming downpour. Then DISASTER STRUCK! Midway from Baguio to Kabayan, the road was blocked by a landslide. I got down, at first it was cool to take fotos and videos of the 2 Volvo heavy machines clawing through the pile of soil and rock. Then it dawned on me, the landslide did not just cover the segment of the road, it took down the whole segment of that road with it. The road wasn’t there, and the 2 Volvo’s were rushing to make a new one. Impossible! It’s 3 pm, there is no way that they could make a road in 3 hours before it gets dark! And I don’t have any assurance that the road (more accurately just a path) that they were hurriedly making would be stable to support a fully-loaded bus. Then my heart started racing. Then a mini landslide hit one of the Volvo’s! The operator had to be carried by his mates. Then another mini-landslide! That was it! I decided to get off the bus with my backpacks and walk back to the nearest town. Terai agreed without hesitation. And so we walked along 2 mountainsides, under the rain, on the mud, and through the fog. We saw one vehicle going the same way as us and we hitched. We hitched a ride with the ‘blasting services’ truck. It was such a comfort to hear the squishing sound to petrol in a metal barrel right in the middle of everybody and to see sacks of explosives under my feet, under my ass, and beside me. Whew! The truck dropped us off at the nearest town of Ambuklao. We were set to stay the night, even if it meant sleeping on the floor of the town hall. But then, 2 buses passed later going back to Baguio. We took that ride. So I guess they were able to fix the road.

The following morning, after staying a night in ugly Baguio, we were hit by a sudden bout of insanity, and we both decided to go back to Kabayan, and face our landslide fears and the mummy’s curse. This time everything went smoothly. We arrived there, saw the museum and the following day saw hundreds of skulls in a small cave that was just behind one of the houses, not even 10mins from Co-op lodge where we were staying. We took more creepy pictures. We were creeped-out several times in the cave when birds would fly in and out, and you should have seen both of us on how we ducked for cover. We also met the town’s ex-mayor, Florentino Merino, and we bought his book. He built the cooperative, and was one of the discoverers of the mummies, and his grandmother was the last person to be mummified. From all those accounts, I would have to say that he almost built the town of Kabayan single-handedly, and I would have to say that he would be the best source of information in that town.

And that’s the full story. That’s how I was able to get back to Manila in one piece. :-)

Sagada

2007-03-19T00:50:00.000-07:00

Gecko design on coffin

19 March 2007: Easy day. Had breakfast in my favorite place... Café St. Joe, native Arabica coffee as usual. After that Terai and I set out to Echo Valley. We saw the hanging coffins along the way. And in true geo-idiot manner, we got lost. It was a good thing though, coz by getting lost, we actually stumbled across Latang and Matangkib caves and the Underground River while locating the trail that led to the road. We ended the hike at 12nn and had lunch at Café St. Joe. After that, a little hike up to Calvary Hill then we had some dessert (yoghurt) at Yoghurt House. It was there that I realized that I’m not a yoghurt person. Then we did some shopping. I got some miniature coffins and a walking stick.

St. Patrick's Day in Sagada

2007-03-18T01:32:00.000-07:00

17 march 2007: 17 march 2007: Terai and I decided to do a cave connection. While hiring a guide, we met Barry Dillon from Ireland who decided to go with us.
It was awesome; we went in one cave and went out another cave. There were awesome rock formations, we had to climb up some rock formations, sometimes rappel down using a rope, sometimes squeeze through tiny crevices, wade through ice cold water, sometimes slide down some rocks uncontrollably on our asses, and sometimes bump our head on the rocks. It was so much fun!!

We also found out from Barry that it was St. Patrick’s Day. So in true St. Patrick’s Day spirit, we celebrated it by drinking at St. Joseph’s Inn. There was beer, persimmon wine, blueberry wine (my fave), and strawberry wine, and we were drinking it around a bonfire. In true St. Patrick’s Day spirit too, I got totally drunk. Terai informed me that I headed to a wrong lodge, I only have vague memories of that part, but I remember one guy pointing me to the right direction. But I have totally no memory of how I climbed up our lodge and got into bed. Terai just informed me the following day that when I was looking for the key, I just dumped all the contents of the backpack on the floor.

When I woke up the following day (2:30 pm), I had a terrible hangover. I also saw that the blueberries that I bought from the local market were all over the place, they were on the chair, on my shirt, on my pants, and all over the floor. Hehehe!

I went back to St. Joseph’s Inn when I felt better. I got coffee and soup. I met Jose (from Madrid) while eating. Terai was long gone when I was doing this; I suspected she went to the Echo Valley on her own because that was what we set out to do on that day. It turned out she met this girl from the Peace Corps and they both volunteered to help the local community by helping out segregate trash.

Batad and Cambulo

2007-03-16T04:41:00.000-07:00

i'm currently in the mountains of Luzon with Terai. its the end of the first part, i have been to the towns of Batad and Cambulo. and i have literally climbed mountains to get there. i stayed in Batad for 2 days and my room has an awesome view of the UNESCO-protected rice terraces. among all the rice terraces (in Banaue, Cambulo, and Batad), i would have to say that the Batad rice terraces were the best (Banaue would be the worst). Terai and I also hiked to the next village (Cambulo), it took us 2.5 to 3 hours to get to the next village, and we literally climbed 4 mountain-sides to get there. there were also rice terraces there but they were not as beautiful as the one in Batad.

well, i'm in Sagada right now for the 2nd part of my mountain vacation. next to see would be the hanging coffins, the caves, and the underground river.

San Sebastian Church

2007-03-16T04:38:00.000-07:00

Basilica Minor de San Sebastian

It is a jewel in the heart of Manila. It is designed by no less than Alvaro Palacios and Gustav Eiffel (Yes. Gustav Eiffel designed the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and the Statue of Liberty in USA).

More to follow...

Complete The Triad

2007-02-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

Eiffel Tower (France)...__________(Philippines)...Statue of Liberty (USA)

The Day After

2007-02-12T21:35:00.001-08:00

Six out of twelve exams are now over. The first day was ok. Only 1 of 3 subjects was difficult.. microbiology/parasitology. It gave me some confidence and an idea on the kind of exam I will be taking.

The 2nd day was a bloodbath. Two out of 3 subjects were difficult. Physiology and pathology were bloody difficult. but I was happy that legal medicine/medical jurisprudence was ok… because it is a very technical subject. I was so fatigued after the 1st day of exams that I wasn’t able to re-read the subjects for the 2nd day.. but I should have.

Well, it’s a matter of statistics now… whether I pass or not.

Arriving from 2nd exam, I wanted to find out the correct answers to the questions because they are often asked again in the other subjects. But it was giving me frustrations and more fatigue, so I just slept… I think I slept for more that 10hours. So today, I feel refreshed, ready to look for those answers. And more studying.

There was a one nice thing about the 2nd day of the exams though. While going home, I stumbled upon this church, it didn’t look much from the outside because it was painted with an appaling pale blue and white. It looked more like a cake than a church. But the gothic-inspired spires were unmistakable. And when I went in, I was amazed. The vaulted ceiling, the columns, the painted dome, the murals, and the stained glass windows were unmistakably original Spanish-era. The altar pieces were also original but they did a horrible paint job. My suspicions were confirmed when I saw tombstones lining the side of the church dating back to 1870. I was so amazed that I was straining my neck looking at them. The other people might have found it strange that I was so amazed by the old church. It’s quite a pity that few people show appreciation for such old architecture… when in fact they should. The name of the church is the church of San Sebastian.

I didn’t find it the church in the Jens Peters Guide to the Philippines, I will also check with Lonely Planet Philippines, if it’s not there, I plan to submit it as an entry.

Pre Board Exam Tension

2007-02-12T21:30:00.000-08:00

The day prior to the board exams was just horrible. i had really bad palpitations, and i was so nervous. but it was not something i couldn't handle. i jogged until my heart and my side hurts and i was out of breath. and i took an anxiolytic pill after.

World Pyro Olympics, January 2007

2007-01-24T11:40:00.000-08:00

I watched it during 4 of the 5 event dates.

Saw the shows of the following countries:

Australia: First day of the World Pyro Olympics. I decided spontaneously to go watch 1.5 hours prior to the start of the show. Emma went along after just one invite. Parts of the show was obscured by trees and some buildings coz we were just making our way through Edsa extension when it started.

Poland: Allegedly used 3 barges for their fireworks, most countries used only 1, can't confirm though coz i found some parts of show to be low on energy. I was pushed, elbowed, stepped-on, cursed at, by zergs outside the general viewing area. Lost my temper and yelled "We are not obliged to excuse you bitch!" to this woman to was demanding that we excuse her just because a 10-yr old prepubescent was with her. Why would you bring a 10-yr old prepubescent to a situation that can potentially turn into a stampede? And demand that people part like the red sea just because you are with a 10yr old prepubescent. Brain has aparently shrunk because it hasn't been used for a while.

USA: Second day. Left earlier but still found myself outside the general viewing area with the zergs. Well-sustained energy throughout the show, impressed because they were always firing 3 at a time, little did i know at that point that it will be greatly surpassed.

Spain: Some lull moments, i found their fireworks combinations to be quite artistic, that this firework has to come only with this, and only at this time.

United Kingdom: Not a dull moment, lots of unique tricks, including 2 sequences where they bounced the fireworks on the water surface, precise fireworks, the circles were very well formed, lots of energy too, even surpassed the USA because they were firing 4 to 6 everytime, clearly used 2 barges. i liked their routine best, coincidentally, they're also the team that won 1st place. This was the first of 2 days when i was able to see the fireworks literally bayside, 3rd day watching the fireworks. Special thanx to Herald who gave me one of the best spots by the bay to appreciate the fireworks. Didn't go with friends but made new friends in the process.

Germany: Super energy from start to finish, left almost everybody breathless, firing 5 at a time, and with typical German precision in formation and location. I would rate this as 2nd place.

Denmark: Second day that i saw the fireworks literally bayside, 4th day watching the fireworks. Low energy routine. Saw it with Terai.

Canada: High energy fireworks, no unique tricks though.

Watch out for fotos.

3 Cheeses and Pesto Pizza for New Year

2007-01-10T22:45:00.000-08:00

Terai, Annie and I decided to meet again on 30 December for a Christmas and New Year Dinner. We had planned to eat at Persiana at 36 Polaris Street. Annie was driving around Makati for several minutes under the navigational skills of Terai. But this was no ordinary evening to drive around Makati coz a lot of the roads were closed for the New Year Celebration the following day. But finally, we were able to locate Polaris Street… and then again after several minutes of trying to find the resto, I decided to look for it by walking and asking around. Voila! The restaurant no longer exists; it has been replaced by Alba!.. a beer house! It was a pleasant surprise though, coz it may serve the nice Belgian cherry beer that I like, and I saw the logo on the front door of Alba. We decided to go to another resto, Soul Food at Greenbelt 3. We ordered quesadillas, and 3 cheese and pesto pizza. BIG MISTAKE!!! It was served to us by a tall and beautiful waitress, but she served us a gray-green pizza with strands of yellow scattered all over. It looked totally disgusting! And the 3 of us had the same reaction and it was done simultaneously and without censorship. Firstly, our jaws dropped. Secondly, a moment of silence. Third and lastly, as if on cue, loud boisterous laughter filling the entire restaurant, with the tall and beautiful waitress still standing beside our table, looking dumb-founded. Well, another restaurant added to our list. But to be fair, the pizza tasted good, just good, not spectacular, perhaps a 6/10. The Quattro formaggio pizza at Amici di Don Bosco tasted so much better, I’d give it a 9/10.

Christmas Walkathon

2007-01-10T22:19:00.000-08:00

Terai and I decided to meet on 23 December to go around. While traveling, I got stuck in E. Rodriguez Avenue. Major ‘I am a flower moment!’ The person beside me was with her pre-adolescent bonging-type child who was dripping her food all over my arm. The mother, on the other hand, was occupying more than her fair share of the space, thereby squishing me. And the traffic was horrendous! I spent 2 hours stuck in traffic, when normally I’d spend only 15 minutes traveling that route. In effect, Terai arrived in Makati even before I did, despite warning me that she would be late. In Makati, I got lost looking for Gloria jeans coffee. But finally, I was able to meet Terai; I was 30 minutes late despite leaving earlier than Terai. From the moment we met at Gloria jeans, we spent the rest of the time walking and occasionally eating. We ordered Quattro formaggio at Amici di Don Bosco. Super!

SHOES, One of my "S" addictions

2006-12-19T20:54:00.000-08:00

Since i've arrived here in manila, i've already bought 6 pairs of shoes. But they are really good deals.

The best ones worth mentioning are:

TEVA Romero, running/trekking/hiking shoes.
TEVA Terra Cross buckle, trekking/hiking sandals.
HI-TEC Highlander, trekking/hiking shoes.

These are American and European brands.

No Chinese nor Filipino copies, thank you. They'd fall apart after several leisurely walks, and they'd bake your feet.

Manila's Old Quarter

2006-12-19T20:49:00.000-08:00

last week, i went to the old quarter of manila, and walked around binondo, ongpin, recto... but not yet intramuros. quite dangeruos places but i enjoyed it, i think i'm going back there again soon, one visit is not enough. i can tell that it must have been a beautiful city centuries ago under the spaniards and the americans. i even remarked that if they maintained the beautiful buildings and monuments, we would have looked like madrid in the middle of asia. but the japanese occupation destroyed most of manila, it was one of the most heavily damaged cities. and it was not repaired properly after being destroyed. so now, you only see bits of its former beauty. you see a beautiful building occasionally, and then next to it is a smelly and dirty river. I walked along the chinatown of manila too, but nothing to see there. i will have to spare some time so that i can visit intramuros properly.

Siquijor

2006-12-11T21:14:00.000-08:00

PM_0001
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Sun, sea, and sand. All these are less than 10 seconds away from our cottage. This is the beach that greets us in the morning.

Sun Worshipers

2006-12-11T20:18:00.000-08:00

Sun Worshipers 2
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Siquijor

2006-12-11T20:16:00.000-08:00

PM_0009
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Siquijor

2006-12-11T20:15:00.000-08:00

PM_0021
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Siquijor

2006-12-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

TR_0015
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

The view just outside our cottage.

SIQUIJOR ISLAND

2006-11-30T20:48:00.000-08:00

Hello pips,

Click on the links to the websites of Pia, Vix, Terai and Julius to read about our trip to Sijuijor.

It reminds me of a thousand inside jokes. And it always makes me laugh loudly (even in public places). Most of the time, I am successful at controlling my laughter, but sometimes audible giggles would escape, eliciting strange stares from my seatmates at an internet café. Worse, was in a public transportation, all I did was recall the phrase "Dinnes, The Journey" and it was enough to make me giggle.

More fotos at my flickr account.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sillyjake/

Enjoy.

Fucking Murphy’s Law!!!

2006-09-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

This is one BIG BITCH of a day! So, as expected, I was acting like one big cranky BRATINELLO! Damn, don’t serve one of those SALIDOÑOS to this BRATINELLO when it’s one of those days.

I didn’t get a minute of sleep last night because of my sporadic insomnia. So at 6am, I decided to go cycling, to get a work-out going. I was thinking that perhaps after cycling, the endorphins would make me feel good. Well, I got a bit of disappointment coz the front brakes of my bike were locked on ‘brake mode’ and the back tires were deflated. Hmmm! I just thought I wasn’t supposed to go cycling that day. I had breakfast and a cup of hot chocolate to relax… didn’t work! I decided to go back to sleep... didn’t work either. I just rolled there in bed.

By lunchtime, I got out of bed, and the maid cooked breakfast for me. I couldn’t find any other food that time, and I didn’t feel like cooking for myself, so I asked the maid to cook me one of those pancit canton. Guess what, the brain of our maid decided not to work as well. After boiling water, she put the noodles in, along with the flavoring, oil, and what not sauce that come along with it. Then, after cooking it for 3 minutes, drains everything. Naturally, flavoring, oil, etc etc DOWN DOWN THE DRAIN!!! And all that’s left is the pale and bland vermicelli.. FUDGE!!!! And she looked so FUDGEY surprised that it tasted bland. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!! Cook another one, get it right this time. *SIGH* This requires EMERGENCY ZEN MODE! Some neck stretching, breathe deeply, inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. “I am calm, I am in a happy place, I am calm, I am in a happy place.” Well, she managed to cook the 2nd one correctly, but I did the whole deep breathing exercise the whole time I was eating those freaking noodles.

One way to keep my mind away from those unfortunate events was to go to work. And work I did, I went and did more surfing through the internet to get more details regarding the planned vacation of me and my friends. It’s working, it’s working, it’s keeping my mind away from the events that transpired earlier. Up until the moment that I wanted to print the stuff that I’ve researched. The F*CKING printer wont work. AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! ZEN MODE, ZEN MODE!!! And zen mode needs reinforcement. So right now, I’ve lighted some aromatherapy candles, and played some nice ambient music. I could even try listening to Benedictine monks chanting. Hopefully, it works. If it still doesn’t work, I’m thinking of doing 120 sit-ups, and exhaust myself to sleep. If not still, I could drown myself to sleep with rum.

MAY THE CALMNESS AND SERENITY OF BUDDHA BE WITH ME!!
Wish me luck.

I might even succeed in keeping my BRATINELLO-side separate from my OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE PERFECTIONIST TRAVEL-PLANNER-side. So perhaps later, I might even be able to update my friends regarding our travel plans. Hopefully, the update will sound coherent and hopefully it will be free of psychiatric characteristics such as flight of ideas that identify a SCHIZ work of writing.

Apres Internship

2006-09-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

What’s a day like after medical internship?

After the grueling 24 to 34-hour workdays, I’ve been having difficulty finding things to do. But then I realize that what I have right now isn’t bad at all.

..Wake up at 9am.
..Roll around in bed for another 15 minutes.
..Have breakfast at 915am.
Wheat bread with butter and liver spread.
Home made pizza with wheat bread, 3 cheese pizza sauce, fresh basil, cheddar cheese.
..Extend breakfast for 2 hours in the garden, while drinking Sri Lankan orange pekoe tea that I flavored with lemon, orange, cinnamon and nutmeg. While drinking tea, I read options where my friends and I will go on vacation. The options have to have a beach, can go snorkeling, and can go diving. Currently reading on Siquijor Island, Negros Oriental and Apo Island. The background music comes from my Beach House collection.
..Have a nice, long and leisurely cool shower.
..Make lunch.
Penne in Tomato-Parmesan, Spanish sardine, fresh basil, and chili-garlic sauce.
..Extend lunch for another 2 hours in the garden while drinking lemonade. And continue reading on the options on where to go on vacation. Background music comes from my Chill Out collection.
..Put the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door, and have a nice long siesta.
..Wake up just in time for dinner.
..Have dinner with the family.
..After dinner, have a nice warm cup of Spanish chocolate, with chocolate and mint cookies. And read some more on where to go on vacation. Background music: After Eight Chill Out.

Hmmm.. I wonder what will greet me first thing in the morning tomorrow.
Perhaps a nice warm cup of strong coffee, freshly brewed using local Robusta coffee beans.

Ahhhhh! This is the life!

PROOST!

2006-07-17T23:32:00.000-07:00

PROOST! This means 'Cheers!' and it's the most important word that i learned from Alex and Bart. Well, i think you know what we do when this word is being used. Beer and cocktails, anyone? And of course, talk and laugh about my version of 'home of hope'. 'Home of hope' is a foundation for children but i mis-heard it when it was first said to me. i heard 'homophobe' instead of 'home of hope', so imagine the horror on my face when i learned that a foundation has been named 'homophobe'. :)

Dr. Alex and Dr. Bart

2006-07-11T22:06:00.000-07:00

Dr Alex

Dr Bart

Dr. Alex van Riel and Dr. Bart van den Berg are 2 of my colleagues from the Netherlands who are visiting the Philippines for a medical mission. :)

Virginia Sausage Totally Corrupted

2006-06-24T01:12:00.000-07:00

Sausage

When i woke up today, i kinda dragged myself to the kitchen.. still sleepy and lazy to get up. And then i started eating a sliced sausage on the kitchen table, and then i asked the servant what it was... and she replied: "Vagina Sausage". Hmmm, i think i'm still groggy coz i didn't hear it right. So i asked again what it was.. "VAGINA SAUSAGE"... I broke out in loud laughter all by myself. My father saw me laughing by myself and i told him what happened.. he ended up laughing boisterously too. Virginia sausage was totally corrupted and molested.

Chococcino

2006-06-24T00:31:00.001-07:00

Spanish Chocolate

Buenas noches!

Me and a bunch of friends decided to hang-out in a coffee shop (Coffee Beanery) last night. I decided to order a 'chococcino'. The waiter explained to me that it was a combination of hot spanish chocolate with fresh milk. Doesn't that just make you salivate? I was anticipating having a cup of hot thick dark bittersweet spanish chocolate, and i was thinking of adding as much cream as i please to my cup. And then my cup arrives, with a nice creamy froth on top with a syrup spiral to decorate it. And then i sipped... LAS-AY NGA MILO!!! (BLAND MILO! 1:20 dilution which is only done by the ungas-ungas mommies of the uma of Negros.) I am freaking capable of making a better cup of chocolate using Ovaltine 3in1. So people.. this comes as a caveat when planning to have a drink in Coffee Beanery. Chococcino! BAH!!!

Dig our tan

2006-06-12T02:23:00.000-07:00

Dig our tan
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

BINGO! BULLSEYE!!

2006-06-12T02:22:00.001-07:00

BINGO! BULLSEYE!!
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

More Pretending

2006-06-12T02:22:00.000-07:00

More Pretending
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Pretending

2006-06-12T02:21:00.000-07:00

Pretending
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Ulterior motive?

2006-06-12T02:15:00.000-07:00

Ulterior motive?
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

In front of Villa de Oro

2006-06-12T01:39:00.000-07:00

In front of Villa de Oro
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Day 4

This is the part that is least enjoyable.. leaving Boracay and going back to the real world. We woke up at different times.. I woke up last. Hehehe! I wonder why? *Wink, wink*

On the bus stop in Caticlan.. it is easy to make the observation that Filipinos don’t know how to form a queue. Instead, they push, grab, elbow, and pull themselves to get to the front.. well, those are the f*cking uneducated squatters anyway, not us! But you are going to get a push, a grab, an elbow, or even a punch if try to cut your way in front of one of my friends. *Raise eyebrow while watching squatters wrestle themselves to death getting to the front.*

When seated, I realized that my seat and the seat in front of me are quite dysfunctional. That’s how I met Phil, an American Dive Master, touring his way through the dive sites in the Philippines. When he would lean back on his seat, it goes so far backward that my space is easily halved. However, my seat does the same but to a lesser extent. Well, he kinda got worried about his seat but I reassured him that its OK coz I’m ‘paper thin’ anyway, still lots of space for me. After that, we talked about the places that he has been in the Philippines, and he was asking about how to travel to some of the places that he still planned to visit. Among them were Apo Island just off Dumaguete, Bohol, and Cebu. After a while, I had to sleep my hangover away during the bus ride. And then enter a booming voice from just beside Phil. Marvin Yu Zapanta! Here is the context of the situation: almost everybody on the bus is exhausted from all that activity from Boracay, and they just want to get some rest during the boring bus ride. I don’t think anybody appreciates a voice with a loudness that rivals that of a jet engine when you are trying to sleep. Again, Marvin Yu Zapanta! Most especially for Phil, who was just to his right, getting much of those decibels right in his face. Nor did Lynor and RJ appreciate it, who were just to his left. Again, Marvin Yu Zapanta, alleged English literature teacher, but who couldn’t even f*cking get his English straight. *TAGALUMAPAW AND TIKAL!!!* *Lynor, I think this is the part where you stand up, with eyes glaring down at Marvin, kag nag-paninghawak up to the level of the armpits, and yelled ‘WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?’* And then he even had the audacity to tell Phil that he learned Korean in so-so weeks! *My gosh! The air coming from him!! It was like watching a human typhoon, wind gusts reaching 250 km/hr! Mahangin talaga sa seats namin!!!* Want more hilarious stuff? Here it goes. Phil was asking me if I knew how to dive, well, I told him I don’t know yet but I’d like to in the future. I told him instead that I snorkel and there are great sites in Boracay, Carbin Reef, Bantayan Island.. and I’ve been told Danjugan Island too. Now, he asked the same from Marvin coz Marvin offered to take him around Negros while he was there. So, could Marvin, in fact, help Phil in his quest to find the great diving sites and the natural underwater treasures of the Philippines? *Drum roll please!* And then he told Phil.. he has never snorkeled and he doesn’t even know how to swim. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Reliability to help Phil... 17 out of a potential 100!!

Well, for the rest of the f*cking ride from Caticlan to Jaro, Iloilo, all we heard were his f*cking kayabangan. Except for an intermission, when this girl entered the bus, she looked like she came from a nightclub with flickering lights (People, I know that you know these kinds of bars.. *wink, wink*).. what she was wearing was complete with sequins and stuff. Anyway, it didn’t escape the eyes of Milan, sabay tadyak kay Lynor immediately! Gets guid dayon sang tanan!!! Another intermission from Marvin’s tikal, bus stop to get some food. This one particularly agitated Milan. He came back to the bus and I could see the flames coming out of his eyes and ears while he animatedly told me *The nerve of this restaurant!! They charge more compared to the restaurants in Boracay! And look where they are situated.. in the MIDDLE OF A PALAYAN!! The nerve to charge that much! And they even had scripture lines written in the walls, yet they are ripping us off!*

When we got to Jaro, it was quite a reprieve from Marvin’s kayabangan! Little did we know that it was time for another significant event. During one of the jeepney rides, RJ suddenly turned and stared very sharply at this guy sitting beside her. We didn’t know what happened then. But then RJ told us that the guy was making ‘pasimple touch-touch the boobs and butt’.. maniac pala!! Ang gago niya!! Si RJ, harassed sa jeepney! My goodness, the adventures and misadventures never end.

Let’s cut to the boat terminal.. we were early for a change.. we didn’t have to catch anything while running. So this time, na-stress kami because we weren’t on the run. So picture-picture na lang. And I had time to eat the Andok’s chicken, the only one left who hadn’t eaten lunch coz RJ, Milan, and Lynor had already eaten theirs at the bus stop in Caticlan.. and the chicken and rice were eaten like a sandwich.. maabilidad!!! But off course, before eating, hygiene muna.. no alcohol, no alcogel, so make do with wet wipes.. wipe the hands, then after wiping the hands, wipe the face and neck, and keep the wet wipes, eat the chicken and rice like a sandwich, after eating.. use the wet wipes as tongue brush.. abilidad din yon!! Before boarding, all of us had a collective objective.. to be seated as far away from Marvin as possible.. because we saw him in the boat terminal too. And, by a stroke of luck, he was seated just 2 seats away from us!! Damn! What luck! What luck indeed.. because of the proximity of his seat.. we caught some of his conversations with his friends.. and what a REVELATION! He was getting stressed in the boat!! But why? Because he was no longer seated beside Phil!!! Apparently, Phil had the same objective as us.. to be seated as far away from Marvin as possible.. coz his seat was miles away from Marvin.. MWAHAHAHA!!! Now, things could be pieced together.. all that kayabangan was to possibly impress Phil... Mwahahaha!!! MAN IS A LOGICAL ANIMAL... EVERYTHING IS DONE FOR A REASON!!!

Now, time for us to get crazy! The 4 of us, realizing that Marvin has become a very juicy topic for my blog, labored in very imaginative and creative ways to get a picture of Marvin. Let’s start with taking pictures of the 4 of us.. doesn’t work.. then RJ posed on the pole (para hindi halata!).. as if RJ is the actual subject (btw, while RJ was posing, the guy behind him didn’t know if he’d smile or pasimple no reaction.. we’re not interested in you honey, if you only knew), RJ was just a decoy, a deceipt within a deceiptful motive, let’s move on, now it’s Milan in action.. and VOILA!! Marvin Yu Zapanta! You can almost hear the tikal from his facial expression. Mission accomplished!!

Boat docks in Bacolod.. didn’t I tell you would get a push, a pull, a grab or an elbow from one of my friends if you try to cut yourself in front of one of my friends.. well, this time it was because of loitering while everybody was going out.. the culprit.. Marvin.. the pusher.. RJ!!

Dewey meets us at the dock.. and off we go to get some dinner.. destination Jollibee Take Out. Everybody had straightforward orders, and then my turn, ‘So if I don’t want drinks, I don’t get drinks but I still pay the same amount as the combo with drinks?’.. Lynor was pretty quick to remind me of my meticulousness.. she simply reminded me of my line: “Ano ni ang fresh apple juice? Apple juice sa tetra pack nga gin butang sa baso?”

The end pips!

August naman?

Fave Bora Pic

2006-06-12T01:20:00.001-07:00

Fave Bora Pic
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Party Night 3

Nestea’s Set Point Party

It was held just in front of Hey Jude. It was great! DJ Manolet Dario was playing awesome music. The Nestea boys were spraying mist all over the place, and the Nestea girls were there too. Whoohooo!!! There was also media coverage.. coz we had a close encounter with them.. quite literally when I said “close encounter”. Sometimes, when you are having a nice high and you are really into the music, you kinda close your eyes and just dance and feel the music. What you don’t expect, however, is to find a huge video camera pointed at your face from 2 feet away. No wonder the light and the warm that you felt on your face. That’s exactly what happened to me. And after me, RJ got the same close encounter.. complete with the “closed eyes” dancing. Milan got a bit scared of the camera though, because he never asked permission from his parents to go to Boracay.. hmmmm, what would they think if they saw him dancing on tv? We transferred a bit to Pier One, but the party was boring there. We went back to Hey Jude where I stayed while RJ, Milan and Lynor decided to go back. I met James there again, the usual casual talk. I also met one of the female bartenders, Alexes, and I was teasing her about having some drinks while still on-duty.. and then all of a sudden Borgy Manotoc came along and decided to join me in teasing the bartender. It didn’t take long before he bought me a drink.. along with Alexes, and James. Dig that people! Rubbing elbows with Borgy!

One of the best pics

2006-06-11T06:37:00.000-07:00

One of the best pics
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Holy Mary, and Unholy Mary

2006-06-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

Day 3

Four of us decided to stay longer (RJ, Lynor, Milan and me), while Dada, Karen and JR, and Ruscel and Gale decided to go back to Bacolod.

Late wake-up for everybody, especially me, coz when I woke up, Lynor and RJ had already gone back from their trip to the tip of Station 1, and Milan already had his swim.

The order of the day was pretty much “individual time”. You can do whatever you want, we just set a time to meet because for tonight we decided to eat at the beachfront.

For my part, my day started after lunch already. I sent a couple of postcards to Nico and Felix. And after that, it was shopping, shopping, and more shopping. Celebrity sighting, Geff Rodriguez, he’s quite a friendly guy. He would return your greeting when you greet him. When I got back, RJ and I decided to have that massage that came free when buying the Nestea Green Tea products. We have been planning to do this since day one, so off we went, but upon arriving there, they were already closing up. We decided to go back, and just chill and prepare for the final party night. On our way back, we saw Wendell Ramos who had a staring competition with RJ. You think RJ would budge? Nah, I never thought of it! Other celebrity sightings: Brad Turvey, Amanda Griffin, Jennifer Lee, Robby Manaquil.

For Dinner: we had to scout the entire Station 2 and Station 1 for the best place to eat and the best deal too, and the best place was Shena’s Restaurant. We had an entrée for only P150, beef cordon bleu, fish in tartar sauce, squid in chili sauce.. they were all delicious, particulary the squid in chili sauce, the chili gave a nice “bite” to the dish. We also had mango rum and banana rum shakes, yummy, yummy, yummy. We will definitely go back to Shena’s Restaurant when we get back to Boracay.

Early morning crazy episode

2006-06-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

Early morning crazy episode
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Pre-Party

2006-06-11T06:19:00.000-07:00

Party Night 2

Once awake.. let the alcohol flow. This time though, “Gale” decided to join us. Oh sorry, let me all introduce you to Gale, we knew him earlier as Galileo, and he has completed his metamorphosis in World-Record-Time, from larvae to Mariposa (or do you prefer Paru-parung Bukid) in a span of 48 hours. Bravo!

We had new names for each other while kidding around. Sorry peeps, this is more of an inside joke among us.

Milan - Cingular and Wireless
Jake - Addict mobile
RJ - Touch mobile
Dada - Daylight
Lynor - 24/7

After getting loaded on the alcohol, we went off to Pier One again to party. On our way there, we spotted KC Montero, Brad Turvey, Borgy Manotoc, Ornussa Cadness, Cindy Kurleto.. and Gale was pulling on us to have his picture taken.. any takers from our group.. “No”.. just as I thought, “Gale, let’s go.” was more in character.

When we arrived in Pier One, the party was dead as a doornail again! And what on earth are they playing? Hip-hop and R & B on a glorious night? What a waste of party time. And my goodness, nobody was dancing again. Well, let’s sit up front this time. We (meaning RJ, Lynor, Dada, and Milan.. while I sat down and looked-on) danced a bit and tried to get into the R & B rhythm. Well, as can be expected, my tolerance for the R & B music did not last long.. and I had to go and look for a better party.

I walked all the way to Nigi Nigi to check out all the parties along the way. And most notable among them was the one at Hey Jude, they played good house music, techno music, and trance music. Excellent! And it’s at Hey Jude where I stayed for most of the night. I met lots of people there, but forgive me coz I can’t recall most of their names. There was this cool guy whom I talked to, who seemed to be thinking in the same line of thought as I was. We both agreed that Hey Jude was playing the best music at that point in time, and we were both dancing and just feeling the music without a care in the world. And then there was this girl to my right, she introduced herself, but you know me and my special relationship with names, so let’s move on.. she told me she works in one of the bars in Boracay.. and that was it. Exotic-looking girl, works in a bar.. you know the “type”, and that made her easily forgettable. And then to my left was James, an Englishman, we talked a bit, pretty much casual talk. And then there’s Noel, the cool bartender from Iloilo who was the one mixing my drinks according to my specifications.. cool, sweet and strong! Well, I think I spent until 3 a.m. at Hey Jude, but I wasn’t contented with the party yet.. I went back to Pier One.. this time they were playing awesome club music and there were fire dancers around.. so I just danced my drunkenness away at Pier One until just shortly before sunrise. When I had my fill of the party, I walked home, and while walking home, I saw the MAGNIFICENT PHILIPPINE SUNRISE, it was BEAUTIFUL! And I still had my “high” from the party, which meant that I was still feeling “extra-crazy”.. so I went home (meaning the lodge), wrote on the mirror with my Nivea lip moisturizer, took the mirror with me to the beach (I passed one of the guards along the way, he had a bewildered look on his face looking at me as I carried the huge mirror), poured the famous powdery white sand of Boracay on the mirror, poured the excess sand away, gave the mirror a light tap.. and VOILA! DRUNKEN ARTWORK!! I brought the mirror back to the room again and passed the same guard, same look on his face. Now, all i have to figure out now is how to position myself on the bed.. after that it’s Zzzzzz.

Exhausted

2006-06-11T06:01:00.000-07:00

Exhausted
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

skiing?

2006-06-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

skiing?
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

snorkeling, pause, pose muna

2006-06-11T05:48:00.000-07:00

snorkeling, pause, pose muna
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Lechon on a bamboo stick

2006-06-11T05:45:00.000-07:00

Lechon on a bamboo stick
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Waiting for the sailboat

2006-06-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

Waiting for the sailboat
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

COSTUME CHANGE for Day2: Gone are the inhibitions of day 1. Lynor sheds clothing and bares lots of skin.. it’s bikini day! The tinier, the better.

Now it’s time for an adventure that we will never forget. Lynor and Dada met a guy where we could rent one of the sailboats. So we all did our preparation. By the time we were done preparing, it was already 2:30 p.m. We still had to walk a bit to where the sailboats were, and when we were there, we still had to wait for the sailboat and the guys accompanying us. This will be significant later when we arrive. We sailed for some time to Crocodile Island (Take note Dada, it’s Crocodile Island, not Alligator Island.) And while sailing, I could actually ski with my bare feet, it was pretty cool. And when we arrived at the island, everybody was excited to put on their goggles and snorkels and dive. So dive we go!

Upon diving, we all had our individual explore time. “I don’t know if it is just me, or are the fishes here just super strong.” That was what I was asking myself because, no matter how strong I swam, I don’t seem to move at all, while the fishes around me just swam with ease.

Well, it turned out I wasn’t alone. Lynor, no matter how much swam, still didn’t move, or if she moved, it was backward.

And then there’s Milan.. he dived in the water.. and he was so amazed with what he was seeing that he decided not to surface for some time. But when he finally decided to surface, he was horrified to see that the boat in front of him is white and not the red sailboat where he rode in. Well, just hold on to the white boat and make friends na lang.

There’s also Dada. Dada is the weakest swimmer among us.. so she decided to play it safe. Just swim close to the boat.. but even that didn’t spare her from the forces of nature. When she surfaced, she had this “bold-star look”, it looked as if her life vest was ripped from her in a very forceful manner. Or perhaps she was raped by dolphins.. I’ve read somewhere that they are the only creatures on earth (Besides humans) that have sex for pleasure. (RJ, Milan, and Lynor.. you guys have to help me with this.. I am trying to recreate the picture again.) We know that Dada looked exhausted when she surfaced, and that her life vest had been torn from her... now, do you guys remember if she surfaced with a SMILE? If she surfaced with a smile, then perhaps.. hmmmmmm!!! GOOD DOLPHIN!!! Dada also tried clinging to the sailboat, that didn’t work either. I couln’t help but have the image of a lechon on a bamboo pole.

Most interesting though, was RJ. Like Milan, she was so amazed at what she was looking at that she didn’t surface for quite a while. And then when she surfaced.. STRESS! She surfaced so far away from the sailboat. And then even MORE STRESS. The eternal struggle to get back to the boat. “Mas damo pa ko tubig na na-inom kay sa isda nga nakita!!” Mwahahaha!!! Recommend rehydration with 20 gallons of seawater. Hehehe!

In short, the current was freakishly strong. And the guys at the sailboat knew all along.. but never told us!

Time is up at sea. Time to go back. We all looked dead during the sail to the beach, but we were still able to see a lot of flying fish trying to escape some tuna fish in a feeding frenzy. Man, those tuna fish are pretty strong, they can jump out of the water too, when chasing their food.

Arrival at the beach: 4:45 p.m. Then one of the sailboat guys tried to hustle us.. charging us another P500 or P1000 for spending too much time at sea... Grrrr! We clearly left the lodge at 2:30 p.m., then we had to walk where they were, had to wait for them, and then wait for the freaking sailboat, so we clearly left at 2:45 and arrived at 4:45, exactly 2 hours as transacted.. and now he’s overcharging us. The nerve! Well, it must have been written in our faces that we weren’t happy with what was going on.. and that we were still holding the money and we can just walk out without paying.. coz he soon stopped hustling us. And he had the audacity to ask if we wanted another ride tomorrow, all 4 of us turned our back at him and walked out without saying a word.

Ok, time for some sleep before going out tonight.

after vball

2006-06-11T05:30:00.000-07:00

after vball
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

vball

2006-06-11T05:29:00.000-07:00

vball
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

System malfunction

2006-06-11T05:21:00.000-07:00

System malfunction
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Sailboats

2006-06-11T05:13:00.001-07:00

Sailboats
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Boracay's Crystal Clear Waters

2006-06-11T05:13:00.000-07:00

Boracay's Crystal Clear Waters
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Boracay, Day 2 (5 May 2006)

2006-06-11T05:11:00.000-07:00

All of us woke up at different times.. different amounts of alcohol consumed last night equals different wake-up times. Hehehe! But the 5 of us had time to swim at the beach at the same time. And also play some volleyball.

It was a pretty lazy day. Walking around, more shopping, individually, in pairs, by 3’s, anything went. RJ and I walked around, saw the cool Nestea green tents just as we went out of the lodge.. we inquired from the beautiful Nestea girls in cool-blue Santa Claus outfits and the handsome Nestea boys, they told us that for a minimum purchase of P50, you get a free massage in the Nestea tents, quite a deal! RJ and I decided to buy some Nestea products from the Nestea boys and girls as soon as we get some free time, and get our massage. Now we go to D’ Mall. RJ noted a nice bikini in one of the stores, and she went there to try them. While she was trying them on, I was just outside doing some people spotting. I saw a tall, tanned guy that could pretty much pass for a model, he just passed by.. and then a little while later.. he passed by again.. this time he was holding-hands with a tall tanned girl that could pretty much pass for a model. It was only later that I realized that those 2 were in fact Borgy Manotoc and Ornusa Cadness. Hehehe! Me and my ignorance when it comes to celebrities. And that wasn’t the last encounter. On our way back, I saw a pretty lady, and I remarked “RJ, don’t we know her.” Hehehe! “Jake, that’s Cindy Kurleto.” Bloopers! But I wasn’t the only celebrity-ignorant person in the group. Earlier that day, Milan and RJ were walking when RJ remarked “My, what a good looking boy.” Take note, she didn’t say good looking man, she said good looking BOY. And she was immediately corrected by Milan.. “Good looking boy huh, that’s Brad Turvey.” Well, they are just pretty faces to us. But forget the celebrities, what made RJ’s day was seeing Gary Dolatas.. her former crush... Hahaha! She went crazy!

Another thing about day 2, it was EQUIPMENT MALFUNCTION DAY. RJ’s fone battery got drained, and Dada’s charger was incompatible with her fone. I was tapping my toothbrush on the faucet, and it broke into 2.

And then there was the issue of the VENN CHALLENGE: “RJ, hindi ka mapapansin sa Boracay.” Really, to challenge RJ is quite a dangerous thing to do. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!!! Only now, the issue isn’t really getting people’s attention in Boracay, it’s proving him wrong. And boy, was he proven wrong. People of all colors: brown, white, tan, yellow, black; both male and female genders; they noticed RJ indeed, and I was the one keeping score. One foreigner remarked: “Look at that!” A girl remarked “Bongga!” and then a little girl said “Mama, artista yan, parang nakita ko sya sa isang show.” Mwahahaha! HYPOTHESIS REJECTED, 99.9% CONFIDENCE.

Ruscel, Brad Turvey, Karen

2006-06-11T04:55:00.000-07:00

Ruscel, Brad Turvey, Karen
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Party Night One: Destination: Pier One

2006-06-10T21:13:00.000-07:00

Along the way, we saw this lady in one of the darkly-lit small alleys, dancing wildly, apparently drunk to her toenails.. and then behold – it was Maui Taylor! Yuck! She looked so chipipay! Especially with an old white guy with her.

We arrived at Pier One and met up with Karen, Ruscel, Rufino, JR, and Galileo.. the place was dead! When we arrived, they were playing good music, and yet nobody was dancing.. just laying on the sand, on the beanbags, and just chatting and having some drinks. But to hell with those boring people, we arrived dancing, and didn’t have a care in the world, we just kept on dancing. And we ordered more alcohol.. Margarita.. which, to our horror, was quite expensive considering it was just a small pitcher. “What? They used water from the fountain of youth to make this margarita? Is it why it’s so expensive?” A little while later, we were dancing on the tabletops, and Galileo was showing signs that he was ready to bloom. JR was gaining confidence too, and was soon our group macho dancer. Milan was teaching him how to flirt with a girl but unfortunately, the girl’s father was there at the party as well. Ok, that would be a little dangerous for JR. Well, more alcohol, and the music was getting even better.. and soon, we were moving our way to the front.. and shortly after we did that.. people were soon dancing with us. Now this is a PARTY! We were soon joining a huge conga-line snaking its way all over the place. And then a little later, a girl was dancing and flirting with Milan. They danced a little more while I lay there on a beanbag, just chilling, watching everything unfold before my eyes. Still, more dancing and flirting, and then Milan dropped THE BOMB, he said: “Honey, I’m gay. I’m gay big time!” Boisterous laughter followed! The girl was laughing her heart out, but managed to say: “I’m gonna give my brother’s number to you.”

While all this was happening, Lynor met Vincent, but left it to Dada. Lynor, Dada and RJ also checked out the MTV Party at Summerplace. It turned out to be reggae.. not really their cup of tea, so they went back to Pier One.

Well, when we had our share of the fun.. and saw that the party was waning anyway, we decided to go back to the lodge. I might have stayed behind longer, but I don’t really clearly remember why, hmmm, all that alchohol I guess, all I remember is, when I went back to the lodge, 2 voices were calling me... it turned out to be Lynor and Dada.. they were swimming at 3 a.m.! Well, I’m also crazy so I joined them. The water wasn’t that cold. And weirder still, there was an outrigger boat docking near us at 3a.m. The people in it looked at the 3 of us.. they must have been thinking that we were weird swimming at 3a.m. We looked back at them, thinking how weird they were for traveling at 3a.m. Hehehe! After some swimming, it’s time to rinse ourselves and sleep. I went first, but I took quite a while rinsing myself.. leaving Lynor and Dada in the cold. Lynor was last, and by the time she was done.. everybody was sleeping soundly.. she had trouble finding space on the bed.. would she go oblique, or transverse, or squeeze herself in, and how to avoid that groove in the middle of the 2 beds.. but she did find a spot and it’s GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY. Zzzzzzzzzz. :)

Shopping! Destination: Talipapa

2006-06-03T10:08:00.000-07:00

One of the small alleys leading to the Talipapa was just near where we were staying.. so we decided to check it out. And right then and there.. at the first store.. the okrayan flowed in steady streams.. none of the merchandise were spared. Hehehe! That’s what you get when our batteries have been recharged with some food and some rest. Well, I guess the most interesting part was at the accessory store. Hmmm, touch-touch the merchandise muna, and then take it out of the display shelf, and then try it on.. then call for reinforcement.. and then BLAST-OFF! “Jake, this one looks like it was inspired by a potato chip!” There was no stopping Lynor.. she was on a roll from then on! She grabs another one, and then remarks.. “Hmmm, this one is also potato-chip inspired, but it also has monggo-beans along the chain.” And then there were talong-inspired necklaces, and other vegetable. Talk about organic, man! And then there was this necklace with a lady as a pendant. Boy, was the lady anatomically disfigured.. her boobs were at the level of her abdomen.. so we thought she must be old.. but on closer inspection, there was this huge bulge at her crotch.. so she’s not only old.. she’s an old hermaphrodite, or perhaps an old transvestite.. either way you take it.. I don’t think it would flatter you to wear that necklace. And then what really did it for the girl was this intergalactic-inspired necklace which I remarked “Earth to Lynor, Earth to Lynor, do you copy?” By then the lady said “Sumosobra ka na kuya ha.” Mwahahaha! We had to move on after that.

At the talipapa, there were countless other stuff... and Milan was the expert in making ‘tawad’. Sarongs that cost close to 200 pesos, he would kid-around and make tawad – “Abi ko, 50 pesos lang ni.” And then more necklaces and bracelets, everybody was trying on what they fancied. Lynor looked good in one that looked like fishscales.. but eventually she saw another potato-chip inspired necklace with shiny jewels studded at the chain.. and she bought it.. the pendant had a nice emerald-green uneven color that had shiny parts.. well, I guess it was a spinach-flavored potato-chip. Hehehe! We spent hours at the talipapa, to the extent that the sun had already set while we were there, and then we began to realize again.. our blood glucose levels were low again... and we were quite far from our favorite Jaspers.. so we had to eat at the nearest place that we saw. And in the middle of dinner, RJ goes “Oh my gosh! I tried on this bracelet but I never paid for it, and now I don’t know which store I tried it on.” Hehehe! Blooper.

Now it’s back to the lodge, freshen up and let the drinking start.. of course while watching FTV to get inspiration for tonight’s party.

I took care of mixing the drinks, for which I was called the Bartender.. Milan was handing out the drinks, for which he was called the Waiter.. Dada was the one drinking, for which she was called the Tomadora.. and Lynor was the one urging Dada to drink some more, for which she was called the Bouncer.

So, let the drinks flow.. along with the drinks, so does our imagination. So while watching FTV, you take your pick what you are going to wear to the party.. will it be Athenian-inspired with all the shoe strappings up to your knee, will it be skimpy, will it be Philippine-tropical and floral, will it be barely there.. or will it be bare? But when the FLYING COBRA was conceptualized, I think we’ve had enough alcohol and its time to go to the party!

Arrival in Boracay

2006-06-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (4 May 2006)

Arrival at Boracay: at Boat Station 3!, which menas a walkathon to Station 2 where we will be staying, carga-carga our 2 bags each. Lynor only brought 1 bag, I don’t know how the hell she managed it, but she told me later that her things double-up for another purpose.. like the sarong.. it doubles up as habol/blanket.. if you get wet, it doubles up as a towel. And of course, the AMAZING BANDANA aka BLINDFOLD aka SCARF aka BIKINI TOP aka TAPIS! Multipurpose! “Pwede pa place-mat and table napkin?” OK, back to the walkathon, we arrived at Sander’s White Resort where we will be staying, only to be told that the room occupants haven’t vacated yet. OK wait a little bit pa, blood glucose level = 90. Fifteen minutes later, nothing happens, blood glucose level = 85. My gosh, it’s already 1pm, they’re supposed to be gone by 12nn, 30 minutes later, wala pa rin! Blood glucose level = 78! Gutom na! Irritable na tanan! Civilized pa naman, pero struggling with the monsters within already. Finally, the room becomes empty, we put all our bags in and by 2pm, Mario was guiding us around the places where we could eat with reasonable prices (that’s Jasper’s), where we could do our groceries, do our shopping, hang-out, and he also showed us the little alleys that become short-cuts if you are familiar with them. If you are, however, a geo-idiot like me, those little alley ways become the perfect recipe for getting LOST! On a positive note, getting lost could be quite an adventure, on a negative note, it could be quite a nightmare. After lunch, we were pretty much on our own.. did some groceries, checked out the cool hang-outs. And note, everybody was wearing shirts and shorts.. good to note this coz this will change in the course of the following days. Celebrity sightings: KC Montero, Alex Compton.

After doing our groceries, we went back to Sander’s to rest a bit. It was here where the famous line was said “Paki-cerrado ang puerta, mag-gwa ang aircon.” Shuweng! (“I didn’t know airconditioners could walk now.”)

After waking-up, the prime objective was now shopping!

On the PUMP-BOAT

2006-06-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

DSCN0403
Originally uploaded by silly_jake.

Boracay, 4-7 May 2006: Arrival in Caticlan

2006-06-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (4 May 2006)

We were met by Mario who’s going to be our guide. Most of the trip now becomes headache-free for me because we have a full-fledged and dedicated treasurer with us, in the person of Lynor. But of course, the trip wouldn’t be fun without our “more-than-occasional” lapses in concentration. Just when we were “mounting the PUMP BOAT” (“Hmmmmm, that phrase has a strangely Freudian undertone.. OK, back to the mounting.. Hehehe!”) RJ began to wobble while on the ladder of the pump boat (“Hihihi!”), hmmm, maybe its because she has all her bags carried only on one side. On one side – she had all her bags and she couldn’t use her hand on that side, unfortunately that was the side where the railing was where you could hold on. The other side.. well, WATER! TUBIG! BAYBAY! DAGAT! Thoughts in RJ’s mind while all these were going on: 1.) My phone! 2.) Felicitas is going to kill me if I take this camera with me to all those little fishes down there! 3.) I’m going to be dripping wet even before I arrive in Boracay. Manong to the rescue! He grabs RJ before she takes the Nestea plunge. Whew! Now that we are all in the pump boat (“Hihihi!”), off we go to Boracay! My gosh, I’ve just realized that there is no way that you could ‘de-Freudianize’ the word PUMP BOAT!

Survivor, Medical Interns Edition

2006-06-03T08:44:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (4 May 2006)

We managed to make it on the boat on time… barely! Now, the adrenaline begins to subside, and we begin to focus on other things.. namely our stomachs. None of us managed to eat breakfast, and it’s a 6-hour trip going to Boracay.

The ferry ride was uneventful, and so was the ride from the port to the bus terminal. While on the bus to Caticlan, however, the lack of coffee and breakfast began to take its effect. My tummy began to grumble , and I had to find a way to appease my complaining stomach. At first, I saw a kid selling some quail eggs, it was pretty cheap (P10 for 5 quail eggs), I bought it and was soon eating it. It just wasn’t enough, my stomach was still grumbling. At the next bus stop, another kid was selling 5 small corn on the cob – again for only P10, which I bought. My seatmate was shocked to see me ravage the 5 corn on the cob in 3 minutes, I must have been really hungry! After the 5 corn on the cob, I was doing OK. The rest of the bus ride going to Caticlan became a lot more comfortable for me now that I have food in my stomach.

The Amazing Race, Medical Interns Edition: Bangenge ang Departure!! Surprise, surprise! It’s 6 a.m. not 6:30!

2006-05-28T09:05:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (4 May 2006)

From one side of the fence (my side, Jake’s side): ABA! Leisurely ang shower.. then a fonecall from Dr. Milan Ratunil. The maid answers the fone while I’m still in the shower. Normally, the maid would disturb me while I’m in the shower, informing me immediately of the fonecall, no matter how trivial the call would be. For example, she informed me immediately when a friend of my brother called asking where my brother is.. hmmm, not here in the shower! (but I kept that remark to myself.) But this time, she didn’t, so I assumed it must have been totally insignificant. When I went out of the shower, I passed by her and she didn’t inform me too, so it must have been really insignificant. While I was changing, I kinda got bothered by the fonecall that the maid did not tell me about, so I asked her what it was about it. And then KABOOM! She told me that it was Dr. Ratunil, informing me that we will meet na lang at 6 a.m. “WHOA!!! Meet where?” The original meeting time was 6:30 a.m. and it’s now 5:50 a.m. and I’m standing here taking my fucking leisurely time changing. Had I not asked... Grrrrrrrr!!!! SO PANIC! STANLEY LET’S GO! So off we go to the dorm.. take note pipol, to the DORM! Halfway there, I had to fone Milan coz I was getting pretty worried, and to my horror, I was answered not by the customary polite “Hello!” Instead, I was answered by a voice that was apparently in PANIC as well. It was a panic level that matched my panic level and perhaps even more. Dr. Ratunil, on the other line, said: “Jake, we’re on our way to the pier, we will meet you there, ferry leaves at 6 a.m.” All of these details we’re given to the maid?! WHOA!! Of all the details to miss it had to be those, off all the fone calls not to inform me, it had to be that fonecall, of all the circumstances to do that it had to be this day when we leave for Boracay!!! “Stanley, we’re going to the pier!” It is freaking 6:53 a.m.!! All those details given to me in an eight-second fone call! It was like an eighteen-wheeler truck crashing at me head-on! PANIC! DOUBLE PANIC! TRIPLE PANIC! Brown bag for Dr. Hofileña please!

From the other side of the fence: at the dorm with Dr. RJ Villaflor (RJ/Ate), Dr. Donna Dee Macabudbud (Dada), and Dr. Milan Ratunil (Milan). While I was taking my leisurely shower, ABA! Leisurely din and pagluluto ng pansit canton! Not a care in the world! And ABA! De-plantsa-plantsa pa! And then a fonecall from Dr. Lynor Nerpiol (Lynor/Manang). The fonecall goes something like.. guys, the ferry trip we are taking at 6:30 a.m. got cancelled so we are taking the 6 a.m. one. WHOA! So, TRALALA ANG TANAN!!! Untata na ang pansit canton, untata na ang plantsa-plantsa!!! GO!

So, everything can now be pieced together. Shortly after Lynor foned Milan, Milan foned me and set-off my own set of panic sequence of events.

Skip to the pier: Dewey (Dr. Dewey Demandante), driving RJ, Milan, and Dada, goes to another dock. Lost! Talent ang pagka-lost! But they eventually find the correct dock for Ocean Jet.

My turn. Skip to the pier: Stan and I headed to the correct dock on the first try. Ok, now pay the toll fee of 10 pesos, sabay confirm if indeed this is the dock for Ocean Jet. The tollguy confirms it’s the dock for Ocean Jet, pero he added “Check nyo lang sir kung ara pa ang barko.” UNWANTED COMMENT! WAAAAH! At that point, I really wanted to just throw the 100-peso-bill to him, and go, speed to the terminal! Pero I had my restraints pa, so cool pa, pero medyo 160 beats per minute na ang heartbeat ko. Now, park beside the Ocean Jet terminal, go out, and again confirm from the tindera ng bubblegum if this is the terminal of Ocean Jet. The tindera confirms that it is indeed the Ocean Jet terminal... pero she added “Fully-booked na sir.” ABA! UNWANTED COMMENT AGAIN! But this time, I would not let the comment pass. “Basi nabaklan na ko ticket sang mga upod ko ya!!” And zoom! Run like THE AMAZING RACE!!! When I entered the terminal, RJ, Milan and Dada had just arrived. Did we make it? Coz the sight that greeted me when I entered the terminal was a huge line of people at the ticket booth. Did we make it? YES!!! Lynor already bought tickets for everybody and, and, and, she was about to give me an award for making it on-time. Not even morning endorsements could make me on-time. Pero Boracay! Mas Importante!! Dr. Karen Meana (Karen), and Dr. Ruscel Dogoldogol (Ruscel) were already there too, and their brothers, Karen’s brother: JR, and Ruscel’s brother: Galileo (please take note of his name at this point.) OK, now all of us had 2 seconds to catch our breath, after that we had to haul your ass on the boat coz we were like the last passengers. Now, distribute the tickets for the seat arrangement. Hindi pa tapos ang action! More, more, more! Up on the boat we go, then look for our seats, most of us found seats immediately. One of the seats for our group was 47H, and it appeared JR was supposed to sit there, pero this lady marches in, asks the guy at 47G or was it 47i if 47H is taken. Detecting something, I told the lady that the seat is taken. ABA! Sit her ass down gyapon ang lola! Again, again, again. This time, sabay kuhit na sa shoulder nya. “Ma’am, taken na na ang seat. Siya ni dapat ang mapungko dira.”, I was pointing to JR while saying that. Shocked speechless na si Milan, witnessing the entire event unfold before his eyes. Zipper the mouth na lang! It was a good thing one of the officers offered his seat for JR. Otherwise.. hmmm, fill in the blanks. And it was also a good thing that Lynor wasn’t able to notice it... otherwise... hmmmm! Hands at waist na tani, with matching glaring eyes, and kilay rising to skyscraper levels. Don’t mess with this bunch right now. The combined effect of waking up early, being made to rush, worrying about the arrival of friends, worrying about making the boat, and skipping the daily maintenance dose of coffee... well, 60 kilograms of flesh in pure adrenaline rush standing right in front of you.. times 9! BEWARE! THEY BITE!!

Well, good thing most of the ferry ride was boring, it allowed the adrenaline rush to subside.

Just a reminder, most of the stuff written in this segment happened between 5:50 to 6:05 a.m., 15 minutes! And we have 4 more days to go. HAPPY READING!

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-05-20T20:54:00.000-07:00

Day 6 (16 April ’06)

Departure from Bantayan. Wake up time: 6 am. Uhhh! It’s difficult to force yourself to get up when you’ve only had an hour sleep. But, we started freshening up, and packing the remaining stuff. The volleyball! It’s still with Jamil. Then I decided to stay behind while suon bebot, suon aj, and Stanley left for bacolod. Hehehe! It was just an excuse to stay behind one more day. Thank you very much to the Wilson volleyball. My volleyball has a design on it, it looks exactly like the volleyball in the movie Castaway, its name is Wilson. I got the volleyball later that morning. And I had the chance to have a leisurely walk at the beach without the crowd seen on Saturday, I even saw a patch of beach that was the mating ground of starfish. It’s like you have the whole beach to yourself by Sunday afternoon. :-)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-05-10T02:34:00.000-07:00

Day 6 (16 April ’06)

Departure from Bantayan. Wake up time: 6 am. Uhhh! It’s difficult to force yourself to get up when you’ve only had an hour sleep. But, we started freshening up, and packing the remaining stuff. The volleyball! It’s still with Jamil. Then I decided to stay behind while suon bebot, suon aj, and Stanley left for bacolod. Hehehe! It was just an excuse to stay behind one more day. Thank you very much to the Wilson volleyball. My volleyball has a design on it, it looks exactly like the volleyball in the movie Castaway, its name is Wilson. I got the volleyball later that morning. And I had the chance to have a leisurely walk at the beach without the crowd seen on Saturday, I even saw a patch of beach that was the mating ground of starfish. It’s like you have the whole beach to yourself by Sunday afternoon. :-)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-05-10T02:33:00.000-07:00

Day 5 (15 April ’06)

Saturday. That night was going to be the big party. So it was going to be pretty much a lazy day for me, just conserving my energy for the big party. Had my morning walk at the beach and my morning swim, around 8:00 – 9:30 am. It was a good time, coz the tide was relatively high, you don’t have to walk far out to the sea to get a good depth, that way you avoid going to the sea urchin territory. And, most importantly, it’s early enough that the hordes of people haven’t arrived yet. By noon, the beach and the sea were just dotted with people, it was almost impossible to swim in, it was the island’s big day.

Afternoon: walked to the beach again when I saw a big crowd surrounding something, then I saw Stanley looking for ice. He just told me that he needed me coz one of the guys he knew, Ken Onozawa, had an accident, and he took me to that crowd, and in the middle of the crowd was a guy in apparent pain. He twisted his left foot while skimboarding. I had to make an improvised splint using 2 sticks and a sarong. I had to accompany him to the hospital, good thing his brother was there with a car. We arrived at the hospital and there was no x-ray technician. Crap, all they did was make a more stable splint, with plaster of Paris and bandage. Party is over for Ken.

Well, night came, I didn’t go out until it was 11 pm. The bands were still playing when I arrived, not really my kind of party. Oh well, house and club music started playing at 3am, by then the people were wasted already, coz they started drinking by early afternoon. Not really one of the best parties I have been to. Saw Stanley and some of his skimboarding friends there, Obet was also there. By 5am, Stanley wanted to go home already to rest, coz we were departing the morning of Sunday. :-)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-05-10T02:32:00.000-07:00

Day 4 (14 April ’06)

Raging hang-over! Forget the volleyball matches, I didn’t have a partner anymore anyway. I still felt sick the entire morning and most of the afternoon. I knew I had to hydrate myself and eat, but scared that I might throw up again. Good thing there was soup. That was pretty much my diet for the day. Afternoon came, I tried to swim my way out of my hang-over. Doesn’t work, I had poor coordination while swimming. Oh well, back to soup and coffee. By late afternoon, I had recovered, I went back to my usual hang-out at the beach. As soon as I arrived I told them that the dead lives to see another day. I saw Dwight, I apologized about last night, and he was pretty cool about it. And people were drinking again. This time I refused, slept early that night, by early I mean 12 midnight. :-)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-05-10T02:31:00.000-07:00

Day 3 (13 April ’06)

Volleyball games start today at 8 am. For the first game, one of the teams defaulted. Stan and I were up next. It was going pretty well, we were leading 13-6, and at the official time-out, our opponents remarked that we already have one win. And then trouble begins, the opponents began to catch up. And soon we were tied at 15. And then they led after that, but we were able to tie at 19, but eventually they won 21-19. the organizers later told me that Stan couldn’t take 2 steps without running out of breath. And I later found out that Stan still had a hang-over, same reason why one of the teams defaulted. Afternoon: we had another volleyball match against the team that defaulted in the morning. It was under the scorching heat of the 1pm sun! This time, we were using my own volleyball, it was really intended for beach volleyball, it’s a Wilson Soft Touch volleyball, the ones the organizers had was for indoor volleyball. But, lost again by the same margin, 21-19. It was damn exhausting, and to think we entered just so we have something to do. Well, Stan quit after that, and so I had no partner anymore. I lent the organizers my volleyball afterwards. well, after the day’s matches, I had a swim with some of the volleyball dudes (Ricki and Karl) with their surf and swim friends. I caught a sea urchin but had to throw it back coz it was too hard to handle. And we made fun of Ricki when it became obvious in his face that he was having a headache coz he was getting trapped by all the sea urchins, he didn’t know where to step on.

Night time is party time. I decided to rest until 10 before going out, so did Stan. I woke up first, around 10:15pm, and freshened up. I woke Stan before leaving but he went back to sleep. I went to my usual tambayan at the tattoo tent, and knowing that I’d be drinking a lot then, I brought Gatorade with me. When I arrived, I saw them drinking gin and lime. I decided we needed another bottle so I bought another big bottle. I also wanted to duplicate the same ‘high but totally awake’ feeling when you drink Red Bull vodka, so I decided to substitute Red Bull with Extra Joss, which I placed in my Gatorade. It was ok, I was hydrating myself while drinking. But then the beer came along... after drinking the gin lime. Hmmm, the combination seemed suspicious to me, but again, out of politeness I drank. I was already having a good high when Dwight and Lucky asked to go to another party at Tent City, I went with them, kinda tipsy already. But the party at Tent City wasn’t so good, so I just sat there, and then later they made me lie on the sand, Dwight used his shirt for my pillow.. BAD idea! Soon, I was curling up, puking on his shirt, and I didn’t really care then. Going home, I had my arm over Lucky all the time, otherwise I would have fallen over. I was so drunk I went past the house we were staying, but then was able to relocate it. I ended up not being able to party with Ricki and Karl as I promised them. :-)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-05-10T02:30:00.000-07:00

Day 2 (12 April ’06)

Lunch was again at Manong Pito, they have the best food, 2 kinds of dried fish and fish tinola. YUM! People there seem to be drinking all the time. I’d see them drinking before meals, during meals, and after meals. Hehehe. They drink mostly beer, they would have several big bottles of San Miguel Beer and Gold Eagle Beer, and they would offer us beer all the time. Well, since I’m too polite to refuse, I’d drink the beer, despite the fact that I don’t really like its taste and despite the fact that my stomach is rebellious with beer. What’s worse is that most of the time, the beer is not cold, it is beer warmed by the Philippine Summer Sun! Give me rum or scotch whisky anytime.. just not beer.

Afterwards, I got myself a Henna tattoo on my back and arm. The guy who gave me the tattoo also tattooed some celebrities in manila. I was their first client in Bantayan. I had to wait for 2 hours for the tattoo to dry up then I could rinse it, and in those 2 hours I must not sweat. Kinda impossible, being under a tent, with the afternoon sun blazing over us. So there were 2 people fanning me to keep me from sweating... Hahaha, I became the King of Bantayan! Despite that, however, my arm still sweats a bit, and parts of the tattoo smeared a bit, but not much. Now, time to rinse my arm. I went in the water, and while rinsing I realized that my fone was still in my short pocket, which by now was already wet! Huhuhu! L My Nokia 6030 which I bought recently!!! I took it out of my pocket, it was dead. I had to take the battery out immediately and had it air-dried. While waiting for my fone to dry-up, I met the gang of the tattoo artist. The tattoo artist is Juanlou, his senior and head of the tattoo federation of the Philippines (or something like that) is Ricki, and Ricki’s wife Camille, their friends Froilan, Dwight, Lucky, Ice, Jude. Then afterwards I had to go to Budjong Beach Resort. I was also able to eat jelly fish while waiting, tasted like squid, but all the tomato sauce kinda masked its true taste, then they took out the uncooked jellyfish and showed it too us, didn’t touch the jelly fish dish again after seeing it. Yuck! Seeing those tentacles in glorious pink or glorious green removed my appetite in an instant.

Stanley and I then entered in the 1^st Beach Volleyball competition that was organized there, it was sponsored by Gatorade. We decided to enter so that we had something to do while we were there. Trip lang! And also because it costs pretty cheap to enter, all you had to do was buy 4 Gatorade’s being sold at 40 pesos each. There I met the organizers, Jamil and his friend, and also the other volleyball players. Most of them were Obet’s barkada, quite a few were from Cebu, among them were Ricki and Karl, and 2 of their friends who are surf and swim dudes, and only 1 was from Manila. One of the perks we get, the volleyball players get to enter Budjong Beach Resort for free! No games were scheduled at that day, the games would start Thursday. But the parties had already started at Budjong Beach Resort, it was scheduled from Wednesday night til Saturday night. The big ones being Thursday night and Saturday night. Well, back at my usual hang-out at the tattoo tent. My fone was still dead. But since I’m free, I had my leisurely swim again. This later became my daily routine during my entire stay there. :-)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-05-10T02:23:00.000-07:00

Arrival in Bantayan town port: 1pm, 11 April ’06. Finally, some land after a boring boat ride. We took a van going to Sta. Fe, the community where the beach is, van fare is just 20 pesos. It was a 10 minute ride. On the way there, I injured the ring finger of my right hand, I don’t know exactly how it happened but I suspect that I could have brushed it against the zipper of my backpack or it got completely caught in the zipper while I was zipping it. It was quite a bleeder and I had no band-aids in my first-aid pack. Arrival in Sta. Fe. We placed our bags in nanay azon’s house where we will be staying. I had to buy some first aid strips, and it was a good thing that the sari-sari store had the heavy duty Medicare plastic strips, works very well. And then we were introduced to the family of suon bebot, we were introduced to manong pito, who owned a lot at the beachfront, right smack at the center of the beach strip of Bantayan’s beach. Just beside it is a place frequented by skimboarders.. they offer free skimboarding lessons, sell cool shirts, and have space where people can pitch a tent, and you can even have a band perform. When we passed by, they were also playing our kind of music.. beach house. We were also introduced to kuya david, nanay azon, obet and jun-jun, it’s their house where we will be staying at. After the introduction, we had our late lunch. It comprised of dried fish (sap-sap) and I can’t remember what else. But the dried fish tasted really good coz I haven’t had them for quite a while. Next, tour of sta. fe. We had to see the beach… and when we saw it, it was an instant cure for all the travel fatigue. A kilometer of powdery white sand, and crystal clear water! Paradise! The other parts that suon bebot showed us were the school, the old houses, the market, and a boat that had just unloaded its catch.. a few fish and around 5 or 6 sting rays, 1 or 2 of the rays were even pregnant and baby rays were going out of it post-mortem. After the place was showed to us, we were free to do whatever we want. A swim at the beach was definitely at the top of my list, and that’s exactly what I did. I must have swum at least 200 meters, the water is so nice, crystal clear and you can have the beach all to yourself. After swimming, I freshened up back at nanay azon and kuya david’s house. They have an artisan well where you drop a bucket attached to a rope and get your fresh water from there for bathing. It’s pretty neat.

That night, I again took a walk. This time checking out the bar alley. There’s Marisqueira O Portugues where most of the foreigners were hanging out that night, and some local girls and waitresses getting friendly with the foreigners. And then there’s Hard Kock Café, very interesting name indeed. But the bar isn’t what the name implies, it’s just a regular bar. It’s fairly new and foreign-owned, I was told. Going back to the house, I got lost. I had to go around the place a couple more times to familiarize myself, otherwise I’d get lost every night. Interesting observation for that day: it was as if I had a beacon surgically attached to my back, coz when suon bebot’s family looked for me, the locals at the marketplace and at the bar alley were able to pinpoint my location at a precise time. They looked for an ilonggo in a red shirt and boom, precise coordinates and time were given by the locals. :-)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-04-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

Arrrival in Bantayan town port: 1pm, 11 April ’06. Finally, some land after a boring boat ride. We took a van going to Sta. Fe, the community where the beach is, van fare is just 20 pesos. It was a 10 minute ride. On the way there, I injured the ring finger of my right hand, I don’t know exactly how it happened but I suspect that I could have brushed it against the zipper of my backpack or it got completely caught in the zipper while I was zipping it. It was quite a bleeder and I had no band-aids in my first-aid pack. Arrival in Sta. Fe. We placed our bags in nanay azon’s house where we will be staying. I had to buy some first aid strips, and it was a good thing that the sari-sari store had the heavy duty Medicare plastic strips, works very well. And then we were introduced to the family of suon bebot, we were introduced to manong pito, who owned a lot at the beachfront, right smack at the center of the beach strip of Bantayan’s beach. Just beside it is a place frequented by skimboarders.. they offer free skimboarding lessons, sell cool shirts, and have space where people can pitch a tent, and you can even have a band perform. When we passed by, they were also playing our kind of music.. beach house. We were also introduced to kuya david, nanay azon, obet and jun-jun, it’s their house where we will be staying at. After the introduction, we had our late lunch. It comprised of dried fish (sap-sap) and I can’t remember what else. But the dried fish tasted really good coz I haven’t had them for quite a while. Next, tour of sta. fe. We had to see the beach… and when we saw it, it was an instant cure for all the travel fatigue. A kilometer of powdery white sand, and crystal clear water! Paradise! The other parts that suon bebot showed us were the school, the old houses, the market, and a boat that had just unloaded its catch.. a few fish and around 5 or 6 sting rays, 1 or 2 of the rays were even pregnant and baby rays were going out of it post-mortem. After the place was showed to us, we were free to do whatever we want. A swim at the beach was definitely at the top of my list, and that’s exactly what I did. I must have swum at least 200 meters, the water is so nice, crystal clear and you can have the beach all to yourself. After swimming, I freshened up back at nanay azon and kuya david’s house. They have an artisan well where you drop a bucket attached to a rope and get your fresh water from there for bathing. It’s pretty neat.

That night, I again took a walk. This time checking out the bar alley. There’s Marisqueira O Portugues where most of the foreigners were hanging out that night, and some local girls and waitresses getting friendly with the foreigners. And then there’s Hard Kock Café, very interesting name indeed. But the bar isn’t what the name implies, it’s just a regular bar. It’s fairly new and foreign-owned, I was told. Going back to the house, I got lost. I had to go around the place a couple more times to familiarize myself, otherwise I’d get lost every night. Interesting observation for that day: it was as if I had a beacon surgically attached to my back, coz when suon bebot’s family looked for me, the locals at the marketplace and at the bar alley were able to pinpoint my location at a precise time. They looked for an ilonggo in a red shirt and boom, precise coordinates and time were given by the locals. :)

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-04-24T01:19:00.000-07:00

Bantayan Island, Holy Week, 11-16 April 2006

2006-04-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

Day 1 (11 April ’06)

Hello! My name is Jake Hofileña. My brother, Stanley Hofileña, and I went to Bantayan together with suon bebot and suon aj for this year’s Easter Holiday. Bus departure from Bacolod was around 5am, 11 April ‘06, had to brace ourselves for 2 hours of travel to the port city of Cadiz. The bus was small but pretty quick, and it was pretty cheap, bus fare was only 35 pesos. Arrival in Cadiz: 7am. We took a tricycle to their port. And then we saw the boat we were gonna take.. it looked like it came from the junkyard. Boat fare: 202 pesos. And then more bad news, the boat doesn’t leave until 9am, 2 hours of waiting. The boat finally left at exactly 9am. More waiting during the boat trip, we were told it was going to be 3 hours but it was actually 4 hours. Good thing my brother and I each had mp3 players to keep ourselves amused, that is if you can’t stomach the crap they are showing on the boat video entertainment. I found it impossible to relax on the boat, the seats are hard and rusty, and it’s pretty crowded. Don’t touch anything if you haven’t had your tetanus shots. In the meantime, I did some advanced sun-worshipping during the boat ride, put on some Nivea sunblock SPF 50, super strong for extra protection, went to the deck of the boat, and just enjoyed the sun and the wind on my face while listening to my own music. :)

Boredom

2006-04-04T00:25:00.000-07:00

I had nothing to do today. So, out of boredom, i stiched my sandals with Panacryl absorbable sutures.
I also removed some ticks from the labradors and fed them so some large red ants... making my own national geographic episode.

Unfortunate

2006-04-02T06:17:00.000-07:00

a boy in his teens rang the doorbell today asking for food. normally, i'd ignore these kids without second thought, coz mostly they're the ones that ask for money that they'd spend on drugs. but this time, the boy was asking for food instead of money, so i really had to see for myself. i gave him a bag of banana chips, a can of vienna sausage, and noodles. on further investigation, the boy came from manapla (50 km from where i live), he was sent here to buy medicine for his mother who has lung cancer that has distant metastasis. he lost his wallet along the way, and is now unable to buy the medicine, let alone food for himself. it was really tragic. after i gave him the food, he left and i was left thinking how he'll even be able to get back to his mother.

Last Duty Syndrome

2006-04-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

31 march 2006

it's my last 24hour duty in the department of obstetrics and gynecology. i've been benign for the entire 2-month rotation except for one occasion. but this day shaped into one toxic day. the patient we admitted was pregnant, but preterm (31 weeks by LMP), in preterm labor, and a gravidocardiac. patient was known to have Lutembacher Syndrome (Mitral Stenosis and Atrial Septal Defect), so we were quite careful. UTZ was done, results showed the fetus to be 34 weeks old. but then she begins to congest, starts to have difficulty breathing, and physical exam showed rales mid to lower lung fields. hmm, patient continues to go into labor and we weren't able to control the contractions. so a decision was made to deliver the baby, but we had to monitor the patient's CVP to ascertain how much fluids is allowed to be given. during the CVP line creation, there were lots of difficulty. it was awful seeing the patient in pain, and crying. i thought i'm already cold and unemotional but this time i really felt bad for the patient. she never complained, she just asked 'what are you doing to me?' after it was taking quite a while to create the line, and she was already crying. it was awful. but finally the line was created. after a while, she delivered her baby. it was 35 weeks by ballards score. patient was then placed in the icu, but it was a good thing that there were no complications afterwards. i slept at 6 a.m. that day, and woke up 7:30 a.m. -- Last Duty Syndrome! my groupmate told me that i had to save the best for last. the following day, the baby was already able to feed. very good news indeed.

my first blog

2005-11-07T02:53:00.000-08:00

welcome to my blog site.