batch tapok

Batch '78 tapok again last May 19 when Jane was here. This was at Sundown, the new bar and resto right beside Caltex Station across Robinson's Place.

The usual suspects are here: Abe, Grace, ako, Leolyn, Luis, Debonaire, Eugene, Marie, Bong S., Edu, Dodging, Rummel, Eric, Jane, Chona, Zenov, Joey.

lovely family

My dear friends Erlyn, Atit and their children: Gabby, Kurt and Kyle, before the boys had their hair cut.

manila group

As serendipity would have it, Batch 78 Manila group had a tapok while I was in Manila last week. Here we are all warmified in the photo, even as Evalyn and I were shivering in the centralized airconditioned home of Atit and Erlyn.

From left to right: Evalyn, Sheila F., ako, Judge Bel, Erlyn, Justice Atit, Rolito and Alan D.



Not in the pic are: Hya, because she has moved to Dumaguete (!), Mitch, kay latecomer, and Leouel, kay stranded somewhere in the highlands of Northern Luzon. Leouel was supposed to treat the batch at The Fort, but everybody thought that was too far away in Taguig, so the new venue was Atit and Erlyn's place in Quezon City. Which was just as well, because all roads from the mountainous north were impassable due to rains and landslides, and we would have washed dishes in upscale The Fort since our sponsor couldn't make it.

This was our sinfully scrumptious menu: sisig (this was the second time I had sisig in a cardiologist's home. the first was at Silai's house. is sisig now cardiologically approved? hehe), kinilaw na bangus (I loved this!!), talong salad, steamed tilapia, pork something (I didn't eat this), sinigang ba baboy (I ate the kangkong leaves only) and pork barbeque. (I am also wondering why we had all that pork.)

For dessert we had caramelized saba banana (banana que gud), mixed nuts with dates (gailog mi ni Mitch sa dates), cassava pudding, assorted pastries, AND turns at their electric massage chair! Half the group had karaoke singing at their music room while the other half stayed downstairs for some serious catching up chika.

Overall: Great company and food! Glad I was able to attend. Thank you, Manila Group!

eating durian

and loving it.

The people I know who like to eat the controversial durian do so with an intensity and gusto that border on well, ecstasy. No matter how naysayers try to dissuade them from partaking of the evil-smelling spiny fruit, the durian aficionados just smile their knowing smiles and dig in with alacrity. They claim that whatever (minor) discomfort brought about by the strong smell of the fruit is quickly dispelled by its exquisite taste. So much so that after a while, you'll say, "Smell? What smell? Durian tastes and smells heavenly!"

Here are Abbe, Lai and Chona. Bon appetit!

on your mark...


get set...

a-ha-ha-yummmmm!

Now for the next round

_________________________

p.s.

Just don't get caught with this fruit in Singapore's public transpo system, ok?!

batch project

In case you didn't know, it is a tradition of SUHS graduates to have a "batch project". This is an activity or an endeavor which the batch deems worthy of time, effort and finances. Through the years (31 and counting) since we graduated from SUHS in 1978, we have had different projects like donating appliances and tents to our alma mater. The latest project has been the sponsorship of one poor but deserving student through four years of high school education.

Our batch is currently in deep and lively discussions as to what our next project would be because our high school scholar will hopefully graduate this coming March 2010. As is natural in a democratic country, everyone has their own opinion and everyone is encouraged to express these and at the same time listen to and respect the opinion of others. That is why up until this time, we still have not come up with a decision as to what our next project is going to be.

There is one project though that the batch seems unanimous about, and this has been an "ongoing-project" for years now, but for one reason or another it has not come to fruition. Yet.

View these photos and see how Batch '78 exerts time, effort and enthusiasm in bringing about the success of project: Ang Pag-iisang Dibdib ni T and Z. ;-)

::hapon sa hardin::

Bong R. ever the persuasive choreographer

Diri, diri lagi


Alagbay pud

'Peace' daw ingon si T


::pagka-gabii dayun::


Ang sweet naman... ng dessert ba. (ug tan-awa ang nawong ni Joey)


Ito na naman si Bong. New choreography



Diri ng kamot ba


Fitting the ring?


Hay, kasadya baya


::under the table scene::


Matud pa ni Joey: "Your honor, based on the angles and shadows in the image, I can prove in court that there exists an _______________ relationship between the the owners of these lower extremities!' (Ay, amew!)

reunion

tony wuz here

Batch '78 is at it again...

We had a dinner tapok at Rummel's place last Wednesday to plan for our upcoming Founder's Day activities and also to plan for our next batch project as our high school scholar is already in her senior year and hopefully will graduate this coming March. As perfect timing would have it, Tony N., was in Dumaguete, on vacation with his wife, Miloy, and their youngest daughter who is on her summer break from school in California. So we had a most scrumptious lechon, salamat, Ton!

Abbe and Tony

health care, a world of difference

One of the many things that struck me about my classmate Cado's heart attack story is how advanced the health care system of first world countries is. It also reminds me of something that happened only last March to a local doctor, BGS, who had a heart attack while attending a medical conference in Egypt. Immediately, from the time of diagnosis, Cado and Dr. BGS had stents inserted within hours of the myocardial infarction. If either of the guys had the heart attack in Dumaguete, neither would have survived as we just do not have such capabilities (angiography and stenting) here at present. And I am thinking, even if the MIs happened in Manila, the harrowing traffic (without emergency lanes) would significantly decrease the victim's chance of reaching the hospital alive.

We in third world Philippines, especially in the provinces, have a long way to go in terms of health care technology and economics. Sharing here again are more of Cado's MI event, diagnosis, treatment and recovery, in his emailed reply to my asking him permission to share his experience in my weblog.

________________________

...OK ra kaayo!

I actually would like to spread my personal experience around and make people start realizing that our hearts do need our TLC, as well. I just happen to be in a country where the medical care profession/industry is quite advanced. Otherwise, I know I would have been a goner in another place! Let me enlighten you regarding Canada ’s Health Care System. We pay our health care premiums, but if you work, the company pays for it. In my stay in the hospital, the Cardiologist/Physician, the room/ward, the meals, the ambulance, the MRI, the different tests I had, the medicines, were all paid for. I only started to pay for the medicines when I got out, everything was taken out of the health care insurance. I’m not trying to brag here, just to let you see the picture. I had a friend who has leukemia and everything’s been taken cared of, she doesn’t have to worry about a thing. Delivery of babies is free. You can even take home some disposable diapers on the way out.

Actually, we did have an alternative at the time of the incident, it's calling 911 Emergency services. The ambulance would have been on my doorstep within minutes. But because I didn't anticipate I had something extremely wrong, it never even registered on my mind to use it. So we ended up waiting in line on the Urgent Care Clinic till it opened up (very bad) ;-(

If I remember correctly, the angiogram and angioplasty was done in less than 40 minutes. I myself was quite amazed at how fast the operation went. It was only after the doctors told me they had inserted the stent did I even think of the Lord and realized how He could have changed things, but instead, He gave me another chance in life. Still trying to figure out what my purpose is, though ;-o)

Melinda emailed me shortly, too. Apparently, Hector Katada was her Uncle. I managed to speak with him for a short while, they were heading home within the hour when I saw him. He had a mild one, but he had other complications, too. He had diabetes. So his case seemed much more complicated than mine.

Anyway, feel free to use this letter of mine, and hopefully somebody would benefit from it in some way. I have taking time off work, this would be week 1 of 4 and taking it easy, dealing with constant blood tests (every three days, down from two) for my INR to determine the correct dosage of warfarin (blood thinner) to take. Even while simple gardening, I get dizzy spells when standing up because of lowered blood pressure from the drugs. Although still very agile, I definitely have lost energy and stamina compared to before. And I am more conscious everytime there’s a slight pain on my chest, I keep the nitroglycerine spray handy. If I feel any chest pain, I have two instances to spray it at the back of my tongue in 5 minute intervals, and after 10 minutes, if I still feel discomfort, that’s when I call our emergency services, 911. Hopefully, I would get back stronger in time.

Best Regards,

Cado/Lotz/chin2

a heart attack

Our SUHS Batch '78 Yahoo Groups Website has come alive these past weeks with well-wishes, prayer requests and thanksgiving because one of our beloved classmates, 47-year-old Cado DMaX of Calgary, Alberta, had a massive heart attack, and survived it. With Cado's permission, I'm sharing his story with everyone.


__________



Hi Everyone,

Thanks for all the prayers, I made it!

I experienced a massive heart attack (MI-Myocardial infarction) last Apr 24 (I had 100% blockage PCI to pLAD) while on the way to work.

I started having pains in the center of my chest, which I thought was a just a bad case of heartburn. It became worst, that I started to have shortness of breath, as well.

Fridays is when Lolits comes with me on the way to work. She suggested that we go to a hospital, I kinda ignored her because of the 'hospital' word. Even though I was experiencing a lot of discomfort, I was still adamant to go to work (hoping that the pain would subside).

Then she said the magic word, about going to a clinic, and that's the only time I agreed and diverted to the nearest possible urgent care clinic, as per advise of a friend. Unfortunately, the clinic opens up at exactly 0800, we were there around 0735, so the wait was extremely agonizing.

Needless to say, when my turn came, the nurse diagnosed right away that I was in the middle of a heart attack. They immediately called the ambulance and gave me nitroglycerin spray, ecg, blood thinning tablets and morphine for pain, then sent to the furthest hospital, but was apparently the better hospital to go to.

Arriving there we went straight to the operating room, stripped off my clothes, cleaned up, IV's put in, then they started angiogram on me. I could feel the blood coming out of my wrist where they inserted the catheter, cold feeling, burning, throbbing sensation when it went in. I was able to see my throbbing heart on screen and after 30-40 minutes they finished inserting the stent. I had 100% blockage, so I was lucky that I made it.

I'm out of the hospital now, but taking four weeks off work, but have additional blood tests to contend to and medicines (lots of blood thinners) as well as having a totally different meal altogether, no fat, low sodium, no cholesterol, no trans fat....

During my stay in the hospital, I was doing my own 'Rounds' as well, too (I got bored after day two). In one of my rounds, I did see the name Katada on one of the rooms, we were on the cardiac recovery floor, 8th. So when I checked my mails that's when I noticed that there were two of us Alumnis that were admitted, same day to boot. He's on the older side, I think 1968.

Picture this: we just finished our periodic annual exam, everything normal, ECG, Blood Sugar, Cholesterol, Uric. So was all the results since we've started doing this, 2000. I've also stopped smoking since 00. Saturday was my first game of tennis with a compatriot, then the attack on Friday. Maybe a plaque came off during that time.

So I guess my genes (Dad died of it at age 51, then lately my Mom had her three-stent operation in 05) played a big role in here, because there seems to be more constricted areas than just the affected area. If you have it in your genes, I'd advise you to be careful.

I thank the Lord for giving me another lease in life.

Best Regards to all,
Cado DMaX

Chelsa Cacaldo, M.D.

Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) Exemplary Person awardee.

Doctor to the barrios, "fearless doctor in the hinterlands"

Chelsa and the Visayan Forum representatives (Excellent Institution awardee), flanked by members of the RAFI.

And of course, Chelsa with Batch '78 during our 30th reunion last August.

fave hang out: shakey's

Here's SUHS Batch '78 again at Shakey's Dumaguete this evening.

(cw)Grace B., John Joseph, Ariel and wife, Chona, Diana C.

(ccw) Mike Du, Abbe, Zenovia, Chona K., Luis (partially hidden), Eugene N., ako, Marie, Eric. L., Tatoy, Edu

not the usual suspects, l-r

Chona and Ariel Florendo (from NSO Dgte)
Mike Du (all the way from Polomolok, Gen San)
Diana (from Manila, visiting daughter in SU)
*John Joseph (from Stockton, Ca) * tonight's sponsor

Though we were really happy to be with each other again after not having gathered for a while, the smiles for the pictures had to be coaxed out of most everyone. For the tone of the evening was quite somber and talk was mostly about unpleasant topics like (1) the spate of killings in the city, (2) the "price range" of hired guns, (3) the proliferation of illegal practices in Dumaguete and Negros Oriental because the "masterminds" are very rich and able to buy off the police, the military and the judiciary, (4) the recent nationwide bank fiasco, (5) how bad the economy is in America (this one from John), (6) illnesses, (7) people we know who are now "in-between-jobs" and for the boys, (8) business ventures and (9) the upcoming 2010 national and local elections. And, yeah, (10) the very recent threatening call to one of the hospitals here where the caller said another doctor is going to be %#@* soon. What's the world coming to, Mama?

Will you be my friend?

On Facebook, that is!

Last month my high school barkada and college roommate, Cristine Flores, invited me to join Facebook. And I did. And then forgot all about it. I don't know what happened but this week I found myself logging on to Facebook again and before I knew it, I found one long lost friend after another. It was such fun!

Every friend found was a special reconnection but this one stands out: Marite Rodriguez, my wacky Cuban classmate, with whom I've gone on many, many adventures in high school. The last time we saw each other was ten years ago, during the Holy Week of 1999, when we had a most wonderful and memorable SUHS reunion in Washington, DC. Before and after that, Marite would send me a Christmas card every December and every now and then I would send her emails but she never answered my emails and I never sent her a Christmas card. After all these years, suddenly talking with her through Facebook just made my day!

In church last night, I told my young (teenagers and young adults) friends, hey, I sent you a message on Facebook! Let's be friends, ha. They freaked out. "Ate, you're on Facebook? Cool! I'll tell my Mom, so she'll be on Facebook, too." As in?!

What's going on ba? Facebook fever in the Philippines? Actually, yes. Check out this timely Inquirer article called "Facebook me" that, Alex Pal, sent me a link to.

So now, if you'll excuse me, I'm signing off to go find more Facebook Friends. ;-)

Dumaguete Delicacies

Ivon's baye-baye, from Bayawan

Made from grounded glutinous rice, cooked with shredded coconut and sugar. Except for the shape, this is similar to the espasol in Luzon, particularly Laguna.

Banana Que Foreverrrrr

Fried saba bananas with caramelized brown sugar, skewered on bamboo sticks for easier biting into. Who can resist these?

Nilung-ag nga saging

My number one favorite of all time. Boiled semi-ripe bananas dipped in fish bagoong. You can also do this with boiled camote and with green mangoes. Or you can use uyap/shrimp bagoong instead of fish bagoong. Yummy all the way. Just watch your blood pressure and blood sugar. ;p

These are not my pictures. Thank you very much to the sources, OTOP (One Town One Product) and Market Manila! Click on the images to see where I got them from.

This post was inspired by some people who said that they missed Dumaguete food. Well, these are just some of our old time favorites. As for the other fave foods, hopefully I will be able to take their pictures myself, sometime this year. ;p

take two

[This is a continuation of yesterday's post, as that one was aborted by power outages, the electrical and the human kind.]

A fun story needs to be told more than once, that's why this post is a rehash of the same events, as seen from Mitch's eyes. Also, telling the same story over and over again is a hallmark of advancing age. ;p It is so. Isn't it? Is.

__________


ONE MORE TIME, KASADYA GAYUD!

My holidays are always spent in Dumaguete, without fail. Moreso now that my mother is still trying to fill in the shoes of Santa after my dear Papa passed on about two years ago. Apart from the eagerness and excitement of seeing my family and other relations anew, I always look forward to meeting my “batchmates for life” from SUHS Class of 1978 – whether through chance encounters in downtown Perdices Street or in spur of the moment “tapok tapok” sessions.

Allow me to share with you some snippets of what transpired this time around.

29 December 2008

My mobile phone had two text messages from Hya and Zenovia that Ingrid G. was in town and wanted to meet the gang. Then Meling wanted to be sure that it was not a chain-text message. I wondered why the burden had to be on me ...

And so it was set: “Tapokation” at Hayahay for dinner. Bring yourselves. (Translation: For those who are curious, Hayahay is an open-air restaurant of sorts located down the Lo-oc Street; a dirt road separates it from the open sea. It has nightly folk singers that compete with the voices of the customers. Mas yagaw pa gyud sa disco-han days of yore. That night, I thought the oldie singer had seen better days and should think of an alternative job. Surely, a tremolo-ridden voice doesn’t sound good for country and folk ditties).

While I was at the ICU of Holy “Charge” Hospital visiting a sick aunt, Zenovia sent me another text message that the group was near the stage. I reckoned they had to be near the performer as some were either hearing or visually challenged already. Erlyn added they were waiting for me na gyud kuno. Ni-text pud akong Mama that Dr. Meling passed by our house and asked for me. I never felt so wanted in my life.

I was at the scene of the crime (sa Hayahay ba, in case you don’t follow anymore) at a quarter past seven. It didn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to spot out the usual suspects – pot-bellied beer-guzzling chaps, and full-bodied women with bored looks. Beso-beso dayon tanang tawo sa kalibutan. Gasagol ang mga Section A, B, C, D ug E – Meling, Erlyn and Atit, Neri T. and hubby, Susan F., Zoe A. and hubby, Sandra F., Bong S., Adeliza O., Eric L., Grace B., Natoy V., Father Abraham, Zenovia the Great, Sexy Hya (who is thinking of relocating back to Dumaguete; naa na siyay brand new house sa Valencia), and Bobby R. who is a dead-ringer for Gov. Dodo Macias. Just before we changed our venue, Pam G. showed up, and left ra pud dayon. Naa dagway gahulat, unsa ba?

I hope I didn’t miss anybody. Pasaylo-a gyud ko ug naay nalimtan.

Gabaha gyud ang beer ug uban pang drinks, sinugbang maya-maya (heavenly!), grilled pork chop, et cetera. We were “fed up” (mao daw ni ang correct term sa busog gyud kaayo). Salamat kaayo, Ingrid. Maayo baya ni siyang himuon ug model kay wala gyud siya mausab – same face, same hair, same everything. Compliment baya ni, Ingrid, ok?

At close to midnight, sakay sa among mga motor, awto ug uban pa...we transferred to Why Not? Disco sa boulevard entertainment row. Mura gyud ug mga tin-edyer pa! Walay kakapuy to the max. Wa pa gani moabot ang among order nga drinks, ga-sayaw-sayaw dayon mi sa dance floor. Nag dejavu dayon ko. It was as if time stood still and we were in high school all over again. Sadya-a uy! The band leader, my cousin, played age-appropriate ska and reggae music.

I had to go home at half past midnight. Ceasefire usa ko sa beer kay mag-motor pa baya ko pauli sa amo. Some went home, while others chose to go elsewhere. What a full day. I think I smiled all the way home. Really, it feels good to be with friends.

2 January 2009

Ni-text si Meling asking if anybody was available for a post-Christmas potluck party for the batch. Pagdala pud kuno ug P50-worth of exchange gift, something funny daw. Although Rummel didn’t know it yet, it was a unanimous decision that his palatial domicile would be our party place. Kay mao gyuy nahitabo.

At past seven, people started to trickle in, gadala ug pagkaon nga giplastic, gi-cutrite, gi-reynold’s wrap; uban may regalo, uban nalimot nga may exchange gift (typical gyud ni at this age, limtanon na). Nagdungan mi ug abot si Susan and youngish company (naughty remark this one: “cousin” kuno niya – hala sige, ‘kasin-’ ig-agaw gud). When Hya and I arrived, ga “sing-al” (sing-along ba) na si Host Rummel, Joemar T. and wifey, Neri’s husbandry, Bong S. ug si Natoy. The “buffet table” was guarded by Neri T., Ingrid and Sandra F. Naa pay wrapper ang dakong lechon aron crispy ra gihapon. Dinuguan, litson manok, puso (hanging rice gud), siomai, baye-baye, mango float, seedless grapes, binakhaw (baling halanga, pero lami), pansit canton, pansit bihon, etc. Free flowing ang ice-cold drinks.....

Si Sister Zenovia ang nag-prayer. Kaon na pud! Others in attendance were, Leolynn and hubby, Dr. Meling, Dr. Bong R., Bobby R., Joey A., Father Abraham. Over dinner, naay viewing sa video of the batch’s 30th year reunion last August. Alegre gyud kaayo.

Games na pud ... Si Meling ang game hostess. Actually, the first game by Susan F. involved eggplants nga ibutang sa ilalum sa crotch of the guys and the girls were supposed to hold them. Ay, ambut kay objection man dayon kay bastos daw... Charade na lang, sige ug change sa rules; tanan naay reklamo; may mga protesta; pwerteng daghanang violations. Ang prize? Talong lang gihapon.

Exchange gift na ... I-explain man jud ug nganong funny ang gift. Basta sadya gyud!

Sing-along na pud.... Hay, kalami sa kinabuhi!

Alas Dos na sa buntag ... 3 January 2009 na.... Mangape ta sa Dunkin’ Donuts, the only place open sa Dumaguete. Brewed coffee tanan, one loooong table. Repeat na pud sa mga istorya sa kagahapon. Katawa. Agik-ik. Alas Tres na. Manguli na ta ...

MITCH D.
3 January 2009

zenov leading the boys (tatoy, abbe, eric, bong r.) in a hilarious hep-hep-hurray game

opening my gift... something for the bathroom

the funniest gift of the night: an almost empty bottle of lotion, kasi worth 50 pesos lang naman ang usapan, di ba?

getting ready for... volleyball...


... spike? (set? block? shoot? we all got confused because they were mixing up their games and actions!)


mao ni ang ... basketball...shoot!



are we having fun yet?

Happy faces in the New Year

leolyn, mitch, ingrid, hya, joemar

grace, rummel, bong r., bong s., sandra

tatoy, eric, joey, neri

zenov, tes, abbe, bobby, ako

susan, neri's hubby, deb, joemar's wife, gary

how'd you like my long hair? made by bong r. on his iPhone. want to photoshop the eyebags but don't know how

and here's joey with Some Hair, also by bong's iPhone

not in my own words

...because once is not enough.

[was arranging the pics when the lights went off. continued to work using batteries. when the electricity came back and the internet connection was restored, it was my eyes and brain and that went off. zzzz. tomorrow na pud.]

...and one more

Every now and then, not very often, I wish I could write something profound and deep and reflective and moving, other than the chronicling of the parties that I've attended or the food groups that I've eaten. But more often than not, the wish remains a wish as it's hard to squeeze something out that isn't there in the first place, right? Maybe being deep is a gift that I don't have, or maybe treading on the shallow end is a protective mechanism as plumbing deep might unearth monsters and whatnots, or worse, nothingness.

Having said that, may I just jump right in and proceed to tell you about yet another gettogether last night, the Batch '78 Christmas/New Year Party. It was a spur of the moment decision and we didn't spend a lot of time planning about it. The only preparation we made was to find a funny gift worth 50 pesos and to bring a dish for the potluck. Ingrid donated the lechon, Marites brought dessert, and host Rommel provided the drinks and the karaoke. We all forgot about the rice but no problem, there were a lot of puso in the tiangge.

"puso" aka "hanging rice"

While I'm at this, let me enumerate the food that we had: dinuguan, kinilaw na super fresh isda from Bayawan, pancit canton, siomai, lechon baboy and lechon manok, isol ng manok (chicken ass), mango float, black sambo, and baye-baye (Bayawan's specialty) which in Manila is called espasol.

During dinner, Abbe played the video coverage of our weeklong August reunion. This was made by a professional videographer we especially hired for the event. It's quite a long video (seven days worth!) and computer wiz Tatoy is assigned to chop it up and upload it to Youtube for all batchmates to see.

After dinner we had a riot playing games like charades, hep-hep-hurray, black magic and the zany baseball-bat/volleyball-spike/basketball-shoot game. It was such fun as everybody "participated" which means before we could start a game there was a lot of discussion about the rules and regulations because everybody had their own input about how the games should be played, much to the consternation of gamemasters Zenovia, Leolyn and me.

Then we had the exchanging of funny gifts where we sang Love my Manito/Manita. It wasn't the ordinary manito/manita though because we had to explain our gift and why or how it would be useful for the recipient, whose names we just picked that night from folded paper. These are some of the gifts we got: balatong, efficacent oil, sanitary balm, stuffed toy, diaper, talong, joke book, toothbrush holder, an almost empty bottle of lotion and dish towels.

It was way past midnight already and some of us had to go home so our president, Abbe, made a little speech to officially close the party then we all held hands in a circle as Zenovia lead us in a group prayer. Then we had group singing of Christmas carols followed by individual-pass-the-mike karaoke singing. I so love Mitch's singing voice so I stayed to listen to him for a while. He is basically a bass (Basso Profundo) but can also sub for baritone. He used to be a member of the SU Men's Glee Club and is presently with the Ellinwood Chancel Choir, Psalm Ensemble and Joyous Voices Chorale.

Oh, one last thing. This is probably the rainiest, windiest Christmas break that I can remember. It's been raining on and off, especially this last week of December and beginning of January. Most of us were in hooded jackets in Rommel's windy terrace.

The pictures are in Bong R.'s amazing new iPhone but he is at the golf course now so the pictures will have to be for later.

at it again

Yes, SUHS Class '78 is at it again. Meaning, nagkundat na pud. Last night's sumptuous dinner at Hayahay ended at two am with dancing at Why Not Disco. And today we had karaoke and budbud time at Rommel's place in Daro.

And on January 2, which has been declared a holiday, we'll have a New Year Party and exchanging of funny gifts, again at Rommel's place. And they say there's going to be a majong table, too. Hmm.

To all our batchmates scattered all over the world, wish you were here! Hope to see you this coming 2009!

ernie, antoinette and batch '78

Today is my cousin Ernie's (aka Bingbong) wedding to Antoinette and almost all my relatives are in Cebu to attend the big event but here I am, left alone in Dumaguete... duty calls and all that. I was supposed to follow them (my relatives who kept running commentaries and updates by text messaging) as soon as possible but it turned out work finished at almost seven pm so it was way too late to go to Cebu.

It wasn't too late though to attend the Batch '78 Christmas gathering held at the Hayahay Restobar in Piapi. This was an instant tapok as text messages started circulating at around 6 pm already, but a good number of Batch '78ers were there. Atit, Erlyn, Mitch and Hya from Manila were present as well as the usual Dumaguete suspects.

This year's Christmas party was sponsored by Ingrid G., who is on vacation from Obama country Chicago. Ingrid was here in 2007, twenty-two years after she left the country. And Ingrid so thoroughly enjoyed that last visit that she vowed she'll come home more often. And the very next year, 2008, she made good on her promise. Salamat, Ingrid, for the tons of delicious food we (over)ate!

my RL and VL collide

This post is dedicated to Vicki, a Dumaguetena who now resides in Germany, whom I met virtually through this weblog!

Several weeks back I mentioned in a post that once upon a time, during high school, I used to have a German penpal, primarily because my friends and I were collecting stamps from exotic countries. Vicki, quick to indulge my affinity for stamps, sent me an "experimental" postcard. Experimental because my real name is not published here and I asked her to just address the postcard to "Dr. A. Nesstajah, c/o Manong Cardo, Operating Room, Silliman Medical Center, Dumaguete City." The name, of course, is derived from my specialty which is anesthesia. Manong Cardo is our male aide at the OR whom I wrote about as my hero at work. Would the Dumaguete Post Office and the hospital receptionist deliver?

Well!! Here's the evidence!

Manong Cardo and the postcard from Germany

Vicki's postcard with classmates Dr. Bong and me, fully scrubbed and gowned this time

After surgery, the surgeons usually buy lunch or dinner for the entire OR staff. Yehey! "Mangaon ta," says Nong Cardo.

To celebrate the meeting of my Real Life and my Virtual Life, coffee and the New York Blueberry Cheesecake at Don Atilano. Ahh!

Vielen Dank, Vicki!

.

who said batch '78 is all binuang?

Consider this story.

midpool posing

It was during the swimming session at the Private Residence that one classmate noticed a big lump on the hip of another classmate. After further examination by a surgeon classmate, a diagnosis was made and surgery recommended.


PRE-OP:

This is the right hip lump, the size of a closed fist. It had been growing for 13 years already.



INTRA-OP:

No, the patient isn't grimacing in pain, nor is he high on opioids. His anesthesia is mainly local plus vocal, as the surgeon amazes all with his operating skills as with his jokes.

This is the fatty mass, grossly diagnosed as a lipoma, that was removed. This picture is intentionally blurry because some viewers might not have the stomach for such images.

POST-OP:

The happy surgeon, patient's wife, anesthesiologist and patient, who has the biggest smile as the anesthesia hasn't worn off yet!

* all perioperative photos were taken and posted with expressed consent from patient himself