LESS RAIN MAKES SWEETER WATERMELONS

     On May 14th of 2011, I attended for the first time the Taiwan Watermelon Festival in Taipei. I was amazed at the sizes of hundreds of watermelons being displayed for competitions. They are actually thrice the size if Philippine watermelons.
     With much less rain this year, watermelons are tasting sweeter. The sweetness of the watermelons sampled during the contest had an average sweetness slightly over 134 degrees Brix (as explained by one staff)- a standard measurement of sugar content.
     The month of May marks the beginning of the watermelon season. The strange weather at the beginning of the year with cold and hot temperatures fluctuating abnormally has caused the growth of watermelons to be unstable. The jury in the competition makes selections according to specific criteria for weight, appearance, shape, sweetness, as well as the quality and color of the fleshy center. The watermelon's appearance must appeal to the eye and be flawless, without any scars left by insects. The shape must be normal. The fleshy center must be crispy, delightful, smooth and juicy. The sweetness should measure at least 10 degrees Brix, and the sweeter the watermelon, the higher the score.

     Unstable weather this year has caused the watermelons to look worse than the past years, but since it has raines much less the watermelons are tasting much sweeter. As a consumer of watermelon, I will undoubtedly find a tasty one for sure.

HOPELESS TURNS HOPEFUL

     Daniel (not real name) who hails from Caloocan City, was diagnosed to have acquired cancer of the neck and head, stage 4. With this, he knew very well that it was a hopeless case and the end of his life was nearing because with such sickness, and with the financial status that he was in, he felt it was impossible for him to get over it so he felt very desperate.
     I came across Daniel's story through a 39-year old caregiver here in Taiwan with whom I had a short chit chat at Chang-Gung Memorial Hospital during my patient's routine medical checkup. The woman happened to be Daniel's mother. I saw from her the burden of a mother who feared the nearing end of her son.
     Daniel has gone through all means to get treated of a cyst in his neck. He went to Philippine General Hospital anticipating that he could get free treatment there being a government owned and operated hospital but the family was wrong because it was advised that the operation would cost him P200,000. It was therefore impossible to stay at the PGH.
     Luckily, the doctor of the patient of Daniel's mom had offered help. With the help of Mrs. Lucre's boss, they were able to get Daniel to Taiwan to meet a special doctor for his illness. All the documents were taken cared of by Mrs. Lucre's boss who claimed to just pay the kindness of their employee for more than 7 years of service with them.
     Daniel traveled to Taiwan for a face reconstruction. This meant that a bone jaw had to be opened and replaced. With this, a narrow bone in the leg was extracted to replace his jaw, and a piece of skin from the upper leg was taken to complete the face reconstruction. These all happened without Daniel's knowledge as he was sleeping because of the anaesthetic dosage he took. When he woke up and opened his eyes, he knew he has loast a piece of his bone in the leg and a piece of skin in his torso. Actually, he did not lose them, they were only put in another part of his body. Everything was done successfully at no cost on Daniel's part.
     Daniel had gone back to Philippines. According to Mrs. Lucre, her son now looks so healthy. strong and confident that he mentioned that his body system is now clear of cancer cells after the last chemo-radiation was done to him. With teary eyes, Daniel and his family could not utter any word to express his gratitude to the Almighty and to all the people concerned for what had transpired in turining Daniel's  hopeless life to a hopeful one.