For the past 2 weeks, due to shortage of doctors on call in her department, my Duktura has been duty-from & honestly, I don’t know how she got through it. At all.

Duty-From means she is on-call from 7am to 5pm the next day (that’s 32 hours!!). The goes back at 7am again the next day until 5pm again. FOR 2 STRAIGHT WEEKS!! For the OB department with laborers left & right, there’s really not much hope of sleep. You’re lucky if you get 15-30 mins of shut-eye during a labor watch just so your brain doesn’t get so cloudy. Imagine falling asleep while cutting open a patient in the operating room, omg!

Residency Roadmap

So when Duktura said she was thinking of flying to HK over the 3-day weekday after those 2 hell weeks, I didn’t think twice and said YES right away kahit madami pa kaming gastos na dapat asikasuhin. Her past 2 weeks had been so very toxic that it was the least I could do for her.

All 3 of them suffer the same fate actually. My babyson, since starting his job, has also had little to no sleep – spending most of his waking moments in the OR as the 2nd assist (a Medical Intern’s job is to be a Surgeon’s second assist when rotating in the surgical department. The Resident is usually the 1st assist, handing instruments). He does the menial job & task of retracting the cut-open skin so the surgeon can see what’s inside. And he holds this position for as long as the operation is in progress. He is NOT allowed to move his arms since the operation is delicate in nature. Ngalay to the max, I tell you.

Meanwhile, our bunso also has to go all the way to Pasig na din daily since the start of the new school year, commuting 2-3 hrs each way because of the back-to-school traffic. I admit that I am selfish, I cannot have my last remaining child also stay at her condo near school. Mababaliw ako with the emptiness sa bahay. And I will worry constantly kung nakakain na ba sila, o ano na ang lagay nila. I kenat.

All 3 of them deserved a break, but only 2 were able to. Babyson had to stay behind because his schedule didn’t permit it. Syempre, nag-uumpisa palang sya sa trabaho. His silver lining was having a place nearby as a halfway home, so at least he doesn’t have to drive home na after a long, tiring day at work. As an intern, he also follows his ate’s schedule of pre-duty-from. (Pre means 7am – 5pm PENDING open cases).

So a few days before her 3-day golden weekend due to the holiday, we finalized “The Plan”, hurriedly booked a flight to HK for the 2 gals, and looked for a hotel that deemed safe & near the bus/train stations.

The girls are aged 28 & 23 already, and they’ve been to HK many times in the past & familiar with the area, so we weren’t as anxious letting them go on their own as we would someplace else, or somewhere sketchy. They are still very sheltered, very pampered ladies, after all.

Day 1.. (night na paglapag nila, actually)

Day 2 (full).. I made arrangements for a dinner at Mott 32. Kap & I ate there for our 32nd anniversary & the place really made a big impression on us. Not just because of the aesthetics (sobrang ganda sa loob, I kid you not), but the food was also SO incredible! Sobrang panalo yung melt-in-your-mouth na Applewood roasted Peking Duck (approx Php 7k/whole – need to order & reserve in advance) and super tender BBQ Iberico Pork (approx Php 2.5k/order – also need to order & reserve in advance). You can view their complete menu HERE. I promise you, worth the money! Make it a point to visit at least once when you go to HK. <3

Of course a trip is never a trip without some budol & shopping. ;)) Nagulat nalang ako bigla kasi ang narinig ko, SAPATOS lang ang nasa agenda nila. Aba, maya-maya napunta na bigla sa ALAHAS??? ;P But it’s ok. Duktura works super hard for her money, of course she should be able to buy what she wants with it. And dalaga sya, with no expenses other than her luho, so it’s not something that needs to be an issue (wag lang malalaman ng tatay, hehe!).

Of course they didn’t forget to buy pasa for their brother..

Day 3 (uwian na).. Is it bad (or good for me) that the girls’ last day was uneventful? ;)) All the Chanel & Hermes shops didn’t carry the style & size they set off to buy. Lahat talaga ng lugar around HK, nilibot nila, but they left with nary a package, teehee. Ang nabili lang nila (aside from Duktura’s big purchase) were Lululemon & other random clothes.. oh, and a Goyard wallet for my Babyson, his one & only bilin (pero hebigat naman ang presyo lol).