Happy 15th Anniv, TFC! (Nelson in Wowowee :)

abs cbn news center

I am a fan of ABS-CBN shows in The Filipino Channel. My day would start by turning the tv on to watch Kapamilya shows, even before I prepare my breakfast. During my off days, the tv would be on the whole day, while I do my house chores. The sound of pinoy dialogues and music gets me away from homesickness, as I hear familiar language. It just feels so at home, even if you are thousand miles away from home.

Last February 27, during my 6-week vacation to the Philippines, my friends and I visited the ABS CBN building in Quezon City, as part of my privelege as a Bigatin Card member and TFC subscriber. The studio tour staff were very friendly and accomodating. The tour guide brought us to the different studios used for taping different tv programs, such as ASAP, TV Patrol, Deal or No Deal, SNN, and The Singing Bee.

The last part of the tour was watching a Wowowee live show. Regular host Willie Revillame was sick that time, but Claudine Barretto and Diether Ocampo took his place for the meantime. We enjoyed the show, nevertheless. Here’s a part of the show I got from youtube. Check me out when we were focused by the cam at 02:36. I’m the one wearing yellow shirt!

Happy 15th Anniversary to TFC and more power, as you continue to serve thousands of Filipinos all over the world, longing for a taste of home.

The Singing Bee studio

Deal or No Deal studio

Iñigo’s First Swim

 

Inigo’s first-time swim during YTI Family Day, last 18 April 2009, with Ninang Filma 🙂

(MOMARCO Resort – Tanay, Rizal)

Voted Best Email of 2008

I have received this email for like five times already, and the message still moves me. I wanted to repost this on my blog, but I realized that a video version with some music will convey the message more. I found several versions on youtube, and chose sojiro11‘s as the best.

I am not sure who’s the original author but it started circulating in the Philippines sometime in August 2008. The email format for this was voted best email for 2008.

Sometimes, we complain a lot, never realizing that some other people are less fortunate than us.

 

The Surigao Archaeological Golds

One day in 1981, a bulldozer driver named Berto Morales stumbled upon several pieces of golden belts, cups, earrings, pendants and necklaces. He unearthed them while he was doing some clearing operations on a land that will be used for an irrigation project. His life changed after that and rest is an amazing history.

This story was part of the documentary program, Probe, hosted by Cheche Lazaro. The Filipino Channel has been showing some of the best episodes of the Probe since Holy Thursday and this afternoon’s episode was one attention-catcher. I knew later from the internet that this particular feature was shown sometime last year.

The show presented Berto’s story about the golds that he accidentally found in Surigao. He sold some of these golds, and some he left to a Surigao priest, who also sold them one by one.

The golden pieces were believed to have been made between during the 10th and 13th century. In that case, these golds were already worn by our ancestors even before the spanish colonialists found our country. These artiftacts speak of how our ancestors lived during the old times. According to some historians, the colonizers found the people in our country as having ornamented by golds from head to foot. Our country was very rich in gold that our ancestors used them in trades. Even before the pre-colonization period, our country already have a sophisticated civilization. This is something to give us a sense of identity and pride as a people.

The Zobels (of the Ayala group of companies) realized the importance of these pieces in our cultural heritage, so they tried to locate the pieces and bought them one by one. They did not get the complete collection but those that they were able to buy are now displayed at the Ayala Museum, and some at the Central Bank of the Philippines.

I was not the type who’s into golds, as I would only buy a few small pieces to bring home to my family members whenever I go for vacation to the Philippines. Saudi gold was a common pasalubong item and my mom just likes having pieces whenever I come home. But I was in complete astonishment with the Surigao golds. They were intricately designed, and the fact that they were a thousand year old, they were priceless.

The archaeological gold collection in the museum are now considered the largest in the country, as well as in the rest of the world. Nothing of this scale and magnitude has ever been seen before, according to Dr. Florina Baker, former curator of the Ayala Museum.

I googled to check whether I would find some pictures of the gold on the internet, and luckily found some on sites that also discussed the said items. I am posting them here and I hope that other people would also discover our rich culture. I am very proud of our heritage.

I promised myself that I will visit the Ayala Museum on my next vacation to the Philippines. I am just crossing my fingers that the people there would allow me to take pictures of this magnificent collection, our national treasure.

Kudos to the Probe team and Cheche Lazaro for a very in-depth and interesting documentary.

To watch the Probe episode on youtube, click HERE.

A Wonderful Way to Explain DEATH

A sick man turned to his doctor as he was preparing to  

leave the examination room and said,  

Doctor, I am afraid to die.

  

Tell me what lies on the other side.’

  

Very quietly, the doctor said, ‘I don’t know.’

  

‘You don’t know?  You, a Christian man,

  

Do not know what is on the other side?’

  

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; 

 

On the other side came a sound of scratching and whining, 

 

And as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room

  

And leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

  

Turning to the patient, the doctor said,

  

‘Did you notice my dog?

  

He’s never been in this room before.

  

He didn’t know what was inside.

  

He knew nothing except that his master was here,

  

And when the door opened,  he sprang in without fear. 

 

I know little of what is on the other side of death, 

 

But I do know one thing…

  

I know my Master is there and that is enough.’

  

(forwarded message)

On Being Floated

I was recently floated again for one day to another unit in our hospital. I hate being floated!

One of the main reasons why I dislike working in another unit is the change of environment. Although I was oriented a bit at the beginning of the shift, I was still unsure where to find things. It would take me almost a minute just to find what I was looking for, when in my own ward, I could have found it in seconds.

Another thing, my ID won’t allow me to get into the medication and store rooms (these rooms needed ID bar codes for you to get in). So I had to ask the other  staff nurses to lend me their IDs each time I have to go to these rooms. The staff were nice though, and they tried not to show their annoyance 🙂

The new faces I worked with was another pressure. Although they were quite nice and friendly to me, I still didn’t know their character, so I had to be careful speaking to them. I was not in my comfort zone and I was not sure whether my comments would be acceptable or not.

The cases that were given to me were the light ones, according to the staff. But being unfamiliar with all the terminologies, and medications, I often had to look up meanings and drug indications before I get into the patient’s room. That took time, of course.

The difference in routines was also a factor. When I would start checking the computer system for fresh orders and morning medications in my own unit at the start of the shift, they would start differently in another unit. When I would get a partner to do vital signs for all the patients in our unit, they would have another style in another unit.

I know that there also some good points that can be gained on being floated (getting to meet new people, widening your experience and knowledge in another field), but I still believe that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. First of all, patient safety should be a major concern. When a nurse is unfamiliar of his/her workplace, mistakes are most likely. Second, The stress on the part of the nurse is just too much.

I knew that my floating has helped answer the unit’s shortage of nurses. But I also knew that some nurses who were off on that day in that unit would love to work overtime if offered. Floating a nurse is a cost-cutting measure of a hospital, to avoid paying overtimes to the nurses who work on that unit. But how much would it cost the hospital if a medical error occur? Maybe more.

I know nurses who like being floated, but that is if they are paid overtime. That means they are paid for the extra effort and extra risks involved.

Well, I can only talk so much here. I know that it’s a hospital system that’s difficult to bend.

Iñigo means “Strong-willed”

I was in a Filipino restaurant today around lunchtime, waiting for the take-out order I made earlier. The big TV in one corner was showing Karen Davila’s show “Wondermom” on The Filipino Channel. What hooked me to watching was their feature on a baby named Raphael Iñigo, a namesake of my baby.

Raphael Iñigo was a “blue baby” when he was born. That means he has a congenital heart problem. On his eighth day of life, he had to be operated on his heart. At the end of the operation, Raphael Iñigo started bleeding from everywhere – from his eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Two liters of blood came out. The surgeon have then decided to tell the parents that the baby had enough of the surgery, that prognosis was very poor.

But Raphael Iñigo survived the operation. And today, he is about 2 or 3 years old ( I am not sure coz it was not mentioned on tv). But as I saw him, he looked very well like an ordinary toddler. He was laughing and playing around, and he does not look like he had that much ordeal when he was born.

According to host Karen Davila, his name’s meaning actually defines his character. Raphael means “God-healed” and Iñigo means “strong-willed.”

When we chose Iñigo as our baby’s name, we didn’t know that this was one of the its meaning. I think we chose the right name.  Iñigos are the brave ones.

Some Thoughts to Ponder

(forwarded message)