Posts made in June, 2008
Asthma and Allergies
What triggers my allergies?
Same-o, same-o. Dust, hairballs, dustballs, smoke, pollution… Food? Eggplant triggers my allergies. Chocolate triggers my children’s allergies as well, especially those dark, gooey chocolates…
I love to cook. However since I am very much aware of the food allergies of my children and myself, I tend to veer away from the “bad ingredients.” Usually eggplants and some seafoods, trigger the sniffles and most often turns into asthma and wheezing later in the evening. Spiffy, huh?
Read MoreWhen Mom Gets Sick
When one is economically strapped, one tends to shake and roll on the signs of any sickness. Sadly, my children and I are often plagued with allergies that triggers our asthma attacks. After awhile I have not have any asthma attacks, only those pesky allergic rhinitis which just means endless sniffles in the morning and goes away as the day progresses. But now, the asthma is back. I whizz at night and early mornings now… I went to the clinic a week ago and the doctor presribed those usuals: Ventolin, Seritide and Virlix (eyes-rolled)
What else is new? My children have the same medications only on smaller doses… What I find amusing was the fact that my cupboard is starting to look like a mini-pharmacy already.
Does anybody want some?
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Read MoreWhen Death Sneaks In
He is not here; but far away
The noise of life begins again,
And ghastly thro’ the drizzling rain
On the bald street breaks the blank day.Absence, Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892)
When my mother died, I went blank When my brother died, my world stopped.
Death has a strange way of putting our own lives in perspective. In my lifetime, I had 2 close friends who died when I was under 12 years old and 2 family members. My brother died when I was 25. My mother died when I was 31.
Mylene and Roxanne died when I was in elementary school. Both died of some disease that we more or less knew they were going to die, like my mother. My mother had some heart disease, and she has been having those tiny strokes for 2 years prior to her death last year. My brother died unexpectedly. He was a robust man. He traveled to Manila, took a plane, attended to a meeting, felt headache and couldn’t breathe, went to Makati Med for a check up after officemates insisted, next day, he died. Myocardial infarction. He died at the age of 42.
My mother died at the age of 54. She died the day of my son’s birthday and the day we arrived in Manila from abroad. The day my mother died was bittersweet for me. My children and I were in Bangkok safely, and looking forward to coming home. I only heard of my mother’s death 2 days after. My world paused, and I had to know what my priorities were that time and I moved.
When people close to me died, I realized that they are gone. I speak of my brother with happiness and pride at all times. His memories are still alive but those are all but memories. My mother left a huge mark on my life and her existence had formed me as a person more than my father had. I am more my mother than anybody else. Living with my father now and realizing how much my mother had given to our lives and her relationship with my father made me understand the real meaning of companionship and dedication of couples to each other and the vow they took decades ago. But this entry is not about that. This is about memories that we allow ourselves to be immersed in and how we allow the memories of the dead interplay with our current lives. Their lives cease to exist, but their memories lingers as long as we allow them to be.
Read MoreOblation Run
My first Oblation Run was in 1993. That was my first and only Oblation Run. I remembered my blockmates and I were all elbow to elbow, sweating along with alot of excited freshmen at AS 101 lobby. We were all busy discussing who amongst our batchmates were applicants of the Alpha Phi Omega Fraternity and if we could guess who is who just be seeing their uncovered bodies…
There was even two television crews waiting for the APO men to pass the AS lobby. Alot of the freshmen were excited girls all eyes agog. Most were virgins like me who couldn’t wait to see a naked (ney-ked) man before. 
I remembered hearing screaming from gays, young girls and men alike. There were pushing and craning of necks… I was one of the small ones, squashed and push aside… my friends and I were complaining for not seeing anything but masked men screaming while running on the corridors– until one if the naked men was lifted up for all of us to see.
We were enamored… excited… then nothing… some grumbled as they scurry and we heard some of the girls saying, “ayyyy, ang panget– ang liit” I guess some were disappointed. But I wasn’t. I was happy to be a part of it. Though I was sardined between squeeling girls and gay guys, I basked in the glory of being a student of UP.
Read MorePrice of Rice– What Happened?
The price of rice in my next door sari-sari store has increase again. From P44 to P46 per kilo. Though I do not buy rice by the kilo, I am very much aware with the daily increase of the price of rice. What has happened? My friend at the Department of Agriculture swear there isn’t any shortage of rice in the country and that the cause of the increase is that rice all over the world is simply increasing. Well… might be true. Everything else is increasing. Look at the prices of canned goods and gasoline! I weep every time my family heads for the city. My Dad’s old car guzzles gasoline too much, well that is another post… but anyway, the price of unleaded gasoline today was P49. Imagine that…
I cannot believe we are importing rice from Vietnam and even the US. What happened to us? I remember when I was in grade school, Luzon was the “rice grannery of the Philippines.” What happened? According to the source above, our rice import has increased by 28% compared to last year. How can we be self-sufficient when our own farmers are not being aided by the government? Who are we helping? The economy of Vietnam and Thailand? Our government is projecting a 98% rice self-sufficiency by 2010… I echo willy Marbella, the KMP deputy secretary general, “Yap must be dreaming.”
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