Going cerebral

It's funny how things have a way of working out in the end, regardless of how long or convoluted the path may have seemed...

- 2014 -  

Aftermath

Gee, those two months went by pretty quick..

After resigning from my MROD duties at CSMC, I sought to return to my real passion.. NEUROLOGY (and PSYCHIATRY na din :P) Where else better to train for this but in the old alma mater? :P

So I swallowed my pride and applied once more to UST for a position in the NeuroPsych training program. With a bit of luck and divine intervention, I was able to hurdle the entrance examination and interview with nary a hitch. Then came pre-residency.. We were informed that this year, pre-res period would last 2 months instead of the usual 1, thanks to the GME messing around with the previously established system. I dreaded the possibility that we might have to go on every-other-day duty for 2 months as well, although the NeuroPsych tradition is only 1 month of sliding.

It was a time of great change as well, since the whole pre-residency thing found me finally living on my own sharing an apartment with a former Med classmate who incidentally was my batchmate in pre-res! It's really funny how things turn out when you least expect it. There I was, just applying for pre-res with the need for nearby accomodations bothering the back of my mind. Lo and behold, my classmate was going into NeuroPsych too! We were able to find an affordable place and had set up just in time before all hell broke loose.

We were told that there were 12 of us who applied and took the exam. 10 showed up for the interviews, and 8 went to the orientation prior to the start of pre-res. On the first day, we started out as 7, only to be cut down to 6 after a couple of days.

The 6th member of our merry little group bowed out after 2 weeks, leaving only 5 of us who went the distance. Luckily, the powers-that-be looked kindly upon us and we reverted to the all-too-familiar Pre-Duty-from schedule after the compulsory 1 month of sliding.

The breadth of experience I gained is too great for the intended size of blog entry to contain, although I would say that it has been the most challenging 2 months of my life. :P During pre-residency, I not only grew in knowledge, but in wisdom as well. On the flipside, I lost quite a number of pounds as well! :P

After two grueling months, we weren't through yet! We were required to attend the Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) workshop, and a weekly lecture covering the basic neurosciences at the medical school.

Seeing as we only had a probable 2-week interval before the possible start of residency, my co-pre-residents cooked up a plan to go to the island paradise of Boracay, which eventually came to frutition. :D There we bonded and got to know a little bit more about each other which would hopefully prove useful if ever we were accepted into residency together.

Looking back on everything, it has been one heck of a ride.. From CSMC MROD, to UST pre-residency, to Boracay of all places!! :D I wonder where I'll get to in the years to come.. :P

Oh yeah, we LOVE Boracay.. :P

Disappointment

I thought things would be a whole lot better this time around..

Silly me, I guess I was expecting too much from the place..

Especially given it's reputation..

Now everything feels like crap.. 

Full details to follow.

DragonForce - Through The Fire and Flames

For a time, I thought it was the most kickass song I've ever heard since I discovered it while playing Guitar Hero III . \m/

Then I Googled the lyrics:

On a cold winter morning

In the time before the light

In flames of death's eternal reign

We ride towards the fight

When the darkness has fallen down

And the times are tough alright

The sound of evil laughter falls

Around the world tonight

Fighting hard, fighting on for the steel

Through the wastelands evermore

The scattered souls will feel the hell

Bodies wasted on the shore

On the blackest plains in Hell's domain

We watch them as they go

Through the fire and pain and once again we know!

So now we're flying we're free

We're free before the thunderstorm

On towards the wilderness

Our quest carries on

Far beyond the sundown

Far beyond the moonlight

Deep inside our hearts and all our souls!

So far away we wait for the day

For the lives all so wasted and gone

We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days

Through the fire and the flames we carry on!

As the red day is dawning

And the lightning cracks the sky

They'll raise their hands to the heavens above

With resentment in their eyes

Running back through the midmorning light

There's a burning in my heart

We're banished from a time in a fallen land

To a life beyond the stars

In your darkest dreams see to believe

Our destiny is time

And endlessly we'll all be free tonight!

And on the wings of a dream

So far beyond reality

All alone in desperation

Now the time has gone

Lost inside you'll never find

Lost within my own mind

Day after day this misery must go on!

So far away we wait for the day

For the lives all so wasted and gone

We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days

Through the fire and the flames we carry on!

Now here we stand with their blood on our hands

We fought so hard, now can we understand

I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can

For freedom of every man!

So far away we wait for the day

For the lives all so wasted and gone

We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days

Through the fire and the flames we carry on!

LOL wut? :P

These have got to be the most crap-ass lyrics I have ever read in my entire life!

*I still enjoy listening to the song though, as it sounds WAAAAY better than it reads. :P

Ow!

I was just casually walking down the stairs when I suddenly lost my footing and.. BLAM! I fell squarely on my right ass cheek..

Ouch..

That Familiar Feeling

Several days ago, I found myself putting on yet again a long-sleeved shirt, dark pants, and tie. Going through the familiar motions brought me back to the time when I was still an MROD struggling to survive day after day (and still looking as sharp as possible while at it!).

Alas, I had departed from that path for quite some time now, and I was dressing up for a very different, albeit familiar, event.

It was interview day at the hospital I had applied to. As with every other interview I had been to (after Medschool), I was to put on my sharpest "get-up" for the occasion. Dad once told me that the reason people dress up is to give importance to the occasion in question and/or show respect to those involved, and I fully agree.

Trying to see things from the interviewer's point of view, I would probably favor an applicant who came in looking formal than one who seemed totally lax about it. The choice of clothing alone would already convey the attitude of the interviewee and how serious he/she is about wanting the job.

I was really fortunate to have made it this far, seeing as they trimmed the list a bit after the written examinations. Now, with pre-residency looming in the distance, I have decided to just take things with a grateful attitude, and just put my trust in Him and His plans for me. That isn't to say that I'll be slacking around, because I'll also be working and studying my butt off in order to be as smart and sharp as I need to be.

Things will be a lot different this time around. I'm now older and wiser, and hopefully these will help me pull this off. ;)

To everyone going into pre-residency for "this season's draft", goodluck and do your best!

Philippine Telecom Area Codes

I recently bought  a simcard for a different telecom company for my growing needs. As I was preparing to copy the numbers of people under that second brand into my secondary phone, I realized that with all the new area code extensions gobbled up by the telcos, I wasn't really sure which one belonged to which. I mean, in the olden days it was pretty straightforward. You had 917 for Globe and 918 for Smart. Now that things have gotten a bit more complicated, it would be difficult to classify without some sort of a list.

So, I set out to look for a definitive listing on the web with which I could base my "moving of the numbers" which would supposedly save me more money on prepaid load by calling the  person using the appropriate network.

This is what I found on Wikipedia which I want to share with everyone (in case you ran into a problem similar to mine):

• Express Telecom: 973, 974 (now in use)
• Globe Telecom: 905, 906, 915, 916, 917, 926, 927, 935, 936, 937
• Next Mobile: 979
• Red Mobile: 938 (Smart)
• Smart Communications: 907, 908, 909, 910, 912, 918, 919, 920, 921, 928, 929, 930, 938, 939, 989, 999
• Sun Cellular: 922, 923, 932, 933

Hope this helps! :D

Trese

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Comics & Graphic Novels
Author:	Budjette Tan & Kajo Baldisimo

I just HAVE to share this with someone..

While I was browsing the web, I managed to stumble upon this website (http://tresekomix.blogspot.com/) which had a few stories available online for free and began reading what appeared to be an interesting locally-made comic based on Philippine folklore..

I was hooked after just a few panels of the first story..

It chronicles the adventures of one Alexandra Trese, who is a paranormal investigator contacted by the police whenever "crime takes a turn for the weird".

The various cases shown in these books portray the protagonist tackling a wide assortment of characters from Philippine mythology like dwendes, tikbalangs, aswangs, etc. They also showcase a range of possibilities as to how these creatures of the dark could be roaming the streets of modern-day Manila hidden away in plain sight.

Tan's excellent writing paired off with appropriately stylized artwork by Baldisimo makes Trese a very interesting read, and a worthwhile series to collect.

BrainiaxMD's Creamy Potato Soup

With time probably running out on my cooking days, I decided to take another risk and try my luck in making cream soup from scratch. :D It was a lot of hard work, and I was nervous that it wouldn't turn out well. Good thing it did though, and now I can proudly add another recipe to my repertoire. :P I used:

4 potatoes, finely chopped

2 whole onions, finely chopped

1 tsp cooking oil 

approx 1 liter of water

1 tbsp rock salt

1/2 tbsp ground black pepper

1 pc Knorr Beef cube (for the beef stock)

1 medium can Alaska Evaporated Milk

1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 pack of bacon bits

After sautéing the onions until they turned transparent (or translucent at the very least :P), I placed these along with the potatoes in the water at low-medium heat. 30 minutes later, I put in the salt, pepper, and the beef cube. The whole thing was left to boil at low heat for about 2 hours to soften the potatoes. I know this may seem a little unconventional, but I was forced to mash the potatoes manually using a wooded spoon while in the pot since I didn't have a blender handy. I then put in the milk and flour during the last 30 minutes of cooking prior to dinner. The bacon bits were fried and were placed into the soup upon serving. Sarap! :D

Bohol-boholan

A couple of days ago, I went on a trip with mom to the island province of Bohol. We were fortunate enough to be invited to tag along with my uncle's family who generously  shouldered our accommodations. (we paid the airfare ourselves of course!)

Bohol is located in the Central Visayas region, consisting of Bohol Island and 75 minor surrounding islands. Its capital is Tagbilaran City. With a land area of 4,117.3 square kilometers (1,589.7 sq mi) and a coastline 261 kilometers (162 mi) long, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines. (source: Wikipedia). Tagbilaran airport (TAG) is roughly an hour's flight away from Manila (MNL)

It was a thrill for me to be boarding a plane again (don't travel much :P) and this was only the second destination via plane that I would be going to, the first being HK. (I have a VERY small travel map). As we made our descent towards Tagbilaran Airport, I looked out the window and saw all these little islets and the corals visible underneath the clear bluish-green waters! Once over the island itself, I was treated to another surprise! 

Bohol's famous Chocolate Hills

According to Wikipedia (again), the latest survey puts the total number at 1,776 hills. That's a whole lotta bulubundikin if you ask me. :P Looking out the plane window, there were numerous little hills stretching out as far as the eye could see (we were already flying pretty low at this point). I was a bit surprised upon landing 'coz the pilot suddenly applied the brakes. The Boholano guy sitting next to us said that the runway there was short, thus necessitating the abrupt stop.

Tagbilaran Airport

Upon landing, I discovered that riding along with us on that plane was none other than former Sec. Art Yap (XS'83)! :P

We got our stuff and met this guy who worked for a car rental company. The dude's name was Nonoy and he told me he'd been working as a tour guide/driver around Bohol for the past 15 years. We were a party of 10, which fit nicely in the brand-spanking new Toyota Hi-Ace we rented. We then got started with the tour.

Sanduguan Monument

Our first stop was the Sanduguan Monument where the original blood compact between Rajah Soliman and that Spanish dude was said to have taken place. Nothing much to see here except the actual monument which presented as a photo-op to kick things off on our 3-day adventure.

The next place we went to was a "factory outlet" of Bohol products ranging from Tarsier keychains to their "famous" Peanut Kisses. We bought a few things for the people back home but generally held back due to our small budget and the thinking that there might be better deals to be found elsewhere..

Baclayon Church interior

After that short shopping spree, we climbed back aboard an Nonoy took us to Baclayon Church, one of the more famous Spanish-era churches in Bohol. It also boasted of a museum but we didn't bother to enter since they wouldn't allow camreas inside. :P Of greater interest to me what what I saw outside.

They were selling candles of different colors, representing different prayer intentions, at 20 bucks each. I personally got one each of red, yellow, and green for intentions related to residency..

Horizontal Traffic light

As lunchtime neared, we were then driven to the shores of Loboc River for their famous Loboc River cruise. At the docks, tourist would purchase tickets from one of four (?) companies operating the riverboats/floating restaurants, and people would probably base their choice on the menus presented to them.

The winning menu

Having picked this menu/company, we were then given our tickets and shown our way to the docks where our boat was waiting.

Ticket

The food wasn't exaclty anything to write home about, and I don't think the ingredients were as fresh as you'd expect from something as "rural" as this, but it was eat-all-you can, and at 400 bucks/head plus the river tour with onboard entertainment, it didn't seem like such a bad deal.

 Eat all you can :P

The tour would have been nice, had it not been for the fact that when we were just barely 200 meters out, the boatmen steered the vessel close to shore because our engine had died out and we had to await a rescue boat! We wasted about a good half-hour's worth of time before we were finally underway again, but the agitation quickly dissappated as wee took inthe sights and the cool breeze of the place.

 Ahoy there, GIGABOAT!!

There were a lot of other river cruise boats travelling up and down river. After all, this was probably a prime tourist spot. I also notices a lot of floodlamps along the riverbanks which were probably used to illuminate the trees on night cruises. Judging by the way the place looked, a night trip would be spectacular.. (must try it if ever I go back ther :P) A minor gripe I have would be the relatively poor quality of the river water. It wasn't even near Pasig River-dirty, but I noticed that the waters were pretty murky, especially when I saw a pool of fresh untainted water flowing into the river. The water quality of this inlet was EXCELLENT! It was crystal clear and you could see to the bottom. Its just a shame that all these boats needed to run on gas, which probably caused the relative opacity of the waters of the main river..

 Shoreline cultural show

While we ewre sailing along, the locals had this small stage on the riverbank where we stopped and were treated to a sampling of the local dances like Kuradang and Tinikling, which was a treat for the foreigners.

Kuradang

As expected, there was a donation box set up alongside the boat so that tourist could drop their hard-earned cash as payment for their momentary amusement. :P 15 minues later, we were off again. The service crew on board told us we would be making our way towards a waterfall where the river started. A waterfall huh? That'd be cool..

 Waterfall..

Wait, what? This is it? Oh well.. And I guess our riverboat captain was a wuss, as we turned around probably 150 meters away from the falls, while we saw other boats go for a much closer look. Hay..

Chowtime was now over, and our driver took us to one of the most popular destinations in Bohol...

 Chocolate Hills (from my cam, the previous pic was from wikipedia :P)

We were going to one of the mose centrally located (and I guess tallest) among these great piles of stone and soil, stategically developed to offer tourists the best possible panoramic view of the hills. AFter climbing around 200+ step (which left mom and her sibs pretty winded), we reached the top where the scenery was beathtaking, although it was a little crowded with all the other tourists there. :P

The Well

There was even a wishing well at the summit, with a bell that you rang after you dropped a coin and made a wish, presumably to tell them that you enjoyed the tacos. :P

Overlooking the base of the path

Luckily, the trek downward wasn't as bad, as there was this gently sloping but less scenic route which took us back where we started.

With aching bodies all around, our driver still had a couple of surprises in store. First up was a Butterfly preserve (sorry didn't get the name) where we were shown the different stages of butterfly development and some unique butterfly-related stuff, including sniffing vanilla-flavored butterfly poop freshly squezzed out of the butterfly itself. :P Despite my inferior cam, I was able to snap a few decent shots of butterflies feeding on one of those honey-dipped sponges they have around which serves as attractants.

 Butterfly shot!

The (supposedly) last stop on the day's tour before we were taken to our resort was at Loboc Forest Camp which housed Bohol's natve Tarsier.

Tarsier here! Yay! :P

To be perfectly honest, the place didn't seem like much, with different species of wildlife in cages as follows:

Grass Owl

Crested Serpent Eagle

Brahminy Kite

However, they had this...

 Albino Python and friend :P

Yes folks, I had a moment of temporary insanity where I said to myself that I just HAD to do it. :P It was surprisingly not as slimy or heavy as it looked. Instead of feeling like pure solid muscle, it was more bones and loose skin. In all the excitement, I totally missed the Tarsiers which were housed in the cage directly oposite me in the picture! :P

Since the place had the facilities for it, I also took time out to try this as well..

Zipline!

It was a pretty short ride, but thrilling nonetheless.

We exhaled deeply as we boarded our ride, exhausted from the all the running around that occurred. We left the main island of Bohol and crossed a bridge to the island of Panglao, which was still part of the province, where our resort which was supposedly "50 meters from the beach" could be found. While on the road, we made a slight detour at the request of my vegetarian cousin who had heard about the Bohol Bee Farm. Apart from the obvious bee product of honey, they had a lot of other stuff there as well like mango, corlander, pesto, malunggay spreads, honey salabat (ginger ale), honey tea, and even their own ice cream (which unfortunately did not come in honey flavor).

Villa Almedilla facade

It was already dark when we got to the resort. It was a small building, more like an apartelle if you ask me. The rooms were cozy and spacious enough, I believe it costs 2500 Php a night for a room for two (but I guess it could fit 2-3 more people had there been extra matresses). There was cable TV and a shower with a heater, and the place had wifi as well, but the connectivity was terrible. We were told that we could have dinner along the beach, where the seaside resorts had all these by-the-beach dining areas. We ate at the Bohol Divers' Resort which had a small cultural show that was held ever Saturday and Sunday.  

Dancing girls

Firedancers

These performers were members of that resort's staff as well, so I guess they save on extra salaries and benefits. :P

Having eaten our fill, we trudged back to our rooms and retired for the night...

DAY 2: Water adventure

Dawn in a banca

The following morning found us aboard a banca at around 6am headed out to go "dolphin-watching". Well, it was more like dolphin-chasing if you ask me. :P

The Boatman

We spent about an hour chasing after what seemed to be a group of dolphins swimming in the distance, after which an entire fleet of these motorized outriggers similar to the one we were in would converge at the area of the sighting. Naturally, the dolphins would dive and hide, as these motors made so much noise you could hear them a mile away.

Convergent fleet

After that fruitless pursuit, the boatman suggested we head to Balicasag Island to continue our adventure. There we had our brunch on the beach consisting of grilled fish, squid, and pork. While the elders stayed behind, we cousins went out to go snorkeling. It was my first time to snorkeling and what I witnessed was just MAJESTIC! Man, I wish I had that waterproof case for cameras! I won't go into detail with regards to the marine life I saw, but man, it was great!

After about 30 mins to an hour of mindless roaming near the coast with our head facing down in the water, we went back to shore to pick up our folks and visited this little island the locals called "Virgin island" where there was no fish to be seen, but the sand was just EXCELLENT! It was so fine and powdery, and some likened it to the sand at Boracay (but I've never been there, so the comparison ends here).

the sandbar

A unique feature of this island is that it has a submerged sandbar extending out to sea which, from a distance, makes you look like you're walking on water.

At this point, everyone was starting to feel a little tired, so we headed back to Panglao to rest up and have lunch.

As with all vacations, you can't really expect everything to go right.. but I'd rather not rant about a particularly bad experience we had there, so as not to ruin all the fun memories in this entry.

The rest of the day was a blur for me, as I spent the rest of the day in the room, going out just to have dinner at that same seaside place.

DAY 3: A few last stops..

Our third day started a little later. :P We had already packed our things the night before, and had checked out already before 8am when our driver was scheduled to pick us up for our last roubd of the island. We first went to hear mass at a nearby church (sorry forgot the name). AFter mass, we had brunch at  Chicken Ati-Atihan

Chicken Ati-Atihan

Having eaten our fill, we then visited another roadside wildlife attraction, and there they had another python.. a MUCH BIGGER Burmese Python weighing around 300 kgs! Naturally, my response would be to do this..

Snake wrangling :P

The handler said this one is fed a WHOLE 30 kg pig once a month. Too bad it wasn't feeding time when we dropped by. It would've been amusing (though it won't be for the squeamish).

Our next stop was the Watchtower in Punta Cruz in the town of Maribojoc. This was a Spanish-era lookout point which faced the southwest, towards the direction of Panglao island.

The watchtower

The structure was neat. It was this squat little structure which had a wide view of the sea it safeguarded, but we didn't linger as it was already too hot to be out in the open. (and it was quite hot in the shade as well) :P

For our last "nature stop", Noynoy took us to Antequera to see the Mag-aso falls,so named due to the fine spray the water produces upon impact on the rocks and stream below.

A long descent (and ascent :P)

197 steps is really a long way down, especially for the elders in our group. I'm just glad there weren't any adverse events that happened along the way. Making our way down, we heard the distant splashing of the waterfall. After a short trek, this is what we found..

breathtaking..

Apparently, these falls have a sinister side to them, as there was a flash flood last year which resulted in the deaths of two unfortunate individuals who were bathing in the river at that time. A tourist was able to catch the flash flood on video, and one of the locals made a tribute video on youtube.

In rural settings like these, I guess its only natural that this incident would be tied in to local folklore. The mythological explanation was that when the flash flood came, it was heralding the arrival of a diwata or fairy, and that those two individuals were "taken" by the fairy that came and went, probably because they were not respectful of the place.

Island City Mall

Our last stop before heading to the airport was the Island City Mall, which acoording to our guide, was the largest mall in Bohol. We were thrilled at the prospect of going malling at a new location since most of us were mall rats. :P

Bohol's biggest mall, was, er.. not so big.. :P It had three floors, a foodcourt, a department store, a supermarket, 3 movie theaters, a National Bookstore outlet,  some specialty boutiques, and a handful of the usual fastfood restos like Jollibee, KFC, and Chowking. It was interesting to note that there was no sign of McDonald's anywhere. :P

Taking up the explorer's challenge, I set out to get lost in this new place, only to finish my trek in about 15 minutes.. :P You can't really blame them. Bohol is just an island, and is relatively sparsely populated at that. There's no point in making a big mall with lotsa merchandise if you have no one to sell to. :P

To cut things short, we made some last-minute shopping before hopping back on the fan for a 5-minute ride to the airport.

Our ride home!

 Overall, it was a really nice place, well worth another visit sometime in the future. :P Don't mind my minor gripes, I'm really just like that. Hehe

Thank you to the people of Bohol, especially to our driver Nonoy, for sharing your island paradise with us! :D

On the Retreat

Just came home this afternoon from a retreat held in Tagaytay for the XS Alumni. This was probably one of the best decisions I ever made, and will hopefully have a long-term impact on my life..

It was a Silent Retreat, which was in the Ignatian contemplative tradition. I went there not really knowing what to expect besides some quiet time to pray and reflect, with occasional lectures and masses on the side. Little did I know that after going there, my life would probably never be the same (I hope!)

*the entries below were written at the retreat house after I had finished with my daily reflections

Day 1: August 13, 2010  9:30 PM

Well, here I am..

I'm presently at St. Scholastica's Center for Spirituality here in Tagaytay on a 3-day Ignatian Silent Retreat put together by Fr. Zuloaga for the alumni.

My room

According to dad, there was this teaching in Xavier (which I hardly recall ever learning) that "God is in the silence". Hopefully this retreat will allow me to reconnect with God on a more deeper level.

Day 2: August 14, 2010  9:30 PM

Day 2 is finally over.

Chapel exterior

After a series of talks by Fr. Manoling Francisco, SJ interspersed between 3 full meals and 2 snacktime breaks, the main day of my silent retreat is over. Apart from the talks/sessions, we had time set aside for confessions/consultations with the priests, as well as the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and time for adoration.

side view of the chapel

I won't get all "churchy" here in my blog, but I have to say that I have learned a lot about my faith over this weekend, which far exceeded whatever expectations I may initially have had. Sad to say, but the Christian Life Education we receive as a grade school or high school student is woefully inadequate, as most colleges don't really teach in-depth theology (save for a select few, or if your course IS Theology). Having time to reflect on scripture and how it affects our daily lives has been such an eye-opener for me, as I previously couldn't comprehend what people get out of all these "bible study" groups. Heck, I didn't even understand what people got out of daily Scripture reading on their own.

Solitude

I would highly recommend going on retreats like this as it serves not only to "deepen your faith" or some other similar abstract concept we can hardly wrap our minds around, but I guess it helps fill this a certain emptiness inside of you especially if you seem to have lost your way..

St. Benedict reading in the garden

The same way that learning feeds the mind and eating feeds the body, reading scripture feeds the soul. I'm really grateful for the wonderful opportunity to experience this unique way of looking at our faith, and I will definitely go on another retreat when the opportunity would next present itself. :D