Mental Debugs

An Update

2009-10-31T06:29:00.000+08:00

Five months have passed since I let myself loose in the confines of this webspace. I thought I would be able to live up to my pledge of religiously and diligently updating my blog with what life is for me living and working thousands of miles away from home. Sure the experiences that transpired in those blogless months were worthy to be remembered and written about; I have kept tabs and archived

Will Be Back Soon

2009-10-29T02:53:00.006+08:00

A glimpse at what (some of) the blogless months were... Taken before a colleague's vacay back to the Phils Goofing around in the rehab The Al-Haram Mosque in MeccaTaken during the Umrah my brother and I performed in September Garbed in the Pilgrim's Ihram Me, after the HAIRCUT Al-Haram Mosque in Madinah After Eid Prayers in Al-Haram Mosque in Madinah, Islam's 2nd Holiest Site

The New Nokia Touchscreen 5800 XpressMusic is… (Part II)

2009-06-16T19:24:00.006+08:00

More...…my new toy. Heehee. About eight months ago, I wrote that I wanted to have the first of the touchscreens of the Nokia brand. I was so egged on to get one back then that I frequented the malls back home just to see if the phone was already available to the public. Early first quarter of this year, it reached the shores of the Philippines, but as I was preparing my documents to work abroad,

The Accommodation (Part I)

2009-05-31T19:23:00.003+08:00

It was another 30-minute ride to get to my accommodation, my home for the next year, or two years if I feel like finishing my contract (up until this point I am still having thoughts). If you have been following this blog, you would have agreed with me in saying “Alas! Sleep!” Well, I did finally get some minutes’ rest (not sleep sadly), but a displeasing dilemma would be facing me once I get to

The Hospital

2009-05-20T05:50:00.003+08:00

I have been to hospitals before, medical institutions where I once had my clinical internship and ones where I volunteered my services as a physical therapist after getting my license to practice the same. I am familiar with the everyday hustle and bustle that makes up the hospital framework and the usual his and hellos one gives to other allied medical professionals. However, in some baffling

The Hospital: Prologue

2009-05-15T12:58:00.006+08:00

We got off the van and headed to a building situated adjacent to the hospital. Walking under the high-noon heat, I was mulling over what was and whom I would be meeting inside. Could it be a physical therapist who will be orienting me on what to expect on my first day at work? Could this building be the rehabilitation department that would mold a better health professional out of me? Well, it

Twenty-Three More Months to Go

2009-04-18T20:01:00.004+08:00

Yesterday marked my first month living and working in the Middle East. It may seem like short a time, but the experiences I had were beyond measure: sociaizing with people of different races, learning a new language that is the heart of our religion, attending various lectures on hospital/departmental safety and infection control, training for BCLS/CPR, preparing for the hospital’s JCI

To Kah Mai and Yang

2009-04-10T15:23:00.010+08:00

Kah Mai and MomYangI would like to take a break from writing about my Middle East adventures and take a space off this blog to extend my heartfelt congratulations to two special women in my life, Mai and Yang, my sisters. Both of them graduated just a few weeks back and I hope, before long, they would be esteemed professionals in their own respective fields; one is a soon-to-be lawyer and the

En Route to Jubail

2009-03-30T18:00:00.004+08:00

I asked the driver where we were heading and how long it would take us to get there. “Whoa” was the only thing I could say when he replied it would take about an hour to get to the hospital in Jubail. I thought they would be bringing me to my accommodation first to at least have a few hours of sleep after all that travelling; at this time, I had been a walking zombie for 32 hours. For weird

The Middle East Adventure Continues…

2009-03-21T19:45:00.004+08:00

I already exchanged numbers with Harold when we were about to leave the Philippines. Being on my own at a foreign airport, I tried reaching him to ask where in the world they could be and why they left me behind. The least they could have done was wait for me and relay the next steps that I needed to undertake. I was clueless with what to do next that I went outside the airport to see if they

The Middle East Adventure Begins...

2009-03-19T19:34:00.007+08:00

I cannot believe that I am in the Middle East now. It was a long but interesting 10-hour trip from Manila to Qatar because I was taking everything in; it was my first time to live and work abroad. I also got to sample Qatar Airways five-star service, watched about three films on board and listened to their eclectic music collection on the way to Doha. The e-ticket stated that we would be arriving

Arabian Nights

2009-03-08T20:13:00.017+08:00

My brother arrived about two months ago after his two-year contract with a company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ended. Together with the pasalubongs and the Balikbayan boxes he brought home with him, he also had tons of stories to share, and over coffee and after finishing a good film well into the wee hours of the night, he got to share them with me and I was like a child being read a fairy-tale

After Two Months

2009-03-02T11:03:00.005+08:00

It’s been two months now since my last journal entry. Looking back, I try to understand the reason behind the little number of posts one post I was able to write. Could it be that I was suffering from a Writer’s Block? No, I was not. Could it be that I decided to no longer write? That’s even unthinkable. Then why? Even I, myself, ask that question. In trying to rationalize, I came up with two

Welcome 2009

2009-01-02T14:30:00.004+08:00

It seems like a broken record to say how time flies so fast. But however we may think of this as some sort of a cliché, we are forever bound to live with this reality--that we see our life and those dear to us flittingly pass us by; that we find ourselves getting older by the day, a wrinkle here, some body fat there, a white hair somewhere; that we commit mistakes and (hopefully) learn from them;

Doors

2008-12-27T18:48:00.008+08:00

I arrived home last night to find our door bolted. Usually, it’s just the doorknob that’s locked from the inside, which I don’t have a problem opening because I always have the house key with me on the lanyard of my company ID. But last night, two other locks that can only be opened by someone from inside our house were fastened in place. This is done if my cousin wanted to talk to me in person

Slumdog Millionaire: A Review

2008-12-25T10:04:00.007+08:00

I remember way back in the early 2000s that my mom, after one of her Malaysian business trips , brought home with her some Bollywood CDs. Believe me, Bollywood and Malaysia, even I could not see the connection. We plugged it in on our VCD player one afternoon, for lack of anything better to do, and subsequently got our first taste of what Indian movies are like--infectious conviviality,

The problem with my Vista OS

2008-12-17T14:09:00.008+08:00

My laptop is about two months old now. There’s no regret really that I got myself one even if most of the time it’s just left at a corner of my room, safely tucked on its sleeves, because I’m not home from like 11:00am to 11:00pm. After a day’s work, I turn on my computer to write, make my PT review notes, listen to songs from my beefed-up music library, or catch the latest videos of my favorite

Two Days, Two Memorable Parties

2008-12-15T19:07:00.012+08:00

I meant to write a longer post (two separate blogs in fact) of the two memorable events our team took part in and celebrated in two consecutive nights, TNC's first (and hopefully not last) Christmas party last Saturday, and Intensity, Aegis Peoplesupport's company-wide event just yesterday. But my usual sleepy self is failing me and the workload today is not permitting me. Everybody I know who

Better than the 13th month pay!

2008-12-10T17:40:00.001+08:00

In Love with Lazy

2008-12-06T17:50:00.006+08:00

I love you Lazy! Nah, this is not about the sloth that I am most days. I’m referring to THE band whose bossa covers of Floyd music totally blew me away.More...Okay, I’m not ashamed to say that I listen to bossa music, the type that conjures birds tweet-tweeting in a lazy, laidback late afternoon, lounging on a couch outdoors, staring into the heavens, lost in the soothing sax, drumbeats, funky

So long, Ivan

2008-12-01T17:44:00.012+08:00

It all started with a YM message...The news of someone's passing is one thing somebody wouldn't ever want to hear, especially if you've come to know and been friends or acquaintance with them. This was once such news, and up to now, his passing is hard to believe.Ivan, your friends and batchmates from TNC know that you are with our creator. You may have left the world at such a young age, in your

Seven Days of A+ Movies

2008-11-30T14:50:00.016+08:00

What a cinematic experience the last seven days were for me. If there were one more thing that I am passionate about besides my music, favorite TV shows and books, it’s movies. They’re not the typical commercial ones that scourge our theaters nowadays though, reason being I do not frequent them anymore. My penchant goes for foreign, festival and award-winning films, visual spectacles that leave

Just because I almost finished reading Twilight

2008-11-26T13:27:00.011+08:00

This is probably one of the hyped movies of this year, more hyped than Solace or Madagascar 2, because prior to Twilight being shown in the cinemas, its book counterpart was the talk of the town. Like Odette’s keen observation, I also heard people, mostly girls (obviously), talking about Edward, Edward, Edward, and more Edward Cullen in the office pantry, the smoking area, the elevator, on the

I’m an Uncle (Again!)

2008-11-16T20:13:00.006+08:00

I come from a big family. My grandpa on my mother’s side had four wives, if my memory serves me right, so I had extended aunts and uncles aside from the brothers of my mom (she’s the only girl on her side). My dad came from a big family as well--they’re like 10 or 12--so it’s no wonder that we’re likely meant to follow the Kadiri-Salapuddin gene pool. Yes, we’re a dozen. I have five sisters and

The Great Gig with the Twins

2008-11-13T13:25:00.016+08:00

It's no secret that I went home just this Saturday for a four-day needed break from work (that's why I didn't have any recent posts). I know I should have written about the fun-filled moments I shared with my college friends and family. I will (probably over the weekend), but I never really got the opportunity to write about them. I thought having my own laptop would have changed that, but I