Manyaman 27-102010

naka-publish na po ang pangalawang panulat ko sa kolum na Manyaman, sa e-zine na tinig dot com.

sa pangalawang labas ng aking kolum, tinalakay ko rito ang isa sa nagpapasarap sa pagiging Pilipino: ang pagiging masayahin ng mga Pinoy kahit nasa gitna ng iba't-ibang suliraning panlipunan. nawa po ay inyong masilip ang aking kolum at kung may nais po kayong talakayin natin ukol sa positibong mga bagay ng ating lahi, mangyari lamang na ipagbigay-alam ninyo sa akin. salamat po! ;)

stress breaker

after a good number of stressful days, i finally caught a 'stress breaker' with my family. after office last thursday, i met up with good blogger friend, Atty. Aryo, in FIGARO - Gateway Mall. we've talked about life & work in Japan, Manila, his (coming) Asian trips, a little politics, and totomai. :D too bad i forgot to bring his epektos a i was rushing on my way there to meet the time promised of 7pm-ish after work. so there. i was with my family, they strolled the mall and ate dinner while Atty. & i consumed our drinks at Figaro. nothing beats reunion and catching up stories on a coffee shop--- ambiance is more appropriate for a decent conversation and not too many noises are present. and yeah, no smell of alcohol. ;)

friday, i had to bear the bad traffic going to and from Bicutan. i was on an official business that day and to drive the boredom away, i updated my twitter and facebook status(es) through my *ehem* SUN mobile. ;)

saturday, we have followed up on our daughter's urinalysis and the pedia just gave her supplementary antibiotics to clear everything that's left in the results of the test. wifey had to perform her church duty that night so its bonding time again with our little girl. i didn't have a hard time taking care of her while her mommy was out since she was glued to the boob tube and perhaps she was shocked to see Willie R. back on TV :D she used to watch Wowowee before :P

sunday was a "look forward to" day. after all church obligations, we drove to Pampanga to visit my elders. it was also the best time to see the mausoleum they made for my grandfather, aside from the usual "reunion" with relatives. also, it's interesting to note that last Sunday marked the day when my car tasted its first ever FULL TANK! woot! woot! thanks, dad! ;) i came to love the pandesal being sold in the nearby bakery. it doesn't harden even after it gets cold. so i bought 25 pieces for our breakfast the following day, yay! as usual, we stayed overnight at Tita Peng's place and i was very glad to see my little daughter play chase with my dad. her lolo daddy got exhausted but nonetheless remained patient in bonding with her grand daughter. and since the little girl got tired from running / walking almost all day, we didn't have a hard time putting her to sleep when we got on the bed. :D

monday, election day. we came back to our hometown to join the relatives for lunch and at the same time see the other cousins. it was also then that we visited my lolo's mausoleum. it was very nice and as i've said to my cousins, our grandfather deserves his 'resting place'. we took some photos then left and headed back to the old house where lunch was served. my cousin, Rainier, ran for re-election as Brgy. Kagawad. We weren't able to wait for the election results, though. we drove back home by mid-afternoon.




Tuesday... business as usual. back to work.

i'm looking forward to more "stress breakers" in the near future. and i'm glad i had the long weekend to spend with my family and loved ones.

Returning Back To "Home"

Since the internet has boomed in Manila in the mid to the late-90's, I think I have mentioned here in my blog already that the website that molded me as an addict internet user is PinoyExchange dot com (PEx). This online community has contributed a lot in my "formative" years as a newbie internet user. Through PEx, I've also come to meet fellow PExers then eventually made real-life friends with them. The online community offers a variety of subject matter that members can discuss with. The thing with online forums, you learn how to communicate with others. You become aware of issues around the community. You are able to share your two cents worth of thoughts. you learn to listen (or read & comprehend) then you also learn to express.

Last night, an admin of PinoyExchange sent me an SMS and told me to check my email. Also, she told me that i already have a "welcome thread" (as new moderator) in the forums i will be moderating. yep. i've become a moderator! i honestly don't know how i'd feel. most of my PEx buddies are already inactive members. way back some 9 years+ ago, we were all VERY ACTIVE in posting in PEx and of course, change happens. most things (if not everything) are different now. but yeah, i feel honored. while moderating the forum is voluntary (read: NO PAY), i believe i will learn from it. it's a tool for self-development while you extend your service to the betterment of the online community. to those who read this blog post who were, and are, active / inactive PEx member / reader / lurker / stalker, i encourage you to rekindle your love for PEx and there let's continue to "Speak Our Mind". ;)

[caption id="attachment_1765" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="screen cap of moderator uptowngirl\'s \'welcome thread\' for me as new PEx moderator of the forums Buhay Pinoy & Family, Friends & Society."][/caption]

realizations

for the past week, i've had some realizations. my wifey was rushed to the hospital last Thursday due to a condition she felt for the first time. her potassium level got low which made her dizzy and weak. at the same time, a pimple that swelled in her left eye added to her sick condition. i had to take a leave over the weekend since no one shall be available to assist her and take care of our baby.

i realized its hard to see your wife suffering from sickness.
i realized its tough raising a baby alone.

after barely a week, just as wifey is recovering from her sickness, i carried my baby the night i arrived from work, Tuesday night. her body felt unusually hot. i called wifey who just finished taking her dinner then we had the baby temparature checked. it was 38 degrees something. we immediately called our mother-in-law then slept over their place for the night after giving some fever medications to our little Aya. the following day, i told wifey to constantly update me if the fever was gone because initially we suspected it was pilay. after half a day without her fever going down, they took our little Aya to the hospital and had some tests. she was later on advised to be confined until the clear picture of her sickness is determined. fever still up and won't leave, she was confined (and is currently) being treated for UTI.



i realized that while it's hard seeing your wife sick, it's more difficult seeing your baby sick.
i realized it's difficult if you got sick and no medical insurance covers you.
i realized that God manifests His love if we are at the lowest of our lives.

"For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. They will be protected forever,..." - Psalm 37:28 NIV

"I still know who she is."

It was a busy morning, about 8:30, when an elderly gentleman in his 80s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00. I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would to able to see him. I saw him looking at his watch and decided since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On examining it I saw it was well healed, so I talked to one of the doctors and got the needed supplies to remove his sutures and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor's
appointment this morning, as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat breakfast with his wife. I inquired as to her health. He told me that she had been there for a while! As she is a victim of Alzheimer's disease..

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He
replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised and asked him, 'And you still go every morning, even though she doesn't know who you are?' He smiled as he patted my hand and said, 'She doesn't know me but I still know who she is.' I had to hold back tears as he left, I had goose bumps on my arm and thought, That is the kind of love I want in my life.

True love is neither physical nor romantic.
True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will
not be.

(10-April, 2009)

10.10.10

dear ten ten ten . . .

eto nag aalaga ng anak hahaha. . nagpapaligo, naghuhugas ng pinggan, pwet ng anak at nag luluto. Narealize ko mahirap pala maging HOUSEBAND. :P

mga taong mahalaga

meron akong nabasa sa email ko noon na ipinasa ng isang kaibigan. sabi sa email, magbigay ka raw ng pangalan ng limang philosophers at kung ano ang naging saysay sa buhay mo ng pilosopiyang itinaguyod nya. mahirap mag-isip. pagkatapos, sinabi sa email na magbigay ka raw ng pangalan ng limang guro na hindi mo malilimutan sa buong buhay mo. sabi sa email, bagama't pinag-aaralan ang biography at kontribusyon ng mga bantog na philosophers sa isang asignatura sa paaralan, mas madali pa rin daw magbigay ng limang pangalan ng mga guro na nag-iwan ng "tatak" sa buhay mo. hanggang sa pagtanda mo, maaalala mo pa rin ang naging kontribusyon sa buhay mo ng gurong ito kumpara sa napag-aralan mong buhay ng mga pilosopo.

ngayon ay itinalaga bilang World Teachers Day. tunay na hindi makakaila ang pagtitiyaga at pagsisikap ng mga teachers na mapunan ng kaalaman ang kanilang mga estudyante at hindi lamang sa subject nila sila nagtuturo, nagiging tagapayo rin sila ng mga mag-aaral na nangangailangan ng gabay. madalas nating marinig na ang pagiging guro ay isang bokasyon. hindi ito karaniwang trabaho tulad ng mga nag-oopisina. isa ang mga teachers sa nangangailangan ng higit sa isang ugali, batay sa dami ng mag-aaral na pinangangasiwaan niya. wika nga ng kasabihan, kung 100 ang tao sa pangangasiwa mo, dapat ay may 101 ugali ka. ganun ang mga guro. hindi nila ikinatutuwa kung may estudyanteng hindi nagtatagumpay, at bahagi naman sila ng karangalan ng mga estudyanteng nakapagtatapos ng pag-aaral. patuloy rin ang pagsasanay ng mga guro para laging up to date ang mga kaalamang dapat ibahagi sa makabagong panahon. sila ang humuhubog sa mga musmos na kabataan, nagbibigay-halimbawa sa mga kabataan, gumagabay sa mga binata at dalaga, at inspirasyon ng mga kumukuha ng karera sa kolehiyo. hindi mapapantayan ang kabayanihan ng mga teachers.

sa buhay ng tao, nakakasalamuha natin ang iba't-ibang uri ng tao na maituturing din nating mga tagapagturo sa iba't-ibang aspeto ng buhay natin. maging tayo sa ating sarili. nagiging teacher din tayo ng ibang tao kahit minsan ay hindi natin namamalayan. ayon nga sa kasabihan, habang may buhay ay patuloy ang pagdaragdag natin ng kaalaman. at sa pagtuklas ng kaalamang iyon ay may mga guro na patuloy na gagabay sa atin.

sa lahat ng mga naging guro ko, at sa lahat ng mga nakilala kong teachers, HAPPY WORLD TEACHERS DAY sa inyong lahat. ;)