"The
curious are always in some danger.
If
you are curious you might never come home."
Jeanette
Winterson
"The
curious are always in some danger.
If
you are curious you might never come home."
Jeanette
Winterson
March
7 - Seven months of lovin'
03: 02: september
11 used to be
august and everything after. ------------------------------
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290303
Philippine Cuisine
I woke up craving for home fries so we got our lazy Saturday bedheads up and headed to Silver Spoon on Flatbush Ave for some eggs and sausage and good old OJ. We fed the leftovers to Greta and went home to do some spring cleaning. It's amazing how seasons change, fashion changes, and moods are somewhat lifted after the dreary winter. I packed the packages I was sending to the PI thru the shipment, some clothes my mom lent me when i was leaving for this city in October last year (you don't have cold weather clothes, do you? she chided. sadly they hardly sufficed as i didn't know what I was in for. fortunately i lived with someone who vowed to keep me warm. now i'm skilled in the art of insulation.), as well as dog and cat accessories for the four-legged entourage i had left back home. we drove to New Hyde Park, Long Island, on board Tita Sollie and Tito Duds' 80-something Jaguar. Fancy car, solid ride. We rang the doorbell to my cousin Moke's house and gave them the Cousin John's pies. His wife wanted Juinior's cheesecake instead. I should've known. Anyway, after some chitchat and a check from my father (wowee...to Buckley it goes...sigh), we drove of to LGA to pick up the Jaguar's owners. 40-06 70th Street, Queens is where the legendary Ihawan restaurant is located. The windows boast "Home of the Best BBQ," but we didn't have that. We had Crispy Pata, Chicharong Bulaklak, Laing, Inihaw na Talong with Alamang, and the best avocado shakes you can ever dream of. Ugggghhh big heavy dinner, and a much welcome Filipino atmosphere. Times like this I forget I'm in another hemisphere altogether. We shopped at the Filipino store across the resto, picked up some frozen rellenong bangus and tinapang galunggong for breakfast, and headed back home in the rain. tito Duds and Tita Sollie are retiring in Florida, building another mansion with a pool. Must be great to be free from shovelling snow, finally. But in NYC, who shovels snow? I forget sometimes that I'm in New York, when this city feels more and more like home everyday. I long for local delicacies and extended conversations in my vernacular, but then i've grown so accustomed to walking the streets of Brooklyn, thanks to my earlier autumn explorations when I was still purely bumming around, that living here is almost second nature. Maria said last night that the only thing that is so difficult to bear in the PI is the air. and silly me, i forgot about that. being able to take long walks in city streets without covering my face for the past 5 months, i had forgotten how polluted manila air has become. now i must factor that in when sometimes i catch myself daydreaming about walking along ayala avenue at night when it's cool and not so busy, when it's just me and my office attire, savoring how good it felt to be alone and not lonely. now it's time to hug my baby. :o) Hey Petrol, how's about a REAL bike ride to Coney Island? haven't been there, and i'm sure the weather permits this time of the year. Call? 280303 Gino the Seeing Eye Dog Mr. Robertson walks in the hospital with Gino in a harness. Billy helps him fill up forms, and I proceed to escort them into the room. Mr. Robertson is partially blind and deaf from a crytococcal meningitis infection 5 years ago. He used to be a cyclist before he got sick, went into a coma for 4 months and miraculously emerged from his long sleep without sight, hearing, or use of his limbs. Years and therapy later, Mr. Robertson is able to walk with the aid of Gino, a yellow/golden lab mix, who is well-behaved and fat for his age. It's amazing, since only 10% of cryptococcal meningitis patients survive, and also heartbreaking to see how an infectious disease can cripple you for life. But people live, and people cope. Mr. Robertson's dream is to ride a tandem bike with a normal-sighted leader. "He will be the eyes, and I will be the power." That's such a great idea. There are too many stories to tell, and too little time to write them all down. I am forcing myself to put this down as part of my history lest I forget, and dump this tale along the many behind my head. The other day, Dr. M left me in the room with a set of instructions. Inject Tempest the cat with 0.1 torbutrol IV, intubate her, set her up on isoflurane, and shave her abscessed tail. I shuddered, hoping nothing would go wrong. Restraining an able-bodied cat for an intravenous injection is no easy task, but i managed it. I put the endotracheal tube in with the left-handed gauze tongue-grip and tracheoscope maneuver (courtesy of Dr. P), and proceeded to shave. Dr. M comes in, proud at my accomplishment, and we went on to sew the penrose drain in. "How did that go?" he asked. "Better than I expected," I replied, and he said "You just have to have faith in yourself." Boy was I beaming. I'm the man. Yes I am! Who is not the man? Mike Franco isn't. Or at least he's not anymore. Mike was a classmate of mine from the UP MBA program. A few months ago he was diagnosed with lymphoma, and I just heard a few days ago that he has since passed. He was a legend, relating business with the anime flick Slam Dunk during a presentation in Management Control, impressing the terror professor. Why do people die young? Or, more importantly, why do the rest of us live? The reality of our life and the puzzling questions about death always bring me to one conclusion and inspiration: Since I was spared, how else can i live my life to the fullest? To all of you reading this, whatever miserable state you are in right now, you are still alive and there's a reason for that. Find that out. And thank your lucky stars you have the health and opportunity to even complain about how pathetic your life is. Others don't have the chance. -------------------------------------- In other developments: 1. My life as vet tech has its price. Injuries from angry cats. Yes they're not a pretty sight, but I am trying to be more careful, although sometimes they can't be avoided. It's hard to understand this if you're not familiar with vet hospitals, so I just wanted to show you what my day is like. The one on my chin/lip is from being slapped by Bryant the housecat. My fault. Teehee. 2. Buckley is sending the docs next week. Pray for me. 3. The great Ressa is in town and we're going out to dinner with Nasty tonight. Yowsa! 4. Finally got the Saturday off. Plans are: Lounge around, drive up to Long Island to give stuff for the Philippines to Moke to send through the monthly shipment, pick up Tita Sollie and Tito Duds at LGA, and have dinner at Ihawan in Queens. 5. I would like to go the park, please. Good god, we're gonna be back in the 40s! Sheesh. 190303 Old Habits Are Hard To Break Kashmir is an evil cat, who growled throughout his declawing surgery. Must be a Special K junkie. I miss my blog, I do. And part of restraining myself from pursuing this endeavor comes the effort of dismissing mundane events as inconsequential, even if some people do find my stories entertaining. There are so many things to write about. For one, how the seasons are changing and how this makes me feel. Spring. Bouts of cold weather in between. The WAR. Cooking Kare-Kare and the story that comes along with it. That is one story I should write down, really. Sigh. Your thoughts here. 180303 Sign My Guestbook Gaddangit! Hope the Petrol doesn't mind that I got a guestbook too. I just want to know if people actually read this crap. Today: Dinner date with my sweetie at Yama at SoHo for some fab sushi. Mmmmmm. Gotta love that Uni. *drool* 170303 Happy St. Patrick's Day Today is a good day. Because, for the first time in five months, I was able to spend a reasonable amount of time outdoors with just a t-shirt and jeans on. That's a big relief from those thick coats. Spring...hmmm my sweetheart called to say she wants to take a walk with me tonight. Holding hands, kako. Wag na, baka masaksak pa kami dito sa ghetto hood namin. I worked the morning shift at the hospital today. One dog neuter, one dental, and one aural hematoma on a german shepherd. Oh, and a bath. Dr. P was so cranky in the morning, but I know better than to answer back. Let it slide. Besides, it's a beautiful day out. Mr. Petrol wants Relinqwish back and I said I'll try. Prob is it take so much time and I get so carried away just writing about my day. Oh well. I guess something is better than nothing. Right? 030303 <<< When Will We Have This Numeric Date Again? I have come to the conclusion that I really need to block out everything else and hit the books, the way I used to, the way that got me through six freaking years of veterinary school. Block out friends, romans, countrymen. I don't have many friends here, so that would be easy. Cut the online life, hmmm, that would be a great sacrifice. *pout* I
will miss: my online Balderdash game, my blog, my pathetic wired life.
Bummer. I'm missing this already. Whatever. Wish me luck. *signing off indefinitely* (will update from time to time, but no longer religiously) My
apologies to my followers.
2002: ~ this ember ~ ~ novembrrr ~ ~ september 11 used to be just marcos' birthday ~ ~ august and everything after ~ |
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