Downtime at the Library

Being fortunate enough to have some downtime after my daily rounds, I decided to try out visiting the institution library since I heard that the Internet access is quite fast here. :D

As some of my more avid (?) readers know, I used to be a big fan of hanging out at the computer room duting my time in medical school.. Whoch is actually the main reason why this blog came to be in the first place. :P

It's such a joy to find a nice and peaceful oasis amidst all the craziness of training and the hospital.. I think that this will be a reasonable escape for me for the next year and a half while I complete my fellowship.

I have found myself looking forward to the future even more, now that an apparent end to training is in sight.. All of these new "what if" scenarios are starting to come out, and new issues such as marriage, housing, and investments are starting to catch and hold my attention, and since we are on the topic of marriage...

There is this girl I met.. Not the previous one who (seemed to have) made my world go around. I have finally dismissed her as a passing infatuation, and quite possibly just a rebound attraction after the end of my previous long-term relationship. No, this new girl is something else... She's someone I may have dreamed of meeting when I was younger but I never really thought that she would actually exist.. :)

We've known each other for just a relatively short time, but I think I already like where this is going.. We'll just see what happens.. ;)

Follow the Fellow

After having read a profound and eloquently-written piece by one of my co-fellows, I felt a bit inspired to head back to the writer's table and make a new entry.

I have almost completed my 4th month of fellowship. Its really amazing how tine could fly by so fast. 

After having gone rhrough one of the more grueling weeks i have experienced so far, having a little bit of freedom is a luxury I intend to maximize for the next week or so..

We have just finished our first quarteryly examinations, as well as a practical test for procedures. I can't really say that I did well, but I think I did enough.. :P

There was also a series of presentations I had to make.. 3 in a span of four days!  Add that to the ever-growing mountain of unfinished charts i had at the records section, as well as the added responsibility of being the ABG reader of the week, plus the passing of my personal census logbook and my part in the annual admission census.. Whew!! It was incredible that I survived all that.. :P

Of course, it helps if one is inspired to do great things by someone special.. ;)

I have had the privilege of being introduced to a great anime about basketball "Kuroko no Basket" (The Basketball that Kuroko Plays).  It was sooo awesome! :D Very Highly Recommended!

I hear there's even one about Volleyball. I'll bet "little sister" would be interested in that one naman. :)

Next month will find me at the ER once again. I hope I can make it through those ten duties unscathed :P

Some thoughts on the BBL and the greater underlying issue.

Just a quick hit to start the day.

Post is entirely not mine, but was written by someone called "Anito" who posted this in the comments section of an article on the Inquirer website..

It is eloquently written and raises some pretty valid points, echoing some of my personal sentiments on the issue..

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"Among the many fundamental flaws of the BBL is its plan to carve out a political entity upon the demand of MILF, a group with a record of killing other Filipinos in order to establish a separate territory primarily based on difference in religion (while utilizing other issues like "historical injustice"). Why are we seeing this Islamic demand throughout the world for separation from other human beings?

Part of the reason can be found in Koran... and sane Muslims should actively convince their fellow Muslims not to take the Koran too seriously.

The Koran may have been of use, even crucial for survival, in the desert tribal warfare of the 7th century of Mohammed. But it has become gravely deficient and even hazardous as a moral guide or some sort of an MOI (manual of operating instructions) in a modern world where various cultures, religions and moral values are all hanging together... along with nuclear weapons that can blow the world to nothingness if some fanatic were to get hold of them.

I have read the Koran and it constantly repeats, to the point of obsessiveness, these two following tenets:

1) Though there were other prophets who revealed the word of God/Allah -- including Adam, Abraham, David, Moses and Jesus -- the prophet Mohammed's Koran is the FINAL WORD of God. Anyone who does not believe that it is the FINAL WORD is damned and deserves to be treated as a criminal. In Malaysia, Sharia Law still prescribes the death sentence for Apostasy or Riddah in states like Kelantan and Terangganu; in other states, it is a crime punishable by jail.

2) If you let pagans, Jews, and Christians know about this FINAL WORD of God and they still remain unbelievers, they displease Allah and deserve to be beheaded, deceived, or at the very least subjugated and required to pay tax as punishment.

These tenets are so central and so constantly emphasized in the Koran that the only sane way for the modern Muslim or general reader to read the Koran is not to take it too seriously.

With the Koran's insistence and obsession with its FINALITY, is it any surprise that those who take it seriously are unable to move on and adapt to this century?

It is encouraging that there are now Muslim-born voices like Ayaan Hirsi Ali (the Somali-born writer now facing a fatwah death sentence from the holy Imams) who is openly asking Muslims to take a serious and critical look at the central tenets of the Koran and their faith. It would go a long way to allay fears by "non-believers" if they hear more open-minded, courageous voices like hers.

I agree with those, including Muslim friends, who say that there are many outdated and even repugnant verses in the Bible. The difference is that violence towards apostates and non-believers is not the burning and central tenet in the Bible as it is in the Koran. This might explain why everyday when we wake up and as soon as we turn on Yahoo News, we learn about some violence somewhere in the world made in the name of Alllah. One would need to enroll in a course in speed reading just to keep up.

Based on the above observations, I don't buy the argument that there is nothing wrong with the Koran...and that it is just being taken out of context. People should just wake up and recognize that these books are made by men who are fallible by nature. BTW, I don't take the Bible too seriously either... which doesn't mean that I don't believe in the Divine.

Let me add that I love and treasure the beautiful calligraphy and arabesques using Koranic text that centuries-long generations of Islamic artists have created. Let us hope that they don't fall victim to the wholesale destruction of age-old monuments going on in the Middle East right now."

Thanksgiving again...

Its' just one bit of good news after another...

I just received word that I had been accepted to a fellowship program I had applied to a few months back prior to the boards, one which I dreamed of entering ever since my senior year in residency..

Blessings abound when you least expect them.. Thank You so much.. :D I'll do my best to make good and continue on with the task. :D

Chinese Resto Mano-A-Mano: Three-Way fight!

For this edition of the food fight, I shall be ptiing the three heavyweights among the freestanding Chinese restos here around Manila. (Hotel restos don't count since they have an unfair advantage. :P)

It is a common tradition among Filipino-Chinese families to have the regular clan get-togethers in one of these three restos I would consider as "Chinese Fine Dining". Recently, the cousins and I got together when we were grouped together at a table to finally settle once and for all which one seems to be the best. (In a span of 2 weeks, we had the good fortune of having eaten at all 3, so the memories were quite fresh when we had the debate).

Before I start, I know that some of you would cry out that I had omitted this or that resto, which I'm sure you would have perfectly logical arguments to support it. However, this encompasses only those that we have had a chance to dine at somewhat regularly (once a year?), and to tell you the truth, I just put this up for fun. :P

With the disclaimer out of the way, let's meet the contestants:

1) Gloria Maris

As I was growing up, Gloria Maris has always been the go-to chinese resto whenever the clan had a celebration (birthdays of uncles/aunts, grandfather's death anniv, Chinese New Year celebrations, etc). With its own freaking building next to Unimart in Greenhills, the place was a monument to good chinese cuisine. With spacious function rooms and a luxurious interior, coupled with great food, this gave us the chance to disconnect from the world at large and eat away in relative comfort.

2) Hai Kang

This seafood resto along Wilson St. near the gate of Greenhills West became another family favorite of sorts, as they food wasn't bad either, but the interior left much to be desired. To me it seemed a little too much like those run-of-the-mill chinese restos you would find downtown in the Binondo Chinatown. The strong poit of this place was that ( I heard) it was relatively affordable and the portions were really generous. Still, I consider this the weakest of the three.

3) Choi Garden

I have seen Choi Garden occasionally when I was commuting home, but I never really set foot in it until recently (since the demands of residency kept me away from family gatherings for the most part). The place was GRAND, although in terms of size it does not even hold a candle to the sprawling new structure that Gloria Maris built when they moved to the other side of the Greenhills Shopping Complex. The atmosphere seemed more extravagant and the food exquisite! They even had better dessert! (The dessert was admittedly the dealbreaker for me. I mean, how could you make Mango Sago even better?? :P)

And with those (very short and nonsensical) arguments, it looks like CHOI GARDEN is the winner! :P

Overheard in the huddle..

As was said by a coach (don't remember who) during an NBA game via those in-game mics they clip on for audio bites..

"There is no substitute for hustle. If you do not hustle, you will be substituted for!"


XD

Joketime: The Sound

Just a little something I enearthed from WAAAAAAY before..

(I think this came from an e-mail I received in HIGH SCHOOL, back when home DSL was not yet a thing, screens were still CRTs, and CD-ROMs were just starting to pick up.. :P)

Joke still cracks me up though. :P

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THE SOUND 

A man is driving down the road and breaks down near a monastery. He goes to the monastery, knocks on the door, and says, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?"

The monks graciously accept him, feed him dinner, even fix his car. As the man tries to fall asleep, he hears a strange sound. The next morning, he asks the monks what the sound was, but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

The man is disappointed but thanks them anyway and goes about his merry way. Some years later, the same man breaks down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accept him, feed him, even fix his car. That night, he hears the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier.

The next morning, he asks what it is, but the monks reply, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk." The man says, "All right, all right. I'm dying to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, how do I become a monk?"

The monks reply, "You must travel the earth and tell us ow many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk."

The man sets about his task. Some forty-five years later, he returns and knocks on the door of the monastery. He says, "I have traveled the earth and have found what you have asked for. There are 145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 31,281,219,999,129,382 sand pebbles on the earth."

The monks reply, "Congratulations. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound."

The monks lead the man to a wooden door, where the head monk says, "The sound is right behind that door."

The man reaches for the knob, but the door is locked. He says, "Real funny. May I have the key?" The monks give him the key, and he opens the door.

......

Behind the wooden door is another door made of stone. The man demands the key to the stone door.

The monks give him the key, and he opens it, only to find a door made of ruby. He demands another key from the monks, who provide it. Behind that door is another door, this one made of sapphire. So it went until the man had gone through doors of emerald, silver, topaz, and amethyst.

Finally, the monks say, "This is the last key to the last door."

The man is relieved to no end. He unlocks the door, turns the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound.


...

...

...


But I can't tell you what it is because you're not a monk.