My Family Health Blog

Committed Family Healer's Research

Guiuan, Samar Paradise Lost – Rare Vacation Pictures Some 2 weeks before Devastation via Super Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda (October 25-30, 2013)

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Maybe it was via cosmic providence that I happened to visit the remote town of Guiuan, Samar last October 25-30, 2013. Then come 4am November 8, 2013, this most powerful in recorded history making landfall Super Typhoon Haiyan / Yolanda most probably destroys this ideal paradise land I was so enchanted with. I assume immense devastation due to all communications being cut off.

The people I met in Guiuan seemed all clue less as to how powerful typhoons could be. It seems in their generation or in recent memory, no destructive typhoon seems to have ever come. It’s not like Batanes islands where their structures are made to withstand constant battering, it seems this is the first time this generation of Guiuanans will first have a taste of devastation. What worries me is if these new friends I just recently met will survive at all.Continue Reading

Toddler Boy Needs His Own Dedicated Nannie

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We have a 2.5 year old boy toddler in the compound lately. He can be fun, playful and have tantrums… but the hard part is he is at that age that is prone to accidental deaths so he definitely needs a dedicated nannie watching him during his every waking second… not minute… every second counts. I will explain 3 times I had experience nerve wracking incidents while I was there… how about the times I was absent?Continue Reading

Celia’s Search for those “Safe” Contraceptives: Pills, IUD or Tubal Ligation?

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* All names had been changed to protect the identities of the people involved. * This is a true story of a young woman in search of happiness in a free country with all the choices legal and affordable for her “reproductive health”. Celia is a highly intelligent woman, educated in the top schools and has the money to afford all the plethora of contraceptive choices the 21st century has to offer.

CHOICE #1 – Birth Control Pills

Celia was a married, happy doting mother of 2 children and she decided it was time to take a break from pregnancy. She sought out her choices and began with oral contraceptive pills… birth control pills prescribed by her “doctor”. Oral contraceptives / birth control pills are drug company solutions advertised as such that a woman may “safely” have sex with her man skin to skin accepting ejaculates, without getting pregnant… sounds like a dream. But those dreams… were really NIGHTMARES. The first brand of birth control pills gave her BAD HEADACHES… the next brand of birth control pills gave her even WORSE HEADACHES plus other health side effects. Celia realized, birth control pills may just not be her thing. No matter, after months of suffering the consequences of these bad chemicals and bad hormones, Celia moved on to another form of contraceptive.Continue Reading

Sierra Madre mountains at Night Driving, Raining, in Super Thick Fog, at 5 feet visibility. Insane.

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Yesterday afternoon we drove up the Sierra Madre mountains for an ocular inspection of possible camping grounds in 3 separate sites. One in Sierra Madre Hotel, one in Pranjetto Hills and one in Tanay Adventure Camp. The adventure camp seemed most promising. But we wound up driving down too late, at 6 pm, and we even passed by the last top of the mountain vegetable / fruit outlet.Continue Reading

Ipad 2, Android, Google Maps on Road Trip Manila – La Union – Baguio – Sagada

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We just concluded our road trip from Manila – La Union – Cervantes – Abatan – Sagada, then back Sagada – Baguio – Manila. We had our trusty Toyota Fortuner and a stash of handy gadgets in the car to help us navigate without fail. In 2012 and beyond, there is no excuse for not having an electronic Google Maps capable device ready and handy. And to have uninterrupted battery life on still short batter lifespan devices, we had a power inverter in the car plugged to the car lighter… in the case of the Fortuner, it had a receptacle specifically for additional devices like our power inverter.

We also had a power strip which connected to the power inverter. The power strip had 6 outlets. We could charge all our gadgets while we were driving. I had the power strip under the arch of my legs. We could charge: the Ipad 2, the small Samsung Android with Wifi Transmitter Tethering, the bigger android Dell Streak, and we could charge 2 digital cameras. At first my wife thought I was insane to plug in such a tangled mess, but she saw the benefits of it all.

Last year we used only the small Samsung Android. But now we had an Ipad 2 which is so much bigger which translates to comfort when reading Google Maps. And besides, Ipad 2 Google Maps has neat functions that make map reading a joy. Having a Wifi on board the car made us feel like a provincial bus. Hey it works. Dell Streak had no tethering function, booo.

We brought with us 3 internet 3G providers, Sun, Globe and Smart. My Sun was only in the Huawei dongle for the netbook. The Globe was in the Dell Streak Android, the Smart was in the Samsung Android that provided the internet. Smart came out to be the most reliable with almost continuous coverage until Sagada. Globe was nowhere in Sagada.

Smart cellular internet in Sagada was difficult, but it was the only one available. At Rock Inn, I only got an E connection usually, but at certain times of the day and certain spots I might get a 3G connection. Down town, at some times I can get an H and sometimes 3G and worse it gets to E.

This is the 2nd year we have been depending on Google Maps for our road trips. Saved us lots of time. If there was traffic, we can always do a detour and would know where to go. Such as the Tarlac traffic was impossible, we used the detour coming to La Paz to enter the SCTEX highway. In Baguio City, we always knew where to go, except for the dizzying one way streets.

I used prepaid loads for Smart and Globe, my Sun is part of a cheap plan, but coverage is only in the big cities.

Maybe this would have been more convenient with an iPhone 4S ! But the screen size would still be small even with the fine resolution.

Enjoy your next road trip! Always bring a Google Maps capable device with you, there is absolutely no reason to get lost these days.

You can buy car power inverters in CDR-King.

Sagada Philippines: Dangers, Warnings, Parental Duties and Rewards Part 03

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Warning to fellow parents: I think it is a must for each and every parent to first go to Sagada and go to the actual treks themselves before involving any other children or even spouse. See for yourself, take pics, videos, experience the trek before you get your entire family to jump in. Honestly, if I had gone trekking by myself to all the 3 treks… Pongas Falls, Balangigan Cave and Marlboro Country… the only child friendly trek would be Marlboro Country… I would not have taken my kids to Pongas falls nor Balangigan Cave. I would have waited until they were teenagers.

The rewards after having experienced and survived the risks. Our 8 year old 2nd son survived a 10 foot fall in the rice terraces… luckily no injury! (If that fall happened in the waterfalls, he would have died.) Again that 8 year old 2nd son and our 7 year old young daughter in the relatively safe Marlboro Country hills… almost had a tragic accident if it were not for my parental presence of mind. These 2 children were competing against one another on who gets what wild strawberry the guides and other grown ups point to. There was one particular instance when there was a strawberry bush in front of me and someone pointed that out. The 2 young kids scrambled, running almost diving to compete to see who gets the strawberry first… if they were left all to themselves, would have fallen to their DOOM as this was at the edge of a CLIFF they could not perceive at their short stature. But the cliff was evident to me as their dad at adult height. So I shouted out loud and was able to grab a hold off both of them! And showed them the folly of their ways how they may have fallen off hundreds of feet down.

The rewards? It’s the human mountain life experience. We urbanites have been sheltered for too long in the city with every attempt to make things safe and convenient for us. There are no tricycles, no jeeps, it’s all walk up and down. We are woken up to the true nature of things in the mountains. There are no life guards, there are no police men, there are no safety engineers… danger is everywhere, cliffs are everywhere and you must use your brain to learn it all… and the natives of Sagada have it in their instincts. Their children grow up strong and hardy and smart… those who survive, that is.

So coming to the end of our Sagada trip, what do I think of Sagada? Awesome! I love it. I want to come back, relax, take leisurely Marlboro Country type safe treks, adults only… maybe for planning, for recharging, rest and planning sounds good. Maybe next time check in to a hotel with broadband internet connections.

I make no excuses for my need for an internet connection, I’m a network administrator and I do need internet to manage servers that may require my attention.

End of 3 parts.