My First Out of Town Med Mission Experience

May 18-20, 2007

UST FilChiMSA (Filipino-Chinese Medical Students Association) went to Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija for it's summer medical mission. We were accompanied by our adviser Dr. V. Lim and his wife, Dra. A. Lim. Only four of us (Dora, Gayli, Mic, and me) was able to join the mission. Konti lang kami. The medicines that we brought were sponsored by the Knights of Columbus.

We left Manila at around 2pm in the afternoon (May 18, 2007). It was a long 4-hour trip, but it was not boring. Dr. Lim had lots of stories to tell. Lahat ng clinical experiences niya nakuwento niya. It was quite interesting. Madami din kami natutunan. Also Dra. Lim, who was a cytology specialist. Can't really tell it all here, baka humaba ung post ko haha kasi talagang 4 hour non-stop ung story-telling. :P

We arrived at Gabaldon at aroung 5pm. Sabi ni Dr. Lim, it was his first trip with FilChiMSA na nakarating sila ng may araw pa. And the views were beautiful. Ung road kasi was between Sierra Madre and another mountain hehe nde ko alam ung other one. Wala kasi akong digicam!!!! Under repair pa din kaya sobrang *sigh* hehe Anyway, mga members din ng Knights of Columbus ung mga contact ni Dr. Lim in Gabaldon. We were adopted by one of the members were we stayed.

The weather was humid and hot but not as hot as Manila. That night, pagod na din kaya lang nagpractice lang kaunti for BP hahah :P

(pic borrowed from Gayli's Multiply)

May 19, 2007
This is the day of the mission. Had breakfast in the host's house, then we went to where Dr. Lim was staying, and there he was, ang daming patients! Mga 9am na after he finished. Then we went to Bantug, mga 30 mins ride lang from Gabaldon. Dun ung community na pinuntahan namin. We have to cross a river and ride a "kuliglig" to go there.

the Kuliglig

my Kuliglig moment haha

We got there at around 10am, and we started working right away! Ang daming patients! Although most of them had the same complaints like cough and colds, may mga iba na medyo complicated. It was quite fun too, taking histories. It's like practicing the profession already, and also with a little pressure since they call us doctors na din kahit we're still studying.

Mic was my partner, we were consulting Dr. Lim about this patient kasi meron daw thyroid mass.
Gayli and Dora were partners too :) picture moments nila
Dra. Lim and Kuya Richard were the ones in charge of the medicines and "Purga"
Precribing meds, HAGGARD na!!! haha

Kakapagod! We had lunch at around 12:30pm and resumed the mission 1:30pm. May mga iba na hindi na nakabalik, pero still ang dami pa ring patients. We finished at around 3pm. And ubos na ung mga vitamins na meds namin.

the "team" and the people who helped us

After the mission, we headed back to Gabaldon, and had merienda in one of the councilor's house. Siyempre, hindi naman ALL WORK AND NO PLAY ung mission. We went to Dingalan, Aurora. Kaya lang we had little time. Good thing it was only an hour drive from Gabaldon. Ang ganda ng beach dun. Although nandun kami sa fishing village. hehe

On our way to Dingalen
Wished i had my cam with me... ANG GANDA NG MGA VIEWS!!!! argh!!!!
the three pics were taken with my iPaq, not bad

After that trip, we headed back to Gabaldon, visited the Mayor, then had dinner. Siyempre the night didn't end. We had VIDEOKE!!! hahah Dinala ni Dra.Lim ung Magic Sing niya hahha :D Napasabak nanaman ako sa kantahan! kakahiya..... (-_-)''' and the star of the night was DORA!! Kaya alng nde niya nacomplete ung 20 songs niya for the album :P *peace* tayo Dora :P

the much awaited duet of the year! haha "A WHOLE NEW WORLD"

Then....
LOW BATT NA...

May 20, 2007
We went to church, had breakfast, did a little pasalubong shopping. Then we headed back to Manila.....

It was FUN! Learned a lot of things too. ;) DID YOU KNOW? That eating mangoes can also prolong PTT? That is why it is not advisable to eat too much mangoes if you're on cupressin medication ;)

One of the most memorable summer I ever had ;)

More pics on my Multiply site marktu.multiply.com and also gaylinel.multiply.com

Bookworm mode "Train Man" by Hitori Nakano

So after the election, we went for a stroll in the mall. Was surprised that SM North EDSA's the Block has a FULLY BOOKED store! Got excited haha, went through the bestsellers section. and got interested with this book "TRAIN MAN" by Hitori Nakano.

An instant bestseller when it was first published in Japan, Train Man became a multimedia sensation, generating a smash-hit TV series, a blockbuster film, and multiple manga series. Now here's the novel that started it all.

That part at the back of the book caught my attention. This book must be good :D So I continued reading...

Boy-- bashful and not overly brave --- defends girl from obnoxious drunk on a Tokyo train. Girl sends boy a thank-you pair of pricey Hermès teacups. Boy's a geek and doesn't know what to do next. End of story for most nerds -- but this one turns to the world's largest online message board and asks for help, so for him it's just the beginning. This matchless love story is told as a series of Internet chatroom threads: As Train Man, our hero charts his progress and unveils each new crisis -- from making conversation to deciding what to wear on a date, and beyond. In return, he receives advice, encouragement, warnings, and sympathy from the anonymous netizens. And Train Man discovers the secret to what makes the world go round -- and proves we really do live in a universe where anything can happen.

hmm It was really interesting. And knowing myself as a hopeless romantic person who likes reading hopeless romantic kind of stuffs too. And what's more, he's into the internet and was "geeky" too. I decided to get it. haha I might get some dating lessons from it too ;)

Reading through Chapter 1, I'm having fun reading it. Funny and smart. ;)

You guys should get this book too ;)

P300 for MY VOTE!

hahaha, first time that ever happened. Barangay pa ang nagpamigay ng 300pesos dito.
here's the story..

my second election, and they tried to buy my vote.

Basta dito yan sa Caloocan

The Barangay Kagawads were going around here and telling to people to stop by the Barangay Hall kasi they can give us a ride to the Voting station. The school was almost 4 blocks away from the Barangay. And so we went there. To my shock, they gave this Sample Ballot, campaign daw kasi na Vote Straight 9-0 to the administration's local candidates. Ang nakakatawa, parang sabi, basta ung local candidates lang ung vote straight 9-0, bahala na daw sa Senators. And they asked us to sign na parang "attendance sheet." and they handed 300 pesos. Binigay daw sa Barangay, natuwa daw kasi full support daw kasi for that candidate.

Grabe.... 300 Pesos? For my Vote? Thank you na lang, at least may pang-sine na ako hahaha.

Politics!!!

"Vote Buying"?????

Yesterday, one of the Kagawads of our Barangay approached me. The kagawad asked me who I was going to vote for in the Local Elections (Mayor, Vice Mayor etc.) I answered I haven't really decided who to vote for. Then the kagawad told me to vote for this candidate and his team. This candidate promised to help the Barangay if he got a straight vote from our Barangay. WHAT THE?! The Kagawad told me to vote for them, so that our barangay can move forward daw. Kahit this time lang daw na "pikit-mata" akong bumoto. Kung di daw tulungan after that candidate wins, eh bahala na daw in the next elections. WHAT THE?! What has become of these people!? As much as I wanted to help the barangay, they shouldn't be using this kind of reason just for them to get the votes and the "incentives." Sa kanya na rin na nanggaling na kaya hindi kilala ung barangay namin because we only have a few voters (around hundreds lang daw). Unlike other neighboring barangays na nasa thousands. Should we be doing this just to get noticed by the higher ups?

It's sad but it is the reality.. I have confidence in this candidate, he did well naman during his term. But if he really did went down to this level.. *sigh* does politics do these to people? But definitely I won't be voting straight for the local elections.. There are some people in his team that I don't really trust... may artista pa... tsk tsk.. oh well.. that's Philippine politics for you.

My First Minor Surgery aka the "Tuli" Experience

May 06, 2007

FILCHIMSA had it's Medical and Surgical Mission with the Knights of Columbus in San Lorenzo Ruiz Academy. It was a very exciting day since we will be doing minor surgery which was mainly circumcision! :D

Me and mic was first assigned to the Medical section. First time to do history taking and more or less "diagnose" the complaints of the patients. We were even allowed to prescribe medicines. Basta for minor complications lang like colds, coughs, sore eyes, headaches, pero pag medyo malala may doctor naman dun na pwede namin i-refer to. Parang crash course for pharmaco, dun lang ako natuto magsulat ng prescription, how many tablets and explain to the patient when to take the medicine. After the medical part, we were then assigned sa surgical section. Assist muna, then the doctor taught the procedure while he is doing it. At first, I got a little scared, parang ayaw kong gawin. But still I was able to do the procedure. Naghati kami nung isang Filchimsa member sa isang patient. She did the anesthesia part, then I did the main procedure which was "cutting" the prepuce, and stitching the first half, she did the last half naman. After that I wished may isa pang patient, I was more confident after doing the first one :D

Mic and I took the pic in my room hahaha We were not able to take pictures of ourselves during the mission hahaha :D

the *new* Taiwan Experience

hmm i shouldve have written this a long time ago.. haha this post was meant to be posted on May 2, 2007

anyway, here goes

We had another Taiwan trip. Well, it has been part of our "tradition" since my father's relatives are there in Taiwan. So we go there almost once or twice in a year. Basically, what we do there is to visit our relatives, buy some Taiwanese foodstuffs in the grocery, look for cheap bargains. and basically REST. It's quite seldom that we go sightseeing, since we basically went around Taiwan when I was younger. And usually it's just my dad and me or my dad and mom who goes there. Minsan lang na kaming tatlo umuwi ng Taiwan. This year, the whole family of three went to Taiwan. And luckily, we went there during the weekends. Kaya my uncle had the time to take us somewhere.

Apr 26-27
Did our "shopping" of foodstuffs hahah, mga basic needs of taiwanese goods :P

Apr28
We went down South of Taiwan. My uncle took us to this little island XiaoLiuQiu (小琉球) and we rode a boat. Took us 2 hours to arrive at the port and 45mins to arrive at the island. It was HOT! but still Manila is hotter... anyways, in that island you go around by riding a scooter. And i don't know how to drive one. ahah Buti na lang we were 6, and my uncle was the one who drove for me. (i should learn how to ride one! Every taiwanese knows how to ride one! :P) It was fun, there were many tunnels and caves there. One of its attraction was 美人洞. "Beautiful Girl Cave" Then may isang place na parang katulad sa Mt. Makiling, wherein you squeeze through the tunnels to get to the other side. It was a fun experience, and the sea breeze was literally "seeping" through the tunnel, kaya ang sarap ng feeling when you're in the tunnel, very cool and breezy. We also went to the beach where there is this Cone Stone.

We stayed in the island until around in the afternoon. Then we were back on the road again. We stopped at this coffee shop near the beach too.

I had a Mochaccino! :D very yummy! :D

From there, we went to Kenting (墾丁) which is like the "summer" capital in Taiwan, because of it's beaches. :D We stayed there overnight. Kinda ironic since we have many beaches here in the Philippines but still we went to the beaches of Taiwan. And it was VERY CLEAN! compared to what we have here in the Philippines. They also had night markets there. Very cool!

The next day Apr. 29
We went to Taiwan's National Museum of Marine Biology Museum/Aquarium. It was also very interesting. Being able to see the things that we just saw in the laboratory preserved. They have it alive there! Like the garpikes, the stingray, the sea urchins, and starfishes. We can also touch them too. Just like that in the Guam's Underwater World and also in San Francisco too! Philippines should have one too.. *sigh* What's different about this place is that they also have pools where you can play with the water. Shallow pool for the kids mostly, with fake dolphins and whales.
We also met a 原住民 (or parang mga aborigines) there. She was very friendly, tapos when she found out that we were from the Philippines she said that their language is similar to Tagalog. She asked us if it's "ina" and "ama" for the Tagalog of dad and mom, and it really was! They use the same too. Then she asked what "pig" was in Tagalog, and I said, "baboy" and it was the same too, although they call it "vavoy" There are similarities, but not the whole language, medyo nainfluence din daw ung langugage nila with Japanese din.

I want to go there again! :D