Genessic Park

Eat. Travel. Write. Go To Med School

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Molo / In Film

Molo / In Film

It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning. I still had expired film. And a new camera for my birthday (conceals excitement). She is a Holga 135bc using 35mm film. And I call her Adeline. She is actually given by a very close friend (waves) who kinda gets my obsession with film and old modeled cameras. That friend saw me checking out this cool website where people can order film cameras, films…

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The Coast / In Film

The Coast / In Film

My typical Monday morning starts off with an exam, a difficult-slash-life-shattering one. By noon I’d be slacking off scampering in nearby beaches and coffee shops breathing in the short lived “waay ko tulun-an” moment. The Monday landing on Jan 11, however, I ventured the road beside the coast of Dumangas, Iloilo City with a film loaded camera. And so it goes.   The film I used is an expired…

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The past year has been amazing. I had six months of freedom and the months followed were mostly of med school. Despite not enough time to explore out of my little box of a life, I thought I might as well document every moment I had. 

Time passes. Every moment cannot be exactly the same. If I would be given the chance to take every moment with me, I simply would. 

This is 2015 in my camera roll.

  got some pretty doorways too.

This is one of my attempts to experiment with the aperture.

The road lead us to Miagao, a town past Guimbal where a very old church stood.

One of the towers that stood on both sides of the church.

Busy roads down town.

Nostalgic. I’m beginning to smell meat balls from Roberto’s.

Finally. The beach.

It was a bright and sunny day as we headed out to the town of Guimbal. A small town in an island in the Philippines where my friend and decided to wonder off.

More blue skies ahead, please.

The first thing that we noticed when we came in were the pretty windows.

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

Processed with VSCOcam with f2 preset

  Going to be starting this new series of monthly photos of how my camera roll looks like. Not gonna be posting all that’s in my camera roll though. (You wouldn’t want med-school stuff all over your screen)

It certainly is not that much for an entire year but I think I got the gist of it, though. 

      2015 / Camera Roll The past year has been amazing. I had six months of freedom and the months followed were mostly of med school.

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Iloilo in Film

It’s been a while (4 more or so years) since I had my Nikon FM10 in my hands again. So stoked when I found out it still works.   If some of you guys have read my previous posts about my camera, I was deeply trying to find a place where I can purchase rolls of film. Well, after “stalking” my classmate’s instagram yesterday, I found out there was this place in the city where these rolls are sold. …

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Curvus Cafe : coffee+sea+sunsets

Driving wasn’t my refined skill at the recent so my friend and I resorted to afternoon driving lessons on the coastal road in Dumangas, Iloilo City. It was a warm sunny day and as sunset approached – and as my driving skills are getting a tad better – a little building standing on the bay at the edge of the curve surfaced. This little island that we have come to discover – by my impressive…

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Roses are for the Weak

Roses are for the Weak

It’s for those who can’t sleep, who can’t resist looking,    for those who can’t help but check that profile one more time,  check that messages one more time,  refresh that feed one more time,  pass by that street one more time,  read those letters one more time,  look at those eyes one more time,  cry to sleep one more time,  curse one more time.   Roses are for the weak,  weak enough to always…

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“Be a mountain” is a common phrase we used to say in Block 1 and Block 2 every time the doctor/professor asked us to focus on a yoga position.

Oh, did I mention we are taught to meditate in Med School? Yeah, we were. 15 minutes a day for two weeks. Tough task to undertake without falling asleep face down on the floor.

But I’m not gonna tell you about yoga positions, nor meditation, what I’m about to share is the opposite. I’m gonna talk about chaos – in its most quiet of forms.

  Small Group Discussions: A non-Team player’s worst Nightmare

Before I start let me give little background on the story, I’m not sure if this applies to every med school out there in the vast universe but in the med school where I go in, students were grouped. Twelve people were assigned a group to do small group discussions. The discussions were centered on defining the problem of a certain case and all the tedious things that follow…

Organizing one’s own thoughts is already difficult as it is but of course, med school calls for a tougher challenge, as usual.

We are tasked to organize each other’s thoughts, discuss them, please the doctor observing/grading us, and make sense out of everything.

My initial thought about the exercise was unremarkable. I was indifferent to the process, putting it bluntly – I didn’t care. (Laughs) All I cared about was how eleven of us could be more than just a group, how eleven of us could be more than this.

The superficial image of teamwork and the like, has become all too hypocritical and worse has even become a trend: my group, however, chose otherwise.

Group 6: The group who always fails

Yup, we do always fail. We always fail to please the demands of society and succeed to stick to who we are. Not a wise thing to do in a world where impression is everything. Laughs.

But what the hell? We’re undeniably good at it.

And the one thing that I’ve least expected is this: to make friends out of the eleven of them.

These people are the best to goof around with and be each one’s own self. This somehow lead us to do the group activities easier and even better.

Group vs. Team

Like any other set of individuals, we were exposed to a series of challenges before we get a hang of how the system works.

We sucked at planning and did poor at organizing but somehow this became a thing of the past. Here’s what we did:

Practice arguing

We have come to realize this when we sensed that we were doing poorly in group discussions. Most of us were silent people. Although, silent people are not bad at discussions at all. It’s just that society demands a lot of talking and arguing to call a discussion GOOD.

We, however, did not oppose to that thought. We knew all along that we could benefit from it. Arguing is now a skill we developed. Thank you, society.

And another remarkable thing that we developed is how to talk through the un-ironed remarks and make them crisp and new, just like making our own language to explain something to make what was once a vague complex thought, now a clearer and simpler one. F you society. :)

We did this on explaining: Spinal Tracts, and Effects of Caffiene. These topics will never leave my mind again even if I willed it.

  2. Understand Each other’s Concerns

Some of us are very reluctant on sharing our problems and that is something that we have overcome as well.

Some things might not be clear to one member and this could make them feel left out. Instead of feeling a sense of oneness with the person beside you, that member could be confused the entire time what everybody is talking about.

Thus, we have learned a second skill: To talk and be honest about it. 

Talking it out could not be enough to solve someone else’s problem. A couple of tries would not make it better. But when a person is honest enough to say which is hard or easy for them, the task of make someone understand becomes much easier.

For those who understand a topic easily gets to explain to those who find the topic difficult. Simple. The tough part is admitting which is easy from which is difficult.

3. Be a mountain

Be strong and firm as one. Together.

People may have different opinions on how well your group does. People will also have their own ranking on the Best group/Worse group out there.

There will also be rumors circulating around the faculty of how many time you guys fail.

But rumors are for those who make them – not for those who are being targeted.

These are the things that make you learn where you stand, where you should improve in, know what is true from what is a here-say. 

Relax. Distinguishing a “must-take-this-seriously” Rumor from “thank-you-for-making-us-famous” Rumor gets easier as they roll more punches. Wink*

A team should be as strong against the none sense as it is vulnerable to real life lessons. It should not be loud, provoking – or it can be sometimes, unintentionally. It should be strong, quiet, simple, giving but like the mountains have crests and troughs. 

It’s gonna be a long way up in med school- true. It’s gonna take some time, just a couple of years perhaps- but having friends for a team makes us look at the clock less often.

Be A Mountain: how 11 different people chose to be a Team "Be a mountain" is a common phrase we used to say in Block 1 and Block 2 every time the doctor/professor asked us to focus on a yoga position.

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  Before school starts my classmates and I decided to run away drive away. :) And here is a gallery of the things that we did.

Blue sky. Blue Car. Blue ocean: Road trip to Miag-ao and San Joaquin, Iloilo Before school starts my classmates and I decided to run away drive away. :) And here is a gallery of the things that we did.

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The trip to Bacolod had it’s own surprises and one of them was spending time with my best friend.

~

The surface that we’re sitting on is very hot. We had to hold this position for about a minute until the tour guide took the photo. Right after this was taken we ran to the nearest shade and laughed how absurd it was to go to the Ruins at mid day. Oh well. Less people. Less photo bombers. A few seconds of scorching sunlight must have been worth it.

~

We went to pre-med together taking up Bachelor in Science in Medical Technology in the University of San Agustin, Iloilo City.  The bond we had made us last during internship and all the catastrophes in between until board examinations in Manila.

Currently, we are both taking up medicine with an ocean between us. 

She is currently taking up med school in Bacolod City while I in Iloilo. The universities that we are currently in are both pretty good however, there is a little difference in the curriculum. This factor then, prevented us from actually pursuing the over-the-skype group studies that we used to plan. Despite that, though, we’re doing alright.

And after the first semester in med school, the both of us finally reunited and there was a lot of laughing involved as you can see.

We ate with their parents at this cute Korean restaurant: 2 Story Kitchen. They had healthy choices in food. Anne and I shared the plate with two steaks in them and yes, it was good. The food was a fresh and light too.

  The potatoes were really good. The flavors went well with the steak especially with the mustard.

  Having the chance to talk to her again was a blessing and being apart also taught us many things. One of them is that communication is a vital part.

One moment she would message me in facebook, then she’s reply to my tweet, then I’d text her.

Social Media was all over the place: so my tip for those who have their long distance friends is to have one definite way of communication – to understand each other better and so not as to overcrowd your social media apps with several notification buttons. 

Well, in our case right now, I’m resorting to change phone networks. ‘Cause sometimes, sacrifices must be made.

Second semester is starting soon and having someone to share thoughts with is always a good idea.

  ~GP~

Long Distance Friendship: How my best friend and I survive Med School Apart The trip to Bacolod had it's own surprises and one of them was spending time with my best friend.

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A Suture Story: Tales of my First Surgical Mission

A Suture Story: Tales of my First Surgical Mission

~ The sunrise that day was remarkably beautiful. The rays were already blistering the clouds as we crossed the metal bridge lined with wood planked steps to the fast craft vessel bound for Bacolod. I had to rush while taking this photo. I was about to cross the bridge and there’s still a lot of people lining up behind me. In a few attempts in surgical missions, I failed to do the actual surgical…

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The Waves in Between

The Waves in Between

I have come to a point where I’m not entirely sure or unsure about something. I just doze off, drift away and land on heaven knows where. Growing too accustomed to the life on the run in med school, pausing a bit already feels surreal. I deal with it as best as I can. Overcome it. Let it pass. Letting the waves move me a little. Then, I stop. The all too tiring cycle left me uprooted. Life has…

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The Vanishing Girl : A Life Update

The Vanishing Girl : A Life Update

First, let me start this blog with an apology. A moment of silence for that. Okay, let’s end it there. ~ For the past nine months I have been away, I was basically stuck in med school. Yes, I got in. The last time I posted something in The park is about a movie review I did during the long six month lag I had before going to school again. After that post series of unfortunate events for the…

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☀️

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Nailhead Upholstered Cork Board via Earnest Home Co.

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Cannoli Wraps

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Red Velvet Doughnuts with Cream Cheese Frosting