I was eating happily with my intern this morning at the caf when these group of guys wearing horrendous costumes appeared on the tv screen. Suddenly Richard Gutierrez screamed about attacking so-so and blah-blah in this Filipino voice with an English twang. I cringed in disbelief. It was a commercial of a remake - a horrifying, hair-raising remake of Zorro. Hours later, I was busily trying to go past stage 50+ of Burger Island when I heard Anne Curtis’ voice booming from the TV. I didn’t know Anne had a new show. Little did I know that it was supposedly a remake of “The Wedding”, the Korean TV series starred by Jang Na Ra and Ryu Shi Won years and years ago that gained so much popularity in China. Having been a fan of Korean series for a long time, I looked it up online and to my disbelief, the plot of the Filipino version was way, way off from that of the original that the only real common element between the two is the title itself. So much for a remake huh?

Not only Sharon Cuneta was accused of being an imitator. Filipinos have been accused time and again for being second-rate trying-hard copycats. First were the western tv shows and series, then Mexican soaps and now we’ve reached the other end of the globe: Eastern telenovelas. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t have anything against remakes - at least remakes which were tastefully done if not surpassed the original. But two hours into (trying to) watch local tv channels, I gave up. There’s no hope for Filipino remakes of foreign originals - at least at this very moment. I yet have to see a remake so seemingly like the original without the so-called “Filipino flavor” that massacres the whole story.

I cannot understand why we have to put kids swapped for another child or parents getting retrenched from work into the storyline. If the original plot worked, why change it? What’s wrong with the producers is that they can get really pscyhed with the ratings game that they add a little of this, extend the storyline with a few more scenes that in the end, they lose the real essence of doing a remake. Is it just me or have our local tv networks really ran out of creative juices that they cannot come up with a good enough concept for the boobtube? How many remakes are we exposed to in a day? Where’s the creativity in trying to spice up a pathetic, really pathetic, Filipino adaptation of a foreign drama? I ain’t no writer but I am searing with disgust  with what I am seeing.

I know that someone somewhere around the globe will mock me and tell me I shouldn’t be watching TV if I don’t like what I’m seeing. Save the preaching baby, as I’d rather bury my head reading a boring chapter on Biochemistry for my healthcare career than watching another Thalia-wannabe “try” to act on screen.

And I ain’t pertaining to anyone in particular. *wink*

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Ironic as it is, I’m rotating in Dermatology just when I am at my ugliest. I’m breaking out all over and I don’t know where these zits are coming from. I’m not nearing that “time of the month” nor am I under any stress whatsoever yet they keep on sprouting in places I don’t want them to be. Makes me feel as if my hormones and my skin are ganging up against me especially now when it’s two weeks short until my cousin’s wedding. This is absolutely crazy. I wonder if there’s any overnight zit zapper or foolproof treatment for acne that I can use to put an end to my woes… and my ugliness.

*darn*

Signs of getting old #1:

You know you’re not getting any younger when suddenly people around you – when grade school/high school classmates that is - suddenly decide to get hitched for good and then you’re left contemplating when it’s going to be your turn.

It sucks to be left out (especially when you’re left as a dependent medical student like me, hehe). But when it’s the people you love most who are involved, you can’t NOT be happy for them.

So, to someone I know and deeply, honestly love,  (I doubt if she had any idea at all!) congrats and cheers to the future! (I sure hope she has Vegas vacations among the list of her honeymoon itineraries.)

Oh dear. Smells like jealousy, doesn’t it?

Hooray! My laptop’s back in tip-top shape. I terribly missed bringing this very portable MSI Wind notebook computer everywhere I go since its keyboard went haywire on the third week of June. Yep. I was left to use my old laptop for almost a month after an attempt to clean this little one led to its untimely demise.

It was an innocent act. All I wanted was for my laptop to look clean and tidy so I went on to clean it with the Crocodile cleaner that I’ve been using for ages. Little did I know that I’d get fluid to seep in between the keys causing my keyboard its life and almost 1,900 pesos down the drain. We were first quoted a replacement keyboard worth 1,750 pesos when my father called up the MSI service center in Cubao but lo and behold, when he got there he was told that it would cost him 1,900+ pesos. Ouch! Good thing I’m still considered a “dependent”. Hehe. Hooray for being a medical student!

Being away from my laptop for weeks was a pain in the ass. Good thing I didn’t really need to make papers for my rotation in Anesthesiology earlier this month so we had time to think between getting a new one locally or getting it from a supplier that I found on ebay which offers the replacement keyboard at a way cheaper rate. Yup! Even with shipping. I personally would have wanted to buy the one online since it’s a whole lot cheaper but my father brought up the issue of paying for customs tax. I don’t have much experience buying large stuff online and having them shipped to the Philippines as most items that I have shipped from outside the country didn’t require me to pay anything at all so it left me half-hearted on buying online. But hey, I am not, definitely not complaining. After all I have my little Lappie Jr. back. Haha! Now I’m back to good ol’ business everyone!

Whoever thought of making laptops this small is an utter genius.

When the clock ticks 12mn, the end has come… my rotation in Cabiao, that is! I’ll be officially back to my world after a month-long vacation - err - community rotation. I ain’t ready yet if you’re gonna ask me. It feels like it’s first day of clerkship all over again. But then, I should be really thankful since I’ll be rotating in Anesthesiology where it’s less toxic compared to Surgery where the workload beats the world’s bests diet pills around. Oh yes. But come August I’ll be dreading duty days once again.

Tonight marked my first dinner alone after almost one month. I already got used to sharing the table with four other girls. Although we didn’t have to beat each other for food, mealtimes with them was livelier and more comfortable than eating a cold meal alone. While I was having my dinner, I suddenly felt like crying. It’s only been hours since we parted ways but I already miss them: Jacy and her squeals when we start talking about scary shit; Ria and her silk and very revealing sleepwear; Pau and her camera that’s with her almost 24/7 and most memorably Christianne and her mouth-watering dishes! Gah. Eating alone makes me lose my appetite no matter how delicious my food is. *sigh* I know I’ll be thinking of Cabiao for a long, long time.

From clockwise:

Me, Christianne (standing), Jacy, Ria, Pau: The Power Five!