Cat, Cheese, Cranberry Juice, and Chocolate

Around 9am yesterday I was awaken by my buzzing cellphone and on the other end of the line was jtt and Cat, they were apparently on conference call. My friend Cat just came home from France and would like to meet us. Cat was gone for almost six months and have been travelling from...hold your breath.... Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany and France. We agreed to meet around 5pm at the Galleria.

Around 6pm I came to the Galleria and we went to Starbucks and I ordered Cranberry Juice. My first choice actually was mango juice but they run out of it so I opted for cranberry juice instead. I heard it is good for my dear old kidney. Anyways Cat gave me an Eiffle Tower keychain and a box of cheese. According to Cat the cheese is best eaten as a spread on a bread. Cat have loads of stories about her travels. She described Argentina as similar to Paris but of smaller and less grander scale. Also, Argentina is a shopper's mecca because the merchandise are extremely cheap! In Peru she went to see the Machu Pichu and Lake Titicaca. However, the place she likes most in her travel was Paris, surprisingly though when she went to the Louvre she learned that they do not have a gallery for impressionist artists! Soon enough we are already hungry and all raring to have dinner. The two girls bought some things at the mall first before we go for dinner.

From Ortigas jtt suggested that we try the relatively new cafe in Katipunan "Casa Xocolat". I later learned that the owners used the X to replace the “ch” in chocolate as is done in Catalan, the language in Barcelona. The moment I stepped inside the cafe I immediately noticed the bohemian ambiance reminiscent of the old Malate before it became "hip and trendy." Aside from Chocolate drink, they also serve sandwiches (Panini) and pasta. I ordered Spicy Tuna Spaghetti and a large serving of their hot chocolate drink. And boy you should try their hot choco drink you'll definitely go loco me amigo. The pasta was also very good and the prices are not hurtful to a peasant like me. So we enjoyed the rest of the evening talking and eating and eating and talking until the cafe closed shop for the day.

Children of Men

I just saw this movie a couple of hours ago and I am still reeling with awe with the masterful direction of Alfonso Cuaron. Please watch this movie if you haven't seen it yet, also if only to see how Michael Caine looks like in long hippie hair. As usual Clive Owen is stupendous!

For the Love of Reich

Yesterday at CNN's Larry King I saw Bill Cosby, Toni Braxton, and actor Gary Cole talk about Autism. The show featured the challenges of parents with autistic children. They were also throwing statistics that really surprised me, one of the guest said "1 in 150, 1 in 94 boys will be diagnosed with Autism. This is truly a national and a global epidemic. " To my further surprise apparently according to Larry King... "that they aren't teaching it in medical school? " What's going on here? I hope I heard it differently or something. I also learned that early diagnosis is very important so that proper intervention will be given and the child's development will be better.

The following may indicate that a child is suffering from autism according to the Autism Society of the Philippines. If the child exhibits seven or more of these traits a diagnosis of autism should be seriously considered. However the patient should also be given thorough medical, developmental and intelligence tests:

1. Difficulty in mixing with other children.
2. Acts as deaf.
3. Resist learning.
4. No fear of real dangers.
5. Resist change in routine.
6. Indicates needs by gestures.
7. Inappropriate laughing and giggling.
8. Not cuddly.
9. Marked physical overactivity.
10. No eye contact.
11. Inappopriate attachments to objects.
12. Spins objects.
13. Sustained odd play.
14. Standoffish manner.

There are numerous theories as to the specific causes of autism, but they are as yet unproven. But it is classified as a developmental disability that results from a disorder of the human central nervous system. Autism usually manifests itself before the age of three and diagnosis is possible as early as six months. There is a broad array of autism therapies for the development of kids with autism such as; Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Floortime Therapy, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Sensory Integration Therapy, Relationship Development Intervention, Verbal Behavior Intervention, and the school-based TEAACH method.

I was not quite surprised when one of the mother interviewed in the Larry King Live show said that....." We're just judged more harshly and more constantly, and expected to do things that no human being should be expected to do." I gues the root cause of this is due to people's lack of awareness about autism. My friend Reich have an online journal of her son Dale's progress with autism. Also, the Autism Society Philippines have a website that can be a good source of information regarding the status of autism in the country.

By the way, Happy Birthday Reich!

Loot of the Month

Last March 10 while I was aimlessly wandering at the mall I ended up as usual browsing at my favorite store BOOK SALE. I can say without missing a heart beat that I care no less about any other store and a mall aint complete if they have no BOOK SALE shop. My latest foray did not disappoint me because it yielded me a copy of Kurt Vonnegut's "GALAPAGOS" for a measly 70 pesos. The cover and spine of the book was in mint condition! Woohoo.

After a week my dear niece bought me a copy of the great Elie Wiesel's "NIGHT" for only 40 bucks also from BOOK SALE in North Edsa. I am looking forward to my very short summer respite... as I willl utilze the most of it reading books

Community Nursing

Last March 15 I went to Caloocan Health Department for my Community Care Management rotation/duty. The first day is a requisite attendance to the general orientation provided by the Caloocan Health Department. If you failed to attend the orientation you will not be allowed to complete the 2 weeks rotation. The orientation is a mere briefing about what to expect in the area and the rules and regulation of the agency. They will also ask you to remember their Mission and Vision, which is actually almost the same as the previous areas I have covered. From the orientation I also learned that there were 188 barangays, 2 Districts and 40 Health Centers in Caloocan City. After the general orientation my group was herded by our CI in a corner and told us to be ready for the survey and ocular we have to conduct in Barangay's 69 and 70 the next day. Each of us have to survey at least five families. We were then allowed to go home.


The next day around 8 am we proceeded to Francisco Health Center, we had a short briefing and then immediately went to Barangay 69 and 70. The place is quite congested, the alleys were less than two arms length wide. The houses were either made of stone or mixed materials of wood and concrete. I am assuming that the place was previously a squatter's area because the houses were built with no consideration with the basic building code. The lot were probably granted to them in the end.


The families we surveyed have at least one of the family member earning 10k a month. The average size of the 50 families that we surveyed is 6. Almost all of the families are relying on the Health Center for their Health and Medical/Dental services. The Health Center is actively pushing immunization for all babies. All of them uses water sealed lavatories, and they are getting their water from the Water Company. Some of them are not drinking tap water but mineral bottled water. There were a lot of houses that do not have refrigerator, hence food storage for left over food is a problem. There were a lot of kids below 5 years old running, crying, and playing around the narrow alleys. You can also find some ladies doing their laundries along the narrow alleys. There were also a lot of teens, men and women who are simply idling and talking along the alleys. Most men are in their supposedly productive years but are out of work.


Two days before the end of our 2 weeks rotation we conducted health teachings concerning environmental sanitation. We distributed reading materials and trash bags to each families. After the health teaching we went to the house of one our groupmates to prepare the materials for our case presentation the next day. The presentation went on without a problem and our community rotation officially ended.

This is my third exposure to community nursing. My previous assignments brought me to the communities along the river bank of Tullahan River and the quaint barrios of Obando, Bulacan. I have to give it to the Public Health Nurses and Doctors their dedication to their work. All of the health workers I have worked with are really passionate about their work. They were able to establish themselves as an integral part of the community. I am pretty darn well sure that they are not getting the compensation that commensurate their hard work. But this does not hinder them in doing a good job.