Staycation (in the hospital) on Mother's Day

We didn't spend the long weekend, as planned. We've been planning an out of town trip with family for a month, already, and bought some last minute stuff 2 nights before the trip. But...not all goes as planned.

Thursday night, Dennis called in the middle of the night to tell me he was in the ER at The Medical City. He wasn't feeling well and the right side of his lower quadrant was very painful. He said he would call me again after he got the results. At 2am, he calls telling me that he might need to have a surgery. Oh man, that sounded bad. Quickly dressed and got all my stuff, even my stuff for work but didn't think of packing any clothes. I thought we'd be home after his CT scan. I won't go into details but we ended up spending the long weekend in the hospital.

I love TMC! It doesn't feel like a hospital at all and more of a hotel. Customer service is superb! The rooms are very clean, but still have that hospital smell. The food looks and tastes good. Someone from their kitchen customer service comes up to the room to ask you what you would like to eat (depending on what you're allowed during your condition) and any preference. How cool is that?! I don't eat hospital food but in TMC, I had no problem finishing off Den's left overs. We didn't have a hard time with food. They offer room service and tons of restaurants nearby, which Matt and I enjoyed during our night strolls.

The room that we got was pretty big. The sofa bed was long and spacious for me and Matt. I slept on one end and he slept on the other end. There was wi-fi to keep us entertained.  Unlike other hospitals I know, you need to bring your own broadband stick and there's additional cost if you use the power outlet to charge your phone etc. Tsk tsk. It was pretty fun despite no sleep and being worried sick about Dennis.

I didn't mind spending Mother's Day in the hospital. What's important is we were together as a family. Despite Dens' condition, he managed to surprise me by having flowers delivered to the room. Such a sweetheart!

Hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day celebration, like I did :o)

Staycation in the hospital. Matt chillin' in the background.

Awww! Trying to comfort his daddy after the nurse injected the antibiotics in his IV. 

Date with my lil' man the night before Mother's Day (snuck out while Dennis was asleep)

Late shot of the flowers.

Corregidor Island

I can't seem to sit still and continue to look for new adventures. I think this supermom thing is really becoming my reality! I love going to places, although the financial damage is pretty painful. Would you rather buy a signature bag than be able to see and experience new places? Erhm, I shouldn't have asked myself that. I'd be torn in the decision making! Shallowness aside, I'm starting to slowly set aside small amounts (when I can) to travel. So keen on understanding the history, culture of places and it's a must to visit museums. It dawned on me that I know very little about the Philippine history. Shame on me!

So, I decided to plan a trip to Corregidor Island and brought my mom with my boys. On a side note, we were almost late because we had no idea that they close off Roxas boulevard, the roads along CCP, etc...because it was filled with people running, doing zumba, cycling, people getting to row near the bay...etc. What a busy place Manila is! I think it's great that there are so many people taking care of their health by exercising. Yeah!

Going back...I booked us a trip at Sun Cruises online. Cruise ride was almost 2 hours from Manila to the island. Once on the island, we rode the tranvia to take us around the island with a tour guide. It was very organized although the tour guide lacked customer service. He was cool and all, but we were seated next to some foreigners that didn't understand what he was saying because he spoke Filipino all throughout. Although he did ask if there were any foreigners on board, but these tourists were shy. Later on I approached him just to let him know that our seat mates couldn't understand him. He was a bit defensive and rude by saying that the foreigners should have said something when he asked. Then arrogantly he asked me what he should do, then? Then the guy seated next to me also approached him and to let him know that he didn't understand Filipino and instead of being apologetic, he said the same thing to the guy, "I asked if there were any foreigners before the tour started. You didn't say anything." Poor tourist. I wanted to cringe and was so embarrassed of the tour guide's behavior. We should be more friendly and accommodating. For crying out loud this is a tour and the importance of tourism! Working in an industry that provides customer service as the core, I am very sensitive to such. Most of all, these are tourists/visitors. We should be taking care of them. The impression that we leave goes a long way.

Anyway...the Malinta Tunnel experience was, indescribable. The presentation was educational. But just the thought of being in a tunnel where so many soldiers died, especially the Japanese soldiers that refused to surrender, who committed suicide rather than give in to the American soldiers. One end of the tunnel was closed to trap them. I can't remember if the Japanese blew themselves up with the bombs they had because they didn't want to surrender or they were lit up to burn inside by the Americans. Sorry, not too clear. But when it blew up inside, the branching tunnels caved in. The dead and covered bodies were not excavated and left as is. A lot of spooky stories. My experience? Nothing really except the tunnel felt cool and when I took pictures, not sure if the lens of the camera was dirty because of the white, blurry circles that appeared in the tunnel and cave shots. Dennis was saying they looked like orbs. 

You be the judge :)

Getting ready to enter the Malinta Tunnel

Inside the tunnel

One of the tunnel branches that caved in during the explosion

Tour guide told me to go in and he'd take my picture. Obviously I was spooked.

Some of the many ruins

The tranvia that took us around the island

Beautiful! View from the high top overlooking the sea.

Weather was too hot for mom

She believed she could, so she did

After emotionally, pounding hard on the keyspads of my Mac, releasing all my frustrations and self-pity, a dark cloud looming overhead for the past few days...feeling totally rotten and awful, I came across this quote on Facebook...

"She believed she could, so she did."

I absolutely love it and what perfect timing to cheer me up! Just what I needed to believe and to lift me up from a pit I was in for a couple of weeks. My supposed post about how lousy I've been feeling and the reason why...blah blah...has just been deleted :o)

*Image from Pinterest

Aside from pursuing my dream of one day becoming a competitive rider, I have also been busy learning French, again. It was subject we had to take from Primary school until end of Secondary (High School). My parents took it to another level by making me take extra lessons after school. I had a French teacher, from Zaire, who would come to our house 3 times a week for 2 hours. I still remember those lessons because it focused more on conversation. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity.

I have thought about enrolling at Alliance Francaise  but just couldn't bear driving to Makati from QC or Mandaluyong, where my office is. Who would have thought I'd meet someone from Zaire at work (from another account) in the pantry who was willing to teach? We definitely meet people for a reason. I've been very lucky. By the way, since French is very rare in the Philippines, this guy earns a lot and his "talent" is in demand. I can imagine his rate. Anyway, that's not the reason why I'm learning again. I just need to be able to talk to someone and brush up (major brushing up!) on my French before it's totally gone. Nearly forgot everything I knew but I was pretty surprised that I could still manage to carry short and simple conversations. I'm feeling chuffed with myself :o) So one day, I can do something or go somewhere that will put my French into use. 

Again, it's never too late.

*Image from Pinterest