Laser Here We Go!!!!!

Thinking of the best thing to do after work aside from eating, doing the laundry.... hmmmm... and now what??? movie marathon? No!! Instead I decided to work on my blog. Since I had this wonderful experience at work earlier. :D First OR Scrub with Dr. Al Shammari. The best Interventional radiologist (according to him)... hahahhhhaha!!! So now we have EVLT bliateral great saphenous vein for our patient. What?! 2 veins??? ok... first have to check for the materials needed for the treatment. Ok now its complete. Now, patient is at the OR table waiting for doctor. The doctor came and checked the patient and it's prepping time. So we do the surgical handwashing and start putting on a gown and gloves. Funny thing doctor was dictating to us what to do. The hell!!! what happened to our OR duties way back college. As if were starting from scratch. :( Closed technique.... failed!!! my gawwwwddddd... but things can be learned. it's been years since I haven't assist in an OR. Endorsing the patient to OR and receiving patient from OR.. yes... Ive done that many times... Anyways, things can be learned right?... so moving on have the patient clean. OK here's Dr. Al Shammari's number 1 rule: overclean the patient... ok as ordered... done cleaning the patient and now procede with the treatment. This is it... All we have to do is hand it over to doctor what he needs. But the hardest part on it is that we should secure the whole EVLT set most especially the wire it might jump anywhere. hahahahahhah!!! plus the fact that its expensive we dont want it to be unsterile and open another one. The whole treatment, doctor was instructing us what to do and the most inspiring thing that he told us... "don't volunteer if you don't know".... hahhhahhha!!! and another one: "dont do anything... wait for me to tell you what to do"... hahhahhhha!! Though he's a toxic doctor because he want everything to be fast but then again we had fun assisting him coz he's so entertaining and you would really learn from him  though at times if you didn't get the right thing he might scold you. But it's ok the bottomline there is that you learned.  I enjoyed this whole EVLT thing most especially in injecting the tumescent anesthesia. I love telling doctor once he said to inject tumescent i will say out loud "INJECTING" and when he tell you to stop say out loud again "STOP" just to inform him that you are doing what he instruted. :) Plus having inserted the wire to the sheath according to doctor is an AMERICAN DREAM!!!! haahhahhhhaa!! The most rewarding part of it is that the patient was fine... it was a successful treatment and a CONGRATULATION and a good job from our very own Dr. Al Shammari despite the shouting that he did earlier. :)

Accidents really do happen... anytime....anywhere...

It was the usual November 21, 2011... aside from the fact that it's the birthday of my good friend Jec, this was also a day to remember for me. It was a cold Monday night after work. Here we go again back in our house and opppppssss... it's my sked for the laundry. So boring usual routine. While eating shawarma for dinner, I'm also doing the laundry.... and as i stepped on the bathroom floor... booooommmmm!!!!! What a bad fall. I shouted "ouched! ouched! ouched! ang sakit"... My butt hit the floor and my lower extremities was so numb and can't move... then one of my housemate came and asked "nadulas k?" and I answered back "oo! di ako makatayo." Then she called my other housemate to help me stand. I was so dizzy then when I got the chance to stand I fainted and found myself already on the sofa. Hearing those voices from my housemates "shit!!! bel!!! bel!! bel!!!". As I opened my eyes they are asking me what happened... then they asked me to have a sip of water cause I was shaking, still dizzy and so pale. I decided to go to the hospital to have my x-ray checked. They gave me 3 injections at the gluteal site. I had Voltaren, Dexamethasone and Neurobion and PRAISE GOD my x-ray was normal. :) The doctor gave me pain reliever and massage cream as home meds. That was really a long night for me. Good thing I had my housemates who are so supportive of me. :) And after that incident we realized that no matter what we should "STICK TOGETHER". We owe that quote to our local co-staff. Hahaahahhahhah!!!

Had my injections. Ouched!!! But ate the nurse was sooo good. :)

Here we go X-RAY!!

PLACES THAT I VISITED IN BRUNEI

At the entrance of the palace

Here's the continuation of my journey towards exploring Brunei... (this was my always reason everytime the immigration officer asked me to have my visa a month lng extension... "to explore the beauty of BRUNEI" - what a realistic answer. hahahhaha! Seeing new places that I never did see in my homeland-PHILIPPINES. Hmmmm..... wondering what are some tourist spots that Brunei have or places that you can enjoy for the rest of the remaining days. First on the list is the ISTANA NURUL IMAN the palace of Sultan Bolkiah. It is located in Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei's capital). We had our picture taking there together with the guard. I had a memorable experience in that place because as I posed myself closed to that guard I suddenly felt his hands towards my butt. watda!!!...

with the manong gurad

I also went to Sultan's 2nd palace- ISTANA NURUL IZZAH. I don't have the picture of it but it's also huge and the gate was full of GOLDS!! yeah!!! GOLDSSSSSS!!!! :) I got the chance to go there because we dropped ate's husband for he's working there. :) It is located in Jerudong near Jerudong Park. Next place MAMIH, it's a restaurant. that is just near Bengkurong (our place) that is serving good food. It is one of the things that we loved to do. EATING!!!!! I had a taste of SATAY, MEE MAMAK, Buttered prawn. Delicious food... this was the reason why I gained alot of weight when I went back to the Philippines. :) BTW, Mamih has a lot of branches.

Satay!!! chicken and beef

yummy buttered prawn

dont disturb!!! love mee mamak

With the Cenzon fam. :)

Another place that we visited is Jungle gym. Ate and I take the kids there while kuya Al and his brother watched ABL. Been wanting to join them but I do prefer to join with the girls and kids. nyahahahah! :) It reminded me of my childhood. I enjoyed the place as if I'm Kazee and Wizee's age. Nice bonding moments with the kids.

Reese and Wizee is so cute.

Kazee and I enjoyed the slide. Yehaaaaa!

So many balls :P

Kiss with the caterpillar

I enjoyed this gun thingy. haha!!!

Next place to visit is EMPIRE HOTEL. We only had a picture taking in that 5-star hotel. Haven't been in a 5-star hotel. Thank God I had the chance. Though, we didn't check in there but at least we had our picture taking. Closed to the hotel is the Theatre. Where most of the concerts are held and take note it's a free concert from the Royal family. :) Going back to the hotel, it's so huge and I was greatly amazed by the golden escalator and elevator. Hoping that I could bring them home.

Empire hotel is a hotel plus a leisure park. Perfect for families to bond and unwind. They have their rooms plus the pools for kids and adult. It is also near the sea and restaurants. They are also offering different activities that you can enjoy from.  They have banana boat, kayak etc... I promised myself that if I was given another chance to visit the country it is something that I should look forward to. 

Some kind of history in here

At the hotel lounge

Signage of the POOLS

The Jacuzzi

Main building of the hotel

The Golden elevator :)

Glass camel

This camel was so memorable because friends are kept on asking me if there are desert in Brunei. For everyone’s information Brunei is a Muslim country and it’s an ASIAN COUNTRY.  Therefore, there are no desert and camels there. Because they thought all the while that it is situated along MID-EAST.

Another place that I visited is the All Stars Sports Cafe in Brunei. It is located in Holiday Lounge Hotel near  Jerudong. Why All Stars Sports Cafe???... hmmm..... maybe because they love football. Bruneians and Malaysians are a big fan of football. I even influenced by this football fever. Everyone is going ga-ga over this sport. They would even risk their lives just to protect their peg football team (exaggerated mode). Just to add from that football thingy I remember there’s this one day that I suddenly pressed the “LIKE” button on the MANCHESTER UNITED fan page.  And I’m always busy reading all the posts and comments from their wall and making sure that I don’t miss any single detail from that team. But of course the thing that catches my attention are the haters from different team trying to mess up with the page posting hate posts. Then the fans of MAN U are trying to defend their team and as a newbie fan of MAN U. I replied on the comment and I got an answer saying “BODOH”. Having some nosebleed of that single word, I asked for MR. GOOGLE. As I entered the search button.... there you are BODOH=STUPID. Hell yeah!!! Whatever! I’m just having some fun in here. Hahahhaha! A fan will always be a fan. J Going back to the ALL STAR SPORTS CAFE, we had a PIG OUT!!! As in PIGGGGGG OOOOUUUUTTTT!!! We had the usual pasta and pizza. J

Watching the PIZZA GUY

Eating time

I also visited THE MALL, YAYASAN MALL and the WHITE MOSQUE (forgot the name). Though not planned, we go there after the SUNDAY MASS because my friend who also had his vacation there is texting to meet him and have some picture taking on the mosque. Gladly, we met together with his sister-in-law (Bruneian) and 2 kids.

With LEM

Posting with Lem's nephew and niece

Mosque at the back

The Mosque is just across the YAYASAN MALL. It was white as snow. You can find Sultan Bolkiah here because he oftentimes worship there.

Another must-see place is the ONE BILLIONTH BARREL in SERIA. There you can find the natural treasure of Brunei, the OIL PRODUCTION. The secret to its continuing SUCCESS. Brunei is one of the richest country in the whole world plus the fact that they are also rich in GOLDSSSSS.

5th Activity in Brunei

Thinking what HariRaya is all about. I've been hearing it from my cousin, though she didn't explain it further but this made me so excited. Hmmmm.... sounds new and I'm the type of person who easily gets bored on a routine work so I am always looking forward to those new experiences that is coming my way. NEW EXPERIENCE more FUN, more LEARNINGS. So if your also thinking what HariRaya was... this is the celebration for muslims in Brunei even in Malaysia and Indonesia. Wherein the muslim people celebrate after their so-called RAMADAN. Wherein people went on a month long fasting, prayer and reflection. For them this is their RENEWED LIFE. Well, HariRaya celebration in Brunei was FUN. People who are living there said that the best month to have a tour is on AUGUST (my month :) ) Because this is the month wherein they are celebrating their RAMADAN. First, they have this OPEN HOUSE... just like the usual SALO-SALO in our house. People prepared so many foods to serve the visitors.  Of course, I don't want to miss that OPEN HOUSE and I don't wanna miss the foods too. hahahaha! Good thing my cousin's officemates invited us. We spent an entire Saturday for this. We went to my cousin's office at Ministry of Defence in Penanjong Camp because this was the meeting place. First stop is at Major General's house. We are on a convoy going to the place and it's quite far and funny thing about it is that all of my cousin's officemates drives so fast so Ate's having a hard time to catch them. But good thing cellphones were invented. :) At Major general's house, before entering we were quite bothered because they were all wearing a formal dress... they call it BAJU KURONG. Anyways, never mind we still looked decent on our jeans and simple shirt. :) hahahhhaah! On our way to the door, Major General was there to welcome. The house was huge and cozy. It feels like your in a hotel. There are lots of food and people too. Visitors are scheduled so we didn't have much time to stay that long. So again before leaving the house we signed in the guest book and Major general was standing at the door and showed his gratitude for the visit and lucky for the kids because they have gift. This is the tradition for muslims during Ramadan to be generous if they wanted to receive more blessings from ALLAH.

Me, Karen, Ate, Wizee, kazee with Ate's offismates

Ate, Wizee, Kazee with Major General

Muslim tradition sweets are always present.

Introducing KEROPOK and other sweets again

Trying to pose on two of Major General's cars with Kazee

Next stop, Major Yusof's house. It's eating time again. We are welcomed by Major Yusof himself together with hiswife and kids. Drinks and sweets were first served followed by the buffet. Since were still full, after we ate at Major General's house... I decided to ate the fruits. Sad thing I wasn't able to have a taste of BEEF RENDANG. Brunei's best delicacy for most people who visited the place. We didn't stayed that long again for we still have  another house to go to. And again, the kids have another gift. Yey! :)

Kazee posing on one of Major Yusof's house

Here comes another open house invite from Major Reza (Ate's officemate). They welcomed us together with his girlfriend. They served us with so many dishes and didn't know where to start. But I love the ones that Major Reza's girlfriend had suggested... the ROTI KOSONG with condensed milk and curry as dip plus TEH TARIK. Roti kosong is just like pancakes made from flour and egg while Teh Tarik is an Indian tea. Everyone was so full with that open house activity. We didn't stayed that long cause the rain starts to pour and the kids seemed so tired.

At Major Reza's house

Here's the lovelycat and the 2 kids were amazed. :)

After that long OPEN HOUSE... Here comes the HARI RAYA! Meaning it's the end of RAMADAN. How do they know when ramadan was about to end???? They are looking at the moon. If the moon is on it's slight crescent shape. During Hari Raya, the Istana Nurul Iman Palace was open to public plus you will have the chance to have a meet n' greet with the RF (Royal Family). Karen and I went there with our BajuKurong. It was rainy then that's why we have to borrow Ate's big umbrella. Ate drove us there and as we entered the gate there were lots of people waiting... we have to ride on a coaster to reach the palace itself. From the bus we already started our picture takings. I was very fascinated by the scenery around the palace. Can't imagine myself that I was inside Sultan Bolkiah's palace. Before we entered the palace hall we have to register first. And the guards let us leave our umbrella outside wondering how can we claim it if there are no numbers or something... anyways, been so excited to enter we just decided to leave it there since all people leave theirs. There were lots of people inside of different race. And whats exciting about it is the buffet for all people. See how rich Sultan was. Foods are flooding inside. Karen and I ate first. I observed all those busy people eating and enjoying the food. There are some who have their own plastic bags and taking it home. No wonder who these people are. hahhahah! So Filipino style. Didn't ate that much for I was excited to meet the queen and princess. Here we go again, it's a long queue but it's just a once in a lifetime experience so not bad at all. Cameras are not allowed inside so we didn't have the chance to take a picture with the RF. After meeting the RF another long queue with the souvenir. Yes! It's in a big yellow box with a thank you card from Sultan. Sweet!!! :) On our way to the exit, Karen and I suddenly remembered the umbrella that we left so we hurriedly went to the entrance door again. it's a long walk but it's fine coz we just borrowed it from Ate. Keeping my fingers crossed to find Ate's umbrella... ooooppppssss... the hell!!! Ate's umbrella was gone, we couldn't find it. Maybe someone already took our umbrella. I had this argument with the guard regarding this umbrella. then he answered back: "you can get as many umbrellas as you can. no problem! anyways if no one claimed all of this it will be just thrown away." Hell yeah! We don't have any choice but to replace Ate's big umbrella with 3. I was really disgusted by the not so good umbrellas left. Anyways, we don't have any choice. Good thing Ate didn't get mad at us. Hahahahha! It was a very tiring day but we enjoyed it a lot. It was such a nice experience. Now I know what HariRaya was. :)

At the Coaster

Here we go Istana!!!!!

Yummy foodie!!!

I'm on a diet. I guess?!

Full of excitement.Every single bite is so yummy. hahahhha!

Busy people.

Everything is GOLD.

Long queue here we go!!!

Another pose while waiting.

Newly found Kawan (friend) half pinoy half-Bruneian

Terima Kasih Sultan for the souvenirs.

If you think HariRaya ends there... Hey! there's more.... we didn't want to miss the display at NBT. So Ate drove us there twice to have some picture takings. HariRaya is indeed FUN!!!! Hope to be a part of it the moment I came back there. :)

NBT Display

I love Camels. hahahahahah!

Selamat HariRaya!!!! :)

Posed like ANTM. Hahhaahhah!

With Karen and Kazee

4th activity in Brunei

.... Church is where my real home is. <3 Another wish granted from my dear LORD GOD. Being in a muslim country, I never really expected that I would know Him more in this country. I'd been in the Philippines all my life where I can go to church anytime I wanted, I'd been in a catholic school during my grade and highschool years where you are being taught how to be a good christian but never got the nerve to know him more deeply. Until one day Ate brought me to the CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION. It's a nice church, air-conditioned, clean, organized plus different nations are there being one with the LORD. My cousin, ate Leah is the one who is always encouraging me to leave everything to HIM. She told me that when she was new in Brunei her father which is my TITO (my father's brother) encouraged her to join SFC (Singles for Christ) while she's still in search for a job. And until now she's still an active member not with SFC anymore but with CFC (Couples for Christ). It was fun being with all of the members for there are lots of activities. What I enjoyed the most was the KFC (Kids for Christ)  gathering every first week of the month. As my 2 nephews: Kazee and Wizee (ate's kids) are members too. It's nice seeing kids playing and yet are being taught who the real GOD is. :) There are games, singing, dancing, praying and for the FINALE... the EATING session. Super FUN. INDEED.

Wizee boy with the other kids. Its playtime!!! :)