ANTI SOCIAL LIFE

Lately I have been quite depressed and just don't feel like doing anything. I've been watching animes frequently just to keep my mind busy, but sometimes I just don't feel ... alive. Maybe I'm tired from consecutive days of working, and most possibly drained by different kinds of trials going on in my life right now. My boyfriend said that I'm probably all burned out, and perhaps I need to go out with people.


And so, despite being post 24-hours duty (and pre 24-hours duty, as I'm working again tomorrow), I decided to get out of the house for a change. Today's a local holiday, since it's our city's Charter Day, so some of my friends don't have work. So I called up Gervie (a bank employee) and Don (a university professor) and we decided to hang out in the afternoon to have a drawing session. I was encouraging both of them to participate in the local comic convention come October, since they are both gifted artists and it's quite a shame for their talents to go to waste. Gervie started sketching panels while Don did some anatomy studies. I tried to make character designs for my story, but ended up making a fanart...

" I am Reisys V. Felicity Sumeragi. KEKEKE~ "

It's another sketch done with a ballpoint pen. Because of my current melancholic state, I'm also in some kind of an artist slump. (Although technically I don't really consider myself worthy to be called an artist. Not yet, anyway.) I just finished the anime Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai last night and surprisingly found it quite enjoyable. It's very funny and dealt with a group of anti-social characters whom I can somewhat relate to. My most favorite character is Hasegawa Kobato, a cosplaying middle school kid who is the sister of the main protagonist. I thought I'd make a fanart of her, and although I kinda messed up on this, but it was a fun experience drawing her. And talking with Gervie and Don regarding drawings, animes, our common interests and random stuffs somewhat uplifted my mood.


Then around 5pm, I left the boys and went to an outing with my discipleship group from church. I didn't really want to go swimming with them, and initially tried to squirm my way out by making some excuses to our leader. But I kinda felt bad about it, knowing that they were totally looking forward to the event, and so I changed my mind and went. It was perhaps our group's first time to actually go to someplace really different, and when we got there, I was amazed by the beautiful view...

It was a private hilltop compound overlooking the city, and at one side is an infinity pool! I didn't know we have such a lovely place within our city! We chitchatted, had a sumptuous dinner, and then our leader shared to us a message by Pastor Craig Groeschel about praying boldly to God, like what the first Christians did. "What you pray for reflects what you believe about God." I found it to be a very powerful and encouraging message, and would like to share the video link [HERE], that it may bless you as much as it has spoken to all members of my d-group.


After that, we took a lot of pictures and some of the girls went for a night swim. As I am not particularly fond of getting myself wet, so I didn't join them in the pool. I still got wet though, cos it was so dark and I accidentally stepped into the catch basin for the water. Got my Chucks soaked, boo.

I had fun today. And though my circumstances in life have not changed one bit and my heart still feels heavy, but I have my God and He gave me friends.


I know I will be okay. (^u^)

A DATE WITH TWO FRIENDS + CIRCUS CHARLIE (watch out for the blue monkey!)

I have a co-resident in the hospital named Lousyl whom I've worked with since late 2009. She's just about a year younger than me, and two batches lower than me in med school, but I didn't know her at all until we got to work together. At first I thought she was the outgoing egotistical type, but later realized that she's really just a sweet and simple girl who has a big heart for God and her family. We have a lot of interests in common so we became good friends.

Last Saturday, we had the opportunity to go out on a "date". The original plan was just her and me, but I brought along my friend Gervie cos I wanted them to be friends too. They got along real fine. ^o^ We met at Limketkai Mall, had a hearty lunch at Bigby's then went to SM to watch a movie. We were supposed to watch The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3D but only Tron was available in 3D and we didn't want to watch it. So we settled in for the "normal" Narnia movie. Gervie already saw the film (in 3D!) so he didn't go with us anymore. I've also watched it, but didn't mind watching it again. After the movie, we met up with Gervie at National Bookstore and saw several books on sale, so we started hoarding again. The three of us just love books!

It was around 6pm already by this time, and I knew Lousyl had to leave by 7pm cos she lives somewhere in Bukidnon, and has to take an almost 2-hour bus ride to get home. But then my family called me up and said that they were also in the mall. Grabbing the opportunity, I decided to treat them all - my parents, my 2 aunts and my 2 friends - for dinner. Lousyl agreed to go home a bit later than planned, and so we went back to Limketkai to eat at MOOON Cafe.

Say Cheese!
(Somehow I feel like a third wheel here... and what's with my messy hair! XD)

After dinner, my mom, 2 aunts and I wanted to make a quick stop at a stall in the second floor of Robinson's, so we hurried up their escalator which was this flat type thing (imagine an escalator without steps similar to those in airports). I noticed that the handrail on the right side was not moving and had several "NONFUNCTIONAL" signs pasted on it. I turned to warn my mom and aunts against holding on that defective rail, but was too late as I saw one of my aunts make this sort of backflip then fell flat on her butt. She couldn't find her balance and was still holding on to the non-moving rail despite me yelling at her to let go of it. In desperation, my other aunt went to help her stand, but (alas!) she too held on to the broken rail! And she fell forward and sort of sprawled on my aunt#1 and then did a sort of strange roll over while one of her slippers flew up the air! Both of them could no longer stand and I panicked cos I thought maybe their clothes got stuck in the escalator or something so I hurried towards them but realized in frustration that I was not going anywhere near them since we were still moving upward. All of these weirdness happened in just a few seconds but at that time it really felt like such a long time. Our commotion caught the attention of several bystanders, and these two muscular guys from the ground floor rushed to help my poor aunts up. A saleslady from a food stall also ran up in panic response (and abandoned her stall! XD) We were so grateful for all their help! When we reached the second floor, we just couldn't help but laugh and feel embarrassed over what happened! And guess what aunt#1 had the guts to say after all that?!:
"Why didn't you take a picture of us while we were still sprawled down there!?"
0____o

My two aunties totally did crazy stunts in Robinson's escalator reminiscent of Circus Charlie!!! XD

Lousyl had to leave already so Gervie drove her to the bus terminal. My family and I then went to the newly-opened Starbucks to complete those friggin' stickers. It was our first time to go there, yet we were dismayed cos we couldn't find any seats! I somehow have the impression that majority of the people there were posers and were just there for show, and that kinda irked me cos we were customers who wanted to drink good coffee! After waiting for like 15 minutes, the mall started shooting fireworks and so the seated customers ran to watch the display, and we immediately ran to grab their seats (sneaky~ ^o^). I ordered their hot Christmas Peppermint Mocha coffee and for the first time in my life appreciated how delicious Starbucks coffee really is. Service was a bit slow though as all the baristas had their hands full serving all those posers. Gervie came back in a while, and he pointed to me several members from CDOtaku (Yume, Hanya, Aylarox Kumicho, Kookee etc etc etc) who just arrived as well. I also met Ninez, a college classmate. We said our quick HELLOs and our GOODBYEs since it was already so late. Gervie (who became our official driver of the day) then took me and my family home.

After such a long day, it was no wonder that we just simply crashed on our beds. Our bodies were all tired but we were grateful for the fun and the memories.

LOSING MY MIND

I blame today's blog title on Ate Yeyen who just showed me a link of Lee Seung Gi's HOPE concert! I can't think straight right now because of His Adorable Highness shooting "love bullets" at me. ^_______^ *hearts*

But anyway, that's really not the point of this blog entry right now. I think perhaps I am still having an aftereffect of My Girlfriend is a Gumiho + Koukou Debut because I had a major major crazy realization tonight! And before I start to rationalize and become lazy and put these thoughts away, I think I should just lose my mind and write about this. And then maybe I can finally get some decent and "dreamless" sleep afterwards.

A few months ago, I learned that one of my high school classmates was getting married. Now while that may not really strike as something out of the ordinary (cos everyone seems to be getting married nowadays), but this one was somewhat perturbing for me. You see, he used to be someone close to me, what Miho the Gumiho would call as a be-pu, but some complicated things happened and we ended up just not talking anymore. I'm not even sure if we're friends. I am quite sure though that I once threw away and burned his things in anger, that I once cried for him until I vowed to never shed tears for him again, that I once forced amnesia on myself to forget him, and that I once hated him for almost three years until God convicted me and told me it's wrong to hate (and maybe I somewhat matured and realized how silly I was). But we never really became friends again. Which was weird. Cos we were only like 18 in our batch, and everyone is a very good friend to me. Everyone but him.

So hearing about him getting married felt kinda awkward, but surprisingly, I was genuinely happy for him (not that I would actually say that to him). But what also surprised me, and perplexed me, was that I started having weird dreams afterwards (like this one). I don't have any reason to think about him, so I also have no reason to dream about him. But I guess hearing that news somewhat jumbled up my subconsciousness, and he started appearing in my dreams. Not often, but just at some random occasions. But it would always make me very annoyed and confused when I wake up.

And then two weeks ago, my friends called me up and told me that we were meeting him and his wife for dinner. I initially didn't plan on going cos I had work and didn't really feel like going. But I was curious. I also didn't want to lie and run away because I had no reason to. But the thought of going really agitated me. Well to make the long story short, I took the bus home late that night and, although I missed dinner, I was able to join them for gelato at Missy Bon Bon. His wife is pretty and even though I hardly spoke to her (I don't think I spoke to her at all >__<), I immediately liked her cos she seems like such a nice and friendly person. We all went home an hour after I arrived. I felt kinda disappointed afterwards. I really didn't know what to expect and I also didn't expect to expect anything given that situation, but it wasn't really the get together that I expected.

Close friends often tell me that I'm dense and that I tend to have delayed reactions. And I guess these are one of those times. Tonight I traveled back home again by bus (but I'm going back to work again early morning tomorrow). I was listening to flumpool (super great band!) and sleeping, which is what I usually do while riding the bus so I don't get dizzy and nauseous. Then after about an hour inside the bus, I jerked and woke up. And maybe because of the similarity of my bus ride home two weeks ago, or perhaps that I was wearing the same jacket, but all at once these heap and jumble of old memories just came flooding into my mind, all of which were related to him! Everything just flashed before me -- how we became be-pu in 2nd year, how we stopped talking in 3rd year, how he patched things up and we started talking again in 4th year, how things went well in summer, and then went bad in college... Suddenly, I started to recall some stuffs which I thought I had already forgotten, and remembered various emotions which I thought I've already let go. And without warning, in that dimly lit bus, I started to cry silently.

As much as I want to stomp and crush and kick and set fire and bury and spit on those recollections of the past, I now realize that I just can't erase them. No matter how good or how terrible they were, they helped shaped me into who I am today. That major phase of my life made me the bitter or better person I am right now, and I believe what happened just had to happen because it was NECESSARY. I do not deny the fact that if not for him and what happened back then, I probably wouldn't have chosen to be a doctor right now. If not for him and what happened back then, I probably wouldn't have run into Japanese anime for comfort and distraction. If not for him and what happened back then, I probably would not have known how to love myself more and to establish my own identity before involving myself in a relationship. I would have gladly preferred not to have gone through all those affliction and misery to learn all of these lessons, but I guess this was what God gave me to deal with, and to struggle with, and to be transformed with into who I am now. Maybe I didn't see it before, but now I know and I believe that it was a NECESSARY kind of pain.

And as I really started to think about the situation and not just about myself, I began to realize that maybe I wasn't the only one who was in pain back then. Maybe he was too. I suddenly isolated myself and refused to talk to him, without bothering to explain what went wrong. Of course I must have caused him pain! I must have made him confused, and if he really did care, then I must have also made him miserable as well. Did I hurt his pride or provoked him to anger? Did he also agonize in despair or wallowed in bitterness? Did he hate me as well?

Does he still hate me now? x__X

(I really can't imagine being hated since I believe I'm quite a lovable person. And he's probably not the type to hate. I really don't know... Maybe he just didn't really care about what happened and I'm just thinking too much?)

But whatever his thoughts are, I guess now I somehow understand my own thoughts. What really agitated me for more than ten years, for the past few months, since last two weeks is probably the fact that I lost a friend. And not just any random acquaintance, but someone who was once like a brother, and a best friend to me. And I am partly to blame for this. And yes, I did have expectations and that's why I went to meet them two weeks ago. I was hoping that I could talk to him, and sincerely wish him happiness. But it wasn't the proper situation and the right time to bring up all these. After all of the long years and with the different directions of our lives, I don't know if we will ever have the chance to talk about what happened. I don't even know if he wants to talk about it, or if he just doesn't care at all. Maybe it won't be fixed anymore. Perhaps there is nothing left that can be fixed anymore.

I do not know if there will ever be an opportunity. But maybe someday I can find the courage to face him and ask him to forgive me.
And maybe by then, I hope, I can also find the courage to forgive myself.

ONE NIGHT STAND XD

Funny how some things just happen when you least expect them to.

I went to the bank yesterday and while waiting for my turn, I started scrutinizing the lady who was standing in the counter, talking with the teller. Her back was turned to me, and I noted her trendy clothes and most especially her shoes! They were flat and comfy, the kind I would love to wear to work.

I didn't look at her when she took her seat though, as I was busy preparing for my turn. Then suddenly I heard someone calling out my name from behind. I turned around to look and was in for a surprise.

The lady with the comfy shoes was actually my college classmate who has migrated to the US almost 8 years ago! It felt really weird since it was really unexpected, and we both stood up and gave each other a hug. We weren't really that close back then, but she's really cheerful and sweet so you can't help but like her. We have also kept in touch through facebook and the Cdotaku forum, since we share a common interest in animes, mangas, dramas and fangirling. ^^

So we talked for a while and then decided to meet up. So today, we made plans for dinner at Butcher's Best Barbeque together with two other college classmates. And then we went to have coffee at Bo's. We just talked about random stuffs and well, other not-so-random stuffs. It was fun reminiscing about our college years and talking about our college friends. Before we knew it, it was almost midnight, and we all needed to hit the sack.


Thank you LongLong, LabLab, and PengPeng. I had so much fun with all of you tonight.

THANK YOU, GLEN!

A few days ago I met up with my high school classmate, Glen, and now I just want to write this quick THANK YOU post for her for three wonderful things she has done for me this week:

1. She invited us for a wonderful dinner in her house last night.

One of our high school classmates, Juvy, is going off to Japan to do God's work, and we might not get to see her for another 3 years. So Glen organized this really simple yet elegant dinner for her. Our two other classmates, Gervie and Jen (plus husband Itong), were also with us. We had a really great fellowship, reminiscing old memories and catching up on new stuffs. Everyone just felt relaxed inside Glen's cozy house and eating the sumptuous meal she prepared. But I don't know if Juvy knew it was a despedida party for her. None of us actually had the heart to tell her goodbye, and I kinda messed up and wasn't able to prepare the gift for her. But we had a grand time anyway so I'm just so thankful.


2. She invited me to join a care group meeting.

Lord, You alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.
You guard all that is mine.
Psalm 16:5
Tonight, Glen personally brought me to a care group meeting held at Serendipity Cafe and Resto. I've long wanted (and needed) a small group of Christian friends whom I can be accountable to and responsible for, but just never got around to joining one. I guess I'm just one lost sheep with my messed up life and priorities. But praise God for Glen, who was quick to invite me to join a group composed of young, single ladies.

So I met some new friends: Chai, the group leader who works for a bank; Mizpah, a BS Psych student; Gigi, a first year law student; and Iris and Tia, who are med students. It was my first time to join a care group, so I kinda didn't know what to expect (or what they were expecting from me). But the group was warm and friendly, and I just had a good time getting to know them. Most importantly, I got to feed on God's Word and start allowing Him to fix my broken life. I just feel so "wrong" right now, and I know only God can heal me. And I know that He will if I just let Him take control.

I will bless the Lord who guides me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
I know the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me.
Psalm 16: 7-8


3. She told me about this place where we could possibly transfer.

It's been almost a year since we've moved into our current residence, and although this is a wonderful place, but it's just too small and cramped for us. So we've been thinking of the possibility of moving again once our contract here expires, and Glen told me about this apartment near their house. I contacted the owner today, and I'm quite interested in the offer. I told my parents about it, and they also started considering it. We might check out the place and let's just see what happens. *crosses fingers*


Thank you Lord for Glen. She is really such a blessing. ^__________^

A NATURAL KIND OF HIGH


This is a really late entry, so I'll keep it short. Last month I met up with some friends and here's what happened...



JUNE 14 :
My high school classmate, Christine (aka Tabs), came home to the Philippines after around 6 or 7 years in Canada. We met up along with out other classmates, Gervie, Glen and Juvy. We had a sumptious dinner at Butcher's Best Barbeque, then has gelato at Missy Bon Bon, then had coffee at Figaro's. Although the time was short, but we really had a great fellowship reminiscing about our past, and updating each other of our present lives. Of course Tabs was the queen of the night, for she generously paid for all our bills. XD Gervie, on the other hand, was our gallant knight in shining armour - he played chauffeur and drove each one of us home. XD


JUNE 16 :
My friend Hya, who was on one-month leave from her Pedia residency training in PGH, came to visit us, and so I ditched work to go out with her and our classmates, Ann (who's also on leave from PGH) and Shay (who also ditched work XD). Shay's sister also went with us.



We decided to go to Zipzone in Dahilayan, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, for some extreme once-in-a-lifetime experience - ZIPLINING! The complete package was composed of three rides: 320m long, 150m long, and the crazy 840m long ride, which proudly boasts as Asia's longest dual zipline elevated at 4500 feet above sea level. I'm not a sporty person at all, but I definitely enjoyed the feel of the cool wind on my face, the pine trees (and ulp! death drop) below me, and the adrenaline rush as I flew through the air.


YES! THIS IS ME!!!

There were other exciting things to do in Dahilayan such as the driving the ATV trail, Zorbing, and visiting some nature parks and garden. However, we couldn't stay long and had to hit the road already. I don't know if I will ever go back there again, but the memories we made in that place are forever etched in my heart (char! :3).

SOME RANDOM PIFFLE BLOG ENTRY


So, Mam Cha and I went out today after work. We brisk-walked around the capitol grounds for around 30 minutes then went to Café Royale to eat. XD She ordered a Royale Burger, and I had Fetuccini Carbonara. The place is OK, and the food is so-so. I might eat there again in the future.

So after dinner and after Mam Cha bought dog food for her pet Bluto, we went to Mercury Drugstore to buy some groceries. I bought some food stuffs and the usual box of coffee, while Mam Cha bought shampoo and stuffs. We parted ways after that. I walked for a while, burning with the desire to buy potato chips and pistachio nuts and ice cream and Jollibee etc etc etc, but I figured that I really don’t need those junk in my body. I bought bread instead (for breakfast tomorrow). I felt a bit better that I didn’t indulge in my temptations.

BUT! I did drop by the DVD stalls near the plaza! *kitsune-ears!* I haven’t bought DVDs lately because I’ve been trying to scrimp money, at the same time avoiding the urge to hoard unnecessarily. *coughs* Well, when I visited this one stall, they were selling several interesting anime titles which I still don’t have: Love Get Chu, Tiny Snow Sugar Fairy, Mushi-Uta, Phantom Requiem, Needless, Canaan, Munto, Maria Holic, Moetan, plus so many other titles I can’t possibly remember! I was about to get Phantom Requiem and Mushi-Uta, but when I tried the discs, Phantom Requiem only had 6 episodes (not sure if this is complete), and Mushi-Uta erroneously contained Kaze no Stigma episodes (and I’ve already seen this. It’s kewl, btw! ^o^) Embarrassed to leave the place without having bought anything, I decided to get a copy of Natsu no Arashi. I had planned to download this before, but maybe I’ll try to watch the pirated version first before deciding if it’s worth the effort and time to download. It looks promising though.

Then I went back to the hospital. I’m supposed to clean my room then get some badly needed sleep through the night, but I got distracted and I’m now copying animes, watching a bit of this and that, while trying to finish writing this random blog entry. I watched Lovely Complex Live Action (Teppei LoVe!<3<3<3), a bit of Lucky Star, and some parts of Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekisou. Aya Hirano - MOE! ^___^ I haven’t exactly finished watching Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu though and I heard there’s already another new season. Can’t.Catch.Up.Must.Catch.Up.!

I’m currently watching Princess Princess... I’m still not done with it. Hopefully I’ll finish it this week. Then I might start watching Suoh’s animes so that I can return all of them to him when I get to Manila...
Ai Yori Aoshi Enishi
Bakuretsu Tenshi
Genshiken 2
Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun
Kamichu!
Lucky Star
Minami-ke
Myself, Yourself
Noir
Rahxephon
Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei
SuzukaI actually borrowed these maybe 2 years ago? Hehehe I don’t think I can finish watching all of these though in just a few days’ time, so maybe I’ll just save them temporarily in the PC. I have no more disk space (again!) so I need to start burning them into DVDs.

Perhaps I need an external hard disk? Maybe, one terabyte? T_____T



ABSOLUTE TEPPEI YUMMY-NESS!!!<3<3<3

HEALTH AND HEART


Today I will talk about some health-related issues, and the latter part will focus more on heart-related stories. XD

So this morning I had some blood tests done on me. It’s my first time to undergo these kinds of tests, but I really need baseline liver profiles to make sure I didn’t acquire the HepB virus from my patient. I was a bit terrified of the lab results because I know that lately I’ve been so un-healthy. *sad* I think I’ve gained weight, and mass too! I’ve been eating more sweets and fats, and binging on fastfood and junk. I feel that my whole system is just so messed up, and right now I’d really prefer some discipline and self-control in my current lifestyle. I wish I was more non-sedentary. *sigh*

Well anyway, so the tests results came up, and I was shocked. They were all...NORMAL!

Fasting Blood Sugar 60 (Expected Range 70 - 105)
Creatinine 0.79 (Expected Range 0.5 - 1.5)
Blood Uric Acid 5.1 (Expected Range 2.5 - 6.6)
Total Cholesterol 202 (Expected Range <200)
Triglycerides 87 (Expected Range <150)
HDL 46 (Expected Range 45 - 65)
LDL 138.6 (Expected Range <100)
SGPT/ALT 9.2 (Expected Range <45)
SGOT/AST 7.0 (Expected Range <34)
Hepatitis B Surface Antigen: NON-REACTIVE

[*Creatinine measures kidney function; BUA tells you if you have arthritis; HDL is good cholesterol while LDL is bad cholesterol;
and SGPT/ALT and SGOT/AST are liver function tests]

So... Does this mean I’m HEALTHY!?!

Hooray! My lifestyle found justification! I can binge again!

...Or NOT. XD

Despite the normal values, I still want to change the way I am. I know I can’t have the right curves in an instant (heck, I don’t think I’d even get them in this lifetime! XD), but I want to slowly change the way I live my life. I want to be truly healthy because, if God is willing, I want to live long and well. I want to accomplish many things, make a difference in some way, and have the strength to sustain and support my parents and my future husband and children. I want to look at my patients in the eye and convincingly tell them, "Hey, living a healthy lifestyle is possible. I am an example." I want to break free from my image of being big and fat. All these years I’ve never been anything but that. Maybe it is time for a change. And I pray that God will help me change - inside and out - for the better.



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I’ve received updates on how my best friend is faring right now. She was placed on epidural anesthesia last night and contrary to the plan to do a CS on her, a forceps delivery was done instead. Cath went through a terrible ordeal last night. Her vital signs went berserk, and her heart was beating rapidly up to 140bpm (not good for someone with severe aortic stenosis) and then went flat at one point! She was intubated and hooked to a ventilator plus other tubes, and I heard she’s congested right now. She’s lying in ICU for goodness sake! Her sister (who's also a doctor) told me Cath almost died, and I cried when I learned that. I couldn’t bear the thought of losing her that way, and I prayed in faith and in desperation. I asked God to please not take her, she is so precious to all of us. I’m sure many people whose lives she has touched were praying for her healing too.

Also, her baby Sonja was fighting for her little life as well. Born prematurely, the little angel had to get a dose of surfactant to help mature her underdeveloped lungs, and she was also intubated and placed inside an incubator. I can just picture her so tiny and fragile, like her mom, trying to be brave and strong in facing this world. My heart just goes out to both Mom and baby!

This morning though, I’ve received text messages saying that Cath is already awake and alert! *happy* They plan to wean her off the mech vent, and although still in critical condition, she’s already recovering and will be placed on close observation for the next few days. Baby Sonja is also looking better, and responding well to her medications. She’s a fighter, as her aunt described, and a miracle baby, as her father said. Amidst all these, I can only say that GOD IS REALLY REALLY AWESOME and HE ANSWERS PRAYERS! And that HE LOVES US SO MUCH to hear our cries, and HE LOVES CATH AND BABY SONJA EVEN MORE. I feel sad that I couldn’t be there with them personally to give support but I know, more importantly, that THE ULTIMATE HEALER has been working and supporting them in this difficult time, and yes, HE IS DEFINITELY IN CONTROL! HE WILL NEVER LEAVE CATH AND BABY SONJA IN DANGER!

PRAISE GOD INDEED!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH LORD! TO HIM BE ALL GLORY!!!

I can’t wait to see Cath when I go to Manila next month! I hope by then, she and her baby will already be at home, comfy and in their best health. ^_____^



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Other random stuffs...

Last night I decided NOT to watch Be Strong Geum Soon and Hello My Lady because I don’t feel like watching them. I lost interest so I’ll probably just return them next month. Instead of watching the other DVDs in my list, I ended up watching Petshop of Horrors, Blue Submarine No.6, and an episode of Princess Princess. I am so thoughtless! I never seem to accomplish what I plan. 0__0

At least right now, I’m trying to finish reading Eclipse, but just not progressing fast enough. I am plainly not so interested despite it being an easy read. I honestly can’t bring myself to care about Edward-Bella-Jacob and their teenage fantasy romance, and I’m already near closing the third book! I guess it just don’t appeal much to me, and I'm always annoyed at Bella. She is such an unlikeable character. I do like Edward sometimes for his mushy moments. And I know this will come off as ultra-extra-mega-so cheesy (ehehe ^o^) but the infallible way he loves reminds me of my boyfriend... Yiheee!!!<3 (I did say CHEESY!!! XD) And to end this mush...


We are celebrating our HEPPY 33rd ANNIMONTHSARY TODAY! \(^o^)/

We are so blessed to have a relationship that just keeps getting better and better each day. I am soOoOooOOooo soOooOoooooOo LUCKY to have gotten the most loving and most faithful and most understanding and most patient and most generous and most pampering and most humorous and most inspiring and most supportive and most charming and most romantic and most... [insert random thinkable and unthinkable positive adjectives here!] ... in the entire universe!!! I will never trade him for anything in the world, not even for a million Edwards. XD



<3<3<3 I Love You Suoh, my c.b.! <3<3<3 ^x^

(cheesy! cheesy! cheesy!)

UNEXPECTED NEWS!

I just received news that my best friend is going to undergo Ceasarian section today!

I don’t know much of the details, but apparently she had preterm labor and was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit of Makati Med either yesterday or this morning. My best friend has a congenital cardiac problem and this is her first pregnancy. She has been on close monitoring and constant follow up with her obstetrician and cardiologist, and we just texted around 2 weeks ago discussing names for her baby, which I thought was still due late October or November. It was a surprise to hear news that she was admitted ahead of schedule. Doctors were contemplating if she could deliver spontaneously, but eventually decided to do CS because they noted signs of fetal distress.

Despite having assisted so many CS deliveries, I somewhat feel uneasy hearing that my best friend is going through that right now. Cath is not a very big person (physically), but she’s always had a strong personality. She was never the type to give in to her fears and her worries. But I’m sure deep down she feels them too. I remember when we were still in high school, we noted she was absent for the day, which was unusual cos she was never absent. We later learned that she has undergone appendectomy, and I felt somewhat numb deep down cos I was worried sick. (I had no idea what appendectomy was back then. Heck, I didn’t even know what an appendix is! XD)

Right now, I feel the same sort of numbness deep down. To be so far away from her, to have not talked to her prior to the operation, to have no first hand data of what she’s going through right now... All of these make me so confused! But I want to believe and have the faith that GOD will see her and her baby through this trying time. I fervently pray for the success of her operation, and hope both mommy and baby end up well and healthy tonight.

HALF BLOODS AND HOARDERS



[ *Warning : Some Spoilers Ahead* ]

I watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last month before I went off to work in Camiguin and pretty much enjoyed the movie. I'm quite a fan of the Harry Potter books and I've followed all the previous 5 movies, but I must say that this is perhaps my favorite adaptation among them all. Sure, a lot of the details were left out and maybe the ending leaves you a bit "hanging", but somehow I felt satisfied. I think I felt the same way when I finished the sixth book. Well, maybe not EXACTLY the same, but almost similar. I think it's because of the excitement I felt when I learned who the half blood prince is! (i'M nOt TeLLinG jOo... XD)
I've always been fond of this character since the first book, and even till the end I kept cheering him on. Dunno why I found myself attached to him. LOlz (I'm also quite attached to Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, btw! *winks*) Among the cast, I really like Emma Watson (Hermione Granger), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange) and Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood) for their portrayal of their respective roles. I think they fit into the image I had in mind for the characters, albeit Hermione and Luna may seem prettier onscreen than in the book. Teehee n__n


Then today, I went to watch Blood: The Last Vampire in the cinema. Surprisingly, only Gaisano Mall is airing it. I also found it quite strange that I have little feedback on the movie. I somehow expected something as H U G E as the BLOOD franchise, and someone as well-loved as Jeon Ji Hyun will deserve more attention. I've read and heard Suoh's thoughts of this movie, but I wanted to see and judge it myself. And honestly, I actually enjoyed it. Yes, it might not exactly be the best vampire movie, and yes, some scenes REALLY DO NEED subtitles, and yes, the fake blood and alien-like creatures could use some more improvement, but otherwise it was better than I expected (or maybe I just wasn't expecting much at all, hehe). The saving grace was perhaps Jeon Ji Hyun's portrayal of Saya. She may not speak fluid Nihonggo, and may be a bit too old and tall for the role, but she fell into the character really well. And I'm not just saying this because I'm biased. JJH really did some kick-ass swordplay and leaping actions that made me grip my seat in excitement. And when Onigen showed up onscreen, I didn't even have to see her face to know that it's Koyuki!!! I'm not her fan but I respect her as an actor. I've seen her in some doramas and she was also in The Last Samurai. The character Alice is passable. I only liked her in the end when she seemed like she's going nuts. XD The storyline is so-so but I had fun watching the train scene and the military base chase scene because they brought back memories of the OVA. The ending is a bit cheesy and corny, but the irony of it somehow made some sense to me. Overall, I felt entertained and I left the cinema feeling that it was 80 bucks well-spent.


After the movie, I went to McDonald's to meet some friends. Yume and I both decided beforehand to invite Shikakage out just so we could peek into her hoards and share her joy (TRANSLATION: see her anime/drama list and burn ourselves a copy ^____^). Shika came with Michiru and it was actually my first time to have a decent conversation with them. It felt quite awkward at first since I'm not exactly *loud* in real life. You won't see me rant and rave as much in person, hehehe. But the mood lightened up when Yume arrived from work. Soulgoodguy also came to join us later on. We talked about various stuffs like work, school, animes, kpop and our collections while munching on some burgers and twister fries (Yume ate chicken XD). I, of course, ordered a Double Cheeseburger Deluxe meal for myself. ^o^


After exchanging stuffs and thoughts, we said our thank yous and goodbyes. It's quite weird, but I ALWAYS feel a sort of sadness(?) and inadequacy whenever I meet fellow otakus IRL. No matter how huge my collection has expanded, I always feel a bit of shame because a lot of them are not data files. I also feel uneasy because I know I can never hoard enough, that others will always have some things that I don't have, and that they will always know some trivia that I don't. The generation gap also makes me feel quite out of place. So instead of feeling relieved, I actually feel more stressed when I go to activities like these because I'd end up comparing myself and always falling short. And whenever I'm distressed and confused, I then end up...


... buying stuffs like these.

Ai Tenshi Densetsu Wedding Peach, and Rainie Yang's dramas: Superstar Express, Tomorrow



0______o

A VERY LONG DAY

Since I slept around 4ish am so I woke up late and left the house around 1030am. I needed to do a lot of things which I've been procrastinating for the past two days, so I was slightly pissed cos it was already so late. I'm always pissed during mornings.

First I went to the Philippine Medical Association to get my ID. And I know that I have paid until May 2010, but my membership was only listed as until 2009, so I don't know what's up with that. But since I didn't bring my receipt, I decided to clarify it next time. I wanted to go to the Bureau of Internal Revenue office but it's quite far and by the time I'll reach there, it will be their lunch break already, so I decided to go to Limketkai Mall instead.


I went to McDo for lunch and had my favorite Double Cheeseburger Deluxe plus the Ice Age 3 special Twister Fries and Ice Blue Float. The float tasted like medicine x___x. While I was there, I plotted my activity for the day so that I can maximize my time in the afternoon. I also met my classmate Chris Bandoy there.


Around 130pm, I went to Picture City because I needed some 1x1 ID pics. Then I went to National Bookstore to buy some stuffs which were actually quite useless: a padded envelope for my Mom's portable DVD player, a green highlighter which I don't really need, and on impulse, I picked up a copy of one of my favorite books, Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie, and took all these to the cashier. Then I went to Watson's to buy some more useless stuffs, and then stopped by Robinson's Department Store and ended up buying a plaid blouse and some underwear. Then I ate low fat cappuccino ice cream at Fiorgelato. To sum up what I've done, I ended up spending some money on stuffs which were not part of the budget. Hahay. >__<


While sitting in Fiorgelato, I was texting my friend Gervie. We made plans to visit our high school classmate Mark, who was here for Sarah Geronimo's concert. Then I browsed through the Peso Saver (a local magazine of ads) and checked out some listed houses/apartments for rent. We're given until October to move out our present apartment, so hopefully we'll have ample time to prepare.

For my last stop in Limketkai, I went to the Sun Shop to pay my bill, then asked them regarding the possibility of having my Sony Ericsson R300 repaired. Last night, I accidentally dropped it and must have damaged something, cos I can't hear my calls anymore. Since our SE service center closed down some time ago, so the Sun agent told me that if I wanted it repaired, they'd have to send it to Manila. I had the impression that he was subtly hinting that I should just have it fixed at some cellphone repair shop here. I'm still thinking about this though, cos my phone is still under warranty, and it's such a waste not to use that.

It was almost 4pm when I left the mall and went to Divisoria. What I really needed to do today was to complete the requirements for my Philhealth Accreditation as physician, yet I went malling instead. *bonks self* It was already raining by then, and since I didn't bring an umbrella and was running against time, so I ended up getting a bit drizzled. I went to a random law office, and had my application NOTARIZED. I don't know what that means but I paid PhP200 for it! *cries* Then I photocopied some documents before heading to the Philhealth office.

To my surprise, they were almost closed! (It was still 445pm in my watch!) I begged the guard to let me in since I was only submitting my requirements, so he said OK. I approached the officer handling accreditation, whom I've spoken with before, and the first thing she actually said to me was, "Kinsa gali ka?" (Who are you again?!) I felt weird about that since I thought it wasn't a very polite thing to say, but maybe she was in a hurry to go home cos they were already closing. I told her I was there to submit requirements for accreditation, and so she started perusing my documents. Everything was OK until she got to the last requirement which was the M15/RF1 which is like a receipt indicating that my employer has paid my Philhealth monthly dues for me. I only had March and April with me, and she specifically instructed me last time to bring the receipts for January to May.

I know it was error on my part. The lady was only doing her job. But still I felt my face turn into a frustrated scowl. After getting soaked by the rain running around Divisoria and now I have to bother our pharmacist Mam Cha AGAIN for these papers! Mam Cha handles most of the concerns in the hospital so she's always very busy, and I don't really want to disturb her anymore. Well the lady officer must've noticed my change of expression, cos she started becoming very defensive, saying that she was already being lenient and all. She added that the main office in Manila won't be that complaisant, and also something about the cashier having gone home already so nobody can receive my payment anyway, blah blah blah. I know she's right, but I was just sOoOOOOOoooOOo... pissed off at her! And I made sure she felt my annoyance.

So with my main objective for the day not met, I glumly left the Philhealth office and went to the bank to deposit some money.

Then I went to buy a buko pandan pearl shake at Orbitz to chill my flames of anger, before heading to the office of our cable company. I was going to file a complaint because we suddenly lost some of our international channels, and we were informed by my Mom's friend that the cable operator has decided to upgrade their system, and it will include a major change of channels and a major conversion fee of PhP2500! We received a notice about their upgrade but there was nothing stated there about having to pay additional fees so that's what I wanted to clarify. The customer service lady told me that they have placed running ads in various channels at various time slots, to which I promptly retorted, "BUT WE DON'T WATCH TV 24 HOURS OF THE DAY JUST TO READ YOUR MEASLY RUNNING ADS!!!" She ended up having to explain stuffs to me in a small voice because I was obviously frustrated and purposely being mean to her. It was a useless being that way though. I still couldn't get back our channels despite my show of exasperation. I actually achieved nothing. But I just really wanted to be mean. u__u

So it was around 530pm, and I needed to meet Gervie in Limketkai but due to heavy traffic, I had to take two rides. I made a stop at Gaisano Mall, and so I visited their Booksale branch and ended up buying a copy of Horton Hears A Who by Dr Seuss, one of my favorite authors from childhood. Then I went to meet Gervie, and by 6pm, we went to meet Mark in his hotel.

He was quite busy trying to prepare for the concert and entertain family and friends who dropped by to visit him. But he still made time to make chitchat with us and to even call some of our other classmates. And although he may have changed a lot, yet he somehow still retained that wacky side of his which made us laugh all throughout high school (earlier, he tried to change inside a closet! XD). So I hope we can always see that part of him.

Thanks for meeting with us today, Mark!

Gervie and I decided to further support our friend by watching Sarah Geronimo's concert, where he is a guest. So we left Mark to prepare and vocalize (or whatever it is that he does before a show), bought tickets (the cheap ones were all sold out already x___x), then had dinner at Mandarin before watching the concert. Sarah really has a nice and strong solid voice, but neither of us were her fans though. *sheepish* Her guests were: Mark Bautista, Mark Herras, Jimmy Marquez, Simon Wood and the G-Force. Billy Crawford unfortunately couldn't make it. Um... I won't go into the details anymore cos I'm already so sleepy, suffice it to say that Gervie and I somehow enjoyed the concert, but it was kinda an awkward experience for us. The show ended around 11-ish, and we took a taxi and went home. It would've been nice to have talked more with Mark but I guess we'll just have to keep in touch in some other ways (er, facebook? XD).

Yes, it cost us PhP800 each!!!

Well... I'm off to sleep now. Good night.

RUNNING AROUND

Seems like I've been "running" all over the place for the past few days.
Unfortunately, it's not the type of running that sheds off weight. XD

I'm talking about how I'm going about trying to accomplish the following :

• Process papers and complete application requirements;
  
• Meet friends and return their DVDs;
  
• Catch up on my internet life;
  
• Buy needs and prepare for work come Sunday.

Somehow though, I feel that I'm trying to do so many things with so little time, and this just makes me so tired. The fact that most of the time I'm away from my home, far from the hustle-bustle of city life, and disconnected from my internet for 23 days of the month -- this fact makes me so tired. And perhaps that's why I just have this uneasiness within me. I'm not really complaining, because I'm very blessed with two jobs. But it's also really quite difficult to find time for myself when most of the days of the month, I'm just not at home. And the times I'm at home, I'm always so busy trying to catch up and trying to do stuffs I need to do before I'll be leaving again. But maybe this kind of lifestyle is also what I need to keep me from idling my time away in the internet.

Anyway, the past two days, I went to take a neuro-psychological exam, which was quite a weird experience for me, since the last time I took a similar type of exam was still in med school. And somehow, I feel that I'm not very good at these, especially on the abstract reasoning part (being the unreasonable person that I am XD). When I was interviewed by the psychiatrist, he praised me for my drawing of a person, which was of a long haired girl wearing a gown reminiscent of my Romeo x Juliet fandom. LOLz He asked me if I want to have further studies in Fine Arts. I merely shrugged and laughed, knowing deep down that the path of an artist is something I've long abandoned.

Next I went to have a drug test, and silly me, I thought they were going to take a blood sample. When the med tech gave me a bottle to collect my urine, I tried to pee but I couldn't even if my life depended on it, so I gave back the empty bottle and said I'll just return later in the afternoon. I drank more than 1.5L of fluids at home before I went back to make sure I'd have more than enough urine sample. Of course I tested NEGATIVE. But my picture (taken by a webcam) on the test result looked really weird. XD

I also went to get an NBI clearance. It was my first time, and it was quite an unusual experience, especially the part where the officer took my fingerprints. I guess to ensure the validity of the results, an NBI staff is assigned to LITERALLY assist you in taking your fingerprints, as in he really lifted and dabbed my fingers one by one in the black ink, then on my application form! And then I had to wait for quite a while before my number was called to pay at the cashier, after which I stood on the next window to have my picture taken. Since the officer in charge of taking my picture wasn't looking at me and seemed busy with some papers, I kept looking uneasily at the camera, and rolled my eyes to the left nd right, feeling quite uncomfortable. Then before I knew it, the officer suddenly gave me a thumbs-up sign, implying that my pic was already taken. HE DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME TO PREPARE! u___u It will definitely be another weird photo. I'm just so sure of it! But I won't be getting my NBI clearance until after two weeks (since I guess my name is too common) so I will just have to wait and see how weird my photo will appear. XD

I also went to the Philhealth office to apply for accreditation as physician, but there were a list of requirements that I need to comply with, so I will need to go back again to submit them. I wasn't able to visit the Pag-ibig office or the PMA office because I didn't have time anymore (because I kept waking up late in the morning, ehehehe XD).


I was able to meet up with my friend Lalac yesterday, and we had a fun evening just talking and eating cake. I met her again today because I had to give something important to her, then I went to meet my friend Yume for dinner at Rai Rai Ken then for a little ice cream at Fiorgelato (yum!). She's starting her career as an elementary school teacher this Monday, and I just wish her all the luck. After dinner, I went to see my friend Joey at her house and I gave her some DVDs and she showed me her (huge) collection of downloaded videos and stuffs, mostly related to DBSK (Tohoshinki). She's so "obsessed" with them right now. I like them too but I'm just not so familar with all their songs and achievements. Besides, I feel that I don't have the time to fangirl anymore. I mean, I already have so many things in my hands, and following so many series/animes/mangas. I can't afford to obsess on something else cos I will end up doing more of THIS...

PLEASE DON'T ASK WHY I HAVE 295 FILES QUEUED. XD

Joey also let me borrow Twilight Books 2, 3 and 4. So I no longer have any excuse NOT to read them. Hehehe She showed me a teaser trailer of the upcoming movie, New Moon. I am not much of a fan really, and just do not find Robert Pattinson attractive at all (I am so turned off by his pasty make-up T__T). But maybe reading the books may help me change my mind.

Or maybe not. XD

Lastly, tomorrow I have to meet Gervie and Hime, buy stuffs for use in Malaybalay, buy a dress and shoes for the upcoming wedding I'm attending, and have dinner with my parents. Hopefully I can still find time to blog tomorrow...

RE-ARRANGING MY COLLECTION

Because of my obsessive compulsive nature and my impulsive drive to download and hoard whatever anime I can get my hands on,
I have somehow amassed a huge number of CDs and DVDs. I've been planning to re-arrange them but never got around to doing it, until now. And goodness, I feel so tired already but I'm not finished yet! *fail* T___T


You see I'm very meticulous when it comes to arranging my things, especially my CD collection. This would always involve taking out ALL the discs and putting them back one by one in some sort of order (usually alphabetical, by genre, chronological, etc). In this case, I had to remove them from the zippered cases, and transfer some of them to spindle cases.


So when I have rearranged them a bit, I noticed that I have more zippered cases now. 6 of them are currently empty! Uh-oh... Does that mean I have to download more so that I can fill them up? Hehehe


I hardly touched my drama collection because they are already quite organized. Besides I haven't really procured a lot of dramas lately because I've been too lazy to watch them... Well, this pic here below is my Korean Drama Collection. The reason why there are so many CD cases is because we used to order them in VCD format from Manila. That was the time when Asian dramas are not so popular yet, and we had to order from Manila in order to get a copy with good quality and feed our obsession and craze. XD Not shown in the picture below are my Japanese Dramas (because they are contained elsewhere) and Taiwanese dramas (because there's really not that many titles, and they are in raw format with chinese subs).


I also got this huge CD Case from my boyfriend<3. It can hold around 100 CDs, so I used it for my Audio Collection. Most of the songs are Jpop and Jrock, and a little bit of Kpop too.



I'm not done yet though... This is just part one of my many struggles with rearranging my collection. Hopefully I can finish most of it by tomorrow or Sunday because I have to leave for work on Monday already. After this, my next project is to rearrange my room. Now THAT is definitely some super hard work I'm not so looking forward to. Hehehe


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Some other random updates...

• My mom is watching the K-drama, East of Eden. The Taiwanese channel, CTV, started airing it three nights ago, and my mom is TOO excited. But because of the bad weather lately, the reception is poor. And since my mom doesn't want to watch from the internet, and I refuse(!) to download 56(!) episodes of the drama, so I bought her a DVD9 copy instead. In fairness, the copy is quite clear with tolerable subs, so my mom is in such a happy-little-puppy mode, and watched straight until episode 8. She just went up to sleep, at 2:45am. XD
  
  
• On a side note, I'm NOT watching East of Eden (EOE) yet, but Song Seung Heon is <3<3<3. I'm not really his fan, but I found him really attractive and appealing in the drama, Summer Scent (which I did NOT like), and in the movie, He Was Cool (with the late Jung Da Bin). In EOE, he has a rugged look which quite suits him. So... ^___^<3<3<3
  
  
• I have just finished downloading the manga-based J-drama, Mei-Chan no Shitsuji (Mei-chan's Butler), which looks like a really interesting and fun series (with so many good looking boys to boot! Woohoo!). I'm currently downloading Cat Street, which is another drama based on the manga of Kamio Yoko (creator of Hana Yori Dango).
  
  
• I've also downloaded a bunch of random manga scanlations and burned them into 3 DVDs (so that's around 12GB!). Some of them are of psychological genre (Monster, 20th Century Boys, etc) but most of them are romantic stories (Bitter Virgin, Koukou Debut, etc). Not reading them anytime soon though.
  
  
• I'm currently loving songs by the duo, ON/OFF, composed of Naoya & Kazuya Sakamoto. They are actually identical twin brothers!<3<3<3 And I think they shot to fame with the song, Futatsu No Kodou To Akai Tsumi, the opening theme to Vampire Knight. Anyway, I love that song but I love all of their other songs too! ^____^
  
  
  
  
• Fortunately, my tonsilitis did not worsen after I started taking some antibiotics. But unfortunately, I have a gnawing toothache that doesn't seem to go away. This really bothers me because I have to leave for work on Monday, and will be out of CDO for 16 days (be back on May 19!). So I hope it doesn't worsen because I don't have time to see a dentist anymore... I really hate toothaches! u__u
  
  
• I will watch X-Men Origins: Wolverine on Sunday! But I don't know if I will still have the chance to watch Slumdog Millionaire (Jai HoOoOoOoOOoooOO!)...
  
  
• I actually went brisk watching with Yume last Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons, and it was really fun because we got to talk a lot and pretend to exercise. Yume and I are surprisingly pretty good friends when in fact we hardly knew each other before and just met during the CDOtaku beach party last year. I went to hoard some more of her DVDs, LOLz! We weren't able to go out walking on Thursday and Friday because of the rain, but we met for a bit on Friday evening because she wanted to tell me something. Then we went to scout some pirated DVDs in Divisoria before going our separate ways.
  
  
• I'll be meeting Joey tomorrow later just to catch up and return some of her stuffs.
  
  
• I need to prepare CDs for my cousin, Achi Beth, and for my friend from GenSan, Jan. I'm currently working on that now, plus Jan's letter too!
  
  
• Oh, and I think Manny Pacquiao will win on Sunday. But that's just my baseless opinion...

Well, I guess I'll end it there for now because I got to get my not-so-beauty sleep or else my Father might get angry at me again for not sleeping early. Plus I have to clean the house again tomorrow, er, later... ^___<

BUHAY-BUHAY

I know I mentioned that I'll be out working until the end of the month. But for some unethical unreasonable "unexpected turn of events" (which will be blogged later on), I found myself home last Thursday. 0__o So since I'm back here in Cagayan de Oro, I decided to meet up with my very good friends, Hya and Shay. The three of us go way way back in med school, but our bonds forged when we lived as dorm mates during our internship year at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH), and later on when we applied as pre-residents in our respective departments in said hospital as well. As much as the three of us want to be "best friends forever" and "live happily ever after" as PGH residents-in-training, only Hya actually ended up going back to train in Pediatrics. Shay went back to work as ROD in the biggest tertiary hospital here, and as for me, well... I'm just your everyday ordinary scum/bum. XD


So anyway, since Hya had some days off from training, so she went to her hometown, Butuan City. BUT! She also wanted to meet us so she committed to travel the four hours distance between our cities and spend some time here in CDO. Initially I couldn't go because I had work, but because of the unethical unreasonable "unexpected turn of events" that I have yet to explain later on, I'm now free to meet her. And so I told her I'd be there.

To be honest, I only HALF-wanted to go, because lately I'm just feeling like an wandering and aimless loser, so I tend to shun events like get-togethers and catching-ups because I don't really want to talk about my life right now and compare it with others, especially with my close friends. Please don't misinterpret my emo mode as being ungrateful or dissatisfied with my work right now -- IT'S NOT LIKE THAT. On the contrary, I'm very very content with my current job and lifestyle, and I feel so blessed. God has given me so so so so much that I feel so unworthy. And in my 20 months of being a physician, the past 6 months have been my happiest because I feel that what I'm doing and my being a physician has a purpose after all, and that I am actually capable of growing and improving in my profession. But despite all these, I still have this ever-present nagging feeling of unease because I do not know what I'm going to do with my life. Two years ago, I was so sure I'd go into residency training in Surgery in PGH. A year ago, I was unsure of going into residency training but I wanted to go back to PGH so in desperation found myself accepted in OB-GYNE, which I eventually turned down. Right now, I still harbor thoughts of going back to PGH, but I don't want to train at all. I have no drive anymore, and I cannot see my future. I cannot see my long term goal and destination because I'm quite discouraged and frustrated by the health system here in general. I'm praying for God's light but there is no light yet, so it often makes me wonder if I have made foolish decisions in the past and that's why I'm in my current confused state. But I know God has a perfect plan for me. Someday, I will know what I am really meant for, then we can just look back and laugh at all these emo crap. XD

Now going back to the main point of this entry... So I met up with Hya last night around 8pm in Limketkai Mall. She arrived at around 5pm, and I really planned to meet her earlier, but my sked is so messed up so I arrived really late. I immediately recognized Hya's backpack in National Bookstore and when I tapped her and said, "Hoy! Hyacinth!", I noticed that she has lost a bit of weight (thanks to the hectic lifestyle of PGH). I immediately felt a bit sad for myself because I haven't lost any weight at all. Boo-Hoo-Hoo.

Since Hya was already so hungry, so we immediately proceeded to Bigby's for dinner. We ordered a really heavy meal (ehek! XD) and we talked about various things before Shay arrived (from work! wearing a dress! and high heels! *witweew!*). Shay was late because she had to contact various hotels to reserve a room for us for the night. We initially planned to stay at Pearlmont Inn but because of the Free Mason delegates for the ANNUAL COMMUNICATIONS, most of the hotels were fully vooked [typo intended XD]. Shay told us she was able to reserve a room for us at De Luxe Hotel. Since Shay still didn't have dinner yet, so she wanted to order a light meal to keep her strict diet. However, she mistakenly ordered a HUGE PLATTER full of nachos, onion rings and fried veggie rolls, so that got us all laughing. XD

During dinner, while the three of us were all loud and boisterous, reliving the old times and catching up on each others' lives, we were surprised to see our classmates Megs, Love-Love and Robert, who also went there for dinner. All of us were once in the same classroom agonizing over the same exams, yet now we were walking different paths in life. So it was really fun meeting up with them, in such an unexpected place and occasion. It kinda made me a bit nostalgic.

So anyway, Hya, Shay and I were so full after dinner, so Shay proposed that we walk a bit. Since we seemed to be heading towards M2, and since Hya and Shay are both avid videoke-rs, I thought we were going to go out singing that night. But Shay led us to the outside of Cafe Macumba, where a live band was just starting their gig. I felt a bit conscious cos I felt so underdressed there. I was just wearing a shirt and jeans, while most of the people in the crowd were in their sexy friday night outfits. (But come to think of it, I don't own any sexy friday night outfit since #1, I'm not sexy LOL, and #2, I don't go out on friday nights... Oh well! XD). Since we were seated there, we had to order something. Shay surprised us by ordering a Vodka Mudshake (waw... mature drink!) but it was not available so she settled for a Margarita (waw... mature drink!). I was happy with my cup of coffee, and Hya just settled for an Iced Tea because her gut was crying out "gastritis!" that night. We stayed there for a while, and after finishing our drinks, and noting that it was almost midnight, we headed to our hotel to check in.

Shay was ever-generous and paid for the Executive Class hotel room (I was such a scrimp and didn't even try to "pretend" to get my wallet XD). The room has air-con, ref, cable TV, two beds, and a CR with bathtub. We spent the entire night talking and joking around while watching TV. We discussed about various things including family, love life, future plans, gossips, Twilight, Boys Over Flowers and Hana Yori Dango in general, and just about anything that we could think of. Eventually Shay fell asleep around 130am(?), while Hya and I slept at around 3 already.

This is a crappy pic of our hotel room with an "imported" model. o___0


This is the bath tub where I had my bubble bath. LMAO! J/K.


And this is the hotel room hanger which could NEVER be stolen no matter how you try. XD

We woke up around 8am, freshened up and had breakfast at around 930am. Then we went back to the room and Hya DEMANDED (lolz) that I go home and burn her some doramas to bring back, so I left the hotel some time past 12, while Hya and Shay prepared to go back to Limketkai Mall. I burned Maou, Seigi no Mikata and Koizora movie for Hya, and threw in some random scanlations as well. I wanted to give her more stuffs since I feel she might be deprived when she goes back to Manila, but I didn't have time (and blank DVDs) anymore. I went to the mall to meet up with them, and we walked Hya to a taxi that will bring her to the bus terminal. It was a sad farewell cos it might take another year for us to meet again. But I feel that somehow Hya is very happy where she is right now, no matter how toxic her workload is, and because of that I am also happy for her. And I'm very proud of her cos she is, in some way, realizing a dream which Shay and I chose not to pursue for now.

Shay and I took a taxi too, and she dropped me off at Divisoria before heading home. I went to vent out my emo energies at the local DVD stalls, where I splurged on...

Miss No Good TW drama, Katekyo Hitman Reborn! eps1-100, and Hannah Montana season three

Pssst... *whispers* If you take a closer look at the KHR cover, you might notice that the kid there is actually 10th Captain Hitsugaya from BLEACH! LMAO! Now you tell me why he's in KHR?!? ^____^

In fairness to me, unlike before, I have not splurged so much on DVDs these past few months. It's because I have learned to be frugal *grins* (Er no, it's actually because I've been too busy... XD). A lot of DVD titles there were actually tempting me, but I scrapped the thought of buying them since I don't want to compromise quality. Some of the titles there which caught my attention included the TW drama Hot Shots, the korean drama East of Eden, and the following animes: Skip Beat!, Spiral, Princess Princess, Gakuen Heaven, Nana, Hidamari Sketch, etc etc etc... There were just too many. But I resisted the dark temptations, and just went home with THREE DVDs. Yay-ness!

Well... that's all the update for now. ^________^