au.was.here.

i've said it before and i'll say it again...Trillanes is a stupid fool! sorry if that seems too harsh but i will call anyone that who tries at this point to try to topple this administration via a coup. (why not try something more original?!) it doesn't accomplish anything but create chaos that only puts the nation in bad light. bad for business, bad for the economy, bad generally for most everyone even if you don't immediately feel it. if investors pull out, valuable jobs are lost. and for what? for the desperation of a soldier turned overly ambitious to the point of running for senator when he is not even qualified for the job. really, what does he have to show for to merit that job?

being outspoken about the ills of an government is one thing...doing stupid things for the all the wrong reasons is another. i don't understand how some people cannot see through Trillianes's obvious motives. he may cut a dashing figure but how is it admirable when you endanger life and property for selfish reasons IN THE GUISE of patriotism? being a survivor of the original EDSA revolution myself and of the Marcos regime with it's accompanying Martial Law...it is laughable to me how people just throw this around, calling the temporary curfew and the "capture" of mediamen a prelude to Martial Law. it's like calling a firecracker evidence that there will soon be a nuclear explosion. i've been there and i've seen it happen before, and i promise the deluded young people who think they know that this is "it", that it is a far cry from the real one in the 70's and 80's. politicians and their cohorts are only overplaying it precisely because that is what they want people who don't know any better to believe. and the only people they fool are those who weren't there--the younger set. they are simply grandstanding. and Trillianes is turning out to be one of the worst in the lot i've seen so far. so new and yet so crooked already.

2010 is not too far away. why not wait for the next elections and VOTE! if you want change in your government, first be the change you want to see. it may sound cliche or you may think that it is ineffective but it is really the only way to go. you cannot control the world but you can control your actions and reactions. if you do not like corruption, do not participate in it! i've seen people complain about dirty policemen but these same people are the ones who BRIBE them for a simple traffic violation. and again for what? for their own convenience! they don't want to go and claim penalty and fix the darn ticket so they bribe the traffic enforcer.

gosh, i could go on and on... but if one will only stop to think about it, it is only sensible to be patient and to do our part as citizens. remember, even tiny drops will fill the bucket. because in these matters, 2 facts are glaringly evident: it is that 1.)change cannot come in an instant and if it does, it is short lived and unstable. 2) no government is perfect. no, not even in the land of milk and honey where Filipinos go to live the Filipino dream (and that is to live the American dream!) sigh...

i do believe in being pro-active, in standing up and risking life and limb for the nobility of defending human rights or fighting the ills of society (and i am proud to say i have done this before) but we have to fight it the right way in the right season and for the right reasons. for now, my personal fight it to teach these values to my children. to show them the ills of society and to warn them about persons and politicians like Trillianes. to make them learn how to be pro-active in the right way and to make them appreciate their nation. to make them aware of the reality that this nation may not be as great anymore but it is in their hands to make it so. to build their national identity despite the fact that some people are losing it by absorbing cultures other than their own more, speaking better English first even before they can speak good Tagalog. these are so simple yet overlooked! and we dare point the finger at the government...perhaps we should look at the mirror first...

credits: photos (with tanks) are from the BBC News website.

after having 5 kids since 1988, this is yet my first encounter with one of the things a mother fears most: dengue. what with all the horror stories i hear lately--new and vicious strains of the virus, cases where there are no symptoms at all, kids and even adults who die from it--it is enough not to make me sleep well at night and check on my feverish 2 year old every 10 minutes. here is my account just in case you want to compare notes due to a suspected case in your home or someone you know.

Raj started having fever Sunday, Oct 21. since it was dengue season, i was more concerned with it than usual so i immediately took him to his pedia by the next day, Monday, Oct 22. the doc told me that if it was one of the usual kiddie bugs, it should be gone by Wednesday. if the fever persists after that, she told us to be back by Thursday, Oct 25.

by the evening of Wednesday, Raj was still slightly feverish so i mentally made note that we will have to go back to the doc's the next day. however, come morning, he didn't have fever anymore and was looking all well and was his normal kulit self. i even thought to myself, "thank goodness we didn't have to go back to see the pedia". i was still hyper-aware of the dengue thing though, so as we were having lunch, i inspected Raj's skin, looking for a rash. i would have missed it too if the pedia didn't describe to me what it looked like: a fine rash that one might mistake for some minor skin redness. my eyes widened as i noticed that there indeed it was on the inside part of Raj's upper arms, right below the armpits and also on the inside part of his upper thighs. they were faint. but i just had to play it safe. i was taking him to the doc's immediately.

so right after lunch, i immediately called the pedia's clinic at St. Luke's but being Thursday, they had no clinic there. besides, Dr. Vicky Ang was out of town and even her sub was not there. i called my cousin whose husband is a doctor at nearby Capitol Medical and she referred me to a pedia friend, Dr. Magnaye.

since the doctor starts his clinic hours at 4pm, i still couldn't wait because it was 2pm then yet. so i took Raj to Capitol's ER instead to get some blood tests. 2 hours later, the doc was in and the tests were out. the doctor noted 3 items on the test: platelets, hematocrit and WBC. his platelet count was low but within normal range, hematocrit was low and WBC (white blood cell count indicating infection: this is usually high when fevers are not caused by dengue) was low. but what concerned ME the most was simple enough for me to understand: a positive result to the dengue antigen test.

the doc said, given the current results that he was not yet recommending hospital admission given that Raj looked well and did not complain of any pains but we had to return early the next day for another blood test. so we did. i didn't get much sleep that night afraid as i was that i might miss some other symptom while the boy was asleep like perhaps a nosebleed. however, after the tests the next day, the doc said that it might be best to have Raj in the hospital so he could get supportive treatments such IV hydration. he was also given blood tests 2x a day. i was very inquisitive so i was informed that there is not much one can do by way of medicines with dengue cases. it is a virus and there are no meds for it. i also learned that dehydration is one of the dangers of the disease even when there is no diarrhea or vomiting. since blood vessels are affected, the blood plasma may leak out of them hence causing the dehydration.

moral of the story: you can never be too careful. i half-thought i was overreacting when i brought Raj to the hospital for blood tests. i keep thinking, those rashes are too faint...he looks fine...etc. Now, as i look back, Cabbie was right when she told me "it's ok to be praning". now i can see how easy it is to miss the signs. we are often concerned only when the child has high fevers and relax when the fever is gone. in dengue cases, it's the other way around: the danger is higher AFTER the fever is gone. it is when the platelets drop and the dehydration can occur the worse.

we checked in the hospital that night and stayed for the next 3 days. with only TV as entertainment and practically no internet, it was this mom's turn to be stricken...with cabin fever!

after what happened at glorietta today, i can't believe the gall of some of these politicos! seeing the images on tv of the aftermath of what may be a bomb explosion in one of the busiest malls in the country makes me shudder. we almost always park at Parksquare 2, cross the short bridgeway to enter the mall and get my 2 year old son's haircut at the salon for tots right there underneath where the tragedy happened. i could have been there and i go there usually with my entire family. my heart breaks for those caught in the melee. this area is very close to where the toy shops and the maternity shops are. there are often parents with kids on strollers walking around in this area...my gosh...it's horrific when i imagine it.

and what do these f**k**g politician assholes do? i hear Trillanes actually blames GMA for it! how phenomenally sickening is that? instead of running to the aid of people hurt and shattered physically and emotionally because of the incident, he takes advantage of it by doing politicking...i swear it makes me hate him a lot! i am sick and tired of the likes of the old has-been Nene Pimentel who used to be in the camps who opposed the Marcoses yet where is he now? i seems to me they just make careers out of being "oppositionists" regardless of what they actually believe in. he is a blubbering old fool and i have lost all respect for him and his kind.

does being "opposition" mean their sole mission is to sow hatred for the other party whether the other party does well or not? can't they just focus on REAL weaknesses that they can help improve in the present government rather than FABRICATED ones just to gain points in unthinking people's eyes who get so easily swayed. i am no GMA-lover but for goodness sakes', prove something already instead of continually assaulting the poor miniscule president of all sorts of accusations yet none brought to the finish! truly, i have more sympathy for her than these blasted "oppositionists". it seems to me all they aim for is to hurl whatever accusation just to get some media coverage!

i even hate some of the youth who, just for the sake of adventure, takes to the street, shouting about how democracy is being violated when they were not even alive during the time when democracy was truly killed and martial rule was in place for 20 years--people really disappeared, and conversations were hushed if you spoke of anything remotely anti-government. they don't know what they are talking about! how stupid are they for saying democracy is dead when they are out on the streets marching and shouting libelous comments on the "powers that be". most of all, i hate the people who sensationalize and exaggerate each and every tragic event such as today at glorietta calling it signs of impending martial law! gusto ko lang sabihin sa inyo, hindi na gagawin ng present govenment yan kasi kumita na si Marcos dyan! siempre iibahin na nila ang gimmick nila!

ano ba kayo?! can't we just expend energy on identifying real problems and solving them instead of fabricating new ones and wasting taxpayers money on senseless senate inquiries. can't they put what is in the best interest of the people they purport to serve (even some of the time) instead of just making a game out of politics...matira na lang ang matibay or papogian na lang tayo by doing siraan while in the process dividing the nation. ilang beses na ba akong nasuka sa sigaw ni JV Ejercito about the elitista and the masa?

i can only pray for the souls of these politicians... i do not exactly believe in the concept of hell but it does make me wish there was one for these sort of people.

my four-year-old Reine comes home from school excitedly displaying to me the stamping on the back of her hand. "Mama, look!" she got this from the teacher for doing a project well. i give her as hug and a peck on the cheek and she flutters away to get dressed. then she comes back and hovers around me. ok let's take a picture. gosh, i have camera hogs for kids! just look at how she poses, angles her head, and give just the right width for a smile. kids these days!

here's tashi baby's fresh look after a trip to the groomer's yesterday. i couldn't resist the jumpsuit when i saw it on the shelf. luckily, it fits!

last sunday, i got the chance to meet old friends again. it was the celebration of the 25th year since we graduated from highschool. our batch was called Corals 82. and boy, what an exhilarating experience to see old acquaintances and teachers again! there were even batchmates who flew in from across the globe: Jude Gonzales from Sydney, Athena Te and now husband Peter Yuin from New York and Emmanuel Yung from Pasadena. there were also local "imports", Antonio Ong and Wison de Guzman from Quezon who went all the way to Manila. Antonio, by the way, beat me in having the most number of kids -- he has 6 and i only have 5 :-D

i wanted to just enjoy the moment taking in all the faces and trading stories but that was not to be for me. all i could manage was short albeit warm hellos and little stories because i had to mind one more thing -- the trivia game which i was to supposed to play emcee to and which made me very nervous prior to it. and with so many people i just wanted to say hello to, i think i spread myself too thin. still, getting the chance to at least see a lot of old yet new friendly faces in one place was a super treat for me. I'm sure Nita felt the same way beacause she looked so happy too.

Nita, oh yes! i must definitely blog here for posterity's sake, was looking extra pretty that day...see here, this picture is precious kasi bihira lang mag make-up ang friend kong ito. in the 29 years i knew her, my fingers wouldn't run out if i counted the times i see her with makeup and eyebrows fixed...hahaha... and that includes her wedding day!

with camera in hand, i shot pictures away like mad hoping to record the too few 3 hours with friends i haven't seen in 25 years. i don't think i got enough pictures as i would have liked though. i had to pick between taking pics or mingling so i did a balance of both. most of my batchmates were looking so good--sexy ladies and handsome men--like they were not yet my own age...hahaha...if i didn't know better, they'll have me fooled for sure.

before this reunion, i was actually stressing over some video presentations the organizing commitee requested of me. it was my task, being part of the Programs Committee together with Marian Lim, Henry Armada, Edward Ong and Nita. to be honest, i wasn't happily looking forward to doing these tasks but seeing that the rest of the reunion committee(s) involved giving so generously of their time, effort and funds to ensure the success of this gathering, i felt it was only justified that i do it to the best of my abilities. especially since i do not have much of the "funds" to share, effort was something i could expend.

they initially wanted a powerpoint-type of presentation but in the MS Office Suite, other than Word, i am not acquainted any other including Powerpoint. i thought some other slide software would do a better job too. so i set about learning this other software already installed in my computer but haven't used yet called Roxio Slideshow Assistant. i'm now glad i learned how to use it because it was relatively easy to manipulate and i think i could use this to archive our other pictures that i cannot scrapbook.

many loooooong nights doing the slideshows were spent (along with some bribery for my eldest son Kiko to do picture cropping and downloading pictures from the net at night) and organizing them before i could even start the compiling the slideshow. i also had to do some research on 80s songs for these 2 slideshows: Blast from the Past: a compilation of school and classroom pictures supplied by Kenneth Tan and Now & Then: a collage of old pictures from the school yearbook and new pictures submitted by batchmates. music was something of a "thing" for me and it knew it would help a lot in livening up the video.

it was all worth it in the end because i think my friends enjoyed it. now, looking back, i think i enjoyed creating it too. looking at those old faces in black and white was sentimental for me too (sniff!) and seeing them now was really wonderful. i've uploaded the 19min video to Daily Motion (You Tube only allows 10 mins) and it is linked here so watch below:



i would also like to upload the Blast from the Past video but that one is 30mins long...i have to find a way to segment it first. will post here as soon as done.

i hope it will not take another 25 years before we all meet again. i salute the organizers who all thought of and made this event happen. it was a humongous task. really challenging. herculean! and i would gladly help them out again if they need me...ok, not so gladly...hahaha...but i would be there if they need me and i'll do all that i can. just don't ask me to attend meetings because i can't understand half of what they say when they fall into speaking in chinese...i am the odd one in this setting, being Pinay, who has very little in my Chinese vocabulary storehouse despite studying for 4 years at Hope and being married to a Chinese guy (and his family) for 19 years. yeah, at Hope is where i met 2 of the most important people in my life: my bestfriend Nita and my hubby Erwin (who was in CKSC).

congratulations again to the organizers of this event. i dare not specify each because i might neglect to include someone important, but you guys know who you are. Jude--who gave me great big bear hugs that simply bridged the 25 year gap and the thousands of miles between us--is right. that day was one that will be kept with the treasure trove of memories of our lifetimes. till we meet again, friends!

this song may be a bit controversial but the girl can SING...i like the beat, i like her voice and i can't help liking the song too.

my first time to join free seminars at the Glorietta organized by Filipinas Heritage was last May 20 with Lee and, supposedly Nita. however, bespren wasn't quite able to make it so my DD, Gabey, took her slot instead. we thoroughly enjoyed the Pottery class then not to mention it was a good opportunity for some mother-daughter-friend bonding.

although the pottery class was the first one we took, our main target was the Photography class. heck, they were free so we had signed up for both classes since last April. photography class was held last June 25. this time it was Lee who wasn't able to make it due to a very upset tummy borne out of eating seafoods the previous night (poor Lee!)

Nita and I enjoyed the class which we initially thought to be Basic Photography but was actually entitled "Travelling with a Camera" conducted by Jay Alonzo. At the second half of the class, we were asked to photograph Glorietta and capture its activity. i was too bent on getting some Dairy Queen so i didn't stray far from the lecture place. we even went back too late to submit the photos i took to the teacher for his critique. Nita didn't even attempt it...her tummy calls were louder than her desire to practice shooting.

i put up the camera on a tripod and aimed the lens down because i was setting up to take photos of products on the table. i turned for a while only to come back to a funny scene. Reine and Raj was already on top of the table looking up the camera lens, curiously inspecting. then, when i went behind the camera and looked through the lens...they were already giving me these bright smiles. boy, aren't these kids camera bugs!

Reine often picks whatever is blooming out front, from the santan to the bougainvilla and brings them to me with a giggle, "flowers for you, mama..." so today, i decided to take a pic of her with it.


the little boy seems intrigued by the little flowers...


Raj usually follows suit and offers them to me, too... thanks babies! XOXOXO


ahhh, the simple joys of motherhood...

found this on yahoo. i thinks it's pretty cool!

i just luuvvve this new TV series on Starworld (late sa Pilipinas kasi tapos na yata ito sa US). they are only in their 4th episode and I like the their premise that the American president could be a woman. how it happened was believable. she did not get elected. she was vice president to the the leader who suddenly died of a cerebral aneurism. they wanted her to resign her post because she is female and is an Independent. she almost did but finally decided against it. the ensuing intrigues and political underhandedness by some cabinet members and other political party personalities rings so true. after all, we've seen them happen in real life in Philippine politics. have they been looking this way?

i also love watching Geena Davis in the role of Mackenzie Allen (see, even that name is so cool!), the first female American president. the role fits her so well... and she looks so sexy even in an unsexy role. I only wish real life politicians would be more like her character who would put the country first before political agendas. there was this part on the show where she was convincing her pick for vice president (a general who was her political opponent) to join her administration. she was handpicking him despite their opposing views because she thought he could do the job well. when asked why, she said she knew that she would not win the next elections because she was an independent. so she is not going to waste her time being popular, instead she will do what was best for the American people. can you imagine a politician saying something like that?
while watching the series, I can't help wonder sometimes if this is a prelude to something else that is real life. Hmmm...will it be Condie or Hillary? wouldn't it be interesting if life imitated art?

this one is quite old. it think it first came out in '94 or '95 but i heard it playing and i can't get it out of my head. whenever i hear it, it elicits a strong emotional reaction from me but i don't really know why. must be the drum beat or maybe the haunting melody. although i occasionally, sing to parts of the song, i realized i do not know the exact lyrics so i looked it up on the net. as i read it, it puzzled me at first but as i analyzed it, its message must be another subliminal reason why i like the song. here it is:

yesterday was a generally nice day for us. we had some simple family bonding time watching Spiderman at the Podium. it's rare that we watch movies as a family considering the theater prices these days, it's cheaper to watch on DVD. but since yesterday was mother's day, it was a good excuse to splurge a little. Kiko, my eldest, didn't join us --as usual-- he has a life of his own these days, or he just prefers to spend time at the computer playing games. i don't have the patience to mess with teenage angst on this day though so i let him be.

we had pizza dinner inside the moviehouse because we would be too late for the screening if we finish dinner first (at the small resto, NYPD) beside the theater. i absolutely must take pics of this day but i unfortunately forgot to bring my camera so i had to make do with my cell phone. despite the poor quality of the photos, these pics should make it to a scrapbook page because not only is this a rare occasion for us, this is also Raj's first movie excursion! of course, he didn't quite make it past half the movie. he was asleep before Spidey even got to wear the black suit! around 9pm is usually his bedtime and we started the movie at 8:30. oh, well... i expected it anyway, but i had laughs when he was speaking loudly at the movies, asking all sorts of questions and i tried to shush him. i spoke in a low whisper so he would get it but he imitated me by speaking in some kind of loud whisper that everyone at the moviehouse probably hears anyway. good thing there were few people and we didn't get thrown out.

thanks for the well-wishes friends! raj seems fine naman today...

the ultrasound did show a slight swelling of his kidney but the doc explained it away as probably due to the infection. some sort of UTI that sometimes happens daw to uncircumcised males. hmmmm... i was a bit afraid yesterday because the yaya noted that his face looked puffy. i noticed that too the previous night but i thought it might be my imagination. when we brought him to the doc naman, she said his eyelids are not puffy naman so no need to worry. she just changed the antibiotic prescription and told us to see the results of the urine culture next week. she also asked us to do another urinalysis by Friday and another ultrasound after a month. makes me wonder tuloy if i should NOT be worried indeed.

otherwise, he seems like the happy boy that he is. he is more himself today, makulit and nang-aaway already. he's very spunky again and i cannot be happier...a happy mother's day to me indeed.

on different note: i don't know why my kids like this stuff when it gets their faces all distorted after popping one in. Sure i like Nerds (the sweet sour candy) but this one is really sourrrr!

Raj seems to like it and i get a kick out of watching his face all wrinkled when Kara makes him take one.

except for the sick baby boy here











this is a typical night in our bedroom:

three silly, noisy girls playing. i don't know why they are in our bedroom when they can make all their noise in theirs!










tonight the game is: ilong...ilong...ilong...ilong...ilong...tenga! (do you know this game?) don't make me explain...










of course, the little girl never fails to cry about something di-tsi (2nd sister, Kara) does and this is how she usually ends up: thumbsuck...cry....












a few minutes later, bati na sila...











this morning, i was so happy Raj already seemed to be happy and playing with his toys,













and fighting with sis Reine,












so hopefully everything will be well tomorrow,



another pogi shot of my
talkative little cutie pie

been to the doc's today and made several trips to St. Lukes for Raj's urinalysis. hard to concentrate on work. i was expecting the fever to be gone by now but it still rages when we miss the combined paracetamol and ibuprofen. what's surprising is that Raj's fever is high when his skin feels almost cool. while we were waiting our turn to see the doc, Raj didn't feel hot at all. in fact, his skin was almost normal to the touch. when the nurse took his temp, it was 38.7 C. i wonder what his temp was on those times i didn't take them and he felt reaaaally hot? probably well into the 40s. no wonder he was shaking and vomiting. i am thankful though that he is not prone to febrile seizures like Kara was when she was a baby. those episodes were really scary! i remember running barefoot to the hospital when our klunky car stalled as we were taking baby Kara to the ER. luckily, it started a short while later. otherwise, i would no doubt need to join my daughter in the ER when we get there if my asthma starts up.

i got the lab results around 7pm tonight and called Doc Vicky Ang. she gave me antibiotic dosage instructions over the phone after i relayed to her the results. what makes me a bit worried was that she also instructed me to get ultrasound tests on Friday...i didn't have the courage to ask why she thought he needed one...

yesterday, i had a scare...

last saturday, Raj caught a bug and was having fever into the 4o's. i even thought i wasn't going to make it to the Pinoyscrapbooker's EB that coming Sunday. i was putting together the make-and-take kits i promised between nursing the baby's fever all night and didn't get any sleep. good thing, come morning, Raj seemed well enough so I thought maybe i'd drop in the EB after all and would just come home earlier than usual...and so i did.

i was chatting with Mommy Edna at the EB and she mentioned some home remedies that i thought might be good filed away as knowledge i can use at some point, when the opportunity presents itself.

1. to prevent febrile seizures (kombulsion) : feel the baby's temperature by his head and feel his feet temperature. make sure the temp of his feet and head are not too different. this head should not feel too hot and his feet too cold. if this is the case, sponge his head with a face towel soaked in cool water and massage his feet to get warm.
2. to ease sticky phlegm: get a face towel wet with water, and put on top of baby (or adult's) chest. cover with a second dry towel. sleep with it. mommy Ed says, by the next day, the phlegm is more easily expelled.
3. to stop hiccups: fill your mouth with water, cover both ears with fingers and swallow. Mommy Edna swears by it! :-D

to this conversation i contributed something i heard from the radio as i was in the car,
4. to stop insistent coughing: slather Vick's Vaporub under the baby's (or adult's) foot and cover up with socks. the radio guy "guarantees" this to stop coughing.

hmmm... will update when the opportunity for me to test this personally arises. of course, these home remedies are not intended to replace the doc's meds and advice.

yesterday, monday, first thing i did was set an appointment with the pedia. after checking up my boy, she diagnosed it to be "tigdas hangin" (some kinda virus i can't remember). I told her about my concerns of dengue but she assured me that since it is hot summertime, dengue cases are rare, which put my mind at ease. she gave us 2 meds for Raj's fever. she said it is to be expected for fevers with this bug to be very high. instructions were for round-the-clock meds and to see her back on wednesday.

by that afternoon, Raj looked normal and well and i needed to do groceries. since Raj always insists to come with us and i didn't really want to leave him, i took him with us. Big mistake.
i thought we'd be back in time for the next dose of meds but by 5 pm, we were about an hour late. i wasn't too concerned because he was looking well. he fell asleep in his father's arms but when he woke up, he looked ashen. his lips were white, skin was blotchy, and toes were bluish. he didn't have a fever because his skin was very cold. man, was i afraid! i immediately called up the doc and she told me to bring him in. after asking me some pertinent questions, i got a scolding: "who brings sick babies to go grocery shopping?" she said...arrrrghhh...

in short, she sent us home. she said Raj just got too cold. and here i was thinking: what if it was a misdiagnosis? i wanted to get him admitted to the hospital right there and then but i had to trust the doc. "nasa loob ang lagnat", she said. i suddenly remembered mommy edna's advise number 1. so i took out two hot water bags and put it by his feet. slowly, his color returned and so did the fever. it eventually subsided though when the meds took effect.

today, we've kept the fever at bay but he's still all cranky. hopefully he'd be all well tomorrow.