When I was in residency training I used to imagine how fantastic being a consultant must be, specially when I had to call one to endorse a patient. I was sweaty, stinky, and totally nanlilimahid in the middle of the… Read More ›
Blogs
Whacking and Slicing
My 12-year old nephew has been asking me random questions, such as: Where is London? or is England a country? or What was it like twenty years ago? I told him that twenty years ago everything was black and white…. Read More ›
Valentimes
For ValentiMes, my choice of drink was red wine… with ice. I don’t care, I like it really cold and diluted, with a side dish of 1 piece of Hershey’s chocolate kiss. It’s my favorite combination, for now. Last year… Read More ›
Stories About Spam
Woke up to the Facebook post of a former colleague, Drucilla Helga, comparing BBM to Jesus Christ, because both were supposedly persecuted for tax-evasion charges. Come to think of it, I didn’t really wake up to it as if I’ve… Read More ›
Crunchy Peanuts
So apparently Texas Roadhouse in Rob also has an al fresco area, and it’s located on the 3rd floor so it’s super windy. It was 4 pm, I had just finished clinic in Manila Med, and we decided to have… Read More ›
Pods
I finally allowed my mother to go to SNR yesterday. It was time. She hadn’t really gone out since the Omicron surge, and she had faithfully complied with my draconian measures. They arrived at SNR at around 9 am, so… Read More ›
Lord of the Flies
I recently saw a videoclip of the audience in the Philippine Arena fighting over boxes of Regent cupcakes. It was fascinating. There is also a companion video of these same people happily walking down the steps of the arena, carrying… Read More ›
Sweet Tooth
One of my patients, Sr. T, had just completed her radiation therapy, and she’ll soon be going to Italy to continue with her other treatments (surgery, chemo). Before leaving she gave me a rosary from the Vatican, and a locally… Read More ›
Petty Betrayals
Back when we were in high school there were rumors that one of the new teachers was keeping a photo album of guys in their underwear. These boys were supposedly the teacher’s students in the school where he used to… Read More ›
Chipping Away At Tsundoku
An asteroid can just crash through the roof and flatten me one ordinary day, or I can slip on a banana peel and impale myself on the exposed construction steel bars along Taft avenue, and there’s no rule telling us… Read More ›
Don’t Bring It
Now wasn’t that one long, horrific month! Usually time just goes by so fast during toxic months, but in this case January 2022 has painfully dragged on and on, making sure that we feel the slow, terrible grind. Here’s hoping… Read More ›
Lizarda, The Uncouth
I totally failed to prepare my outline for yesterday’s writing workshop, and when it was my turn to unveil my planned suite of deluxe, profound short stories I had to come up with something on the fly. I think it… Read More ›
Laughing and Braying
My friend ANL messaged me from Atlanta to say that she’s been getting terribly stressed the past few weeks. Her husband, Len-Len, works as an intensivist in one of the biggest hospitals in their area, and the risk of contracting… Read More ›
The Masks
Been very strict and compliant in wearing my N95 mask the past few weeks ever since Omicron exploded. I use the 3M 1860 N95, the teal one, and so far it’s been successful in warding off the virus. For some… Read More ›
Mirror In The Sky
For about 3 days in a month, PLDT blocks access to this bloggeth. I initially thought that it was a problem with WordPress, but after their very efficient customer service and they did all the troubleshooting necessary and stuff, it… Read More ›
Missing Those Days
Managed to survive this long, blasted week–like I had lassoed a pole a mile away and dragged my paralyzed body to reach it. Felt like New Year’s eve was eons ago, when it was, in fact, just last Friday. Initially… Read More ›
Pambansang Pampalubag Loob
I’ve always wondered whether these few days of respite are worth it, considering that I end up squeezing in so many tasks and patients in the few days left before the holidays. Yesterday had an online meeting at 9 am,… Read More ›
Monday Anxiety and Carcinogenesis
I am usually calm. The profession necessitates it, otherwise I would freak out everytime I see a tumor getting bigger and nastier on my patient’s CT scan. My own hypochondria is, of course, another story. One thing that’s sure to… Read More ›
Long Enough
Consistently getting mortified–but not really surprised–at all the errors on my manuscript. I’ve been re-reading the darn thing for over a year now, most of the entries I’ve even written over ten years ago, so the flow and the tone… Read More ›
Pre-Christmas Run, Pre-Christmas Rum
During our pre-Christmas run we chanced upon a crowd in pink and of course we joined in. Back in college rallies and protests were very common in the campus, and we would walk out of our classes to join, partly… Read More ›
Supposed Former Melancholia Junkie 