My Grown and Not so Grown Up Christmas List

I think it is kinda late to be posting my Christmas list but here goes:

My Grown Up Christmas List:
1.) To be able to pass the Physicians Board Exam this August in one take
2.) A spot or an item in any Orthopedics Residency Program preferable VSMMC
3.) Good health for my family and friends
4.) Contentment and peace of mind
5.) To be able to spend time with my closest friends
6.) I hope I will never have to deal with premature balding (damn, it runs in the genes)
7.) More fun and happy times for 2011
8.) I will be prepared to take the Boards
9.) Both my medicine and medical technology yearbook be published already.
10.) Success for family and friends and more friends.

On the other side of the break, here are the material things I want that I have yet to receive.

1.) Vans Slip Ons
2.) John Lennon sunglasses (I can't believe I let this slip! Ugh!)
3.) Adidas white sneakers
4.) The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
5.) A Box Set of the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larson
6.) Operation Board Game
7.) Any DSLR Camera preferably Canon
8.) Ghost World graphic novel
9.) Artwork Doodle Book
10.) Gucci perfume (the one endorsed by James Franco)
11.) Vintage T-shirts
12.) The Complete The O.C. Series on DVD
13.) Boots from Aldo
14.) National Geographic Special edition T-shirts from Regatta
15.) A plane ticket to Davao City

Merry Christmas everyone!

Words of Wisdom

I have to say that this year, was a year of continuing life education. And these are two philosophies I have lived with.

"You cannot control the way things change, but you can control the way you react at them"

"You have to learn to live with what you've got and maximize what you have rather than yearn for something you can't have.

True enough this powerful words were enough to get me through every day for this year and I have never been this contented in quite a long while. So 2010 is the year of steadfastness, camouflage and seizing the day.

And I have lived with this mantra for two years now and I will continue this for years to come: Voll das Leben. It is in German and when translated it means Live your life fully. I have appreciated every free time, every conversation with my parents, silly times with my friends both old and new, time for sleeping, good food, health and every little thing. Though I am do not have complete peace of mind yet, I am getting there slowly and surely.

Remember remember the Month of December...

Some signs that December is indeed here. Aside from pointing out the obvious that there is only one page in my calendar left.

1.) The temperature is getting colder. Though it is humid occasionally in the mid mornings to afternoons, the nights are windy and sometimes a heavy rain is all you need to make the weather very conducive for a twelve hour sleep.

2.) The yearly huge Christmas tree is already standing in the middle of Fuente Osmena circle all decked out in lights, shiny decor and Sr. Sto Nino on top.

3.) Our house already has a Christmas tree with a silver motif matched with Chrismas red curtains, a little bit off in the papers

4.) Bazaars sprouting everywhere - from MEPZ in Lapu Lapu City to the annual IT park Christmas Bazaar, we all can't get enough.

5.) The window displays in the malls vary from huge nutcrackers to cute little houses made up of cardboard put presented in a very artistic manner - all of them equally splendid and adds more to the holiday feel.

I am really excited for Christmas shopping. I am at a goal this year to spend half of my savings for wonderful yet affordable Christmas gifts for around 25 people. Two years ago I was able to accomplish this, and now there is nothing stopping me.

I am also looking forward to watching Love Actually again, starting a Christmas movie marathon, sipping hot coffee, PGIs Christmas Party, Christmas dinners and get together with friends, eating mom's Mango Float and cheese cake, lechon, Midnight Mass (I think it is about time I attend) and whole lotta more. December here I come!

In retrospect, here are the my Top 5 Best Decembers and Christmas:

1.) December 2008
This was my junior year of medical school and I know that I really have to enjoy and soak in. In my mind I am already aware that next year I might be on duty on Christmas.
Highlights: One week of Christmas parties, from Clinics group mates to Fashion Week to closest friends, High School reunion bowling, Banana Creme Pie, another one week of strolling around the malls, taking pictures of elegant Christmas trees and window displays, clearance sale shopping and quality time with family and friends. Last hurrah before the grind house.

2.) December 2004
As I have said over and over before everything about 2004 was awesome. New found freedom, new found friends and new found ways of having fun!
Highlights: This was my medical internship year - the Christmas parties, practicing for the choir singing and spending most of the month in Paknaan for community rotation, what a great way to end the year. Plus Christmas off and New Year's off!

3.) December 1996
I was in sixth grade, so this was the last for elementary school
Highlights: Our Christmas Field demonstration, Christmas party with all the fun and games, Our Periodic Table of Elements inspired Secret Santa (our adviser assigned each one of us elements as our code names and we don't know who we were and who we got in the first place, but a day before the party he revealed our identities so that we will know what to buy for our secret Santa. I was Americium and I got Platinum), spending the holidays in Manila, Enchanted Kingdom and Baguio.

4.) December 1991
This is the Christmas in which I have the earliest vivid memory of
Highlights: My grandparents actually paid or asked someone to play the part of Santa Claus. Though he didn't come down the chimney on Christmas Eve, he came knocking down on the door of Grandma's house bringing gifts and candy. And because of this I was a firm believer of Santa Claus, but right now I still believe the abstractness of his enigma.

5.) tie between December 2003 and December 2007
December 2003 was rebound Christmas year. The year before Lola Naring died so Christmas was a bit sad. This year I was on a goal to make up for the previous year and it was all good. It was even more special since I just battled depression two months before.
Highlights: First year I bought gifts for everyone, Berks all out Christmas drinking spree, very very rainy Christmas

December 2007 was a great way to start a year that started out kinda bad. But after summer everything went smooth sailing and things were falling as if they are in the right place without really wishful thinking for it to be.
Highlights: Guada and Bany's joint birthday celebration, Stardressed which is the most awesome students ball ever, Christmas party with Group 1 together with Dr. Sanchez and the most creative Secret Santa ever, Elixir Christmas Party organizer again for the second time, Dare or No Dare, Chain smoking and binge drinking, loudest High School reunion ever!

Honorable mention:
December 2000 - Last year of high school and my family and I spent the Christmas in Manila. Though I was initially against the idea but after a year it was indeed worth it.
Highlights: Christmas shopping in Glorietta and Megamall, wet day at Enchanted Kingdom, watching The X-Men on pay per view on Christmas Eve, buffet breakfast, receiving a Craig David CD, watching fireworks on my hotel window overlooking Dasma village in Makati, pool dipping at The Dusit, practicing and entertaining the crowd with our Blast from the Past Decade Rewind Dance.

Let's Round It Up, Shall We?

As much as I hate doing summary posts, which I think is a sign that I am neglecting this blog, but subconsciously I am not. Hey I have the best intentions for this blog, its just that I realized I write on a whim and I do get the most flow of words at totally inappropriate times. Times like there are no paper available or an Internet connection. Okay okay. This might be the last summarized post. Starting today I am on a goal to accomplish at least one post a week.

Well you see, I've not bored with this blog, its just that I am juggling a lot of leisure activities adjacent with my hospital duties. I go out at least once a week - Trivia Nights or Jo's Weekly Thing and make up sleep at least one or two days in a week. And the remaining time is squeezing in for reading fiction books that are totally non medical related, catching up on favorite TV shows and FaceBooking.

The past two months - September and October, were the best times of PGIship so far. It started out not the way I wanted it to be but eventually it progressed and ended way beyond my expectations. To sum it up it was balance of work, leisure, family and friends.

Here are the highlights:

1.) My Whim Manila Weekend Trip
After two months of non stop phone calls and planning, I finally booked a cheap ticket all the way to Manila to visit Jo. And it was very jam packed and fun indeed. I was able to eat a lot of good food, finally catch a musical live, meeting the star Ms. Dawn Zulueta and immersing myself in Binondo, Escolta and Intramuros for an afternoon of an enriching history class refresher. I capped off my visit with a shopping at PowerBooks Robinson's Malate - four books for 150 php including a commentary on Mexican cinema! Woo hoo! And since attorney is planning to work in Makati, hopefully this will be the first of a couple more visits of Manila pig out and roaming.

2.) Kim and Arnel's Wedding.
One of my closest friends finally tied the knot and to a very deserving gentleman. The wedding ceremony was heartfelt and seriously full of love. It was touching and genuinely blissful. So to the married couple, guys you still owe Dawnah and I the pajama shots and more babies to come!

3.) Charisma's homecoming and road trip
Cha one of the Berks people decided to have a two week holiday after working her ass off in the land of milk and honey for two years. One thing's for sure, it sure seemed like she never left and the talking still non stop. We did a road trip/bonding all the way to Simala for thanksgiving and petitions and then swimming in a pool somewhere in Argao and a dinner to end the trip. I can't wait for her next homecoming.

4.) Julie's homecoming and Dylan turns a year old.
Dylan Rafael turns one and Mommy Julie made sure to fly from NZ to spearhead the celebration. Our high school group is expanding into the next generation.

5.) Toledo weekend
After thirteen years of friendship, I finally was able to meet BFF Dawnah's hometown and her clan. And Toledo prove to be a peaceful place where I was able to gain and catch up on sleep while being her wingman for her 26 Beer-day. Sadly I passed out again before any one else. But I am really glad I was able to be a part of giving her another memorable birthday to cherish!

6.) Trivia Nights
Thanks to Dr. Milan's persistent invitation, I have a new and exciting way of unwinding and at the same time its a total learning experience, mid week Wednesdays just got extra exciting!

7.) Jo's Cebu City Week after Week
With partner in neuroses/crime in the Queen City of the South for four months it's about time she gets to live the Cebuano way of life. A slice of the city every week entails eating in homegrown restaurants and discovering new places that were yet to be explored.

8.) Kimmy's pre wedding visit
When Kim and Arnel personally attended to their wedding plans, it was a perfect opportunity to get to know the man she will be binded to. And it was a five very eventful days and not just on the ceremony but getting to know someone and getting to know that someone fully in a short span of time!

9.) Career Changing Decision
I think I have finally decided that I will never be a suited for a residency training in General Surgery. I don't think I have the skills, dedication and knowledge worthy enough to survive the grueling five year training. It's Orthopedics followed by Internal Medicine.

10.) General Surgery Rotation
Major thanks to the ever supportive, patient and willing to teach residents of the department. Though I realized that I will be never be fit for the program, I have learned a LOT of things on General Surgery. So far this has been my favorite rotation.

Looking back now, it was indeed an awesome two months. Living fully is indeed liberating. Good food. Good health. Good friends. It all sums up to the Good Life!

In Summary

August has come and past and September is here, but so far so good, still my anticipation is more worth than what is happening right now. But I'm doing great.

I finally turned twenty six and my birthday was not so bad as I had hoped. I was not looking forward to celebrating it but instead of moping around and whining I was able to come up with something to at least make the day memorable. At the last minute I decided I'm up for the challenge of drinking 26 glasses of liquor, each drink to be documented in a photo with a number to take not the shot. The result? I was knocked down in the 16th glass but hey in my defense I was up all night, the night before so I was really really tired. My mom again went out of her way to throw me a dinner party which I was officially MIA more or less. So this birthday became Top 6 of all time just barely making the Top 5 but a great way to start the rest of my adult life! Gulp! Another ironic moment is that my family again surprised with a present and guess what it was - a camera, which I already had one two weeks earlier but forgot to tell them. Hahaha. A month ago I had no camera, iPod and a cellphone. Now this month I have all three back. Talk about a rebound!

*****

Internal Medicine rotation is finally over. And after two months - what can I say - it was very toxic! But in the end of the day it was all worth it - I've learned a lot and in the process I gained confidence in myself. I am now considering Internal Medicine as option number two in residency! I am still on a goal to get into an orthopedics residency program. And goodbye to General Surgery for me since I can't seem to master the anatomy of the human body.

*****

My friends are now popping out babies of their system and because of this I finally have my first godson and goddaughter. Ivo Marcus Teves-Ocio born to lucky parents Lindley and Donna is super chubby and cute! He is the perfect mix of Lindley and Donna's features. I hope he will be as intelligent as his mom! I'm super honored to be one of the chosen people. First goddaughter is Bianca Frances Chiong-Lagarnia, Edgel and Yvonne's eldest an American citizen by birth. Bianca looks like her mom, with a touch of her dad's features. Though I can't be there on her christening, Yvonne already told me that I'm still her ninong. Another baby from our berks society coming up is Jamae's baby, she's due anytime December. Our group is expanding with the new generation.

*****

Ms. Joanne Balili Babon, future lawyer, is taking the BAR exam! I know y0u will do well Jo! Come back home!

Top 5 Birthdays

A countdown of my favorite birthdays in the first twenty five years of my life.

1.) 23rd Birthday 2007
Joint birthday celebration with Careza. We had dinner at Krua Thai with friends from med school. It was a feast followed by karaoke and drinks at Mountain View till people were passed out, vomiting and had episodes of loss of coordination in the wee hours of the morning. The other car almost slammed into a stone wall. We had then breakfast at Babsi's with noodles in which the other birthday girl missed it due to drunkiness. On the way home, the car I was riding with driven by Guada almost hit a lamp post. So to summarize it was unplanned and awesome and an anti-climactic near death experience to remember this year by.

2.) 15th Birthday 1999
I invited everyone from my high school class for a day of fun on the beach. This is also a shared joint celebration with Kitty Redula. It was a fun day and my first ever huge beach party with no alcohol yet but good and clean old fashioned fun. Around two thirds of the class joined in the revelry.

3.) 3rd Birthday 1987
This is the earliest birthday I had with actual memory of the event. I remembered running around the living room of my grandmother's house and playing with the other kids. On the picture I had two cakes, one was a typical 80's birthday cake and the other one was a Superman design. I think I invited every kid in my block.

4.) 20th Birthday 2004
Everything about the year 2004 was just amazing. This year I celebrated my birthday thrice. First one was a Sunday duty lunch with my 3S people - I brought them roasted chicken and ice cream. Next is with my closest friends on a 24 Hour Duty with Monster Pizza from JCA and of course ice cream. Third is lunch with my groupmates at Casa Verde. I never realized and felt so blessed with friends.

5.) Tie between 16th Birthday 2000 and 22nd Birthday 2006
The former since it was the first time I received a greeting card with almost everyone from my class writing and the latter because it's the first time I got a cake splat in my face courtesy of Krystle and the rest of my groupmates in PBL 1.

Worst Birthdays: 14th Birthday 1998 (very angsty), 17th Birthday 2001 (missing a lot of people) and 24th Birthday 2008 (too anhedonic to do anything and this year nothing ever came my way no matter how hard I tried to beg the universe to).

A Year of Failed Technology

For a year I have been whining that technology failed me. Can't imagine the amount of misfortune I've dealt with related to gadgets. If there was a rating classification it would be severe. Here's the beef:

September 2009 - My Old Dell model got stolen at the 3rd floor of the hospital.

November 2009 - Diana, my handy dandy external drive crashed three days right before an important case presentation along with a lifetime of pictures, movies and mp3s

May 2010 - I accidentally dropped by phone and it tumbled down ten steps into oblivion for which it's LCD broke.

July 5, 2010 - Double whammy. I lost my iPod (BFF) and my camera. Some ungrateful patient stole it. Well I hope you'll be crippled by your malady and I really mean it!

July 31, 2010 - I lost a phone for the nth time.

I'm officially going old fashioned. The only gadget I will have is Griffin and my laptop.

So there, a laptop, a hard drive, an Ipod, a camera and two phones. I am cursed and I can't seem to shake it off. Jeez, I'm such a drama queen.

Crossing Over

In exactly ten days from now I will be celebrating another birthday. I will be a year older. And I will be 26 years old. Meaning I already existed quarter of a century. I am no longer young anymore or borderline adult but I am already an adult. You see I have this philosophy in which when you are younger than 25 but still in your early 20's you can still call yourself young and be irresponsible and immature. When you are 25 you are in the border. You have a right to still consider yourself as young or you can start to by being a matured adult. I went with the former.

This is the third year in a row in which I have no plans of celebrating. Right now I think birthdays are overrated. My point is you don't have to celebrate on that one single day of turning one year older but on the whole year as a whole of being that age. Not just on that natal day but on any day you want to as long as you try to live fully. Then again this year I'm not in the mood again to celebrate. I just don't see anything worth celebrating right away. And at the same time spontaneity excites me. I'll be off duty that day so we will see whatever happens. I'm up for anything. All I know is I'm not really in the mood to be with a bunch of people on that day. I'll be doing an anti-birthday thing, No cakes, no candles, no wishes, maybe some shopping and binge drinking and eating. I am on a quest to make it as ordinary as possible.

Here's to turning a year older but definitely not wiser as I would have liked.

Out with the Old, In with the New

After a week of canvassing and contemplating I finally decided to get a new camera. I've concluded that a camera is way cheaper and will be useful compared to an iPod which I might be getting next month for my birthday or next year. I am playing Mr. Practical right now.

I bought a Kodak C142 easy share camera since it's very affordable. At a price of 4,995, along with the camera, there is a free SD card of 2GB, a camera case, a charger, two rechargeable lithium batteries and two disposable alkaline batteries. Not bad for starters. Plus it's also 10 mega pixels and so simple to use with face detection, image stabilizer and user friendly. It is also stylish and light in its blood red color. I'm happy and I vow to take care of this camera even if I have to fend off a robber in a knife fight because it's mine, mine mine! This is the first time that I've bought something entirely on my own - from my own pocket and savings. I am doing this Project of taking one picture a day in honor of my camera so that I'll have an excuse to use the camera every day just to make the most out of it and life as well.

When I paid the cashier I got additional discount and I only paid for everything for 4,750. Double happy me. So to anybody looking for a cheap for than decent but stylish camera I highly recommend this one. Just something to keep for the mean time before we can afford a DSLR.

So meet Griffin. Named after Griffin from "Griffin and Sabine" one of my favorite books that I tremendously enjoyed.

Irrational Impulsivity

Must be the grueling 24 hour duty at the ER last night but speaking about it in retrospect compared to the day we had over 31 admissions, last duty wasn't even that bad.

As I was taking a shower today at 2 pm, I suddenly thought about quitting and finding another career path. I know very irrational right? I was thinking that may I had enough and I don't want to save lives anymore. I don't want to learn to prolong someone's existence in the world. In that moment I decided I had enough medicine for a lifetime. Me want new career now!

In my fantasy I then decided to fly to Manila and get a job as a call center agent or a sales man and then I'd party every weekend. I then self-slapped myself, thinking I thought I am so over that phase. Hey even working in a laboratory as a medical technician seems tempting and way better than practicing to become a doctor.

I kept pondering whether everything will be worth it in the future - the financial investment, the sacrifices and the time. I have feel like I've totally wasted my twenties - the best decade to experience the world. I should be traveling at least the Philippines right now or pursuing some stylish hobby like photography, art or theater. Instead I'm stuck at a hospital sweating trying to deal with different people - some rude and some just don't get it about maladies and diseases and offering my services for free food. Oh well I smell quarter life crises coming. It's hard to be passionate about something when the odds are constantly against your favor biting you in the ass - treating patients on limited resources.

Another idea I've come up is I'd fly to Australia and work as a waiter or get a blue collar job and then see the city and it's art when I'm off and read classics and modern fiction by the Sydney Harbor.

Right I'm now bordering on delusional.

Then I've just realized that maybe these thoughts are repercussions of losing my camera and my iPod and then the compensation I had to put up with.

or I really do want a new career right now.

Bad Day

Since starting PGI-ship 6 weeks ago, every day and everything has been smooth sailing so far. Despite the long hours, overworked job descriptions and humid ER setting I have never complained and have never minded such herculean effort. I looked at things as if the glass was half-full and used optimism as my ultimate armor to battle. In short I enjoyed it.

Until today, there has to be a bleep in the radar or a small glitch on the car right? I overslept as usual. I almost do every morning considering that I relied on the fact that the workplace is 15 minutes maximum from our house even by jeepney if the traffic is light and my seniors are very lenient on punctuality. Imagine, 15 minutes after 7:30, so far I've not been marked tardy. So I hurriedly took a shower, ate breakfast and packed things. I didn't mean to but I put my black pouch containing my Ipod and my camera. My bestfriend and my great companion. I had second thoughts on bringing it to work. But what the heck, I did anyway since I was pre-empting I might be bored. So I put it in my little bag along with other books that might come handy in the Out Patient Department. In short that was the last time I would see those two. My attention was fully grabbed my interviewing patients that I forgot to check my bag once in a while. The next thing I know they were gone. So I was kidding myself and went back thinking, maybe I was not able to bring em. But unfortunately I did. So there goes. Maybe a patient took it or a worker from the hospital I can't really be sure. All I know is its gone and forever will be. Well first of all it's really my fault. I shouldn't be bringing gadgets like that to work and second at least I learned something from this. When I got home it really sinked in that I have lost and I think its right time I mourn contrary to the poker face I showed.

So in short for the next two months or I will be starving myself. Im thinking of getting an iPod again maybe a cheaper one. A nano perhaps or a camera whichever might be useful. Or not. I could probably live PGI year without both but I'll probably want at least one.

I'll be punishing myself so that means I'll only go out once every two weeks, less alcohol intake, study, amuse myself with the books I have accumulated in here which means no more book shopping as well and no birthday slash tequila party this year. I have decided that there is no reason to celebrate. I'll live and continue living.

As Frank Sinatra said "That's Life" and which I supplement "You Win Some, You Lose Some but Life has to Suck Sometimes".

Summer of 2010

This is so far the only year where I get to do this retrospective post in which I did it on the same year on the actual day summer ended. Well technically I am no longer a student so first day of classes does not affect me now at all. I'm just posting this today since this is the first day of classes of most students here in the city and the rest of the country as well. So today officially summer ends. But the weather is still humid but its improving. I admit though I detest the start of the rainy season, I conclude that we need rain - to replenish those empty dams as source of hydraulic power.

Well to sum up this summer: the end of medical school. Anyways here are the memories for this summer.

Best Place Visited: Camiguin. What a wonderful island. Paradise with a laid back feel. Beaches, history, culture, waterfalls, hot springs, cold springs and majestic volcanoes it's all there in the second smallest Philippine province. I'm definitely coming back.

Best New Discovery, Rediscovered: Starbucks at Northwing SM for the fast WI.FI and for having plenty of wall sockets for charging laptops after an hour.

Highlight: Graduating from Medical School

Most Memorable Day: April 1 ,2010. The feeling of elation when internship ended!

Best Movie Watched: Tie between "Invictus" and "Up in the Air". Honorable Mention: "The Baader Meinhof Komplex"

Guilty Pleasure: Watching the Vampire Diaries and binge eating.

Best Book Read: Tie between South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larson. And two honorable mentions: Three Weeks with my Brother by Nicholas Sparks and Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger.

Most worth it Purchase: The Seven Narnia books by C.S. Lewis for only 385 php.

Song of the Summer: Nothing On You by B.o.B featuring Bruno Mars. As soon as I heard this song in Camiguin over that weekend I know this it! Catchy with a summer cool vibe that promotes chillaxin.

Best New Discovery, Gastronomic Delight: Halo-Halo from Razon's. Perfectly chilled ice, balanced sweetness with three unique ingredients - bananas, macapuno and leche flan - even more perfect after a hot humid day.

Feeling of the Summer: Accomplishment and moving on.

Best Fashion Accesory: Sanuk shoes for walking comfy and avoiding dust in between your toes

Special Mention: This summer has been the hottest ever and I was trying to spend of the time in air conditioned areas!

Till next summer.

High School Never Ends

Yeah of course it ended at around nine years ago. But high school culture continues to dictate the way we live in a sort of bizarre, inexplicable way. Kind of.

Well I got to thinking while driving back to Cebu City after a weekend getaway at a high school friend's farm and then frolic on the beach with grilling on Sunday on one of the towns on the North of Cebu. It was a at least a two to three hour drive. It was an awesome weekend by the way. Booze, pig outs, karaoke and good ol' Filipino hospitality. Most of all it was the ultimate catch up weekend. It was intimate but loud - since there were lots of laughter and the talking was non-stop. Nadia, Reggie and I have not seen each other for almost two years. Not counting those mini-reunions every Christmas season since the atmosphere during those gatherings does not really promote a chance of a heart to heart, mostly it's chit-chat and mingling with each other.

The topic was mostly about high school. You see though the three of us each belonged to a respective clique, we managed to become really close friends for we were united with one thing - gossip. Yeah. If we had the BlackBerries back then we would have given Gossip Girl if she ever existed some tight competition. And of strength was the power of mouth.

We still found out that the three of us still had animosities with the same people since high school. We somehow cannot shake off that even after ten years some people are still irritating and can get through your nerves via FaceBook. We still are entertained by anecdotes from those four years. Tales of droll, laugh out loud moments of growing up. I am still a big believer of the saying, "Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up."

Basically high school was all about hormones and sadly most people and image was dictated by popularity. I guess in way my school it still had some politics regarding self image and personalities despite being labeled a high school whose students are cream of the crop.

Well you can never really leave high school totally in my opinion. High school just laid out the foundation of what the real world can be - mean and tough. High school was ruled by smart people, rich brats, lean athletes, beautiful people and those that did not really fit the mold were picked on. But part of the population of those that didn't really fit the mold didn't really care. I'd like to think that I didn't really categorize into those roles mostly considered popular by Philippine High School standards. Yes I was in the Top Ten of my class for four years but I wasn't that as hard working. Next I didn't play any sports that much, I just did so that I'd never have to suffer a low grade in Physical Education. Lastly I was awkward in high school. I had bushy hair, forehead acne and was one of the shortest boys in class. But I wasn't picked on. My edge was my personality and my mouth. I was small but I did not back down from a verbal fight and I was perceived as too frank for most tastes. I immersed myself reading books, watching movies and listening to the coolest pop songs.

Though I didn't really care much - a part of me still cared for that popularity bull crap and that was one of the reasons I drifted apart from my best friend in elementary school. He was picked on for being fat and then instead of coming to his defense, I walked the halls non-chalant as he was being teased and often times I would join in the revelry. Totally low on my part there. Way back in high school I socialized with both the so called popular crowd and those who were not. And I'm proud to say I still say hi to these people every time I bumped into them in public places.

After this weekend what we realized that some people do never change after high school. Some of them still give a shit on what other people think about their appearance or the way they dress. Some people still pick on the same people for being different after all these years. Some still as shallow as ever. The three of us are still guilty of being gossipy.

After all the real world whether we like it or not is dictated by high school politics. Somehow we still live in a world where superficiality overrule inner strength. People get jobs because they are "popular" a.k.a connections - also known as nepotism. And sometimes it takes more than brains to close deals or achieve goals.

But the only difference this time around is we are more experience and stronger. We can never really escape high school but we can choose to redeem ourselves by being more hard working and being extra nice to people that we wouldn't have been treating well if this were still high school.

Suddenly, Last Summer

Suddenly after last summer I've become and intern and had a great yet difficult and challenging time, contrary to the apprehension and anxiety I've had before it started. It was hard but in the end I do feel a sense of fulfillment and occasionally I find myself to be privileged to be part of a group that's constantly under the influence of torture.

Here are some things to remember that short summer by. Shortest summer in medical school. Roughly three weeks or more or less 24 days if you count it accurately.

Best Place Visited: Riverstone Castle in Argao. A castle replica of a 14th century medieval dwelling right in the heart of Cebu south. This summer though I didn't get to go outside of Cebu

Highlight of the Summer: Tie between ultimate road trip in the south of Cebu and getting to see Secondhand Serenade live.

Best Movie Watched: "Watchmen" superb adaptation of a classic graphic novel with a killer soundtrack.

Best Book Read: "Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Poignant and haunting

Best New Discovery: Skins. A British teen dramedy that's funny and heartbreaking at the same time.

Best Hang Out Place: KopiRoti. Where else can you get delicious brews, yummy pastries, free WiFi and amazing baristas.

Trend of the Summer: Colored wayfarers and denim cut off shorts to be known six months later as werewolf shorts

Most Memorable: Being reunited with my elementary classmates after thirteen years!

Guilty pleasure: FaceBooking

Summer Song: "Insomnia" by Craig David and "Black or White" by Adam Lambert

Best Pal of the Summer: Mikah Whore and the Whore car for taking me to places that alone I'd never get there.

Feeling of the Summer: Dread and excitement but more on the former.

Movie Review: Up In The Air

Up in the Air was basically movie of metaphors. That's what I perceived it after watching the movie which was surprisingly fast paced and witty. Airports as every man's job, connecting flights and passengers as relationships in life and hiring and firing as life's beginnings and ends.

The plot involves a man named Ryan Bingham (George Clooney)who works in a company who's hired by other companies to fire their employees personally on behalf. Hence he is then constantly flying 3/4 of his year, living in hotel rooms and suites and hanging out in airport lounges. The movie follows how he lives a life he has chosen, his passion for his profession and his relationships with Alex a sexy seductress who also has a similar lifestyle with his and Natalie, an ambitious fresh graduate who has proposed to revolutionize and threatened his so-called vocation that he upholds.

I've always reiterated this fact that a brilliant script plus great acting from the three leads - each actor managed to portray the characters distinctly and leaving each one with something to draw you was no easy feat that seemed effortless into the film, lifted the movie "up in the air". George Clooney is still George Clooney, and lo and behold buddy you have once again proved that TV stars can make a smooth transition into film. Vera Farmiga was sympathetic and sexy and Anna Kendrick was both uptight and cute.

Congratulations to the screen writers who adapted this book which was quite a chore to read into something enjoyable, subtle and funny. With full of philosophy and profound moments.

This is one of those rare instances that the movie is better than the book. The adaptation also managed to squeeze out poignant scenes and updated the book. For the book was published way back 2001.

What I learned after watching this movie, our relationships in life - family, friends, lovers and significant others are indeed the biggest weight that make up the bulk of our existence.

Watch this movie: if you don't want to read the book this movie was based from because it was a great adaptation.
Eight out of ten stars.

P.S. This is my first movie review after trying to make one for two years since this blog was started.

This is it!

I just had to get this on paper - er... on cyber space before the creative juices stop flowing. I have basically neglected this blog since July. One, I really wanted to write but time has been really really short so instead of typing and clickety-clacking I sleep or catch up on paperwork, second, when I do find time there are no nice things to write about. And lastly I forgot the password and I was to much of a lazy bum to recover it. But now I did and I just had to write something in honor of this day.

Well this is officially the end of medical school for me and hopefully not my medical career well it hasn't even started yet. Internship doesn't count it's part of medical school. I am now not a student anymore. I still don't have my license but I already have two initials after my name. Since compared to my classmates I have been treating this day as nonchalant as I had, I realize that I need something to honor this day aside from pictures. So I am doing this blog post to capture it. At least a month or a year from now I'll read this blog again and I will remember the feelings I had felt when I woke up this morning.

Though I'm not that excited I think I should at least be a little more excited of the thought that I am finally over med school and I survived it with sanity intact and made a good name of myself among my mentors. To prove how I wasn't that into it I am dressed up going to graduation like an emo rock star - dark red checkered/plaid shirt, blood red slim tie, dark slim pants (not as skinny as I would have liked), curly hair and Doc Martens. Well the last one is negotiable. And I'm still working on it. I even wanted to push the envelope further with eyeliner.

Right now uploading pictures from med school past and the recent graduation party pumped me up for the ceremonies. And after graduation comes three weeks of uninterrupted vacations, beaches, fiction books and binge eating.

Congratulations to everyone in CIM Batch 2010 Elixir. You guys taught me a lot of things about the world both good and bad and with that I am thankful for making me tough. See ya in 12 months then after that see ya in a decade.

Welcome to wherever you are, this is your life, you've made it this far!

Oh yeah, this blog is officially back! Vrroomm vrroommm.