La Union Day Trip

Full Tank: Manila to La Union P 2,000.00Home-cooked adobo and rice P 500.00

Paperplate and cups (Best Buy) P 70.00

Camp John Hay Table Rental P 100.00

Getting your dad on a zipline: PRICELESS

Signs

I was sorting out picts from my hard drive and came across several picts.

We were making rounds at the clinical division and found this sign in a common bathroom. Question was: Ilan na kaya nakulong dito.Next stop was the operating room. I had to do intraoperative monitoring. Guess somebody had to do something about all the pants lying around.


This one was a warning. I heard of flying fish, squirrels and lemurs. Flying stones? Good thing we didn't get hit.

On a medical mission in San Jacinto, Ticao Island, Masbate came across this videoke bar.

Jejemon Attack

With the jejemons roaming the earth, I thought I could evade their notice so they would leave me alone by standing still and letting the jejemon pass me by peacefully just like in Jurassic Park. However, I got attacked through my cell phone:

Jejemon: Eow poh, dr. dito poh bah kayo bukas?
Me: Who are you texting? May I know who is this?

Jejemon: Kao poh, si <jejemon name> poh etoh
Me: Kao poh? poh etoh?

Jejemon: Kao poh
<realizing kao po is kayo po=you>

Me: Yes, alam ko ako tinext mo, pero sino dapat yung tinext mo? mali ata number mo (Yes, I know you are texting me, but who are you supposed to be texting? You may have the wrong number)

Jejemon: Si dr ###### po ba ito ng ###### ?
Me: You have the wrong number. Please stop texting.

Jejemon: Ajejeje

A few minutes later:
Jejemon: Eow poh pedeh u makilala? (Jejemon wanting to know you)

Would have answered: “You had me at eow” but thought better, I can ignore all the texts but if this jejemon starts calling I’m changing number.

Survivor Caramoan

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‘Survivor’ filming, Hollywood buzz in Bicol town’s beaches

I came across an article saying that survivor will be shooting in the Philippines. Being a survivor fan I was elated to learn that several Survivor seasons from different countries where shooting in the Philippines.

Tagged as the Philippine’s best kept secret, Camarines Sur is largest among the six provinces in the Bicol Region.

Caramoan is a peninsula not an island. (Try searching google). Well I understand that its easy to mistake it for an island because you have to take a boat to get to Caramoan.

Now how to get to Caramoan? With google as my travel agent I resolved to find a way to caramoan. Several packages ranging from a cheap P2,500 up to P5,000 per person but it involves staying at a local inn which is far from the beach.

The last time I was in Bicol I enjoyed CWC. From there I found a link to Gota Village Resort.

Instructions on how to get there as well as the usual rates can be found at the site. I was lucky to have my leave at the time the beach was open which was closed most of the time due to the survivor shoots.

Having limited funds and time I resolved to take public transportation to reach my dream vacation.

Taking the LRT to Araneta Center Cubao I found my way to Cubao Bus Terminal wherein several bus lines head to the Bicol region everyday. Bus schedules found here

I took a Lazy Boy bus and slept on the way to Camarines Sur. The bus left around 8pm and arrived around 6am the next day.

From the town of Pili, several modes of transportation are available. From the schedule posted at the Gota Village website I had to get to Sabang Port before the last boat leaves for Guijalo port. The jeepney ride to Sabang port was scenic and passed by Mount Isarog and several towns.

A lola traveling alone with her cane.

Mt. Isarog

Me risking taking out my camera in a jeep with lola on a P60.00 Jeepney ride from Pili to Sabang

Found this in youtube. I don’t own this video. But this is how you get off and on a boat at Sabang port.

It took atleast an hour to get to Guijalo port.

From Guijalo port a van picked us up and brought us to Gota Village Resort.

The view of Gota beach was breathtaking. The water was crystal clear and the limestone formations were amazing.

View from a hill behind the village resort

Fortunately, there were a only a few guests at the village resort at that time. The food was great and the room had satellite TV, aircon and a hot/cold shower.


Part of the resort was still under construction.

White sand beach, a snorkelling area and a cave behind the village provided plenty of stuff to do.

Boats are available for island hopping. Of the numerous islands we only had time to reach 4.





The water was so clear you can clearly see my foot.


On the way to a cave right at the back of the resort was a cool stream.

The food (albeit expensive) was great too. (I was running out of 'baon' so I had no choice but to buy breakfast.

The long travel to Gota Village Resort was worth it. As for the cost, well the stay at Gota Village resort was worth every peso. I did bring my own baon though and stuck to public transportation to keep the expenses down to a minimum. Given a chance I'd go back and explore all the islands at the Caramoan Peninsula. That is, if it remains open long enough before the next survivor.

Murphy's Curse:

The day was perfect, the beach was perfect, the resort was perfect, almost a perfect vacation until we felt an earthquake that shook the whole village that night. First fear was a tsunami might follow but no warning was given and that we were advised that the earthquake was due to Mayon's volcanic activity. The next concern was landslides, the village is in sandwiched between limestone formations and hills. We stayed up for another hour until the coast was literally clear.

St. Joseph of Cupertino, Residency and Slumdog Millionaire

Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention luck are kidding themselves. - Larry King


Last week, we were given the opportunity to participate in the 1st Valvular Symposium Quiz show in the Philippine Heart Center. None of us were prepared and we knew about the contest 48 hours before the contest itself. Cramming is not unfamiliar territory for us but the fact that half of the team is on duty 24 hours before the contest, we may even have no time to cram. Armed with what little braunwald that we can read and the intervention of St. Joseph of Cupertino we found our way Slumdog Millionaire style. Grandrounds, audit and actual toxic patient experience came in mini-flashbacks. Turns out being toxic for the past 2 years has its benefits.

Smile

I walked home today. Just like any other day. But tonight I walked home with no weight on my shoulders. Literally and figuratively. My laptop bag was stolen earlier this afternoon. Along with my backup harddrive containing my research paper, portfolio, lectures, presentations, photos and ebooks I have collected for the past half decade and yeah my laptop was in there too. The laptop was a prehistoric thing I was keeping like an antique vintage car with no airconditioning. Panic struck me as I try to imagine all the work I had in there. All the photographs. All the memories. All the things I had to redo. A video project with its deadline on Wednesday. Then the ward called me. A patient in the ward has consented for another biopsy. He smiles. We know he has cancer. HE knows he has cancer. We just don’t know what kind. We have things to be worried about. To be REALLY worried about. He smiles. I nearly cried. I can rewrite everything. I can download all those journals again. I can find those books again. It would be a long and agonizing journey but I’ll get there. I smiled back at him. I owe him that much.

The photos I had was irreplaceable but those that mattered are tattooed in my memory (and was already in facebook and flickr). I had atleast 50gb of photos since I had my digital camera. Sadness. For a moment I felt empty. It took me a year’s worth of sleepless nights to be able to buy that laptop. I had earned more than twice the worth of that laptop from THAT laptop. But it has seen better days and better speeds. Yesterday took atleast half an hour to boot up. My co-residents know of the advanced directive I had on my laptop-Do not rescusitate. Laptops come and go but mine was still alive after 4 years. 4 years. Then it struck me. My recently concluded relationship was 4 years long before we fell out. (Ok its more like the rug was pulled out from under me). It was a nice run but it was bound to end. The goodbye was long overdue. I had to move on. I’ll find a way to have a new laptop. I’ll be able to rewrite my paper. I’ll take more photographs (once I find a new charger to replace the one in my bag). I’ll be able to make new videos. I just have to move on. But tonight I will sleep for tomorrow is a new day.

Things I learned today:

1. Never leave your laptop bag no matter how dilapidated it looks. Somebody might mistake it for a useable laptop and take all your files with it.
2. Never leave your backup drive with your laptop in your laptop bag even if it is chained to a chair inside the ICU.
3. When you hit rock bottom, there is nowhere else to go but up.
4. Excess baggage holds you down. Learn to let go.
5. We worry about a lot of things. We have worse things to worry about.
6. I managed to hold on 250gb of data. More than half of which I had no intention of using again but kept it for no reason. Again. Learn to let go.
7. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket, in this case don’t put all your stuff in one laptop bag. Thankfully I had my itouch and camera in my pocket. Unfortunately, all my cables and chargers are in bag.
8. Smile. You still have a lot to be thankful for no matter what.
9. Walking home with just my coat and stethoscope has never felt more safer.
10. Stop wasting time. 4 years is a long time. Nakakapanghinayang. . But you have to move on.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Punta de UiAN I

A medical resident gets 2 weeks of leave in a year. The travel bug in me is struggling to leave the Sampaloc area and was planning to go anywhere far from the crowded city. I've been hearing about Anawangin for quite awhile. White sand beach, pine trees and sea turtles. A couple of websites showed pictures of Anawangin and nearby islands.

This I have to see. Now I have no qualms about traveling by bus, had several incidents even. I had slept in the forest floor of pamulaklakin trail with nothing but a sleeping bag. I went to Bicol by bus with my backpack and managed to get to Gota beach by public transportation.I planned to follow the trail of akyatbundokgang with fairly specific instructions which I checked out and validated. All was set until my brother found out and wanted to join. Then my mom learned from my brother, as well as my sister and her family. Now this would be a logistical nightmare. I can't bring my mom and my nephews camping. There is no accomodation, electricity, food and potable water at Anawangin Cove.

Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong it probably will.

I can't risk it. But when they saw the pictures of Anawangin and the nearby islands, I saw my mom's excitement. I resolved to find a way to bring them to Anawangin Cove safely.

Luckily I had an uncle working in Subic. He must know a place where we can stay near Anawangin. We hit a jackpot. Not only does he know a place. He works there!

http://www.puntadeuian.net/