Reunions 2016

January has been a reunion month of sorts for me. We flew back to Manila on the 23rd for a family reunion, and I was able to visit D as well as meet up with the Cath Kidston Sisterhood. Yes, there is such a thing. *Cough* We're still waiting for our Cath Kidston endorsement deal and blog sponsorship. Get on with it! *Cough* Actually, kinulit ko talaga sila. Hehehehe. Chismisan galore na naman, natch. But we were careful when gossiping about other, uhmmm, notable bloggers, lest we get the Tina T. treatment. Hahahahahahaha! Seriously, thank you, Leah and Diane. I had a great time chatting with you two! Thank you sa gifts. 

At our favorite rendezvous

The next day,  the whole family trooped to Baguio for the family reunion. Ewan ko ba kung bakit doon pa. I'm not complaining. If you've been reading my blog, you'd know by now that I love that place. I was just wondering 'cause it was still cold in Baguio, and the reunion was held in the [dubious] honor of my two titas who went home from Canada and New Jersey, USA, i.e., both cold, cold places. I mean, why not just go here in Dumaguete, where it is sunshiny all day, everyday? Oh well, like I said, I'm not complaining. It has been so long since I saw my tita from Canada. I was pregnant with Sharkteeth pa when she left for Canada, and ngayon lang sya bumalik. I remember her calling when it was near my due date, comforting me, advising me not to get nervous about giving birth. Well, I wasn't really nervous about it. I figured the human race wouldn't reach this number of population if it's as dangerous as she was purporting it to be. Mas ninenerbyos pa ako nun sa gagastusin ko sa ospital eh. :) My other aunt, Bebeng, visited sometime ago, but I don't remember when exactly. Needless to say, I missed them both and was quite excited to see them again.

The trip to Baguio was uneventful and was fairly quick -- ~4 hours via NLEX and SCTEX. We were all cramped in a van: 1 driver, 6 thandercats, 4 middle-agers/forever young, 3 kiddielets. Given the chance, the kiddielets would have brought their pet Siamese and Maltese. Buti na lang hindi dinala. I cannot share my space again with a dog, no matter how much I love animals. In fairness, comfortable naman. I managed to get dibs sa last row ng van and was able to get some sleep.

We got to St Patrick's Village (SPV) around 10 am and it wasn't check-in time yet.  We proceeded to Mile Hi Camp John Hay, a string of  duty free shops. I was able to buy a couple of stuff, but the store wasn't impressive at all. Their dollar-to-peso conversion rate was close to 50 pesos, 49 if I remember it right, which was significantly higher than the prevailing bank rate that day (January 24). There are lots of clothes, shoes, bags, and food, but many of the clothes are surplus supplies, which you can get cheaply at SM Surplus Shop. What is so galling is that they're selling blatant fakes. Fake bags, fake clothes, fake shoes. Fake! Fake! Fake! I do not have much objection against fake fashion products, but I would want to know if I am buying one, and with Camp John Hay's veneer of kasosyalan, them selling fakes leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Or perhaps that's all there is to it, a veneer.

Anyhoo, after eating brunch, we got a call from SPV that our unit was already available. SPV is beautiful. As in. The villa we got has a driver's quarter, 5 bedrooms (each with either en suite or adjacent bathroom), an attic, a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. It's so peaceful and relaxing there, as it's quite far from the noise and hub of the city.

There are electric fireplaces, which are quite helpful when night-time coldness creeps in.

Each unit has its own kitchen and appliances, although I'd suggest that you bring your own plates and utensils. For a group of 14, the plates and utensils provided by the villa weren't enough. We brought a lot of food and chichirya, but for the main meals, we just bought from the city. The villa provides water for each unit. My aunt wasn't so impressed with the kitchen tops, as they were made of wood, which, while sealed, seems to absorb moisture. We had a very hard time figuring out the gas regulator of the stove. There wasn't any crew around to help us, as it was very early in the morning.

Hey, pogggiiiii...

Oh, it has a spacious veranda as well. It was so cold there during the night that I barely stayed for more than a few minutes.

The beds and sheets are plush and comfortable. Pero syempre, may baon akong unan. I can't sleep with just one pillow kasi. The crew will provide you with more linens and pillows for a fee. Mura lang naman. Parang 100 per set. Oh, walang aircon ang rooms. Of course, malamig naman, but I kinda miss the white noise an aircon provides. Windows are screened, and you can open them without having to worry about mosquitoes.

Tulog agad pag aralan; pag TV, puyatan!

There's a pullout bed and a divan in the attic, where the kids stayed. Oh, merong hidden room sa attic. Too bad, the kids figured it out a bit late. We could have pranked them or something. Alas.

Bago mag-umaga, Sharkteeth came knocking and planted herself on the bed. Ako tuloy ang nawalan ng lugar. *Aping-api na naman si mymy.*


On our first day there, most of us went out to tour the city. Three of the thandercat sisters stayed, Madear, Aunt L, and Aunt Bebeng. The effect of jet lag hit Aunt Bebeng, and she promptly fell asleep, kaya di na nakasama. I think Madear wanted to chat with her sisters, hence she stayed. Meanwhile, we went to Mines View, St. Joseph the Worker Church, the Mansion, Botanical Garden, and Burnham Park. Sharteeth and her cousins and the other thundercatz went to Burnham Park, while my cousin, aunt, and I went the ukayan. I was under strict instructions from Sharkteeth to  look for Precious Moments figurines. Alas, I didn't find any. I was able to buy a lot of stuff though. It's a bit frustrating 'cause my cousin and aunt really wanted to go to the ukay yet they weren't able to buy any. Sa totoo lang, sobrang mahal kasi ng high-end designer items sa Baguio. For me, it's not worth buying a 10K+ bag from the ukay. Well, unless it's a Vuitton trunk or an authentic Hermes or Chanel. We proceeded to Burnham Park to meet with the kids and buy dinner.

Click for panoramic view

Dito daw kinasal sina Aga and Charlene

The following day, after checking out, which was soooooo sad because I really loved our stay in SPV, we went to SM for our lunch. Syempre, papalagpasin ba ni Sharkteeth ang chance to go to National Bookstore? Off-topic: Last December, we went to National Bookstore as well and I found a seemingly stray pack of the Fifty Shades trilogy among packs of children's books. I mean, seriously, Fifty Shades in the children's section?! Aba, this January, andun pa rin talaga. Sinasadya ba ito ng National?

After SM, we went to the palengke, then off to Our Lady of Lourdes. The chapel in Lourdes seems to be a new addition to the place. Even the flowers look newly planted.

Uwian na after ng Lourdes. The kids were so exhausted and slept through most of the trip home. If there is one thing that makes this family reunion distinct from other Pinoy reunions, it's that no one is asked to sing, dance, or perform anything. The whole of the Philippines should be thankful. Hahahaha. We stayed in Bulacan briefly, like for a few hours. Our trip back to Dumaguete was on the first flight the next day and we opted to sleep in the airport. Hay, I'm too old na to be doing this sort of thing, sleeping in airports. But either that or possibly miss our flight again. No contest, really.

While I enjoyed every moment of the brief vacation, it felt so bitin. It seems I wasn't able to spend much time with my aunts, and it would be years before they visit again. Oh well, at least, it's something to look forward to. :)

Credits: Most of the pictures were taken by my beautiful cousin M.

Rant

Warning: This is a long, rant-y post. Medyo nega, pero may masaya din na part. You've been duly warned!!!


A week after Sharkteeth was released from the hospital, she went home from school with fever, headache, and complaints of dizziness. The next day, we went to her pedia. Her pedia listened to S's heart rate and found it to be quite fast. Though tachycardia is not unusual when someone has fever, her pedia got a bit suspicious and listened more intently to her heart. I think some seed of doubt has been planted in her head during S's hospitalization and was looking for a sign/symptom of something. I don't speak Cebuano and I asked her to please speak in Tagalog or English, but while she starts in English, she'd switch to Cebuano midway, and she kept on muttering "rare." She mentioned a rare syndrome that sounded like "Schaecter's," but when I asked her to spell it, she seemed to be not thoroughly familiar with the disease. Parang hihimatayin ako na masusuka na lumalaki ang ulo. That bad. I couldn't speak. Me. Couldn't speak. (Turned out she was referring to Stickler's syndrome.) She recommended a pediatric cardiologist. The cardio isn't accredited by our insurance, and if the the condition is congenital, the 2D echo will not be covered by the insurance, but she has to give a diagnosis first before we can get an approval for the 2D echo from Medicard. All that confused me because how can the cardiologist diagnose the condition if the 2D echo hasn't been done yet? We decided to just pay for the 2D echo and get it over with. I swear, my love-hate relationship with Medicard became hate-hate at that very moment. All their syrupy sales pitch/orientation turned sour in my mouth. The 2D echo went without any hitch, with the technician/nurse and the doctor amused and charmed (nanay ako, pagbigyan na) by S's kadaldalan. (Thank goodness, Tagalog yung pedia cardio nya, hindi na ako nahirapang maintindihan.) The nurse was jokingly saying that S can go by herself next time she needs a checkup because she was the one providing the doctor details about her hospitalization and current symptoms. THANKFULLY, SHARKTEETH'S ♥♥♥HEART♥♥♥ IS OKAY!!! (I think mine wasn't before then. Ka-stresss.) Anyhoo, later, lumabas ang results ng laboratory examination, and it turned out to be a mild case of UTI. Then, nung Monday around 11 am, S called me, saying she has fever, asking me to pick her up from school. I was so afraid. She seemed fine naman but still with low-grade fever. I brought her to her pedia again the next day, who recommended that I bring her to an ENT. Feeling ko halos buong February na kaming pabalik-balik sa hospital. When the ENT examined S's nose, he said that it's still congested and the sinusitis hasn't resolved fully and prescribed a nasal spray. It seems to be helping S, as the mucus really loosened up (sorry, TMI). Kaso praning nga ako, when we got home, I asked S every few minutes how she is. Umabot na sa point na nagalit na sya kasi I was scaring her daw. Hay, what can I do? I'm praning. And I'm a mother. Totally bad combination. You know, sa sobrang paranoia ko, I jump a little whenever someone calls me or sends me an SMS, especially if the number isn't familiar. Kaya naman when she came home from school kanina smiling, bright and chirpy, at panay ang daldal, tuwang-tuwa ako. As in. So happy. 

I love you, bebeh gher!

Eto naman, different topic. Our high school batch will be having a reunion on December. Before the date was settled, one classmate was rallying that it be moved to February next year, during her vacation. She was out-voted because, simply put, most balikbayans go home during December when most reunions, whether alumni or family, are held. Now she's terribly pissed because she didn't get her way. Now she's calling every person whom she thinks is her ally and is telling him/her not to go, otherwise, she won't give her any pasalubong? What the ...?! The temerity, right? I cringe and feel embarrassed for those people who reportedly agreed not to attend. I mean, is there really any pasalubong or an amount of money that can match the reunion? Don't get me wrong. There were many reunions in the past that I didn't attend, but it was totally out of my own volition. Well, maybe if she gives me a million, I won't attend -- then promptly blow the money away by holding ANOTHER reunion, on my tab. I cringe on how she's using money to further her agenda, in the process acting like a spoiled brat. I cringe that there are classmates who are willing to go along with her bratty behavior just for the money. Spell C-H-E-A-P naman. I'm angry that the reunion is being marred by sneaky phone calls and backstabbing and malicious texts. It is ironic to be that sad and pathetic when you're working in the happiest place on earth. 

Way old news, but totally applies. Pera-pera na lang ba?

So there. Yan ang mga bagay-bagay na nag-bother sa akin recently. Though yung second issue, ultimately, keber lang sa akin 'yan, especially pag pino-problema ko si S. To close this, ang masasabi ko lang: napakahirap maging ina. Uulitin ko: The pain you feel when your child is in pain is magnified so many times. I'd rather give birth without epidural kesa makita ko si S in pain.

Motherhood is not for the faint-hearted.