And Pahtee I Did!

      @ ABS-CBN’s Dish

                   
                      Koryn & I                              Marco & Peter

To celebrate my newfound health, Peter and I invited Koryn to join us in witnessing Blazing Bulalakaw’s performance at Dish, ABS-CBN. Marco (lead guitarist) is Peter’s officemate and friend. He was the one who invited us to come party with them. Surprisingly, the event, Street Tease, is organized by a bunch of college kids and I somehow felt out of place at first. But seeing the students perform well (including some of their teachers) made me stay until after Blazing Bulalakaw’s performance (around 12mn). There were street dancing, song writing contest, ramp modeling and guest performances by Sponge Cola and Moonstar 88. It’s not my usual scene but I enjoyed it nevertheless. It’s just refreshing to know that schools are encouraging their students these days to express themselves through artful venues like this. It made me wonder for a nano second if God made a mistake in creating me 10 years earlier than intended. Oh well. I’m just glad I didn’t look too old for the crowd. Or did I? Well, too late to dwell on it  now. Teehee.

           
                   Ramp Modeling                                Moonstar 88

            
               Blazing Bulalakaw                     Teachers’ Performance

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And the Verdict is…

“I’m stronger than I think” says my mind as I try to calm myself while waiting for my doctor. Good thing I brought along my book. It kept me distracted from the impending procedure that I’d have to go through at this early age. Usually, folks aged 40 and up are the ones who do this kind of thing. But I guess, it’s in my blood to be unconventional (as always) whether it be in fashion, my principles, my way of life. And now, even in certain medical procedures like colonoscopy, I’ve beaten my contemporaries again. Ugh!                                  

Prior to being sedated during the colonoscopy and the thought of the huge painful needle being injected into my vein, I could aptly describe my emotions to  be very much the same as when I first started to surf. Waves crashing onto my face, being wiped out of my surfboard countless of times, breathing too hard, inhaling lots of water, gasping for air, leg cramps, drowning…. And then there was peace… Next thing I remember, I was seeing myriad of psychedelic colors. Unbeknownst to me, I was already watching from a video monitor, the insides of my colon and my large intestine. I remember feeling little pain inside my tummy and then I was crying. Both out of relief and sheer overwhelming emotion of it all. Then there was nothing.                              

I woke up groggy and incoherent. Peter told me all about it and we were both laughing at how ridiculous I acted all throughout the whole thing. He said “you were like a kid”. I took that as a complement. At least now, the worst part is over. I thought if I could jump  from a  falls 15 feet high, then I can do this! True enough, I did.

Friday evening, as I was contemplating on what could be the detailed results of my exam, I dated myself. Since I’ll be waiting for Peter, I chanced upon a nice spot at Xocolat located inside Megamall, 2nd floor Mega A just beside Gloria Jean’s. I ordered Tuna Panini which was very flavorful by the way and coupled it with a Peach Mango shake. Their desserts were very inviting but I had to constrain myself. I tuned into my iPod to drown the noisy fears in my head and read my book. I felt more relaxed. I lifted everything to God that night and just enjoyed my own date until Peter arrived.

The next day…

Endoscopic findings: The procedure was performed by means of the olympus videoendoscope CF AT200 under I.V. sedation.

The initial digital rectal examination showed no skin tag with good sphincteric tone.

Colonoscopy: The scope was inserted up to the terminal ileum with visualization of the appendiceal opening. On withdrawal, the mucosa is pink, smooth, shiny all throughout. No mass, ulcer or polyp seen. The hemorrhoidal vessel above and below the dentateline are unremarkable.

The procedure was well tolerated by the patient and lasted for 23 minutes. Withdrawal time of 8 minutes

Friends and families, thanks so much for all your support and prayers!!!

IT’S TIME TO PAHTEE!!!! Yipee!!!

PS: I still CANNOT eat chocolates nor drink alcohol. Oh well! I can’t have it all.

Costa Aguada Resort in Guimaras

It’s just been three months ago since we last experienced this piece of paradise and now, it’s being damaged by an oil spill at a very alarming rate. I don’t wanna discuss the details of the damage. It’s too depressing. I know a lot of environmental groups are doing something to help solve this pollution problem and even our President formed a task force to specifically address this oil spill issue. I don’t know how I can help. I’ve got so much in my hands and I don’t have the skill to do some technical oil cleaning or whatever they call it. All I can do is to show you how beautiful this paradise once was and perhaps someone out there with more resources  will be inspired to help in a more concrete manner.

This post was taken from my Kodakgallery blog:

“Another long weekend has come. Although Peter had some business matters in mind, we still decided to go somewhere secluded, just the two of us, to spend some quality time together as husband and wife and for once have a “lazy” vacation. We therefore boarded a plane to Bacolod then headed to this island via boat called Inampulugan in Guimaras.

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This is the day…

I had a post about my fears of having to do a colonoscopy. For some reason, while I was posting my article on Guimaras, it got deleted. I’m not sure if that’s a good sign, meaning, that I should let it go and that I’m not going to die any time soon. I still have Saturday to look forward to for the final verdict. Oh God, I hope the results are negative. I know I’ve said so many times before that I am ready to die. After all, I’ve done so much in this lifetime, most of which were the things I’ve dreamt of when I was a child — finished college, got a job, helped my family, married the love of my life, made great friends, acquired beautiful stuff, gone to exotic and romantic spots, done TV and theater acting, sang on stage, took risks, etc. I can say I’ve lived a full life. But like I said in my deleted post, I AM ONLY HUMAN. I still crave for more. They’re not that spectacular but they’re important to me nonetheless. Like seeing my brother graduate and hopefully get a good job, building a house in Surigao where my folks can retire, traveling the world,  having a kid or two (after I get over all of my angsts), growing old with Peter, meeting more eccentric and great personalities, writing a book and singing in a band. I’d also like to go bunjee jumping, sky diving and even go to the moon via American Express like what Jem told me (I can dream can’t I?). I’m still young, I deserve to live more and contribute more to society. So please God, let me? But IT IS HIS WILL. And HIS will be done. As the cliche goes, we are all ready to die the moment we were born. So I might as well just make the most out of it. God bless us all.

ZAMBAPALOOZA with Brownman Revival

How was your long weekend? Were you able to do the things you’ve been wanting to do but just didn’t have the time? I hope so.

As for me, the break wasn’t as relaxing as I imagined it would be. I even ended up having a terrible body ache after 3 days and 2 nights of extreme adventure which I haven’t experienced in a loooong while. But I’m not complaining… 

After 3 and a half hours of travel from Manila via the North Expressway, we finally arrived at Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales a little before 9 am. We rented an aircon room at Megan’s Resort (P1440/night for 3 pax) and didn’t waste time exploring the beach, checking out the gorgeous surfers and signing up for a free surfing clinic.  

After the competition, Zambales and Manila Surfers had a tug-of-war competition. Too bad for us Manileños, Zambales surfers won. I also noticed that there were several soldiers in the area, probably to ward off local NPAs. I took that chance to have my picture taken with them. Hehehe. Afterwards, I did some skim boarding by the beach. It was perfect! Way off better for this kind of sport than that of La Union. And I really had so much fun!                                                                          

On our first night, after having dinner and playing some videoke, despite the drizzle, we went to a nearby resort where three bands were going to play including Brownman Revival (BMR). There were also some fire stunts performed by fellow surfers. Unfortunately, after the 2nd band, the drizzle turned into full blown rain and due to previous electrocution (don’t worry, he’s fine now) of the first band’s vocalist, the organizers cancelled the last band and decided for BMR to play the following night instead. Thus, we stayed another night. Besides, there were news of flood in Pampanga which made it difficult for us to travel back home. Therefore, to the delight of most of my friends, we stayed. Yipee!

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