Life is short. Somebody can seem perfectly stable and then suddenly crash and die.
I hadn’t gotten time to process things because I had to immediately line (give fluids) another patient who is also dying in order to save his life.
I couldn’t help but be enraged at the morally decadent people on top who live without worries, leaving PGH in such a depraved state with no water, lack of adequately-sized IV cannulas, lack of tubes to contain blood, overcrowded emergency room owing to an inefficient referral system, and overworked nurses and doctors. Health care workers rely on their own stash of materials which are barely enough.
And this isn’t the complete picture. The remaining 70% of Filipinos who die without medical attention are definitely not in any hospital (not just PGH). While hospitals in Japan, US, Europe, and the rest of the world are focused on developing the latest technology to cure HIV-AIDS and cancer, we couldn’t even maintain water and medical equipment supply in our own national hospital.
“Welcome to PGH,” the nurse told me.
(And I deeply respect this nurse because not only is she able to do IV lining on difficult patients but she also gifted me a roll of micropore tape. She also taught me how to troubleshoot a leaky foley catheter.)
(And there’s also another nurse whom I also respect deeply because despite the lack of properly-sized IV cannulas (pink and blue), he was able to insert extra-large gauge 16 IV cannulas (gray) with ease on patients, allowing a sufficient flow of IV fluids, saving their lives! Nurses actually save more lives than doctors!)
A part of me couldn’t help but blame myself because I felt that I didn’t give more attention to that patient when she suddenly said that her neck is very painful as she lost control of her neck right before she crashed and died. Even so, would I have been able to save her on time? Would I have had given her more attention, and perhaps saved her, if it weren’t for the tons of paperwork to accomplish and the demand to monitor a lot of patients? Am I not being too hard on myself?
Certainly, if this patient was seen, given proper attention, and operated on time, she would have a lot, lot more years to live.
That woman in her early thirties seemed stable (but is hypotensive), and she even talked while I extracted blood and inserted a nasogastric tube. Later, I had to do CPR – exerting force on my hands pushing downward towards the chest of the dying patient’s chest who was alive just moments ago.
“Just moments ago, she was alive.”
Such a grueling thought gnaws away my rational and calm self.
Taiwan’s history includes 50 years of Japanese colonial rule; therefore, Japanese influences can be seen ubiquitously. Around 20% of medical students are currently learning Japanese. Japanese is spoken even more frequently than English. Most of the railways are built according to Japanese models.
The cover photo shows a Japanese medical book being used by some Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors.
封面照片表示一本中醫醫生用的日語醫書。
1. The top three most common languages heard in Taiwan are: 1) Mandarin Chinese; 2) Taiyu/Taigu/Minnan Chinese; 3) Japanese. When we were in Anping, the Japanese elderly women would say 「すみません」, while walking down the very steep stairs (Yes, they’re quite healthy and active.).
2. Some products actually use the Japanese particle の (no) in place of the Chinese association particle 的. Sometimes, the Chinese syllable 乀 (e) is used, which is the 的 in Taigi/Taiyu/Minnan Chinese.
有些商品使用日文的助詞【の】代替中文的助詞【的】，有時候使用華語的注音【乀】，就是閩南語的【的】。
3. Many Taiwanese are actually learning Japanese as well. In a class of 100 people, 20 are learners, with the best having completed N1 already. This is my friend Eason. We both speak Mandarin and Japanese, and both of us love learning Japanese because we want to watch anime without subtitles.
4. Kinokuniya is like a little heaven to me. It is filled with Chinese and Japanese novels, light novels, manga, and other literature. They even have an entire section dedicated to learning Japanese.
5. The subway train was apparently constructed by the Japanese. In the train, when they announce the station of arrival, the announcer says it in Mandarin Chinese, Hokkien Chinese, Cantonese Chinese, English, and even Japanese. For example, in switching trains, the announcer says, 「お乗り換えて下さい」(o nori kaete kudasai).
6. One might notice that Taiwanese rice is similar to Japanese rice. When the Japanese came, they planted their rice on the soil of Taiwan. Since the climate in Taiwan is different from Japan causing these crops to grow under different conditions, the texture and consistency are different.
7. Some historic structures have European architecture, and the reason behind this is the Japanese occupation. It was the Meiji Era when the Japanese colonized Taiwan, and they have a policy of competing with the Western powers by building European style structures.
8. Hayashi Department Store (林デパート; ハヤシ百貨店) is the first department store in Taiwan, and it is also the first building to have an elevator in Taiwan. From the name, it is implied that this was built during the Japanese occupation. The merchandise in this store are presented in a very meticulous layout.
The culture and daily life of Taiwan is really interesting, from the literal translation of Golden State Warriors and Cavaliers into Chinese, as well as the Chinese version of Despacito and Shape of You, to the horrific viral video and “Loving Heart Pen Scam”.
臺灣的日常生活真有趣，從【勇士】和【騎士】的單子翻譯以及【Despacito】和，【The Shape of You】的中文版，到驚悚的爆紅影片和【愛心筆】的騙局。
The cover photo shows the Xiziwan (Sizihwan) Bay.
封面照片是西子灣的風景。
1. Occasionally, you might see people singing, dancing, and even meditating on the streets in order to voice out their feelings, their advocacy, or their thoughts on social issues.
偶爾你會發現路邊有人唱歌，跳舞，靜坐，爲了表達他們的心意，提倡，和關於社會的問題的意見。
2. They are fond of merging words into one giant compounded Chinese character. An example is this word, which is composed of 招 (to beckon) 財 (wealth) 進 (to enter) 寶 (treasure), meaning “to beckon wealth and let the treasure enter”.
他們喜歡把幾個字融合起來成一個很複雜的字。例如是【招財進寶】。
3. The TV channels here are pretty varied. They literally translated Golden State Warriors as 勇士, which literally means “warriors”, and Cleveland Cavaliers as 騎士, which literally means “cavaliers”. All of the commentaries are also in Chinese. During our stay, GSW won the season. Also, there is no CCTV (China Central Television) channel, so there is no mainland Chinese propaganda.
這裏的頻道有多種。他們按照字面地翻譯【Golden State Warriors】成【勇士】，【Cleveland Cavaliers】成【騎士】。所有的評論都是用中文講的。在我居住臺灣的時候，勇士勝了全塞節。而且，這裏也沒有中國的【中央電視台】，因此，沒有大陸的宣傳。
4. There are Stabilo-like pens (brand SKB) that cost only around NT$16, which is about PHP25-30.
那裏有像Stabilo一樣的16元筆 （品牌SKB），就差不多是25到30比索。
5. Kaohsiung Medical University has a “Med Night”, which is like a variety show composed of different performances like magic shows, interpretative dance, etc. It’s basically the counterpart of Tao Rin Pala (TRP) in UPCM.
高醫大也有一個【Med Night】，就是一晚的綜藝節目，包括魔術、解釋舞蹈、以及各種各樣的表演等等。他就是UPCM的【Tao Rin Pala】的對方。
6. There was a mass safety drill held at 1:30pm on June 5. This is different from an earthquake drill. In this drill, everyone is required to stay indoors. The intent of this drill is to keep people safe from possible air attacks probably if there were to be a war with China.
7. Surprisingly, calligraphy is only optional for the Taiwan’s grade school and high school curriculum; it’s part of their art class. Back then in Saint Jude Catholic School, it was a requirement; we had to submit outputs of 16-32 big characters or 100+ small characters every week. This is why many of my Taiwanese friends were shocked to see that I was able to write better than most of them.
8. Taiwanese often have a strap for milk tea cups.
臺灣人常常帶著奶茶杯的袋子。
9. They have a Chinese version of some western pop songs like Despacito (apparently sung by JJ Lin) and The Shape of You.
他們也有【Despacito】和【The Shape of You】的中文版。
10. In Tainan, we saw some witty notes from a shop. The first one goes: “When you’re hungry, please do come here and eat. Or else, both of us will die of hunger. ~ Storeowner”. The second one goes: “The storeowner says, “Clearly you can rely on [my] [good looking] face while you’re eating and rely on [my] talents.””
這些商店挂著妙趣的便條。
11. I was able to make a benzene-shaped dumpling and a rose-shaped dumpling. The process of making your own pearl milk tea is actually quite simple.
我做過一個【苯形水餃】和一個【玫瑰花形水餃】。而且，製作泡泡奶茶的過程實在很容易。
12. The tension between Taiwan and China is very palpable. When we were riding our tour bus around Tainan City, an old lady vehemently criticized the narrator on the speaker when the narrator said “Taiwanese”. She vehemently voices out that the Taiwan should be part of China (or something along the lines of “Taipei is just a city of China.” and Taiwan should also be called “Chinese”. The atmosphere inside the bus became awkward.
13. In Tainan, we see lots of circular garlands around the street and the temples signifying congratulatory greetings in this graduation season. June is the graduation season of Taiwan. Note that this resembles funerals in the Philippines, but is not the same. Fireworks during graduation is also a common thing, but graduation ball parties are rare unlike in the Philippines. In Ximending, one can also notice students with a ribbon indicating that they have just graduated in high school.
15. 母湯 (mu tang) is a local pun based on the Taiyu/Taigi/Fookien m’tang which means “Dont!”. Upon doing further reading, it is actually based on a disturbing Youtube video that became viral around December 2017 to January 2018. It’s about a “bald bro” telling his brother “No!”. Read more here (in Chinese): https://dailyview.tw/Popular/Detail/1515
16. There’s a good side and a bad side in Taiwan. Earlier this week, the MRT token accidentally fell inside the train cabin. A concerned lady was yelling and she threw the coin outside the door right before they closed. I’m very thankful to her because when I noticed that the token is missing from my pocket, I was able to see the token on the platform. Earlier this day, after going off the train, an elderly lady was speaking to me in Hokkien saying that some insect entered my pants and that I should shake my pants to drive the insect off. True enough, a cockroach flew out of my sleeve a few minutes later.
17. Later, when I arrived at Ximending Shopping District, a senior high school kid claiming to be a night class student from Nanhua Vocational University (which is in Chiayi, not Taipei) asked me to buy two of his Loving Heart Pens (愛心筆) to support him in paying his tuition fee. Despite my knowing that this is highly likely to be a scam, I allowed myself to appear fooled by giving him 200 NTD. He was asking for 100 NTD more, but I politely refused. Interested in their background and motive, I asked them if I could connect with them through LINE (one of their their social networking app) to which they agreed. Hopefully, they use the money properly. According to my Taiwanese friend, this is not a common thing. However, apparently, there has been an re-emergence of a group of youth doing this here in Ximending, as reported in here: https://udn.com/news/story/7321/2640125
18. There are several Taoist temples which are elegantly designed with brass. People often come to these temples for fortune telling. In this Anping Kaitai Matsu Temple, there are statues of The Five Kings of the Water Immortals (水仙尊王), The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas (四海龍王), The Eight Trigrams (八卦), The Sword Lion (劍獅). Matsu (媽祖) is their sea goddess. Fortune telling is done by dropping two crescent shaped wooden blocks on the floor, the pattern of which determines the god’s answer, and then choosing the tallest stick from a bundle of sticks, which has a number that corresponds to a poem number. The process can take up to over 2-3 hours especially if the answer keeps on being “no”, since you need to keep on dropping the crescent blocks in every step of the process.
19. As seen in Fort Zeelandia, Taiwan, formerly called Formosa, was governed by Dutch leaders in the 17th century. This was a result of the Age of Exploration in the 15th to 16th century, when the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and the British were expanding their empires.
20. You can make a “magic slate” for Chinese calligraphy by using a piece of cloth on top of a black or dark-colored slate. Then instead of using ink, just dip the calligraphy brush in water and write on the cloth. Of course, the writing disappears when it dries up.
21. They have really amusing animated images for some Chinese words. 轉 means spin, and as you can see they literally spun the word. 煙 means smoke, and the word animates like a smoke.
他們這裏有很有趣的動態文字。【轉】字會轉，【煙】就像烟氣的動作。
22. One of the reasons why other Asian countries are well-developed is Confucianism. Confucianism is based on benevolence (仁), righteousness or justice (義), respect (禮), and wisdom (智). It carries the culture of standardized examinations in testing people who want to enter the government.
23. The Pier-2 Art Center is a good sightseeing place of giant statues of luggages, among others. A museum within the vicinity is the Takao Railway Museum, which marks the location of the first railway system in Taiwan. Kaohsiung was formerly called “Takao”.
AMSEP stands for Asian Medical Student’s Exchange Program, which is under Asian Medical Students’ Association (AMSA) International. Through this exchange program, students from both participating countries learn each other’s culture and health issues, as well as foster lifelong friendships.
Incognito 