Little Bathroom Creatures

During heavy rains and flood, sometimes you'll be surprised what creatures turn up seeking refuge inside the house. When we were still kids, I remember we've even had fishes flapping inside our flooded garden. We would have a swell time scooping up these fishes (dalag and hito!) knowing that these will be our dinner for the night. We had a good time at home during the storm seasons. But it was a totally different thing when you're stranded outside and you're trying to get home. During the 1980's, floods in Ortigas Avenue Extension can reach chest high, and I remember being carried by my dad on his shoulders to reach home! Thank God, it's much better these days… it's only knee high.

Warning: The succeeding texts and images are not for the fainthearted. If you are, I suggest not to proceed.

The recent rains summoned to my bathroom the most unusual creatures. Imagine waking up (and you know how nice it is to sleep during a rainy day, lulled by the monotonous hush of the downpour, tucked snugly in your comforter) realizing you have to take a leak. You run to the bathroom, aim at the toilet bowl and voila you see this!

It was a miracle I didn't pee right there and there, but in fact, I forgot to do it at all. At first I thought it was a "submarine" since it was of the same color (you get what i mean?), but yet it moved! I immediately took my camera and had an impromptu session with the frog in my toilet. For those interested (and I mean only those interested, who don't get sick looking inside toilet bowls with the slimiest creatures), you can view the whole photo shoot at: Flickr Album: Little Bathroom Creatures 2. Here's little froggy captured in video:

I really wonder how that frog came into the bathroom and ended up inside the bowl… I hope it didn't came from inside the bowl, otherwise my sessions there would be extra stressful – I don't want to worry about something crawling up my ass. For those wondering, I didn't flush the frog and is safe back outside.

I named the album "Little Bathroom Creatures 2", because there was an album called "Little Bathroom Creatures 1". A few months back, in almost the same situation, but this time I just finished doing Number 2. I was about to tidy up and picking up a tabo full of water, I see something floating in there. I took it out for closer inspection:

I thought it was a plant part of some sort since it wasn't moving in the water, but as soon as I placed it on a flat surface and poke it a little but, it started to flinch and move! I didn't know what it was then, but I was pretty sure it was a worm or a larvae of some sort… but of what? Again, only for those interested, the whole photo shoot with this creature is at: Flickr Album: Little Bathroom Creatures 1. Here's the thing in moving glory:

Any guess what it was? Here's the answer (drag your mouse in the space after this): After a little research, I discovered that it was actually a cockroach larvae.

Now, I'm quite excited what I'll see next in my bathroom… One can never tell what sorts of other creatures live in those areas.

'Twas the night before Christmas... (of Galvani and frog's legs)

We traditionally attend the Christmas Eve Mass at our local religious community (Ligaya ng Panginoon) before we head home to enjoy our Noche Buena. But in recent years, we didn't have enough time and energy to prepare our usual home feast, so we just had dinner in restaurants, and the usual "popular" pick was Max's (hmmm... ok, ok, the choice was usually made by me, so don't wonder... I love Max's... "sarap to the bones!"). Anyway, this Christmas Eve dinner was different, and with my brother Oggie's recommendation, we decided to eat at Little Asia located at the Greenhills Promenade.

What did we order? Being a culinary adventurist that I was and how I sorely miss eating in fancy restaurants, I targeted the unusual menu selections. On top of our safe choices which included the seafood rolls, chicken in sweet sour sauce, fried breaded calamares in salt and pepper, fish fillet in special cheese sauce and yang chao rice, I included the duck's eggs (sizzling balot!) in a special sauce and the never tasted before, fried frog's legs in salt and pepper style preparation. Of course, my unusal food order wasn't almost heeded due to resistance from my siblings who had a more conservative palate.

The food came... the food was good, but compared to other asian-themed restaurants, it was a tad sweet. The duck's egg was almost ordinary if not for the special sauce. But the highlight of the feast was the frog's legs dish! I never tasted frog's legs before (I've tasted horse, reindeer, monitor lizard "bayawak", goat before) so I was in for a gastronomic adventure. Aside from the novelty of it, I found it very good (good enough to have seconds, and even thirds!). It tasted very similar to chicken, and if you didn't know you were eating frogs, you might mistake it for chicken.

I wanted my little sister Sigrid to taste the frog's legs. We didn't tell her what the dish really was because if she knew, she might not even take a bite. We just told her they were fried little chicken's legs, and she enjoyed them. Here's proof she ate frog's legs!

Pretty soon, she gobbled 5 legs in all! We told her the truth eventually after we left the restaurant, and she wasn't really pissed off. She was surprised how they tasted delicious, and was more than willing to eat frogs again.

What else was going on in my mind when I was chomping on my frog's legs... this!

Yes, yes, I admit, I'm a geek, and I wouldn't be called "Electro (electrotherapy) King" for nothing. Luigi Galvani, one of the pioneers of neuroelectrophysiology, visited my thoughts as bits of cooked contractile amphibian musculature traveled its way down my esophagus. Did a little research here (courtesy of IET):

Galvani's Animal Electricity Experiments

Shown here is an illustration of Luigi Galvani's famous frog experiments taken from his work, De Viribus - Electricitatis in Motu Musculari. 1792.

A chance observation led Luigi Galvani (1737-98) to discover animal electricity in 1871. When the nerve of a frog that Galvani's wife was preparing for soup was accidentally touched with a knife a muscle contraction occurred despite the frog not being connected to an electrical machine. Galvani investigated the cause and discovered contractions were excited when two different metals touched.

Previously, Isaac Newton had theorised a link between the 'animal spirits' described in antiquity and the subtle electrical fluids hypothesised by physicists. Caldini had observed that merely bringing an electrified rod within close proximity of a frog would stimulate its muscles. However, it was Galvani who determined that electricity was present in the animal itself. From his frog experiments he deduced that contractions were caused by the flow of electricity and when one occurred a nervo-electric fluid was conducted from the nerves to the muscle. This gave a physiological basis for medical electrical treatment.

And thus, eletrotherapy was born... whew! Funny how big discoveries are born out of little accidents.

We finished the meal and realized after that around 12 frogs are now on wheelchairs...