Grace, Eye MD

For the nth time since I got here, I got asked that annoying question.  I was at the Resuscitation Rounds this afternoon with Pat,and a Thai anesthesia fellow who I met kanina lang. We were yakking for mga 30 minutes na, then I said something about Manila. The Thai fellow’s face registered surprise and she said, "You’re Filipino?"  I said, "Yes." Then she asked how come I don’t look like the other Filipino nurses and doctors she knew.  I asked her why.  She couldn’t answer, but I kept on egging her though I knew the answer (a nasty habit I got from Sam). I think she got embarrased when I cornered her. So I said, "Why, because of my skin color? I’m fairer?" She embarrasedly said yes.  I patiently and politely explained to her that like Singaporeans, Indonesians and Thai, the Filipinos vary in their skin color—some of us are fair like the Chinese, some of us are darker like the Malay.  I’ve been asked that question so many times, like how come I’m fairer than most Filipinos, or why I look Chinese. Shit, even why I speak good English.  Maybe I should feel flattered because I’m more maputi  or speak better English than most, but now, it really,really annoys me. I think quite a good number of idiots  here have a very small-minded mental picture of Filipinos as being dark-skinned and good only as domestic helpers. One even thoughtlessly said, "You’re Filipina? Your English is funny." Shit, I wanted to slap the little old lady and tell her, "With all due respect, madame, if my English is funny, yours is HILARIOUS!". Ooooh, man, Singlish deserves a looooong post by itself! Anyway, back to my ranting, since I got here I found myself more protective of being Filipino. It’s always with great pride I say I’m Filipino. I have to show these dodos (Yen’s term) that Filipinos have a lot more to offer than what they think.

It’s late Sunday afternoon, and as of now, I haven’t done anything substantial this weekend. I’ve been……vegetating. Yesterday, Yen and I unexpectedly were treated out to a seafood dinner with Sir Greg, a young PGH Ortho consultant (love ko to!) who came to Singapore for a convention. We met up with him sa Marina, and he brought us along for dinner sponsored by a rep :)  So what we thought would be our usual cheap-ass S$5 fastfood dinner turned out to be a something like S$50 per head chili crab, roast chicken, shrimp, clam, fish and what-have-you dinner! Hay sarap! Never mind if Yen and I were wearing our usual weekend tsinelas! Today naman, after our heavy Mc Donald’s pancake and sausage breakfast, I bought four books from a secondhand store, ala Booksale. For S$20 (mga Php600), I was able to buy Timeline by Michael Crichton, City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende, Sushi for Beginners by Marian Keyes and Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui. Last Thursday lang, I was in Times Bookstore in Funan lamenting the fact that there were so many good books, pero sobrang mahal. I guess naawa si God and answered my prayer. So now, the pile of books and National Geographic magazines is growing on the bed Yen and I share. It’s a mini-library of sorts for our nighttime reading. Talk about dorkines

Sunday is the most difficult day of the week for me. It’s even worse when I have nothing to do, like now.  Cecille and Yen are in Manila,Helen is in church; but luckily, Lea decided to stay home to fix her room. 

Sundays in Manila were the only days that we were a complete family.  We three kids made sure we’d be home by breakfast, and it really felt good to be having breakfast and coffee with my family, while reading the Inquirer. Mama was always so excited and would go to the palengke very early, and by the time we got home, she’d be preparing lunch na.  Kasi, Friday pa lang, she’d ask what we wanted for Sunday lunch. Siyempre, ako, may litany na, which would go something like: Sinampalukang manok, callos, ginataang langka and turon. She’d be grumbling at how toxic they were to prepare, but she’d cook them anyway! Hehehe!

We’d hear mass at 530pm either in the village or in St Jerome, and have dinner right after sa Alabang Town Center. Haaaay, what I would give to have that now.  I miss my family

Nowadays, I just hear Mass in the morning. Then Yen and I would go to Mc Donald’s Ginza to treat ourselves with pancakes and sausage and medium coffee  for breakfast, which costs a whopping S$5.30 each (mga more than Php150)! The same breakfast meal would cost something like Php60 lang! Aaargh! But then, OK lang, Mc Donald’s breakfast makes me happy and keeps me sane.  Or, if we hear the 10am mass, it would be KFC for us. Yes, happiness on a Sunday is American fastfood! Anything with ketchup and fries makes me happy as a clam! Kasi, lumalabas na sa nose ko ang Hainanese chicken rice!

So anyway, on Sundays, I clean out my paperwork and prepare my week’s schedule. Oh, and of course I call my parents with my Super Pinay card–S$8 for 57 minutes. It’s an OFW’s bestfriend, you know :)  Evenings, like weekdays, are for Skypeing with Sam. Thank God for the Internet and Skype!

When Sam finally comes here, I know my Sundays will be better. It will be more restful and fattening (Sam kasi).  I think I’ll be seeing more food places and probably more bookstores (dorky couple), but I know I’ll be ten times happier