a sunny saturday afternoon

yesterday, i found it difficult to work despite the surge of caffeine in my veins. alisa was alone at home, nursing a rumbling stomach and a fever that didn't cool off. yesterday was also redapple's third birthday, and so i and my officemates infused ourselves with pansit malabon and last year's red wine.

dazed (and somehow energized) by the red wine flowing in my veins, i sped to the nearby henry sy mall, and direct to rose pharmacy to get me some medicines. alisa prefers advil (ibuprofen), while i rely on classic cortal (aspirin) to relieve pain. the difference? dunno. apparently, aspirin also helps to relieve high blood pressure, which i get whenever i munch on chicharon and daing.

here in cebu, buying at stores with counters is more organized than buying in manila. you get a number, and wait for your number to be called to be served. i wonder why it can't be done in the imperial city that is manila.

with number in hand and an half-hour of waiting, finally, i got to tell the pharmacist what i had needed. advil wasn't in stock, so i bought medicol instead (medicol's formula had changed to ibuprofen. their ads are funny!), six in all, vicks vaporub, and the smallest bottle of white flower embrocation.

when i got home, alisa was on the bed, with a blanket on. she was hot (no pun intended). at least, my worries were lessened since i was already home. she hadn't eaten anything since her stomach was still hurting.

while on my way to buy medicines, i thought about cooking comfort food for her -- arroz caldo. in the larder, we keep malagkit rice (here they call it pilit), literally translated as sticky rice, so we can cook champorado (chocolate porridge) or, as last night's case, chicken porridge.

after an hour, the porridge was ready, and we ate together. before midnight, her fever had subsided, and so we slept, fitfully. i for myself felt good, since she wasn't sick anymore.

and so, today, a sunny saturday afternoon awaits me and alisa. later, we'll be heading off to gaisano country mall, a mall we haven't "explored." a "battle of the bands" sort of concert will be held there later.

thank God she's okay now.