Currently Digging: freshly brewed iced-tea and Oishi PODS
Signing back on!!
For the part II of my review class experience, I'd like to talk about the buzzed typhoon: Mr. Ondoy.
Mr. Ondoy, hit Manila and nearby provinces last September 26, 2009. As you can see, I have respect with Mr. Ondoy, that I've decided to call him mister.
Filipinos are known to be joyous people by nature---smiling, laughing...--an important quality I wanna have myself. Despite the recent typhoon tragedy, a lot of people managed to keep smiles and grins on their faces. Maybe us, pinoys were all born smiling... :D
Hmmmm... I've got a theory, maybe we are all happy to get out of our mom's wombs after swimming on a wild river for 9months. Just imagine a pregnant woman's fluid---while riding the jeepney or tricycle on the public roads of manila?!?! Or whatabout being bumped, pushed and carried by the waves of human beings rushing at the MRT stations.... hmmm.. maybe we're all smiling when we got out of our mom's wombs... after all, how hot and wild could it be inside a dark fluidy thingy, constantly moving like crazy!
09/26/09 @ Taft Ave. 0630: I was walking from Julio Nakpil St. going to Taft. It was just a lil rainy, just a typical day.
I learned how to use an umbrella... an essential on Philippine living... rain or shine--always the payong! :) (right hou?) So I took out my weapon, opened it, and pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffft..... wind blew... not so strong, just a breezy one.... and then again.... and another one....
and poooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooof!
ah.... there goes my umbrella--- Nope! didn't fly... just turned inside out. Now crumpled and useless. Bad sign to start the day. I ran to the shade, waited for a jeepney to Morayta area and said goodbye to about 1-2 in. of puddles of water along Taft, which by the way... is soooooooooooooooo typical.
@Morayta 0650: Rain stopped. Thank goodness!Cuz I dont have any payong with me. A lil brighter now, but still not sunny. Entering our old, ran down, dark, dirty building. When I said dark--- i meant busted lights, when I said dirty---meant dead roaches everywhere, when I said old---I mean old, smell-the-century-kinda-old. But found relief when I entered the room, coz our room was well lit and airconditioned..... (but, not for long.)
@0720: Done with exam.
@0810: Botany lecture started. zzzZzzZzzZZZzzz.... I don't like studying plants! I don't know. It's just so hard to relate it with real life. Just like any other subjects.... I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE BOTANY (psych urself lei. psych urself...)
A few more hours of boring plant-lecture, heard a strong down-pour of rain!!!!! I peeked through the window and realized how dark it was outside. A few more minutes, our ceiling started leaking.
I'm worried now. It's raining hard! and knowing Morayta, Espanya area.... OMG! it only means one thing--- flood.
Few hours later, I wasn't even paying attention to the teacher. I was texting blatantly in class. My inner organs are somewhat in panic now---not showing it of course, that's one of the traits i'm proud to have :).
Ceiling still leaking....
Still raining hard...
Dark outside...
Class not paying any more attention to the lecture...
Whispering on each other about the event we're all about to succumb..
Then break time.
Kuya guard, mopping the floor, with his pants rolled up to his knees, with the edges slightly wet. Heard a nasty rumor, btw, that it is calf-deep flood downstairs (1st floor) and ankle-deep outside on the streets...
ef-you-see-kay!!!! not a rumor anymore.... cuz it was 100% true! damn!
Well the lecture went on until 1230. Kuya guard kept coming back to mop the floor, and each time his pants were rolled up higher, now to his thighs. And the last time, he went up, he was only wearing his briefs on. But no! we're not concerned on him just on his briefs and shirt, we are more concerned on the thigh-deep flood on the 1st floor of our bldg, and the streets? wtf?! just the same... black-oily-garbage-topped flood is rising...
a bigger ef-you-see-kay!!!
At this point, class had been cancelled. WTF?! just now?!?! How can we go home? How can we walk outside!! There's no more public transpo available on the roads.... argggggggggggggg!!!!
After the panic, felt hungry.... We're still hopeful that after 4hours, around 5pm, rain would've stopped and flood gone.
Tried asking McDonald's delivery---- no luck! McDonald's already closed down due to extreme flooding outside....
Hmmm.. Luckily, by 2:30pm, we were able to get our bearings together, ordered lunch from the cafeteria downstairs. Funny thing, the kuya getting the orders will give us pen and paper, we have to write all our orders, and he has to walk through the flood while all the customers awaits his delivery onto the "DRY LAND"--- meaning the 2nd flight of stairs.
Ate tindera from the small in-house sari-sari store are selling her goods on the 2nd floor. She and her crew were swimming back and forth to get the goods from her store.
But few hours later, some of her gooods were already floating in water along with biotic and abiotic roaches!!! hahaha!! EF-YOU-SEE-KAY!!!
Came 4pm: lights off! WTF?!? AC off too!!! NO ELECTRICITY!!!! NO WATER FOR toileting needs!!! WTF!!!! but no panic. Still hopeful that by 5pm we are all going home safe and sound.
Came 5pm: no luck. Still raining, Flood still up. Getting dark. Everybody's worried but still joking around like crazy. Came 7pm: Kuya guard evacuated all his stuffs and his desk up to 2nd floor. Ate tindera evacuated as much goods as she can to the 2nd floor, and Manong Cafeteria has a small carinderia on 3rd floor. Sounds like an overnight event. But still hoping for the final try of 10pm.
Stories... lots of stories... talking nonstop... jacking around like crazy... laughing... sometimes realizing how bad this is gonna be... hungry... all we've got are junk foods from ate Tindera's store... thirsty.... hungry.... bored.... tired... sleepy... talking... more talks... laughing... jacking around.... holding pee cuz its really phaking dark and stinky in the restrooms... worried... concerned... stories... more stories...
By this time, my cp's batt is getting low so i have to conserve it for later. This means we all have to time our voiding sched so we only have to use at least 1 phone as flsahlight. Apart from the room being all steamy hot, mosquitos! there's tons of them!!! Roaches?!! wtf?! they all evacuated in the bathrooms!!!! DAMN!
EF-YOU-SEE-KAY!!!!!!!!! but we were all just laughing our guts out... what else can we do?!!? just turn the ickyness and despair and sadness and frustrations into laughter...
WE WERE STRANDED... in fear...worried...hungry...frustrated...mad...hungry... tired... hungry... sleepy... stinky... sticky.... hungry... tired....powerless... left with no choice...no control... and unaware of what's really going on outside...
I thought the flood was only in Morayta area.... apparently not... We were not the only people stranded at that time...
AFTER BEING STRANDED FOR 26 hours on that old-yucky-dark-hot-dirty building, group by group we've decided to walk.... este swim with the roaches and trash and poop and everything else floating on the flood.... We said, either we die from leptospirosis, or dengue+malaria+hunger+cholera+uti+ etc.... Which is more painful?! We chose the earlier and did it...
By the time we went out... water was only thigh-deep for me.. just a few inches below my genitals!!! Just imagine how high it was for my height-challenged friends swimming with me...
The first step into the baha (flood) was the hardest... AFTER that: EYE ON THE GOAL (LRT/MRT/ANY TRAIN STATIONS) and HEEL/TOES ON THE ROAD.
The next hardest: not being able to see where you are going.. manholes.. roaches... garbage...steps...stairs... gutter... more manholes...
But as you can see.. I SURVIVE! hahah!!! I'm blogging now with a smile on my face!!
BTW, it didn't end there. Here's an equation I will never ever forget:
PSEUDO-TSUNAMI = moving BUS + FLOOD
where: BUS must be in motion
FLOOD be > or = to above the knee flood.
Example 1: While walking in front of McDonalds, Morayta, A passenger bus cruises along Espanya in constant speed. What would be the resultant scenario?
Answer: Strong waves were created as a result of the pseudo-tsunami phenomenon. Tables flew at least 2 meters from its initial position and people, me and friends, were displaced and smacked onto McDonald's fiber glass walls.
Lesson learned: when a bus is coming, hold onto something really sturdy, strong and fixed.
Example 2: While crossing Espanya Street going to FEU, you heard groups of people from both sides of the street, yell and cheer "BUS! BUS! BUS!" while pointing to another Bus. What would you do?
a:) walk faster or even run on the thigh-deep flood to be able to reach the other side of the road and hold on to posts and walls of stalls.
b:) climb the lamppost located at the middle island of the road and extend your feet so that other people can hold on to you while the pseudo
c:) stay where you are standing (at the middle of the 3 lane road) hold on to nothing and let the current and waves take you wherever it will.
ANSWER: B. Yup! That's what we did! I climb the post with 2 others and let our legs dangle so other people can hang on to us. sleek eh?!
Once I reached LRT2: It was heaven! IT was dry. Don't care about the miles and miles of people lining up for the ticket, I just knew I'd be able to go home that day!
AFTER I GOT HOME: I ATE an egg, 1 can of tuna, 1 can of corned beef and rice!
EVERYTIME it rains: I GET SCARED and worried.
after all these happened: I diagnosed myself with slight PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but managed myself through, therapy, sharing my story (to houie especially) and by laughing!!!
3days later: I bought another PAYONG!
Everyone has their own stories of Mr.Ondoy. What's yours?
LAUGH ON people!!!
LAUGH ON people!!!