When Tropical Storm "Cosme" hit

(This is a much delayed entry since power lines were interrupted for two weeks in our place due to the storm)

And so everything was going well as I helped out at the newly opened internet cafe in our baranggay. Then Tropical Storm "Cosme" (International Name: Halong) came for a horrific visit. As I think about it now I call the storm the "cost me" typhoon, though it wasn't that bad for us... actually we were the lucky ones.

Saturday morning when winds were blowing to the tolerable level - ones we usually experience on normal typhoon signal no. 2. So we still had the time to prepare the whole day. Around 4 PM though, the winds became stronger and it was then I checked PAGASA for updates. "Typhoon Cosme will be in Ilocos Sur in the evening" and I thought, 'uh, does it mean Ilocos Pangasinan or Ilocos really Ilocos?' Before I can find out more, as if on cue, the wind blew harder and electricity was cut-off.

Then by 5:30 the wind picked up speed with heavy rains and everything it seemed was chaos. Inside our house there were drips and even in our bedroom below, water from the upper room flowed down the walls thus creating a puddle on the floor.... and oh wow, from 6:30 to 9:30 the winds became harsher you could hear the windows rattling and someone else's roof banging on something. My, it was so dark outside but we were able to peek out from the jalousies : we saw all the banana trees on our backyard split in two, even the guava and the duhat trees were knocked down. The gutter from my neighbor's house banged against the wall. Our kitchen utensils from our open air kitchen, and even our clothes on the clothesline were strewn all over.

The worst was when we heard a loud thud that I can't stand to check - our bathroom roof was ripped off! And despite the danger, my husband and I kept going from room to room saving and keeping what we can, away from the windows. But by then most of our belongings were getting wet. Guess what I saved first? My CPU.

I have never been so scared in my whole life. I really thought it would be the end for my house and my family. It was scary to even see the iron sheets flying past and the broken windows too.

And believe me I prayed so hard for my peace of mind because I could hear my heart beating so fast. To make it worse my husband was yelling at us to stay away from the windows so we all stayed in the living-dining room and parked our mattresses there.

After praying I calmed down then I was just comforted by the thought of Jesus sleeping in the midst of a storm. So I thought, if Jesus was that calm, then I should not be afraid! After that, I did not mind the winds so much I just tried to sleep. Right that very moment I felt the winds calming down too. Everything was still okay.

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

So we woke up early the next day to find: the mango tree on my neighbor's garage.

Another neighbor's windows , those are 32 jalousies, broken and strewn all over their porch below.

Still the house behind us, yes, that was the gutter we've been hearing all night.

And, yes, that's our pitiful bathroom with the roof gone

And from the side of my house an old guava tree fell and damaged two water pipes, mine and my neighbor's.

View from my neighbor's backyard and further my uncle's house under repair.

Still the mango tree that fell on the garage from the house behind ours. (back view)

And here is the MOST horrible sight from a family friend's house..

Good thing no one in our place was hurt. We were all just badly shaken.

Thank God we are all okay despite the devastation in our place.

Getting A Haircut!

I have had a horrific bad hair day for more than a month this March-April. I needed a haircut the soonest but the hairdresser/proprietor of my favorite salon at the public market was hospitalized. And no one can replace her in my book. Ah, forgot to tell you, why I am particularly concerned with a hairstylist... there was a time before that they used to make me cry and things like that happen on special occasions too- like the prom, someone's wedding and my graduation. So I'm settling for someone who knows what I prefer na lang.

Thankfully I have this hairstylist/beautician who became a long-time friend and surprisingly a distant relative too. She used to work in Dubai. And she is good at what she does, and her services are cheaper.

So finally she was back today and I got a haircut! I chose my latest favorite style which I got from www.ukhairdressers.com uh-huh, that's where I went to when I was looking for a new style kasi my style was getting tacky, as always.

Here were the styles I chose from....

Okay, I agree, this is not Christine-ish, but it's eccentric,don't you think? And I would be the laughingstock of the town!

And this is unusual, not so common in our country, especially not in our province. I could've chosen this most but my hair is unruly

And this is a common hairdo, but I think I need the face to copy, not the hairstyle... So on top of it all, I settled for this...

It's short, two-toned and chic.

So in the end, this is what I looked like....

Hahaha, just trying to make you laugh! Whoops, sorry, it's no different than the usual me! Again, thanks but no thanks to the fly-away hair. But I got the highlights okay. ... hey, would you believe no one noticed I got a haircut after all? Yeah, still same old Christinchen.

Wordless Wednesday - Created Siggies

Iris Analysis

   Last Friday we went for a free iris analysis check-up at the Guiguilonen Baranggay Health Center conducted by iridologists affiliated with Dynapharm Products.

   I nudged my eldest son, Allan, to go with me for a check-up so we can get a glimpse into what is wrong with his health ( he is so skinny and has frequent asthma attacks). Maaga na kami, actually patient #3 and #4 pa kami.

   Allan was amazed that the analysis was accurate, even his headaches the past week were diagnosed. Also that he had asthma, problem with his bronchial tubes, lung problems, kidney, gallbladder, headaches and a hint of acidity. Advise was to avoid coffee and allergens. The iridologist advised him to undergo a detox program and cleansing.

He was given:

 

 

Absorbent Activated Charcoal- 3 caps before bedtime

 

Fern-C 2 caps a day

 

Ginseng with Honey - 3 caps before breakfast and

Pito-Pito Herbal Tea. All these were sold for Php600 for a 10-day regimen. That's okay basta for Allan.

I was also prescribed the same for detoxification ( but I didn't buy muna) because according to the iridology result I had sinusitis (yes, really chronic), poor eyesight, heart-gallbladder-lung problem. Bronchial tubes are acting up and I got headaches too. The usual culprit must be the smokers I associate with regularly. Numero Uno na ang asawa ko. Oh well, I always had weak lungs since I was a grader.

The general advice for all was to avoid fatty and salty foods, junk foods, caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes and cold drinks (I'm taking this from their prescription note) It was also advised to drink 8-10 glasses of water daily, drink natural fruit juices, eat fruits and vegetables daily and eat raw vegetable salad (Again, am taking from their note)

So when the check-up was over and we were home I realized I wasn't able to check the supplements and if the prescription was accurate ( 3 caps seem a lot, and they didn't ask about Allan's alergic reaction to honey)

I searched further about these and googled Dynapharm and absorbent caps - Dynapharm yes, absorbent caps none. Looked for Dynapharm products on the 'net, found the website but not the products.

Anyways, took me a week to convince myself that Allan shoud undergo the detox program as the supplements are not harmful naman and are commonly known via TV ads. I recall they had among their supply:Grapeseed Oil Extract by Powerlab.com, Taheebo Herbal Tea and Capsules, Heartvit, Kidneycare, Liveraid, Charantia Ampalaya Tea and others.

Allan took all the supplements regularly and he seems okay now. Kind of gained weight, yes in just a few days. No headaches or other symptoms. I'm thinking of having him checked again and get more of those supplements via Dynapharm. Then I found out the company doesn't have these supplements given us but sells other products with great testimonials  Oi! But I found the Dynapharm products interesting so I texted the iridologist if they also have them but I was texted back "none" and if "I'll order the products they have" So ngayon, for the meantime, Allan is still taking the supplements from the iridologist and will soon be done in 5 days. Next time, maybe if we can afford we'll go back to them for thorough check-up and ask for Dynapharm supplements personally. So, Abangan!

 

STHS 88 Reunion ~ Our High School Reunion !!!

CAPTION: Photo above? we were still waiting instructions from our batch coordinator, Florence Nipales. "teka teka.. ganito..." Ang gugulo namin kasi, as usual, and we were hard to handle... I'm here 7th person sa third row...Kita pa ba ako?

It was an exciting event talaga, my asawa and I woke up early to get there at 7 AM. A few of us batchmates met at the quad waiting for the others and getting our shirts and bandanas. Well, well, red is my favorite color... and the bandana sure helps as I'm always having a bad hair day! Suot ko kaya siya the first day til afternoon.

Ouch though, I agree the batch coordinator was having a difficult time at first because almost all of us were so makulit and "regressing" to our high school-ish ways.

And I kept on overhearing that we were the pasaway batch and we still are.....

1- only a few of us attended the mass...( don't ask me, I'm not Catholic)

2-instead of going there, we were at a room having a briefing of the events and we were loud

3- kaya, when we were at the motorcade event, our truck had a flat tire! It happened when I decided to move to the left side and hold on to the railing. Ang taba kaya namin sa side na yun kasi.... bwehehe!

4-we had no designated room - of all things ( because the school principal thought we were having our get-together elsewhere) so when we decided to stay, they gave us the library terrace. Enjoy! Kaya my friend, Maurice, kept firing his pasabog na pang-bagong taon (he's the guy holding the blasted thing there above)

I'm glad that I went, despite all the odds. I'm glad that my hubby went also, though at first he was hesitant. Yup, ka-batch ko siya but when we were in high school we just met there simply as "magkakilala" only ...that's another story ha. A few of our batchmates, especially those who've been away from our town for so long, are surprised na kami ang nagkatuluyan.

I'm happy that I went there to meet them again. Though my closest friends were not there, I still had fun with the others and traded stories and jokes and what-have-you's. Sooo many stories talaga. And plenty of photo ops.

And we also observed a moment of peace for our departed batchmates, napa-emo ako when Florence mentioned my friend, Gemma, who passed away when she was 22. I was emo also when I heard one named Leopoldo who committed suicide over CE, our classmate. I was emo also when we gave a moment of peace to our classmate who died in a motorcycle accident kasama ang isa pang batchmate, Rustico - bless him, he got out of it alive.

We also viewed our powerpoint batch presentation at the library na lang because it was late already and we all had to call it a day, and yeah.... I was just kidding then, but I said most of 'em were so drunk already they cannot make it past the stage where the presentation will be held.

My hubby and I went to every event there is. We even went to the Family Day, next day, together with two of our boys, Charlie and Jayson. Our batchmates brought their spouses and kids too. Meron pang mga palaro for the kids. My "friends" and I had a moment to reminisce the naughty things they did to make the teachers, some classmates and other pipol cry

And we also went to the Alumni ball that night. It almost ruined the evening because of the rain. All of a sudden I was laughing to myself because four of us took shelter under the Mangaldan Auditorium and we were right there in the middle... hehe at least natupad ang dream naming tumuntong sa stage! So when the rain finally stopped, we went to our designated places and chatted the night away. Hinayang nga raw ang asawa ko because he never learned to dance ala-ballroom kaya ayan taga-butas na lang daw ng upuan...

All in all, it was a wonderful experience going back and renewing friendships. Looking forward to the next reunion in 2013! Mabuhay batch 88!