Mayon Day

I'm currently at the Villa Caceres Hotel in Naga City. Malds is surfing d net beside me while Archie is in our room at d 2nd floor. Malds and I are enjoying d free wifi at d hotel's lobby. And here I am typing this blog using my phone! I'm really amazed what technology can do. This is the first time I will be posting my blog using the web features of my phone. . hehehe. Anyway, we had a tiring but exciting first day here in Bicol. We took a 7 hour bus ride from Cubao to Naga. Btw, the bus had to wait for 30mins kasi late si Archie.. Hehe. The first major thing we did was d visit to the famous Mayon Volcano. It was so cool! Muntik na namin hndi makita due to the thick clouds, buti na lng for a few minutes nagpakita cya kahit hindi buo. Sulit na rin. Thanx Doryll for driving all the way from Naga to Legaspi in Albay. Tomorrow, Caramoan here we go! Archie and I inside the belfry Clouds covered Mayon just as we left d place

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farewell california

After a year of residing in California... specifically at the California Garden Square in Mandaluyong... I moved back again to Quezon City. I am now living along Scout Ybardolaza Street in Quezon City, just a few minutes walk to ABS-CBN.

It was so tiring mag lipat. I have with me all things/documents that I had since I entered college 5 years ago. I nearly gave up packing! hehehe

Now that I think of it, nakaka miss din yung company of friends. Cos right now, I am back to being alone. Kahit na hindi nag-uusap often sa California, it's different lang kasi you know your housemates are just there sa other room or sa other floor.

Now, alone again. Well, I'm used to it, kasi naman 4 years akong mag-isa sa room ko in Katipunan. Pero kasi, in Katipunan, friends were just nearby- some living in Ateneo dorm, some in nearby condos. Now... wala, I don't know anyone!! Yun lang ang sad part.

Anyway, in other aspects, ok naman lahat. Kasi malapit lang sa work and medyo malaki naman ang room for one person. But of course, meron din some not-so-nice features... saka ko na sabihin sa next entry ko.

But for now...
Farewell: 3B Fairfax Tower 1, California Garden Square, Mandaluyong.
Hello: #25 A, Sct. Ybardolaza St, Quezon City.

*pictures taken at the California Garden Square

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are we prepared?

Climate Change has shifted several normal occurences the world has. A lot of weird weather conditions are happening right now. The recent strong cyclone in Myanmar which killed over 40,000, the occurence of qualls or the sudden increase in wind speed in India which killed dozens plus the many unique phenomenon experienced by people across the globe.

Here in the country, storms suddenly appeared in the middle of summer... not one but two. As of now, signal no. 3 has been raised in several Luzon provinces as typhoon "Cosme" heads north. Tropical Depression "Dindo" has just recently left the Philippine area of responsibility, but it continues to affect the country's weather system. More storms are expected this year, including what PAGASA calls a "super-typhoon".

The question is Are We Prepared?
The country has always been a magnet for typhoons. Millions worth of properties have been destroyed in the many calamities that visited the country. Just recently, flashfloods and landslides have been reported in several parts of Mindanao and Visayas. Now, with all the weird events happening near our shores, like the Myanmar tragedy or the China and Indonesia Quake. Are We Prepared?

These events are so near us. It is a big possibility if indeed a major calamity hits the country. I hope the government can now plan ahead and prepare disaster mitigation plans. I guess prevention will always be better than rescue operations or rebuilding stage.

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asian deaths

It's been a while since I wrote here.

I just feel quite sad with the global stories happening now. I am in charge of writing foreign news and it just seems sad to write all the dead people and the wars and the disasters. Recently I was writing about the Myanmar cyclone story where the death toll is pegged nearly 30,000!!! Can you imagine that? I mean, 1 or 2 dead is something big, but 30,000??

At that fateful night when meters-high waves struck villages and 190kmh winds swept them, all they can do was just to cling on to their dear lives, but not all survived. Worst, the Myanmar government is too paranoid to receive international aid.

After less than 2 weeks... A 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck China just this afternoon killing, as of now, 8,500 people!!! While I was writing it for the 5pm news, there were only 4 dead, now 8,500!!! What about tomorrow? It will surey rise again. Writing for these kind of stories does not really give me a nice feeling.

The thing is all these deaths happened so near our shores. They're our neighbors. I guess we can just thank God for protecting us and for praying it will never happen to our country. Haay naku... I wil have to update the death toll tomorrow... I just hope there will be less deaths. Let us continue praying for them.

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