Grand International Food Feast

It's a Saturday duty once again and Mam Barney and I decided that we'll be having the grandest and biggest food feast ever as we celebrate our last Saturday Night Duty Food Tripping.

 And so we decided that to have the grandest food feast ever, we'll be bringing foods from all around the world, three foods from three countries. Mam Barney decided that she'll be bringing Kimbap & Kimchi from South Korea, Pad Thai from Thailand and Baklava from Greece (or is it from Turkey...I don't know).

I, on the other hand, decided to bring Kani Sarada and Melon Pan from Japan, Minced Chicken and Mushroom in Lettuce Wrap from Vietnam and Ponchesitos (a Spanish milhojas variant, I think) from Spain.

It's an overwhelming food feast but I guess something went wrong because for every Saturday night duty that we have, this is the first time that we had an emergency case. The bad thing is it is not only one but two cases, fortunately enough they're only minor cases (emergency appendectomy and CTT insertion only :) )

But nonetheless, the food feast that we had is awesome and Jops (the only guest who arrived) brought us some Chilean Red Wine. And we were also grateful to him, because without him we may not survive the toxic night that we experienced. :)

Its A Serious Seminar, So Why Are We Talking and Laughing?

It's our PDOS today or Pre-Departure Orientation Seminar but before that we need to fill out some forms first in Aureus for our OWWA documents..and the hell, I just realized I don't have a Philhealth number and a Pag-Ibig number too which is a requirement. I need to settle those things immediately!

Anyways, we were already briefed by Majoy on PDOS and sure enough what she told us is all true, it's all about the Middle East and there are lots of advertisement. And so we can't help it but to chat and talk to each other and sometimes we talked too loud I guess some people were irritated to us, but what can we do, we can't relate to the discussion, it's as if we can bring all those lectures regarding the Middle East in our destination, right?

Anyways, it's a miracle I didn't fell asleep while listening in our seminar, to think I'm from night duty and I haven't slept at all.

After the seminar, we went to Robinson's Ermita to have a halo-halo from Razon's. We took this chance to have a bonding moment with our co-workers. If last time our group was joined by the two people in Solihull, today its the people from Good Hope Hospital (Ritz and Roma).

After eating our halo-halo, we got excited and went to the nearest Netopia station to see the house of Ritz and Roma in UK. We told them that they already have a house even though they still don't have their visa. Hehe :)

After some picture taking, we then went home good thing my duty for tomorrow is 2-10, para kasi akong nagtriple shift form night, then 6-2 then 2-10...kapagod lang talaga..hehe :)

A Favor to My Tatay Ge

Sir Ge requested me if I can get his CI duty last Saturday then suddenly Mam Barney and I decided to have our visa appointment on the 17th...unfortunately it's my 6-2 HNOD. Good thing Sir Ge knew what are my plans are and he accepted to relieve me from my 6-2 HNOD, sya na daw.

Anyways, instead of being absent, I decided to have a night shift instead para hindi rin kulang sa tao si Sir Ge sa umaga.

So Mam Barns and I had a working breakfats in Mcdo to settle our documents first. Then we went to Ecoplaza to meet up Jen before going to the VFS office. We then realized na nandun din pala si Betheliza or Lhieza for short. After a few minutes of guessing who's who, nagkikita-kita rin kami and nagkausap-usap. We also met Leah and Majoy (the two of them will be working in Solihull).

After our appointment, we had our lunch in the Dad's/Saisaki/Kamayan for a buffet lunch pero Kamayan na lang yung available for lunch pero ok lang.

After that we decided to go to Aureus to fill out some forms na kelangan daw pero dahil ubos na yung time at traffic pa, we decided that we'll do that tomorrow morning na lang.

Buti na nga lang din at ganun dahil ayokong dumiretso sa OR wearing a semi-formal clothes baka magtanong sila kung saan ako galing, may problem now is how to tell my co-staff that I need to go out early and being OT is not an option for me.

It's A Chinese Night

Yup! Yup! Its Saturday Night again and we decided to have a simple dimsum and dumpling night pero dahil sobrang init we decided to include halo-halo for the night food fest...and so we decided we will call this night, the Chowking Night. Our plan is to order some foods in Chowking fastfood chain but unfortunately they told us that they won't deliver in the night...just a weird thing dahil hindi ba mas malaki ang kita ng ganun lalo na't gabi pa!

Anyways, because they won't deliver, we decided to order in the nearby resto, Noodle King that is. Kaso as usual hndi pa rin sila nagbago, after an hour pa namin nakuha ung order namin at yung Halo-halo nila, naging juice na...

But all in all, ok naman ang food, nabusog kami...hndi rin kami na-toxic dahil walang case pero hndi rin peaceful night namin dahil tawag ng tawag yung intern dahil lang sa CD case...yun pala hindi daw tatanggap ung OR-CD ng case from 7am to 12nn dahil may power interruption sila and all their cases would be sent in our OR...e wala naman kaming memong nareceive...so ayun nagalit si Mam TJ sa OR-CD...but everything ended well naman.

It's a Sticky, Sticky Night...

Because we're craving for some kakanin and we still don't have a tribute for our own food (Filipino food that is), we decided that for our theme last night we'll be a kakanin night. And because some people will come over (they'll be sleeping over because the call time for their medical mission is so early) we decided to bring lots of kakanin. Jops decided ot bring some pistachio ice cream (for Mam Barney I guess...)

 

Last night is one of my favorite Saturday night due to the foods that we brought. I'm always craving for the kamoteng kahoy na suman and good thing there's one. As well as ube halaya...the only thing missing is the kutsinta, which is the thing that I'm craving the most.

Anyways, we had a good night, no cases and all. I had another session with Jops regarding my moves to my love but I decided not to tell him my dilemma (the thing is I don't know if I'll still pursue it or not due to the fact that I'll be leaving soon and it might hurt her).

Saturday Night Duty and Early Sunday Trip

It's Saturday once again and our theme for tonight's duty is Street Food. And for the sake of no emergency case, Jops and I decided that each of us should bring something because we realized that if only one of us bring something, magkakaroon at magkakaroon kami ng case. Or if we don't bring any at all meron pa rin. So this time around both of us should bring something. I'm in charge of bringing the fishball, squid ball and kwek-kwek while Jops is the one responsible for the chicken and pork isaw.

Anyways, as usual late nanaman ako pero pagdating ko doon wala pa rin itong si Jops. After 40minutes dumating din siya together with Sir A and Sir P.J Hindi naman sila invited pero dahil andunna sila ininvite na rin namin sila. Yung mga inimbitahan namin, sila naman yung wala, although Benj came with mangga with bagoong.

Anyways, I realized na effective talaga ang pagdadala ng food every night dahil this time around hindi na kami nagkaroon ng case, although napull out naman itong si Jops sa DR-Pay dahil nagkaroon sila ng emergency CS.

Anyways, ambilis naubos ng food namin dahil andami ngang uninvited guests so in the end (ng umuwi na at natulog na ang mga uninvited guests) nagkwentuhan na lang kami nila Benj at Jops sa workroom at around 4:30 in the morning na ng magdecide kaming matulog dahil hindi na namin kaya.

Around 6 in the morning dumating na itong si Rain, na supposedly ka-COS ni Chia pero maya-maya biglang nagtext si Sir R na sya daw ka-COS ni Chia at parating na sya. Ayun nagulantang ang mga katauhan kung sino ba talaga, in the end ang naevict ay si Rain at dahil sobrang nabad trip si Rain dahil sayang lang ang effort niya, Jops and I decided to accompany her somewhere para hindi na sya umuwi. We decided to have a cup of tea in Tomas Morato. 

As usual kapag mga juniors lang ang magkakasama, andami naming napagkwekwentuhan, love story ng mga tao sa OR, mga experience namin from different monster surgeons atbp.

After almost two hours of sipping our teas, we decided to change location: Bannaple. Dahil sobrang aga pa at akala namin 10am nagbubukas ang establishment ayun dumating kami dun na sarado pa. After 30minutes nag-open din sila and we ordered Banoffee pie, Double CHocolate Tiramisu Cheesecake at Baked Creamy Cheesy Penne.

After that naglakad kami papuntang National Bookstore sa may Quezon Avenue. Syempre hindi pa rin naubos ang kwentuhan namin. Ito yung mga araw na gusto ko, yung tipong nag-eenjoy ka lang, walang stress at kasama mo lang ang mga taong hindi stressful. Talking anything, everything under the sun without any pressure. It's nice knowing some people like them.

"Instant Food" Saturday Night Food Fest

It's Saturday once again and as usual we have our Saturday-themed food fest duty just to avoid the toxicity of the night. Anyways, si Rain naman ang kasama ko this time around at dahil sya ang nagdala ng ice cream the night before, I promised her that I will bring some tonight.

What I didn't know is may mga kaso pa pala sa OR, good thing pagkadating ko tapos na yung mga case at magliligpit na lang kami, the other case was rescheduled the following day.

At dahil duty naman sila Jops and Benj, I told them to stay behind na lang dahil may dala akong food. So after umalis nung ibang 2-10 sabi ko may dala akong ice cream and they volunteered na bumili na rin ng ibang food, at dahil gusto nilang kumain ng noodles, bumili na sila ng yakisoba at mga noodles, habang kami ni Rain ay naglilinis ng OR.

After maglinis, we decided to eat and magkwentuhan ng mga pangyayari sa OR. The relationships na namuo sa OR and lahat ng rumors na kumakalat pinagusapan namin. This is one of those nights na hindi ko malilimutan dahil I'm with the people na hindi mga plastic at mapagkunwari. We really had fun that night, good thing nga at wala kaming emergency case ni Rain, although na pull-out sya sa DR-CD around 4am.

Saturday Night Series: Birthday, Emergency and a Mystery

It's a Saturday again and as usual I'm on a night duty. It's also Benj's birthday and I promised her that I would be dropping by in their place before going on duty.

Anyways, as I promised her I made some food for the Saturday Night Food Tripping. I made two type of muffins and a lasagna. Sabi kasi nya dadaan sya and dahil birthday nya I told her na it will be my birthday gift to her na lang.

Strawberry- Banana-Orange Cupcake

ChocoBanana Cupcake

Cheesy, Creamy Lasagna

Anyways, I was really proud of the way the two muffins turn out. Maganda ang itsura and masarap naman daw. But what I really love is my lasagna. Still not perfect but it has improved a lot already compared to the first ever lasagna that I made.

Anyways, akala ko ok na kami dahil yung emergency case na supposedly sa 2-10 e pinaschedule na ng surgeon ng 6am on the following day but unfortunately nagbago rin isip nila and pinagawa rin nya ng 11:30pm. And so what we thought a paceful night turns out not to be one, buti na nga lang at emergency ex-lap lang. The weird thing is all of us including the anesthesiologist all thought that is was a simple case: an eppendectomy case only tapos yun pala colon surgery na ang gagawin.

All in all it was ok naman. Swabe lang unfortunately hindi namin nakain ung dinala ko. The worst part is bigla syang nagdisappear kaya hndi na namin nakain. Seriously when Emjay, Carla and Yeye dropped by sabi ko kuha sila ng food meron sa nurses' room pero they keep on insisting na wala daw. When I check it, wala nga!

That's really a big mystery...or not. Tatlo lang naman kaming nasa OR nun, yung isa naka-scrub, yung isa yung aide namin na nawawala sa room dahil natutulog pala sa student's room at ako, so sino kaya ang mapagbibintangang kumain ng mga food? Si Mickey Mouse kaya?

Saturday Night Duty...Second Time Around

Mam B is craving for an oatmeal chocolate chip cookies while I'm craving for cassava cake and so we decided that we'll bring each others' cravings for our Saturday Night Duty Food Tripping.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies courtesy of Me :)

A slice of cassava cake courtesy of Mam B :)

Good thing I still have left over chocolate chips so it was an easy job to bake an oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Mam B's cannot make a cassava cake and so she decided to buy one instead.

It was an almost peaceful night until I was asked to be pulled-out in OB-DR because they have a CS. But aside from that all is well. :)

Pasta and Pastry Party

Night duty shouldn't be a frightening experience but rather a joyful one, expecting a surprise not by the emergency cases that one may experience but rather being surprised to what food your co-worker may bring, hence I decided that every Saturday night (instead of having a Saturday Night Parties in different clubs in the metro), we will have our own OR Saturday party with different themes every week.

Last night is our first party night duty, and because Mam B and I were the one who is on duty we decided to have a Pasta and Pastry Party. I'm the one responsible for the pastries while she'll do the pasta, specifically she'll do a Seafood Marinara.

I can't decide what to bake, in the end I decided to make three different kinds of cookies. I kinda felt pressured kasi ang mamahal ng ingredients nung seafood pasta ni Mam B, so para ma-compensate naman sya I’ll make three different kinds of cookies: Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies.

Anyways, we always believed that when we brought foods in OR during the night shift, will be having less emergency cases but last night muntikan ng hindi umepek ang dala namin buti na lang marami yung dala naming foods so when we arrived the ongoing emergency craniotomy is already closing (skin suturing) and hindi na dumating yung isa pang emergency cranio from Laguna.

The first theme party we had was a success. Jops, Benj and Sir Aldrin also dropped by around 11pm so nakiparty na rin sila sa amin and as expected the food we brought is highly appreciated. The Sunday morning staffs were able to eat our treat too and they loved it.

Next Saturday is another event although this time around, I’ll be the one responsible for the main dish while Mam B’s responsible for the dessert.

Sunday Market and Emergency Cases

Emjay, Bogs and I have been planning to visit the Sunday markets near our area (that includes the Sidcor Sunday Market, The Lung Center Sunday Market and the Weekend Market in QC Circle) almost a month ago but it was only yesterday that we were able to do that.

Actually, our main goal is to ask for the price of the stall in their market. I'm planning to sell cupcakes and other pastries kasi and we've decided that the best way is to sell it in a Sunday Market.

Anyways, our first stop is the Sidcor Sunday Market which is located in the Eton Centris. I didn't know that they have a Sunday Market until Emjay mentioned it to me. While roaming and looking to the products being sold, an old lady told us that this market was once in the Lung Center parking area and that all of them have already transferred here, so wala na daw kwenta kung pupunta kami sa Lung Center dahil pangit na yung nandun (I think she overheard us talking that we wanted to visit the Lung Center Sunday market).

Anyways, we learned that the stall's rent is just for Php490.00 but we need to enlist first with the products we wanted to sold. If we don't have any competition, they will contact us.

After buying some Vigan Empanada, we went to the Lung Center but unfortunately, the guard mentioned that the Sunday market event was cancelled. And so we went straight ahead to the QC Circle Weekend Market which is not even comparable to the Sidcor Sunday Market, so we didn't bother asking the price of the stalls there.

Because I'm on a 2-10 shift yesterday, I didn't go home after our Sunday Market tour, instead I stayed in SM North and just went to the hospital around 1pm. Unfortunately, instead of having a peaceful Sunday afternoon duty (the usual routine of those who were on Sunday afternoon duty, is sleeping, watching TV and playing computer games), we have an emergency case, and it's not just one but three. They came one after the other.

Our first case is emergency ventriculostomy and our patient to make it worst is pregnant. She ended up in ICU afterwards, just for a close monitoring. Then we had an emergency appendectomy followed by an emergency ex-lap which also ended up in the ICU because of her unstable vital signs.

The weird thing is, all of us who were on duty that afternoon were also on duty the following morning, so we decided that instead of going home, we'll sleep in OR instead.

Good thing is, we were not that toxic today as expected and we were able to go home immediately. No overtime work for us :)

Let's Go M-A-C-A-U

I have 5 days vacation and we're in Hongkong, so why not stop by in Macau, which is just a ferry away from HK Mainland, right?

 

If it's my sister's task to tour us in Hongkong, it's my job to make sure we're not getting lost in Macau, but the thing is I'm not really good in reading maps. They said to experience a country, one must get lost and so our Macau Adventure starts when we we're not able to get down in our supposedly bus stop. We ended up walking instead until we reach our target hotel, which I'm telling you is not easy as it seems.

Obviously, we need to start exploring Macau immediately and so after settling ourselves in Hotel Kou Va, we immediately went to Senado Square and started our walkathon. Our first stop is obviously the Ruins of St. Paul. There are a lot of tourist, lot of shops but what I definitely like going to the ruins are the free taste of the bakeries out there. Why waste money for food when you can have it for free...wag lang magpapahalata...hehe :)

But some foods are not just free, you need to buy it like the Portuguese Egg Tart and Steamed Pork Bun. Anyways, our walkathon didn't end in the Ruins, after that we went to the Monte Fort, then to the Camoes and Casa Garden.

Thank God for the sign post like this...it helps tourist a lot,if you still get lost while following its direction then you have a major problem in your sense of direction...

If Macau is alive during the day, the night life is not different. With all the lights a blazing in every Hotel and Casinos in Macau, I don't know if the people still sleeps or not. Of course, our tour in Macau will not be complete if we don't visit the famous hotels and casinos out there right...and with all the free shows they have could we ask for more? Free shuttle bus, free shows...this is how we tour Macau the cheapest way. :)

Our first stop is the City of Dreams, where the free Bubble Show is being shown. It is on the other side of Macau so we need to ride their shuttle. Before the show starts, we decided to tour the Venetian Hotel first. Unfortunately, we don't have enough time to explore the Hotel that much so we just saw the lobby and that's it. After seeing the show, we immediately went to the Wynn hotel for the Fountain Show and the Tree of Prosperity Show.

The following day, we decided to tour the rest of Macau with the first stop in A-Ma Temple followed by the Flora Garden where we rode a cable car to reach the Guia Hill and Fortress. We then went to the Lotus Flower then spend our time looking for the Grand Prix and Wine Museum, which is just a few blocks from where we were standing.

Of course, one should always try the food of the country you're visiting, so we decided to buy some of their traditional food, or rather their street foods, which is almost like the street food here in the Philippines although more authentic. We also tried their Milk Tea, which for me tasted the same like the one found here in our country.

Street foods (fish balls, etc), Serradura (saw dust pudding)

Our short stay in Macau is fun and more colorful, with all the picturesque scenery. But I still love HongKong with all the shopping store you could find left and right. Anyways, if given a chance I would still love to visit the place and play some games in their casinos.

Dalaw, Kape at Patatas

Finally,we we're able to watch the most elusive movie of all time, Dalaw. Actually we didn't planned it. Just a sudden impulse to do it. At least Carla and Rain was able to join us.

It was worth it. Although I guess they should have made it more seriously without any hints of comedy like that of Feng Shui or Sukob. It didn't beat Feng Shui when it comes to what is more scarier category although it is more scarier compared to Sukob. Even the evil entity is scarier here than in Sukob.

After that Carla, Emjay and I, went to Mocha Blends and tried their drinks while eating Koryo's Garlic Potato. Rain and Bogs went home immediately after.

Snapshot #5: Milk Tea

Milk Tea from Serenitea

A relaxing drink after a toxic day

Movies and Reunion

And because we're still in the holiday spirit and all of us (my co-casuals) don't have any work, we decided that today is the right time to watch Dalaw, one of Star Cinema's film entry in MMFF. The last time we decided to watch the movie, it was an epic fail, only Emjay, me and Bogs came in the meeting place, so this time around we're expecting it would not be another failure but unfortunately at the very last minute, everyone backed out due to many reasons. So in the end, kaming tatlo lang ulet, hence the Trinoma Buddies were born.

We decided not to watch the movie anymore because like before the cinema is still full and we don't have good seats to begin with. We decided to just eat instead. We ended up eating in Cafe Breton where we ordered Breton Mozarella Burger, which is too pricey for an average burger.

Breton Mozarella Burger - Php 195.00

After that, I went straight to Eton Centris to meet my highschool batchmates. It was a short notice from them. They just texted me an hour before the meeting and luckily I was just around the area and so I was able to meet them.

We ate dinner at Shakey's then went to Timog to chill out in Starbucks till 2 in the morning. I miss the guys so even though I have work in the morning (at 6am to be exact) I just can't leave them. Good thing we don't have a lot of case the following day coz the surgeons were still in their holiday off or rather they still don't want to operate because of the holiday spirit, sino bang gustong mag-trabaho kung lahat e nasa bakasyon pa?. :)

Snapshot #2: Burger

Breton Mushroom Burger

One of the bestsellers in Cafe Breton, worth Php 195.00

Snapshot #1: Cupcakes

Apple Banana Cupcake :)

The cupcake that I baked for the holiday season. :) Delicioso!