Waaaater!

By now you all know that my country received a large volumes of rainfall to the extent that 80% of Manila is submerge in water. In fact La Mesa dam had to open its flood gates to release excess water from the dam since it was feared that the water could end up damaging the reservoir if not released.

However, there is nary a drop of water running in our faucet for 6 days now. Probably pipe lines were damaged by the flood. So imagine a day without water. I end up brushing my teeth in the morning with toothpaste and saliva (No rinsing!). No shower, no bath, no washing my face. No flushing the toilet. No coffee or tea.

I even have to take a bathe at the office, and thankfully the plant has its own water purifier, therefore I was able to bring home drinking water everyday. You see the lack of running water meant bathing in “bucket baths” (sitting in a bathroom floor with a bucket of water and bathing oneself). Since classes are cancelled, my boys spend hours on end queuing for the precious liquid at places where it is available.

Of course, I am dismayed that we do not have immediate water coming out of our faucet. And when at the middle of the day you see dishes piling up in the sink, you just want to scream. We however understand that this is temporary and that this is but just a little inconvenience that we would have to learn to do or do without - running water among them.

After learning techniques of conserving the little water we have, we found out that it really isn't as difficult as we thought it would be.

I felt confident in our new skills — we learned and adapted, and could adapt again.

Thank you all.

I would like to thank everyone of you who had left a comment and even those who didn't, but I know had been concerned over my family and the tragedy that we Filipinos are facing right now.

You see, the scale of devastation here in Manila is still difficult to describe. Just imagine that almost 80 percent of Metro Manila was under water. And yet for most of us watching in horror, the typhoon tragedy will be remembered for some particular images - of desperate men and women balancing on electricity cables to avoid the chest-deep water below, of cars pulled every which way by raging floodwaters like mere toys, of celebreties stranded on there rooftop - fame and fortune providing no defense against the elements.

You see, the streets of Manila after the storm is like a war zone, with abandoned vehicles littering the streets and mud and debris lying everywhere. The very reason I told myself why my son could not come home yet. But it's very difficult when all I have is "maybe" because there was nary a word form him. I didn't realize that all the while he was also trying to call me or send messages, but then our communication lines are down. He and the rest of the students where holed up in their school. The school officials didn't allow anyone to leave. But the next day, Sunday, they were allowed to go home because the storm had passed. When my son finally reached home after three days, he was shaking and very hungry. He hadn't eaten for days! But as far as I am concerned, our family is complete.

At the moment, everything is right in my world.

However, radio and TV reports are filled with accounts of the flooding in different parts of the metropolis, with dramatic footage of rescues, frantic evacuations, and people spending long cold nights, wet, hungry and desperately wondering how soon relief would come.

There are also tales of heroism and courage, tragedy and loss. Even the plain survival will be told and re-told in the days to come. Yes, I know we have been tested by water and beleaguered by mud. But I have learned the really important lessons in life - my family are still alive and still together. There is gloom everywhere, but at least we faced a new morning together.

The picture above shows the sun rising over Manila.

In silence, I prayed for every family who is suffering, thanking them in part for teaching me how much I still have.

The aftermath.

This massive flooding in Manila has never happened before - not at this magnitude. Many of those people living in these areas have never experienced such floods previously despite the heavy rains.

I have seen images of flash floods too in other countries. Does that mean that the Earth is in imminent danger? Then we are in imminent danger! Our Earth is dying, To be more specific, it is being killed, done to death by us. Killed by the pursuit of money. We inherited the Earth, but the earth is dying on us.

I wouldn't be surprise if an ecological apocalypse loom in the future. Or is there still a solution to our problem? Can we possibly know what lies ahead?

I think we owe it to ourselves to find out...

Another storm.

I just want to tell you all that this has been another dreary day. It has been a week stretch of non-stop hard driving rain that had me in awe - and in a state of misery.

You see, typhoon Ondoy is upon us here and the rain today poured down in buckets and the wind howled. Actually, prior to the typhoon's arrival, it has been day after day after day of wet, dark dreary atmosphere and the consistent intensity of the rain made me want to cry. I don't know, but it seems that after a while, the water that fell from the sky seemed to seep inside my brain!

Wooah, you might think that the rain would cleanse the city and perhaps make it clean for a day or two. But no! On the contrary, the rain and flood actually carry all the garbage into full view. And having to look at this pitiful ugly city rendered even uglier by the dreary weather, made me even more down. It also make you feel trapped, as any trip too far away from home could easily turn into a quagmire of traffic and gridlock. In Manila, the rains could literally keep you from getting home for days. And I am pretty worried because Cedric was at school and he hasn't called home yet nor answer my text messages. I couldn't get a call to his cellphone as well. I hope he is at his classmate's house.

Basically like so many other occasions, I also like the rain because it offers a relaxing change of mood. But not today when the images I saw on television is very upsetting - of families trapped in their houses, and had been driven to the roof to escape the waters below. They are in the mercy of Mother Nature.

Please, pray with me that those men women and children affected by the storm will be rescued and they will find shelter and food tonight.

And that perhaps one of those rain clouds bring with them a silver lining...

The real truth?

I’m back.

You’re probably wondering where I’ve been. Well, keep wondering because I’m not gonna tell you.

Okey, okey! I can almost hear Tracey protesting, so here is the reason...

The truth is, I was confined to a hospital bed the past days. I underwent a risky operation to surgically remove my twin sister who’s attached to my hip.

Wait a minute. I haven’t told you that, have I? Damn, I have been blabbering here a lot of things about me and I can't believe I have missed that! You see, I am one half of a Siamese twin. Probably now you know why you kept getting pics of just my upper torso. Yes, that was intentional as I tried to hide my twin sister from public eyes. No, I didn’t mean to keep it a secret. It just hasn’t come up in our conversations. (I mean no one has ever asked me: "Do you have a Siamese twin?")

Anyway, unfortunately, the surgery didn’t work. The doctors will try again in six months. And yes, my twin sister is still here attached to my side. ( OUCH! HEY, THAT HURTS! STOP POKING ON MY RIBS!!)

Lower those brows, please! Of course, I am merely joking. I have been sitting here in front of my pc with nothing to say. But I want you to know that I am okey and have been reading your blogs, except that of Fi because her main page won't open in my pc at the office. I am trying to read them here at home and leave comments on them.

Maybe tomorrow I will be able to think straight, hahaha!

Duh..!

I got nothing much to tell except that I was out the whole day yesterday, and came home real tired and sleepy. I very seldom eat out, much less go to malls because of the crowd. But then when a relative come to the city, me and the boys just can't pass up the chance to spend time with them.

I prefer to stay home and relax. I use to read a lot. Whenever I find myself with some spare time in hand, I will grab a book and find a cozy nook where I can read. I would read the book till it gets dark and continue reading when the lights are on.

But today I find it difficult to concentrate. When I read, I have to go through the words over and over again because a typical reading session for me would go: "It is not really possible to speak of characteristics peculiar to fiction by... hey, is that fried sausage I smell? Wow, I love sausage especially when..." peculiar to fiction by women except in..." too bad, this kitty isn't a male or I would love keeping it..."fiction by women in general terms."

So now, you know why watching a movie on DVD is a better choice, especially since i can just freeze it or replay it, if I miss a scene or a conversation. Then again, it might really just be a law of averages - we are born destined to spend a fixed amount of time doing something, at a certain age.

In fact right now I also noticed that when I converse with people, I tend to say things aloud for them to materialize, otherwise I just have a whole bunch of half-thoughts jostling in my head. A few lyrics here, a movie scene there, faces of people whose names I can not remember. Too much worthless information swimming in my head, like for some strange reason I can remember that Prue, Piper and Phoebe are the three Halliwell sisters, and its a piece of information that surfaces now and then although it has no bearing in my life whatsoever!

I am thankful though that at least I can still put words and sentences together, although I know that sometimes I don't make sense, hahaha. But at least I have some sort of skill I can present to the world. Thank God for variety.

If everybody placed the ultimate value on sewing, I'd be doomed!!

Sunday musings...

It's a Sunday again, and as usual the house is empty save for Cedric who chose to stay home. The other boys had gone out early and they won't be back till evening. Oh, I haven't ironed clothes today because I have hired a lady to do it, so I can concentrate on house cleaning as I plan to clean every nook and cranny of the bedroom, kitchen and living room. I was even able to clean out the boys and my own closet... Yay!

I was glad I still have much time left before lunch to fight off mobsters and I was very surprise to see my mafia family growing. I have 166 members at present from a measly 22 when I was starting. Now I won 90% of the fights and I am getting a sinful amount of money from my properties income, hahaha. But I am even happier to catch Sid still online and I am glad he is back to his jolly self. You should read his new post and see how his mind works, although I admit the antibiotics must have something to do with it. You should also read his previous post so you will understand him better and why his state of mind and mood mean a lot to me.

Its been clear to me that Sid live his life entirely as a compassion for others even when his own life was empty save for some dream he has for his future. He could have easily write people off but as he had said in his other post, he walks towards the challenge rather than running away from it. But for those not in the know, Sid is just one of so many who live alone and love being alone.

I don't consider myself a loner, but I am comfortable being left alone once in a while. As I write this, I wonder what the lives of Sid, AA and the rest of those people who live alone are made of, why they sit in an armchair all alone every evening watching television, why they find it so hard to change their ways. For those who are depressed I understand why some, when they go to sleep at night have as their greatest wish not to wake up in the morning.

But is insight and understanding everything? What about entertainment, camaraderie, simple human friendship? Yes, those things too enrich a life. But as a practical rule of thumb I can only learn to apply what’s in front of me in the present moment, as long as I believe that they are real and know where this in front of me may lead to.

And who knows where it may lead? We may just achieve what we all want to achieve, with the rest of the desires lined up for fulfillment later. Despite Sid and AA’s times of disenchantment and loneliness, I know that they still get periodic hope trying to tell themselves that in the future, perhaps they will get more of what they want - the perfect soul mate love of their life, an exotic location to live and sufficient money not to have to forgo simple pleasures all the time.

Yet it’s all a matter of degree and time being the only obstacle, then sweet oblivion! Of course, it’s a bugger to plan. So we will just let it get on with itself and devote our energies solely to the moment.

Have done so for many years, will continue to do so...