Turo-turo, McDonald’s, at Jollibee

21 February 2019

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Namayagpag na naman ang mga commercial ng Jollibee nitong nagdaang Valentine’s. Huling-huli kasi ng Jollibee ang kiliti at sintimyento ng mga Pilipino, at siyempre pa pati na rin ang ating panlasa.

Paano ba naging pambansang tambayan ng mga Pilipino ang Jollibee?

Bago mag-bagong taon ay bumisita kami sa New York. Habang ang aming mga anak ay nag-a-iceskating sa Bryant Park sa Midtown Manhattan, ay nabanggit ng isa naming kaibigan na may bagong bukas daw na Jollibee sa lugar na iyon. Kuwento pa nila pinipilahan daw ito. Hindi lang mga Pilipino, pati mga Amerikano at ibang lahi ay nakikipila rin. Siguro curious lang sila kung bakit dinudumog ang Jollibee.

Jollibee in Manhattan (photo from New York Post)

Maraming beses din naman akong pumunta sa mga Jollibee branches dito sa Amerika. Napuntahan ko ang Jollibee sa may West Covina California. Ilang beses na rin akong kumain sa Jollibee sa Chicago. At kumain na rin ako sa Jollibee sa may Woodside New York.

Maliban dito sa Amerika nagbukas na rin ng mga branches ang Jollibee sa iba’t ibang bansa sa Asia, Middle East at Europa.

Nang maliliit pa ang aking mga anak, minsa’y nagbalik-bayan kami at nag birthday sila sa isang Jollibee branch sa may Pasay City. Natuwa naman ang aking mga anak at ang aming mga bisita sa isinagawang party. Maliban sa chicken joy at jolly spaghetti, naaliw rin sila sa pagsasayaw ng masayang bubuyog na si Jollibee.

Noong biglaan din akong umuwi ng Pilipinas, ilang taon nang nakalipas, dahil malubha ang kalagayan ng aking nanay, ay naging comfort food ko ang Jollibee. Kasi may malapit na branch mula sa ospital kung saan nakaratay ang aking nanay. O siguro miss ko lang ang lasa nito.

Hindi ako lumaki na pala-hamburger. Nang ako ay nasa high school pa (early 1980’s), hindi pa masyadong tanyag at iilan pa lamang ang Jollibee branches sa Maynila. Sa katunayan hindi namin ito tambayan dahil walang malapit sa aming eskwela.

Ang aming tambayan noon ay isang turo-turo sa tabi ng aming paaralan. Pero noong kami’y nagbalik para sa aming 25th high school graduation anniversary ay laking gulat ko na isang night club na ang nakatirik sa pwesto ng turo-turo. Ibang luto na pala ang inihahain sa lugar na iyon!

Isa pa sa tambayan ng iba naming kaklaseng pasaway noong high school ay isang esblisimyento na may pangalang “Halina.” Dito sila naglalaro. Isa itong bilyaran. Beer garden din ito. Hindi po ako tumambay doon.

Kahit nang nasa kolehiyo na ako, hindi pa rin Jollibee ang paboritong tambayan ko noon kundi isa uling turo-turo malapit sa UST. “Goodah” ang pangalan nito. Mas mura naman kasi sa turo-turo at lutong bahay pa ang putahe. Siguro mas marami pa ring mga Pilipino ang pipiliin ang turo-turo kaysa fast food, o adobo kaysa hamburger.

Ang unang branch ng Jollibee ay nagbukas noong 1978 sa Cubao. Mula noon ay isa-isa nang sumulpot na parang kabute ang mga branches nito. Kahit pumasok pa ang McDonalds sa ating bansa noong 1981, ay naging matatag pa rin ang Jollibee.

Sa pagputok ng katanyagan ng Jollibee, isama na rin natin ang McDonald’s at Wendy’s, ay nahilig nang kumain ang mga Pilipino ng hamburger at french fries. Naging westernized na ang ating panlasa. Pero iniiba pa rin naman natin ang timpla kahit na western food. Tulad ng spaghetti – ang pinoy spaghetti ay manamis-namis, na hindi tulad ng authentic Italian spaghetti na maasim-asim.

Nang ako’y napadpad na sa Amerika, ay aking natunghayan kung gaano kapalasak ang fast foods dito. Lalo na ang McDonald’s. Kahit sa mga hospital ay may mga branches ito. Sa isang hospital sa New York kung saan ako nag-training, ay may McDonald’s sa mismong floor kung saan ang cardiac cath lab. Kaya’t kung ikaw ay inatake sa puso habang kumakain ng hamburger, ay igugulong ka lang nila sa katabing cath lab.

Para sa inyong kaalaman ang McDonald’s, isang American corporation, ang pinakamalaking fast-food chain sa buong mundo. Sa katunayan lahat ng pinasukan nitong bansa ay halos patayin nito ang mga lokal na kompetisyon. Maliban sa Pilipinas, na Jollibee pa rin ang naghahari. Bakit kaya hindi kayang pataubin ng McDonald’s ang Jollibee kahit pa American hamburger ang kanilang pinaglalabanan?

Dahil kaya mas naaaliw tayo sa bubuyog kaysa sa clown (mascots)? O dahil walang panama sa chicken joy at jolly spaghetti ang kalaban? O nadadala tayo sa mga makabagbag-damdamin na mga commercials? O dahil alam natin na ang Jollibee ay katutubong produktong Pilipino kaya’t tinatangkilik natin ito kaysa sa kumpitensiya? O baka naman mas masarap lang talaga sa ating panlasa ang pagkain nito?

Ano man ang dahilan, naging pambansang tambayan na ng Pinoy ang Jollibee kaysa iba pang fast food chain o restaurant. (Wala po akong komisyon sa Jollibee sa artikulong ito,  pero kung gusto nila akong bigyan ng isang taon na supply ng chickenjoy hindi ko tatanggihan ito.)

Noong ako’y nasa kolehiyo pa, sa harap ng UST Charity Hospital sa may Forbes St. (Lacson Avenue na ngayon) ay may mga lumang bahay na ginagawang boarding houses. Isang araw nagkararoon ng sunog dito, taong 1990 yata iyon. Isa sa aking kaibigan ang nasunugan ng boarding house. Matapos matupok ang lugar na iyon, ang ipinatayong gusali ay hindi na mga bahay, kundi isang malaking McDonalds.

Bulung-bulungan ng iba, dahil hindi mapagiba ang mga lumang bahay para gawing commercial complex kaya raw ito sinunog. Hindi ko sinasabing totoo ito at wala po akong inaakusahan, at lalong hindi ko sinasabing may kinalaman ang McDonald’s o sinuman dito.

Maaring natuwa ang mga estudyante ng UST dahil may malaking McDonald’s na sa harap nito. Hindi nagtagal, isang malaking Jollibee rin ang itinayo katapat nito. Ngayon sangkatutak na fastfoods na ang nasa paligid at pati sa loob ng university. Nandoon pa kaya ang tambayan naming Goodah?

Baka sa susunod, mawala nang lubusan ang mga turo-turo at karinderya. Huwag naman sana.

Nakaw na Tingin

18 February 2019

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Kumakabog itong dibdib,

Pinagpapawisan ng malamig,

Direksiyon mo’y sinusulyapan,

Kahit pa nakaw na tingin lang.

Masaklap itong kalagayan,

Ako kaya’y mapagbigyan,

Sana ikaw ay mas malapit,

Nang ‘di na masyadong mahirapan.

Pasimple para ‘di mahuli,

Saloobi’y ‘di dapat ipakita,

Bakit kasi hindi nag-aral,

Ngayon sa test nangongopya.

**********

(*Sorry to disappoint you if you thought this poem is about love.)

(**Handog sa lahat ng mga estudyanteng natutuksong mangopya. Hoy, bawal ‘yan!)

Warm Thoughts on a Cold Day

9 February 2019

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Last Friday, I drove to our new satellite clinic. This was the most distant one so far compared to our other outreach clinics, as it takes an hour and 40 minutes to get there from our main office. I go to an outreach clinic at least once a month.

It was a very cold day for a drive. The outside temperature was -2 degrees Fahrenheit with a wind chill factor of -20 degrees. The wind was brisk and it was blowing the snow that was already plowed to the sides of the road back into the road.

The whole surrounding was white as we had fresh snow that had fallen the past couple of days. There was also a shiny glaze on the branches of the bare trees as in addition to the snowfall, it was preceded by a freezing rain that coated everything with ice, including the roads, which layered underneath the snow. This made the travel more dangerous.

In fact one of my partners cancelled his trip to another one of our outreach clinics a day before mine, due to the snow, sleet and ice.

But on the day of my travel, though it was very cold, it was sunny. Thus I decided to press on. Besides, there were many patients that were waiting and expecting to be seen. Plus, I felt confident in my driving and in my trusty vehicle.

I felt warm though while I was cruising along the wintry rural highways of Iowa. My favorite feature of my car on a very cold day like this was the heated seats along with the reliable heater. In some countries, like in the Philippines, a car airconditioner may be a luxury to keep you cool on a hot day. But where I live now, we can survive without an AC but not without a heater. It is a necessity or we’ll freeze to death.

But there was something more that was keeping me warm besides the heater, the heated seat, and the heated steering wheel. It was the warm thoughts and happy memories of a tropical place I still call home.

Playing on my car radio was streaming music sync from my iPhone from an on-line radio station. What was the radio station I was listening to? Pagudpud Beach Resort Radio Station! (Pagudpud is a place in Ilocos Norte, Philippines with a year round temperature of 70 to 90ºF.)

photo taken few years ago in a beach resort in Ilocos Norte

I could almost hear the lapping waves as they break into the sandy shore and the rushing breeze bristling through the palm trees. A stark contrast from the view of a slew of ice and snow surrounding me. They say that you could take away the boy from the island, but could never take away the island from the boy.

It’s true, I was feeling homesick. It has been three years since I last visited my motherland. Perhaps it is time for a journey back to that very familiar place.

I know I’m not the only one missing home. Most of us, in one way or another, have wandered away and left our comfort zones in pursuit of a dream. And many times in our quest, the path we crossed was not easy, for it was uncertain and unfamiliar.

I was deep in this thought when a familiar song played on the radio:

Hawak-kamay,

Hindi kita iiwan sa paglalakbay,

Dito sa mundong walang katiyakan,

Hawak-kamay,

Di kita bibitiwan sa paglalakbay,

Sa mundo ng kawalan.

That was all I needed to hear, a reassurance that we are not alone in this journey.

I glanced at my car’s GPS. It indicated that I still have 70 miles to go, and an hour more before I reach my destination.

Well, I still have an hour to enjoy this “beach.”

(*lyrics from Hawak Kamay a song by Yeng Constantino)

Mud (Mad) Runner

3 February 2019

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I am glad that January was over. For many, January is when they intensify their excercise activities as part of their New Year’s resolution of living a more healthy lifesytle. Not for me.

I was practically sick all January. I caught a bug that brought me down on my knees (see previous post) just after New Year’s Day. Then when I was recovering, I caught another virus that put me into another tail spin.

I lost my voice that made me talk in whispers. I am thankful that I did not totally lost my voice as I was still able to blog loudly and clearly. I was also coughing so hard that I think I pulled a muscle, or contused or even broke a rib. Coughing became a nightmare that made me double up in pain. I used a small pillow to push it against where my chest hurts whenever I cough. Breathing was literally painful.

But I am better now. I hope.

Besides me being sick, the weather here in Iowa last January was just plainly awful. Three days ago, our wind chill was – 40ºF. This they say was due to the Polar vortex. In that extreme cold, you can toss boiling water high into the air and it will turn into ice particles before it hit the ground.

However, today is different. Our outside temperature is 50ºF. That is almost a hundred degrees swing in temperature in a matter of few days! You barely need a jacket on.

So what did I do when I got the first chance to go outside? I ran!

Due to temperature way above freezing, all the snow that had accumulated in several weeks have melted and all that was left were a few patches.

The snow was rapidly melting that this created a small rushing spring from snowmelt at the side of this road here.

It was just not me enjoying this warm break. I saw a herd of deer roaming around in the distance. I don’t know where they take refuge when the weather is brutally cold. But no, I am not inviting them in inside my home.

Since it was my first run after about a month of inactivity, I chose to run in the gravel road which is a relatively flat terrain rather than the more challenging up and down hills in some part of my running route.

Yet the moment I stepped into the dirt road, I felt the ground to be soft and soggy from all the snow that have melted. In other words, it was muddy.

It probably was a mistake on my part to run on the dirt road, still I was determined to finish the loop back to my place. I literaly plowed through the mud. I just thought that it was one of the muddy obstacle courses in those Spartan races.

I finished a 2 mile loop albeit my pace was somewhat slow, perhaps due to my deconditioning. But I’m not admitting that, I am blaming the mud that caused me to run slow.

Perhaps I am a little crazy or mad, but I am also now a mud runner.

(*photos taken with an iPhone during my run)

Antarctic Freeze

31 January 2019

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Yesterday, while sitting in my car when I was parked at the hospital’s parking lot that I took this photo of my dashboard.

The outside temperature was -18ºF (-28ºC)! No wonder I was really cold. But at least it was sunny and it was already warming up. It was -26º F before the sun rose. The wind chill though made it feels like -40º F.

It was dangerously cold that most schools including colleges here in Iowa was closed yesterday. Even the postal service was shut down. Of course hospitals stayed open and I still had to go to work.

Do you know where else had -20º F yesterday? At the South Pole in Antarctica. North Pole was a balmy 5º F!

I should be on the look out for penguins that may be crossing my path anytime soon.

Bracing for Snow

27 January 2019

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There’s no question that snow is beautiful. It blankets everything in white. But shoveling and clearing your driveway, and worse yet, driving on it is something else. It is at the least treacherous, especially during a major snowstorm with more than a few inches of snowfall.

Iowa State Capitol Building (photo courtesy of KCCI)

However if you live in a place that has significant snow accumulation in winter, like here in Iowa, you need to deal with it. Driving in snow is a skill that you need to develop through experience.

Last week, we had consecutive days of heavy snowfall. There was a lot of cancellation in our clinic appointments as patients decided not to come as they deemed the roads were not safe.

I went home early and sure enough as I was driving down the interstate, there were several cars that were abandoned as they had fallen in the ditch. There were several reports of collisions too. Oh the joy of slipping and sliding in winter driving.

When I arrived home, the snow was still falling. With about 4 or 5 inches on the ground already and no sign of letting up, I called my son down. I told him that we were going to drive in snow.

My son got his driver’s permit a few months ago. He cannot drive alone, but only when there’s an adult in the car. Yet he needs to gain experience to drive in snow. He needs to develop the skill. I thought, this was the perfect opportunity for him to do so.

I am far from being the most expert driver or the most skilled in driving in snow. But I have several years of experience in driving in this weather, and my best qualification to teach him is that I am his father. I know what is best for my kids. Plus our car is an all-wheel drive with high ground clearance, built to play in rough terrain.

First we drove around our neighborhood. I let him slam the brake when we were going downhill and let him feel the car sliding. Of course nobody was on the road except us, so we were never in danger. When my son gained some confidence, we went out in the highway to let him experience real driving in snow with cars tailing and passing us.

After almost an hour of driving, we went home.

Yesterday, I received a phone call from my daughter who was in college a couple of hours away. She said that she was supposed to go somewhere but snow was starting to fall. I sensed some alarm in her voice and she was not feeling confident in driving in snow. She was asking if she should go or not.

My daughter has been driving for a couple of years, but have not driven in snow by herself. If I could only go to where she was, I would, but she was far away. So I did what I think was best. I advised her to drive slowly and carefully. I told her that sooner or later she would have to drive in snow but she should be fine. Besides the snow was a couple of inches only.

Even though I sounded convincing when I talked to her, in my heart I had some fear. But I know I had to let her fly on her own. I know she needs to build her confidence. I know she needs the experience to be independent.

I was relieved when she texted later that she made it to her destination safely.

As parents, we don’t stop parenting even if our children are grown-up. Their challenges may be different now. It’s not about the big spider on the wall anymore, or about a difficult math equation, or a bully in the playground. But their challenges may be bigger. Would I pass this college course, or would I find a job, or would my salary be enough, or would I find a niche in this world?

I hope I have equipped and prepared my children in facing the snowstorms in life. And I don’t mean just driving in snow.

Dinosaur Technology

24 January 2019

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Not too long ago, these things roam and rule the earth. But like dinosaurs, they are now extinct. I don’t think the millennials or the younger generation have any idea what they are.

I will give you a snapshot if you will, of my normal day employing the current technology of the time when I was still in college:

One evening, I wanted to call my classmates so we can meet up in the library before our late morning class to work on our school project. But I had to wait for our party line to hang up before I could use the phone. An hour later, I finally was able to make the call. I dialed the number (not punch in, mind you; this explain why we say “dial”) using this device:

The next day, after taking a shower, I dressed up and was heading out the door when I happened to glance at this big “box” and checked the weather forecast. The talking box said no need for an umbrella today.

On my way to the university, I boarded a jeepney plying the Balic-Balic route with loud music blaring inside. The driver was proudly playing an expensive music console system using this:

The jeepney driver probably was an ex-OFW and bought this console when he was still in Saudi. What made me think that? Because a sign in front of his jeeney says “Katas ng Saudi.”

Though I wish I had my own portable music that I could choose what songs to listen to. Then I noticed one passenger in the jeepney who was rocking to a different rhythm than that of the music we were hearing. Of course he had this:

I know it’s kind of cool, but it makes you a hot target for snatchers especially if you’re walking in the streets of Metro Manila.

After meeting up with my classmates for an hour, it was time to attend a lecture in a big hall. Our professor was using lecture aids and was projecting it on a wall using this gadget:

While our professor, who was also a practicing physician, was giving his lecture, he asked to be excused for a minute to make a call at a payphone outside the hall. He was responding to a message he got from this:

Later that day, we started writing our paper for submission. We could have gone to Dapitan or Recto and had it done for us, but we decided to do it ourselves to save money. So we worked on this:

Of course we needed duplicate copies so we had to use these:

This explains why even in our e-mails now, we call a copy to a different recipient a “carbon copy.”

After a while we had noted that the letters we were typing were getting faint. So we had to replace this:

We also had several mistakes, but we were able to correct them thanks to this:

We had to work on the presentation of our paper too. During our brainstorming we decided to make our exhibition fancy and we planned on having photos or slides. So we had to borrow this gadget for our presentation:

However we had to take photos first. Our group chipped-in some money and they handed them to me. They asked me to go to Raon near Quiapo to buy this:

And for better picture-taking, just in case the lighting is not good, I bought these as well:

We wanted to make sure that we only take good photos so not to waste any film. But can you imagine taking a photo and not seeing the picture until after a few days?

Before going home I passed by a friend’s house. I heard they just got this gadget called a “computer” that would be the future of all technologies. I even tried it and I was able to do some of our school project on it. My friend was kind enough to have me save my work and transfer it to this:

Maybe it was just an excuse for me to use their home computer. For what I really wanted to do was to play some games with my friend in their other “computer:”

The end.

*****************

Can you name all of them? Do you have an idea what they are?

If you know all of these gadgets and have used them before, then you are probably “old” like me.

(*photos from the web)

9 Years of Blogging

18 January 2019

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Nine years. Like any span of time, nine years can be relative.

It can be short. If you are a giant tortoise and can live more than 200 years, nine years is just like taking a long breath.

Nine years could be long too. For the blogging world it is a long time. Considering that an average life span of a blog is less than 100 days, nine years is like a mountain of time.

Nine years was so long ago, that in fact here are nine things that are not yet present or have not yet developed when I started this blog. Now we cannot live without them.

  1. iPad
  2. Lyft
  3. Pinterest
  4. Snapchat
  5. Instagram
  6. Facebook Messenger
  7. Selfie stick
  8. Captain America movies
  9. Ed Sheeran songs

Over the nine years of blogging, I have authored more than 800 posts, and this site had been visited more than 400,000 times. The last year had been the most successful yet with regards to readership, with visits of more than 90,000. Most of my readers are non-bloggers.

Here are the 9 top posts of this blog based on my readers:

  1. Question and Answer: Sakit sa Balakang
  2. Usog, Gayuma at Anting-anting
  3. Mamang Hilot
  4. Alaala ng Luneta
  5. Debunking Folk’s Medical Advice: Part 1
  6. Debunking Folk’s Medical Advice: Part 2
  7. Kwentong Palengke
  8. Ebolusyon ng Wika
  9. Homecoming Speech

As for me, here are my 9 personal favorites, so far. I want to believe that I have not constructed my obra maestra, and my best compositions are yet to be written.

  1. Alaala ng Luneta
  2. Pagbabalik sa Norma
  3. Bahay sa Norzagaray
  4. Catching Fireflies
  5. Once Upon a Starry Night
  6. Tag-lagas
  7. Divisoria Suit and Recto Resume
  8. Time Under Heaven    
  9. Leksiyong Pang-Grade One

The aim of this blog stays the same through the years. It is not to make money, so this site remains ads free. This blog is maintained mostly and primarily for the inspiration and happiness of one and one person only – me. But if I have made any of you, my reader, be inspired, or laugh, or cry, or be touched in any way, I am deeply humbled.

Looking ahead to a grand horizon of more years of blogging. And thank you for joining me in this wonderful journey.

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(*first photo was taken at New Paltz, New York; second photo was at Grand Canyon, Arizona)

Calendar Boys

10 January 2019

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I was rounding in the hospital with my team when we came to a room of one of our patients. The patient was a frail woman in her 70’s, who had significant lung disease and was oxygen dependent. She had improved on this hospitalization and we were discharging her home.

When we were heading out of the door, I overheard the patient told one of my team members, “I want a copy of that calendar.”

I have no idea what they were talking about, and not trying to be nosy or maybe little bit, I asked my resident, “What calendar was the patient talking about?” Since it is a new year, perhaps the hospital is giving away new 2019 calendars, I thought.

Then my medical resident sheepishly smiled and told me the whole scoop.

I learned that this patient thought that our team was “hot” and she was calling us the “Dream Team.” I have been in this teaching hospital for 15 years and have rounded with hundreds of medical students and residents that came and went, but I have never heard my team referred as such before. Or maybe it was, but I was just not aware of it.

So this particular patient, the elderly woman, suggested as a jest to my resident, that “we,” or my team should put out a calendar featuring our team members as models. Whether it’s a white lab gown edition or dress suit edition or a swimwear edition of this calendar they were thinking about, I dared not ask!

I then looked at my current team, and agreed that the old lady had a point. My team appears “hot.”

One of my new resident is a blue-eyed gentleman of English decent, clean-cut and handsome. Now that I think about it, he really looked like a much younger version of the actor Mark Harmon.

The other new resident is a young good-looking French guy with well-trimmed mustache and beard, with hair slickly combed back. He always dress very neatly too.

And then there’s the attractive and muscular Asian hunk of a guy. But before you think I was referring to myself as the Asian hunk, I was not. I was talking about the 4th year medical student I have on my team.

Of course I don’t consider myself as chopped liver. I can definitely hold my own. I deserve to be in that calendar too!

We have women medical residents and students as well in this hospital but it just so happened that this month’s rotation, I have all male house staffs.

But seriously, I never consider much the appearance of my residents. When I evaluate them during their rotation in our service, it is mostly based on their performance, their knowledge, their willingness to learn, and their emphathy to our patients. But of course we don’t want them to appear like hoboes or dress like gangsters. They need to look professional too.

I understand that our patients get well mostly due to our comprehensive care stemming from our intelligent decisions, skillful procedures and emphatetic support. But if our good looks help them heal faster, then I am fine with that too.

Would I put out a calendar featuring my team? Don’t count on it.

(photo is from the show Grey’s Anatomy)