I had a birthday last week, and we had a big party: Slow roasted beef with baby potatoes and baked Salmon from a local take out place that makes gourmet meals, and we also had Pizza, Spaghetti and fried chicken from Jollibee (the best in the world according to Anthony Bourdain), and chocolate cake.
Party was attended by the staff who lives here, and we also invited the ladies who were cleaning up our conference room and preparing it for the Baptists who meet there on Sunday.
Kuya loves his superduper smart phone, so gifted me one. (I had been using a small tablet that could make phone calls, but it is on it's last legs). Joy gave me a medium size tablet without a phone that she got with her cellphone last week which I plan to use for reading: both internet and ebooks. So I have been busy cloning my information to these places and trying to figure out how to use the phone.... I have been avoiding putting my face etc on line, but now my new phone recognizes me so I guess its too late to worry about such things. The good news is that I can have it read stuff to me: I have developed cataracts and can't read small print. When they get worse I'll have surgery, maybe after the holiday.
Kuya slipped and fell getting off the elevator in the mall so they took him to the local hospital and he had a CT scan which was okay so he refused to stay at the hospital. It was probably a blessing, because they found that his Blood pressure which had always been borderline when I checked it,, was sky high. So I put him on medicine and now it's back to a safer level.
Joy fell two weeks ago and tore a ligament in her knee: pain pills, and a brace might work, but she is on her feet a lot and could end up with surgery. Sigh.
We are all getting old.
Medicare doesn't pay for health care here, but the company has us all on PhilHealth which pays about half the bill. And things are cheaper than in the USA.
When I had Mohs surgery for a small lesion on my face, I ended up paying 20 thousand pesos of the total bill (about 400 dollars out of a total that would have been about 1000 dollars US)... but it would have been ten times that in the USA.
I had developed the lesion when Lolo was dying so there was a delay in getting it off. The second lesion I later developed I had a surgeon take off here: it was in an area where the scar would not show.
People who talk about moving overseas have to remember about health care. Many expats are married to local ladies so have family around, and other move to areas what cater to expats not just from the US but also Europe and Asia: and there is a special retirement visa for us. Unlike the US, the Philippines respects elders and so shops etc often will help me when I go there.
Medical standards in Manila is equal to that in the USA, so is a potential medical tourism spot. And we are getting more sophisticated here: I could even get a specialized retinal scan in the next city, and we now have dialysis and heart surgery, but also there are places for the poor to get subsidized medical care. Our local public hospital is often understaffed now so many folk have to go to the next town for specialized care at the public hospital, or pay extra at two local private hospitals.
The town has already started to put up the Christmas lights: the Christmas season here starts as early as October.
But the big holiday today is not Haloween (although some are starting to celebrate it in Manila) but Undas: All Saints day which is November 1st. That is the day when people return to their home villages to visit the graves of their loved ones.
Usually you go to the cemetary, clean the grave site, place flowers and light some candles, and then stay awhile and visit with family and friends while you eat a small meal. Usually there are vendors there selling snacks and candles and small toys for the kids who get bored.
So today we visited Lolo's grave. I sent the maid and her brother to clean it up yesterday, and today we brought the candles and flowers. Yes, it was early, but on Oct 31 and Nov 1, the crowds are so great that usually you aren't allowed to drive to the gravesite, but have to leave the car on the street and walk. Since I had Dengue two years ago, I have trouble walking more than a block or two, especially in the afternoon heat.
yes, I saw a couple of doctors about this, but after all the negative tests I asked them what was the problem: and they laughed and essentially said: it's old age.
AH! I INTENDED | |
Sigh.
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