A date to remember at Cafe Mediterranean, Powerplant

Last night, Noy treated us for dinner at Cafe Mediterranean at the Concourse of Powerplant, Rockwell. It is not our typical dinner because we usually go to either KFC or Kenny Rogers or McDonalds but it was a welcome change.

Cafe Mediterranean specializes in italian, greek and european cuisines. It has a casual yet refined dining set up that is intimidating at first but "very homey" when you are already inside. Elle Marie and I are pasta-lovers so we immediately went for their "Pesto Basilico". It is basil pesto with broccoli, grilled red peppers, marble potatoes on penne. The waiter informed us that it will be available after 15 mins. but was able to make it available in 10 mins! Great news for parents like us who has a toddler waiting for her dinner.Elle Marie's first fork of Pesto Basilico was like magic! She instantly fell in love with it! She even ate the red pepper!!! Good thing I already mastered the art of scavenging through my daughter's leftovers and understood why my daughter devoured every pasta on the plate! Hahaha I was honestly kindda "bitin" with what I had so I told Noy we had to come back!

Noy had their "Chicken Gyro Plates on regular Pita". It looks mouth watering good! The chicken looks very heavy and I agree, the secret to all the cuisine in this Cafe is the sauce. It is magic.!Here is "Hi Five" to Cafe Mediterranean for the "must not forget" dinner with Fafa Noy and Elle Marie! We are surely coming back soon...

Elle Marie loves Gymboree-Manila Polo Club because...

We keep on going back to Gymboree-Manila Polo Club because Elle Marie loves it very much... She loves the...

Elle Marie loves going to Toddlers Unlimited because...

Elle Marie loves going to Toddlers Unlimited because...

H1N1 vs Impetigo Contagiosa

Everyone is going gaga over H1N1 but I don't, I have Impetigo Contagiosa to treat!

Last June 11, I went to TU for the annual parents orientation. The first thing that the teachers asked me was "do you have a load in DLSU?, What are you they doing about H1N1?". From that moment on, I know H1N1 will be part of the orientation agenda.

Indeed it was. When Teacher Gabby started to discuss what they are doing for H1N1 prevention, all ears where on her. The silence turned into murmurs; murmurs turned into questions; and questions turned into votes... They wanted the kids as young as 1 1/2 to wash their hands with sanitizers upon entrance to TU and checked for body temperature. A 27.5c is automatic "go home". This is applicable to yayas as well. Fine with me. They wanted kids with traveling parents to self-quarantine for 10 days. Fine with me, but a number of parents complained that they shouldn't have enrolled their kids if that's the case. They travel very often that their kids might end up "self-quarantining" the whole school year! Funny, but it's true.

All the fuss for H1N1... Doctors are saying that H1N1 was blown out of proportion, ordinary flu or dengue can be as much deadlier nowadays because of all the raining. I wonder, there is just too much media hype on H1N1... could this be a part of a grand conspiracy to hide the "CON ASS" move in the lower house of the House of the Representatives?! (I don't want to go into that)

Anyways, I really don't care about H1N1. My heart and brain are overwhelmed with the "Impetigo Contagiosa" that infected my daughter's beautiful, fine, long neck! It started as "bungang araw" which i treated with Curash, then J&J cornstarch powder, then Petroleum Jelly. Elle Marie scratched it, left a tinnie winnie wound that turned into red, swelling-like, peeling-off big wound that is slowly spreading on her neck. Worse, we cannot contact her pedia for consultation! So, we called her ninang doctor for advise and she told us to give her Elica. After a few days, the wound is getting bigger and bigger. Every time we go out to the mall, people would look at her as if she has "ketong"... I just could not take it. I prayed hard to God to free Elle Marie with that infection and give it to me! It is just not fair for her to have it!

Good thing we remembered that Elle Marie has a Tita Dematologist so we called her for advise. At first she thought it was "Intertrigo" and gave us 3 creams to put on her neck but they didn't work! So, we went to their house in Cavite for a better physical examination and as soon as she saw Elle Marie, she said it is "Impetigo Contagiosa" and gave us another set of oral-medicines.

Impetigo Contagiosa I researched in the net, is an infectious superficial infection of the skin due to streptococci, staphylococci, or both. It is characterized by superficial vesicular lesions that later become pustular and then crusted, the resultant crusts being often honey-coloured. Lesions predominantly occur on the face, arms and legs of infants and children.

The treatment of this affection is exceedingly simple; all that is necessary is to remove the crusts and to apply a mercurial or a sulphur ointment, two or three times a day, and in a short time all traces of the affeection wil1 disappear, except the macules, which mark the previous site of the eruption. These gradually fade, and ultimately the skin assumes a normal aspect, without mark or scar.

Thank God for Ninang Dea and Tita Marie, Elle Marie is slowly recovering. Yes, TU accepted her in class. They should because we have a medical certificate from Tita Marie saying that she is fit to go to class! But, I cannot do anything with the "stares" that the yayas in TU have been giving Elle Marie. I know that they are just concerned with their charges health. It is ok, I would want my yaya to do the same thing for Elle Marie!

P.S. for more information on Impetigo Contagiosa please see:

http://www.logoi.com/health/skin_diseases/impetigo_contagiosa.html

http://www.dermis.net/dermisroot/en/27004/diagnose.htm

http://chestofbooks.com/health/materia-medica-drugs/Treatise-On-Materia-Medica-Therapeutics-Skin/Impetigo-Contagiosa-Porrigo.html

To a loyal friend, a good companion, my baby, my first born...

I know I should but, I don’t know why I am not crying. I just lost a loyal friend, a good companion, my baby, my first born. Yet, all I can do is to stare blankly. I don’t want to hear the details of how and when. I don’t even want to look at Noy.

My heart says that I should explode and get angry. My heart says that silence is bad for me and that I should scream, swear, and shout as loudly as I want. My heart says I should cry but I don’t know why I am not crying.

Maybe, I am like this because I know it was my fault. I should have been there for her. I should have visited her last weekend, I should have taken her back to her family in Iloilo last Holy Week, I should have gotten her back to Makati so she can play with Elle. But, I was too selfish. I was only thinking of myself, my convenience, my own happiness.

I love Vampy ever since I first laid eyes on her in Iloilo. Her white fluffy fur, bright round eyes, cute and sweet eyes just captured my heart. There were two of them but, I chose her to be with me in Manila.

Vampy was so selfless. She loved me so much that she would pamper me with everything. She would allow me to put hair clips on her fur, pink ribbons and necklaces on her neck, wear dresses just to make me smile. Once, I was too excited with the new puppy nail-cutter I just bought for her and immediately started cutting her nails. She never complained! Even though I was unknowingly cutting her fingers already!!!

Vampy was there to me through thick and thin, through rich and poor. I remember she stayed with me the night I broke up with my former boyfriend. She never left my side. Nobody at home knew about the break up for one week and she stayed with me, just listening to my cries and comforting me through her hugs.

After that heartache, I told myself that should I find a new partner in life he should

love not just me but Vampy as well. Good that I found Noy. Noy loves Vampy so much and Vampy loves him so much. I never found a man who would literally want to bring my Vampy everywhere we go!

However, I had to give up Vampy because I was having Elle Marie. Too bad that the very thing made me bring her with me to Manila is actually the reason why she had to leave our house in Makati. Her white fluffy fur is bad for Elle Marie because she might develop asthma if she inhales it. I had no option but to bring Vampy to Pangasinan. That time, I told myself that Pangasinan is nearer than Iloilo. At least I can see her everytime we go to Pangasinan.

I told Noy once when they almost lost Vampy in Pangasinan, “Noy, I will never forgive you if something bad happens to Vampy here. Vampy and I have gone a long way… longer than our way!”. I could not believe that I was able to say that to my husband. Maybe that time I was too angry that I almost lost Vampy and he had the guts to still crack a joke (how insensitive, he said that every time I go to Pangasinan, Vampy should hide so that I will walk miles away and conquer the heat to look for her)

My friends warned me against having a pet. They said it’s a big responsibility and my pet will definitely break my heart if she leaves me. I know it will hurt but I didn’t know that it would feel this way. I don’t know if my heart is broken right now. All I know is that a part of me is missing and I cannot do anything about it. So now, I stay hopeless, numb and blank. I couldn’t bring myself to cry. I couldn’t bring myself to say the “g” word to Vampy. Maybe not now. I’ll see tomorrow.