japan vacation recap 3 - kyoto

Instead of staying in a hotel in Kyoto, we returned to Nagoya. My uncle and godfather used his vacation time (read: recession) and drove us to Kyoto and back. I wasn't happy with this setting really but we did manage to save some money. So whatever...

Sucks to wake up early though. My parents' definition of a vacation doesn't include a full night rest.

Okay. Back to Kyoto. It's nice but is such a tourist spot. We left a bit left so we met traffic (rare in Japan) near on of the tourist spots. So, we had to walk...

 

To Kiyomizudera temple!

It was an uphill climb and there were many shops selling stuff and stuff. There were really nice bags and I was really tempted to buy a yukata. No pictures though. I said it was a climb.

Okay, so there were few pictures but my family is infesting those so just that one.
Returning to the temple...

There were many tourists. Most armed with cameras. I was eye-ing some carrying old film cameras and those with cool-looking lens (drool...).

Took a shot of Kyoto before we left.

One the way down, we encountered "stuff"

Then we had lunch. I had a veggie meal served in a bento. I think it is a kaiseki. I'm not sure though. Most were okay but I didn't eat one red thing which was a bit squishy.

We then went to Heian temple. Had a discussion with my parents and we ended up going inside the gardens. My parents also think quantity >> quality. No parents... no.

Next stop was Golden Pavilion. It was a cool structure and we caught it near sunset (very near closing time) so it was just... golden.

Wala lang...

After buying some souvenirs, we went back to Nagoya and had dinner in a sushi bar! Moving sushi, hehe...

and touch screen menus!

Meet-up with friends and orgmates yesterday.

Haven't spend that much money in a day... ever. Cheapskate days in college oh how I long for you.

A person in the gym we went to commented that it's good that we have strong bonds. hmm...

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I did something yesterday and I'm so happy I did it. It's so nice to have a friend you can trust.

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I still haven't found a job for the first semester. damn...

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I resolve to do that 1 object - 20 angles thing today! Hopefully, the sun will come out since I depend on it for lighting. Yup, too lazy to make my own white box. Maybe, I should propose that to be one of our first activities. Still-life photography is bound to help in learning composition.

This is too much. The Kho-Halili case have caused numerous people to voice their opinions. Unfortunately, many of these opinions are downright wrong and should be rebuked by the broadcaster, the editor or some other responsible person for that channel of opinions. What am I talking about? VICTIM BLAMING.

I first saw signs in the Philippine Star text thing, people actually think Halili and all the other girls are to blame for this. More than Kho, who is a person with twisted sense of morality. Kho, who despite attending a Catholic school, thought back then that taking videos of intimate acts with someone without consent is just okay as long as it remains for his own viewing pleasure. These people (those who are victim blaming) should be slapped around and asked, what if that happened to them? would it be then so easy to point that finger? And now they sympathize MORE with Kho. WTF? Just because of a little water?

They put in that Halili is a sexy starlet. This (video) is no biggie. She shouldn't have consented to sex. She is such an immoral woman having sex outside of marriage!
These people clearly have problems into separating situations. Even if Halili performs on a live sex show in a bar along Quezon ave on a regular basis, it would still be wrong for her partner to document their acts in the bedroom if she doesn't consent. Halili being immoral is irrelevant. It doesn't follow that behaving immorally (though this is only in the eyes of conservatives) means being stripped of rights to privacy. Punish her for having sex outside marriage. Punish him for having sex outside marriage AND invading one's privacy (there's probably a stronger term, I just can't find the language for it).

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This stream of ignorant comments just add evidence that reproductive health and gender sensitivity education should be placed also into the hands of schools and not just Church or family. Would you want children learning from these people?

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I'm starting to think Kho should be stripped of his MD, however; they should also start punishing MDs who have been doing much more gruesome acts. I would start looking in the higher positions of hospitals and government offices. As for Kho voluntarily stopping his practice, I wouldn't do it myself. As long as a patient would come to me I'll practice medicine.

I've been watching Daria the past week. Thanks youtube. Thanks MTV. I miss the 90s. Full of experimentation and expression uncorrupted by commercialism. Cartoons during weekends were few during the 90s. Heck, we had few channels since we didn't have cable back then. MTV was the only source of "alternative" tv which manages to fulfill my twisted mind. Not that I understood Daria back then. I wasn't even able to watch it regularly because showing schedules for it seem to change every month and it usually lands on siesta time (I hate siesta time but almost never got out of it.). I'm jumping from one point to another so suit me? Ok?
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Less than 2 weeks left. I still haven't finished some of the tasks I had planned for the summer, notably, organizing my trans from 3rd and 4th year and compiling our vacation pictures for printing. I've been planning to do something major on Friday but I could chicken out at the last minute. Spanish lesson has going more smoothly since I was able to download a textbook on Spanish. I'm taking it slow, almost like a child's pace.

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I miss my job. Obvious ba na ayaw ko pa talaga mag-med school?

I still want to show to this older person that the BSPH is not a useless degree program (Well, my co-worker who'll be staying may succeed, I hope.).
It may need to have its curriculum revised, maybe allowing for more freedom for students or maybe implement schemes (med tech scheme, health management scheme and classic PH scheme). I understand that implementing schemes might be a logistics nightmare which could be solved if they allow some undergraduates to take graduate level courses. Of course, they'd also need to beef up their admission, weed out those looking for a relatively easier way into UPCM (easy compared to the programs of the white colleges; hard compared to bio and psych). Maybe the faculty could also re-implement its "kuripot" ways of grading and learn from CN how to discourage students from taking up Medicine completely or at least, postponing it. I'm still surprised how many of my HS batcmates who wanted to become MDs and took up nursing in UPM seem to have developed a dislike for the discipline (medicine not nursing).

AHAHAHA. WIN! WIN! WIN!

But there are still effing stupid points...
"Morales said the losses should the DOF implement a zero tariff is just a “drop in the bucket” compared to the P277-billion revenue target of the bureau for the year."

"Finance Secretary Margarito Teves issued DO 17-09 in response to complaints on book importation due to the alleged failure of importers to present the required documents that would allow them to import books duty-free."

These sound contrary to earlier reports about how Customs and the DoF are trying all means to achieve a seemingly unachievable tax returns goal for this year.

ok. whatever. Trying to save face, that's what I think.
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First of all, YEHEY! Finally! After this issue being ignored by media. That sex video hullabaloo has been the headlines for days and even draw the ire of the Senate while the book blockade has barely caused a raised eyebrow. Just shows how twisted the priorities of Filipinos are.
Scandal >> Breach of laws and an international treaty.
Excitement >> Improvement

That joke by Baldwin seem to have generated more attention. Of course, the revisit should have put at least a temporary hold on the policy but no news about that. And doesn't Malacañang already know of the policy before? They were probably blinded by the money it will generate and forgot that by incurring that tax they face the wrath of the book reading public, who incidentally are also very computer literate and very vocal when their remaining pleasures in life are being threatened. Too bad, we aren't as active as some social groups or there had been a protest already in front of the DoF.

Anyway. I'm hoping that "revisit" is changed soon to revoked or removed. And that Sales with her team will be publicly punished by rewriting the Florence agreement and all its related national laws on a blackboard a hundred times or being bashed by paperback (hardbound copies might be too inhuman) copies of Twilight or endure that classic Filipino punishment, kneel on salt while balancing encyclopedias or hardbound books of comparable weight. The last one would be fun to watch.

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I had another vivid dream. I usually get these kinds of dreams when I'm under extreme stress. Hm... that explains the pimples. Anyway...

I dreamt of going to a meet-up with friends, I forgot if it were college or high school friends. This place seems to be a fort of some kind and had to be defended. Soon enough, a battle happened involving guns, bombs and flying daggers. I think ninjas came into play at one point. It was very gory and near the end of the dream, the "enemy" was near to capturing the fort. Some enemies have already infiltrated it and soldiers were already dying.

Meanwhile, I got bored and grossed out so I decided to ask a friend if she wanted to go home. She did so I checked out if the road we used to get there was safe. It wasn't. I was weirdly calm and not fearing for my life. I never felt the sense of being in danger despite being surround by death and destruction. So we stayed and I saw a pregnant woman who was busy shooting people get her belly cut. I saw her intestines fell off and what seems to be a sac full of fluid. A bit later the conflict ended and we lined up outside to get a ride to home. I thought to myself while in line, I'm never returning to this place.

Weird. According to those web dream interpretation things, I'm experiencing some deep internal conflict which I should try to resolve or an issue that has been eating me up for some time now.

Strangely true and on target that interpretation is.

When did it start?
I think the summer of my second year in college. I guess UP does make people like me. Well, sucks for those who didn't attend UP.

What enabled it?
One of the most important is the Philo 1 class. Being exposed to Kant, Existentialism and Ethics was key to forming the foundations of my "philosophy" in life.
The second is exposure to Scienceblogs which is a haven of my kin. They gave me the weapons and arguments I need and reinforced my behavior.
The last would be this personal experience which has started me doubting on the Bible and Christianity. The other religions were easier because I don't really subscribe to them.

Realizing how hollow and twisted the arguments of Filipino Catholics and Evangelists are may have helped also. Many prominent religious people are also bigots and sexists (add that to the Filipino tendency towards racist behavior). I blame this on exposure to night-time radio shows.

How did it happen?
I started as a devout Catholic doing all those rituals and rosaries and stuff all except reading the Bible daily. Then I came to a state where I change from hardcore believer to apologetic to non-believer. I'd go through phases. Soon enough I leaned towards being an apologetic and finally decided that fundamentalism is incorrect. This is around the time I started to adopt a form of Kantian ethics. Then, I just snapped out of it and realized that believing is crazy and impractical. This is the result of daily jeepney rides and surfing the intertubes. Sorry if that sounded like a conversion story but it kind of is.

Are you happy?
Yes, for the most parts. I saw this quote by Rossetti today on my google page: "The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank." And you can also take situations wherein you feel dispair and hate for mankind in general. In times when I start thinking why am I not being selfish like so many people, the only thing I can talk to is myself and not some imaginary being. I can't comfort myself with the fact that they'll go to hell and I'll go to heaven. Nope, none of that BS for me. I guess that state has helped me start on the road to being more vocal and active. If I want to experience heaven, then I have to work for it. If I want justice, I have to bring it about. Don't want and need to wait for everyone to die. This is the only life I'll probably have.

You smell Kant? I do too! Gosh that duty scent is strong.

And I try to avoid talks about religion with my friends, many of whom are religious people. Fortunately they are very tolerant and seem to accept me, at least they're not trying to convert me or anything. I'm a discreet nonbeliever (passive and non-militant most of the times) though and I haven't "come out" to my other friends in other social circles so I frequently receive these text messages with Bible quotes and religious anecdotes. My policy is ignore it if it is harmless.

Aren't you afraid of going to hell?
First, there is no hell. Second, a jealous God is not logically consistent with a loving God. Its jealousy stemming from my neglect to worship it. So, even if there is a God  I'd probably not go to Hell. Third, I'm trying to live a very moral life and trying my best to ensure many of my actions will lead to the common good and my fellows. So far, I haven't killed, raped, humiliated, backstabbed, misled, stole from, or tortured anybody so I think I'm good. I haven't even tried convincing people to stop following their religion. All my "sins" would be sins related to not following random rituals people have imposed on religion. Then again, I'm probably a very sinful viewed from a Jewish or Islamic or Bathala-ist perspective, right?

I'm attacked by an overwhelming feeling of disinterestedness and boredom. I could be doing a lot of things right now like resume playing my sax which I haven't played with for the past 2 years, improve my spanish vocabulary, doing that thing for a photo club, attend this dance conference, watch Daria, start studying Gross anatomy (which I feel is the subject that I'll hate the most in med school), draft a better outline for that essay on health or resume transcribing the workshop recordings (good lord, I've listened to those recordings multiple times already... I regret not doing a verbatim transcription in the first place.). See loads of stuff... why then am I not doing any of those?

I just don't feel like it. It's a good thing I got that summer job or the whole of May would have been like this. In the meantime, I just go visit sites of my future med classmates. Hum... hum... I don't know if they'll ever reach this place. Oy! Leave a message future med classmate!

Yeah, the Kho thing. The senators are being OA. It is not a requirement for doctors to be bastions of morality; heck they don't even have to follow their own advice such as not smoking. I would personally love to have all doctors who smoke have their licenses revoked and their degrees withdrawn.

The only clause which can possibly be related to Kho's alleged despicable act (please tell me if he did shoot those videos without consent) would be the need for doctors to be "gentlemen" and follow the law. Which is really weak because there are so many doctors who don't follow the law and exhibit un-"gentleman"-like behavior such as not letting women sit down.

And before we start passing judgement, we need to know some things. Who shot the video? Do the participants know of the existence of the videos prior to its leak? Who spread the videos?

Oh and that joke about the Philippines. Bong stop being stupid. 30 Rock has been showing nation and race jokes since its inception and nobody is hurt. We know it is all in good fun and they insult everyone.

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The code of ethics of medical doctors in the Philippines is so gender INsensitive. Acting like gentlemen? The Wife instead of spouse? What all doctors are MALE now? God! This is so BS. (Disclaimer: I've only seen this copy. Maybe there is a newer more gender-sensitive version. Still, there'd have been tons of female, gay, lesbian and transgender doctors who were made to pledge on this code.)

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I learned something. I can file a case and have the licenses of those doctors (MDs, NDs are not doctors despite how they want the people to believe) advertising all these miracle cures. Yes! I just have to find the money and maybe record their broadcasts. And Dr Willie Ong has been unethical by appearing in an ad for a food supplement (that doesn't work).

I just re-read the vision and mision of the UPCM college. Nowhere is the mention of training doctors to be leaders in the health sector. What's prominent is the emphasis on primary health care and service to the community. Oh no! I don't intend to practice medicine in some far-flung area. Too much effort, too little effect. Blame my PH training.

Which med school has the vision of producing leaders? Ateneo! Wait... CPH's mision is to produce health leaders. Yes! Go people who aren't forced to take two graduate degrees at the same time! All though I'm a bit jealous of the training Ateneo graduates are going to get regarding management and planning. Still, I think I'm too immature and inexperienced to start studying those things. Better to study that when I'm prepared, focused, more mature and had survived the non-academic world for at least 2 years.

I should stop criticizing the Ateneo approach to health education reform. I really think it is too ideal and they need to have some serious screening process to weed out the unfit ones. Who knows, maybe they're going to be my bosses in the future? At least until I get my graduate degree (of my own informed choice). And the fact that they don't consider our BSPH graduates fit enough to skip the summer transition program, or at least parts of it like Epid. Ok, I'll stop school bashing now.

UP Manila should really consider strengthening the ties between CM and CPH. Currently, the only two departments linked to CM are the Departments of Microbiology and Parasitology. If they want to produce graduates who can match Ateneo graduates at least in terms of skill set, they should promote taking of MPH or MHA degrees in CPH or in any school of public health for that matter. UPCM has a choice, directly serve the underserved and unprivileged or solve the core problems. A sensible person will tell you that it is not feasible for everybody to do those two things at the same time. Then again, UPCM is clearly failing to convince their graduates to practice here in the country so they have to solve that first. Maybe a more stringent interview process and losing some special categories such as children of medical alumni or stop making us think that the admission process is being politicized.

I'm nearly halfway through the last workshop recording. It's great that my co-worker transcribed the other files so I won't have to do it.

I'm really getting sick of wearing these earphones. I don't know how some people manage to wear these all day.

However, I'm happy that I don't have to go to UP Manila tomorrow because of the 4-day work week. Yey! I do have to finish my report though.

I'm also thinking of playing tennis tomorrow, if the weather permits it. The afternoon has been gloomy and cold.

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Someone offered their film camera. Temptations, temptations. I really shouldn't buy one because I barely started getting used to dSLR photography and now I'll have film. And with this job coming to an end, my additional income will also stop. Maybe I'll buy it if I manage to acquire a job for the 1st semester. That effing review center never replied, screw them.

I seem to develop a habit of playing random songs from my playlist in head. Right... now I can't have silence and tranquility any more.

I'll continue the Japan thing next week. promise!

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Finally finished listening to the recordings of the 1st consensus building session. I have another one to listen to tomorrow.

I'm really feeling lazy and losing motivation because it seems like too much work for a one page report. Though, being able to listen to great minds discuss stuff and being partly responsible for writing down, reporting and synthesizing their insights is so worth it.

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One of the members of the working group asked us if we were health policy graduate students. Oh how I wish that were true. I really do but no I'm going to med. I'll be studying anatomy, physiology and biochemistry all over again. I'll be taking exams on a weekly basis for the next months. Once again, I will be forced to study, granted they are bound to be useful and will help me view the human body differently. Wait... this is the UP Manila cram-everything-in-your-head-for-the-exam learning situation, yeah... good luck with integrating and using deep learning strategies.

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I haven't used my dslr for a long time. This sucks.

Maturity seems to entail realizing how much you don't know and how little you can do. However, one also needs to realize that what little one can do, one must do for it can still amount to something.

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I'm listening to the recordings of the workshops. Now I get some parts. Finally. I really need to practice speaking (as in orally) in English. These people, they managed to keep discussing such a huge concept with minimal use of the Filipino language. Then again, it could be because they belong to a society different from mine where English is the language of the household.

Attended a workshop with a group of really smart people. Really smart. And they explain their thoughts fluently and comfortably in English.

My head feels saturated and numb.

Tomorrow should be fun. We'll be organizing the transcripts and workshop outputs.

My digicam is missing. I think I left it in the college, I'm not sure where though. It's either in the van, the corridor or the work room. *sigh* I hate losing stuff or forgetting where stuff were placed.

japan vacation recap 2

The next day was spent roaming around Nagoya. Which was totally out of the original plans. Surprisingly, it does have some good places to visit.

We first went to a mall to look for cold weather gear but nothing was found. Sadness... so we started touring the city. We first went to the tallest buildings in Nagoya, which was near the JR Nagoya station.


And saw this funky structure in front of the station.


There was an entrance fee but whatever. Going on a vacation means spending money, at least for me. What you gonna spend all your money on education?



It was cold and windy. The view was okay but the pictures aren't, I just keep getting this haze. Maybe it's the camera...




After that, we went to a shopping arcade/street in search of cold weather gear. I bought myself a scarf and a pair of gloves to a total of 900 pesos. *sigh*I also had my first bowl of ramen in Japan. 200 pesos. *sigh* It was okay. Obviously, that's not me in the picture

After that, we went to Nagoya castle and lo and behold, sakura!

Lot's of it, lot's of people too.



Then we reached the castle.



We went up Nagoya castle where my camera fainted (no more battery power).

 so no more pictures. ahaha
This is a sucky recap.

Next recap will be Kyoto!

We are going to present our report to our big bosses tomorrow. Right. No worries. Right?

But seriously, I really like the job. I wish I could defer my med school so I could work for the project.

However, looks like I won't be taking the med tech boards this year. I really don't have time to review.

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OMG! They're putting taxes on imported books! Sh*t! Looks like my imposed limit of buying only Php500 books will have to end.

That's really stupid though. Unless they are trying to promote reading of locally produced books which aren't that many. It's still stupid though because not all good books are published here. And what about our reference books? Those brick like books which could kill people? Not all are published here and they're already freakin' expensive. Shit you!

so, I'm reactive to anti-HBs, the antibody for fighting hepa B. this means:

2014 - Labing apat, walang katapat!

ugh...

still not feeling med school.

Especially upcm with transes, batch activities, new people, many new people, weekly exams, long lectures, crappy chairs, 1st year med involving anatomy & physiology & biochemistry (three subjects I don't want to face yet). Thinking about the last makes me want to puke and drop out. It's not that I'm not capable, I just don't want to learn yet.

I recently realized one should do something not just as means to achieving a goal but as an end or goal in itself. In other words, one should value the journey and the destination. The only reason right now for med school is that stupid policy in DOH and other health agencies that one must have an MD to reach the highest positions. And one must have an MD in order for people to listen and believe in you. And in order to help change that I must be one of those insiders. Hopefully, my ph friends will help destroy that from the outside. Thus I'm treating med school merely as a means and not an end. I must find that WANT for an MD; that reason for suffering through med school.

401st post! including the unpublished ones I think.

So yeah...

Having a job, I now understand how enjoyable holidays are.  Doesn't matter if I had been working for 2 days. Doesn't matter that I still did some work today. Doesn't matter that my job (at least for this phase of the project) is more output based rather than hours based. I spent a good amount of time lying on the sofa watching tv. I even watched 200 pound beauty again but this time dubbed in Filipino. The dub somehow works especially because the dubbers were under the ABS-CBN network (ABS-CBN dubbing >>>> GMA dubbing). Now that is a fun movie to watch! I even teared up a couple of times though I think it's the flu + drugs + myalgia.

Well, maybe because I still have the flu and do not want to load myself with drugs and COMMUTE. I dislike commuting now. In the past, I usually use it to collect thoughts or catch sleep but it's like a chore now. Then again, I think it's commuting to the same place using the same route and modes of transpo for four years now is the problem. I really don't want to live in a dorm, apartment or condo though. We'll see... I'm sure I'll be too busy next academic year to complain about commuting since I'll probably be sleep and rest deprived.

I haven't danced in two weeks. This is bad.

And I've been losing motivation to complete the japan recap. Crap. I promise to complete at least one series I started. I will do this even if it takes up forever. Uh.. wait... what?