Let the Celebrations Begin.....

tonight, the one week celebration of my 50th birthday has officially begun!!!! yay!!! we had buffet dinner with special friends at the newly-renovated Philippine Plaza Hotel... formerly, it was known as The Westin Philippine Plaza Hotel..... now, it's The Sofitel Philippine Plaza.

we had dinner at the Spiral.... the lower ground floor restaurant area.... which you can reach via a spiral staircase cum fountain or an escalator from the hotel's lobby.

the food was arranged in several stations and grouped into japanese, chinese, italian, indian, french, korean, and filipino food.... as well as continental food and desserts. to give you an idea of what i had, here are they are:

the appetizers

main course 01

main course 02

the dessert

of course, as i mentioned earlier, all these food were shared with friends....

after the sumptous dinner, we were all so full, we hung around the lobby for a while.... then went our separate ways home because by then, the wind was howling and the rain was starting to pour hard due to the incoming supertyphoon that battered southern luzon this morning.

all in all, in spite of the bad weather, it was a wonderful day for me and i'm grateful to have shared this day with special friends!!!

the doctor's advice......

to prevent other cardiovascular diseases and to prevent the exacerbation of my hypertension, Dr. Lapitan advised some lifestyle modifications that i can make.

the first of these, of course, was quitting smoking. i've been a smoker since i was 18....(therefore, for 32 years now!)..... and the doctor said that quitting would be greatly beneficial for the improvement of my health. i responded that i have indeed quit smoking!!!

actually, yesterday was my first smokeless day!!! i have really been thinking of quitting smoking even before i had this hypertension scare. in fact, i tried to quit during the first week of november (but i was successful for only up to 3 days).... because my mistake was i didn't tell anybody about it....i didn't ask for support from people around me..... and so, when i felt anxious and irritated, my actions were misunderstood. because of that, i decided to smoke again and delay my quitting. however, i told myself that that by dec 6... my 50th birthday... i should've quit at least a week already. well, yesterday was a little over than a week before dec 6.....so it was the perfect time.

the doctor praised my resolve to quit... i just hope that i stay the course! to help me quit, i'm taking a chewing gum that contains nicotine, but does not contain the other harmful chemicals and substances found in tobacco smoke. this will ease me out of my withdrawal symptoms from smoking..... later, as i become comfortable without smoking.... then i can lessen my nicotine gum consumption until i stop it altogether..... which then will indicate my having overcome my addiction to nicotine.

another lifestyle modification that my cardiologist suggested was changing the type and kind of food that i eat. he gave me this brochure on "Cholesterol Planning Aid" that i'm sharing here with you. the brochure lists the types of food that are ok to eat; those that could me taken from time to time; and those that should be avoided to help me reduce cholesterol.


yesterday afternoon, from rob's place, we proceeded to the supermarket and bought mommy's groceries. i also bought fruits and veggies, low-fat, high calcium powdered milk, cereal breakfast mix, etc. to start me on my new low fat, low cholesterol diet!!!.... tonight, our dinner was chicken salad on pita bread with fresh lettuce!!! sooooooo delicioso, if i may say so myself!!! hahahahaha

the tests.....

as part of the differential diagnoses on what is causing my hypertension.... and in order to pinpoint the exact cause...... yesterday, my cardiologist..... (hehehehehe.... now i have my own cardiologist.... yay!!!) ordered that i undergo several tests. the immediate tests that need to be done were complete blood count (CBC), urinalysis, T4 and TSH function tests, plus one test that i cannot remember but will involve blood sodium levels. for these tests, fasting blood samples and a urine sample have to be submitted to a diagnostic laboratory.

the other tests the cardiologist ordered are the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance angiogram (MRA) of my head, as well as a chest x-ray. i'm scheduled for these next monday afternoon at the makati med.

since the blood exam results are needed before the MRI/MRA....... from rob's place yesterday, i called the laboratory that does home service sample collection and i had myself scheduled for this morning. the medical technologist came here today at 8:00 am and collected my fasting blood and urine samples. she said she'll just fax the results here at home as soon as they're complete.

last night was a tuesday night..... weekly dinner night with mommy & daddy and weekly visit night with kuya, gwen & gail at quezon city. we did go to proj 8 last night..... straight from the drugstore and the supermarket where we bought my drugs, mommy's groceries, and our groceries, fruits and veggies.

my doctor told me to fast for 12 hours before the collection of my fasting blood sample. since the med tech was supposed to come to the house at 6:30 am today and since we arrived at quezon city at 7:15 pm last night, i did not take any dinner there. instead, i ate my leftover pizza from Kulinarya while driving to quezon city.

(oh by the way, the results of the blood exams and the urinalysis have just been faxed here at home. an initial and cursory look at what it says shows that my blood sugar level is okay; however, my total cholesterol, my triglycerides, and my LDL or bad cholesterol levels are high. additionally, my free T4 blood level is high but my TSH level is normal. am not exactly sure if these are accurate and what they actually mean..... i guess i better stop playing doctor and wait for whatever my cardiologist will say!!!)

The first visit....

yesterday, jon rob, and i went to the makati medical center for my introductory and first visit with rob and nini's cardiologist.... Dr. Raul Lapitan. we arrived at his office a few minutes before our appointment time of 11:30 am.....so we didn't really wait that long for the doctor to see "us". i said "us" because when it was my turn, all three of us went inside the examination room!!!

in my tag board messages yesterday, i said that the check up went well because as far as the diagnosis of hypertension is concerned, that was confirmed by the doctor....which means that, at least, now i can be prescribed drugs which will alleviate the almost daily severe headaches i've been experiencing lately..... and he did prescibe "atenolol", a cardioselective beta-blocker, for the hypertension and "bromazepam", a sedative, for the anxiety attacks that sometimes accompany the headaches.

from my description of my medical history and my symptoms and from Dr. Lapitan's physical examination of my self..... plus the results of the ECG that he conducted on me right there at his examination room, there are several possibilities on what is the cause of my hypertension..... including hyperthyroid/hypothyroid conditions and probably the bone spurs growing inside my cervical veterbral canal. to eliminate these different possibilities and pinpoint the exact cause, Dr. Lapitan ordered several tests that i have to undergo in the next few days.... before my second visit with him on december 5, wednesday, next week.

from makati med, we went to Rockwell Powerplant Mall where we took our lunch....at 4:00 pm.... at Kulinarya!!! then, we took rob back to her home nearby.

american flavor......

goodbye american flavor......

I guess i'll never know.....

american flavor? i wonder what an american flavor is?

in my almost 32 years of doing it, this is the first time that i really noticed it.... and it got me thinking.... is it true? i've tried the indonesian flavor..... but is there really an american flavor???

if there is an american flavor, does that mean there is a british flavor?; a canadian flavor?; a chinese flavor?; or a filipino flavor???

aurghhhh..... i guess i'll never know!!!

Love Notes I've Received.....Part 18

birthdays, alma mater, cars, small stores, and frapuccinos.....all in a lazy afternoon!!!

this afternoon was a full afternoon for us. it started with a sumptous lunch with jon's entire family at their place in caloocan city....[take note, it wasn't held in an elevator!].... in celebration of his aunt's birthday. hmmmmm.....maybe that was the reason why it was held there....since we wouldn't have fit in an elevator with me present.... hehehehehehe!!! there were so many food served, it was enough to feed double the number of people present!!! needless to say, i was so full when we left.

from jon's place, we proceeded to Silvercity where there was an ongoing car show. on the way to Silvercity, however, we passed by my high school alma mater, the Notre Dame of Greater Manila, which is only about 3 kilometers from jon's place. i took pictures of the school's facade since this was the first time for me to be back there since 1974..... would you believe? i really don't exactly know why it took me that long to go back and have a look at my alma mater.... maybe, it's because there really was no reason to do so!!!
at the car show in Silvercity, we met up with Gail and Alej....his newly refurbished and repainted car was on show.... then we went to the t-shirt booth of Gwen, John, and their friends. i ended up buying another 3 shirts....don't ask the sizes.... basta, they all fit me!!! hehehehehehe.

since it was just nearby, we went to Tiendasitas and looked around the hundreds of small stores selling things ranging from antiques, housewares, and plants to pets, appliances, and clothes. we didn't buy anything there.... as i said, we just looked around the place!

none of the places we visited was air conditioned..... so before going home, we passed by the starbucks coffee shop in the area to cool off. disgustingly, this was the worst strabucks that i've been to... in terms of service! i stood in line for quite a long time because there were only 2 girls in the counter and both were acting as cashiers and taking our orders.... no one was preparing them 'coz the other staff personnel were taking their break. the irritating thing was... we know they are taking their break because they went in and out of the counter with their food.... and one even went out twice to text someone on her cell phone..... all these within view of 15 or so irritated customers standing in line!!! couldn't they have taken their break in shifts? or take it when there are less customers in line??? grrrrrrrrr.........

i had a venti mocha frappucino (my favorite!) and jon had venti vanilla cream frapuccino.

Blog Changes....

as far as my blog is concerned, i spent most of the morning doing some changes .....changes that may only be apparent to those who've seen my blog before. to those who are seeing this for the first time, as well as those who'll see this in the future, these changes won't be very apparent.

what're these changes? see for yourself!!!

Licenses, Authorizations, etc....Part 2

last week, i had a blog entry about my experience in having my driver's license renewed at the LTO. today, i'll talk about my experience in having my professional license renewed.....

i first had my professional license to practice veterinary medicine in 1984 after having passed the licensure exams (4th place!) conducted in July of 1980. actually, i was supposed to take the exams in July 1979....three months after graduation....i did study intensively those three months mostly in the evenings and on weekends, while i go to work as a new faculty member at our College during the day. but whatdya know?....on the night before the first day of examinations, as i closed my book to signify the end of my review, i felt a terrible stomachache. i was rushed to the hospital and was diagnosed as experiencing acute appendicitis. at 6:30 am the following day, as my friends and classmates were preparing to go to the examination venue, i was being prepared for my appendectomy!!! at 4:30 pm, as i was being wheeled to my hospital room, they had finished the exams for that day and some of them were on the way to the hospital to visit me!!! because of this, i had to review again and i finally took the exams the following year!!!

unlike these days, when it took only overnight to get the results of licensure examinations because of computerization...., it took at least six months for the results to be released during our time! we got the results of our exams on January 1981. by that time, i was already in Minnesota for my Master's studies..... hence, i was able to obtain my license only in 1984!

with my impending birthday in a few week's time, i decided to work on my license renewal today. i woke up very early and left the house at 6:24 am .....to be sure that'll i'll be there before 8:00 am and to make sure that i'll get a parking slot in front of the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) building in Manila. I was at Quezon Avenue ....about 2 kilometers from PRC.... at 6:45 am....and i arrived at PRC at 7:54!!! the bumper to bumper traffic was terrible.... because it is a Friday....Quiapo day!!!

the application for renewal of the license wasn't that long.... if only i had brought the right passport-sized photos (with white background and name tag) and had i photocopied my old license!!! good thing there were a lot of passport id photo and photocopying shops outside the PRC building. i finished all my requirements for renewal at 8:57 am. however, i have to come back on Dec 28 to get my new license.... all i got today was a claim stub.... which means i have to go back to PRC again next month!!! aughhhh...

i wonder why they can't process renewal applications the same way the LTO processes driver's licenses??? well, actually they can!!! ....because the PRC has this "express lane" where they process applications within the morning at double the fee. i asked about it but i was told that i have to present a plane ticket to avail of the service..... that means they only offer it to professionals who are leaving for abroad in the next few days!

as i said.... i wonder why they can't speed up the process the way the LTO did!!! oh well..... maybe computerization hasn't really coped up with the PRC!!!

Back for more.....

today we went back to the jewelry showing.....not so much to purchase anything.... but to be with and support our friends! we were there since 3:00 pm....and have just arrived home.....ok...ok! i confess, we went there to have a taste once again of the myriads of "aunthentic" Chinese tea that Liza is serving.....complete with a demonstration of how they're prepared.... "authentic" Chinese style using "authentic" Chinese tea serving and preparation accessories!!! the teas were so refreshingly good, i think i had more than ten cups!!!

our friends have just arrived from their business trip from China, that's why they have many types of teas for us to sample.....there was even this fantastic tasting tea they said was the most expensive because only certain identified gatherers are allowed to pick the tea leaves (with wooden forceps) - and only the top 3 leaves from each bud are picked and included in the pack!!! incidentally, these teas will be available by next month....once the cargo from their China trip arrives....at our friends' Asian Finds store at Home Zone at Glorietta in Makati.

oh yeah....another reason why we were there again today was to have a go at their pita bread chicken sandwich!!!.....so, yummy.....so easy to prepare!!! i can't remember how many i had!!! hehehehehe

needless to say, we ended up buying more!!! bwahahahahaha

Love Notes I've Received....Part 17

Angel Sax

Good News....Bad News....

we have this practice....whenever we have good news and bad news, we ask the other, "which one do you want to hear first....the good news or the bad news?" whenever i'm asked that question, i always answer, "bad news first, then the good news.".....somehow, that way....the good news softens the blow of the bad news! and so, following that practice....i'm telling the bad news first....

the bad news....there is a very high possibility that i have high blood pressure or hypertension. earlier this afternoon, we went to the private showing of the new jewelry line of a friend who owns several jewelry stores in the metropolis. i woke up this morning with a throbbing headache....which didn't go away the entire morning....even after i've taken paracetamol and have showered. when we left the house at 2:00 pm, i still had the headache. when we reached our destination, i told our friend about it and luckily, her business partner (who also owns the house where the showing is being conducted) has a sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope. they asked me to lie down on the sofa and our friend took my blood pressure....it was 160/140!!!

luckily, our friend's sister has her high blood pressure meds with her....and so, she gave me a pill, which i took, together with a sedative pill. after 15 minutes, our friend took my bp again and it has gone down to 160/120.....still a bit high but at least my headache was starting to wane. after another 15 minutes, my bp has gone down to 140/110....and the headache was virtually gone. we were then able to enjoy the rest of the afternoon doing whatever it is we went there for.

the good news.....this confirms what i have been suspecting for the past few weeks since my "almost daily" terrible headaches started. at first, i thought that my migraine episodes are coming back....i used to have them years ago. but then, i suspected also that these recent headaches may not be migraines because i wasn't experiencing the usual visual auras before their onset and because lately, i'm awakened in the morning by these headaches! also, lately, i've been taking my own bp daily with the digital battery-operated sphymomanometer we have at home. i've always gotten a high bp reading....but since i also know that they're not very accurate, i was hoping it was not the reason for my frequent headaches!

the good news here is that at least, now i know the probable cause of these headaches and i know how to alleviate them....thus saving me from experiencing the horrible pain again. also, now we know what i have to do to manage this. our friend and her sister have recommended a very good cardiologist and they're even accompanying us to see him next week!!!

because of this event, it made me realize even more the value of friends....i feel so blessed and i'm very grateful to have such good friends!!!

Good news....

i was just told that our prospective "financier" has given the go-signal for us to think of a business and she'll provide the seed money for it!!! yipeeeeeeee.... finally, i'm closer to being my own boss.....ehemmm (co-boss, that is...hehehehe). now.....what business to put up?.....gotta think......think.......think hard!!! augh!!!......my head hurts......any suggestions out there????

:-)

Answer to Brain Twister...

last Friday, i posted a brain twister (?) question about what is wrong with the above accompanying picture and i said that the question will be published today.

well, here it is: the t-shirts we were all wearing were worn backside-front!!! why? well, that picture was taken during the 25th anniversary reunion of the veterinary medicine class of 1979 of the university of the philippines (UP). for the reunion, we had t-shirts printed....however, the print about the occasion was printed at the back.

so, for pictorial purposes....so that our faces would be recognizable.... we wore our shirts backside-front....or frontside-back....or whatever....you get my drift, right???? lols.

(just between us Mabelle, (lest my classmates get mad at me!!!) i like your answer better!!! hehehehe)

The Family....Part 1

Now that i have featured each member of my immediate family, it's time to meet the Family....in pictures.....(Note: persons not recognizable in the following photos were our household helper or the boys' nanny at that time.)

at Luneta Park, 1957

at the beach, 1959 (big tummies, eh?)

at home in Quezon City, Rizal Day (Dec. 30) 1960....these were the first colored photos of the family....a professional photographer had to go to our home to take these pictures.

(Note how Kuya took this photo shoot very, very seriously!!! hehehehehe)

at Luneta Park, 1969 (Note the way we posed in the upper photo....Mommy taught us well how to pose, especially the placement of the feet....a la Miss Universe! hehehehe)

at Tagaytay (with the Taal Volcano in the background), 1986

I have just realized....we have very few photos in which the family was whole....even before Mabelle was born and even after the advent of instamatic and digital cameras.....and even then, they were very far apart! I guess part of the reason was when we had our own camera, one of us was the photographer and invariably, Diko was always the one taking our pictures.

Love the man, Hate the attitude, the behavior....

last week, i saw on television my former boss, the president of the company i used to work for, being arrested at the international airport for having smuggled 3 endangered Cambodian baby crocodiles from Singapore. you can imagine my first reaction....but then i realized the hell he must be going through at that time....not to mention those of his wife and family.

i don't feel any hatred or anger for the man....i know how he loves animals....taking care of them and even buying imported feedstuffs for them....and i know how he cares for his wife and his children....it's just that sometimes, he makes the wrong choices....choices that he thinks are right....just because a supposedly "marketing analyst" tells him that that is the right choice to make at that time....or choices based on previous experiences that have clouded his inate values as a caring and responsible man!

i know that most of the 70 or more employees who were retrenched last year together with me are feeling differently from what i feel....but i don't think all these bad feelings will help him. i also hope that he learns from this experience!

Supporting International Trade....

today, we spent most of the morning going from country to country and see for ourselves what they have to offer in terms of trade.... in other words, we were at the 40th International Bazaar 2006!!! every year, this bazaar is eagerly anticipated by some people because this is an opportunity to see and purchase different products from numerous countries without the need for a visa or a plane ticket!

actually, we've had the ticket for the bazaar since a few months back.... from gwen who was selling it in behalf of the DFA where she works together Kuya, her dad. it was a good thing that i remembered the date of the bazaar because last year, we missed it by a few minutes.....we got there as the door had just closed!!!

as for our purchases....here they are: an Egyptian candle holder figurine; Thai sweet & spicy dried pineapple, guava, and mango; Thai sweet, sour, & spicy tamarind candies (my favorite!); Thai dried cuttlefish snack; and Filipino leather-bound journal notebooks. we would've bought more but most of the products on sale were women's wear. i was looking particularly for a white men's cotton shirt & pants worn by Indian or Pakistani men.... but no such luck!

on the way home, we passed by the new Melo's restaurant on Jupiter St. in Makati to have lunch. i had oysters Rockefeller as apetizer and their set 1 menu, consisting of soup of the day, a 6 oz medium rare fillet of certified US Angus beef with mashed potato and buttered veggies, and a strawberry ice cream dessert. for drinks, i had melon shake. for the price, the food was okay.

we're quite satisfied with our purchases...and i hope that we've done our share for international trade & understanding!!!

Love Notes I've Received....Part 16