for norie and chito

i had a nice fun time last night.

it was one of the few moments that i really enjoyed since coming home on a emergency break. with norie, who was on a "lagare" -- being omnipresent in the hundreds of activities that she's involved in, and chito, who flew in from cebu-bohol trip, harrased, haggard and still hyper -- going out for dinner is not only enjoyable but memorable as well.

the fun began when we went to this japanese resto i recommended (i ate there last year and it was fine). the waiter serving us could have been a model for the naruto series or those dragonball z villains. plucked eyebrows, pasty skin and thin-ness kate moss would have been jealous of - he was apologizing all the time for what is not available in the menu. after two rounds of sashimi and getting the last order of the night, i thought that the food was not so spectacular at all. oh but the coversations we had were. (maybe because i was the one speaking most of the time... hmmm...norie?)

it started with a trip down the memory lane: norie bickering about the ONLY time she fed me in vanuatu, me complaining about her lack of food in her fridge (she only has tomatoes!!!!) and me going out to the market at 7 am on a sunday, chito giving me the dish on the latest happenings and of the fun times drinking kava. hayyy... missing na lang si bong. pero mabait kami because we were so kind not to have mutilated nonoy through our conversations.

following the dinner, norie wanted to have some wine (though she will have an early morning flight the next day) and INSISTED that we should go and join her. afterall, it was her post-birthday celebration. guilt-trip. we went into one of these al fresco bars and not finding wine, we ended up with san miguel light. more kwento. i don't know if it was the atmosphere or me being with my friends that, i felt so relaxed.

since it was norie's birthday, chito and i gave her some wishes -- which i will not reveal here. akala mo, ha? but seriously, i love these guys. i am thankful for them, for being them and for being there. they were with me through the tough and fun times, and through all those times when i really needed preynds. we may not see each other or talk with each other but i know, nandiyan lang ang mga yan. ang nagagawa nga naman ng kava!

happy birthday norie. salamat sa t-shirt, to-chits. sa susunod, mag bi-beer house tayo!

a crisis like no other

the morning i received the news that my mother was unwell and was in the hospital, i felt that same uneasy grip on my stomach when i had giardia. i felt like my bowels would turn and do a pirouette. it felt like the news you have been dreading -- you know it is going to happen -- but you just don't want to hear it.

a couple of years ago, i have had that same feeling when i heard that my father had a stroke. i was in malawi, just about finishing 6 months of endless work (that is another story). i was stressed, burnt out and was up to my heels with the slightest call of leaving the country. as soon as i heard that news, i immediately packed my bags and left for iloilo. it was the most casual departure from a project i ever had. there were no goodbyes, no sad tears and no exchange of email addresses.

anyway, upon arriving in iloilo, i was attacked by my family (my father's family, actually). i was accused of being irresponsible and uncaring, arrogant and without a heart. i could have said that i was running a hospital for people with hiv/aids and displaced people in africa, but i just kept mum about it. what's the use? i think i should not dwell about this here -- i have moved on.

so when i heard the news that my mother was sick, the thoughts of my family attacking me again came rushing through. Me, being the only doctor in the family -- is so far away serving other people when i could be serving my family. guilt. guilt. guilt.

i remember a long time ago, when one of my mentors said: "you can choose your friends, but not your family." this has been so true in my case. sad, but true. i can't deny the fact, however, that despite the misdemeanors and mistakes that we all have, they are still my family.

my mother is well now. recuperating and enjoying the company of her sons and grandchildren. she encourages me to continue my work. she is proud of what i am doing and what i have achieved. and at the end of the day, that is all that matters.

i could go around the world knowing that i have my mother's love.

Vacation Views, Anyone?

I have more than an hour before the clinic starts and more than five hours to decide whether I should suffer muscular fatigue and adrenaline boost with our contemplated sports activity this afternoon.

I can not hide my anticipation for my last few months in India. It has been almost a year since I went home or was home in the Iloilo, Philippines. I could just savor Batchoy or the endless array of sea foods at Tatoy's or the Bulalo at theMarina's....and the cold San Miguel beer! I mean, common! If this is something that you don't look forward to, I wonder what is!

Salivating from that thought, I was thinking where I should be going for my remaining holidays. Sure, I do have 89 days left ( to be exact), but I still have 14 days (excluding weekends and official holidays) left to soak my liver up to the possible limit it could take.

So, where would I go? There are very limited places that we can go (as Filipinos) that doesn't require a visa. Let's look at the possibilities.

1. Bangkok. It's about 400 dollars round trip from Calcutta, but I could fairly say that the "been there, done that" dictum plays here. I have been everywhere and anywhere in Bangkok and have had the "experience" to last me a lifetime... (Considering I have 21 lives, I might go back again and again)

2. Kathmandu, Nepal. Think of the movie The Lost Horizon. Olivia Hussey in Shangrila. Wow. I just need to pay 35 dollars visa fee on arrival.

3. The Maldives. Beach-y. But according to some reliable sources, I would need someone to "be with" and watch the sunset. Heck I want to be drunk! Maybe those size-challenged tourists would like nicer...

4. India. I haven't been to Rajastan and Ladakh and Pondicherry. I would love to -- but I am so sick with the Indian food!!! Sobra na, Tama na!

5. Dubai. Requires visa and would be the perfect place to lounge the whole day in the hotel room ordering room service, surfing the internet and watching tv. Oh, of course, they have amazing man made beaches.

So there..

I have to close this. I have to go and save the world.

Don't tell anyone I am superman.

Being Involved In The Big S

Today is the day that my life changes.
I am going to play sports.
I have been psych-ing myself the past few days and even rationalized on my other colleagues’ lack of physical strength and lack of interest to be in the game. I have been doing sit-ups in the morning and push-ups when I feel the need to boost my flagging morale and ever growing belly. How many sit-ups and push-ups I CAN do? Four full sit-ups and nine push-ups. I don’t want to be hurt….
Some checklist before actually volleying this afternoon:
1. first aid kit (do you know that next to cleanliness, preparedness is also next (next) to godliness?)
2. sun block (India is the spawning ground from skin cancer)
3. water bottle (athletes perform better with adequate – not too much – hydration)
4. health insurance card (who knows – I might need it)
5. camera (to capture those winning Kodak moments)
There! Hopefully, if I find this (activity) satisfying and rewarding enough, I’d have a different career plan by the end of the year.
I wonder if Pacquaio needs a student?

Giving Facebook A Face

i have been addicted to facebook recently. although i have but 117 friends (and counting), i am updated with what's happening where and when and with who. i think this has become the social scenario of the millenium, the link to whoever's past and present and to some extent, the future. it is a nice avenue to track friends from elementary days, the odd peeps from high school and the cool guys from college, the groups mates from medical school, the beer buddies from work and just about anybody who has been a part of your life.

anyways, i don't sign in as often as i wanted to - just because the internet here in cool c'cpur is as slow as the apple falling on newton's head. but whenever i have the time (and the internet speed necessary) i log in and see what my fb friends are doing or planning.

what do i not like about facebook? the pics are polished but i couldn't get the smiles. i admit i have empty smiles too... maybe because i am too conscious that this is going to be posted in facebook. now where did those candid moments go? don't post anything that will show zits or surgical scars! a friend i know photoshops her pics first before posting. the photos look so glossy, i hardly recognize her.

that aside, it is nice to keep up with everyone. i have met (online of course) people who i share the same family name with, acquaintances from conferences of long ago, and the crushes who broke my young heart from yesteryears. and isn't it nice to see them fat and wrinkly like any other human being? life...

i don't know when the fad is going to end. definitely i shall be logging in every now and then to see what you are doing.

More Wedding Wonders

so there i was that fateful saturday... dressed up in one of my favorite shirts, faded jeans and leather shoes. i honestly thought i look like a chinese john wayne, just without the swagger and the spit. the plan was to attend the wedding, stay for an hour and slowly slip out and go back home. nice plan.

the event was supposed to start at 11 am, so we opted to "visit" at 1 pm when the ceremony has finished and the send-off has begun. Here in churachandpur, the bride will have a send off party, hosted by the bride's family (of course) where friends, neighbors and family members will have the last chance of "seeing"the bride with the family. After the send off party, she will be "fetched"by the dashing groom to live in a castle far away from the meddling in laws. or she would be living with her husbands parents, who she probably does not know or like. such fate!

while waiting for the 1 pm toll, i decided to go for lunch at the posh-iest place in town, hoping for my usual pork ribs and chowmien. there i was clickety-clacketing my way through the market, the bust station and the dusty streets of c'cpur in a get up my mother would be ashamed of.

the lunch was amazingly delicious and spicy - that was the best part of the day if you ask me. and at exactly 12:30 i went down to the send off party. half way through i met khaipu and seilen who escorted me and provided the "guarding" necessary for my attire.

at 1:15, there were no familiar faces yet and i was getting agitated. i called the other expats twice but it seems that someone's dress doesn't fit with the shoes. it's like: hey this isn't sex and the city and you are not carrie!.

so anyway, the ceremenony started and we were escorted to take a seat. thinking that it would be impossible for us to escape the ceremony if we were in the front part (facing the bride), i asked seilen and khaipu to sit with me at the back. I saw the smug smiles on the two guys -- and i thought - aha! they too, have plans!

the back part of the garden was covered with a tent and some pieces of beautiful cloth so it looked exclusive -- just us having a party, don't mind the neighbors look.

three minutes into the ceremony, seated at the back, i started to gag. not the one needing the heimlich, but the one when you smell something. i started joking to seilen that he should change his aftershave, but when i looked at him, he was covering his face -- apparently smelling something odd and fetid as well!

it was then that i noticed that the ground was covered in pig shit!

khaipu started to feel the wall behind the cloth and the tent and true enough, behind us was a pig sty! we stayed, for two minutes smiling and gagging in between, then raced off to the nearest door. halfway out, i met one more of our staff who greeted me (without batting an eyelash): "my you look human, today!"

i'll never attend any weddings here. not if i can help it.