Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines,  is only an hour ride from where I live here in Pangasinan. When I was a young kid, I frequent Baguio City together with my family, especially during summer vacations. There were lots of fun places to visit then. Places that speaks of nature, beautiful flowers, and clean and green environment. And I loved Baguio so much because of the many pine trees and the cold wind it is so famous of. Just sitting around Burnham Park and enjoying the cold breeze was enough reason for me to  urge my parents to go back every now and then. I even dreamed of having my own place in this once beautiful city.

When my firstborn was just a toddler, I brought him to Baguio for him to see the real beauty of nature. But I already noticed then that it was so different already with the Baguio I fell in love with as a child. From then on, our trips to Baguio City lessened and we only went go there when we need to buy something from SM Baguio. Instead of touring around the city, Baguio City for my kids is SM Baguio.

When my son Raymund had his operation last week in Pines City Doctors Hospital, it was a chance for me to look at the city once more outside of the malls. And I was shocked of what it has become. The city and its neighboring towns is now overpopulated. The picture above which was taken from the window of the suite room where my son stayed shows this very clearly. There are no more pine trees. The mountains are full of houses. I also heard from local news that building permits had been under regulated. And worse, there are garbage everywhere.

I hope that with the coming elections, people in this once beautiful city will choose good leaders who will and can bring the city to what it was – the Pines City we are proud of.

Ever since my child was born, he had this deformity (sorry, he does not want me to say it) that went with him. Yes, it is inborn. The specialist in PCMC (Philippine Children’s Medical Center) where I gave birth recommended the operation when my boy reaches 2 months old. But I just can’t bear the sight of my baby in post-op pain so I postponed the operation. Until last week when my kid finally agreed.

I myself had undergone operations- two cesarian sections, one discectomy . Not to mention the D & C I had on my first pregnancy. And I know very well how painful it is post-op. But when my son went under the knife last Sunday, my feelings were just difficult to describe. I much prefer to be inside rather than outside the operating room waiting for everything to be over. Minutes felt like hours and I lost count of how many rounds of rosaries I offered. My husband and I were confident with the skills of my son’s doctor. But as parents, we cannot just dismiss our worries which normally comes with being parents.

We felt better when the procedure was over and my son was awake. It was then time for us to relax and take our time to rest. But the rear end of the de luxe room in Pines City Doctors Hospital, Baguio City, where my son had his operation has a terrace that  is separated only by steel bars from our neighbors. All noises coming from the other rooms can be heard on our room. And since visitors were allowed in the private rooms for the whole day, well, just imagine the noise coming from children playing, babies crying, and adults talking like they were inside a public market. It felt not we were not in a private room after all. And the sleep which we badly needed came only on the wee hours of the morning. So we had to transfer to a suite room (not available on the day of our admission) where it was more private. My son recuperated well until he was discharged and it was time for us to go home.

During the Lenten celebration this past week, I noticed that many of our neighbors were noisy. They shout when they wanted to, sang with their karaoke, listened to loud music even on Good Friday. As I stood on my window to take a view of the highway, many vehicles passed by carrying with them their floaters and all on their way to the beach. It is so different when I was still growing up when the roads were almost empty especially from Holy Thursday to Black Saturday. A little laugh and my parents would stop us from making further noise.

The people from the beach claimed that there were simply too many visitors. Coming all the way from Tarlac, Pampanga, and other neighboring cities and towns. Visitors stayed, partied, had all the fun they wanted. And the locals simple made lots of money during those four days of vacation.

Yes, it is vacation. There is no work. But the malls and restos (Catholic ones) were closed as well. Does that mean that we all go to the beach and have a party? Do we really understand what the celebration is all about?

There is no work because we were given time to meditate, to pray, to ask forgiveness for the sins we have committed, to be one with God, and to thank Him for this gift of Life. There is nothing to do? There is too many, actually if you only perform your private devotions in the mornings and attend the church celebrations in the afternoons. It is only then that you can feel what God’s love is all about and to truly rejoice in His resurrection. I pity you if you didn’t. For as Fr. Soc Villegas has said during the Easter Vigil mass: “Those who were noisy will pass first the mental hospital before they go to purgatory.”

In a few days, there is another 3-day vacation. Those should have been the days to the stay in the beach and be noisy.

Photo from this site

I don’t know if going meatless on Holy week is still being observed by many. But we do. My entire family including the kids observe the tradition. The only difference now is that we are at home and not in Bicol. We used to travel to the south and stay with my in-laws for the Holy week in the past years. But with my mother-in-law’s passing several months ago, my hubby decided not to go this time. And so I had to prepare the menu for this meatless week. And I thought of something my family haven’t tasted yet. That’s the homemade bangus sardines in the photo.

The recipe was given to me by a friend- a medical representative who’s mom owns a catering business for decades now. He knows the procedure but was not quite sure of the proportions so it was trial and error for me. First time I did it and it turned out well. My kids love it. And that’s for me is the most important thing.

I used a kilo of fresh bangus, well cleaned and gutted. Put them in the pressure cooker with just enough water to cover them (this was my mistake, too much water). Add laurel leaf, an onion, sliced carrots, whole peppercorns, salt, and a tablespoon of olive oil. If you want you can add hot chillies. But I omitted them because I want it for my kids. Cover the pressure cooker and start the cooking. By the time you hear it whistle, start timing for one and a half hour. And that’s it! you’re done. Now, this procedure is water-based. If you want it to be oil based like the ones available commercially, use olive oil or corn oil (less expensive) instead of water. Be free to use any spice that you want.

Filipino women, that includes myself, are very fond of going to beauty parlors to get our nails cleaned. We call it manicure for the  fingernails, and pedicure for the toenails. The process entails pushing the surface of the nail plate backwards into the cuticle. Then the cuticle is trimmed before applying the nail polish for a final finish. Sounds simple and easy and the nails really look beautiful. But very few women know that one skin disease called onychomycosis is commonly transmitted in this manner.

Onychomycosis is fungal infection of the nails. It is usually caused by Trichophyton rubrum. It starts with pitting of the nails. Then gradually, the infected nail changes color from yellow to black. And as the condition progresses, the nail plate separates from the nail bed. The underside of the nail plate can also be invaded causing elevation of the nail plate away from the nail bed. The condition is bad aesthetically. And women with the condition resort to applying nail polish to cover up the bad-looking nail.

How does one gets the infection? One very common way is through the use of dirty manicure-pedicure sets ( pusher, cuticle cutter, file, brush, nail cutter). Let’s take the case of my patient Lisa (not her real name). She had her toenails cleaned for the first time five months ago. Several days after the procedure, the skin surrounding five of her toes became very itchy. The skin became rough and then gradually the nails became pitted and changed color. She sought consult because of the itch. Maybe the manicurist’s tools were not cleaned at all. She used them from one customer to another without cleaning them and one of her previous customers may have the condition. Thus, unknowingly spreading the condition from one customer to another.

So, next time you plan to have your nails cleaned, ask for a clean set of tools or you might want to bring your own set.

Photo from this site

During rainy days, my sister and I stay indoors. But we still continued with our role-playing with one acting out as the street hawker selling different kinds of street food. Or we would imitate the the beauty queens riding in a float passing through by-standers and throwing candies and other goodies. These were such fun memories. And not expensive at all except for some broken flower vases and figurines that we accidentally toppled during our play.

Nowadays, it is very different. Kids easily get bored if they don’t have something to tinker upon. They need something to hold and put their hands on. That’s why they have their cellphones, gameboy, the wii, play stations, and now the play station portable (PSP). Very expensive toys. Because most of their friends have the new PSP, my boys had been pressing their dad for it too. And they had patiently waited until the school year ends and results of their performance in school came out. We had a deal. And since they are both honor students, yesterday we bought what they had been wanting for. And it made their day.

The arbor is made of metal. This used to be covered with net housing the orchids underneath thus giving them shade and protecting them from the sun’s heat. But that was long ago when my mom used to love gardening and she stays in this garden for long hours. And her orchids were really in full bloom and the healthiest ever. Now those orchids were gone. When my mom decided to stay with my sister in Quezon City, the orchids were left untendered and lost their natural beauty until they slowly died one by one.

I missed the beauty of the garden. And I plan to do something about it. But because the net is no longer there, I plan to cover the arbor with vine instead for a more natural effect before I buy some orchids to be planted underneath. I allowed the bougainvillea to grow unhindered until it is able to cover part of the arbor. But I think a vine climbing the structure would look better than the bougainvillea just covering it but not winding around the bar. What do you think?

Living in the province with the freshest of everything is a blessing I enjoyed ever since I was young. And even animals that are rarely visible in the urban communities can be found in the provinces. And one of these is the firefly. As a child, fireflies are common sights at night. They would even be seen inside houses and people are used to seeing them. But not my children. They haven’t seen a single one ever since they were born though they grew up here in the province. I wonder why fireflies became rare. Are they also endangered? That was how it is until one night during a two-hour brownout (brownouts are so common here these days) when I chanced upon one firefly going in my direction. It was such a pretty sight especially that the entire neighborhood was in darkness. My kids were so delighted to see one. But in their excitement, they unintentionally shooed it away. It wandered into the darkness until we cannot see it anymore. We waited. But two hours had passed and the lights went on. The firefly never came back.

Picture from this site

It was a fine January afternoon and we were having our experiment in the lab. One of my female students ( lets call her Sally) approached me and asked me of what I think about a particular male professor (lets call him Dr. D). I told Sally that Dr. D is okay and I’m having no problems with him. Sally told me that she is. She said that Dr. D has been texting her, asking her to come to his clinic since the start of the second semester so that they can talk about her grade in his subject which according to him is very low and she is in danger of failure. Sally did not want to go. In fact she was afraid to go as she was hearing bad things about the professor. Some of her friends from the higher years even fell victims of the said doctor. What she wanted from me then was an advice on what she should do. I was shocked at that moment so I just told her to save the text messages in her cellphone. I told her that maybe we can tell the Dean but I was not sure how.

After a few days, I happen to come to school an hour earlier than my schedule. And coincidentally, I chanced upon students from the higher years hanging around outside their classrooms. There were seats outside and because the classroom where I’m suppose to enter was still close, I sat down and had a conversation with them. I kept on thinking about Sally and how I can help her bring it up to the Dean. But there was also the thought that everything was not true and Sally was just fooling me. And so I found that day an opportune time for me to ask around of what they think of Dr. D before I decide to go to the Dean’s office.

My encounter with the students proved positive of Sally’s accusations of Dr. D. They even mentioned several cases but omitting the names of those involved. These students passed Dr. D’s subject because they agreed to his dirty tactics. They were assured of passing grades whether they took the remedial exams or not.

Armed with the information I gathered from the students, I approached the Dean together with my husband. Aside from the goal of helping Sally solve her problem, our other concern was the thought that Dr. D might be using our names (we are in the same department) in collecting a large sum of money from foreign students in order to pass his subjects. There were rumors that he did this in the past. But I am not sure if it is really true. We don’t really have proof but the words of those involved. After telling the Dean all our concerns. We felt that our task in helping our student is over and we went on with our life as normal.

That was how far my participation in this case took me. But Dr. D took my actions negatively and he is saying things against me. He is eliciting the ire of the students by telling them that I repeated old test questions in their exams, an action which I openly admitted in front of the class. Why? Is repeating old test questions a crime? In fact, when my mother-in-law died sometime in July last year and my husband was not around to prepare test questions, Dr. D asked me to repeat my husband’s old test questions. And which I did. I was expecting Dr. D to prepare the test questions himself that’s why I told him two days in advance. And that was what he was supposed to have done being the chairman and a fellow at that.

Yes, one cannot please everybody. Even if you do good, it will still backfire on you. But at least I’m not guilty of anything.

When my kids came, my life definitely changed. My priorities turned from household chores to taking care of them though I still kept my work. I am lucky my clinic is in the first floor of our house. I can easily go up or down where I am needed. But I needed help from someone who could do all the rest of household work. I was not used to it at first and I would schedule doing the cleaning and some cooking on weekends.

While the kids were growing up, the lesser time I had for myself. Much more so when I started teaching in the College of Medicine. I needed to study and prepare for my lectures, prepare exams, check papers, and compute grades. Add to these my work as a physician, as tutor for my kids, and my work at home. I needed to delegate more of the little things that needed to be done at home. When before I would be cleaning and arranging my kids’ toys in the shelf so that I know where to find them when my kids look for them, my househelp do that for me now. And there are a lot more things that I could not do anymore because of lack of time. And I find myself saying “too many things to do in a day but with too little time” regularly. It’s good that I know how to prioritize that I am able to keep track of everything thus making things at home so manageable.

There is an e-mail forwarded to me by my husband. It is about setting priorities so that important things that matter in life are given more time. I like to share it with you in case you find difficulty finding time. Here it is:

The Mayonnaise Jar

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle,
When 24 Hours in a day is not enough,
Remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class
And had some items in front of him.
When the class began, wordlessly,
He picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar
and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.
They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured
them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly.
The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.
He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.
Of course, the sand filled up everything else.
He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous ‘yes.’

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

‘Now,’ said the professor, as the laughter subsided,
‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.
The golf balls are the important things – Family, Children, Health, Friends, and Favorite Passions.
Things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car.

The sand is everything else –The small stuff.

‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ He continued,
‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.
The same goes for life.

If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,
You will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So…
Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.
Play with your children.
Take time to get medical checkups.
Take your partner out to dinner.

There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

‘Take care of the golf balls first –
The things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.
The professor smiled.
‘I’m glad you asked’.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,
there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.’