You’re quirky and independent and you never follow the herd
You’re a heroine to many and loved by hundred of nerds
So happy researching you cute little geek
Now get out of the lab, you’ve been there all week!

~from our friendly phdcomics.com

View the comic!

After absorbing the initial shock and grief, I messaged my sister to buy me another FMCC clothing to commemorate the day. I thought of another polo shirt but what Au was able to buy was more fitting: a black button down short sleeved polo with the obligatory 3 stars and a sun in the left breast. It was only released a week before and not surprisingly supplies are running out as of this time.

This polo belongs to the first batch that was out in the market. Every FMCC supply is limited with very slim chance of making another batch. That’s why no matter how hard you try to find a previous design, it will be very very hard to find.

Thanks to Au for buying me this polo. A surprise from this polo was the included sticker decal of FrancisM.

I have yet to stick it somewhere and I am really eyeing to put it beside the apple.

I’ve been to four countries in just one month! Although it’s just in Asia, but still!

First country… of course, our beloved Philippines.

Pen and I flew to Singapore from Philippines

Then we took a huge boat going to Indonesia for some R&R. It’s just an hour away from Singapore.

Then after Pen left for Sydney, my photography friends went to Malaysia.
It’s a 5 hour bus ride. (the longest ride among the four countries)

Though Pen wasn’t able to come with us in Malaysia, her 4th country would be Australia. So technically, we both fall under the category of 4 countries, 1 month.

Yes, we got married yesterday. July 27, 2008.

I would say though that it’s a form of strategy to get more traffic to the originators’ site. Unlike in the real world, traffic in websites is a good thing. I thought long and hard if I will give in to this maelstrom. Hmmmm….

Heck, why not. Nothing to lose here.

1. I’m always proud to say that I am the eldest in the brood of 5 and the only guy at that. There was a time when suitors of my sisters were afraid of me. With my hulking figure and all, I do not have to do anything to scare them. I think it’s not the case anymore.

2. Surprisingly, many friends that I’ve known post-UP days don’t know that I also taught at UP. Their eyes would widen in disbelief that I taught at UP. Ikaw?! is the often expression they would give me. Their eyes would widen more when they learn that I taught Math at UP. It’s my secret combo move. haha.

3. I’m a sleep person. 9pm pa lang, lowbatt na. I can’t stay up late everytime there’s a gathering. If I don’t get enough sleep, I can’t function the following day properly.

4. I love playing video games (me and Pen in fact!) – PC games, PS2 and PSP are the platforms that I have tried in the recent years. I may not be a hard core gamer, but I would say that I am able to keep up with the latest games. I’m playing NBA Live ’08 in my PSP now.

5. I was into buying comic books before. I stopped buying when I learned that latest issues are freely downloadable if one knows where to look. I am still reading comics now but not that addicted anymore. I think I’m passed that stage.

6. I never owned a Levi’s jeans. Not one pair of Levi’s jeans. I don’t know, it’s just that I’m better off with other brands of jeans.

7. I wear my wristwatch in my right hand and I’m not a lefty. When I was in high school, I just thought that why not wear my wristwatch in my right hand instead? So I started wearing it on my right. Up until now, it stays in my right hand.

Wow. It took some time to make that list. Thanks to Joy for this meme. Made me realize my personality too.

I’m supposed to tag 10 people. The chain letter stops here. If you want to do it, be my guest. Drop me a comment so I would know okay?

I had fun, maybe you’ll have fun doing a list too. Thanks for the tag Joy.
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I thought about doing this list but was just too lazy… and the fact that this person Joy was addressing AJ and not me. Anyhow, since AJ did it, may as well… But since I don’t have enough time to think this through, it may not come out as a good piece on 7 truths, but basically just 7 truths off the top of my head.

[I realise that some of these also qualify as being 7 proofs that I'm too geeky]

1. Things I love to do. Watching movies [and good TV shows!] has got to be on top of my list of favorite things to do. If I could only get paid to do this every day for the rest of my life, I would so love it! One fantasy I have is to have a mini-theater at home with the perfect seats and all the nachos and popcorn one could eat! A close seoncd would be playing videogames and just plain surfing the net.

2. Things I wish I didn’t have to do. I know I have to work out, seeing how much I love to eat and how immobile most of us are during the day [darn computer work!]. So however I dislike having to rise up early to do some yoga or go for a quick run, I haaaaave to. But let me just say, the hard part is the beginning when you have to tell yourself you need to do it, but when I’m already doing a yoga pose or have gone a block of running, it actually feels good =)

3. Things I love to eat. Junk food used to rule my life in UP. Since I left UP, the craving died down for some reason. But still, I can’t live without my occasional milk chocolate and potato chips. I am not a big fan of corn chips, but that salty kind ‘Tomi’ back home is too addicting. Keep them away!

4. Things I love to smell. I so love the smell of brewing coffee, frying bacon and browning garlic.

5. A forgetten ‘talent’. The first piece I would play on guitar [though not perfectly] is always Blackbird (Beatles). It has got to be the easiest plucking piece there is to learn and play (and never forget!). I learned quite a few pieces when I was in grade school, but without practice I can’t play much unless it’s with a SONG HITS book [hehe, typical PinoY!]

6. A peculiar habit. I can read katakana, hiragana and some kanji. Most of my batchmates in UP took Japanese classes [even AJ did] and they probably can too. I was exposed to Nippongo from childhood, because of Japanese family members related to us by marriage. It surprises people sometimes that I read labels in Japanese groceries. [I don't mean to, it is just fascinating to read romaji of Nu-tu-ri-shyo-n fu-a-ku-to-su (Nutrition facts) --- I just made that up now hehe] However, I can’t understand much since my vocabulary is too narrow.

7. The snobby wallflower. I am terrible at socialising, mainly because I find being put into a room full of people very daunting. I know that if I try, I would just look like I am trying too hard, when in fact I’m not. This is why most of the time I would just listen and not talk too much. I am not very fond of talking when it’s “small talk”. I guess this also ties with the truth that I’m not fond of big gatherings. [Interestingly enough, I don't find conferences and seminars too daunting, but more exciting.]

Back to writing a grocery shopping list just for myself [with the occasional necessity for the house I share with a friend]. Back to working in a quiet bedroom. I already miss the chaos of our house in San Pedro, Laguna. I enjoyed every minute spent with my folks… I miss them terribly. When I flew out of Manila last year knowing I’d be away for a while, it was sad of course. This time was even harder. Which makes it kinda difficult thinking how I will cope this second round…

Spending time with Ajay in two separate occasions was blissful. Leaving for Manila after the first week was hard. Leaving a second time for Sydney on the last week was ten times harder… especially since I wasn’t on the way to see my folks like the first week.

Life is so short, and putting off things that make you happy just makes it feel even shorter.

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SO that first part right there is my angst post. I’ll hopefully can write something on a lighter note next time. Ciao

Pen and labmate Ali.

I’ve already mapped out our itinerary when she comes here on Wednesday. It’s a full packed itinerary that I wish we can survive. We also hope to meet some friends here (Marla and family & Nandy and family) if schedule permits.

The annual celebration will have to be put on hold. Not unlike the previous years that we can pull off a celebration of sorts, this time it will just be a virtual gathering.

Many many more birthdays to come! See you soon here in Singapore.

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Pen: To all the lovely people who sent their greetings… through email, chat, Facebook comments and pokes [even virtual gifts bring good cheer!], Friendster comments and messages and here.

Love you all. [In different ways of course. To clarify, see me.]

Long story short…

I thought I ate something bad whcih brought me excruciating stomach pain and nausea. So when I was ambulanced to Prince of Wales Hospital I was expecting to be discharged hours later after a diagnosis of food poisoning. But no.

I ended up being checked in and tests upon tests run on me. The attending physician that time freaked out when she saw my ridiculously low blood count results. [They wondered why I wasn't complaining about dizziness, then they conjectured I must already be used to how different it feels like. I guess they're right.] The health system here is amazing. They kept at it and had to rule out every possibility in the book. During the night one of the nurses rang the doctor to look at my unusually low blood pressure. It was both fascinating and scary to me. They never hid their concern for their patient, to some extent it made me really afraid.

The funniest moment I could think of was waking up at 7.30 am to a team of doctors at the foot of the bed. “Good morning [insert my long first name here], this is the endo-gynae team.” It was a teaching hospital, so I was being studied. Hehe, so that’s how it felt like. I haven’t exactly been in an aquarium before.

I almost gave in to a transfusion, had it not been for my decision to throw questions at them incessantly. [May as well put their demeanor to good use eh?] So I had options, and it was wonderful discussing it with them so candidly too.

So today I have been officially diagnosed with chronic anaemia. The cause of all my distress the past months: breathless strides, quick to fatigue, dizziness, heavy headaches, all-day sleepiness.

Now I need lamb chops and beef steak. Animal iron sources I learned are easier to absorb than plant ones. AND Vitamin C helps in iron absorption. So I have to take supplements for both.

No more coffee. No more tea. None of soya products either [shoot... I love tofu]. No more late night internet surfing.

Sleep and food. Sounds good to me.

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Wanna see what a cannula looks like?

I had that on me for more than 24 hrs. Bloody painful!

Ok so what to blabber about then? Hmmm…

Doing, yet again, one of my usual hodge-podge storytelling, that which comprises the Pur of the SilPur life.

Pilates. I attended a pilates class late last week, midday on Friday. After the session I decided that I’d freshen up at home instead, the lifestyle center being a mere 6 minute walk from the apartment I’m staying at anyway. When I got home I then made another decision, this time to have a warm bath running. I thought, “Ok, I can still go back to the lab before 3 p.m. That’s a fair bit of time left for the last day of the week to work.” So there I was, stewing in bath salts, and by the time I finished it was past 3. Another decision to rest my head a little proved the downfall of my lab-return plan. I woke up 10.30 that night finding a couple of missed calls and several SMS’s. Oh, how embarrassing. Then and there I realised I had to restructure my fitness classes so I don’t get TOO relaxed that I lose half a day in that fashion again.

The class was envigorating, it was just my dumb decisionmaking of taking that wonderfully relaxing bath right after that did it. But well, I am looking forward to do more classes.

Library books. Whenever I first attend a university I notice that the first thing I abuse is the library. I came to UP and checked out the stacks in the College of Science [nothing to see in the Main Library but dust and annoyingly large halls, sorry I can't feel at home there]. I wowed at the brand-spanking new DLSU collections of journals and fancy latest-edition hard-covered books. I came to UNSW and checked out at 80+ books in my first 2 weeks. Yeeeeeeah, swear I’m not over-estimating [nor am I OC or OA... well maybe I am]. At the moment though I’ve been returning them one at a time and not replacing them ’cause it has become annoying getting emails of reminders to return books I’ve had with me for more than 14 weeks.

Oh, and for the record, my library card number from my high school was… guess? Highlight to see: #0001. Not everyone had a card too, ‘coz you had to sign for it yourself for when you want to loan books. I just happened to be the first one to sign out one that time.

Foodies, other junk and lollies. Also, since I came, I’ve established a pile of food on top of our lab’s fridge. I first brought in fresh fruits, a jar of fruit candies [lollies], then a box of crackers, later on some tea bags and then more crackers and then a bottle of juice. Now it has grown to include a tube of potato crisps [chippies], bags of jellies, a packet of gum, more tea bags [of differing types, coz I find that people here prefer different types], choco chip cookies, barquillos, polvoron, barquiron and a box of sugar. Inside the fridge are milk, lemon cookies, and each person’s juice of choice. Also water bottles. I swear, everywhere I go, I tend to just infect people with my penchant for food in general. [I'll put up a picture I took 2 weeks ago of the fridge-top next time I'm on.]

Sandwiches. I can’t really process my cooking skills at all when I am busy. I need to have a fair amount of time to think about shopping for ingredients and setting aside time to actually be in the kitchen to cook. That’s where sandwiches come in. Ever since I ate in that sandwich construction place in one of the food places in campus, I had been so inspired with what things you can put in a sandwich. So when I go out to shop, I tend to pick up things like cranberry sauce, jalapenos, olives [I don't fancy them too much though], chicken slices, ham, bacon, cheese [different sorts], shaved carrots, walnuts [yeah, crunchy effect], mustard [different kinds!], avocado [guacamole!], etc. The different kinds of bread are also fun to choose, yet I can’t buy too many since they’re best when really new. I can easily keep track of what I have and not have in the fridge quite easily when it comes to sandwiches. It’s amazing. Never thought I’d say so now, but I love making sandwiches.

Mmmmm [Homer-style] Sandwiches…

Ok I think that’ll be it for now… I think I’ve got my head greased a bit. Back to work.