water everywhere
In an attempt to document what happened to our community because of “Ondoy”– and yeah, for work purposes, though I try to distance this blog from work–I put on my dad’s boots and went out of the house today. Among what I saw:
- my mother insisted on taking a picture of me before i took off. she should be the journalist in the family, really.
We’re going to try to relocate to my aunt’s place in Makati tomorrow morning, as long as there’ll be decent transportation. I don’t mind riding in a pedicab or a makeshift raft to get to a dry commercial area, but my mom is hypertensive, plus we’ll be bringing lots of clothes (for ourselves, and for donation purposes).
I’m looking forward to finally being able to help out. This disaster struck me in ways I never imagined. I still have one good friend in Cainta who’s unaccounted for, one who’s still stuck on the roof of her house, and countless more who lost everything.
[Some links that might be useful to others who want to reach out: urgent cases needing rescue, list of verified relief centers]
flooded
We just got our electricity back after a 24-hour blackout due to storm Ondoy. We’ve been here at Pasig/Cainta for 15 years now, but I don’t remember our streets ever flooding due to the rain. Until now.
My younger sister hasn’t gone home since Friday, because the roads leading up to our village are worse. She’s currently staying with a classmate in Quezon City, and probably won’t be home ’til tomorrow. Maybe ’til Tuesday.
But our situation is nothing compared to other areas. Floodwaters have completely taken over the first floor of my mom’s best friend’s house in another part of Pasig. There are hundreds, maybe thousands more people who need help; who have lost their property, their homes, and some, their lives.
Donations can be dropped off at three areas: at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) center at the Batasan complex in Quezon City, at the DSWD National Capital Region (NCR) Office in Quiapo, Manila, and at the DSWD National Resource Operations Center in Pasay City. Contact details can be found here, while disaster emergency hotlines can be found here.
Stay safe, everyone. And help out when you can.
let’s pretend i have money
Thanks to today’s inspiring (and I use that word without a hint of sarcasm) video editing training, I’ve come up with a mini-list of stuff to buy before January 2010:
1. A new phone with a built-in camera that’s better–or at least as good–as the one in the Motorazr2 V8 I lost last month (2.0 megapixel camera with 8x zoom). How did I lose that precious gem? Let’s just say despedida-related merrymaking + four-inch heels at 3 in the morning isn’t exactly the best formula for alertness.
2. My own Netbook, because lugging around the large office-issued laptop has been proven bad for my health and my social life. Negative effects include leg bruises, perpetually sore shoulders, and inability to wear killer heels when necessary–all of which put me in a generally bad mood. And we all know frowning uglifies you.
3. A digital SLR May hangganan din dapat ang pangangarap kahit libre.
dancing in the moonlight
Okay, I didn’t dance. I basically just hopped around puddles of rainwater like a seven-year-old. But man, letting the rain pour down on you–emo-sounding, I know, ugh–for nearly two hours was one of the most innocent but liberating experiences ever.
I just came back from a four-day training with the PCIJ in Subic, wherein I got to affirm my beliefs that a lot of politicians are dimwits who follow a script written by their handlers, and that the media doesn’t do enough to pounce on those dimwits.
I’m too lazy to go into details–details that I could’ve captured on film if I had the time and the good sense to pack my digital camera. But let’s just say I’m kinda inspired on many levels (does not include waking up at 6:30 a.m. every weekday morning). Bring it on, Universe.
back
I’m back to blogging after a two-month hiatus that included a break-up with The Bassist, stressful 9am-11pm work days, and unpublishable general craziness.
I wasn’t able to finish any book until late August, when one of my best friends urged me to read this thing about Jack Kerouac. Anyway, that got me back on track. A snapshot of the latest acquisitions:
finish us, they cry
“sunshine-y”
“I have no personality,” I declared to my friend J in the middle of our Amici dinner last week. “The only ‘personality’ I have is that I can mold my ‘personality’ to fit pretty much everyone else’s.”
“That’s not true,” she said. “You’re sunshine-y! When I look at you, I see rainbows and the sun!”
Sunshine-y. Huh. An interesting word to describe someone who likes all-black outfits, deadpan humor, and rock and roll.
