Typhoon Ketsana (Philippine Name: Ondoy) recently devastated Manila and nearby provinces. Never in my 30 years of existence have I seen anything like it. Imagine a Typhoon Signal 1 devastating the entire NCR, Rizal, Laugna, Batangas, and other provinces! Watching the news recently has both been heartwrenching and disappointing. People helping out each other, giving the best that they can give, rescuing others, sacrificing their own lives. People being hard-headed, thinking only of what will become of their material possessions if they leave their houses instead of actually evacuating and saving their own lives.

I’m a firm believer in prevention. Yes, everything is so unfortunate and so unexpected. It makes me happy that we’re all helping each other survive this wretched disaster. Yet, there’s that fear that all this might happen again, what with the looming Super Typhoon Parma just kilometers away from the Philippine shores. I’d like to think that Filipinos have become wiser and learned their lessons to always always be ready for the absolute worst. It is better to take drastic measures this time, haul yourselves and your belongings this early to the highest possible place that you can get to, instead of waiting to be rescued. This time, let’s be prepared and rescue ourselves before disaster happens.

On a lighter note, I often wonder why survival kits contain things that you can never really use. If I were to put together my own survival kit, here are things that I’ll be bringing with me:

1. CAN OPENER

Let’s face it. Relief good often consist of noodles and CANNED goods. How the heck am I going to open one if I don’t have a can opener??? This is something a lot of us tend to overlook.

2. CELLPHONE

Fully charged and with a spare battery that’s also fully charged.

3. LOAD

This is for people who are on prepaid.

4. THICK BLANKETS

For those long, cold nights spent who-knows-where. One to wrap around yourself, the second one to lay down on.

5. PLASTIC BAGS

These are multi-purpose. It’s for your garbage, wet clothes, etcetera.

6. ATM

Just in case…

7. WATER

Gallons and gallons of water. Even without food, a person can survive by just drinking water.

8. CANDIES

Sugar can get you through the day.

9. VIENNA SAUSAGES

This is a personal preference because you can eat it straight from the can. The brine it swims in is absolutely disgusting but during desperate times can actually help you survive because it’s salty and salt retains water. So eat your sausages and drink the brine.

10. FLASHLIGHT & BATTERIES

For obvious reasons.

11. CANDLES & MATCHES

To go primitive once the flashlight and batteries run out.

12. SOAP & SHAMPOO

Flood water has tons of germs and bacterias. Staying clean will up your chances of surviving. You’ll be disease-free.

13. VITAMIN C & OTHER MEDICINE

Again, prevention is better than cure.

14. RUBBER SLIPPERS, RUBBER BOOTS

Tons of germs and bacterias enter through our feet.

15. CLEAN SOCKS

A warm feet can help us survive the cold nights.

16. RUBBING ALCOHOL

Germs! Germs! Germs! Aaaaah! Stay away!

17. BAND AIDS or MEDICAL PLASTIC STRIPS

For those nasty cuts.

18. CLEAN UNDERWEAR

Lots of it!

19. T-SHIRTS, SWEATSHIRTS

You gotta keep warm with the kind of rain that we’re experiencing.

20. BABY POWDER

Some people are just sooo cranky amidst a disaster or being stranded. Keeping yourself doused in baby powder will keep you cool, calm, collected, and thinking straight.

21. ANTI MOSQUITO/INSECT WIPES/LOTION

After surviving a typhoon or flood, no one wants to die of dengue!

22. READING MATERIALS

To keep you sane in case you’re alone.

How ’bout you? What do you want included in your kit?

The holes in the ceiling make the memorial illuminate beautifully. They made good use of the natural light.

This is my secret place. I have been going to this war memorial since I was a kid. I have wanted to show it to him for a long time and we finally made time a couple of weeks back. It’s my secret place. My sanctuary in the middle of chaotic Manila.

Going back to this place after neglecting to visit for several years was emotional for me. It brought back happy childhood memories of bugging my dad to bring us to the place with crosses scattered over the ground. The memorial looked exactly as how I remembered it when I was a kid.

There aren't any windows in the chapel. This is how they let natural light inside.

The walls inside the chapel were completely covered with mosaic tiles.

My friend and I were completely mesmerized with the extreme details of the mosaic maps.

He didn't want to leave the place. I didn't want him to leave either.

The chapel facade.

In memoriam...

I will never ever go house hunting in Manila, ever again!

I have never come across a listing that is completely truthful. If it says, “5 minutes away from Ortigas,” it really means 5 minutes more and you’re ALMOST HALFWAY THERE!!! Yes, it is 5 minutes at 3 am, when everyone’s sleeping, absolutely no vehicles on the street, and you drive an F1 race car. If it says, “Spacious bedrooms,” it means spacious if you’re from the land of Liliput. If it says, “Mindanao Avenue, Tandang Sora QUEZON CITY,” guess what?! It’s in fucking NOVALICHES/CALOOCAN, the Murder Capital of Manila.

My friend Faye asked me to see townhouses with her, thinking it’s the Mindanao Avenue that’s right along Veteran’s Hospital. We had a 9 am appointment with a developer and he told us to go meet him at the Wilcon Builder’s Center along Mindanao Ave. We thought we had the right Wilcon Center, but guess what? Mindanao Avenue’s so vast, it called for TWO Wilcon Centers…

It was a sign…

Meeting up with the developer gave me a funny feeling that I was going to see parts of Quezon City that I’ve never heard of before. You see, I was born and raised in the Southern part of Metro Manila. I’m a Southern girl through and through. I abhor Quezon City. To me, going to Quezon City means Eastwood and Tomas Morato. I have never even thought that I would venture into the depths of undeveloped QC in this lifetime.

The houses were okay. The location was very wrong. Faye was looking for something near UP, not near Tandang Sora National High School. Driving around to see the houses, I saw schools I’ve only seen in the defunct show, Battle of the Brains. I’d never thought I would see the headquarters of that Hortaleza Beauty store (HBC). It didn’t even cross my mind that they have a proper office, let alone a huge compound! I never thought I’d see the factory that makes Likas Papaya soap. I never imagined that parts of Quezon City still had dirt roads, stray dogs that are already too comfortable sleeping on the middle of the road and not even bothering a glance at you while you desperately honk your horn and decide, “Should I run over it?” or, “Should I wait for it to get up?” Exclusive townhouse gated communites in those parts of QC rise in the middle of a neighborhood that one wouldn’t even imagine walking around in the afternoon unless you want to get stalked, mugged, or stabbed 77 times. Townhouses that are right next to a GRASSY KNOLL (vacant lot with meters-high grass reeds), convenient enough for a serial killer/rapist to murder you in your own home and dump your body next to it, without anybody ever figuring out where you disappeared to. Neighbors (if any) will just think the stinking, rotting smell is a corpse of a kitten or a rat that’s bigger than a full-grown cat.  These are parts of QC wherein neighborhood kids are in awe of a car… I felt compelled to show my passport and driver’s license every time we passed through those gated communities. What if they require a visitor’s pass or a tourist visa? It’s like venturing into another country. Faye and I felt like we were in a parallel universe that no one in Manila knew about.

Faye: If I move here, will you still be my friend and visit me?

Me: I’ll send you telegrams and visit you every year…

I can’t fathom why cab drivers complain whenever someone asks them to drive to Paranaque, Taguig, Alabang, Las Pinas. If I were a cab driver and someone asked me to drive them to Barangay Sauyo “NEAR” Mindanao Avenue, I’d ask for an extra P1,000.00 on top of whatever’s on the meter, make them sign legal documents stating that if I get mugged or murdered on my way back to civilization, my family or next of kin will receive X amount of cash as compensation. Then again, I’d probably laugh at the passenger and drive away. Who are they kidding?! No cab driver in the right state of mind would drive to those parts of Quezon City! It’s the Hotel California of the National Capital Region! You can drive there anytime you’d like, but you can never leave!

Travel only with equals or thy betters.
If none, travel alone.
–The Dhammapada

If I were to choose a place in the United States where I can spend a couple of weeks, it’ll definitely be New Orleans.

I’ve always wanted to go there. Even after Katrina, I still want to go there. Not for Mardi Gras, not because of Anne Rice, but because the place is magical, mystical, enchanted.

I want to spend an afternoon or two in the French Quarters, maybe tour the cemeteries, visit the restaurants for gastronomic feast.

Imagine having an encounter with a voodoo priestess or being freaked out by a ghost tapping you on your shoulder while you’re sitting down, staring at the moon.

Imagine being transported back in time while listening to one of the many great New Orleans jazz bands.

New Orleans, I think, will give me every bit of experience one can think of when traveling. Culture, entertainment, architecture, food, religion, spirituality, and the people… living or not.

Someday… soon… I will visit. I will make New Orleans mine, for such a place, no matter how long or short the stay is, will forever be in my head and in my heart.