los banos, aking mahal

Last weekend, i was in manila. Fiftieth anniversary kase ng home church namin. Yun ay ang Caloocan Bible Church. It was the church where my mom and dad met. It was where they got married. It was where i was dedicated. Dun din na-ordain si Tatay. At dun din kaming tatlong magkakapatid ay na-baptize. So i wanted to be there. And by God's grace and provision, I was able to go. Magaling si Lord.

Saturday, I went straight to UPLB from the airport. Adik ako e. Adik sa esvees. Adik sa elbi. At nagkita kami ng mga esvees. Wheeeeee! *bighug*

i saw eena's happy nails. hehe. ang saya. they're shining, shimmering shplendid! And I also saw my dear dear cousin Tantan again. I met Eloi again (the first time was during the feb fair last year parang ilang seconds lang) pero it felt like i've known her for years! And of course there were Migs, and Deneb, and Karis, and Omar, and my twin sister Chara, and Philip, and Irish. (may nakalimutan ba ako?) Of course, si Kit.:)

I missed Dan (i was really expecting your matinding hirits...)
And Alvin (who promised cracking knuckles...)
Wala kayo. Ayun. Na-lost tuloy ang mga esvee boys. Haaaay nako.

I'll see more of you again next time ha. *hug*

the last week

last week na lng of duties. this is going to be the longest week of our internship lives siguro.... konti na lng and we're finally free. :)

imagine, matatapos na namin ang 365 days of duty. haaaay...

thank you Lord for strength.
thank you Lord for grace.

sa puyat. sa pagod. sa pag-iyak. sa nakakainis na mga karanasan. salamat.
sa masasayang duties. sa masisipag na groupmates. sa mababait na residents. salamat.
sa hindi magagandang experiences. sa mga olats moments. sa mga frightening situations. salamat.
sa adrenaline rush. sa boring times. sa panahon na nakakatulog kami while on duty. salamat.
sa mga stab wounds, gunshot wounds, lacerated wounds, punctured wounds at lahat ng klaseng wounds na natuto kami magtahi. salamat.
sa sakit ng katawan. sa kaba sa dibdib. sa terror na mga consultants. salamat.
sa mga na-deliver na babies na well. salamat.
sa nakaka-intindi na mga housemates and friends. salamat.
sa mga irate folks. irate PGIs. irate interns. irate patients. irate residents. irate nurses. irate everybody. salamat.
sa mga cool din naman na mga tao, lalo na ang mga cardiotechs. salamat.
salamat, Lord. salamat sa buong taon.

salamat at buhay pa ako. at wala pa akong Hepa B. at wala din akong TB na active.
:)

salamat po. salamat.

at the Social Hygiene Clinic....

...i sat down and almost wept. My heart felt for them. But i was silent.

"Are you betrothed?"
"No, only loved."
"And do you pay for love?"
"No, but i owe it everything."

I am now reading Calvin Miller's The Singer, The Song and The Finale. And we are now rotating at the City Health Office here in Iloilo. And kanina, we were posted at the Social Hygiene Clinic where we get to meet and examine these special women whom God also loves. First time ko to be within reach of one. It was a different experience.

I was reminded by those lines above when i entered the clinic. There were so many of them, these Friendship Sellers. And i had these urge to hug them and tell them that someone loves them for real. To teach them the Song of the Troubadour. To share to them the infinite love of the EarthMaker to whom i also owe everything. But i couldn't. I was silent. Lord, forgive me. I just smiled at them, tried to be kind and friendly, and did my best to smear fast and without causing pain. Hoping that at least by my doing so, i may share God's love somehow...

As a doctor, how can i share to them my faith? Share to them the hope that there is life and love that is pure and real and free? Jesus took only a few minutes with the woman at the well... Bakit ako nawalan ng sasabihin? A few minutes... I know the One who can free them from these dances that the World Hater has taught them. But i failed to sing to them the Song...

Father, do not forget them. Please bring people who can sing to them your Song so that they can be set free from their chains and have life in you.

mt. napulak (third dose)

That's us, the nine crazy junior interns at the top of Mt. Napulak's "Nipple". Mt. Napulak is shaped like a breast daw kase and there's this big rock at the peak (parang Ayer's Rock sa Australia pero a lot smaller...) na mukhang nipple nung mountain pag sa malayo. There's a steel cross at the top of this rock (pero di na namin kinunan ng picture). The view here is wonderful, sobra. You can see until the coast at kita din ang Guimaras and Negros. Then the other side of the mountain is Antique na daw.

Bumaba na kami from the nipple before sunset. Kase it would have been dangerous to go back down without lights. So we watched the sunset dun sa baba ng nipple na lng.

Night time at the peak was cold. Really cold. Ang kasama namin na asthmatic was wheezing before morning. Hahaha. Tsktsk. The winds were strong and cold. Super. Part ng kabaliwan namin ay wala kaming dalang mga sleeping bags. The winds sounded like waves crashing on the beach pag may bagyo. Of us 11 (including the guide), si Manong Morot (the guide) and Jun (the guest) and Jewel (na friend of the mountaineer, haha!) lang ang may dala ng sleeping bags. I had two sweatshirts and 3 beddings. Hiniram ni Roch ung isa kong sweater kase di sya nkadala. Grabe. Super ginaw. I kept waking every 2 hours, wishing for morning. It was one of the longest nights in my life. Di ko na ma-feel halos ung paa ko sa lamig. Haha. But we survived until morning naman.

Morning was foggy. And wet. We were IN the clouds. :) Parang benguet yung lamig. Like the time na nag-EchoCamp kami sa Benguet na binagyo kami. Waaaaah... Wet and cold. We went down at about 8am... basa pa yung mga cogon grass at matalim sila. We skidded and slid part of the way down the slope lalo na dun sa mga cogon parts. Scary. Buti na lng mejo may clouds below us kase we couldn't see the drop. Haaay. My knees were buckling before we got to ground zero. It took us 4 hours to get from the peak to the coconuts waiting for us sa town. :)

make-up

Magaling yung make-up artist.....

Yung photographer di masyado.... or di lng tlga ako photogenic... hehe....

Ewan... basta today, nagpapicture na kami for the gradpic... at ayan po ang makeup ko dun. :)

mt. napulak (2nd dose)

4am. Saturday. March 14, 2009. Kami ni Leng, Jun (ang "boy" ni Leng at nag-iisang hindi med sa climbing party) and si Jonas ay sumakay sa jeep papuntang Igbaras, Iloilo dahil ang sabi samin ng mga classmates namin ay 6am daw kami magsisimulang umakyat sa Mt. Napulak. The previous night pa sila andun (Friday).

We got there at about 530am at tulog pa sila. :) 7am pa naman daw kami magsisimula sa aming adventure for the day. So nagluto pa ng mga pagkain na babaunin, nag-ayos ng mga gamit ang kung ano-ano pa. Then sinundo na kami ng mga motorcycles ('habal-habal - 2 passengers + 1 driver sa isang maliit na motor) na magdadala sa amin sa paanan ng Mt. Napulak... sa Brgy. Lib-on.

Sa Brgy. Lib-on namin na-meet si Manong Morot na syang guide namin (and sya ang guide ng halos lahat na umaakyat dun sa Napulak). We started out at about 815am... Nagsimula kaming maglakad sa mga taniman ng peanuts at tobacco. After some time ng paglalakad.... pagod na kami lahat.... at tinanong namin si Manong: 'Malapit na po ba?', at ang sagot ni Manong, 'Kung sa zero to ten.... nasa zero pa lang tayo...' Wahahahaha... panalo..... at pagod na pagod na kami nun... :)

Then nagsimula na ang pa-akyat namin na paglalakad. Pumasok kami ng forest.... at umakyat... at umakyat... at umakyat.... Dumaan kami sa mga lugar na bangin na ang next sa amin... crazy tlga. Oh yeah, did i mention that 2 people in our party were wearing tsinelas??? Hahahaha... kabaliwan tlga. :) Then dumating nanaman kami sa isang point na super ganda ng view.... at tinanong namin si manong kung malapit na ba kami at ang sagot nya, "Malayo pa. Wala pa tayo sa 1/3." At sumagot ako nito: 'Manong, mula ngayon po, ang isasagot mo lang sa amin pag nagtanong kami kung malayo pa ay, "malapit na!"' Hehhee.... at ang bait talaga ni Manong Morot.... dahil for the next 5 hours... everytime we asked him kung malayo pa, ang sagot nya nga sa amin ay "malapit na"". Wahahahahaha. The best tlaga si Manong!

Nakakita nga pala kami ng Rafflesia flower. :) At sabi ni manong, tanda daw un na mataas na kami. Dahil hindi daw tumutubo ang Rafflesia sa mababang mga lugar. Yep, it smells bad. Hehe.

We got to a point where the tree-line ended and the cogon-grass started.... And that was when the major crawling started. Pambihira. Parang may trail lang na level, tapos there was this slope before us. And nagtanong kami kay manong, "jan ba tayo sa taas?" at ang sagot ni manong, "Di pa, mga dalawang ganyan pa." Waaaaaaaah...... It took us about two hours from that point to reach the peak. We were on our hands and feet na talaga paakyat. At malakas ang sikmura ng titingin pababa.... (lahat kami malakas ang sikmura. hehe) We finally got to the top at about 3pm. Haaay salamat.

mt. napulak (first dose)

Kabaliwan.
Ito ang naisip namin nung kami ay umaakyat slash gumagapang paakyat ng bundok ng Napulak. Sino bang nag-aya na umakyat kami dun at ihahagis namin sya sa bangin! Yan din ang isa sa mga sinabi namin habang hingal na hingal kaming lumalakad.

It took us 7 hours to hike up Mt. Napulak, which just happens to be the highest mountain in Igbaras, Iloilo standing at 1,200ft above sea level. It was mostly uphill.... almost all uphill.

At sino kaming mga umakyat? Kami, mga junior interns ng West. We were 10 plus si Manong Morot na guide namin. Imagine, 9 interns plus 1 (the other one was a "guest" aka "boy" ng isa sa amin, he was a civil engineer, haha) who did nothing related to the outdoors this past 4 years. Oo, sanay kami sa 32 hours duty, sa mga all-nighter na surgeries, at sa endless IV to follow at akyat-panaog sa 4th floor ng hospital pag wala nang elevator sa madaling araw. Pero hindi kami ever nag-prepare to hike sobrang daming kilometers uphill bearing about 2liters sa mga bags namin. Over. Kabaliwan talaga. Sabi ko na nga e... may sayad ang mga nag-me-med... at ang mga in-lab... hahahaha....

It was a gruelling climb. Understatement. Hahaha. Pambihira talaga. Pero punong-puno ng mga katatawanan at pambihirang enjoyment din. I don't think i could hike/crawl up that mountain had it not been for the rib-cracking jokes namin to get me through. It was a wonderful experience. And the view at the top? Spectacular! Magnificent! Glorious! Breath-taking! It was worth all the effort and the fatigue, and the now-present sakit ng buong katawan. And the bragging rights? Hahaha, priceless.

Kabaliwan. Since it was a 'professional mountain' and kami ay nothing but professional climbers. Future docs oo, but climbers we are not. Pero masaya pa rin ako na nakaakyat ako dun. Hindi ko na sya uulitin siguro... ibang bundok naman. :)

Pero kayo, akyat din kayo. Maganda sa tuktok ng Mt. Napulak. Sulit ang pagod nyo.

mandibular third molar

mine hurts.
on the right.
it's erupting. again.
through the gums.
OUCH!

i'm not such a fan of pain meds...
and i think mataas tlga pain tolerance ko.
pero i'm taking mefenamic acid na.
hindi pa naman every 6 hours.
pero thrice nako nag-take.
it really hurts.
and i have R CLAD na.
hirap mag-open ng mouth.
it hurts talaga.
have to see dentist soon.

this my song of grateful praise

Rejoice with me dear friends and family of the heart!
Rejoice with me for the Lord is good and faithful always!

Ga-graduate po ako as scheduled on April 22 with my batchmates in Medicine at West Visayas State University. Yey! *cartwheels*

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!
Faithful si God always. Always.
His mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness indeed.

Makisama po kayo sa kasiyahan ko at ng aking buong pamilya. :)
At sama-sama po nating bigyang papuri ang Ama.

:) thank you for journeying with me. thank you po for praying for my exams. thank you for listening to all my rantings about med life. thank you for being there.

:))

*bigbighug*

Praise the Lord!

SR mode

Naglow-batt ung cam namin.... kaya ito na lng ang mumunting pix namin ng sunset.
Ang mga ivhomers (ako, si Nic, si Leng and si Ate Rachel) ay tumigil sa gitna ng beach, at kumanta ng mga worship songs habang lumulubog ang araw.

I sing the mighty power of God that made the mountains rise
Who spread the flowing seas abroad and made the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day
The moon shines full at his command and all the stars obey.

You are Lord of creation and Lord of my life
Lord of the land and the sea
You are Lord of the heavens before there was time
Lord of all lords you will be
We bow down and we worship you Lord
We bow down and we worship you Lord
We bow down and we worship you Lord
Lord of all lords you will be.

And we ended with Great is the Faithfulness.. :) iv kami eh. hehe

Great is thy faithfulness Lord unto me.
Happy birthday indeed.

quarter of a century and one

Happy ang birthday ko nung February 27, 2009. I turned a quarter of a century and one. Ok lang. I still feel the same. Still feel like a 12-year old. haha. :) And still think like one, some would say. Hahahaha. At yan na po ang itsura ko ngayon. Hindi naman kamukha nung edad diba. Wala nang kokontra.

I went on duty at Sta. Barbara Sanitarium that morning. We had a shifting party. Binati ako ng mga taga-don ng happy birthday at salamat daw sa pagkain kahit hindi naman ako ung nagprepare... si tito philip po ang nagprovide ng food namin at lunch. thanks tito phil! and then we had dessert at Carlitos' pauwi. And then nag-adventure na kaming mga ivhomers. :)

Ate Rachel, Nic, Kiko, Leng, and I went to Capiz to Pebbles's house dahil debut nya ang February 28. Napakalayo ng Capiz. We left here at a little past 5 and we got there a lot after 8. Hehe. :) Syempre gutom na gutom kami pagdating namin. At naghanda ang kanilang pamilya ng crabs, tahong, coconut, bangus, and talaba. Grabe. Busog. Happy birthday talaga. Salamat Pebbles sa pagpapaunlak sa amin. After namin kumain ng madami... at ang dami talga naming nakain.... sabi ng sister ni Pebs, meron pa daw, at kung kaya pa ba daw... at ang sagot ng housemate ko na si Leng ay: "Oo, kaya pa. As in." Hahahahahaha! Hagalpak kami ng tawa. At kaya pa nga nya. :)

Then birthday na ni pebbles... so sya naman ung bida until nakatulog kami.

Kinabukasan, Feb 28, dumiretso kami sa Boracay. :) Nag-stay kami sa Faith Village sa Station 3 at naligo kami sa Station 1. Mautak. Hahaha. Masaya. At effective ang SPF 30 na sunblock dahil hindi ako nangitim kahit naitan ako ng husto. Yey.

Then March 1 ay bumalik na ulit kami ng Iloilo. Kaya pagod nako. :)

Thank you sa lahat ng nagpadama ng pagmamahal nung birthday ko. I am blessed. I thank God for your lives. *yakaptight*