We as Filipinos are so tightly-knit that we do not part ways with our parents, even if we are married. This is something that I learned early on in my life, and that we, at one point in our lives, must learn to live independently. I may not be married, but this is something that I value the most, my independence. As early as 1 year after I graduated from college, I decided to move out of our family home, and live near the campus (where I teach and study for my Masters’). After graduation, I decided to move back because I felt that I’ve grown apart from my siblings due to the fact that I was seldom home (even on weekends) during that time. After a few years, I decided to move out again.
Why move out when I have all the comforts of being taken cared of by my parents and Yaya? I valued my independence more than my comfort.
If you are having doubts of moving out of your home, watch this video, and let me help you decide.
My parents have always advocated independence, and one of the things I learned from them is that I should invest in “housing” first before I buy a car. Since I am a “city girl”, I never thought to buy a house in our province (Cavite), so the options for me are limited to two — a townhouse or a condominium unit. It is just unfortunate that I realized this late in the game, and I only invested in a property when I was 35!
I didn’t think that buying a condo unit is not as straightforward as I want it to be, but I got through it. In a few years, I’d be finished paying off my loan from the bank.
Meanwhile, here’s a video I did for those thinking about buying a condo. Please like, share and subscribe!!
September of last year, after a long haul flight to the US, my right hand started to feel pins and needles, or as we Filipinos call it, namimintig. And it wasn’t for 5 minutes, it was for long periods of time, about 3 hours and I couldn’t sleep comfortably for days. It didn’t hurt and it wasn’t comfortable either. When I arrived in Manila, it was the same thing, but it was worse. The pins and needles carried on for an entire night, I could not sleep at all. The following day, I brought myself to the doctor, had a series of tests for a few days and was diagnosed with mild carpal tunnel syndrome. However, the good doctor also requested for a other tests because he was suspecting something else. So he sends me to another doctor, and this doctor ordered more tests, and confirmed, I have type 2 diabetes. I had an inkling that I did have it, because both my parents have it, but I was in denial. It felt like the sky fell down on me. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t, I had nobody to blame but myself.
I am not in to sweets, you can ask any of my friends, chocolates aren’t my thing, so if somebody gives me some, I give it to them. I am not into desserts as well. We were also disciplined by my father not to drink softdrinks and juice, we always stick to water. But I suspected it was my love for RICE that got me into trouble.
So what is diabetes?
Disclaimer, I am not a doctor! This is what I read in medical journals and medical society regulated sites.
According to the Philippine Society of Endocrinologist, diabetes causes blood sugar levels to elevate. And elevated levels of blood sugar may damage the eyes, kidneys and the heart. It is actually a metabolism disorder. One word that we always associate with diabetes is insulin. It is the insulin that helps our body store and use the sugar and fat from the food we eat. Insulin pushes the glucose (sugar) from our blood to cells where it is converted to some form of energy. And having diabetes means that, our pancrease isn’t producing enough or any insulin or our body does not respond to insulin.
There are a lot of kinds of diabetes, the most common of which are Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, which needs insulin injections for life — like Gary V. Type 2 diabetes which is the most common in adults, because our body either resists the effects of insulin or doesn’t produce enough insulin to maintain a normal glucose level. There’s no cure to it, only management.
What causes it?
According to Mayo Clinic, it is actually unknown, but there are contributing factors: Genetics. Both my parents are diabetic, so I knew I was bound to have it, I never thought it would be this early. Extra weight Inactivity
What are the symptoms?
When I read up about type 2 diabetes, I realized that I didn’t experience all the symptoms. I only experienced tingling feeling in the hands, increased thirst and frequent urination. however, since I was young, I really love to drink water, I can finish an entire liter in one sitting. Other symptoms wchih I didn’t experience include: weight loss, fatigue, blurred vision, areas of darkened skin and slow-healing sores. So it doesn’t mean that you don’t have the symptoms, you don’t have it. If it’s in your genes, as you grow older, make sure to take the trip to the doctor, and monitor your blood sugar.
I am now under medication, and managing my diabetes. My HBA1C started off at 8.1 to 6.4 to 6.3. I am seeing my endocrinologist every 3 months and I am trying my best to eat less rice, control my sugar intake and do activities, even if it’s just walking around the mall or inside the condo.
I hope you don’t get it, and if you do, manage it well. (“,)
I finally took the leap of faith. Hoping people just play nice and not bash.
I uploaded my first video log. See it here:
I wanted to try it out first without shooting an actual video, so I made it “Powerpoint” presentation style and just added 2 voice overs. I’d like to keep it short, and simple so viewers won’t get bored easily. Will have to work on putting my make up to look more presentable. I forgot how time-consuming video editing was. Took me 4 hours!
The video is about the items I purchased from Divisoria, Manila’s cheapest shopping haven!
Had fun watching it? Comment below if you want me to shoot more videos. 🙂 Thank you for being nice! 🙂
There was a time in my life when I was out every Saturday night, coming home at almost sunrise, drinking to my heart’s content, and partying like there’s no tomorrow. There were times when I’d go out on a Friday night, and I’d party again the following night. Monday night gigs were my favorite, because there was no need to reserve tables, and it would not be as crowded as a weekend. I didn’t realize that with all the “fun” I was having, I was also “wasting” my life away.
And just like that, I hit 30.
I chose to stop it all at once. I was home on Saturdays, resting and reading. I’d go to church on Sundays, and rested some more to get ready to battle another week at work.
I still went out, not to party, but it was more like the “tame” side of “socializing” – movies, coffee and massages. This was another side of me that I never knew existed. It was then I started to realize, that there was more to going out and socializing, it was then I realized, that I was fine on my own. I am comfortable with silent days, when I didn’t have to converse awkwardly with people. That there should be more to life aside from parties and gigs.
Sure, I miss going out with friends, so I do see them to catch up, the frequency of which drastically changed from 100 MHz to 60 Hz (pardon the ‘engineering’ lingo, hehe). If and when I miss them, I know they’re just a text message / viber / whatsapp / LINE away, and meeting up isn’t a problem at all.
Looking back at the things I did, I cannot help but smile. Five years later, who would have thought that I’d be here? Back then I didn’t have a dream (career-wise), I was swimming with the tide, allowing it to take me anywhere. After all the partying, I’ve climbed the corporate ladder from being a professor, to a professor with admin, to a technical manager, moved to another company to be a network engineer in the largest electronic and voice brokering company in the world. Who said there’s an age limit to moving up?
Since early last year, I’ve been planning on enrolling on a language class, and this year, one of my goals is to enrol myself into a program. My friend Renz has paved the way into making this a reality. He was actually taking a language class in the University of the Philippines and offered to register me to the class I wanted. Thanks to Renz, I am now enrolled in Korean Module 1. =)
Why did I choose to study a new language? Well, I read somewhere that studying a new language actually slows down the brain’s aging process and it actually keeps the mind sharp. I actually chose Korean because I felt that it was the easiest of the languages that I wanted to learn (next will be Japanese, then Chinese) plus, I fell in love with South Korea when I visited the country in 2012. I am planning to go back in 2015 and I really want to converse with them so I am quite driven to learn.
I am now memorizing a whole new set of vowels and consonants, as well new words that I might use for our course. I must admit that I am having fun in my class, and I have a variety of classmates coming from the medical field, IT field as well as in the education sector.
Thanks to UP, I am one step closer to fulfilling my goal. Who knows, I may take the TOPIK next year? Good luck to me!
If you happen to be interested in an Asian language as well, visit the UP Department of Linguistics’ website here.
I know it’s a bit late for New Year’s Resolutions, but I was sooooo busy during the first week because of my Brunei trip that I forgot to do this.. Hopefully, I’ll be able to tick some or all of these. I have another list, but I’ve opted not to post it here. My faith goals are to remain secret for now.. =)
Yes, last Monday, I celebrated my 33rd birthday. And that means I get to have my birthday leave for some supposedly rest and relaxation. BUT, I had several errands to run, I used the opportunity to do them all.
First Stop – Land Transportation Office – SM Manila.
Waking up late was probably the only leisure I experienced on my birthday. I normally wake up at 7am on Mondays, but since it was my birthday, I decided to get up at 10am. I wanted to be sure that my processing will not be interrupted by lunch break, so I needed to be at SM Manila LTO at 11am. I was running late because of the traffic, however I finished renewing my license by 12:30pm. Took me an hour to do so. I sort of like my new license, I got away with a little more than the “Mona Lisa smile” requirement for government IDs. =)
Second Stop – The Bank / My Pad
I failed on this one. Instead of heading off to the bank, I decided to stay in my pad for the rest of the afternoon. I did a little tidying, I couldn’t find my dining table anymore because of my clothes that needed ironing! hahaha.. I didn’t iron them (I didn’t want to work on my birthday!), I just hung them on my clothes rack. =D
Third Stop – The Office = GIFTS!
I received a phone call from my sister at about 11am, asking me if I was at the office, I said I was on leave as I needed to run several errands, and she told me I needed to go to the office because she sent me something. So I headed to the office (not to work) to receive her gift. She sent me a bouquet of tulips and a birthday card. So sweet. I also received Alicia Keys’ new album, Girl on Fire, a gift from Sir Glen (my boss). He has been giving me Alicia Keys albums as birthday or Christmas gifts (it’s actually my request! hahaha). And lastly, I received this beautiful handbag from my loveys: David, Darren, Pauline, Rain and TJ. It was unexpected so I was really surprised.
The Unexpected Dinner
I really had nothing planned on my birthday, I just wanted to eat with some people for a small celebration. I sent text messages to a few people, including my father and my brother. My co-workers finally had the chance to meet (some of) my family as I never invited anyone to the house for 10 years now! hahaha! It ended with a facetime call with my sis in Singapore. =)
~~~~ ~~~~
It may have been an uneventful birthday, but it was a happy one, because I got to celebrate it with the people I love and share my life events with. =D
A Student of Life 