Ulan at Baha sa MM

Umulan at bumaha daw dito sa Metro Manila kahapon. Umulan sa Pasig pero di naman bumaha. Sa Malabon naman bumaha pero walang ulan. Bakit kamo? High-tide kasi kahapon kaya ang island of Malabon ay medyo nagtampisaw sa tubig. With or without ulan, basta high-tide, bumabaha sa maraming lugar sa Malabon. I was clueless about tides until I moved to Malabon. Lumaki ako Guiguinto, Bulacan na medyo mataas na lugar.

Kung sa iba bwisit ang baha, isa si Janjing (bro.-in-law ko) sa nakangiti pag gantiong panahon. May carwash business kasi sya. Galing sa dagat ang tubig ng high-tide kaya nakakasira ng body ng kotse. Ilan nga daw yung sasakyan na lumipat ng ibang carwash kasi di na nila na-accommodate.

Malapit na naman ang tag-ulan. Mas matindi yon para sa amin - may tubig ulan na, may tubig high-tide pa. Hay naku, kelan kaya matatapos yung flood control project ng govt?

My crowning glory

Finally I had my hair straightened last Friday. Medyo may kamahalan nga but i could no longer bear taming my rebelious hair each morning (I have better things to do). Nakakahiya naman sa office na buhok 'mahangin ba sa labas' ako. Yung ngang picture ko sa ID ni-retoke ko muna bago ko pinadala sa supplier. Salamat sa teknolohiya, nabura ko yung mga tumitikwas na mga buhok.

Kung hindi lang buhaghag ang buhok ko at malapad ang mukha ko, gusto ko ng short hair. Yung parang buhok ni Demi Moore sa Ghost (gosh, ang tagal na non naalala ko pa). Tipid na sa shampoo, di pa problema kung maiinit ang panahon. Ganon ang hair-style ko nung 2nd yr highschool ako. But that was 15 lbs ago. Oh well, forget about it. Dito na lang ako sa long, straightened hair ko.

Ang Perang Pinaghirapan... bow

A few days ago, it was all over the news that Pacific Educ. Plan (a pre-need plan) could no longer live up to it's commitment assuring their planholder's educational expenses. Haay naku, nadagdagan na naman ang mga nanay na magpo-protesta. First to be in the same situation is CAP. True to their slogan 'The First, The Largest', sila ang unang bumagsak, sila na pinakamalaki.

We got a plan for Vince in 2000. The P9600 quarterly payment is big deal but since sya pa lang ang anak at that time, pinagtyagaan na namin. March 2005 is our final obligation with CAP. April na ngayon pero di pa kami bayad. Ang hirap kasing maglabas ng perang pinaghirapan sa isang bagay na malamang eh talo. Di naman pwedeng hindi bayaran or else you loose any chance of recovering in the future.

Mas nakakaawa yung mas maliit na tao. Para sa mga ex-Saudiboy na jobless na ngayon, educational plan lang ang pag-asa ng mga anak nila na makapag-aral. Sana these companies would care enough to realize this.

Anything you text could be used against you....

Nabasa ko yan sa Inquirer nung Saturday. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the complainant. Yung text message ng defendant ang isa sa mga strong evidences na nagdiin sa kanya.

Pabor ako sa ganyang mga rulings. Medyo nakakainis na kasi yung mga malicious text messages na kumakalat ngayon. May bangko na muntik nang mag-bankrun dahil sa text. Di pa patay si Pope, sa text tsugi na sya. Nung isang araw lang may nag-txt sa akin na lilindol ng malakas nang 5pm (ang galing, may oras pa). Sana nga magkaron na ng batas na magpo-prosecute ng mga gumagawa ng txts na yan.

My mom's frustration

Last year pa naming pinaghahandaan ang tourist visa application ng nanay ko. Sabi ng sister nya, sagot nya ang gastos. My aunt has been in the US since 1971. Gusto nya sigurong makatikim ng bakasyon grande ang nanay ko.

April 14, di na ako pumasok sa office. We met at Wendy's at 10am. Kasama nya si HO, bitbit ko naman si Vince. She had this huge bag where all her documents are contained. Aside sa mga required docs, may dala rin syang pictures nilang magkapatid (including a big one black 'n white picture taken when they were younger), yearbook ng school (meron syang isang maliit na elem school), certificate of appreciation for the schools participation in a town activity, etc.

12:30pm pa naman ang sched pero nandon pumasok na kami sa embassy ng 11:30. Sa may gate, I noticed that the guard has our last name on his name plate. Pamangkin pala yon ng tatay ko. In fact, inaanak pa nga sya ng nanay ko. Dahil dito, I was able to enter the premise. Sumama ako dun sa mga initial steps. Pagdating sa interview area naghiwalay na kami. Sa tantsa namin, mga 3pm pa sya matatapos. Kesa maghintay sa labas sa pagkainit-init. HO, Vince and I went to Robinsons Ermita.

Nung bumalik kami sa embassy, naghihintay na si mommy sa labas. From a distance, I could see sadness in her face. Oh no! Tama ang kutob ko, denied sya. What made us really upset is the fact that it was her hearing problem that caused it. May mga tanong na medyo di nya marinig kaya pinauulit nya. On the second time, sinabihan sya ng "I don't want to be repeating myself." Ang taray! On the third instance, she was told that she's not eligible. What!!! Just because she was hearing impaired she could not travel to the US. I think that is so unfair, very non-sense. We couldn't do anything. Di naman kasi right ng pinoy ang makapunta sa US. It's their prerogative.

My mom is determined to give it another try. Next time, sasama na ako para mas may laban. You just wait, she'll have her "revenge".

My little princess

This is Shannen. A few more days and my little princess will be a yr old. Parang kelan lang nagla-labor ako for the second time. Ngayon nakikipagkulitan na ako sa kanya.

Shannen Hankins-Say was born on May 2, 2004. The pregnancy went on fine. The delivery was ok as well. On May 4, the doctor said we could be discharged. Tuwang-tuwa lahat ng taong makakita kay Shannen dahil she's a mixture of a lot of races. Mestisong chinese ang tatay nya. May lahing american naman ang nanay nya.

A few hours after we arrived in Bulacan, I noticed something unusual in my daughter. Although masigla sya, ang dalas naman nyang mag-LBM. This could be fatal esp. to a very small baby so we decided to take her again to the hospital the following day. The doctors at UDMC gave her lab tests to see what's causing the problem. The results said nothing wrong. The Pedia ordered the confinement of my 3 days old baby for fear of dehydration.

Shannen was placed in the nursery. Howevr, since she has already been exposed to contaminated environment, she was stayed away from the newborns. Doon sa isang maliit na room sya na-check-in. Bawal don ang bantay at may kahigpitan sa pagtanggap ng bisita. I visit her in the morning then leave after a few hours (medyo malayo din kasi yon sa Malabon). I am so thankful to Kristine Hermosa for keeping her company. Yun kasing billborad nya sa may Welcome Rotonda eh eksakto sa bintana ng room.

On May 6, rashes appeared all over Shannen's body. This helped the doctors conclude that she's allergic to cow's milk protein (from infant formula). The pedia ordered my daughter to stay there for a few more days so that they could monitor her.

Those were the longest 6 days of my life. Can you imagine how tormented I was everytime I leave the hospital? It's painful enough to know that your child is sick and leaving her behind is excruciating. Buti wala akong post-partum noon kundi baka naloka na ako. Nakakabaliw talaga.

I love Daddy!

I bought a mug for my dad on his 62nd birthday. That was 6yrs ago. It's not really an expensive one but I like what's printed on it - "I love Daddy". My dad is not a perfect father but we love him dearly. Paborito nyo ako, actually kung sino kasi ang kaharap nya, yung ang paborito nya. When asked who's his favorite child, he's quick to say "Syempre ikaw". Ang cute 'di ba.
July 31, 1999 was a devastating day for my family. I got a call from my sister informing me that my dad had a heart attack. I was 7 months pregnant with Vince then. Sayang, di man lang nya nakita ang unang apo nya. He would have been a wonderful grandfather.
Happy birthday, Dad. miss u =)