Shingles

Nope, I am not drunk and slurring my words (yeah I'm part of the Shingles Apostolate *hic*). I'm in bed, laptop on my lap (duh) trying to be as comfortable as I can with my 4 king-sized, marshmallowy pillows. Came from the doctor this afternoon and finally found the answer to the mystery behind the stabbing and throbbing pain that's been annoying me for the last 3 days.

Shingles is apparently more common with people over 50 years (but why do I have it?) and usually attacks those with weak immune systems (me, who rarely gets a cold?). It is caused by the same virus that causes chicken pox, and apparently when you get that as a child, it doesn't really go away, it lays dormant near your spinal cord. For some unknown reason, it gets reactivated and starts to multiply, forming a band of rashes in the nerve area that it affects, which is normally on the left part of the torso.

Itchy? You bet! You'd want to tear out your skin. With it comes sharp chest and back pains combined that comes easy as it goes. It's like you're in a room whose walls are trying to flatten you like a pancake (like a scene from Twilight Zone). Sometimes the rashes feel like there's acid on it, and the rest of my left side torso feels so sore.

For more info, read more here:

http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23068820/

And excuse me, that is not my photo that you see! Haha.

My boss advised me to take a leave and write my narratives instead (haha). Those who've had chicken pox won't get infected with shingles, but those who are still free from the virus, let's just smile at each other :) I have yet to find out when I can be given a clean bill of health.

Mom, being her paranoid self, thinks that the prescribed dosage is way too high for me - five 800mg tablets a day of aciclovir for 5 days. Ummm... sino ba doctor dito?! Sigh. In too much pain to argue. I hope my dad buys the rest of my meds tomorrow.

Miles away

The whole time I was in the gym this afternoon, I put Madonna's "Miles Away" on repeat. As in yun lang. It has been my favorite song since the first time I heard it early November I think. Astig eh. Pantakbo na, pang emo pa haha. Parang it makes you run longer for some reason, title pa lang eh. Kaya siguro I got depressed seeing my hiphop friends dance to it last Monday, because I wasn't able to attend last week. See them here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yELiwayl4ko

Thanks to Tita A for posting it on YouTube! I downloaded it myself to learn the steps. Thanks to Neil na rin for teaching the first 2 8s.

It was emo Monday nga. First thing in the morning I really thought the iPod shuffle was stolen. It was in the pocket of my other bag after all! It was pretty ok naman how it turned out later on. I just feel fat and bloated and hopeless nowadays. Sigh. Imagine, I ran nonstop this afternoon and in 30 mins I covered 3.751km and that's just equivalent to 142kcal burned! Sigh. To think that a Big Mac sandwich is already close to 700kcal, just like a Frappuccino that you can consume in the same amount of time (both of which I'm staying away from hopefully for good). Sigh. Ang hirap magpapayat.

Back to work

Three bitter-tasting words on everyone's mouth nowadays. It's time to put my overnight bag to rest and pack my gym shoes and my lunch for tomorrow. I just came from an overnight thing in Tagaytay, staying at Tirona Hotel by the highway. Thank you Hani! It a poker-videoke-food trip weekend which was freaking cold, but Peejo and I managed to down some orange ice pops we bought sometime midnight from 7-Eleven that was just a few meters away. Tigas din namin noh? (Credits to Del)



With Mike, Jar and LouAnn, we capped the weekend with a hearty late lunch at 3pm at Buon Giorno's, whose pumpkin (pungkin) soup was THE BOMB!!! Had a hard time breathing from feeling so full and at the same time laughing about the adventures of Capt. Save-a-Ho and his sidekick Super Round Down (guess who? hahaha), the baboon-looking Lil Wayne and the worse-looking Ol' Dirty Bastard, and what Grimace actually represented in McDonaldland (guess what, according to Wikipedia, he's a large, walking, talking tastebud hahahahaha).

Back to the workaday world, back to the treadmill, back to veggies and fruits, and back to saving every peso as much as we can. Have a good week everyone! :)

New year's eve

Biscotti with my morning coffee. Yumyum! Thank you Tita Baby!

I was told by my good friend Jenny that you should wear never-been-worn red underwear at the stroke of midnight tonight to be lucky in love in 2009. She herself is searching for the perfect polka-dotted red undies to bring in loads of moolah along with the lovelife luck hahaha! I went online this early to finish some tasks so when my brother wakes up, I'll drag him to the mall with me LOL.

Tasks being my thesis proposal, preparing for tonight's meal... and poker practice! Sheesh.... Kulang na lang managinip ako ng spades, clovers, hearts and diamonds... very reminiscent of 21 and the opening credits of Casino Royale. I keep losing on Facebook's Texas Holdem because of my internet connection, I had to buy-in everytime *sigh*. Anyway, I better get a hold of myself now and immerse in real work. But just in case you get the itch to play, online or otherwise, just holler and I'll come running! :)

Happy new year everyone! If 2008 was good for you as it was for me, 2009 will rock!!! May 2009 bring you love that makes you giddy, peace of mind that makes you sleep at night, hope to make you strive, patience to wait for the good to unfold and awareness to help you bring change :)

Fish and steak, wine and poker

Peejo invited me to spend the night at their house in Tagaytay with Joanne, Cla, Otet and Raj. It was supposed to be Raj's first EK trip but we backed out when we saw the long lines at the ticket booths and the warning that said: "FYI: Average queue time for major rides is 2 hours." We drove up to their house but not until we bought some meat and fish and some other ingredients for dinner.

Peejo baked the fish, Joanne made its cheese sauce, Cla and Otet grilled some steaks. Me? Helped out a little bit with the cheese sauce and mashed potatoes. Alam mo naman ako, walang alam sa pagluluto. Anyway it was a fantasic dinner that probably added an inch to our waistlines. It was really breezy up in Royal Tagaytay, and we tried to warm ourselves with wine.

And it was time for poker! Sulit na sulit ang chips set sa mga newbies except Peejo. I was also playing a counting game with Raj with the dice. I eventually learned what check, call, raise, fold, burn, flop, turn and river meant and was able to win some games. I discovered that I'm far from being a risk-taker, hence I had to buy-in twice for the whole night. There were times I cringed because I folded too early in the game, or I should've put my chips all in, or I wasn't brave enough to call their bluff. But all's well that ends well, we packed up at 1am with the feeling that I shall be back to wreak havoc on the table!

Funny story

*Now that I just finished an item from my to-do list, I feel entitled to post a blog tonight hahaha!*

Christmas day, everyone's at home so Dad decided that we visit a piece of land in Lipa because my brother and grandparents haven't seen it yet. My dad's siblings purchased the lot beside it.

Took us a while to find Hacienda Sta. Monica because there were so many people that we asked directions from - a traffic enforcer, a grandma selling kakanin, a boy playing on the street, and two teenagers talking and texting at the same time. Looking back at the dizzying route we took, sino ang may salarin? ANG TRAFFIC ENFORCER! Tama pala kami to begin with, and he said to take the opposite direction. Pero in the first place, my parents have seen the place twice so dapat alam nila di ba? Apparently naconfuse din sila nung nagmamarunong na mama na yon.

Before 3pm we arrived and it was raining. Was able to take some shots of the empty clubhouse and the infinity pool. Nice! My brother didn't want to risk getting his Nikon baby wet though. Anyway, we drove to Phase 3 with vacant lots stretching as far as the eyes could see. My tita said the property is on Archive Street. Huwat?! Eh mga herbs and spices ang street names dito eh! Baka naman Chives ibig mo sabihin...

My bro and I struggled to read the painted markers to find the lot to no avail. And so I just tried to take some amateur shots of a chair under a tree using the T700's macro mode. Amateur nga, ang dilim eh. Kelangan ko talaga mag-aral. Rule of thirds lang alam ko eh.

Anyway, Dad finally gave up on this guessing game and called his realtor friend to help us out. Eh kung tinawagan ba naman nya kanina pa, eh di sana hindi naging dinner ang late lunch di ba? And lo and behold, the lots were actually on Juniper Street, whose perimeter is marked by recently planted banana and papaya trees. So my dad calls his sister, suppressing his laughter.

Dad: Mali ka naman eh! Sa Juniper Street tayo!

Tita: Ha? Mali ba?! Eh kanino yung tinitignan namin? (They've visited the property for like 5 times already).

Dad: Ewan ko sa inyo!

Talaga nga naman...

Christmas eve

Now that the gifts have been opened and the wine bottle emptied, I'm at the computer again, trying to come up with something coherent. It's been a while since I posted in this blog, and I missed doing so! It's been a crazy 4th quarter and I've only been able to post pictures of the more interesting events as of late.

This year's Christmas isn't any different from Christmases past - I feel I gained the pounds I lost this year, there's still so many bills to pay, and my thesis proposal has yet to see the light of day. I bet one of Chichi's New Year's resolution is to hold a gun at my head for me to start moving with this thesis hehehe. Only recently has it dawned on me the real reason why I'm taking my time with that one.

Since I started working, I no longer get gifts from family but I make it a point that everyone opens a little something from me. In terms of gifts, there's a bit of surprise this year - my brother gave me a gym outfit from Nike which I believe is the sign that I should get back on the treadmill very soon. I love it! And the biggest thing of all - Mom gave me cash! I can't believe it! Hahaha ang babaw ko. Eh pano naman the last time this happened was when I was in college! So I guess business is doing very good.

Kinda sleepy now... I'll just make kwento in the coming days while I download Heroes and Grey's Anatomy. Goodnight!