Of hospitals and malls
Posted by: Fats in: What and WhyA visit to the doctor today for the follow-up check on my sinus problems. Again, my insurance managed to cover doctor’s fees but not the drugs. I bought the last dose of antibiotics, quite expensive, although the doctor said that they were relatively cheaper than two other brands of the generic co-amoxiclav. I asked if they were broad spectrum antibiotics and she said yes.
My partner asked if our greater resistance to antibiotics meant more danger to the people around us. The doctor described how bacteria in poor communities were easier to treat than bacteria found in hospitals. She also described how surprised she was that for relatively mild infections, doctors in the US and similar medically-progressive countries prescribed very powerful antibiotics.
So far, my partner and I have been in contact with very good and very intelligent doctors here in Manila. Our dentists at the L’lamb dental clinic at The Block (a shopping mall) were all very good too. Certainly my experience with doctors here have been quite good compared to experience with doctors in Amsterdam and Helsinki. I mean “good” in the sense that doctors here were not only making good diagnoses and treatments, but they were also capable of discussing the medical condition as well as other issues. I never saw my partner get into any stimulating conversation with a doctor in Amsterterdam or Helsinki. They just gave you the prescription and that’s it.
With the exodus of doctors and nurses to other countries, I suppose the doctors who do remain to serve in the Philippines are very dedicated to the profession and not so much the money. I truly hope there will be more like them.
While waiting for my doctor I took a few photos from the building’s 10th floor. Below is a photo in the southeast direction. From there we could see my old highschool (St. Mary’s College), the Amoranto Stadium, the distant high-rise buildings in the Mandaluyong and Ortigas areas.
Below is a photo of the northwest side, showing Quezon Avenue in the foreground, and in the distance, the Iglesia ni Kristo along Del Monte Avenue, and if I am not mistaken, the Bayantel tower along Roosevelt Avenue. This area towards the north is considerably flatter than the area towards the south.
Anyway, since it was raining when my consultation finished, we decided to have lunch at the hospital canteen. My partner was reluctant but I told him that I was very interested in hospital food. It may sound horrible but I was curious as to how the food was like in different hospitals. We joked that the food may not be wonderful but at least the internal organs were all fresh. 
Actually, the food at the hospital (Capitol Medical Center) was quite good. The best I’ve had in a hospital.
Afterwards, we decided to buy the medicine at the drugstore in the new Ayala-owned mall near SM City North EDSA mall. The new place is called Trinoma and had a distinctly Ayala mall architecture, certainly more spacious and open than any of the SM malls. Funny, I thought, how the Spanish Ayalas had a more creative, energetic, open and spacious way of dealing with space than the Chinese SM. Although the Trinoma’s carpark building (which conveniently links with the metro rail system) looked horribly like a guantanamo bay prison (photo below).
From the Trinoma side entrance, I took the photo below of the SM City stretch of boxed malls and gigantic advertising billboards.
I took another photo in the evening, below.
Here is a photo inside the Trinoma mall, of the open garden spaces from the second to the fourth levels of the building. The space design is really quite lovely, and makes SM City malls looks horrible.
From Trinoma, I took a photo of the eastern part of Quezon City (below). In the smoggy distance, the mountains and hills of Antipolo and Marikina are visible. At the left are the greens of Veterans Memorial Hospital and towards the right in the distance is the Quezon Memorial Circle and in the middle ground are the shanties pushed away from the car park area of Trinoma. A central bus terminal is proposed to be built in this area which will push the shanties even further and into smaller spaces if not removed completely. The security and maintenance folks in our apartment area live there…
It was a rather long day, with tasks accomplished with no complications. Except for the pollution and the ugly sight of sprawling carparks, the city is not so bad.
