Cubao rooftops on a stormy weather, the afternoon before typhoon Frank's arrival. View from my office window.Prior to going home, I hoarded Farmer's grocery for some candles, mineral water, matchboxes, and batteries. Typhoons can cause power failures and it will be hours before electricity is restored. I saw that many people are doing the same in the grocery.
Outside, the gushing winds and heavy rains continue to flood the streets. Some street boys are running around enjoying the free shower, splashing themselves in the river of gushing waters. The scenery brought back distant memories of myself as a child. As a boy, I also begged my parents to let me shower in the rain. Sometimes, when my mother was in a good mood, I would be permitted. But there were times when I was not permitted (especially if I already took a bath before the rain began). Then, I would just look from our window, watching my friends in the rain as they play "habulang taga".
Back to the present day, going home was a trouble. The Jeepneys are nowhere to be found. Apparently, most of them went to garage early, expecting floods and heavy traffic. They weren't mistaken. In Aurora Boulevard, throngs of people filled the flooded streets waiting for taxis, FXs, jeepneys, or buses to deliver them home. It seemed that the streets will be filled with pedestrians rather than vehicles. From time to time, a few jeepneys and Fx passed by but already filled with passengers. The buses, when they come makes some big splashes of water that drenched the waiting pedestrians. One or two passengers debarked the bus, but ten or more replaced them so that the bus was filled to the entrance with people anxious to go home.
I decided to just walk the short distance from Aurora Boulevard to my house in New York, Cubao. It was now raining hard and I felt the cold wind in my face. My shoes, socks and my lower denims were already soaked.
Arriving home cold and wet, I decided to take shower. I boiled some water and poured it in my bucket. I also put some cold water, and after feeling that it was lukewarm enough, I enjoyed the soap and the bath. Feeling refreshed, I dressed in a fresh new shirt and shorts. Watched TV. There were 99 channels. All were boring. I decided to eat. And the best thing to eat in this cold inclement weather was hot instant cup noodles. I bought Nissin noodles from our local Sari-sari store. I love cup noodles but I hate the three minutes wait to cook it.
Outside, the gushing winds and rains continued. I was perfectly enjoying my noodles, even dipping my biscotcho in its steaming broth, when suddenly the power went out. I didn't expect that blackout will be this early. I lighted some candles and continued with my dinner. Afterward, I sat in my easy chair, and opened my laptop. Good thing that I charged it prior to the blackout. I decided to surf for some news on the net about the typhoon.
I felt bored and decided to play some pirated movies in my DVD collection. It was an old Italian movie called "The Bicycle Thief", a story about a man's desperate attempt to retrieve his stolen bicycle, because it's all the thing that he needs to be employed. Actually, I already watched it a few times before, but I love the simplicity of the story. I love movies with a touch of social realism. This preference of course saved me from watching again such trash as Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull.
After a few hours, my laptop's batteries were drained. I fell asleep on my easy chair, only to be awakened at 3 a.m. by the howling winds and stronger rains. It was very dark as my lighted candles were already almost consumed. I looked outside and I saw that even the large tress in the neighborhood were swaying from the wrath of typhoon "Frank". Some tin roofs threatened to be blown away by the gushing winds. Once I felt safe that my own roof wouldn't give way, I slumped back into my easy chair.
I didn't have anything to do on a blackout and stormy night. So I slept again, while typhoon Frank made its way above my house and into the nearby provinces.
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