Parenthood Pangs 2

0300H

It has been a rough 9 hours.
The rain beat relentlessly on the already wet earth, it's staccato sound echoing the babble of excitement brewing under the roof. Two major events: when Cuchi got up to drink water at 10 pm, she opted to stand. That was a bad call. The wound bled. Quickly after finishing a bowlful, I led her to her "spot" (right corner from the main door) and applied pressure just above the dewclaw. Dressing the wound provided me with an awful picture of the gash. My estimate was off by a hundred percent. The wound is about 2 inches long and is about 5 mm wide in the middle.It's half past three am now. Again I dressed the wound and were down to 3 sterilized gauze from the 10 pcs that I bought from the pharmacy last night. This time, I put half a capsule of amoxicillin directly on the wound before wrapping it up. That should hold until first light.1800H
At school my thoughts still strayed to Cuchi. The good vet recommended to leave the patient for the night as the procedure is usually performed at night after clinic hours. It was a difficult decision to make. The day went by quickly, what a relief. But in the afternoon I started to feel the heaviness around my arms and I remembered. I carried the sick dog from the house to the cab waiting outside the gate. And she weighed over 25 kilos.

between 0600 and 1030H

I was getting a little worried. First off, I did not make an appointment with nong bernie or biboy the previous night to take us to the vet. It has been raining all night and the clouds overhead promised more to come. That means, taking a tricycle is moot. Where to get a ride then has become almost hopeless, until I thought of Apol. It took some smses and we're (bff, apol, cuchi and myself) off to Hinigaran.

Parenthood Pangs

I got the message. Crisp and clear.

It was an awful sight. At first, I saw patches of wet blood on the grass. I looked at my foot. It was wet and sticky with blood but there was no pain. Then I looked at Cuchi. Her side was red. It came from a nasty gash on the her wrist, just below the dewclaw.

Stunned by the sight, no first-aid stored knowledge came to mind. If only to stop the bleeding. As in, zilch.

There was no cab in sight, I urged Cuchi to walk the two blocks from the garden to the house. I can only imagine her pain and fright. We left paw prints in blood the piqued the curiosity of the neighbors. The trail stopped at our gate, that's why.

Mom was incredible! She was so cool and methodical about the whole thing. After spraying water on the paw in order to locate the wound, she instructed me to put betadeine and and apply pressure bandage above the wound (which we loosened every thirty minutes for circulation, said the literature on the internet).

Once the bleeding stopped, I called the good doctor from Hinigaran and asked for some advice. He prescribed 500 mg Amoxicillin to be taken orally and the same applied directly on the wound. I assumed the wound needed suturing so I'll be bringing the poor girl to the hospital bright and early tomorrow. Hope it doesn't rain.

See, I'm going to be a lousy parent. If this isn't a clear indication, I don't know what is.

Getting lost builds up a healthy appetite.

Last Saturday afternoon, I was set to see Lira and her newborm at their Patricia home. That was after I set all my affairs right at school which ended a bit late. In a hurry to leave the place, I didn't pause to think if I should take a PUJ bound for Fortunetowne or not. And so to Fortunetowne I went and was subjected to the curious smile of the kind driver who took me back at the junction without additional fare.

So finally, Isabella and I met. She was so little I was afraid to touch her (it's a good thing her parents plan to dedicate her six months from now). Asleep at her mother's bosom, she refused to finish her milk. Besides the occasional stretching and change of positions, she took no notice of our noisy exchange.

I stayed only an hour as by 6 pm, the sky was already dark. Since it would still be more than an hour before I reach home, I decided to pass by Imbiss and try the sausages that they are so famous of. I tried their Scheublig sausage with 2 cups of rice and 12 oz cola. I don't know beans about sausages but what I had was a bit crispy outside and juicy inside and it went very well with catsup and mustard.

macanese (mis)adventure

Sis was right!

If you’re not into gambling and partying, Macau is best as a day trip destination. Though the lights of the casinos and the lighthouse are best seen against the dark sky, most of the interesting cultural and historical destinations are better seen and explored when the sun is up.

Our excitement was dampened by a lot of things: 1) the taxi driver not understanding simple English (or feigning not to) and charging us MOP 35 for the short ride from the ferry terminal to the hotel, 2) the hotel staff did not keep our reservation even when I telephoned that we will be late in checking in, 3) we had to pay HK$1200 deposit fee in case we happen to carry hotel stuff like the room key, kettle, towels, flower vase etc. (which was not mentioned at all on their website), 4) the new room rate was steeper by around HK$130, 5) one of the rooms (our room) was apparently ‘smoking’ as evidenced by ashtray on the list of room stuff and traces of cigarette smoke which the air freshener could not mask, 6) hotel guests making out on the elevator, and 7) the taxi driver again feigning to understand us and took us to Cunha instead of Senado square running a fare of almost a hundred.

I wasn’t entirely unhappy about staying at Guia Hotel. I chose it for its proximity to the Lighthouse which can be seen from the balcony of our room. I slept almost as soon as my back rested on the cushioned bed. Obviously the trip to Ngong Ping was more challenging than it seemed.After a restful evening with only a ‘bucket’ of noodles shared by three of us for dinner, we were ready to explore the peninsular Macau. We had a heavy breakfast at mcdonald’s before braving the rainshower walking the short distance from Senado Square to the ruins of St. Paul. On each side were stores of every kind, ranging from the local selection of kebab, tarts, jerky, souvenir items to high end clothing and fashion boutiques of which we visited none.

I know we would have like to explore more of the place only if our first impression was not as bad. One thing for sure, I will go back another time, give the country another chance about giving me a better experience. After all, I still have to see more of the place and try out authentic Macanese food, take more pictures and grab a souvenir or two.

humoring the kid in me

It is said to be the happiest place on earth.

Who wouldn't want to go to a happy place?
So, together with three other divas who are so much in touch with the kids in them, off we went to Hongkong Disneyland for three days.
Disney Hollywood Hotel was home to us for three nights. The twin room we occupied served its purpose, i.e., provided with hot water to soothe our tired bodies each night and downy beds for our sore backs to rest. The rest (complimentary slippers-new set each day-for us to take home, four sets of toiletries, one each for the day we stayed in and polite and eager-to-help housekeeping staff) were just added incentives.
Hotel food was not bad at all. Only that their buffet is more expensive that any local buffet that I've sampled. The downside is that, the dimsums that I liked very much are so filling, I get to eat very little of everything else.
Unlike my first visit, this time I was able to visit and get to see things that only existed in my itinerary before. The day after our first night, we went to Hongkong Island after a heavy buffet. We each had only HK$150 on our persons so we had our pesos exchanged at HSBC Central branch which offered high value for our money. Then off we went to see Pierce Brosnan wax figure at Madam Tussaud's on Victoria Peak. We went by bus going up (which allowed us to see the resting place of the residents with the grave markers peeking out of the bushes) and going down on a tram. As the afternoon progressed, we spent a great deal walking along the avenue of the stars (getting our photographs taken with Jacky Chan's and Wong Kar wai's markers) passing the time profiling the people we see until it was time for the symphony of lights.
The last bus going to the hotel was at 10pm that by 8:00, everyone was anxious about how to get home. Funny thing is that the more we worried, the more we got lost in the maze of the mtr system (bagat -in the vernacular). We just couldn't find our 'line' (tsuen wan) for the longest time.
Day two was disneyland park time. We started bright and early. The ground was still wet from the rain last night. It belied the heat that was to be expected the rest of the day. We started with the adventure with the river cruise. A cynic would have not enjoyed the ride with robot rhinos coming out of the water seemingly to charge at the boat, or elephants trying to get us wet, drumbeats suggesting presence of cannibals performing a ritual...like the middle aged person in front of us. She was ready with her umbrella the whole time.
Next stop was the Lion King adventure. It was a song and dance presentation inside a theater featuring the famous songs from the movie, with the kingdom creatures retelling the story of Simba. Most of the dancers were from ballet Philippines.
Suffice to say that we sampled most of the rides of which Magic mountain was the most adventurous. Besides that, we also lined up with the kids to get our pictures taken with Mickey and Minnie :)
One day at the park wasn't just enough.

pasalamat 2011

all the years that pasalamat has existed, never have i been on the foot parade but now. being employed all these years even prevented me from watching one. the catch is, my recent employment dictates i need to be in it (for marketing purposes).

the parade is not for the fainthearted. it required courage to finish the walk from the local high school which ends in front of the mayor's office. to start the parade at 2pm meant braving the afternoon's searing heat and glare.

foot parade, may 01

it was a good thing that sponsors led the parade that we finished early. some of us relieved to be able to leave early while some took it as an opportunity to watch the participating teams perform.

besides the parade, the only events that i went to were the inter-club lawn tennis invitational and the 12th dog show. i stayed only halfway through a doubles game deciding that i was better off at home preparing the dogs for their outing in the afternoon.

cuchi competed with three other labradors. all were male, two blacks and one yellow. it was already almost 3pm and we've been there since one. cuchi was too hot and tired already to listen to my "request" to stand, or walk, or run. she even decided to lie down after our run around the ring.

dog show - 30 apr, 2pm

on the other hand, besides the fact that tara was a runaway winner for the best of breed being the only participant for her breed, she endeared herself to the crowd by regaling them with her bouncy run. they were clapping and shouting and taking a lot of pictures. and so, we took home a bar of soap, 2 kg of dog food and a wooden trophy for "best of breed".

celebrating our 20th high school homecoming already!!!that we did with more than 180 classmates in attendance. it was a whole day affair. my attendance was cut short by almost half by a stressed, teary eyes. well rested after a powernap, we got back just in time to hear messages from mr. lapatha and mrs. poblete. after i read jenjen's message for the batch, we slowly inched our way out from the venue and went home in time for the bbc's coverage of the royal wedding.