What is OSA? It is basically the relaxing of throat and nasal membranes during sleep which deprives your lungs of incoming air through the nose or mouth. It results in stoppage of normal breathing that normally ranges from a few seconds to a couple of minutes, usually occurring several hundred times a night! This leads to lack of oxygen to the brain and body, that could lead to heart failure, hypertension and other ailments (possibly even the cause for ‘bangungot’). However, the most common effect of OSA is fatigue. Because you don’t really achieve restful sleep, this results in daytime sleepiness that turns to accidents on the road.

As long as I can remember, I have always snored very loudly. However, I never really paid attention to the telltale signs that I may have OSA until only about five years ago. One of the most notable symptoms I had was that the back of my throat was always red and irritated. I sang with a choir, and frequently coughed when trying to sing the high notes. I didn’t realize it was because my throat was irritated, due to heavy snoring. Another sign to look for is that you suddenly wake up in the middle of the night, gasping for air. This is your body waking you up from air deprivation. You probably have not breathed in for an extended time that it had to wake you up! Also, since you seldom achieve deep sleep, you seldom achieve dream state, so you really never have enough rest.

Luckily for many of us, OSA is very treatable. However, it needs to be diagnosed first before the doctor can do anything. The first step I did was to seek out a sleep disorder specialist. During your appointment, the doctor will schedule you for a sleep study. What this means is that they will ask you to sleep in their clinic with a whole bunch of wires and sensors on your face, arms and body. You will be ask to bring your normal sleeping clothes so you are comfortable, and sleep in the clinic until the morning. Some doctors will ask you the take home a monitoring device to attach to your finger while sleeping, and then bring it back to the office so they can retrieve the results.

In my case, I had to sleep in the clinic and came home at around 6:30 the following morning. I remember having a good sleep that night, even with the wires attached to me. I have to admit though that having a pretty pinay nurse attending to you, and waking up to, made my experience a lot better too :) Anyway, it turned out that I have OSA and, are you ready for this? I stopped breathing 435 times that night, and the longest episode lasted 90 seconds! This condition was considered ‘severe’.

A CPAP machine.

So now that I know I have OSA. What now? The first thing that the doctor ordered was a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy using a machine (see left image). The easiest way to describe this machine is that it is a small table-top device that continuously blows air into your nose through a hose to keep your nasal passages from collapsing. It is only available with a prescription and the air pressure settings are preset by the doctor. There are several manufacturers and models available, the mask that go over your nose are also available in different sizes.

There was one thing the doctor told me though, this is that I am stuck with this machine for life. I have to keep using it every night, during naps, and bring it with me during vacation. So even during our yearly camping trips, I brought my machine, powered a 12v car battery.

The doctor also told me that as long as the CPAP therapy is working for me, I should be okay. There are however other options for other patients with a more severe condition which included surgery (trimming of the upper palette) to prevent blockage of the throat. But for the most us though, CPAP therapy should be enough.

So what do you look for to know if you have OSA? If you are experiencing the following, suspect that you may have OSA:

In addition to continuous loud snoring, children with sleep apnea may adopt strange sleeping positions and suffer from bedwetting, excessive perspiration at night, or night terrors. Children with sleep apnea may also exhibit changes in their daytime behavior, such as:

Ever since I was diagnosed and treated, my wife has also slept well, since the CPAP machine stopped the snoring. Just imagine how grateful she has been :) Also, I now dream regularly, rarely tired and sleepy at work, and can now sing the high notes without coughing.

If you suspect you may have Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), consult your doctor. Also, visit these other resources:

http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/tc/sleep-apnea-symptoms
http://helpguide.org/life/sleep_apnea.htm

http://www.cpap.com/

Lately, there have been a lot of advertisements hyping about LED televisions. What exactly is an LED television and how can it benefit you, the consumer?

First of all, let me get a few terms defined, so you can understand the big picture:

Different layers of an LCD panel display.

LCD – this stands for “Liquid Crystal Display”. This simply means what it says. It is a display that uses liquid crystals sandwiched in between two glass panels and electrodes. The electrodes within these panels activate the liquid crystals and make the crystals dark, light or produce colors from the RGB spectrum, thus creating images depending on how the electricity is passed through them.

An LED lamp and its basic components (Image Credit: Howstuffworks.com)

LED – “Light Emitting Diode” is an electronic component that produces light. This device, a Diode, is a semiconductor device that allows electricity only to pass on one direction. LEDs have been around since 1962, and were very commonly used as indicatorlamps on switches. Today, LEDs can be much brighter and some of its applications are as light sources for flashlights, traffic lights, automobile tail lights and others. They normally last many times longer than regular incandescent bulbs. Often, the device it is installed on becomes obsolete and discarded way ahead of the LED lamp’s useful life. In ultra-large displays, thousands of Red, Green and Blue (RGB) LED lamps are placed on arrays in a huge panel and are controlled by a computer to produce TV-like images. These panels are what you see in big stadiums and ultra-large displays in Las Vegas, for example.

A vintage Altair PC using LED lamps

So, what is an “LED Television”?

Basically, the name “LED television” is a misnomer. It is really a combination of LCD and LED technology. In a traditional LCD television, the LCD panel that produce the images is back-lit by cold-cathode flourescent lamp (CCFL), similar to those white flourescent lamps in our homes. LCD panels by themselves will produce images, but you will barely see the picture as it requires some form of backlight. The floursecent lamp is placed on the back of the LCD panel to reveal the picture.

In an LED Television, the same LCD panel is used, but the cold cathode fourescent lamp (CCFL) is replaced by bright LED lamps. LED lamps are either placed directly behind the LCD panel or lined just behind the outer edge of the display (Edge-LED). So basically, the correct term should be “LED-backlit LCD Television”. However, Samsung, who invented LED-backlit LCD TVs, conveniently dropped “LCD” and started calling their LED-backlit LCD Televisions,simply “LED Televisions”. And so, the confusion started.

Some more expensive implementation of LED-backlighting involves putting Red, Green, and Blue (RGB-LED) LEDs directly behind the LCD panel and then dynamically controlled depending on what is being viewed on the screen. This makes for even brighter colors and deeper contrasts.

RGB LED Array (Image Credit: cNet Australia)

What are the benefits of LED-backlit LCD versus LCD Televisions? LED-backit LCD TVs differ from conventional CCFL-backlit LCD TVs in the following:

* LED-backlit LCD TVs produce images with greater dynamic contrast.
* With Edge-LED lighting they can be extremely slim. Models on the market can be approximately one inch thick.
* Offer a wider color gamut, especially when RGB-LED backlighting is used.
* Less environmental pollution on disposal.
* Generally 20-30% lower power consumption.

The Samsung Series 5000 LED TV

In a nutshell, LED-backlit LCD Televisions are fast becoming the preferred choice in televisions now-a-days. However, it is NOT the must-get feature if your budget does not allow the higher price. Do not disqualify traditional LCD televisions from your list. Chances are, you might just find a great deal out there.

Next: HDTV: 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, what are the differences?

Just as Paris Hilton boarded a plane back to Los Angeles after opening her boutique in Manila, a survey was released showing she was voted as the least trustworthy celebrity, with a score of 60% by a survey made by Ipsos, a global market research company. I looked around the internet for reactions and many Filipinos were defending Paris, and simply didn’t care. “Past is past”, one person wrote. Some even thanked her for investing in our country.

Distrusted or otherwise however, the Philippines needs a Paris Hilton and more well-to-do celebrities like her. Imagine if other celebrities and the likes of Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres, or even billionaire Donald Trump would invest in the Philippines and publicly promoted it? Even if the Philippines shouldered the travel, lodging and security expenses for these celebrities, the return would be many times over in renewed investment and confidence.

Paris Hilton’s investment in several stores in Manila not only endorses the Philippines as a country to look into for companies considering expansion in Asia, it also gives a boost of confidence in a flailing Philippine economy. We can toot our horns until our faces turn blue about how great investing in our country, but the truth of the matter is unless people from other parts of the world (i.e., the Paris Hiltons of the world) start believing in the Philippines and investing in our country, very few will come. Sadly, the quote made famous by the movie Field of Dreams, “Build it, and it(he) will come” does not apply to us. We need to build AND promote.

We already have several famous ‘marketing representatives’ who can help the economy. Why not tap our own famous celebrities to bring them in? It’s definitely easier said than done, but wouldn’t it be great if Charice can get Oprah to invest a few million dollars in the Phillippines? How about Arnel Pineda, who can he bring in? Apl de Ap? I bet that because Paris and Manny Pacquaio knew each other, it played a hand in Paris’ recent visit to Manila. Wouldn’t you think?

I remember hearing a story during the Marcos era when the IMF (International Monetary Fund) convention was in town. The dilemma was how to provide luxury automobiles to the delegates. It was solved by tapping into the financial resources of private individuals and companies. They were offered to import top-of-the line Mercedes-Benz cars using their own funds, tax free. The only caveat was they would allow the use of the cars by the IMF delegates for a week. After which, the car was theirs to keep. Whether this story is true or not, we need some out-of-the-box, creative thinking such as this. Maybe for travel and accommodations instead?

What is really lacking is confidence – not just by us Filipinos, but by potential foreign investors as well. It really does not do much how often we tell the world how worthy the Philippines is for investment, but it will really go a long way if other people like Paris Hilton invests and give the Philippines a vote of confidence — and maybe, just maybe then, when we build it … they will come.

Paris Hilton, distrusted as she may be by the world, is a good start :)

Since that day, I have seen more and more people in the internet bearing the same last name as mine.  Last year, I decided to start an email list for all people having the Totanes family name.  Sometime this year, I will also share the Totanes.com domain with you by providing free email accounts.  If you are interested, please drop me a short message, with your email address and name.  When I collect a list of more than ten people, I will immediately start the project.  Please email me at info@totanes.com — Thanks!

TOTANES Genealogy Forum
Visit the Totanes Genealogy
Forum at Genealogy.com.  If you’re
looking for distant relatives or simply just curious as to who else share our
family name, this is the forum to visit.

Totanes, Origins

Have you ever wondered where it all began?  After several years of researching, and receiving emails from different people, it has become apparent that the Totanes family name was
brought to the Philippines by a Spanish Franciscan priest named Fr. Sebastian de Totanes
during the 1700′s.  He came from a small municipality in the spanish
province of Toledo, called — you guessed it — Totanes.  The town still
exists today and is one of the oldest municipalities in Toledo.  The feast
of San Anton is celebrated every January, where the whole town is lit up and the aroma of garlic sausages fill the air.  The feast of the Virgin Mary is on the 3rd Sunday of September followed by the feast of the Immaculate Concepcion every 8th of December.  Totanes produces high quality cheese and extra virgin olive oil.

The main plaza at Totanes, Toledo is the picture above, right.  Also above left is the municipal seal.

For more information about Totanes, Toledo Spain, visit the following links:

http://totanes.webcindario.com/

http://www.totanes.org/

Special thanks to Esmeralda Guio who hails from the town of Totanes for the above links.

On our first photo, you can see Rizal Avenue when we were still part of the United States.  A street busling with kalesas mixed in with early model Fords, it is evident here that it was already a busy area of Manila around the 1930s.  A notable landmark is the newly built Ideal Theater, erected in 1933 by Architect Pablo Antonio.

Rizal Avenue, circa 1930s. Note the traffic police stationed under the umbrella, and the vintage telephone pole in the middle of the street.

The next photo shows a war-torn Rizal Avenue.  Probably taken around 1945. Note the burned shell buildings to the right of the photo and a column of American tanks and jeeps on the street.  The Ideal Theater however survived the Japanese occupation and is seen here, still intact.

Rizal Avenue, circa 1945. Probably right after Japan's surrender.

After the war, Rizal Avenue regained its reputation as the preferred recreational destination by many of Manila’s residents. Architects Pablo Antonio and Juan Nakpil, created several more of the movie theaters along the avenue. Adding to the Ideal Theater, Antonio designed the Galaxy, the Scala and the Lyric theaters, while Nakpil designed the Capitol, the Ever and the Avenue theaters.  The photo below, which was taken around the 1950s, shows the emergence of the AC jeepney  (which was originally designed using surplus American military jeeps) and the Otis, State theaters on the right and Galaxy theater in the far distance.

Rizal Avenue, circa 1950s. AC jeepneys now abound.

Around 1968, American Photographer Harrison Forman aimed his large format camera at the Rizal Avenue.  The resulting shot is shown below with Goodearth Emporium already there, and Ideal, Otis and State Theaters still standing.  As a child, I remember seeing ‘Now Showing’ advertisements for these theaters in the early 1970s in Manila’s leading newpapers. So I know they were still operating as theaters during that time.

Circa 1968. Photo Credit: For a higher resolution photo, visit the UWM Libraries at http://www.uwm.edu/Library/digilib/. Photograph by Harrison Forman.

As the years went by, the area was victimized by urban renewal. Shown on the photo below (circa 1980s) is Rizal Avenue without any cars or jeepneys.  The Ideal Theater, which survived World War II is now gone.  The “OTIS” sign is so delapidated it’s barely readable, but State is still there.  Goodearth Emporium however is probably enjoying its glory days during this time.

Circa 1980s. No more cars or jeepneys.

The photo below shows Rizal Avenue as seen today.  Giving way to the LRT, it is now one of those places where you can’t ever imagine the transformation that has taken place.

Rizal Avenue today.

The main culprit of the deterioration of the area was the LRT; the train was to ease traffic in Rizal Avenue and Taft Avenue south of the Pasig River but it also killed business along the route. The cinemas themselves resorted to showing double feature B-movies and soft porn, as people transferred to the newer and more modern Ortigas Centernand the Ayala Center.

In 2000, during the mayorship of Lito Atienza, the stretch from C.M. Recto Avenue to Palanca Street was turned into a pedestrian-only thoroughfare by laying bricks on the road, with the buildings and the LRT painted as part of an urban renewal project. This caused vehicles to use the secondary roads such as Tomas Mapua and Doroteo Jose Streets in order to go to and from Plaza Lacson.The Ideal Theater was previously demolished, the Galaxy, Scala and Lyric theaters are now misused. The first level of the Ever Theater is occupied by stalls, while the upper levels are abandoned. Only the refurbished Capitol Theater, now a dimsum palace, survived the modern times and is still active.The pedetrianization of Rizal Avenue was completed on 2003 and was meant to only last for a short time but it has persisted until 2008.

The Avenue Theater, which survived the Battle of Manila of 1945, was demolished in 2006 to give way to a parking area. The costs of maintaining the facility were too high, as compared for it to be converted as a parking area. The National Historical Institute (NHI) and several private entities tried to prevent the building from being torn down.

On July 17, 2007, Lim attended the ceremony reopening the closed portion of Rizal Avenue, and it has remained open to this day.

————–

Some excerpts in this article were taken from Wikipedia under the terms of the Creative Commons license.  Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standalone_movie_theaters_of_the_Philippines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rizal_Avenue

I stumbled upon these videos more than a year ago and they really brought back a lot of noontime memories as a child growing up in Kamuning, QC.   I remember seeing most of these during commercial breaks while having monggo for lunch and our TV tuned-in to our favorite noontime show,  Student Canteen with Eddie Ilarde, Bobby Ledesma, Connie Reyes and Helen Vela.

This first video is for Ford Fiera with the original ‘mahangin’, Rod Navarro.  He claims “150 pasahero ang kasya… sa sampung biyahe” .  He was really known as one who exaggerated the truth in the characters he played in the movies and TV.

This next one is the classic Veto commercial.  “Ang lakas ng ulan…. may underarm odor si Fe”… I really cannot help smiling right now just thinking about how widespread that phrase became in the 70′s.  Probably the old equivalent of viral marketing :)

Who can forget Bert “Tawa” Marcelo in his 680 Home Appliances ad series?  You wouldn’t believe the prices of the appliances in this video.

And of course, San Miguel Beer’s “Mag beer muna tayo” campaign.  This is again Bert “Tawa” Marcelo, with his famous line… “pupulbusin ko ang dibdib!”

After viewing these videos, sometimes you’d wish that you can just board a time machine and go back in time, doesn’t it?  But they also beg for us to ask the following question: Meron ba tayong respository ng mga lumang video o pelikula para ma-preserve ang mga classic na mga video na ito? Yung mga lumang pelikula ng Sampaguita Films, mga lumang pelikula nila Pugo, Dolphy, Nida Blanca, Nestor de Villa, atbp… nasaan na?  Sino ang nagtatago, at naka-preserve ba ito o nabubulok na sa baol ng isang patay nang producer?

Let’s ponder on this… more to come…

However, Ayala  as it is today has come a long way from its roots.  This strip of road used to be part of an airport runway in Luzon’s first airport.  It was only converted to become a road in 1949 and this is when ownership of the airport facilities was handed over to the owner of the land, Ayala Corporation.  It was extended from Paseo de Roxas to Buendia Ave sometime in the 1950s.

In the 1960s, as seen in our first photo, it was extended from Buendia Ave to Kamagong St.

Ayala Avenue (circa 1968) above was still clean and seemed like a scene from a different country.  There weren’t that many cars on the road yet, and the high-rises were just starting to develop.  Note: I am too young to know the names of the buildings above, so please leave your comments if you can indentify some of them.

The 1980s (above) brought about taller high-rise buildings, jeepneys, much more cars, and smog.  You can now readily see the BPI and Insular Life buildings in this photo, but Robinson’s and Rufino tower has not been built yet.

Ayala Avenue as it is today looks like a business district in a developed nation, wider roads, taller buildings.  However in this photo, taken around 2007-2008, it seems to be missing the heavy traffic most Makati workers are accustomed to now-a-days – probably taken on a Sunday :)

You may read my articles in the Noon at Ngayon series here: http://definitelyfilipino.com/blog/index.php/archives/category/miscellaneous/filipiniana/history/noon-at-ngayon-history

Laki ako at mga kapatid ko, sampu ng aking mga pinsan, sa pangangalaga ng Nanay. Ito ang panahon kung kailan ang aming mga magulang ay parehong kumakayod upang maitaguyod ang pamilya, kaya’t sa maghapon, matapos ang iskwela ay sa kanilang bahay, katabi ng sa amin, ako (kami) tumitigil. Wala ni isa sa aming magpipinsan ang hindi lumaki sa haplos ng kanyang pag-aalaga.

Saksi ako sa kung gaano karaming tao ang kumakatok sa kanilang silong sa maghapon, sa araw-araw na ginawa ng Diyos, upang magpahilot — nanay o tatay man, tangan ang kanilang mga anak na nilalagnat o napilayan dahil sa kakulitan. Madalas ay nagigising pa ang Nanay mula sa pagkakaidlip sa siyesta upang tumugon sa mga bisita. Pero hindi ko siya naringgan ng reklamo, kahit kailan. Mas nagagalit pa nga ang Tatay minsan kapag naaabala ang tulog ng Nanay.

Saulo ko na ang mga gawa ng Nanay kapag may nagpapahilot. Papatalikurin muna ang bata (o matanda), itataas ng bahagya ang tisert, hahagurin ang likod nang panadalian at sasabihin na, ‘Naku, may pilay nga ang batang (matandang) ire’. Sa kanyang tagiliran ay kakapain niya ang lata kung saan nakalagay ang kanyang langis. Dadampi ang kanyang nuo’y kulubot ng mga daliri sa naglalawang langis. Ipapahid sa likuran at ito’y ipopostura. Bibilang ng isa, dalawa at sabay sa pagbigkas sa ikatlong bilang ay maririnig ko na lagutok ng mga buto-buto. Mas madalas matapos nito ay aalingawngaw na sa buong kabahayan ang iyak ng batang napilayan. Tiyak ko, musika para kay Nanay ang mga iyak na ganito ‘pagkat matapos ang lahat, mas tiyak kaysa sa hindi na gagaling na ang munting bubuwit.

Duktor? Hindi ah. Hindi duktor ang Nanay. Ilang ulit niya itong nililinaw sa mga pasyente. Ineendorso pa nga niya ang mga manggagamot sa medisina sa mga kasong hindi naman talaga sakop ng kanyang kakayahan. Naalala ko pa nga ng minsan ay may traysikel drayber na nakasagasa ng isang bata. Bali ang laylay na kanang kamay ng kawawang paslit. Pinipilit ang Nanay na gamutin, ngunit hindi naman talaga gumagamot ang Nanay ng baling buto kaya ipinadiretso na lamang ito sa malapit na hospital. Mahusay ang relasyon ng Nanay sa mga duktor sa bayan, minsan ay nabibisita pa nga siya ng mga ito. Nakakatawa nga lang minsan dahil may iba pang dumadayo sa bahay dahil akala nila ay faith healer ang Nanay na gumagamot ng kanser o ng kung anupamang malubhang sakit.

Artista? Oo naman, madami na kayang artista na dumalaw kay Nanay, pati pa nga daw si Phillip Salvador [ naikwento lang naman sa akin =)) ]. Sayang at wala man lang akong nakita, malamang ako ay nasa iskwela nuon o masyado pa akong musmos para maalala, sabagay mas malamang hindi na rin naman sila sikat ngayon. Naisulat na din sa diyaryo ang kwento ni Nanay. Nakalagay iyon sa photo album, tinatago daw niya. Ang kaso ‘di ko na makita ang kopya nito, sana ay may nakapagtabi pa ng sipi nito.
Suki? Naku, napakaraming suki ng Nanay. Tiyak iyon para sa mga batang talaga naman ay kay lilikot kaya maya’t maya ay napipilayan, masakit ang katawan o ulo. Isa rin ako sa suki ng Nanay, aminado ako. Hindi naman talaga ako malikot, siguro ay bahagi ng kamusmusan ito. Malakas ang pulso ng Nanay, ramdam ko ‘yon kapag haplos niya ang likod ko. Matapos ang katakot-takot na sermon sa akin ay hihilutin naman niya, at ilang saglit lang ako ay magiginhawahan na. Maninikit lamang ng ilang araw ang likuran ko dahil sa langis ng niyog na ipinahid niya. Bawal maligo, ‘yan ang number one rule, kung ayaw mong mabinat o mamaga ang pilay.

Madyik? Tila! Tila magician talaga siya. Isipin mo, pupulsuhan ka lamang niya, alam na niya kung ang lagnat ay dahil sa pilay o hindi. Sa tanda niyang iyon ay napakalakas pa niya upang mabatak ang likod ng isang malaking bata o ng isang matanda. Kung bibilangin ko siguro ang salitang salamat na binigay sa kanya, sigurado na mauubusan na ko ng hininga kakabilang. Kaya kapag may okasyon sa pamilya, tiyak ‘yan babaha ng pagkain at regalo at kung anu-ano pa padala ng mga suki ni Nanay.

Sino bang batang taga-Munti o laking Aplaya, o kahit na sa karatig-bayan ang hindi laki sa haplos ng Nanay? Sigurado ako, kung ‘di mo naabutan ang Nanay, itanong mo sa nanay o tatay o lola o kapitbahay mo, tiyak marami silang kwento sa iyo. Sa iskul nga, sikat ako kasi lola ko si Nanay. Kapag sumasakay ako sa traysikel, alam na ng drayber kung saan ako ihahatid pauwi, minsan libre pa dahil suki daw sila ng Nanay. Sa palengke, tiyak yan may discount o kaya ay dagdag dahil apo yata ako ng Tindeng Hilot (sigurado ako ang mga pinsan ko ay nakatanggap din ng ganitong pribilehiyo, di ba??).

Kung titingnan, matanda na talaga ang karakas ng Nanay. Pero hindi mo mababakas ang pagod sa kanyang mukha, napakaaliwas na tila isa sa dahilan kung bakit ako gumagaling nuon. Psychological ang kaso ko o baka may kaunting bias. Kung anuman ang biyayang pinagkaluob sa kanya ng langit ay marapat naman niyang naipamahagi iyon upang makatulong sa mga tao sa aming paligid. Sa napag-aralan ko sa Genetics, may mga skills na namamana. Wish ko lang dahil ang kakayahan ng Nanay ay isang biyaya na hanggang ngayon ay hiwaga pa din na ewan ko kung kayang ipaliwanag ng siyensya. Malay mo naman lumabas sa susunod na generation ng aming pamilya.

Some good things just never last, ika nga. Nanghina ang Nanay at ang mga kaibigang Duktor Babaran ang tumingin sa kanya. Ayokong magbantay sa hospital nuon, sabi ko may pasok ako sa iskul at panahon ng eksam dahil magbabakasyon na. Sabi ko lang iyon. Pumanaw ang Nanay sa katandaan magpapasko taong 1997. Nakabibigla. Nakalulungkot—pinakamalungkot na Pasko at pagpapalit-taon sa pamilya Pasco . Ironic, ano?. Makalipas ang isang taon at isang buwan ay namaalam naman ang Tatay—parang mga lovebirds lang.

Biglang tumahimik sa matandang bahay. Wala ng pasyente o mga suki o mga sanggol o batang umiiyak. Hindi na din ako nauutusang bumili ng mga bote ng langis sa simbahan ng Sto. Nino. Wala na din ang hardin niya. Wala ng Sustagen sa almusal. Wala ng ekstrang baon. Wala na ang Nanay. Wala na. Ganoon talaga ang buhay. Ayos lang dahil paminsan-minsan, may discount pa din ako sa palengke. Pero ‘di na ko nalilibre sa traysikel. At ang amoy ng langis ng niyog, ‘di ko na yata makakalimutan.

—-

This article was written by Catherine/Chie Nales.  You can visit her blog at http://angbitlognichie.blogspot.com – Ben

Uychaco Building -- Circa 1910-1920

The Uychaco Building -- Circa 1941 (2 weeks before Pearl Harbor)

Seen here just two weeks before the outbreak of WWII.  Notice that Manila was left-hand drive back then.

The Uychaco Building -- Circa 1945 (WWII aftermath)

Shown here, war-torn but still standing, next to the Insular Life Building around 1945.

The Uychaco Building -- Circa 1968

Rebuilt and photographed here in the now busy streets in 1968.

The Uychaco Building -- Today

The Uychaco building still proudly stands today, gracing the entrance to Manila’s Chinatown.  I hope that people in power realize that preserving national treasures such as this should be on the list of top priorities.  It has survived through the years and we should make sure our children’s children will enjoy this irreplacable historical landmark.

Sabitan na ng medalya ito!

P.S. It is not clear whether it has always been called the Uychaco Building.  If you have any information, please leave a comment below.