Pain in the Neck

Last Saturday night, I spent a few minutes drawing on my sketch pad as I lied face down in bed. When I stood up to place the sketch pad on the table, a sudden sharp pain surged through my left shoulder and the back of my neck.

That wasn’t the first time I’ve experienced that kind of pain though. Back when I was still working at the Canberra Hospital, I experienced the exact same sharp pain after standing up from a slouching seating position. Although not as painful as having a kidney stone, it was still pretty excrutiating. And no, it’s not just “stiff neck.” I know how stiff neck feels like and that wasn’t it.

Last time, the pain lasted for a couple of weeks or more. Too bad there isn’t a manghihilot here in Australia. The best I could do was to go to a physiotherapist or chiropractor. I went to a chiropractor the first time and it didn’t go well.

The stupid guy used his elbows to dig deep into my spine! Instead of relieving the pain, he was aggravating it. With each rub, my muscle tensed and tensed because of the pain. He then stopped. He then told me that I shouldn’t be so tense. How couldn’t I be so tense when he was hurting me!?

Anyway, this time round, I’m worried about going back to a chiropractor. It’s like day two now and my neck and shoulder, though still feeling the pain, is feeling much better. I just hope that the pain won’t last as long as the first time.

Brain Twisters

Thanks to Alan’s blog post on Brain Twisters, Raquel and I tried the IQ Test Alan was pointing to on his post. I got stuck on some of the questions because I no longer remember the formula for determining the length of the hypotenuse of a triangle given the adjacent and opposite lengths for example.

Anyway, here is my result:

Congratulations, Gabriel!
Your IQ score is (SECRET)

This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.

Your Intellectual Type is Visionary Philosopher. This means you are highly intelligent and have a powerful mix of skills and insight that can be applied in a variety of different ways. Like Plato, your exceptional math and verbal skills make you very adept at explaining things to others — and at anticipating and predicting patterns. And that’s just some of what we know about you from your IQ results.

Visionary Philosopher, eh? I like the sound of that. Now only if that meant I’d get paid more.

And here is Raquel’s result:

Congratulations, Raquel!
Your IQ score is (SECRET)

This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.

Your Intellectual Type is Insightful Linguist. This means you are highly intelligent and have the natural fluency of a writer and the visual and spatial strengths of an artist. Those skills contribute to your creative and expressive mind. And that’s just some of what we know about you from your test results.

Filipino Mass

Every second Sunday of the month, there is a 2:30 pm mass done in Filipino at St Francis Church, Lonsdale St, Melbourne. Well, mostly in Filipino. Today, we gave the Filipino Mass a go and found that the mass was celebrated by Fr Ed Wood. As you can accertain from the name, he’s not Filipino. Anyway, although his parts were in English, I didn’t really mind as the rest of it was in Tagalog.

It was a refreshing change from going to St Mary’s for mass. There were more people there and there was an entire choir singing the church hymns courtesy of the Filipino Choir of Saint Francis. The songs sung and the appearance of the inside of the church itself reminded me a lot of my high school’s parish church St Andrew’s in Paranaque.

The only problem we encountered was the lack of cheap parking space in the heart of the city. Our only option was to go for the free one-hour parallel parking bays along the city streets. However, near the end of the mass during the advertisments segment, the lay minister informed us that if we had parked our cars in the nearby flat-$9 St Francis parking space, we could have our car park tickets stamped in the Catholic bookshop.

I didn’t know if this meant that the parking fee would be discounted or what so I went over to the bookshop to enquire. One of the shopkeepers told me in a humourless manner that we could park the car in the St Francis parking space for free for an hour and a half. Silly me, I kept thinking that he was telling me that it was free for only half-an-hour.

“But the mass is an hour long,” I said.

“That’s why it’s for an hour and a half,” he said in a I-can’t-believe-how-stupid-you-are tone.

“Ah sorry,” I said laughing but the guy remained dead serious.

It seemed like he wasn’t enjoying his job. The next person to talk to him was this lady asking to have her ticket stamped. She said thanks and he didn’t say anything. Sheesh. Anyway, next time we go to mass there, we now know we can park our car for free for an hour and a half near the church.

St Francis Church
Click image to zoom in

We didn’t talk to anybody there after the mass though like Ka Uro suggested in his blog to new guys coming to New Zealand:

Attend a Filipino mass on Sunday. Tanungin mo ang host mo kung saan ang malapit. Even if you are not Catholic, tiempuhan mo kapag tapos na ang misa. After the mass maraming nagbebenta ng mga Filipino foods. It’s your chance para makipagkilala sa ibang Pinoy. Yung ibang Pinoy snub hindi ka papansinin. Yung iba naghihintay lang na ikaw ang unang bumati. Since ikaw ang may pangangailangan, ikaw na ang unang bumati. You never know baka may alam na job opening ang makilala mo.

There’s always the next time. The next Filipino mass will be on 8th of May, same time. We’ll try to talk to them next time over merienda they have after the mass (according to the ads segment). We would’ve gone with them if we had more time on our one-hour car park. Ah, well.

Iba Ang May Pinagsamahan…

… San Miguel Beer! So goes the old San Miguel Beer TV jingle from my youth. I’m not sure if that jingle is still used in SMB commercials in the Philippines though. Anyway, I just wanted to let you Pinoys know that San Miguel has arrived in Australia!

The first I’ve heard news about San Miguel coming over was around August 2004. Australian drink company Berri released a news article about Berri and San Miguel joining forces:

Berri Ltd, Australia’s leading juice company has announced a new partnership with San Miguel Corporation, the largest publicly listed food, beverage and packaging company in South East Asia.

I don’t think that deal went through though because when I tried searching for relevant news regarding San Miguel’s move to Australia, I only get articles relating to San Miguel Corp’s bid to buy Australian dairy producer National Foods.

Anyway, the reason why I believe that San Miguel is truly here in Oz was because of the poster ads I’ve been seeing around Melbourne.

   
San Miguel Ads I saw around Melbourne
Click image for full views.

Unfortunately, both Raquel and I don’t really drink beer so the only reason I even found out that San Miguel may already be available in the Australian market was because of the poster ads. And since I don’t drink, I really can’t verify if the taste of San Miguel Beer here would be identical to that sold at home. At least, for those of you planning to migrate to Oz, you now know that, here, you’ll have access to beer you’re familiar with at home.

Still sick

It’s been more than a week now since I first had the symptoms of the common cold. However, I’m still filling my rubbish bins with countless tissues and have already missed one day at work after suffering from stuffy nose, headache and slight fever. I decided it’s time to visit my GP to see what’s going on. I called my GP to book an appointment but was told that she’s fully booked for the day. Uh-oh.

I was so miserable and sick of being sick that I tried booking an appointment with some other GPs but was told that they were fully booked as well. Looks like a lot of people are also sick and visiting their GPs. One GP was even fully booked out till April 19th! Well, perhaps because he does bulk billing and his office is near a residential area (ours). Oh well, I guess I’d have to see my GP In the city after all.

I went to see the GP today and after 10 minutes consultation, got out of her office clutching my prescription for a week’s worth of antibiotics. She told me that I have a “crackle” in my chest and that I have a sinus infection. Great, not again. I used to have recurring sinusitis when I was still living in the Philippines with my chain-smoking dad and looks like our similarly inclined neighbour has also worsened my condition this time. This neighbour would hold smoking sessions outside his door (which, incidentally is right beside our door) with his friends thus filling our unit with second hand smoke! Grrhhh… We’re seriously considering moving out when our lease ends in June.

Anyway, after forking over the $53 consultation fee to the doctor’s receptionist, I went and bought the antibiotics with some lozenges as my throat has been really sore brought on by dry, racking coughs. Forked over $25.40 for the lot after signing away my script. Next, I went to the Medicare office a few blocks away and presented my receipt to the smiling teller and got my reimbursement of $30.85. Well, that would mean that I really only paid $22.15 out of pocket, not too bad but that’s still 2 meals worth (in a takeaway shop, not a fancy restaurant). Oh well, at least I get some benefits from my taxes. Meantime, there’s nothing for me to do but wait for the medicine to do its job. Sigh.

Farewell, Pope John Paul II

In a speech made to the general audience in May 1995, Pope John Paul II gave the following affirmation (translation taken from a documentary shown by SBS on April 2, based on a film directed by Krzysztof Zanussi):

I give thanks to God for having been born and for being called upon my particular mission. And above all, I renew before Christ my pledge to serve the Church as long as He wishes, surrendering myself totally to His will. I leave to Him the decision as to when and how He wishes to relieve me of this service.

On April 2, Karol Jozef Wojtyla‘s service as pope ended after he succumbed to heart failure and septic shock after years of declining health. Today, his life in the public eye ends with his burial. Eternal peace to you, Pope John Paul II!

Tatay

My maternal grandfather whom I refer to as Tatay (means Father in Tagalog but I call him that because I grew up with Mom calling him that) was admitted to the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) of the Perpetual Help Medical Center in my home town. Tatay had been growing weak for some time now due to a digestive disorder so I was actually surprised that he had been taken to the hospital not because of a digestive problem but because of pneumonia.

Around noon yesterday, I received an SMS text message from my Dad informing me that Tatay fell into a coma!

I didn’t know what to do when I found out. Here I was in a far away country and for all I know, Tatay could die real soon. I was away from home since 2003 and I dearly wanted to be able to speak to him again. I was real afraid that I wouldn’t get to have a chance.

I seriously contemplated to arrange for a flight home but unfortunately, due to a problem with my visa, I will encounter problems with immigration and customs on my return to Australia. Trying to rectify the problem will take some time so it wasn’t possible for me to go home that quickly.

So when I talked to Mom again over the phone later that evening, I was very happy and relieved to find out that Tatay had come out of his coma.

I thank God that He has given Tatay an extension of life. I pray he recover from his illness and could check out of the ICU soon. I look forward to the day I’m able to see him and talk to him again.

Drawing for 2005-04-07

I’m thinking of creating another webcomic besides my current one, Lovarian Adventures. I already have some ideas as to what the story will be but nothing is concrete yet. I also haven’t decided on the characters that will lead the story.

So far, there’s just a basic outline of a story that I don’t want to reveal yet and a couple of characters that may or may not end up in the final story.

Below is what I have so far. Click on the pic to see the full view.

Robert and his Uncle Celso “Monsi”
Click image for full view

Melbourne Alleys

Melbourne’s city centre with its grid layout streets has lots of curious alleyways. So a few days ago, Raquel decided to take photos of the different alleys peppered around Melbourne CBD (central business district) just for kicks.

Walking along Melbourne’s atmospheric alleyways certainly showcases the city’s numerous outdoor cafes and outdoor restaurants. In fact, it is on these alleys where we usually have our lunch. To me, dining in such an environment makes me feel very cozy and relaxed.

Our only complaint about dining in these alleys is that cigarette smoke tends to stay in place in the alley due to the lack of wind blowing through. Because of this we tend to eat indoors instead and so we miss out a little by not being able to enjoy dining along the alley itself.

Back in my home country, I wouldn’t stay long in the city’s alleys as they are usually just dumping grounds. Whereas here in Melbourne, a lot of alleys seem to have a vibrant life of its own. So when you do visit Melbourne one of these days, be sure to drop by some of its many alleyways and grab a cup of coffee or something and immerse yourself in the cafe culture atmosphere.

Go to Raquel’s Photo Blog to see more pics of Melbourne alleys.

Incensed

I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m living in a more “progressive” country or I’m seeing and hearing more incidence of what I call “Christ and Christian bashing” around me. Just this weekend, there was the Comedy Gala on TV and if I recall correctly, I heard at least three comedians having jokes that poke fun at Jesus and His followers. It seems to be the trend nowadays.

And it’s not only on the Comedy Gala show that night. I see other instances where Jesus is made the butt of their jokes or skits. There is even a comic book series like the Battle Pope by Funk-O-Tron productions that has as its “protagonist” a womanizer and drunk character called the Pope with a wimpy Jesus for a sidekick. In the world of webcomics, of which I’m a part of, gag webcomics would use jokes that demean Jesus and/or his followers.

I used to just ignore these things but lately, I’m growing more and more annoyed by the increasing number of these insulting jokes. What gets me even more is that a lot of people wants everybody to be more tolerant of others yet there are these people who unscrupulously make fun of Jesus Christ whom a lot of people consider the Son of God. It’s unbelievable! Where’s the tolerance?

Over the last week, I’ve heard a lot of insensitive comments on FM radio and podcasts about the failing health of the (now deceased) Pope. Being a Catholic, I was incensed by these DJs and podcasters. How dare they! They may not be Catholics but as decent human beings, isn’t it just good manners that they give respect to the elderly or the sick or the dying?

And then there’s the more subtle type of Christ and Christian bashing. By now, a lot of you may have already read Dan Brown’s novel The DaVinci Code. I actually liked the book and how it weaved into its stories fancy stories about Christ and the Catholic Church. I thought it was okay until I realised that not everybody who’s going to read it will treat it as fiction.

I’m sure there are a lot of people who’ve read that novel actually believed what it’s saying about the Holy Grail being Mary Magdalene and how the Knights Templars were supposedly seeking it out during the Crusades and that the Church branded other books as heretic (and therefore excluded from the Bible) and how Constantine was essentially the founder of the modern Church. What a load of bull.

There are a lot of reading material out there that debunked the “facts” being claimed by the novel but this one seems to be a nice start if you haven’t read at least one yet: Dismantling the Da Vinci Code by Sandra Miesel of the Catholic Educator’s Resource Center.

Since I’m a Catholic, I also take offence at the insinuation of other Christians that we Catholics aren’t even Christians! I’m betting that the most popular Christian literature out there that is anti-Catholic are the infamous Chick Tracts produced by a Jack T. Chick. These are very small propaganda comic booklets that tells stories about how the Pope is supposed to be the Anti-Christ, Islam was created by the Catholic Church and other such nonesense.

Anyway, if you’re a Catholic and you’ve read these Chick Tracts and you started to feel confused about being a Catholic, you can read this: Chick Tracts, Their Origin and Refutation on the Catholic Answers website.

Now, I’m feeling an increasing inclination to educate people about Christ, Christians (in general) and Catholics (in particular). Of course, if I did an in-your-face type of education, it’ll be construed as preaching and people nowadays dislike that. It has to be subtle. I’m still thinking about what I should do.