Boosted!

After close to two years of inertia, liberation seem to loom & bloom.  Covid cases in my people-filled and densely populated country is now starting to drop.

injection gives me the creeps! so obvious is this photo. haha!

 Unlike tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, I guess my government should thank me for being so cooperative, participative and supportive.  Last month I had my vaccine booster shot which was six months after I had my complete double dose of Covid vaccines.  Having my booster shot gave me confidence and a massive sigh of relief that at least I won’t die from this silly epidemic.

Keep your mask on everyone, freedom and deliverance seem imminent and forthcoming! We will all soon take it off. Excited to hug everyone! Woohoo!

Sizzling Hot Covid19 Vaccine

My post Covid19 pandemic started yesterday.  When me and my sister (being registered under our local government’s waiting list) were told that an available vaccine is available, we immediately drove up to the designated vaccination site.

Though it is sad to note that majority of my country’s populace still doubts the significance and efficacy of the vaccine, such popular yet imprudent viewpoint became advantageous on my part for getting the vaccine. 

If you’re reading this article and wonder why such meek and lowly event of getting my first jab seem such a big deal on my part, please understand that my poor unregimented country has very limited supply of the vaccine.  It is because my country at this late point in time only depends on the United Nation’s donations as well as the dole-outs sent to us by rich countries because they either have surplus of the vaccines or that their country already achieved the so-called herd immunity.

So how did my first vaccination affair went? Answer: It was hilarious, uneasy and at the same time a little nerve-wracking.  It was nerve-wracking because I hate injections! It was uneasy because the vaccination site was at an open-air public place.  With no air-conditioning and with the scorching humid heat index of 42 degrees Celsius (no thanks to climate change), me and my sister were soaked wet in our very own sweat! 

Good thing there were very few people at the venue, our papers were right away processed.   And after we were injected, the hilarious thing that happened is that both me and my sister were told to stay a little longer because both our blood pressures were shooting up! And when asked if I take medicine for high blood pressure, I answered yes.  When asked what medicine, instead of telling the name of the drug (Losartan), I uttered the name of a popular French bakeshop here in Manila (Lartizan)! LOL!

took a photo of my covid19 vaccine passport while waiting for my boiling blood pressure to ease down! beside it is my sister’s japanese fan.  underneath is a mini-towel to wipe off my super sweat!

With pocket-sized feelings of worry, me and my sister laughed instead after realizing that we were the only two who were asked to stay longer.  My sister even verbalized to the medical team present that who on earth would have a normal blood pressure at such a torrid and scorching temperature?!  After taking our blood pressure three times at an interval of every 15 minutes, both of us were finally released and discharged by the nurses.

I went home nauseous not because of the vaccine but because of the sizzling weather. I too was craving for Lartizan! 

The UK Variant & Being Back to the Dark Ages

just a thought

I read somewhere in the world “wild” web that calling the now-named novel coronavirus as the Wuhan Virus or the China Virus is unfair, uncivilized and xenophobic.  Lots of articles and write-ups raised that this naming of the new virus from its place of origin is inhumane and no longer acceptable since year 2015 by the World Health Organization.  Articles explained that such should be named differently because the world is no longer in its Dark Ages and that the old practice has caused violent anger and physical danger towards the citizens or ethnicities where the disease originated.

But I got sets of disturbing questions now.  If WHO has new sets of best practices in naming viruses and diseases, how come the now-mutated and highly contagious variant of novel coronavirus is commonly called The UK Variant, the place on earth where it was first detected?  And why are the British people not reacting the way Chinese folks reacted when novel coronavirus was named after their country?

I don’t have a relative living in UK now but I know lots of people there, from Boris to Elizabeth to cute little George, Charlotte and Louis.  Why is my godmother who is British whom I last met when I was 3 years old is not hurt, not offended and not even reacting?

Answers to these troubling questions I guess is because British folks nowadays have gone too docile to react and have been too busy trying to improve their sad and alarming Covid19 status.  Or maybe, we are back in the Dark Ages.

Get well UK!

Face Cover Fashion

Aside from tourism, airline and restaurant industries, one of the badly hurt industries smacked by the ongoing pandemic, I believe, is the lip-cosmetic industry.  With the mandate (at least in my country) that everyone needs to wear facemask and face shield when in public, only a few people would venture into putting lipstick on.  Also, my poor country being at the end of the queue among the countries where Covid19 vaccine would be made available, a totally different apparel has evolved during this time of contagion. 

The style and fashion of wearing face covering has been born!  Sorry to those who still do not believe the existence of Covid and would aver and persist for their freedom to choose not to wear one, I particularly is in favor of wearing a face covering.  It is not for the mere fact that it prevents the spread and snagging the virus, it is also the thought of having to wear a stylish kind of facemask and face-shield.

Here in my country, in fact, the type or quality of facemasks and face-shields one wear characterizes his and her social status.  The more stylish and expensive it is, the higher that you belong to the social hierarchy! Hahaha!

With the dawn of this new gear and apparel, I have actually amassed quite a quantity already.  These are either personally purchased online, bought from a department store, gifted by a friend/colleague or shipped from (no less) abroad!

got these to choose from! i use a “mask bracket” for easy breathing!

my face shields! i think, it is only here in my country (the Philippines) where face shield is required to be worn aside from the face mask

While I await the available vaccine, which would still be way way far away in the future (no thanks to the slow government bureaucracy here and no thanks too to the President, his security group and his cabinet secretaries who were the first to get injected with illegally smuggled vaccines here), I would rather enjoy the wearing and the flashing of some chic and stylish facemasks and face shields in public! Haha!

Dine Out, Put Your Seatbelt & Be Safe

Weird as it may seem, dining out in a restaurant at this time of contagion would be like riding a rusty roller coaster, a rickety Ferris wheel or entering a spooky horror house.  Dining out is so scary people don’t know if they would catch the deadly virus or would come out of the restaurant still hale and healthy.

But since I am in a state when I would rather go out and live a life yet would still observe extra precautions to prevent catching the bug, I decided to dine out here in Manila.  The lucky joint I chose is the 36-year-old Bistro Remedios, an authentic regional Filipino restaurant in Malate, Manila.

And I was glad to know that on the day of my gastronomic consumption, the week-long citywide project of Manila City government called Restaurant Week was on-going.  Bistro Remedios was participating in this initiative by the city mayor whom I predict would be the future president of this country.

I ordered and munched on these…

As I was to finish chomping on my beautiful dessert, dining out at this time of pandemic was indeed like having a roller coaster ride.  I experienced the thrill brought about by the visceral sensation of fear – pounding heart and faster breathing – when I was about to enter the resto.

Similar in a roller coaster ride, cheery attendants would ask you to sign a waiver and settle you down by putting on your seatbelt.  It was so similar in Bistro Remedios because the smiling waiter asked me to fill out a health declaration and contact tracing form and sprayed a mist of alcohol on my hand before leading me to my table.

When I sat down and relayed my order, I realized the increased feeling of well-being and wakefulness.  And when the food was served and had my first bite of the delicious meal, I closed my eyes, felt the busting of flavors in my mouth, my endorphins were high and was having a euphoria!  Good thing I failed to scream when I opened my eyes inside that restaurant. Hahaha!

fasten your seatbelt!

Conquer your fear this time of pandemic.  Dine out, put your seatbelt and be safe!

My Lunch Bag Message

Covid19 pandemic has changed a lot in terms of everyone’s normality.  I for one now wakes up earlier than the normal 7:00 AM every working day.  This is because I want to leave super early so that I would be all alone when I ride the condo-elevator in our building early in the morning.

Also, I now prepare my breakfast and lunch meals in my house and bring those in my office.  I no longer order from nearby restaurants and eateries so as to limit my exposure to possible corona virus positives lurking in public.

Since I now bring my breakfast and lunch to office, it is inevitable to place these meals inside a “lunch bag”.  Mine is a simple denim type tote bag which I purchased during one of my travels in Osaka.  Let me then relay to everyone in these pandemic times the wish my bag is printed with.  May you have…

‘Till my next blog post everyone!