This Boy's Life

A Quiet and Uneventful Sunday





Sunday was quite slow and uneventful.

While Hunski woke up early to go on his 5K run with two of his friends, I woke up early to do my 5K laundry. Haha! I finished earlier than I expected so that gave me more time to rest a little bit more.

It was also the birthday of my youngest brother, Andre, yesterday so we had a small lunch celebration.

After lunch, I headed to Makati to attend Mass and to continue looking for a perfect white dress shirt that's within my budget. Haha! I already found a shirt or two that I love but they're just way over my budget right now.

I couldn't find any so I decided to just go to the bookstore and get some stuff for my office desk. I feel like I'm about to start school as I bought a stapler, a pair of scissors, push pins, rulers, pencils, erasers, tapes, tape dispenser and a cork board. Haha!

While I was at the bookstore, Hunski called and said he was in the area so we met up and watched Memoirs of a Geisha at Greenbelt III>

I enjoyed it. I thought that the story was powerful and the locations, the costumes, the set design all added to giving me the feeling of being in Japan. I guess I also liked it because it was "chick flick" for me. Haha! I hope the author doesn't read this because he might kill me. Haha! I just loved how the story had a mixture of everything - romance, culture, politics, even feminism.

Having watched it, I now want the book so I can read it. I think I'll enjoy the book more because I'm quite sure you know that bits and pieces are lost when a book is turned into a movie.

Speaking of books, I'm kicking myself for not having read any book yet for the year. I thought I could read one book each month this year but I haven't even started. Sigh.

Oh well. That was my Sunday. How was yours?

Shopping and A Baby Boy On The Way



Alright, enough about work and let me tell you about how my weekend went. It was quite uneventful actually. By uneventful, I mean no clubbing, no dancing, no Government (and somehow, I'm okay with it.). I haven't seen Richie nor Suki and any of the other Icon people and I miss them. Saturday and Sunday were spent with Xochi. (Now that we're both working and our workplaces are far from each other, we hardly get to spend some time together during weekdays.)

Saturday morning was spent shopping.

Hunski and I went to Gateway because we needed to buy some gifts for the coming baby boy of Hunski's youngest brother and his wife, and gifts for three of Hunski's good friends.

So our first stop was the infants' section of Rustan's. For some reason, I enjoy being in the babies' and kiddies' section. I dunno. I guess it just makes me feel that I'm buying stuff for my own kids. (Thank gawd I don't have one. If I had a baby, I would probably see that as a reason to get something from Baby Dior.) Haha!

I wonder what the sales staff thought about two men buying baby stuff. Haha! I think we were the only two guys together who were shopping in that section. The other people in the area were all husbands, wives and their kids running around.

Anyway, Hunski and I bought feeding bottles and a couple of baby body suits. We also got this very nice baby blanket with yellow trimming that had the words"Thanks heavens for little ones" embroidered on it. There was another blanket but it was blue and had "Thank heavens for little boys" on it. I convinced Hunski we should get the "little ones" because as early as now, we need to teach the baby to be gender sensitive. Haha! Plus, the blanket can be passed on to the next baby of Hunski's brother.

In addition to the baby stuff, Hunski also bought two pairs of pants while I bought two dress shirts for work. Everything was on sale so we saved a lot.

From Gateway, we drove to Makati and finally visited the shop of Team Manila. I suggested to Hunski that we can get some shopping bags and a shirt from there for the three other people that we needed to buy gifts for.

Hunski also bought a shirt for me and himself. It wasn't expensive at all. P350 a shirt, while the bags were P280 only.

After Team Manila, we had to go to BF Homes Parañaque for the baby shower. The party was okay. There were lots of food. I super enjoyed the paella and the callos. Yum!
callos. Yum! I'm a big fan of both dishes. HUnski had some salad and fresh lumpia (which I ended up eating because it wasn't vegetarian.)

We left the party at 8PM and headed back to Quezon City. We were really planning to watch Memoirs of a Geisha but decided to just go home and get some rest since Hunski had a 5K run this morning, and I had my own stuff to do.

That's it basically.

Yummy!!!



I know the Moto Razr is the craze in town with the Pink Moto Razr just out, and the Kate Moss TVC for Virgin Mobile (which features a Moto Razr.)

Now check this out!!!

Dolce & Gabbana dresses up the Moto Razr V3i.

Yummy!

Among the special features of this phone are a customized sound at power on and off, a personalized background and screensaver with DG logo in black and a special video-clip illustrating Dolce & Gabbana's 20 year brand history.

Whoa!!!

You want it. I want it.

But guess what? There would only be 1000 models made of this Dolce & Gabbana phone. Each phone will be individually numbered.

As to how much the phone will be, there's no word on it but I'm quite sure it won't be cheap.

It is available in Dolce & Gabbana boutiques in Italy, Spain, UK, France and Germany.

Who's the Fairest of Them All?



Check out the cover of the annual Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair.

Hot, hot, hot.

News reports say that Tom Ford was included in this photo because another young actress got cold feet.

Alone in the City...Not!!!

Did I mention that on the day I started my work, Hunski, Richie and Suki left for Boracay?

They spent four days at the beach, and came back to Manila yesterday. I'm actually glad that they got to go out of town, especially Hunski. He's been working so hard ever since he got involved in this project so he deserves to have that break.

I just wish I was able to go with them. It would have been fun.

Or it may also be the opposite. Haha!

Anyway, even if I didn't get to go with them, I made sure I would have a good weekend as well.

At the last minute, I told good friends Sean and Romil that I would be crashing over at their wonderful, wonderful Tagaytay home for the weekend. I told them I might be alone in the city over the weekend, and they told me they were more than happy to have me over.

So on Saturday afternoon, I met up with the couple at Romil's clinic and then we started the drive to Tagaytay.

Woo woo woo!!!

After almost two hours of driving(!!!), we finally arrive at their very lovely home. The last time I was there was during New Year's Eve. After that, the two of them did mention that they were planning to do some more renovations. And renovations I saw.

There were three huge aquariums added, new benches, another daybed, among other things. The attic has been fixed to become an office/entertainment section. The huge television was finally mounted on the wall. It was all nice.

I found out that Romil just got himself into feng shui so that was a topic of conversation on the road to Tagaytay, since my Mom is also a big feng shui fan.

Anyway, I brought my things straight to the guest room (which has also changed). I then changed into more comfy clothes.

Afterwards, vacation began.

Woo woo woo!

Saturday and Sunday were basically spent having good conversations about religion, relationships, dead fish, and more renovations(!!! Helped out choose a style for their next project), enjoying the really good food, and watching movie after movie. We watched Mambo Italiano, TransAmerica, Prime, and Serenity. (I fell asleep while watching the last one. The story was just too unclear. The copy was unclear too. Haha!)

I was supposed to go back to Manila on Sunday night since I had work today, but after I fixed my stuff and got dressed, Romil and Sean told me to just stay over for another night. They told me they'd be leaving for Manila today so I can just ride with them.

It didn't take them a lot to convince me to stay since I was enjoying the short vacation. After I spoke to my brother and to Hunski, I changed again into my comfy clothes and went back to watching TV with them.

By 11, I was already asleep. I woke up at 4 in the morning, and we left for Manila by 5. Sean and ROmil dropped me off at Taft Ave. where I took the LRT to get fast to the office. After saying my big thanks and giving the two a big hug, we parted ways.
I reached my office just in time to change into the corporate attire I'm wearing right now, and to have breakfast as well.

That short vacation was really good. I got recharged and I just really enjoyed being out of town.

Well, at least, now I have a getaway to go to when things at work get chaotic and I'm all alone in the city.

Second Day at Work...

Everything's going well so far.

Almost the entire day yesterday was spent in Tanza, Cavite. The company has a training center in the area and I had to go there to cover the closing ceremony of a training course.

So this meant that I had to wake up at an earlier time so I can be at the office by 7 a.m. This wasn't really a problem for me since I have always been an early riser for as long as I can remember.

So I reach the office in time, and after meeting my companions, we took the trip to Tanza, Cavite.

Upon arriving at the site, I have to say I was impressed. It was a very beautiful learning institution. The classrooms were really nice. There were facilities where the students can try out the theoretical skills they learn.

Anyway, when we got there, the participants of the training course - a ship fire fighting course - were preparing for the demonstration of what they were taught. By the way, I should mention that the participants are members of the Philippine Coast Guard. Their instructors, on the other hand, were from the Japanese Coast Guard.

The demonstration was quite impressive. The participants appeared to have learned a lot. This was quite evident from the way they executed everything.

After the demonstration, there was a short program where certificates were given out to the trainees, followed by a yummy lunch.

I got to interview a couple of people from the Japanese Coast Guard, the Philippine Coast Guard, and one of the participants.

A little before two, we headed back to Manila.

It was a good experience. I never thought I'd find myself in the world of shipping.

I hope there'll be more experiences like this in the future.

And So It Begins...

I woke up at six in the morning today.

Took a bath, brushed my teeth, went back to my bedroom, took out the newly pressed white polo barong, brought out the charcoal gray pants, and the very old black leather shoes.

Got dressed.

Brought out my sleek black Tyler tote bag, which has only been used a handful of times over the past two years.

Did some last minute fixing, took another look at the mirror.

Said goodbye to my parents.

And went off to work.

Today was my first day of being part of the corporate world.

Check This Out



PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! LIMITED RUN ONLY - ONLY A HUNDRED SHIRTS PER DESIGN WILL BE PRINTED!

I want a shirt from Team Manila!!!

TBLBITW

I wrote the poem below several years ago, while I was going through a poem writing phase. Haha! This poem is dedicated to the best little boy in the world.

Happy Hearts Day!!!

Just when I have given up on love
Just when I thought it wasn’t for me
Life throws me a surprise
The BLB in the world I meet
Putting the smile back on my sullen face
Making me believe in love again
Bringing back light into my days
Causing my heart to beat again
Beautiful you are
An inch or two taller
With a mind never ceasing to amaze me
A voice soothing like no other
Now that you are here
I pray you would stay
Without you I fear
How I would get through each day
For I do not want to live life alone again
And bathe in misery and sadness
I do not want tears to roll down my cheeks again
Now that I have found happiness
For the short time I have known you
I have grown deeply attached to you
And though this may sound cheesy to you
I just have to say I have fallen for you

Going Corporate...

Uhm, I should tell you that the two highlights of the past few weeks are my Jolo trip (which you probably have already read about in my blog) and...drumroll please... I already found a job.

Yep, yep. By Thursday, I'll be a corporate slave once more. Hahaha! This is what's been taking up most of my time for the past two or three weeks. I've been going to interviews. About four interviews, before I got the call that told me I got the job. Afterwards, I had to do the mandatory physical exam. Everything turned out okay except for my ears which needed some examination. It's nothing serious. Anyway, I went to PGH to have my ears checked by a specialist. This wasn't too difficult to do for the obvious reason that we know a lot of doctors. It's one of the perks of working with Pahinungod. Hahaha!

Going to the job, I'll be working for the Magsaysay Group of Companies. Uhm, the company's been around for 57 years already. It started out as a cargo shipping business, but it eventually grew and grew to the big company that it is now. The current CEO is Doris Magsaysay-Ho. Not sure if they're related to former Pres. Ramon Magsaysay. What I do know is that her mom is Anita Magsaysay-Ho, the great artist whose paintings fetch an arm and a leg at Sotheby's or Christie's.

I'll be working for the Corporate Communications department. Basically, my job will entail writing, writing and more writing, covering corporate events. Believe it or not, I'm a bit scared because even though I have a rich experience in writing and events management (thanks to Pahinungod and Icon), this is my first time to join a corporate environment (unless you count my internship at the Ayala Corporation a million years ago).

Oh well, I hope everything turns out okay.

Go Watch Zsazsa



I'm sure that fans of Carlo Vergara's Zsazsa Zaturnnah have heard that the comics has been made into a ze muzikal and is currently playing at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Yesterday afternoon, Edsel, Hunski, Sharon and I watched the matinee performance of Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal.

It was my first time to watch at the Huseng Batute and I had no idea that it was a very tiny theater. Uhm, it was actually great that that was the venue for the performance because the actors and actresses were much, much closer to the audience and I guess that really established a connection between the performers and the audience.

As for the actors and actresses who gave life to the characters of Ada, Didi, Zsazsa, Dodong, Queen Femina, to name a few, they were among the best in the theater and entertainment industry. Eula Valdez took the title role. Agot Isidro played Queen Femina. Tux Rustaquio and Ricci Chan played Ada and Didi, respectively. And Lauren Novero took on the role of Dodong. (Some of the characters have alternating performers. The ones I mentioned were the performers in the show we watched.)

Alright, what can I say about the show?

As a regular audience, I would have to say that the show was zu-zu-zuper!!!

The cast was really great. I can't imagine other actors and actresses playing the characters. The music and the lyrics were really good. (I wish they sold soundtracks.) The story remained faithful to what Carlo wrote. Uhm, I'd like to write what my favorite scenes were but I don't want to be a spoiler. Let's just say that there was a good mix of drama, comedy and romance. The script and the delivery of lines was superb and drew much laughter from the audience. The ticket prices are also very affordable. (Only P500. For students, it's only P250!)

What I also enjoyed was that the performers met the audience at the lobby after the performance for some autograph signing and picture taking.

If I were you, I'd have tickets reserved as early as now, because I'm quite sure that tickets would quickly be sold out.

February 10 | 11 | 17 | 18 | 24 | 25 March 3 | 4 | 2006 8:00PM
February 11 | 12 | 18 | 19 | 25 | 26 March 4 | 5 | 2006 3:00PM

Tanghalang Huseng Batute (CCP Studio Theater)

Tanghalang Pilipino 832-3661 / 832-1125 locals 1620 / 1621 /
(0920) 953-5381 / 0920 953-5419
TicketWorld 891-9999

Go watch Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal!!!

P.S. Congratulations Carlo!!! :D I'm so Prada you!!! Hugs!!!

Finally Out



The latest issue of ICON is out. Please grab a copy of Fresh.

More Pics from Jolo...

















These were taken on our last day in Jolo.

Some Too Late Thoughts...

I've been wanting to volunteer in the community right after I resigned from Pahinungod.

Some time ago, the thought of volunteering with the church organization I worked with in Mindoro Occidental came to mind. That remained a thought because I had things to attend to.

These past few days, I've been helping my Pahinungod friends do room-to-room campaigns for one of its key programs - the Gurong Pahinungod program. They had to borrow my iBook for the presentation.

Anyway, the Gurong Pahinungod is a program where a volunteer is deployed for one year in a rural community to serve as a teacher in a public high school. It's a nice program because the volunteers aren't just sent automatically to the communities. They have to take up 18 units of graduate courses at the UP College of Education (for free!). They get a stipend, which isn't big at all when you're in Manila, but is more than sufficient when you're in the community.

The program has been running for quite some time now and so far the feedback has been very good - both from the community and the volunteers themselves.

This afternoon, right after our last room-to-room campaign, I thought to myself, "Why didn't I join Gurong Pahinungod?"

For some reason, it slipped my mind that Gurong Pahinungod is a venue for me to do what I've always wanted to do. Isn't that weird? How come it didn't occur to me sooner that Gurong Pahinungod was just there? I've been so distracted looking for a job for the longest time in other places that I failed to notice something that's been there right from the start.

And now that I've finally realized that it's just there, it's a little bit too late.

I say it's a little bit too late because I just signed for a corporate job this afternoon two hours before I went to Pahinungod.

I guess it's not yet the right time.

Let's see how this corporate thing goes.

Back to Manila...

Note: Written on Jan. 29, 2006


Lunch at the Mayor's House


Visiting Raja Baginda's Shrine


You Have to Be There to Love This


Those are Real!!!


More Bodyguards


Unspoiled Quezon Beach


Photo Op


Spot the Solider


Spot the Soliders Again


Here They Are


Sulu Provincial Hospital's Big Bosses Dr. Farah and Ms. Er-Ma


Big Dinner!!!


Pahinungod Team

Today's the last day of the surgical and dental mission.

A little after lunch time, surgeons were making their last sutures and dentists started finishing their dental extractions.

Afterwards, everyone freshened up, changed into civilian clothes and prepared for the other highlight of the health mission - a tour around Jolo. Woo woo woo!!!

Our first stop was at the house of the mayor where a sumptuous buffet was served. Everyone's appetite got all worked up as we saw the grilled fish, steamed crabs, grilled squid, another crustacean dish, rice, and local fruits marang and mangosteen. After washing our hands (we were going to eat the true Pinoy way - with our hands), we took our seats and started digging.

Turtle eggs were also served but I passed. It was a form of silent protest, I guess. Hehe!

When everyone's full, we got on about three vehicles and prepared for the tour. As our convoy drove around town, you could see people on the streets give us a look as if to say, "Who are these people?" I guess the fact that we had a pick-up with about a dozen armed soldiers as our bodyguards added curiosity to the onlookers.

Anyway, our first stop was a shrine in one of the mountains. The shrine is famous because it was the burial place of the man who introduced Islam in Sulu - Raja Baginda.

On the way to the shrine, we passed by a military camp. It's my first time to be in a military camp that's really out in the field so that was also an exciting experience. I got to see all those heavy machinery and men (and some women) in their uniforms. The military camp's location was so strategic because it was situated at an area of the mountain that gave the military a clear view of the municipalities of Sulu, including Jolo. For civilians like us, it was nothing more than a fantastic and breathtaking view of the province.

From the shrine, we took another road trip to Patikul, a neighboring municipality of Jolo. Patikul is where Quezon Beach is located. When we reached the place, everyone just got all excited at the sight of the crystal clear water and the fine white sand. There was no commercial beach resort whatsoever, for obvious reasons, and I actually liked it that it was like that. There wasn't too much noise. We got the beach all to ourselves. The only other people in the area were the people who live in the barangay. We used the cottage of one of the locals who was very accommodating to us. (He's gay by the way and I'm kicking myself for not interviewing him to ask how it's like to be gay in Sulu.)

After having merienda, some of us changed into our swimming attire and headed to the waters. Others took a stroll along the shore. Others took photos of the panoramic view.

The beach was really a nice treat for everyone after working so hard in the past few days. The water wasn't cold at all. There were no jelly fish. The sand underwater was so free of rocks and corals. Every so often, we'd let the just big enough waves push us to the shore.

It was really great.

By five in the afternoon, we headed back to the provincial hospital and prepared for the fellowship night - the culminating activity of the health mission in Jolo.

The hospital administration prepared a program for us, where they thanked us and gave us certificates of appreciation and tokens, and where we had another yum yum yum dinner buffet.

When dinner was over, we just hung out and chatted with each other, enjoying the company of each other. Later on, some started to use the videoke and sang their hearts out.

The afternoon and the fellowship night were so enjoyable. Every single second of it was just fun, fun, fun.

At eleven p.m., I went back to my room and brought out my iBook to watch an episode of Project Runway. I guess I was too tired from the whole tour around town so I was more than happy to just be able to be in bed, in a cool room, with my trusty iBook.

I fell asleep around one in the morning, finding it a bit hard to believe that the whole mission was already over and tomorrow it's back to Manila again.

Day Three in Jolo...


Pumping the Ambu Bag for an Anesthesized Patient


Dr. Angelo???


Head Tilt Chin Lift And Then...


Czech Point in Jolo???


Czech Point in Jolo Talaga???


Bodyguards in Tow


At the Local Market


Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy


At a Local Beach...

The health mission is going quite well. The surgery team has been doing thyroidectomy cases, cleft palate cases, a hysterectomy case, among others. This morning, there were three caesarian sections. Sadly though, two of the three babies were died. And I think one of the patients was a 15-year-old girl.

Last night was more unusual. Nine men were rushed to the emergency room after they were shot by unidentified people. According to the person I spoke with, the men were just standing outside someone's house and a vehicle drove by and shot at them. The surgery team had to work on three of the victims. It's a good thing there were no mortality cases.

Here's what's quite amusing. An hour or two before the victims were shot, the dental team and I were at the place where the incident happened. Since the dental team finished early that day, we decided to go out of the hospital and go around town. We didn't go around town on our own though. The hospital provided us with a vehicle and a driver to take us around. And...they also had two soldiers go with us as bodyguards.

Did that incident scare me? Not really. I mean something like that happens in Manila all the time. And just because I'm a municipality whose reputation has been negatively aggravated by media, I'm not one quick enough to believe that Jolo is not a safe place.

But this doesn't mean that I'm going out of the hospital compound to go around the city. I know that I need to take some precautions, despite the fact that I think that Jolo is safe. There's no point in being stubborn.

Anyway, aside from the surgical operations, the dental team has also been performing tooth extractions. Another team gave a health education seminar to Barangay Health Workers and some military men (probably medics). I stayed most of the time with the health education seminar because the topics were interesting - First Aid and Basic Life Support. I didn't get to digest everything that was taught because I was taking photos and videotaping the session, but I did pick up a number of highly significant information.

Also, one of the facilitators was a US soldier who is in Jolo for the Balikatan Exercises. I learned that there were several of them here actually. It was very interesting. Some of the soldiers were uhm... let's just say that they're Czech Point material. Haha! (If you know Czech Point, then you've been a naughty boy...Haha!)

Moving on, tomorrow is our last day. How come time flies so fast?! Well, it's not like I don't want to return back to Manila. I miss Hunski and my family. Plus, there's this appointment I have to re-schedule.

Alright, tomorrow it's just the surgical team and the dental team who'll be doing the work. Today's the last day of the health training session. The surgeries and the dental extractions will only be till lunch time. In the afternoon, we'll be having our rest & recreation period. I think we'll be going to the vice-governor's house for a lunch, and then to some tourist spots (the locals are talking highly of a certain Quezon Beach), and then in the evening, we'll be having a get-together as a culminating activity.

It should be an exciting day and I'm really looking forward to it.

Here We Come Jolo...


Standing Room Only in the C-130


Finally, a Seat


Layover in Zamboanga


Hello Jolo









It's the first day of the medical-dental-surgical mission here at Jolo. I'm writing this blog entry from the room where I'm staying along with eight other doctors and nurses. (The women are in another room.) Our room is actually the Intensive Care Unit of the hospital. It's okay though. I think this is a new hospital and the ICU hasn't been used yet. So no equipment, no oxygen tanks and no comatose patients sleeping on the bed beside me.

The flight to Jolo was quite an experience. We took a C-130. The flight left Villamor Airbase at exactly 6 AM. We were in Zamboanga by 8 AM, where we had an hour's stopover before taking another 30-minute trip to Jolo.

Here's what's exciting. If you're not familiar with the C-130, it's a cargo plane used by the military to transport equipment, ammunition and soldiers who died in combat. (There were no wooden boxes with a human body inside during our flight. Thank gawd!) Anyway, since it's a cargo plane, there are no seats inside the plane and there's definitely no flight attendant to offer you fresh towels or a cup of coffee. I was standing for about an hour holding on to baggage and trying to grab on to something. The plane was jampacked with about 100 other people, soldiers, relatives of soldiers going back to the province, and 21 of us who'll be doing the health mission.

The take-off was quite smooth. The flight was also okay. There wasn't too much turbulence. What was again quite exciting was the landing. By the time the plane touched the ground, some people weren't prepared for the tremendous speed the plane is going at and some of us ended up being pushed to the front part of the plane. Hahaha! That was quite an experience.

Anyway, upon arrival at the Jolo airport, the first thing I noticed was that it was hot, it was really hot. I didn't expect the temperature to be quite high it felt like I was in an oven. Hehe!

From the airport, we were fetched and welcomed by officials of the Sulu Provincial Hospital and some members of the local government unit. We then did a round of courtesy calls at the governor's office, the municipal mayor's office and finally, the officials of the provincial hospital.

On the way to the hospital, the other thing I noticed (and learned) was that Jolo was really, really small. I guess I thought it was a huge municipality because of the fact that it's always in news reports. But it's actually small.

And there was nothing to be scared of, at least that's what I thought. Yes, you see soldiers walking around with their armalites but such a scene is something I also see whenever I go to other provinces. The surroundings are very similar to what could be found in other rural communities of the country. And because the surroundings are so similar to the other rural communities I've been to, it's easy to forgot that I'm in wartorn Jolo. Perhaps, what told me that I was in Jolo was the fact that when we arrived at the hospital, there were a lot, and I mean a lot, of armed soldiers in the hospital compound. For what reason they're all there, I have no idea.

Anyway, after settling down at our "quarters," the health mission started in the afternoon. The surgery team immediately started performing operations on pre-screened patients. I, on the other hand, brought out my camera (actually, Edsel's camera) and the video cam of Pahinungod so I could start doing what I was supposed to do - take photos and video tape the happenings.

It was a very long day and I immediately fell asleep at a very early 8 (or was it 9) in the evening?

The following day, I learned that the last surgery ended at 3 AM.

After hearing that, I thought, "Wow!!! This is going to be a looooong mission. And I love it! Haha!"