The aftermath of the storms

You've all probably heard by now the destruction that the Philippines experienced in the wake of Typhoons Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma). Ondoy hit Metro Manila last September 26, rained for 6 hours and delivered a month's worth of rain. The result: Metro Manila was totally flooded, especially in the areas of Marikina, Rizal and Pasig, all of which were along the path of the Marikina and Pasig Rivers which both overflowed during the height of the storm. Many people were stranded, my niece included and she spent the night at the University. It's funny because though the school was only a 15-minute walk home I told her not to risk the floods because the water was thigh to chest deep in some areas. You'll see a lot of videos and pictures of cars one on top of the other, filled with mud and cascading down streets. Most houses in Provident Village were submerged in mud and flood waters. Patrick's brother Stevie and his family had to evacuate from their house in Marikina because the water rose up to about 12 feet. We went to help them with the cleanup last Sunday and we hardly recognized the subdivision because it looked like a battleground of sorts. As you can see, it's not just debris from their own house that they have to clear up. There are lots of debris brought by the floods that end up in their home and mud is so hard to clean.


We also heard from friends about other friends that lost most of their belongings and we pitched in to help by donating clothes and food. Den also volunteered in their school drive to pack relief goods.

Patrick's sister, Dimples also felt the brunt of the storm. Their house in Quezon City was totally flooded up to the 2nd floor. They thought that they will be safe because the water level has never risen past the ground floor and they were caught unaware by the deluge. They had to evacuate for their own safety. When they came back, their house was a wreck. Furniture overturned, the ref floating in the water and even their cellphones and gadgets were waterlogged.

This was certainly a trying time for everyone. More so for those who lost everything but their lives. Seeing all that they've worked so hard to build reduced to a pile of debris is heartbreaking. Losing their loved ones to the raging waters, cascading mud is even more traumatic. Having to spend the night on your roof without water, without food and without any hope of rescue is mind-shattering.

Thank goodness for the kind-hearted souls who have generously donated their extras to help their brothers in need. Thank goodness for the many organizations who work nonstop to get the relief goods to people still unreachable by regular means. Thank goodness for the indomitable spirit of the search and rescue workers who have continuously been working to get people to safety.

You can look at this tragedy and be hopeless and wallow in self-pity. Or you can take the higher path and feel emboldened by the generosity of others and move forward, value the life of your loved ones and strive to learn from this experience.

Flooding in Sampaloc

Never in my life did I think that the water would rise so fast. It was a Saturday morning and Dana had classes. So we brought her to school. It was raining a little so it was still okay, otherwise I wouldn't have thought to bring her to school at all. Anyway, around 10:30, we were heading out to get her from school and the rains were stronger, visibility was very poor but we managed and we even went to our favorite store so we can buy lunch but the water was high already and we were scared it might get into the car. We didn't think it was going to be bad at our place.

When we got near the house, we noticed that the garage was open and my cousins were bringing their cars out.. Look out! Water was in the garage and it was ankle deep in a span of 15 minutes!! we parked the car outside, brought the kids in and checked the status inside the house. Mel's room was flooded, there was a leak in the window.. got that fixed with sealant. Den's room was leaking, got that fixed too, the roofdeck was flooded, the drain was blocked. Our room was leaking.. the ceiling was flooding.. man, i can't fix that so our room had buckets of water LOL

You won't believe it, but the water in the garage rose to as high as chest-levels. On the streets, they were probably at thigh-levels. and the rain wasn't stopping ... At least, we didn't lose power.. Our neighbors houses were flooded. Our house itself wasn't flooded but we couldn't get out.. We just had to wait it out and keep vigil on the buckets of water inside the house LOL

Now we're waiting for the water to subside for the clean-up.. oh what a joy! LOL

Here are pictures, if you're so inclined:

On the streets:


Inside the compound:
If you look at the water level behind Tito Ernie, you'll see how high it reached.


Water in the car:

Trip to Subic

September 19 - With just a few days notice, Patrick told us that we were headed to Subic for the weekend. He was supposed to attend and cover the launch of a new energy drink and we were tagging along with him. It was also coincidental that he was assigned to test drive the new Honda City for a week.

Unfortunately, the day of the trip started out bad. When Patrick went out to get to the 6am opening ceremonies of the event in Ortigas, he found out that someone stole the Honda's side mirrors!! oh no!! It was our schedule to be parked outside of the garage for the weekend but never in my mind did I think that someone was going to steal side mirrors.. Man.. that was a shock.. It was a stress looking for replacement parts but Patrick found them over at Honda Otis Manila. What a relief!!

Then, we were headed out.. Dana was not feeling well but I thought it was just the regular "just woke up, bad mood" thing. I was hoping she will get better once we were on the road.. so we just monitored her..

Traffic was bad on the Expressway because it was a long weekend since Monday was a holiday. We had late lunch at the stopovers along the NLEX and we were worried that we won't make the check-in time. Fortunately, they allow late check-ins.. that's the 2nd relief! We arrived in Subic around 4pm already..


The Bayfront Hotel was pretty okay. Affordable rates, pleasant staff, good food. Dana still had a fever but it went away for a while so she was able to swim in the pool. The fever returned full blast maybe because of the aircon, it was so cold in the room. Dana's fever was still raging so we turned off the aircon and bathed her in cold water. I kept a cold compress on her forehead overnight, which meant I didn't sleep but that's okay.. it's a mother's duty.. The fever was kept at bay until morning. Luckily, there was a reclining couch in the room, that's where she slept, and we moved that couch away from the aircon so it wouldn't be so cold for her.

She was feeling better in the morning, we went outside after breakfast (buffet and really good food). There was a playground and we stopped at the beachside. We went riding around the area just to see what's new. Then went back just in time for checking out. We had lunch at Gerry's Grill - really yummy food! Dana was able to eat something at least..

Then it was time to go home. But Patrick had another stop in mind.. the Duty Free shops!! Man, did I go crazy there!!! Finally, clothes that fit me and for so cheap!!! I bought 2 pairs of shorts for me, a pair of Crocs on sale, shorts for Den, an Elmo doll for Dylan, toys for Dana.. it was crazy!! we also bought Combos (cheddar cheese snacks) and a 6-pack box of Pringles LOL