@MesesMylen

Caesarean Section I’m a mother of three. They are all delivered via caesarean section, a surgical procedure involving incision of the walls of the abdomen and uterus for delivery of offspring, this is according to Merriam Webster Dictionary. At first, I didn’t know that I will get through this. When I’m pregnant with my eldest, I’m very responsible in going to my obstetrician. When she said that I need to check if I’m not diabetic, I tried to go to the Hospital for some checking. I followed everything the doctor said. When my last trimester came, she said it is necessary to go to the doctor twice a month and I’ve followed all the rules. For my last check up, my doctor tried to check if the baby is ready to be delivered and she found out that it will be too risky for us two. She told me to have pelvimetry, a measurement of the female pelvis. It can theoretically identify cephalo- pelvic disproportion which is when the capacity of the pelvis is in adequate to allow the fetus to negotiate the birth canal (WIKIPEDIA). The result told that I cannot do normal delivery because the shoulders of the baby might stuck. At that very moment, my husband and I decided to agree on what the doctor recommended, that is to deliver the baby thru caesarean section. After a week, the doctor said that I can give birth to my child already so we did it. The whole process lingers in my memory until now. First is they put dextrose in me then they brought me to the operating/ delivery room. There, the anesthesiologist let me position like a shrimp before injecting the anesthesia at my spinal cord. It was painful at first, then I slowly felt nothing. The doctors to put something in my womb, it’s color is brown, I don’t know what is that for, then they began to cut off my skin, I knew it for I didn’t sleep the whole time. I just pray and pray for the successful operation. I saw the whole process because there is a mirror on the ceiling. I saw when my baby got out from my womb, when he cried I also want to cry. I felt something I can’t explain in words. I’m just so happy upon seeing that beautiful gift from heaven. He is the bundle of joy in our family. He is the first son, and the first grandson on both sides. We’re all happier than ever. After a year, I got pregnant again. Though we’re not yet ready for the next one, we accept it and thanked God for the new blessing. Same way of giving birth, same hospital but not the same doctor, (it’s a public hospital and you can’t demand for your own doctor, whoever is in duty, he is the one responsible for the operation). Another bundle of joy came. Same feeling, same excitement filled our hearts. It’s another baby boy. I never thought for another baby, for me, I’m contented already with the two boys, but husband asked to have another one, for he want to have a baby girl. He badly want to have a daughter because they are all boys in their family, except for her mom of course, haha! They are five boys. I agreed with him, after four years, I got pregnant again, I asked my husband, what if this baby is a boy again? He said it’s okay, so be it, that’s enough. When we went to the hospital for the ultrasound, the doctor said it’s a girl. How happy we were. We went to the mall and buy many girl stuffs. Baby dresses, pink socks and mittens, pink little pillows, pink pacifiers, pink feeding bottles, and many many more in pink. I gave birth to her last December 2006, Christmas season, that’s why we gave her two names, and her second name is GIFT. It’s a celebration of Christmas and coming her in our own family. I’'s really the happiest moment for us. We became a complete family. By the way, I delivered her also via caesarean section. It’s painful, but fulfilling.

Cellphone and Laptop From Home Credit During this time of pandemic, everyone has a responsibility to make adjustments. We used to subject in different kinds of quarantine. there is Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) which is the tightest. The Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), and General Community Quarantine (GCQ) the minimum one. There is a lot of laws from the government together with the help of Inter Agency Task Force (IATF). They are the one who is responsible in the maintenance of Safety and Health Protocols such as having social distancing of one meter, wearing face mask and face shield, hand washing, making division between space of passenger jeepneys and many other that I will not tell one by one. This COVID-19 pandemic is a huge problem that we all face now. Many people lost their jobs. More and more numbers of affected individuals is in the news everyday. Many recovered but unfortunately many died also. One of the biggest thing that was affected by this pandemic is the branch of education. This is probably the most challenging part. On how educators teach the students. So many plans, so many meetings until decided not to have face to face education system just like before. The Department of Education decided to have Modular and Online classes. Meaning to say, we have to provide gadgets for all our students because even it’s modular, we need to communicate with their teachers and some professor at some point. We need o update all the time, need to ask questions if the module is difficult to understand. My two boys have their own cell phone. They are able to brought it during those times of normal schooling. They saved most of their allowance for I think two years of schooling. My baby girl has no cell phone. Husband and I have our own but it’s the old type, the keypad ones. So we decided to get a cell phone from a home credit just to make sure that our youngest will have something to use for her studies. We got that installment for five months. And at last, we finished it. My eldest one is in his first year in college. He is taking up computer engineering since he is in love with gadgets. At first, he always told us that he need to have a laptop, but we are not able to buy him one because it costs much. He said he really wanted to have it because its not needed, it’s necessary. My husband and I think of it over and over again. We had deliberation. We talk and talk if we have a capacity of buying it. Until we decided again to get it on a home credit. We saved some amount of money thru “paluwagan” for the down payment. We got that by installment for one year. And know what? Our first installment done. We have eleven more months to go. For I have no permanent work only husband has stable job for now, it’s very challenging for us. But for our children’s education, we are ready to face many challenges. We want them to pursue and finish their studies no matter what. We want them to have better life. We want them to be successful so that if they decided to settle down to have their own family, they can give them a beautiful life. They won’t experience what we are experiencing right now. Their living will be easy and comfortable. They will be allowed to give things their children will need without stressing their selves. That’s the life I want for them. And i’m willing to do everything to help them achieve it.

Where Do I Got My Earnings As a mother, I was the one who handles budget for our everyday living. I can say that we can survive in terms of food. My husband earns average income. I have no work nowadays. Sewing is not productive right now. (I’m a sewer, and there is no job order in this time of pandemic). That is why I make some ways on how can I make money. I tried many things just to earn for my family. I make ice candy with different flavors such as mango, mango grahams, buko, and chocolate. I also make ice and sometimes I sell coffee jelly. If my products were sold out, I earned as much as one hundred pesos a day or sometimes it’s only fifty pesos depends on my customers. The good thing is we have the opportunity to eat those stuffs without paying. I’m happy enough even my profit is not that big. My point is, if I will not sell some stuff, I will buy to other sellers for my kids to be able to eat those, so it means that I have to pay for it. Money comes out from my pocket and no gain at all. Wise, isn’t it? The worse side of this kind of small business is that you don’t know when your product will be sold. There is no sure customer for everyday. As for instance, I cooked coffee jelly one time, and it was spoiled because no one bother to buy some. It’s a big loss for me. I spend capital on it and yet I had no profit earned and the capital also lost. We ate some, yes, but we are not able to finish it. Selling ice and ice candy is unpredictable because of the weather. It has an inversely proportional relationship. The colder the weather, the lesser the sales, the hotter the weather, the higher the sales. Those small acts of hard work is a big help in our family. Let me tell you this, I saved all my sales in ice from January up to present and you know what? I earned three thousand pesos. For me, not bad. I will use it for house renovation. It’s not enough, it’s just a part of the expenses that I will put on having roof on our small terrace. I’m so glad that it helped. Our house is small that’s why I want to put on extension and I probably want a small terrace so we decided to put it on. I’ve already bought the construction materials that are needed. Maybe we can establish it this weekend. It’s a big achievement for me. Another thing that I’m proud of is what I did right now. Writing this articles for this site. In just one week, I earned more than five hundred pesos. As much as possible, I want to publish at least one article a day. I really make time in writing. If not this, where can I get a five hundred pesos? You cannot pick it anywhere else. Lesson learned is no matter how big or small your profit is, the most important thing is that you make ways for your family’s welfare. Everybody in our family make way to have earnings. My eldest and youngest sells soft drinks, they earn two pesos per piece, they save it for their school expenses. My second child is an active article writer on this site. He is the one who encouraged me to write as well and I thank him for that. I hope and pray that sewing job opportunities be open as soon as possible. But if this happen, I’ll try my best to keep on writing more articles. Pandemic can’t stop me from working harder and find more means of earning money. I will not let this pandemic bring us downhill.

Ika- animnapung kaarawan ng Aming Ina Ang pagdiriwang ng kaarawan ay maituturing na biyaya mula sa Diyos. Ito ay isang pasasalamat sa isa na naming taon ng ating buhay. Ito ay ipinagdiriwang sa iba’t -ibang uri ng pamamaraan. May mga tao na sadyang pinaghahandaan ang araw na ito kung kaya’t nakapagluluto sila ng marami at masasarap na pagkain, may iba naman na sadyang kahit anong pilt na mag- ipon para may mailuto sa kanyang kaarawan ay hindi makaipon sapagkat sapat lang o kung minsan nga ay kulang pa sa gatos sa pang- araw- araw ang kanyang kinita, may iba rin na nagpupunta sa simbahan upang magtirik ng kandila, magdasal at magpasalamat. Anumang paraan ang ating gawin, ito ay madalas na ayon sa ating kakayahan o mga bagay na nakagisnan. Sa kahit ano mang kaparaanan natin ito ipagdiwang, nangangahulugan pa rin ito ng pasasalamat. Ang aking ina ay matagal ng balo. Namuhay siya kasama ang aking dalawang kapatid, ang bunso sa mga babae na dalaga na at mayroon naming permanenting trabaho sa isang kompanya ng elektroniks, at ang pinakabunso naman sa aming lahat, binata at kakasimula pa lamang sa trabaho sa isa ding pabrika. Anim kaming magkakapatid at kaming apat ay namumuhay kasama ang aming mga sariling pamilya. Noong sasapit na ang ika- animnapung kaarawan ng aming ina, napagkasunduan naming magkakapatid sampu ng aming mga asawa na bigyan ng isang simpleng sorpresa ang aming ina. Upang hindi malaman ang aming plano, palihim kaming nagtatawagan tungkol sa aming binabalak. Magkakalayo kami ng lugar at tinitirhan. Mayroon sa Quezon, Santo Tomas, Batangas at Rizal. Dahil dalawa sa amin ang sa Quezon namamalagi, napagkasunduan naming na doon na lamang gawin ang selebrasyon. Isang araw bago ang kanyang kaarawan ay umuwi na kaming mag- anak sa Quezon (kami ang nakatira ditto sa Rizal). Tulong tulong kami paghahanda at paggagayak ng mga bagay na kakailanganin namin. Bumili kami ng lobo, bouquet ng bulaklak, give aways at syempre cake. Hindi naman kami nagluto sapagkat napagkasunduan naming na sa isang floating restaurant na lang ganapin lahat. Sapagkat parehong sa Batangas naninirahan ang nanay at dalawa kong kapatid pati na rin ang isa ko pa’ng kapatid na may pamilya na (bagaman at medyo magkalayo ang lugar), pinapunta ng kapatid kong may asawa na ang nanay ko sa kanila at ng mismong kaarawan ay maaga silang umuwi sa Quezon, hindi man alam ng nanay naming ang plano ay sumama sya pasakay ng bus. Nang medyo malayo na ang natatakbo ng sasakyan ay napagtanto niya na pauwi pala sila sa Quezon. Habang nasa biyahe sila at nagkukuwentuhan, sabi daw ng nanay ko ay naku, hindi natin makakasama ang pamilya ng ate ninyo (kami ang tinutukoy, sapagkat medyo malayo ang aming lugar. Lingid sa kanyang kaalaman na kahapon pa kami nakarating doon. Maaga naman kaming pumunta sa restaurant at ginayakan naming ang kubo na aming napili, kubo- kubo kasi ang tema ng ng restaurant na iyon na nakalutang sa man- made na anyong tubig. Doon sila dumiretso at pagbaba nila sa sasakyan ay sobra ang gulat ng nanay ko ng makitang kumpleto kaming lahat. Napaluha siya sa sobrang tuwa. Simple lang naman ang naganap na selebrasyon. Iniabot sa kanya ang bulaklak at mga regalo, hinipan ang kandila sa cake kasabay ang kanyang hiling. Nagpaluto kami doon ng pritong tilapia, sweet and sour fish, sinigang na hipon, ginataang tilapia, litsong manok at syempre may kaunting inuman. Nagging napakasaya ng araw na iyon para sa aming lahat. Hindi man sobrang bongga ang handaan, ang mahalaga ay naipadama namin sa aming nanay ang pagmamahal naming sa kanya at nagkaroon kami ng pagkakataon na magka- sama- sama at magtipon na bihira lamang mangyari. Lahat kami ay umuwi ng masaya at kuntento. Nakalulungkot lamang na dahil sa pandemya na kinahaharap ng ating mundo ay hindi na maari ang mga ganitong klaseng selebrasyon. Ilang taon na rin mula ng maganap ang selebrasyong ito, ngunit ang saya na aming nadama ay nananatili sa aming mga puso.

What I Want To Be What I Want To Be I grew up with a family of eight. My father, mother, and my five siblings. We’re not rich, but we’re not the poorest either. My father has no permanent job, he did handicrafts made up of “tilob” an indigenous materials found in Quezon province, and “uway”, I don’t know if what uway are made up of, since my father is no longer here, I can not ask him about it. If there is no handicraft, my father used to go with the power saw operator who cut coconut trees for making coco lumbers, he is the one who carry those heavy coco lumbers from linang, the far place where coconuts grow, riding in a horse, going to a main roads then the coco lumber will be brought to the truck for delivery. This kind of job is so difficult. My mother helps my father in making handicraft but because they have six children, my mother can’t help my father sometimes because of many chores. She does washing our clothes, cooking, cleaning, taking care of us and everything in our house. When I was in high school, I knew that I have to study hard so that I can help my family to have a good life. During my senior years, I decided to myself that when I go to college, I will took up mass communications. I was very fond of watching documentaries in the television. It made me happy when I see some very good news casters, I want to be like them a lot. But when the time comes, my father told me that he cannot afford to send me in a private school because he has no permanent job, “I can only send you in a private school”, my father said. I was so sad that time because there is no mass communication in that private school. But then, I had to understand my parents. I said I will help you, I will work while studying, but my parents refused because they said that even though I can help them, it will not be enough because of the big expenses in tuition, boarding house rent, water and electric bills, projects and other miscellaneous expenses. Because of that, I decided to enroll in the said public school. I took up AB Psychology, and since I didn’t like the course, I was not happy with my decision. I didn’t feel the enjoyment of being a student. After two years of going to college, I quit. My parents was so sad, specially my father. He got mad at me. He told me that I will be the one who is in charge of everything in the house as the punishment for my decision. He said he won’t allow me to go out with my friends. Months passed and my routine never changed. Until one day I decided to go to Laguna to apply for a job. I was employed in garments factory as a warehouse helper. I was the one who counted the accessories that will be put on in a dress like the buttons, hooks and others, then it will be brought in the subcontractors. My daily pay is about 118 pesos. I have a friend there who told me to come along with her in applying to a ball pen company. I was hired and I resigned in the garments factory. My salary there is quite bigger. Then another friend told me that applying in electronic company is much better so I tried to. In all fairness, I was hired in the said company. I stayed there for almost eight years. During my stay there, I had my own family, when I delivered my youngest one, which is the third, my husband let me stop my job so that I can take care of our kids, also my eldest will be going to his first schooling. Now that my children are grown ups, I told them to study hard. We will support them in what the want to do. Follow what your heart desires. I was regretful now that I didn’t finish my college. Yes, I want to be a news caster but we cannot afford to, the least I could do maybe is to finish my course even I did not love it. I always tell to myself, maybe if I finish my schooling, our life would be better.

What A Beautiful Place What A Beautiful Place I feel free. I smell fresh air. I was surrounded by greener environment. There’s a lake where plenty of fish is catched. There’s a lot of bamboos. It’s not noisy. The only noise you will hear is the motorbancas and oftentimes single motorcycles. This is where we live in. a certain barangay in Talim, Island located in Binangonan, Rizal. We had our simple living here. Neighbors are great. Cost of living is not that much. Because we have the Laguna the Bay, most of the locals here are fishermen. And you know what? You can buy a kilo of tilapia here for only fifty pesos or less depends in the size of the fish, the bigger the fish, the higher the price. But it’s not too much, if a kilo of fish consists of 6 to 7 pieces, you can have it for only forty pesos. Great, isn’t it? There’s someone who planted root crops and vegetables, when it’s time to harvest, you can buy for just a low price. A kilo of cassava cost only fifteen pesos per kilo, a papaya can cost five pesos per piece, Indian mango costs ten pesos per kilo, a bundle of camote tops cost five pesos also, a bundle of string beans for only ten pesos and many more crops for low price. And since there’s a lot of bamboo here, another source of income is from bamboo shoots. Bamboo sala sets, tables and chairs, chicken cages, cribs, coin banks and even bamboo pots are available here. Some locals are bamboo set maker, they can earn as much as 300 pesos a day to make a pair. Girls can earn as much as 50 pesos by removing the bamboo skin or “pagkakalis” which is part of making the product. Another product from bamboo which is very popular here in our place is bamboo sticks. It’s very difficult to do because there is so many process in making it. First you’ll get a bamboo, then cut it by size, how long and how thick it is (sticks have many size according to it’s use), next is you will cut one end to make it pointed, after you make some, you will put it under the sun to dry, then in the afternoon you get it and keep, the next day you have to put it back under the sun to ensure that it dried up so well, then you will smoothen it by using cutter blade and after that you will count them and make it in bundles before bringing it to the market. So hard, but you will consider it as labor of love. About transportation, motorbanca is the primary transportation means, we have one boat a day if you will go to the town proper. This is the only boat you can ride back and forth, that’s why if you have something to do in the town or you will go to the market, make sure that you will be back in time, or else you will be left by the boat man. There are motorcycles here, but it’s going only to neighbor barangays, you can not use it going to the town proper. There is also a popular mountain here in island, it is called Mount Tagapo also known as Susong Dalaga. Hikers went there especially during Holy Week. I cannot say anything about Mount Tagapo or how it feels like going uphill because I didn’t experience going there yet. Maybe some other time. If we want to swim and went to a picnic, we can go ride on a boat and go to the “laot” there are some kubo there where you can stay. How happy is that specially when you were together with your family or set of friends. In this place, you are free from water, air and noise pollution. You can eat fresh fish and vegetables. It’s a stress free place, it’s not crowded. What a beautiful place!

Panahon Ko 'to! Panahon Ko ‘to!               Panahon ko ‘to! Ito yung panahon ng mga tinatawag ngayon na mga batang 90’s. Ito ‘yong panahon na masasabi ko na talaga naming hindi ko pwedeng ipagpalit at ipagpapasalamat ko sa Diyos na ito ‘yong panahon na naranasan ko. Matatawag kong ito ‘yong ekstra-ordinaryo, bakit? Sapagkat ito yung panahon na talaga  naming hinndi matatawaran ang kasiyahan nng mga kabataan. Ito ‘yong panahon na wala pa ang tinatawag natin na gadgets o makabagong teknolohiya. Ang panahon kung kalian labis na masaya at kontento ang mga tao. Ang panahon kung saan tila walang puwang ang problema. Parang ang gaan gaan ng lahat. Simple lang ang pamumuhay, walang maraming iniisip. Masaya na sa mga laruan na sariling gawa lamang at hindi pinagkagastusan. Ang itinuturing nap era-perahan ay mga balat ng sari-saring kendi o dili kaya ay mga dahon ng halaman, ang lutu-lutuan ay gawa lamang sa binasang lupa na hinugisan ng kalan, kaldero, kawali, ang mga mangkok at pinggan ay nabibili sa halagang piso na may kasamang tsokolate na gawa sa cocoa at ang pansit -pansitan ay iba’t- ibang uri ng dahon at mga bulaklak.               Madalas na naglalaro ang mga bata ay sa labas ng bahay. Habulan, luksong tinik, luksong baka, patintero, piko, taguan -pung, Chinese garter, sipa, tumbang preso, at langit, lupa, impyerno ang ilan sa mga larong kinagisnan. Nakatutuwa iyong taguan -pung, kapag hindi makitang taya ang mga kalaro ay umuuwi na lamang at umaayaw na ng hindi alam ng mga nakatago kaya naman pag medyo natagalan na sa pinagtataguan ay mapipilitan nang lumabas at walang magawa kundi mainis sa taya at uuwi na rin lamang. May mga iba pang laro tulad ng holen, teks, pogs, jackstone, pick up sticks at tau- tauhan. Masaya din iyong tau- tauhan, guguhit ka sa lupa ng hugis parisukat tapos sa loob noon ay doon ilalagay ang tinatawag na taya tapos may bukod tangi kang tau- tauhan na siya mo’ng gagamiting pamato upang tirahin palabas ng parisukat ang taya at presto! Sa iyo na ang lumabas na laruan.               Bihira noon ang may bisikleta, natatandaan ko noong bata pa ako, kailangan pa magrenta ng bisikleta upang maranasan ang mag bike, sa halagang limang piso kada oras, at marahil ito ang dahilan kaya hindi ako natutong mamisikleta, dahil sa wala akong pambayad ng renta kasi naman ang baon ko lang sa eskwelahan ay piso sa umaga at piso sa hapon. Sa halagang iyon ay nakakapagmeryenda na ako ng pansit o lugaw at palamig na may maliliit na sago. Ang pinakasasakyan naming ay iyong tinatawag na trolley, kapirasong medyo mahabang kahoy, sa tantiya ko ay may sukat na dalawampung pulgada ang haba at may walong pulgada ang lapad, ‘yon bang katulad ng ginagamit ng mga nanay paglalaba, ‘yong tinatawag na iskobahan o washing board sa salitang ingles. Nilalagyan ‘yon ng apat o limang bearing upang magsilbing gulong tapos doon patatakbuhin sa kalsada na mataas-pababa para mas mabilis, nakakatuwa talaga. May mga araw naman na nag kakayayaan kami na magpunta sa ilog, ibiya ang tawag sa amin sa ilog, habang daan ay madaming puno, may bayabas, santol, kaimito kaya naman bago makarating sa ilog ay busog na sa mga bungang- kahoy. Pagdating sa ilog ay agad magtatalunan sa tubig at pag napagod ay kakainin ang dalang pagkain na para sa amin ay napakasarap na, iyong maluto o pack lunch, kaanin lang naman na nakalagay sa pinainitang dahon ng saging, at ulam na ginisang toyo lang na maraming bawang at sibuyas, adobong walang karne ang tawag naming dun. Kapag mainit na at sunog na ang mga balat, magyayaya na ng pag- uwi at takbuhan na!               Pagsapit ng gabi, ang libangan naman naming ay magtambling sa pinag- dugtong- dugtong na unan o kaya ay maglaro sa anino gamit ang mga kamay. Hindi kasi uso ang telebisyon. Mayroong iilan na mayroong telebisyon at kung suswertihin at pinayagan ng magulang ay makikipanood sa kapit bahay. Nakakapanood din naman kami ng mga pelikula, doon sa tindahan ng kapit bahay na may Betamax. Kung gusto mong makapanood, dapat maghanda ka ng piso pambayad, halos punong puno ang sala ng may ari ng Betamax dahil halos lahat ng kapit bahay ay nakikipanood, isang beses lang kasi sa loob ng isang linggo ang palabas.               Ang saya ‘di ba? Ito ang panahon ko at walang makakasapat sa lahat ng magagandang karanasang pinagdaanan ko, at alam ko, madami ang matutuwa at makakarelate ika nga sa mga taong makakabasa nito. Napakasarap balikan ng mga ala- ala.

Pahiyas Festival Pahiyas Festival               Philippines is known and famous because we Filipinos are happy people.  We always have celebrations and it’s part of our cultures and traditions. There are so many festivities here in our country. Some of them are Sinulog festival in Cebu, also known as Santo Niño Festival, which was held on 3rd day of January, it lasts for nine days having lively street parties and parades, Masskara Festival which was held every 4th Sunday of October in Bacolod. It is also known as “Festival of Smiles” because of the masks that people wear. It also has costumes and parades just lie the Sinulog Festival. It can be considered as the Philippines’ Most Colorful Festival. Another one is Kadayawan Festival, it was held at the City of Davao every month of August. It was a thanksgiving event for the gifts of life and nature. It’s highlight is street dancing.               Above all that festivals I mentioned, I can say that I really love the Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon. It’s just because I’ve experienced going there for several times. This celebration is thanksgiving harvest festival to honor Saint Isidore the Laborer, patron Saint of farmers. Held every 15th of May, townsfolk of Lucban, Quezon don their houses with lots of fruits, vegetables, palays and “suman” (a sweet delicacy made from glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaves), an kiping (colorful leaf-shaped wafer made of rice and dyed with food coloring, you can eat it by frying or grilling, it’s very crispy).               Almost all houses are full of “payas” or decorations, everyone give much time to make their houses more attractive and colorful because there’s a price for the best ones. There are so many from different places who visits Quezon Province. Some are celebrities, some are locals from nearby towns, there are also foreigners who are amazed by the colorful and  beautiful decorations. Many of them took photos for souvenirs and post it on Facebook and Instagram accounts. There are lots of local sellers of snack like pancit habhab, the famous pancit in Lucban, it was put on  piece of banana leaf and the way of eating is to “habhab” basically where the name came from, cassava cake or budin, nilipak and many others. If they decided to go home, there are so many stuffs to buy as pasulobong like the longganisang lucban, (so delicious with garlic flavor) pinagong, otap, kamatchile, and other kinds of bread. Not only in Lucban, Quezon, Pahiyas is celebrated also in nearby provinces like Sariaya and Tayabas. In Sariaya, when you are travelling in 4th of May, you can see those decorations along the main road, that is how they celebrate it. In Tayabas, starting 1st of May up to 13th, people gather every night  at the plaza where Local Government prepared entertaining shows like some local bands, comedy shows and sometimes they ask for some celebrities to make people happy. There is also many food stalls where you can buy foods you want while watching the perfomances, alcoholic beverages are also available for more fun. Few houses have their decorations but most of the locals have lots of suman, rice, fruits and vegetables. The celebration there starts when the replica of Saint Isidore began to parade , many people follow the parade and the locals throw away their products, it is called “agawan” or “hagisan”. Everyone have his bags or plastics, parade will follow parade goes around the whole area that’s why when it’s done, people who joined got a lot of stuffs. How happy that experience was! Though everybody is tired of joining the parade, you can see the evident happiness in everyone’s face.               At night, there are some programs like Amateur Singing Contest, parlor games and there are also some local bands performing. It was a party all day and night. Very enjoyable and unforgettable experience will remain in your heart upon leaving the place. You will say to yourself, I will come back in this beautiful and happy place .

My Very First Paid Article in Read Cash               I am a wife and a mother of three. My husband is an electrician who is an average wage earner. I used to be a sewer for several years. We don’t have our own house; we live in the home of in-laws but we divided it with plywood. We live on our own. As my kids are studying in elementary, I don’t work at all because I pay attention for all the needs and schooling of the kids. In other words, I had no income to share for our necessities, only husband provided for the family, and because he earned average income, we are always experienced budget shortage, when my eldest and my second child went on their secondary, I thought that I have to make a way to earn money for us to be able to meet all our needs. That is the time I decided to learn to sew for at least I will be able to work in our home and I will not let my kids neglected. The boss tried to teach me how to use the sewing machine and how to do the clothes. Until I can do it myself I put much hard work and perseverance. From that very moment that I started to be a sewer, I can say that our life is much easier than before. My kids can come to school with allowance and we can took care of all of their expenses regarding schooling.               I thanked God for those blessings until this pandemic came. Husband laid down for work more than two months because of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), not only him, my boss cannot deliver the clothes for that whole quarantine time that cannot afford to give us sewing jobs, we also does not have works for almost two months. I was very sad at that time because we don’t have money to buy food and everything. We struggled that much. When ECQ was lifted, husband returned to his work and also, we sewers, are able to do our job again. Although pandemic did not disappear, life goes on, trying to follow all the safety protocols of our government to ensure everyone’s safety. Until second wave of ECQ came, and the worst thing is our place belong to the so-called ECQ Bubble+ that’s why we are quarantined again and the history repeats.               This is the time when my second child told me to write article for read cash, he used to do that for months now, he earns big amount of money higher than what I earn from sewing. He often told me to start writing and publish articles in the said platform but I didn’t pay attention. But because I have no work right now, I said to my son “okay, I’ll try”. And that’s it! When I published the first article titled Dengue Vaccine/ Dengvaxia, my son happily ran to me to tell that I earned more that four dollars. And I was like, Wow! Amazing! I didn’t expect that, I was so happy that I was inspired to write this second article of mine. I relay the very good news to my husband and he was way grateful to me for helping him to provide for the family. I have my  new source of income. So even when my boss tell me to return to work, I will never stop writing articles. I will introduce this helpful platform to my relatives and friends. I will be forever thankful to this read cash because it help me not only in my earnings but it also help me in enhancing my vocabulary. I also earn money in a short time by writing articles.               In my sewing job, I only earn Php. 200.00 daily by working almost 12 hours, from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm. It’s hard but I have no choice, I have to do it for my family. And one thing is for sure, I will not stop sewing and at the same time, I will try my best to write as much articles as I can, because I love them both.

Dengue Vaccine/Dengvaxia Dengue Vaccine/Dengvaxia Since COVID-19is very rampant nowadays, the World Health Organizations (WHO) and the Department of Health (DOH) together with the vaccine manufacturers are doing their best to create a vaccine that can fight and stop the said pandemic.               But as a Filipino citizen who happened to witness an instance about dengvaxia, how can I trust vaccines which are not really know if accurate or not?               Here in our place, year 2016, when Barangay Health Workers (BHW) went to the Elementary School and said that all students in grade 4 were chosen as the beneficiaries of Dengvaxia. Since dengue is known as a dangerous disease, parents of grade 4 students gladly agreed not knowing if it is advisable  three scheduled shots with six months interval.               Time fly so fast. After two years, a girl who was benefited of that vaccine got influenza, a very high body temperature occurred in her. She vomits, dizziness fill in her, she was weak and had a red skin due to rashes. She isn’t taken to the hospital or any medical establishment for 2 days. She just let her mother give fever medicines. On the third day, the fever has not get lower so mother decided to bring her to the hospital. Unfortunately, there’s no boat to ride to go to the town proper where the facility is, (we live in an isle that’s why our transportation means is by water).               Mother got scared because the girl happen to lost her consciousness. Until a man came, he was the bread delivery boy that came from other barangay. I ask him a favor for us to ride in his little boat called *pagukpok*  for us to be able to go in other barangay who has a trip to the town proper, he didn’t hesitate to say yes and I thanked him that much.               When we reached the hospital, there are so many patients who are in line, we wait until 1:00pm until our turn. When the nurse got the temperature, it’s about 42 degree celcius, she accompanied us to the Emergency room and she immediately put a dextrose in her because according to the nurse the girl is already dehydrated. Hospital staff said that she was going to be admitted for observation. And when she got her blood test, she is positive into dengue. Mother was surprised knowing that her child has a vaccine. In the hospital room where she was admitted, all patients had dengue. Some of them has dengvaxia and some has none. The girl was seven days confined in the hospital, mother terribly scared for what happened to her daughter. She vomits, she had a lose vowel movement, her right lung was filled with water, her color becomes red violet that it looks like a banana-heart and her platelet’s count went down to 18 and the doctor said if she will not recover she will undergo blood transfusion and thanks God it didn’t happen. She lost her appetite that she cannot eat anything and her stomach can’t accept even water, when her father visits her, he always bring the food and fruits the girl wanted to eat . She was monitored by the medical technologist everyday, she got 32 needle shots for getting laboratory sample for different laboratory tests. Until news in the television came out that the said vaccine was not proven yet. Some said that dengvaxia must be taken only by the person who experienced dengue, not the person who has not experience it yet. Meaning to say the vaccine is not yet ready to be injected, it was not fully considered as a good and effective vaccine, it has no proof of 100% accuracy, it’s studies are improperly oriented. How devastating this experience was.               After that instance, how can I trust vaccines which are not yet proven and tested?