Enzo at 1

My son Enzo is also growing fast. Since his 1st birthday, his growth is exponential. His walk has improved a lot, he walks quite fast compared to Zia, although Zia walked much earlier compared to his age now. He can utter simple words like "papa" and would usually mimic his Ate Zia. He is also papansin. He gets jealous if the attention is all with his Ate Zia, so he will also join the commotion, whatever it is just to be included. He also has fixation with computers, everytime I am using my laptop or even the desktop computers, he would go near me and would make gestures so that he would see the monitor. Of course, that's the end of my computer work.

The 2 pictures below were taken when Enzo went to Tagaytay with Tatay, Tita Madre and Tito Nonong (seen here carrying Enzo)




Zia and Enzo usually play inside the lawn in our house every afternoon. Zia usually runs around and water the plants, Enzo just follows his sister, or annoys Bambam constantly. Seen here is his tricycle, a gift from one of my friend, Egay in Paco.



When Zia plays with her toys, Enzo usually would also try to play with the same toys, even if there are other toys around, which annoys Zia to the max. Zia would usually nudge him away, this would result to Enzo crying (with no tears) since he doesn't like to be nudged away. He would sumbong to Ate Jen or Judith and will make paawa so as to be able to play with Zia. If Jen and Judith are not around, Enzo would just bully away himself to be able to play with the toys of Zia. This would make Zia crazy and she would shout, scatter and throw the toys around the house na lang so that nobody can play with them anymore. Hay...

How can you not adore these lovely kids?

Ilocos

I was in Ilocos last March 16-18 as part of the Tatak PGH Plus contingency. Tatak PGH Plus is a project of PGH, the Department of Health and selected local or regional hospitals wherein PGH personnel train capacity-building to the personnel of these local hospitals and promote true hospital networking.

Mariano Marcos Memorial Hospital in Batac, Ilocos Norte was selected as one of the key hospitals in the north and my boss, PGH Director Carmelo Alfiler tapped me to give lectures in ophthalmology, computerization and informatics. There were 6 of us from PGH who went there, aside from myself and the director, the liaison of DOH for this project Dr. Paz Corrales, the head of PGH medical records Ms. Lacambacal, and 2 nurses Ms. Mangaser and Ms Salve. We were billeted in Paoay (Casa Dona Emilia Hotel), and we had our lectures in MMMH in Batac.

It was the first time I visited Batac and Paoay. Both towns are beautiful, no traffic, not many people loitering around, people are friendly. Our hotel was located near the age old Paoay Church (St. Augustine) so I brought my iPhone along and took some pictures.

We were also able to visit the tomb of former President Marcos in Batac and the Malacanang of the North in Paoay. Ilocos is indeed Marcos country.

The food was great as well. The famous bagnet was served to us at least 3 times. Its a local preparation of fried pork which is very yummy. Tried the pakbet, their empanada, their pancit miki and the longganisa. We were given pasalubong pa with these food. I enjoyed the trip and met new friends.

I was able to see old friends who are now based there, RJ in Cebu Pacific is a neighbor in Las Pinas, he helped us in our booking, Amelen - a Med School classmate and Nicolo - a brod practicing in Vigan.

Maybe the next time I'll be back there, I'll go to the famous Pagudpud beach and visit Fort Ilocandia, or visit the sand dunes of Currimao.

Jala-jala

The whole Perez family had its summer outing in Jalajala, Rizal. Tatay arranged with the Maryknoll sisters the place. It is owned and managed by the sisters. The place although quite far, is very beautiful. The place is overlooking Laguna de Bay. Food was delicious courtesy of the caretakers of the place.

My family, Jing's family, Jojo's family and Tatay & Nanay were all there.


Ogie and Regine...


As usual, Zia enjoyed the waters of the pool. Kahit ginaw na ginaw na siya, tingnan nyo...


Enzo was just recovering from tonsilitis, but when we reached the place, parang di nanggaling sa sakit, takbo na agad ng takbo. Take note of the background view.


There were 2 pools, obviously this was the kiddie pool...


We all enjoyed the place. We even had karaoke singing during the night. Matagal na rin naming di nakasama sina Tatay sa outing kaya sulit naman. Nung pauwi na kami, yun naman yung laban ni Pacquiao kay Marquez. Nauna na kaming umalis dahil may flight pa ako papuntang Laoag. Nag-road trip pa kami, kasi nung papunta sa Antipolo route (north) kami nagdaan. Nung pauwi, sa Laguna naman (south) kami nagdaan. So in essence, nalibot namin yung buong perimeter ng Laguna de Bay. Medyo nasasanay na rin sina Zia at Enzo sa long trips, di na masyado nahirapan si Judith sa sasakyan.

Zia at 2 1/2 years old

My daughter Zia is growing fast.

Zia has been doing good since her hospital stay. She's very malambing but on some occasions she is so masungit. Everytime I arrive home, when I honk the car for the gates to be opened from inside, I will definitely see her head peeping in the window to view me - ready with her toothy smile. After parking the car, upon entering the home, she would be ready to greet me "Papa" sometimes operatic style.

She also has good memory. She already knows all the letters, can count from 1-19, knows all the basic colors, knows all the planets, knows and recognizes the pictures in all her books and some famous nursery rhymes. She can even sing part of Mozart's "Serenade #13 in G" and the Blue Danube.

Yun nga lang, medyo masungit din parang tatay niya. Kapag merong ibang kumakanta ng mga nursery rhymes na favorite nya, sisigawan ka niya. Gusto niya walang kakantang iba kundi siya.

One thing she lacks is social interaction. During children's parties, she would play with the other kids but would not interact with them. Hopefully upon Enzo's presence, she would learn to be with people with her age.

She still has occasional bowel problems, but not as problematic as a few months back. Her appetite is ok but really not strong. Nightmares during sleep are obvious because she usually talks and cries in the middle of the night. Me and Judith are contemplating whether to enroll her in June or next year na lang...

Philippine Glaucoma Congress

I am a member of the Philippine Glaucoma Society (PGS). PGS is an association of 32 glaucoma specialists practicing actively throughout the country. The Society is celebrating its 10th year this year, and to celebrate such an occasion, we held the first ever Philippine Glaucoma Congress. We invited a distinguished group of speakers from abroad, all respectable glaucoma practitioners, including some who wrote textbooks in glaucoma which I used when I was still in training.

I was part of the organizing committee, and the preparations for this event were quite enormous. Starting from inviting the speakers, then in formulating the program, choosing the venue, the logistics, the food, the exhibitors, etc... All in all, the PGS was quite excited weeks before the event. We even have foreign delegates from Vietnam. The excitement turned into anxiety when one of the speakers sent a notice that he would not be able to come. The PGS just coordinated with him, and he eventually sent videos of his lectures.

The meetings before the event became weekly, and our officials in PGS were very meticulous in every detail of the congress. This is the first ever glaucoma congress and we were very eager to make it a big success.

When the event finally arrived, we were so delighted to see that the number of delegate attendees exceeded our expectation of 300 people. Almost all the members of PGS were doing their share of work, from moderating the lectures to "bodyguarding" the foreign speakers. We were also active in mingling with the local delegates, to get their feedbacks and to share their views regarding the congress.

The fellowship night was also success. The band played great music, the food was quite delicious and fulling, drinks were very much available to everybody. The foreign speakers were even dancing on the stage, clearly having a wonderful time. The local delegates were rocking as if in a party, some even became drunk. Some of the delegates stated that it was one of the best fellowship nights they have attended.

The congress has achieved its goal - to demystify the issues of glaucoma. Hopefully this congress is just the start of series of glaucoma congress.

To view the congress webpage click HERE.

Tito Nonong

Tatay’s youngest brother, Richard Perez, or Tito Nonong for short, went home last February from the States to have a mini reunion with his brother and sister. Tatay, Tita Madre and Tito Nonong are the only remaining among their siblings. They were all 8, and Tito Ben was the last one who joined his Maker (as mentioned in my last year’s entry to this blog).

Tito Nonong is the youngest among the brood, he’s based in Chicago now, the only one among the brothers who is an American citizen. he has one child, my cousin Chris who is a member of the US Air Force.

Anyway, their mini reunion was quite eventful. My 96 year old Lola (their mother) was teary eyed when she recognized that her Nonong is back home. She is quite forgetful now so it took her sometime before she recognized Tito Nonong.

Tito Nonong spent almost 3 weeks in the Philippines. He went with Tatay and Nanay in Gen. Santos City to meet one of their cousins who live there (Tita Sol). He also had time to take care of Lola while he was in Makati. He was also able to went to Tagaytay with the pamangkins, and he was also able to visit the malls.

Here's a picture taken when me and Judith treated the 3 of them for dinner in a Japanese restaurant in Mall of Asia.