- my oec story ... not again -

^ for starters, what's oec? anesli, i really don't know ... i also don't know what it is for ... what i do know is that it's a piece of paper that i need to get before i have a vacation to PH so that I won't suffer any hulabalooooss when going back to TW ... i get it at the economic office ... where i also pay a yearly membership ... i think these two actually go together ... for my recent trip, i forgot to get an oec but my membership is still valid ... ok, since i don't know much about it ... i decided to educate myself ... and from these sources - http://www.poea.gov.ph/html/balik.html and http://philippine-embassy.org.sg/index.cfm?GPID=13 - it seems that i don't really need to get an oec ... i actually have a resident visa ... and i don't have any contract ... so what am i fussing about???? read on ...

^ i was supposed to wake up at 3am to prepare for my flight back to
taiwan ... but because of diarrhea, i woke up at 2am and didn't get to sleep after that ... i was beginning to have a panic attack but with some "hapi tots", i got to relax and prepare for my flight ...

^ jeni and i arrived at the airport early ... few minutes before 5am ... there was no queue in the luggage xray area ... there was no queue in the check-in counter ... i was thinking of bumping up my seat to business class ... i was willing to pay extra .... nung last na flight ko kasi, the plane was small - 3-3 seating arrangement - there were moments na i felt suffocated ... it was a horrible experience ... something that i don't want to happen again - ever ....... but i changed my mind ... fortunately, i was given the exit area seats ... i later found out that it was the best seat to get when you're on a small plane ...

^ check-in was a breeze .. it was a litel after 6 ... i have a lot of time ... until ...
lady sa check-in: may oec po kayo?
ako: wala. resident visa ako e
sha: pero nagwo-work po kayo dun?
ako: oo, pero wala akong contract
sha: ma'am, kelangan nyo pong kumuha ng oec. kasi baka harangin kayo sa immigration

so, pumunta ako sa other end ... conversation was something like this ...
mama sa oec: passport ... ofw ka? may kontrata ka?
ako: *confused* kino-consider po ata ako na ofw pero wala po akong kontrata ... resident visa na po ang meron ako
mama: ha? e kung residente ka, nde mo na kelangang kumuha ng oec
ako: e pinapakuha po ako nung ale sa counter
mama: e residente ka kamo
ako: oo nga po ... direct hire po ako ... wala po akong contract ... pede po akong umuwi kung kelan ko gusto ... pero parati po akong kumukuha ng oec
mama: may membership ka? resibo?
ako: *pinakita ang resibo* valid pa po yan for a year di ba?
mama: e nde ka naman ofw ... sandali *tumawag sa opis sa naia*

kausap ang mama sa naia
ako: *explain-explain sa situation na resident visa holder ako pero parati akong kumukuha ng oec ... wala akong kontrata*
naia man: pero nagtatrabaho ka doon?
ako: opo
naia man: so kelangan mo pa ding kumuha ng oec
ako: oo nga po. may valid membership pa po ako

and i don't know exactly what happened ... but the man on the phone wanted me to go to naia from terminal 2 to pay my membership - when in fact, my membership was still valid ... it was almost 7am ... and my flight is at 7am ... and i was told "o, double-time" ..... double-time???????

i decided to go back to the lady and told her of my predicament ... but she can't do anything about it ... it's out of the airline's jurisdiction ... and i understand .... really ... so i decided to do something about it ... this is the second time that this has happened to me ... i won't let them push me around - again ... balik ako sa oec counter ...
ako: baket nga po nde nyo ako mabigyan ng oec? e valid pa naman ang membership ko ... at parati akong kumukuha ng oec pag umuuwi ako ... nde ko lang nagawa ngayon?
mama: *took one look at me and started doing my oec* nde ko na sinunod yung sa naia
ako: salamat po
mama: sa susunod dun ka na lang sa taiwan kumuha ng oec mo
ako: wag po kayong mag-alala, nde na ako babalik dito

and i got the ultra-coveted paper ... i got my boarding pass ... finish my thing with the immigration ... sat down at the waiting area ... a few minutes before boarding ...

que horror!!!!!

let me clarify my point ... i don't have anything against the procedure ... it's ok ... but i do have a problem with how it is being implemented ... one time, i was able to go back to TW even without my oec ... pero pag kinantot ka ng malas *excuse me for saying that* ... pahihirapan ka ng sistema ... this is my second time ... first time, i felt like a victim ... it was horrible ... i don't even want to remember it ... pero nde na ako pumayag nitong pangalawa ... i work my ass off and i bring in money to my country ... do i rili deserve to be hassled? ... do i rili deserve to feel like a second-rate citizen - kahit sa bansa ko? angst ko .... hehehehe ... i'm done with that ... and i'll make sure it won't happen again - ever ...

^ flight was ok ... maganda sa exit seats ... maiwas ... tas wala akong katabi ... kasi yung mama sa window seat, mejo malaki ... yun ata ang rison .... ewan ko .. i'm guessing ... no panic attacks ... i just slept ...

^ arrived at cks before 9am ... mr wang was there waiting for me ... back to work

^ i'm sad ... i miss jen .. i miss my family ....

- tidbits from my extra-short manila trip 2 -

^ my second to the last day ... jeni and i had lunch with grace at bistro ... just across the street sa opis ni grace ... masarap yung mushroom sumtin nila pero yung grilled fish with penne? yun ba yun? basta yun .. nde masarap! at may pabaon na cinnabonssss sa akin si grace .. yey!!!!

^ after nito, punta na kami ni jeni sa sm fairview ... nuod muna kami ng sine ... xmen 3 ... ok naman yung film ... what i like about it is nde sha mashadong ma-cgi ... at nakakatakot si jean grey pag andun sha sa moment ng ultra-mega-powers nya ha! ... wolverine is indeed the man sa film na eto ... tas nadi-disappoint ako na wala namang mashadong part si archangel e ...

^ after ng movie, namili na kami sa groseri ... eto, eto ... they say that life in the philippines is one oh-so-difficult ride ... mahirap na daw mabuhay sa atin ... pero looking around, i don't really see much of the poverty ... sa groseri kanina, aba, daming namimili at punung=puno ang mga push cart nila ... saka nung nagbibiyahe kami sa makati ni jeni, nde ko nakikita sa mga tao yung muka silang naghihirap ... or maybe it's just me ...

^ will be going to my other home tomorrow ... i am a sad but i realize na i still look forward to going back ... i guess it's because i welcome the normality of my life in taipei .... but there are a gazillion things that i will miss in Manila (aside from jeni, my family and friends, that is) -
(1) the heat ... not too humid ... but a little movement goes a long way kasi pagpapawisan ka talaga. nung isang araw, jeni was having her sizes measured para sa barong na susuotin nya sa 65th year anniv celeb ng nanang at tatang nila ... tumambay ako sa labas ng modista ... less than 10 minutes ... i was sweating! ... partida, naka-sundress pa ako nun!.
(2) the street food ... taiwan has its share of street food pero babalik-balikan ko ang street food ng pilipinas ... masarap pero barato ... pramis - banana cue na malambot yung saging for 10pesos only ... sa taipei, i bought one for 50NT! imajin dat ... carioca na 10pesos lang din ata ... okoy for 20pesos ... dirty ice cream for 10pesos ... sago't gulaman for 5pesos each glass ... minsang nag-merienda kami ni jeni, 70pesos lang tas kami nang dalawa yun ... at busog na busog na kami ha .... teka, nde nga lang pala street fud ha ... basta fud in general ... when i arrived here, it's like everything is good to eat ...
(3) the "easy way" that we filipinos live our lives .... yung pagiging petik natin ... i know that's not rili gud for everyone ... pero since i've lived the "fast lane" already, na-a-appreciate ko yung "petik"-ness natin ....

meron pa bang iba? i think marami pa ... nde ko lang sila maisip right at this very moment .... for now, i have to go back to my other home

- tidbits from my extra-short manila trip -

^ june 24, gigisingin ako dapat ni lolo e. ang usapan ay 530 ... well, he did try to wake me up but i was so out of it and my cellphone was a little far from me ... nagcha-charge kasi ... pero tama na ang dahilan ... nde ko narinig ang tawag nya - period ... fortunately, for some unknown rison, nagising ako ng parang gising na gising ako around 550 ... first agenda was to haul my luggage downstairs ... our building doesn't have an elevator ... we live on the 5th floor ... the steps in our stairwell are uneven .... good thing my luggage wasn't that heavy ... it took me less than 5 minutes to accomplish the deed ... prepare prepare ... prepare prepare ... few minutes before 7am, i woke up tonie to tell her i'm leaving ... went down and saw mr. wang - my sundo - waiting for me ... sakto!

^ ngumanga nga ako all the way to the airport ... kelangan pa akong gisingin ni mr. wang ..

^ the queue was a little long ... good thing i have a book with me (odd thomas) ... yung ikalawang tao sa harap ko, isang ale ... she asked me - "ni qu manila ma?" (you're going to manila?) ... sagot ako, "dui" (yes/correct) ... and then she just said, group check in? ... i said, really? she said, yes, yes .... asking for my ticket and all that shit .... i was too dazed to ask - "why? do i have to? do i really, really have to?" .. and then i noticed their bagssss .... i asked the woman - "your bags are too heavy, right?" ... she said, it's ok ... i thought, yeah right ... it was a good thing that the lady was smart enought to get me a separate luggage claim stub ... kundi, i had to wait for them sa pagkuha ng gamit ko ... i wish they just told me that they need me to cover for their extra luggage ... i felt used ... *haha*

^ since manang with the bagssss did my check-in, i have no idea if i got an aisle seat ... i told her that i wanted an aisle seat but i'm not sure if she understood ... the plane was big ... buti na lang ... seating arrangement was 2-4-2 ... i was seated sa middle ng 4s ...

^ since i've been dealing with mvp, shortness of breathing is not new ... but it scares me to think that i might experience it sa plane .... the take off part was too long ... we had to taxi on the runway for quite some time and it was making me agitated ... iniisip ko na ngang uminom nung gamot na binigay sa akin to make me relax pero i decided to control it ... i don't want to be dependent ... i survived ...

^ during the flight ... on my left was a pinay worker who broke her contract ... working for a family as a helper ... she decided to go home because she's been feeling sick ... she's a frail-looking lady and she recounted na everytime na magpapalit ng cover ng bed, gusto ng amo nyang babae na baliktarin nya ang mega-laking kutson ... to my right is a mother who worked for an "ama" (old grandpa? grandma? i forgot ...) ... and to the right of the person on my right is another caregiver, i think .... they were sharing their sad stories ... and they were close to tears ... their employers weren't physically abusive ... but verbally, yes ... they had to deal with some rude "brokers" as well .... tas i also found out na to hire caregivers, the doctors have to sign the papers of an old man/woman bago sha makakakuha ng caregivers outside taiwan ... kung kaya pa daw ng matanda, nde usually pinipirmahan ang request nila ... while i was talking to these other pinays ... naisip ko, maswerte pa ako ... i bitch about my work time and again ... complaining that i'm doing things that i don't really want to do ... but hey, i am paid well and i am treated well ... i even get a lot of perks ... so what's there to bitch about, right? from that moment on, i've decided to stop bitching ...

^ so i survived the flight without any mishaps ... immigration and luggage claim was a breeze ... jerry was waiting for me while jeni beybi and grace are going around the airport while waiting for me to arrive ...

^ first stop, visit ate sa ospital ... she was on duty at that time ... went to max's for lunch at around 4pm ... pambihira, halos lahat ng makita ko sa menu ay masarap! what's up with that, right? winner nga pala ang bottomless na sago't gulaman ng max's ... punta kami sa san pedro para makita ko sila raprap at riane ... tulog ang mga bata pero being the salbahe tita that i am, ginising ko ... bad trip sila ... lalo na si riane ... ayaw sumama sa akin ... pero nung paalis na kami, nagbabay na ang bata at tumango nung sinabi ko na sasama na sha sa akin bukas ...

^ off to tagaytay ... to sonya's garden (http://www.viloria.com/viloria/angel/food-20010116-sonyasgarden.html) .. the place was fabulous ... it was a little hard to find ... liblib ang feeling (muntik na kaming mag-decide na bumalik dahil sa kalibliban nya) pero the trip was worth it ... too bad we weren't able to sample their dishes ... pano, closing time was 800 and we got there at around 810? 815 ... we ended up eating at breakfast (they "serve lunch and dinner, too" :P,http://www.eat.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=57 ) ... their servings were big! ... i ordered stir-fried vegetables on top of crispy potato chips ... and jeni ordered boneless bangus .. ang dai! ... it was ok ... masarap-sarap naman ... pedeng balikan ... their restroom felt like it was out of a horror movie ... pang-bates motel ba ... sleeping time ... sleeping time .. we stayed at estancia (http://www.travelmart.net/philippinestagaytaycity/estanciaresorthotel/) ... we got the nipa huts at 3300 Php, i think... not bad, really ... walang ercon pero malamig naman e ... at ang winner, ang tanawin pag lumabas ka sa veranda ... taal lake ba yun? too bad i didn't bring my camera ... oh well, babalik na lang ako dun .... maaga kaming nagising ... tas breakfast kami sa bag of beans (http://www.clickthecity.com/cityzones/?p=436) ... ang dai pa din ng servings! ... i ordered cheese waffles and jeni ordered buttermilk pancakes ... sayang ang fud ... di namin naubos ... what i like about bag of beans is yung ambiance ... ang cozy kasi nung place .. i'm so-so about what jan and i ordered, though ..

^ uwi na kami ... pero dinaanan muna namin sila ate sa san pedro ... mejo nakakalaro ko na si raprap at riane ... yey! ... after nyan, hatid lang namin ni jeni si grace tas take out sa kfc *madaing madaing gravy!* at punta na ng kalookan ... ate alma is still limping a little because of her operation pero she's fine ... at shempre pa, na-kiss ko na din si roi at ann taba! nde ko alam kung feeling ni ann e ako si ate pero nakukuha ko sha agad e ... nakakarga ko .... although nagpapababa din agad at tumatakbo sa mami nya ... pero pede na ding jammin ...

^ anu pa ba? anu pa ba? umuwi lang kami ni jeni sa kanila nung gabi ng sundi ...

^ morning was work ... afternoon was a little work and running errands ... sa gabi, ini-meet namin ni jeni si ate at chai sa nu skin ... shempre, napagastos ako but it was ok ... tas nag-scan ako sa peys ... may isang wrinkle, madaing uneveness ... nakalimutan ko na yung iba ... tas bio photonic scan ... to tell you daw just how healthy or unhealthy you are ... i was at 21, jeni was at 22, ate was at 21 and chai was at 16 .... bumili ako ng lifepak nila ... tignan natin kung aangat ang rating ko ... wag ko kayang inumin ... pero sabihin ko sa kanila na iniinom ko ... tas tignan natin ang reaction nila pag nde ako nag-improve? hmmmm ....

^ gagawa ako ng "flyers" for ate ... para makakuha sha ng downline .... o ikaw na nagbabasa nito ngayon, interesado ka ba? 15 tawsan pesosesosesoses onli! hehehehe

^ after the nu skin experience, the 4 of us ate sa old spaghetti house ... masarap ang fud nila ha! at nde mahal ... tas kung anu-ano lang ang napag-usapan namin ... masaya ... very relaxed ang mood .... tulad ng sinabi ko sa isang blog entry ko ... delicious food, great company ... what more can a girl like me ask for?

^ at umuwi na kami ni jeni sa bahay nila ...

^ i'm beginning to be a little sad ... malapit na naman akong umuwi sa taipei ...

- yipee -

yipeeee!!! yipeeee-yay-yipeee-yay-yippeee-yay-yey!!! pinaghirapan ko pa yang reaction na yan. hehehe. it's june 24 ... i've just finished setting up my out-of-office reply ... i've just finished packing ... and i'm just a few hours away from riding the plane bound to manila ... i'm going to have a quick "semi-vacation" ... jampacked sked for me ... and i'm rili looking forward to it ... it's not all "pleasantries", though .... pero ok na din, i think ... i would get to see jeni beybi, my family, the kids, gracie ... ano kayang kakainin ko? hehehehe ... bulalo is at the top of my list ... i haven't had my dosage of meat for the week and i can skip meat next week and have a "2-day meat binge" in manila .... nu nu nu ni nu nu ni nu nu ni nu ; )

- etched -

i know, i know ... title is supposed to be followed by "boredom 4" but my etchings (etchings???) are far from showing boredom. i'll be taking an emergency semi-vacation in the philippines ... and this is how i feel ...

- hepi hepi -

- weewee, all the way home! - (had to modify pix because my etching (ethching???) was too light)

- my blog site "went down" for like 2 days *di ba nu, jeni?* ... but it's back now ... alive and kicking ...

- meat day & roxy 99 night -

^ yesterday was my meat day for the week ... i ate 2 pieces of kfc hot and spicy chicken ... ang sarap!!! prames ... i also wolfed *literally* 3 pieces of kfc's hazelnut latte egpi ... in one sitting ... in less than 15 minutes, i think ... and for some unknown rison, i felt "pumped" after the egpissss ... i was sooooo happy ... and i was so upbeat ... i saw a colleague from the philippines and i even told him - "it was nice seeing you" ... san galing yun?

^ at dinner, we mistakenly ordered chicken .... so meat ulit ...

^ it's becoming like a ritual for me and tonie ... we went to roxy 99 at around 11pm ... going inside the bar felt all too normal ... wala na yung uneasy feeling ko whenever i go to such places .... after 1 bottle of smirnoff and 4 shots of tequila (on sale ang tequila shots from 12-1am, i think ... 50nt only per shot) ... plastered na kami ni tonie ... we danced the night (morning?) away ... at shempre pa, may "posse" na naman kami .. i'm not sure if i noted in my previous blog that what's good about roxy 99 is they let you request songs ... last week's dj, by the way, is a geeky guy in his late 30s, i think .... last night's dj was a butch manang .... i find it neat that they are doing this kind of work .... it amazes me ... and i envy them a little ... although i worry that if i do the same job, i would have to worry about my hair reeking of smoke every working day or night or whatever ....

^ we went home at around 4am ... ate some junk food before i fell asleep on our couch without brushing my teeth and taking my bath ... iiiiwwwww ....

- etched boredom 3 -

fighting with jan mood, left arm

- sundi nyt -

the scholar (http://abc.go.com/primetime/scholar/) was on tv ... finals na ... the remaining scholars were to be interviewed by the scholarship committee ... tas they were asked to answer 2 questions -

(1) if you were to have dinner with anybody - ke patay o buhay - who would it be?
first contestant - the big man J.C. ... tonie and i felt it was quite crappy and we didn't pay attention anymore to what he was saying. tas i asked tonie the same question at maganda ang sagot ni tonie - her dad. kasi he died when she was still young and she can't really remember a dinner that they shared together. ako, first person that came to mind was brad pitt. what's up with that, right? tas sabi nga ni tonie, malamang nde na sha makakakain and i have to agree. malamang manginginig ang kamay ko pag everytime na susubo ako ng pagkain. hehehe. tas nagbago ako ng sagot - katulad na din dun sa first contestant. tas sabi ko, tatanungin ko sha, may asawa ka ba talaga? nag-second the motion na si tonie - totoo bang nabuhay ka after 3 days ... hehehehe ... and so on and so forth.

about that brad pitt thing - sabi ni tonie sa akin, "ikaw talaga angelina jolie ha" ... hehehe ... kasi, kasi, recently, nagre-request ako ng employment certificate sa dati kong work. tas they told me that i have to wait for a month kasi daw naka-archive na yung records ko. i actually don't think one month was reasonable. two weeks cguro, oo ... pero wala naman akong magagawa e ... right after i made the request, i opened my browser and saw angelina jolie's picture. tas naisip ko, "cguro, kung si angelina jolie lang ako, nde ako mahihirapang mag-request ng employment certificate ... nde tatagal ng isang buwan ang waiting time." weird ...

going back ... next question on the scholar ...
(2) what keeps you awake at night?
the answer that we heard is about "patriotic" chorva chorva ... tumatawa kami ni tonie kasi ni nde namin alam yun e ... tas sabi ko, ako, "what will i wear tomorrow?" ... tonie ... "kelangan ko na bang mag-ayus ng kilay bukas?" ... ang deep talaga namin : )

- mondi nyt -

shock of our lives ... we have a mouse (but tonie and i refer to it as rat) at home ... tonie first noticed it running from one side of our kitchen to the other and we started squealing and all that ... tonie was supposed to kill it *i don't have the guts to do it* but then it started running away ... and we don't have anything to kill it with ... and then we trapped it inside our cr ... so for that night, wala kaming wiwian ni tonie ... at nagtago lang kami talaga sa mga kuwarto namin ... tuesdi morning ... sabay kaming lumabas ni tonie ng kuwarto ... at tinignan nya sa cr ... andun pa din ang $%^#@!!!! ... muka pa daw natutulog malapit sa bowl ... nde ko na tinignan e ... we tried looking for an exterminator (exag ba kami??? nde nu ... takot kaya kami!) pero wala ... nobody can help us take care of it ... and then came one of tonie's friends from her previous department ... he was gallant enough to offer to come down to our house and kill it ... to think na nasa opis na sha ... he brought some sticky trap *imbento ko lang yang tawag na yan :P* at kahoy na pang-bambo ... tawang-tawa yung mama when he saw that it was only a mouse and not really a rat ... and he killed it ... i don't want to go through the details anymore ... basta he killed it and we're all too grateful ... he left and tonie and i were able to finally pee and take a bath ....

with the traps given to us, another mouse was caught in the afternoon ... our landlord took the trap with him ...

it was funny what the mice experience did to us ... it felt so surreal .... i actually felt trapped ... weirdness abounds ...

- long but happy friday -

it's almost 6 am, i think ... my hair is still wet and it still smells "smoky" ... it was a long week for both me and tonie ... so we decided to haul our as%#% to roxy (http://www.roxy.com.tw/new/) to celebrate the coming weekend and to hopefully, try the different "flavors" of roxy ... we took a cab and asked the driver to take us to roxy 99 ... when we got there, we discovered that it's the same one we've been going to before ... so we asked the driver to take us to roxy vibe which is on the same street .. but we got there a little too early ... it was still closed : ) ... so we asked the driver to take us back to roxy 99 ... buti na lang nde pikon si manong hehehe ... tonie and i had about 6 shots of tequila and roughly, almost 4 hours of non-stop dancing - wiwi lang ang pahinga ... i really like roxy better than luxy ... mas nde sosi yung crowd pero parang mas nde pretentious ... tas just like last time, we found some people who were like our "buddies" when we're there ... ka-chikas sa dance floor : ) ... nga pala, 2 caucasian guys approached us and one of them was asking - "do you think i'm good looking?" ... and tonie answered - "i think you're gay" ... and that was the last we heard of them >: ) ...

took a cab home a little before 4 am ... didn't sleep yet ... we watched 2 episodes of six feet under (5th season) while eating oishi ... i really love six feet under ... yung dark way of looking at things ... saka yung realism dun sa series ... saka yung eye-opening episodes nila on life and death and everything in between ...

took a bath ... did my best with my hair smelling weird ... i bet i have to wait for some more shampooooosss before the smell will go away ...

nga pala, i ate my meat for the week ... tonie and i went to taoban (http://www.taoban.com.tw) and we ate salad, soup, appetizer, taoban steak (main dish), dessert etc etc etc. busog grabe! ano kayang meat ko for next week?????

- etched boredom 2 -

happy face, right leg

sad face, left leg

mad face, left arm

confused face, left elbow

- trivial/trivialities -

i went to wanfang hospital again this morning for the second part of my physical examination ... a nurse was assigned to me to guide me through all the remaining tests *sfecial ako hehe* ... first stop ... heart echo ... i was told to get this because i've been having chest pains ... i was diagnosed with mitral valve prolapse (aka mvp, http://www.nursing.wright.edu/practice/mvp/default.htm) late last year ... so the diagnosis is still the same ... the doctor was very reassuring ... he told me, "yes, you have mvp but it's trivial ... nothing to worry about" ... i never really read up on mvp before so i had to ask the doctor ... how can i prevent it? ... he said some things but one thing caught my attention - "quality of life" ... next stop, arterial echo ... while waiting for my turn, the term "quality of life" kept coming back to me ... and after a while i felt that i was getting teary-eyed ... how pathetic is that??? ... i was telling myself to stop ... and then i realized why i felt like crying ... why i was crying ... i felt sad - and i guess, a little mad at myself - for letting life's trivialities get the better of me ... for allowing some harrowing experience do this to me ... kunsabagay, nde lang naman ata purely emotional ang mvp e ... or is it??? anyway, i got myself to stop, finally ... and then i was called in by the doctor ... all okay with my arterial echo ... last stop ... ct scan ... i was told to get this because of my on-and-off headaches ... the contraption was scary ... i had this test 2 years ago in adventist hospital but their ct scanner looked okay to me ... what i saw earlier was way too big ... and when i was rolled in that donut-like unit - it felt that the whirring sound was way too loud ... and the room was way too lighted ... everything was way too something! ... good thing it didn't take too long ... i've yet to wait for another 2 weeks for the final health report but so far, so good ... my chest x-ray was also fine ... and after reading up on mvp, almost all of my weird symptoms have been explained ...

- on a different note -

it's funny what a bad relationship - or a bad break-up, for that matter - can do to a person ... it can somehow teach you to appreciate life more - even the most trivial things that life has to offer ... let's you see the beauty even in the small stuffs ... in things that you never paid attention to before - how the sun places an orange tinge and mixes it with the "blue-ness" of the sky especially on early mornings ... how the flowers bloom during springtime ... how the clear sky at night makes you want to walk really slow and cherish the moment ... how the ocean gives that whiff of salty air ... how your hands and feet feel when playing with sand ... it's like having another stab at life ... and for that, i'm really thankful ...

- meatless -

haven't eaten anything "meat-y" for 5 straight days now ... how cool is that!

- tidbits -

^ went for a full check up with tonie at wan fang hospital yesterday ... so far, so good ... nothing unusual ... would have to go there again on tuesdi for some additional tests that i requested ...

^ to celebrate our "normality" *haha*, tonie and i decided to go to fulong beach ... it was a calming experience ... walang hassle when buying our train tickets ... we didn't get lost ... we just sat down on the sand ... kumain ng onting junkies ... discussing this and that topic ... nagbasa ng mga paa namin ... lamig ng tubig! ... naupo ulit sa buhangin ... nagkalkal at gumawa ng mini sand dunes ... very relaxing ... walang ka-pressure-pressure ... nakaka-clear out ng perspective on things ...

^ kanina, pumasok ako sa opis pero mejo late na ... may mga nagawa pa din naman ako ... pauwi na ako when i noticed that it was a beautiful night ... the weather was cool ... just finished raining pero nde na sobrang basa ng daan ... the sky still has its bluish tinge... i had to call jan to "share" the experience with her ... tas naisip ko, life isn't so bad ... it's not bad at all ...