Fireworks

Simply magical. I can never get enough. Fireworks are just wonderful.

Last Saturday, the Pyromusical Competition was between Finland and Portugal. Too bad, the show didn’t start on time. Original schedule was 7:00pm for Finland and 8:00pm for Portugal. The fireworks display started almost 8:00 pm!

Good thing the organizers provided a lot of entertainment. There were bands, a photo booth, mascots and people on stilts. And you will never go hungry as there were several food stalls (Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, among others).

The band played reggae songs.

Photo booth from Close-Up

The competition was held in Bayside, Mall of Asia. The street was closed for Gold tickets, while the main park was for VIP tickets. I don’t know where the Silver tickets were located.

 

Several judges were introduced. I only know 2 of them, Sen. Koko Pimentel and Frederick Peralta.

Here are some snippets of the fireworks:

The colors bursting right before my eyes were magnificent. A myriad of colors and explosions, accompanied with music, was indeed a relaxing sight.

You can catch the rest of the competition for the next 3 Saturdays. Here’s the schedule:

3 March 2012 China and The Netherlands

10 March 2012 Australia and Canada

17 March 2012 Italy and Philippines

Ticket prices:

Patron with dinner                     1,500

VIP                                          500

Gold                                         300

Silver                                        100

Or you can watch it for free, it's a big sky after all. You can position in the parking lots surrounding the mall.

 

TIP: Come early to avoid traffic. Leave late to avoid the same.

The Hands of My Father

My Dad turned 65 last September. He has retired from work long ago. He is always home, except on days when he has to visit the farm. He grows mangoes and bananas. He gambles whenever he can, drinks with his highschool friends and neighbors, watches TV all day, or does nothing at all.

Truth be told, he had all the vices a man could have. He started drinking and smoking when he was 13. If he didn’t get terribly sick 4 years ago, he wouldn’t give up the cigarettes. He gave up liquor for a few months, but went back to drinking when he got totally well.

This is his right hand:

It looks like a rootcrop. Or the root of an aging tree. Or the hand of a witch.

The joints are bulging. Gout. Uric deposits that hardened like stone.

There came a time when he couldn’t walk anymore as his knees were inhabited with gout...several gouts. The only solution was surgery, in order to remove the uric deposits.

His left hand was also operated at the same time, check the scars. This is better looking compared with his right hand.

Unfortunately, it seemed like alcohol was flowing in my dad’s body instead of blood. The anesthesia never took effect on him. He was injected 3 times, walang epek talaga. In order for him to walk again, he agreed to have an open surgery. As may be culled from the stories of my Mom, my Dad was really screaming in pain all throughout the operation! Kawawa.

I pity my Dad whenever I see his hands. Ang pangit kasi talaga. The hand made him look sickly, when in fact he is still strong as a cow. I had been urging him to have those gouts removed, but I am always silenced with his argument: surgery without anesthesia is very painful, I will not do it all over again.

Fine. There is no way for me to convince him regarding surgery. Instead, I urged him to have a healthy diet, to avoid foods that are high in uric acid. This is where we actually debate. However, since I don’t live with my parents anymore, I cannot totally monitor his food intake. It is then also a useless fight with him. Sigh.

On my next Davao trip, I’ll take photos of his knees and feet. Then you will perfectly understand me why I had been makulit with surgery and his diet.

Question now is, will I be like my Dad in the future, studded with unsightly gouts?

Afraid. Very much.

Trip to the Zoo

When was the last time you went to the zoo? I just did, after 6 long years.

I remember my first trip to Manila (I was in grade 4 then), and my first trip to the Zoo. It was like a heaven-sent experience for me. During that time, Davao City has no zoo to boast of. Though we have the Philippine Eagle Center and Gap Farm, the animals there were not really extraordinary.

Seeing animals you know only in books, then seeing it live, was a whole new experience for me. We all know what a lion looks like, but seeing one was totally different. So just imagine my elation when I saw an elephant for the very first time =)

The last time I was here was in 2005 with my friends from Xavier.

It was a weekday, meaning only few people were around. We went boating. I remember the water was covered in green because of the moss and lilies. Like it was untouched for eons of ages. But now, it looked like this:

And since I went on a weekend, ang daming tao:

The first animal that greeted me was the elephant!

Buhay pa pala sya. Or is it a different elephant? I used to argue with AM before that may elephant pa sa Manila Zoo, but he kept on saying wala na. It died of old age. Ayan oh!

I went around, and saw these creatures:

Cassowary, an Australian bird. It is the world’s most dangerous bird according to Guinness Book of Records. If it thinks you’re a threat you could receive a bone-breaking kick or get sliced by its dagger-like sharp claws.

A brown zebra. Di ata pinaliguan kaya brown.

Hippopotamus. After the elephant and rhinoceros, the hippopotamus is the third largest land mammal.

At marami pang iba…

Rabbit

Monkey

Philippine Deer

Civet Cat

Tiger

I forgot how huge the place is. Napagod din ako sa kakaikot.

If you’re a parent, you can leave your children in the playground.

Or treat them to the Kinder Zoo.

Where they can learn, touch and have their pictures taken with the friendly animals in the zoo. They can also do zip line, wall climb or ride the wooden bicycles.

Or you may let your kids ride a horse.

Syempre, I wore my Travelling Dress, for the 5^th time =)

For a 40p entrance fee, the zoo is worth visiting.

Happy frolicking!

I Have a Bunion

According to Wikipedia, a bunion is a deformity of the great toe. It is used to refer to the pathological bump on the side of the great toe joint. Just like this:

Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Health

Bunions commonly affect women. They say it is triggered by tight-fitting shoes and high-heels. However, there is no study to medically support such. The causes are still unknown. Blame genetics if you have one.

My feet ache after a long walk, in closed shoes. My shoes seem to explode because of the throbbing pain. That’s why I prefer sandals or flipflops whenever I go out, to allow my feet to “breathe”.

After hours of wearing shoes, my bunion turns red and swollen.

I pity my shoes. It gets deformed too. The side of the shoe where my bunion is located is often torn or wrinkled. Ugliness.

My bunion

Surgery is an option, but no way, jose!

I’m just glad it’s not gout =)