Thank you Lord for protecting us

I loved summer when I was a student. Now the only thing I like about summer is the times spent lounging at the beach with family and friends. I have learned to love the rain since it has become so hot and humid here in the Philippines. For me, the rain brings cool air, smell of life, and freshness in the air. Until Ondoy came…

My parent’s house is still flooded – both inside and out. The water is so slowly inching out. So slow that the day Ondoy arrived (September 26), we were knee-deep and now 6 days after, the water inside the house is still about 4 inches deep. Although we have already adopted a system that enables us to go about our lives, it is still frustrating to wait for the water to dry-up.

I am not bitching. On the contrary, I’d like to write about the things I am thankful for in the midst of this calamity. Here are what I am personally thankful for:

1. That I have a very considerate and good husband.
2. That our families are okay. Buboy’s parents are well and their house was spared of the flood. My parents are okay and are coping well despite the current situation.
3. That Buboy and I were here at Pasig when Ondoy came.
4. That Nanay had some food even if it’s just good for a couple of days.
5. That we have basic services such as water, electricity, and phone line.
6. That we have an elevated living area and that the bedrooms are also elevated.
7. That we were able to accept and cope with our present situation.
8. That so far no one is sick or getting sick.

Another super typoon is on its way, but I know that God will spare us of its worst. But nevertheless, we are preparing. We’re supposed to leave for Las Pinas tomorrow, but with Pepeng coming, we have decided to postpone our going back to LP until Sunday.

Lord, please protect us all.

-chebong

Celebrating Cory as a Woman

This is not to pay tribute to the political career of the late former President Cory Aquino. This is not to complement and praise all that she did for the Philippines and the Filipinos. A lot of people have done that already and one more from me would hardly make a difference. This is about recognizing Cory as a woman.

Cory has been true to being a woman. Calm in the face of problems; firm in standing for and by her loved ones; finds contentment in giving support, encouragement, cheer and love when she knows that it is all she can give at the time but it doesn't mean she's given up helping; knows when to rise up, move forward and when to slow down and reflect; has a solid grasp of her values; and have faith strong enough to make little miracles for herself and others. These are the values that celebrate a woman. These are the traits that we women can find inside of us. We just have to acknowledge it and use it.

-chebong

To the hospital again

This time it’s Buboy that was hospitalized, but his is for a far more serious reason.

Buboy called me from work Monday night, July 20, asking for a pill to help him with his headache. I thought he was just having one of his migraine attacks. When we met to go home later he complained of fever. He was burning hot when I touched him. It was a hard effort for him to drive home and the two-hour traffic made it even worst. I was really worried but we thought it was just flu. Buboy slept immediately when we reached the house while I stayed up late until past 2:00am watching over him, wiping him with a wet towel to bring down the fever. We stayed at home the following day, Buboy regularly taking Biogesic to calm the high fever down and Alaxan to ease the body pain. Early morning of Wednesday, chills came and that’s when I decided to bring him to the hospital.

It is really hard when the only person who knows how to drive is sick. We had to ask one of the neighbors to bring us to the nearest hospital. After some blood and urine tests the ER doctor decided to admit Buboy. The doctor who followed-up on us that afternoon said Buboy has a viral infection and they still have to verify if it is typhoid fever or dengue. We learned it was dengue late that night. Buboy became like a pin cushion with the multiple blood extraction to monitor his platelets. The doctor said he has to eat so his body can fight but Buboy has no appetite. He was released from the hospital on the third day of his confinement. His platelets are stable, his fever is gone, and his appetite is back… and I am just so thankful.

The experience wasn’t good for both Buboy and me. I was so worried but I dare not show him that because I don’t want him to worry about me too. I texted my family and close friends to ask them to pray for Buboy especially during the time when the doctors are still not sure what is wrong with him. I am very thankful because everyone texted back and I know they all prayed for Buboy. Then there was the issue of where he was placed in the hospital. We used the HMO given by the Company he works for. His coverage is only for a ward room which would be okay if it was in a hospital where ward rooms are still nice. I kept thinking that if we were in Pasig when this happened, it would have been easier to bring him to Medical City where ward rooms are so much more pleasant. Good thing Mama visits and bring fresh supplies everyday.

But nevertheless, Buboy is well again and we are home again, that is what’s important. I pray he won’t be so sick again… that neither of us be sick again.

-chebong

Remembering Basti

Basti left us two weeks ago to join and play with Baldo and Lolo in heaven. Basti was with my family for 7-8 years and so we miss him terribly.

Basti was given to us by my good friend Mox. My Lolo was the one who took him when he arrived to our house. Since that day they developed a kind of bond. I know this because I saw it. When my Lolo had a stroke in the middle of the night that eventually led to his death several days after, it was Basti who woke us all up and showed us Lolo lying beside his bed. During that time we had other dogs beside Basti, but it was him who barks and barks even when he was told to shut up until Tatay got up and followed him. And then there was the time when his friend Baldo (our other dog) died. I cannot believe the grief that I saw in Basti. I didn’t believe dogs can have feelings until then.

I miss Basti. He was not an ordinary pet. He was not an ordinary dog. And he was not an ordinary friend.

-chebong

We have a new living space!

Not really new… more like newly cleaned and decluttered room. Nevertheless, I am happy with what we have and what we did with it last weekend. Yup, it was a long weekend spent in a good way.

Buboy wasn’t actually feeling well last weekend. His tonsils were swelling and his temperatures were up to 38˚C. But he was so sweet to indulge me and help start the cleaning. He knows I wanted to rearrange the furniture for some time now. We started Friday and finished everything before it gets dark on Saturday. And by the time we finished Buboy’s temperature was down to 37.5˚C.

After we moved the bed, the cabinet, the tables and other things and after we threw away several kilos of thrash including old bags, shoes, boxes, papers, etc. we discovered a lot more space to move around the room. We have places for our collection of movies (CDs and DVDs) and books. Aside from that, we now have some sort of separate sleeping area and work area (where the PC and other electronic stuff are located) and in between is a space where we can move around without bumping to each other all the time. And with the new 19” LCD monitor that we bought last Thursday, we can watch movies together in bed without being too close to the PC. He can also play his games while I read on the bed without disturbing each other. I really cannot believe how our room looks so much bigger after the general cleaning.

Of course we had to do some adjustments with things like sleeping. With the bed moved to a different direction, our positions interchanged. I now have to sleep on Buboy’s right side whereas we were used to me sleeping on his left. But that isn’t really a problem because five years ago we were both used to sleeping alone :o)

I just hope we can maintain it that way for (at least) more than a year. Ha!

-chebong

What happened to summer?

Buboy and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and Mox her ?th birthday with the higop gang and a couple more friends (kuya Dex and Liezel) at Puerto Galera. We all thought that it wouldn’t push through after all those planning we did because of typhoon Emong. But with all our prayers combined, not to mention the dozen eggs that Mox offered to Sta. Clara, we experienced the other side of Galera. Although it was still raining, we had a grand time hiking, swimming, cooking and of course eating at the foot of Tukuran Falls. Too bad Terry weren't able to join us.

Summer also welcomes a handful of movies that we’ve been looking forward to seeing. Here’s my take on some of them that we saw over summer:

Angels and Demons. Disappointing, really. Da Vinci Code was way better if you ask me. They made a lot of changes from the book. That should have been okay but the fast pace of the story was not captured well in the movie. That and the fact that he leading lady’s acting was pathetic made me feel sorry I even watched it on its first showing day.

Star Trek. I’m not a Star Trek fanatic. I entered the theater prepared to get lost in the universe of… well, the universe through the USS Enterprise. I was surprised to find myself enjoying the movie; what’s more, I was actually able to follow it. Now that alone makes it a good movie to me.

X-men the Origin: Wolverine. After the movie, I have tons of questions to Buboy, much like after we watched all the other X-men movies. It was entertaining though of course I have very little knowledge of the world of the mutants so try not to persecute me.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. Definitely a children’s movie, so yeah, I enjoyed it. This movie reminds me why I like children’s stories; it brings me to different places that I can’t reach right now.

Terminator Salvation. Aside from my irritation over how Kate Connor was portrayed and Bale’s usual character voice, the movie does not disappoint. There are a lot of interesting characters including that of a part-robot, part-human Marcus Wright.

BFF (Best Friends Forever). This is the only local movie that I watched and not with Buboy but with some of my officemates. The movie and its story weren’t so great but what the heck, it was funny and that’s what we came for anyway… to laugh really hard.

Aside from movies, Buboy and I enjoyed some late night TV series marathon and poker sessions. We finished the last season of Grey’s Anatomy and the first season of a new series called Fringed (Science). Buboy and I bought our first 300 pieces chips poker set and had a head to head game with a couple of beers the week we had the set. Hopefully we can arrange poker nights soon and play with whoever can make it.

And the season of summer is over. Too bad we weren’t able to go camping at Anawangin. Well, maybe in a couple of months. We still haven’t got a tent yet anyway.

-chebong

So how do we sing Lupang Hinirang?

I cannot believe that the National Historical Institute (NHI) is after Martin Nievera for the later’s version of Lupang Hinirang. Martin is not the only Filipino singer who injected his own personal touch to our national anthem. I have been disappointed over and over again by the different versions of Lupang Hinirang, Martin’s version included. But of all the versions I heard, I think that Martin’s is closest to the original.

Lupang Hinirang is a march. I like its beat, I think it’s regal. It commands attention and respect, at least in my opinion. I have heard that our national anthem has been praised and even said to be one of the best anthem in the world. It’s just too bad that with the many versions we Filipino hears of it, we might not even recognize it in the future.

If NHI is serious in its campaign to preserve the original musical arrangement and composition of Lupang Hinirang, they should not only reprimand Martin Nievera but all the others in the past who sung it with their own rendition. And they shouldn't stop there. They should issue a guide that artists can use on how Lupang Hinirang should be sung.

-chebong

Pacman knocked the Hitman

Pacquiao won the fight against Hatton yesterday winning his 6th world title to date showing the world that he really is a great fighter.

Congratulations Pacman.. for being one of the Filipinos who capture the world in awe! We are proud of you.

-chebong

mineral make-up

I read about mineral make-up three or four years ago at femalenetwork but I never gave it a thought until last week. I came across several sites selling mineral make-up and signed up for a free sample from one of them, ellena mineral cosmetics. The samples arrived yesterday, 2 shades of powder foundation and 1 finishing powder. I tried one of the foundation this morning and was pleased with it. The smoothness reminded me of the body shop’s all-in-one face base, only this is much, much cheaper. The ¼ teaspoon samples came in mini zip lock plastics and estimated to last for a week at least. I’ll buy containers for my samples and probably order the regular sized foundation and finishing powder when my samples run out.

Anyway, this day is gloomy. It has been raining since last night. I hope we get a good weather next week so we can do the little hiking and exploring we plan to do in Puerto Galera.

I wish it's 6:00pm already so we can get out of here and go home already. Haay..

-chebong

Reunions

Last week, April 19 was the grand reunion homecoming of our high school in celebration of its centennial anniversary. Terry and I went together with my sisters Weng and Juvie. It was fun to see old faces again. It was just sad because the event wasn't well advertised that not many alumni were informed. In fact there were only six attendees from Weng's batch and eight from Juvie's. It was good that my batch mates pretty much did everything they could to invite everyone as about forty of us went. The whole event brought back memories of experiences that shaped my adolescence. I'll probably be posting the class picture we took as soon as i had it scanned later.

Then last Saturday, April 25 was an outing/reunion of sort of Buboy's family. It was my mother-in-law's birthday and we went swimming in a private pool at Calamba, Laguna. Buboy's family is small and it's nice to see them together all at once as this happens very seldom. It's because his sister lives in Laguna and his brother lives in Bulacan unlike my immediate family who practically live together. I told Buboy that we should really do this reunion-like gathering with his family at least once a year.

Anyway, Buboy discovered that he can sing more than twenty songs in one sitting during our family outing. He literally sang for almost two hours and received at least eight 100 scores. He said he now has a favorite - Though the Years of Kenny Rogers. Well, I don't mind. I love that song!

Pictures to follow.

-chebong