I arrived on Christmas afternoon. The flight was exhausting. Wasn't allowed to move for the first hour because of turbulence and it kept coming every now and then. I sat by the window, as usual. The seat next to mine was empty and then next to it was a cool lady whom I exchanged a few conversations with. We were given the migration papers after getting off from the plane, so while walking to the migration point, I wrote down my information. (Yay multitasking). Adjusting to the changing timezone was a piece of cake. The weather was hot and humid, I was feeling yucky but it didn't matter the moment I saw my parents. Thankfully, I wasn't stopped to have my luggage checked, which means my gifts (mainly food) were intact!

After my family picked me up, we went for some ice cream and then went home. My little buddy, my doggie, was kind of confused yet excited to see me. I later had a nap and spent some quality time with my parents.

On the 26th, my big family (uncles, cousins and nephews included), went to have lunch. We went to a restaurant 20 minutes away from the city, which is known for its delicious meals and live monkeys to interact with. My nephews seemed to have lots of fun.

On the 27th I hung out with my best friend from high school, who currently resides in Massachusetts, US. We walked around the shopping mall and stopped at clichéd Starbucks. Still talking about the good old days and sending snaps of me torturing some ginger man to our other friends.. we had a blast of a laugh. We then exchanged our Christmas gifts and she also gave me a few stuffs I had asked her to bring, obviously after having paid for them. And now, I finally have a new tablet! ;w;

A Wacom Intuos Pro!

Her gift! Thank you so much!

The next day I went to greet some acquittances. To name a few: my uncle and aunt, my cousins, my brother-in-law, my non-official parents-in-law (oh, childhood romance), my mom's friends, my maid, and some employees.

Following that day I had to go work at my parent's lil shop, while my father went to the main one and both my mother and brother took a flight to another city to resolve some business issue. (Damn scammers). I spent most of the day testing out my tablet.

Friday that week felt so long. I went to another shopping mall to meet up with my friends and went bowling. Seriously, that's the only sport that I enjoy playing. We played two lanes and I won both of them! They are stronger than me, but their accuracy... they need practice.

Then we talked about stuff that happened while we were apart. I had to be back at home before dinner, so that's when we said our goodbyes. Later that night my mom started to feel physically bad. I was with her the whole time, but it hurt to see her suffering as I couldn't do anything. She told me she was feeling strong cramps, but not necessarily were they cramps. She was on bed, sobbing and sweating. I held her hands tight, and called for my father. In my house, we're not easily convinced by doctors. We don't like relying on medicine, and going to the hospital is just for serious accidents. My mom was the one who taught us this, but she was also the one who begged my father to take her there. So, my parents, my brother and I went to the emergency room. My father had to look for a place to park the car, my brother went to get an emergency ticket, and I was there with my mom feeling nauseous. The service was awful. An emergency is an emergency, it's urgent. But the nurses were just telling me to wait. My mom's body temperature was low. Way too cold for me to remain calm. I had to leave my mom alone on the wheelchair because the doctor had called me to fill in my mom's information. Later they proceeded to check my mom. I was taken out from there, alongside my father. Only my brother was allowed to accompany them.

Both my father and I were tense. The night felt long, time was too slow. We feared the worst. We didn't know what was going on. Then, my parents' friends visited us. The tension wore off, but deep inside we were still worried. It was already Saturday 1AM. The friends were already gone and we could finally see mom. She was half-asleep. She was given painkillers, but even so, her body was cold and her lips were blue. Never in my life had I seen such lip colour. Her skin was very pale. I fought the tears back and as I smiled, I told her she was going to be alright. My father and I went back home, while my mom and my brother stayed. I could barely sleep, and my father hardly ever slept.

On Saturday I went to work with my dad. News already had spread, so a few acquittances asked how she was doing or what was wrong with her. She has Renal Colic. A 0.5x0.7cm kidney stone stuck on her urinary tract, which is the one causing her pain, and a 2cm one in her kidney, which, while it's still inoffensive, can cause problems in the future. We closed the shop earlier than usual, and then went to visit mom who had been transferred to another clinic. Mom, with the painkillers, was enjoying herself. She told us that the food she was given was surprisingly good, and that she might stay longer just for it. She probably told us that so we could rest assured. We stayed with her, and then waited for her return from the examinations. New Year's Eve was at the clinic. What a start of a year, huh? Watching the first few fireworks at the hospital. Later, the doctor came with the results, which I already explained. No one could do anything about it because every doctor in the field went on vacation and wouldn't be back until Tuesday of the following week. We couldn't take mom back home because she still needed painkillers and serum injected to her body. Mom insisted and sent my father, my brother and I home. Back at home, I bathed my doggie and let her in because of the non-stopping fireworks. As I watched the fireworks from my bedroom window and hugged my doggie, I couldn't stop thinking about my mom in pain. Her body temperature was back at normal, her appetite was normal, and she talked more, yet I couldn't help but worry. Mom was never strong, you know. That uneasy feeling made me wish no one had to go through the same thing as us (especially during the holidays). So then I just went on sending messages to my family and friends, greeting the new year that had come. My brother went to the hospital again, sent by my father, and slept in the car. 수고했어, 오빠!

For her

Fireworks near home

On Sunday, my first visit to this church this year, I greeted the people whom I was with while growing up. The kids have grown nicely and now they're healthy teenagers, and the elders have grown old as well. Later that afternoon we went to pick my mom up. We decided to take her back home because nothing could be done until Tuesday anyway, and she said the edible medicine would be enough. In case she felt extreme pain again, we'd have needed to take her back to E.R. The rest of this day was just lazy. Our bodies had been stressed for the past few days, so that was the day we finally rested.

On Monday the 2nd, I told my family that my brother, the eldest and the one whom I live with at the side house, was coming on Friday the 13th. Of course they freaked out, because he's the most strict of the members. He complains about almost everything and is such a perfectionist. He's like the inspector who checks on the main house's state, hahah. The main house was a mess. The first day I came in, I told my parents to clean and organise everything. I did it to prepare them, but it made no effect. But once they knew my eldest brother was coming, they started moving like crazy. So starting that day until his arrival, we had painters, builders and a plumber at home. I had to either stay at home to prevent them from doing anything shady or go to work.

Then on the 5th, I told my family that my brother's girlfriend was coming along. And they did really freak out. The house was even more of a mess than before. And we kept being busy.

On Friday the 6th, I went with a friend of mine, her kids, and my brother to dine at an unusual place. My first time trying s-snails! >_< It was very exotic to me, but it didn't taste anything but melted butter with garlic and oregano. Snail flavour(?) was overwhelmed by the butter mixture. It was funny to look at the kids' faces while trying their best to eat it too. I went back at home at 1:30 AM.

The following day, I was dead. I was too tired at work and the heat didn't help. My father and I were bored to death, and the shop on Wednesday and Saturdays doesn't have internet connection at all. Even my phone signal barely worked so.. I didn't even have 4G connection.

The next day, Sunday, I was invited to a small anime and comics convention. I went at around 3PM with my brother. Because it was a small convention there wasn't much to see, however, there were more people than what I had expected. None of us wore any costumes, yet people would come to us and ask either my brother or me if they could take a photo with any of us. (This is not the first time ever happening to me, it happened when I wasn't that active on my blog so I never mentioned this). I kindly refused but had to wear my mask because 1. there was a strong sweaty smell as it was quite humid and hot and 2. there were stalkers following us and taking photos without permission. I didn't buy anything, but I'll just hope that the next convention I'm invited to will have more merchandising and more interesting stuff. The cosplays were okay..ish. And the activities.. geez, whoever organised this needs a better team.

The busy days continued. On the 13th, I went out to see my best friend, who was to leave back to Massachusetts on the 15th. We bought white tees and fabric paint and wrote our nicknames on the front and one of our many inside jokes on the back. I made the outlines and she filled them in.

As our last day together, we shared a few drinks and played a little game we did back in the times. I'm not even that old to talk like this but oh well. As we said our goodbyes, none of us cried or started any drama. We knew this wasn't the end. We knew we would eventually meet again, no matter how much time passed. Also, we can keep talking via LINE and sending each other embarrassing snaps.

I went home to get my room ready for the visitors. "Sister-in-law" would be sleeping at the room downstairs while my big brother would sleep at my room upstairs, and I'd go to my other brother's room.

It's been a week since then, a long week I must add. I'll write about that in another post.

If anyone is wondering, my mom is feeling alright, though she feels pain every now and then. Also, I don't know if it was the stressful days at the hospital, or my depression from October of last year, but I've lost weight and I'm currently underweight. I'd need 6 to 8kg (13~17 lbs) more to be normal weight again. (I was checked during my stay at the hospital, zero assumptions.)

Another notice: I won't be visiting NYC this year and probably not anytime soon either.