That Gift

Yesterday was the 1st time that I answered to a question, from someone not in the family circle, asking about my mother that "yes, she's diagnosed with cancer."

I'd usually just reply that my mother had undergone an operation, and ended there.

I usually evade giving the cancer answer because:

* it takes a lot of effort explaining it 

* i want to free the recipient the burden of feeling sad for us

* because i'd also feel guilty for making others' feel sad

* which sometimes i'd end up consoling them and reassuring them that we're and we'll be owkei. And, it can sometimes take a lot of energy.

* it's just that We really did/do not know how to deliver that kind of information.

My mother's siblings knew days after the diagnosis, and it was totally a surprise to them, much as it's to us. It was awkward - I explaining about my mother's status and why they're not right away informed and then switching to being a counselor by consoling them we're going to be owkei. 

Definitely, it does not feel at all owkei. But we're owkei with not being owkei.

My mother decides to no more further treatment, even before the diagnosis came. According to her, God will not give her any thing that she cannot handle. We're taking "this" as a gift. 

And, I guess one of the reasons why I had not truthfully answer few people's question to avoid receiving wishes of "get well soon or long life to your mother."

Because we're welcoming death. We're not aftaid of death, it's the uncertain journey towards it that can really be scary. Call it heartless or dark, but we welcome wishes of smooth painless passing. (But don't get it wrong, we're not living like we're in a cave though it can feel like that at times but we have to carry on. :)) I mean a peaceful one is definitely a gift worth asking. 

So I kindly ask you to please include in your prayer that the rest of my mother's journey will be smooth and painless.

Also, if you have any other idea of a washable / reusable colostomy plate/bag set, please let us know. It will be such a big help! A doctor suggested a DIY using a plastic cover of coffee glass canister cover but I don't feel confident about it. And the current ones we're using, those throwaway pieces from medical supplies, can't be easily replaced on a day-to-day basis.

Geeks on a Beach Trip, Boracay Day 3: choice paralysis

I really have nothing much to say but for documentation purposes. Here are some random photos of our 3rd day in Boracay, Day 2 of GOAB.

I hoarded some GOAB shirts designed by Happy Garaje. It's kind of a collection now since I have GOAB shirts since its 1st edition. Also, I always take the chance of buying shirts designed by Happy Garaje before they become extremely popular and get pricey. :)

Quickie hang out with the cool kids of Cebu startup scene. :)

Coffee at Gusto y Gusto. :)

Brave the strong winds to get some food, which is always a choice paralysis moment in Boracay. 

We ended up in Real Food, an Indian resto, which is actually owned by an Italian who also owns Aria and a Thai resto in Boracay.

I guess we're just not that Indian-savvy. There was nothing in our order that I like. :( 

Well, the chai was okay. :)

And the seats are comfy!

Geeks on a Beach, Boracay Day 2: Dakong Amihan Home

I'm It's rare that I really get to fall inlove with an accommodation. And, Dakong Amihan Home probably tops it off of the few that I really love. It's no-frills because it's more of a backpacker's place, a boutique hotel kind-of, and bed & breakfast genre kind of accommodation.

I wish all my future accommodations will be like this.

The view when we go out of our room.

It has book shelves in some corners of the house. It's really like a house.

The dining area. Though, you can also request to have it in your room's balcony.

This is definitely my dream house peg. I want my dream house to have a porch where I can sit, and watch the world goes by.

This accommodation is located across the D' Talipapa entrance. Dakong Amihan Home contact information:

I was wishing to just stay in our room for the rest of the day but we needed to be Geeks on a beach. :)

The majority of the day was spent at Crown Regency for the tech conference, Geeks on a Beach. This has became an annual tradition for us. I hope we can attend it every year.

For my blog post of the Day 1 of Geeks on a Beach, please check http://geeksonabeach.com/blog. :)

Mon Ibrahim of DOST is really getting "cuter" every GOAB.

Tina Amper, bow to this girl! 

We thought that there's too many "geeks" at the hotel, so We went out for lunch, a "karenderya" just across the hotel, Dapogan Cafe.

We went to Station 1 after the conference to look for Globy Travelling Chef. I'd been wanting to visit this place the last time we're here but having kids with us at that time, we did not like to get experimental with food. But I think we got off too far from our destination so to entertain ourselves, we had some Jonah's shake. And, i think, the shake is worth being in your Boracay itinerary.

It was a bit of challenge of finding Globy Traveling Chef. It's address is Station 1 but i think it's closer to D' Mall of Station 2. What i mean is that it's probably better to start your search from D' Mall than from the Willy's Rock. But either way, the view of finding it is just worth it. 

Globy is a fusion restaurant of international cuisine. Mark had all sorts of grilled meat, while I had pad Thai.

Honestly, I just find the food so-so owkei but Mark like it though. I probably need to order the other food before I give a final verdict. :)

Geeks on a Beach, Boracay Day 1: moving

The GOAB trip has been planned months ago, but something more important came up, and I thought of just skipping it. 

Despite that Mark moved our flight schedule, I was still not sure of making it.

(The departure lobby of Mactan Internationa Airport has now Seattle's Best Coffee.)

Any how, I was able to make it, and was treated to a whole plane being ours, with other 4 passengers. :)

Mark's new flight booked was to Kalibo, Aklan. So it was another 2 hours trip to Caticlan from Kalibo. But the whole travel was smooth with Southwest Express.

I was asleep the whole time - making up for last week's sleep-scarcity.

As expected, Boracay at this months is wet and rainy, and "wavy." 

Hello, GOAB!

positive vibes

Please say a little prayer or send positive vibes to my nanay and the medical staff who will check-up on her in a few hours. 

Dear Lord, kindly guide the doctors and staff who will be helping my nanay, and most of all, please give us the best results. I humbly ask of you.

How to make a minecraft birthday cake?

He asked for a minecraft-themed cake. I got him a generic cake, which I realized quite late that it's decked with flower icings. (Because the mothet got lazy as always.)

Well, minecraft has flowers. :) And, this bebe boy is just cool with it like that. 

Of the 3 kids, Migi is probably the kid I least know much about. He's that type of kid who will just stay in one corner, whom you'll forget that he exists... until I need someone to do attacks and training for my clash of clans, and bring me 3 stars after "wars." He's kinda low-maintenance. 

And, it's what quite worries me because something about the saying "silent volcanoes..."

Which makes me wonder (just now) as to who is Migi to his brother and sister, to his friends? 

Happy 11th birthday, Migi - my always first #bebeboy.

*******

(From the mass for thanksgiving for another year. Migi is definitely my "liwat." :))

The template Migi's birthday request foods and the template guests of neighborhood kids, and 1 classmate who was sweet to join us.

They're no longer bebe boys.

Meg's girl friends :)

Migi and his litow uncle (because this baby boy is Mark's cousin. Having both of if, Mark and i, having no siblings, first-degree cousins are hard to come by for my kids.)

P0rn P0rn

I think I've seen too much p0rn / s3x for this week. Aside from the usual dose from CSI Las Vegas, I watched The Escort, then the Hot Girls Wanted (I think both are indie-ish movie/docu).

When you have kids, p0rn takes a different meaning. I mean it's like on the top of the list of things you do not want your kids to be exposed to over processed hotdogs.

But I doubt that my kids are still innocent from it. With their access to the internet, they probably have (hopefully just a vague) idea of it. Just seeing the "chat room" of the clash of clans of my kids with their playmates, their "words" can be sometime really foul though I hope that there's no real meat behind them. (In fairness, I don't (yet) see my kids participate in the chat room.)

I mean when I was a kid, my friends or maybe including me can talk dirty but there's nothing to it but we know that it's bad and that we know when NOT to use them.

Anyhow, I think I have an early exposure to p0rn, maybe grade school. My first exposures were probably the Tanduay / White Castle calendars of the sari-sari store of my Lolo, and then my uncle used to run "beta-han" ("movie house" in the house using a betamax player) and a "billiar-an" and "computer-an" (think of atari / nintendo / sega / PS players) back in Badian where all the "bugoy" boys could be found and where I sometimes helped out. Funny, I never learned to play billiards and the only "memorabilia" I got from the "computer-an" is a pair of damaged eyesight. Well, I know how to knock the turtle in Super Mario for hundred lives but it's pretty useless to impress my kids these days. Well, I could feel pretty confident around boys labelled as "delinquent" (because they're always absent from school) -- the usual students used by teachers as examples of bad students. Looking back,  they're harmless - they might end up as drivers or conductors of bus / habal2x, and then I met them again in my highscool / college days to adulthood riding the bus. =)

I could not recall someone who really turned out to be notoriuos, and if they did, we're "cool" because we're friends - like I let him play for extra minutes of Tekken or a few free rounds of billiards back then. =)

And, I started reading those sleazy romance pocketbooks once I learned how to read big English words (like Grade 3) -- thanks to my mother's and my uncle's girlfriend for the supply. But I had to hide reading them because my mother forbade me. And, looking back at it now, I think it was trashy and such a waste of time but then hey at least I could still be categorized as "reader."

SO DO WE NEED TO SHIELD OUR KIDS FROM P0RN / NUDITY /S3X?!?

Based on my experience, cute little kids are not really that all "angel" innocent. (I mean I was cute kid I think.)

With internet and handy gadgets, it's just i-dunno-how-you-can-ever-stop-it unless we move to Cuba but then Cuba is already starting to become an open country.

Well, I just really hope that my kids can learn how to navigate well around this issues - that they can separate the bad and the good and any thing in between.

I mean it's tricky; watching the "Hot Girls Wanted," you cannot really judge the p0rn stars nor the viewers and there's no clear indication that they'd turned out to be those. But then I guess you just have to have the respect - respect to the stars, and also respect to yourself of knowing when it's...

Well, I don't know how to say it like respect yourself to not be a prostitute but it's like also saying prostitution is degrading.

Yeah, whatever.

Or maybe, just don't be a pervert so you will not be perverted?!

Breakfast in Cebu: Tazza cafe + patisserie

I need to delete photos from my celphone, and so let me do a foodie post to make use of them before they're gone.

I'd been here only once so first impression: I'm not sure if they're a pastry or a coffee shop but I mean these are supposed to go together. So i think they're both.

But what stood out to me is that they have a pretty breakfast plate -- the big breakfast type. 

And, I guess the "breakfast" is their specialty because they happen to be the breakfast place of Tsai Hotel. I guess Tazza is actually the resto / cafe of Tsai Hotel.

The coffee is that they have a coffee machine. :)