Memories of Danang, Vietnam

    I created this post to remind myself of how blessed I am/we are to have been given a chance to live in this quiet, simple, and laid back city for one year. That was in 2012 until May of the following year. We have travelled to other Asian countries but nothing compares to the simple and friendly atmosphere of Danang. Others may find Danang dull and boring that's why there aren't much tourists vacationing here. When they do come to Danang, usually only to pass through on their way to Hoi An, which is a very popular tourist destination in Vietnam.
     I guess you just have to delve deeper into Danang's hidden places to be able to enjoy the city. 

Hoang Vang St.

I think this was called Con Market

view from our flat, Danang at sunset

expo center

Syringoma and MiliaTreatment RCC Amazing Touch Clinic

     I have two visible and very obvious milium cysts or milia on my right eye. One on the eyelid and one on the inner corner. I wasn't really bothered by it, until recently my brother pointed at my eye one time and said "sis, you have an eye booger on your right eye". Immediately, i looked in the mirror and was shocked to see that the milia on the inner corner of my eyelid really does look like an eye booger...or crusties...or what we Filipinos call as morning glory...or muta in our language. It was really ugly.....

milia on upper eyelid and inner corner

     Milia are small white or yellowish cysts that may form anywhere on the face but commonly found on the eyelids and cheeks. These bumps contain whitish material in them called keratin. These are not to be confused with whiteheads.

     Syringoma on the other hand are flesh colored harmless bumps that develop commonly around the cheeks, lower eyelid, forehead, armpits, chest, and even on the abdomen.

syringoma on my lower lid, cheeks, and forehead

     
     This time instead of having my syringoma and milia cauterized, I opted for RCC Amazing Touch's treatment by application of herbal cream made of cashew nuts on my problem areas. The cream, named Desyringoma is applied directly on the bumps using a toothpick or a fine needle. Honestly, the cream, when first applied had this burning stinging sensation.....like some huge needle piercing...really really painful. If you have low tolerance for pain...well then good luck! haha....and it would make treatment a lot longer. But then again, as the cream painfully burns more and more bumps, you get immuned to the pain somehow. But honestly, I shed tears over this treatment because the cream stung so much, but then the pain goes away 45 seconds to 1 minute after application...So in case you cry...you are not alone!

Festival Supermall branch. This is where I went.

This was after my treatment:

milia, now burned by the cream.

and this one too

syringoma now burned

RCC Amazing Touch International, Inc. proudly uses the world-acclaimed inventions of Rolando C. Dela Cruz, world-class Filipino inventor, which garnered awards and recognitions for inventions in the Philippines, United States of America, United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and neighboring countries in Asia.

check out their website here www.rccamazingtouch.com

Baking with my Turbo Broiler

     I've never really considered myself a baking enthusiast. In our house where I grew up, my mom's old but reliable bulky gas oven never enticed me to bake something in it. So when I got married, I didn't think about buying an oven.
     It was in 2012 when I had an overwhelming interest with the Turbo Broiler because I heard that this small kitchen appliance can do so many wonders when it comes to cooking. Funny, because my mom had this turbo broiler in our house since I was a little girl but I never really got interested with it. I know for a fact that this turbo broiler was soooo 80's and most household during that decade had this wonder cooker. 
     Cooking without the additional oil like roasting or broiling were really the main reasons for getting it. But then my girls demanded that I should learn how to bake because some of their friends' moms baked really really good. And so I turned to my trusty Turbo Broiler...and yes, you can bake in it!

     I baked these in my turbo broler:

chocolate chips cookies

meat loaf

Shepherd"s Pie

     

Amanda's delayed speech ( part 2)

      Like I said from my last post on Amanda's delayed speech, her NeuroDev Pediatrician recommended to avail of speech therapy from a speech pathologist. I was a given a list of therapy centers and I chose the one closer to where we live, in Paranaque. It's called Communicare Therapy Center for Children, located at Aguirre Avenue corner Jerusalem Street, BF Homes Paranaque City. Most of their speech therapists/pathologists are female. So far I've only seen two male therapists there. 

     Before the speech therapy proper to begin, first the Center will send you via e-mail a lengthy information sheet to be filled up then to be emailed back to them. Next, the parents should attend a family meeting with one of the coordinators of the center. Then, your child will be scheduled for assessment test with a fee of P2,500.00. After assessment, therapy proper may begin the following week or so depending on the available schedule of the therapist given to your child. And oh, you will also be asked to pay P2,600.00 deposit before your child therapy begins. An hour's worth of therapy is P650.00. My daughter's doctor only recommended a 0nce-a-week therapy session with the speech pathologist.

     So far, my daughter had been doing speech therapy for almost 7 months now. All I can say is that therapy had been beneficial for her progress. Amanda is now able to answer questions answerable by yes or no, no longer parrots, and has become more sociable. Well, she does attend Nursery class by the way. But so far me and my husband have seen a  lot of improvement. Not quite the narrating type of child...but we're getting there!

     So if you think your child has some sort of speech delay, I would suggest that he/she undergo therapy. But first, find a very good Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician. By the way, my daughter's doctor is Dr. Cielo Malihan of Perpetual Help Las Pinas Hospital.

Amanda's Delayed Speech

     We were in Vietnam when my youngest daughter Amanda was around 2 years and 3 months old  where I noticed that she wasn't talking much. At this age, she should have at least spoken more than 200 vocabulary words or so. And so a year went by until the time we got back here in the Philippines last year, her speech  did not progress and so we were left with a 3-year old who speaks her own language--her made up language, gibberish in short! Most of the time she was parroting, meaning she imitates the words that you tell her. She also cannot answer questions answerable by yes or no. She cannot narrate events too.

      Amanda's speech was not developing like other kids her age. At first I was worried. She is incomparable to her two older sisters. Between the ages of 2-3, Arissa and Samantha were already storytelling and communicating with others really well. As for Amanda, wanting or rather requesting for something was expressed through her whining, crying, and throwing tantrums at someone. 

     So around September of last year, through the internet, i found a Neurodevelopmental Pediatrician. I called the clinic and was given a five-month wait for my scheduled appointment. I was shocked because I didn't know that I had to wait that long before Amanda and I could see a doctor. Well, according to the secretary, there are only around 50 Nuerodevpedia doctors in the Philippines...oh so that's why....

     To continue, we got an appointment the following year which is February 2014. On our day of appointment, The doctor conducted a test that would evaluate her motor skills, language skills, and personal-social skills. After doing so, Amanda was advised to avail of speech therapy. I will be talking about that soon.

     

why, hello blogger...nice to see you again!

     My last post on this blog was dated September 22, 2012. That's about 2 years and 3 days ago. My whole family was still in Vietnam back then. Fast forward to 2014......my kids and I along with yaya have been back in the Philippines for more than a year. We went back home summer of 2013.
     Yes, we were a bunch  of happy expat family in Vietnam but the kids got bored. You see, my husband was not assigned in Saigon. He was assigned in Danang, Central Vietnam, and so we were there too. Coming from a country where malls sprawled everywhere, Danang had no standard sized malls to go to. Locals usually do their shopping in places where all kinds of merchandise ( food and non-food items)  are housed under one roof! it's the market. No air conditioning of course. There are a few supermarkets here and there and one international Hypermart named METRO. The small buildings that lined the streets usually have assortment of stores in them - from electronics , appliances, clothes shop and etc.
     Before we went home a newly opened shopping center, the Lotte Mart excited the city population. On the first day of opening, i almost had a panic attack because so many people went inside the complex.. I could barely move my arms while on the escalator. Just too many people. Well, it's like a mini-mall though, but not big enough to be called a Mall. I guess the locals of Danang got so excited about it. Still, the complex didn't offer much. Just a few restaurants, cinema, supermarket, a small department store, and nothing more.
     There was really nothing to get my kids excited in Danang. We can't even find a ballet school, or a music school, or a modern dance school...and my kids were homeschooled - and that added up to their boredom.
    If there were only extra curricular activities in Danang, we wouldn't have gone home. Life was extra sweet there. My husband had a very nice family expat package! We lived in a Condotel shouldered by  hubby's company at $2000.00/monthly. All our utilities were shouldered too like- water, gas, and electricity. We had an Innova company car and provided too with a Vietnamese driver. So there, we really only had to spend for our food consumption!
     But still all of these didn't make my kids happy, therefore me and hubby felt sad for them too, thus the decision to come home was inevitable.