Eye-Opener: Memo

Insect Repellants

2. Insect Repellants
Paradise lost due to mosquitoes, cockroachers and other creepy bugs. The trick is to have several types of insect repellants because once the predatorial insect gets used to the repellant then you're at their mercy.

2. Insect Repellants
Paradise lost due to mosquitoes, cockroachers and other creepy bugs. The trick is to have several types of insect repellants because once the predatorial insect gets used to the repellant then you're at their mercy.

Now I have a better appreciation for mosquito nets. For the first couple of weeks I became the favorite cuisine of mosquitoes and other insects that like to bite people. My aunt said that since I was balikbayan (term meaning 'returning Filipino'), the mosquitoes liked my blood more. This is a weird phenomenon, while my leg received a blitz of bites, my cousin's legs are for the most part flawless (sometimes one or two bites but usually nada).

As the weeks pass, the mosquitoes got tired of my leg so they decided to move in my arms. At one point I was naive to think that if I don't bother them, then they won't bother me (once again wrong). They bit me without any discrimination. So everytime I saw one, I just splattered them. Superstition- one time I killed a fat one, full of blood which exploded like ink blots on my palm, I think it was a queen mosquitoe or head honcho, the next day I found another blitz of bites that ran across my arm. My aunt speculated that the lover or spouse of the mosquito I killed decided to have their revenge on me.

my suggestion bring "off" lotion, they're easy to apply and they come in original unscented and tropical scent. But they only last for four hours however when you're asleep, you wouldn't care much. Also rubbing alcohol stops the itching but be careful, can cause scarring.

The cockroaches in the Philippines are giants because of sun's radiation (this is why I became appreciative of my cousin's cat, Ming. He didn't just kill off the mice, he also terminated the cockroaches). The cockroaches have wings and a regular adult is less than 2 inches long. You can kill them by stepping on them (but that's so disgusting) or throw shoes at them or ask your cousin to do it for you (the important thing is that they're dead). One time I saw a cockroach, and it looked like it was on hydraulics. Rather than the flat look, its hind legs were slightly raised higher than ther front legs- it was walking around.

Depending on where you are in the Philippines, some cockroaches are not shy at all. You know how most insects will wait until it's dark before venturing in the houses of humans. I've encountered cockroaches that walk on broad daylight, some are not even afraid when the lights are turned on (usual reaction for insects are to scurry when new movements are detected- no, not these cockroaches, they'll pretend that they're dead, stay still and hope that the human doesn't see them-- but they're pretty obvious like black oval markings on white marble.

I've become acquainted with house lizards. I used to fear them for their mysteriousness. They'll be lounging on ceilings near flourcent lights and all of a sudden they'll wiggled their way to the other side. I didn't know why they did that, I thought they were just psyching out their human co-habiters. I learned that they did that because they were eating all the mosquitoes flying near the ceiling. They became my protectors and bestfriends. They guarded me from the vampirish bites of the mosquitoes.

LONG LIVE the LIZARDS!