Krispy Kreme Attendant Passing Time

Her Tita Leah brought her this Krispy Kreme cap. The video she's watching is the classic musical, Annie.

Sierra Isobel Años Ordoña - New Member of the Laurio Clan

Today I am in Fairview visiting the new member of the Laurio clan.

She's taller and way bigger than KT! Definitely mana sa ama! Si Peps tatay na tatay na!

Bing was beside the crib when I arrived. The Haber kids are in Circle, with Lea and Manay Titin; the Haber couple are in SM as of this writing.

I was supposed to bring KT with me but we realized she has colds (later on I found out that Ading or Sudi have colds according to Lalaw), and decided against bringing her to Fairview. Later on Tin told me that KT turned off the TV, pulled the plug and rolled in the floor and started to cry (while I was taking the car out of the parking lot). Naluuy man ako...

Lunchtime! Nagluto si Lalaw ng pansit!

One Fine, Sunny Sunday

Today, I decided to buy our plane tickets for December's trip to our hometown. I decided to walk from our place to Robinson's Galleria. I left our place around 825am and found myself near the corner of East Bank (Floodway) Rd. and F. Legazpi bridge 15 minutes after.

Around 40 minutes after I left our place, I felt dehydrated and my legs were screaming like hell! I was near the Ugong Barangay Hall, just infront of the gas station, Flying V. I wanted to get something to drink. There is this sari-sari store just infront of the gas station - it offers the soft, chewy cookies in a 3-cookie pack. I asked for a 12-oz Coke - they don't have it; a 500-ml Coke - they don't have it. What they only have is a Coke Sakto, otherwise, I have to take the 1-L bottle. I thought the old lady was mad, but I realized that Coke released Coke in a smaller bottle calling it the same name. The old lady manning the store offered me 2 bottles of Sakto.

Somebody (a guy behind the lola manning the store) poured the soda to the plastic and put a straw on it. I didn't care if the guy's hands were clean, I just wanted to have that drink and chew my cookies. It was one of those memorable experience with Coke product!!

After staying for 5 minutes, I walked again along Eagle street (I was almost side swiped by a van due to a weird traffic direction on that area). Then, I turned right along C-5 and crossed under the C-5/Ortigas flyover going to the direction of Tiendisitas. It was a bit uphill and decided to take Ortigas Ave. instead of Vargas street.

Walking against the traffic along Ortigas Ave. was just appropriate since it offered shade against the sun; furthermore, the shrubs along the sidewalks help as well.

I arrived in Robinson's Galleria (Ortigas entrance, near Mc Donald's) around 1:45 hours after I left our place. I felt that my knees and ankles were going to fall apart. I went straight to the top floor and change clothes (I can't find the restrooms in the ground floor and I am not familiar with the place).

Afterwards, I was able to sit for 5 minutes in the booking office until my name was called.

Going back to our home? I took the bus and tricycle. My legs couldn't take pounding of another almost 2-hour stroll (if you can call it one).

Did I upload my experience when I walked to Taytay market?

Product Review - Nova Transistor Radio

After typhoon Ondoy, I bought a transistor radio since one of our challenges during the said typhoon was lack of awareness outside our area (our TV was busted and we didn't have any radio in the unit).

The brand is Nova and was made in China. It cost me less than PHP400. I grabbed it immediately since I only wanted a radio function, specifically AM band (the original request of my wife was a unit with CD player, which is 4 times more expensive).

Two weeks ago, the maid was complaining that the radio wasn't working. I checked it out, it seems that the tuner is loose, otherwise, it works perfectly.

Then just last weel when I came back from the office, the maid complained again that the radio made a spark in the morning. I checked the power cord and saw that it shorted. Apparently, the wires (under a protective sheath) are quite small and one of them might have been exposed the copper wire due to inappropriate handling (like pulling the wire when unplugging it, considering that the socket is not loose). Luckily, when I tested it using 3 DD batteries, it worked fine.

For several days, we used a battery especially during the typhoon Santi.Sometimes, the reception is bad that I have to bring the radio near the window. There's some art needed in listening to this radio unit (but then again, it's also the same with my Globe's Visibility unit).

Yesterday, I purchased a 2-pc, PHP25-plug from DYI in Ever-Sta. Lucia. With some help from my old Swiss Army knife, I was able to restore it to working condition. However, since the electric wire is quite thin (I did check the specs on the cable - it says 300v) and the hole of the plug where the cord goes through is way wider than the cable's diamater. I decided to fasten the cord with electrical tape - this will ensure that, when the cord is pulled to unplug, the cord will be pulled instead of the thin electrical wires.

So far so good. Now I am thinking of bringing the unit to our office. I love listening to AM's decade-long programs. It releases me from my daily grind with technology (e.g. MP3, Windows Media Player, etc.) and also reminds me of my childhood back in the province.

Recommendation - You get your money's worth for this product. It's definitely not for urbanites and techies, but if you want a simple transistor radio to get updated news from DZRH or DZMM or DZBB, this will do the work.

Note: I tried checking the web for Nova brand of radios, I could only find one. After clicking several related links, I got nowhere.

First Haircut

Caitlin had her first hair cut. She was with her mom and my sister, Lea.

According to Tin, she almost jumped out of the chair when she saw the blower.

Caitlin's Vocabularies - Part Duex

Here's another set of Caitlin's vocabularies:

Boat - boot
Dance - daes
Elmo (of Sesame Street) - emo
Good morning - mininin
Happy Birthday - hapititi
Lipstick - thipst
Lola - umtah
Lubot - bthuth or butut
Nips (Pinoy M&M) - niths
Pencil - pitis
Peanut - meynan
Powder (any) - bati
Tita Joy - titatut
Tita Leah (improved version) - titatat

As of this writing, she talks a lot and not even her mom cannot keep up with her linguistic skills.

Here's the first part of this article.

Living in a Condo - Water Pump in Cluster 8

On our way to our unit, my wife and passed by the main staircase in Cluster 8. Under the staircase, water pumps are located. Even before we reached the Cluster 8's main entrance (where the staircase is located), we were hearing a loud, weird sound of grinding metals. It turned out to be water pump, most probably filling out the building's water tanks.

Yesterday or the day before, I also heard the same sound. I thought it was the generator of the compound. Now I know where the sound is coming from.

While passing by where the water pump is, Tin and I imagined if we were staying on the nearby units - I can't imagine listening to that annoying sound after coming from work.

I think the pump is damaged by Pepeng since this the first time I heard the pump make that sound.

Living in a Condo - Homeowners Meeting

Last night, I attended the homeowners attention. I got the invitation 2 weeks ago in the parking lot. The agenda was all about what happened during typhoon Ondoy. I joined 15 minutes late (the meeting was 8pm in the clubhouse).

I wasn't suprised to see that the host (not even an officer, if my guess is right) had an emergency light lying on the floor, just beside him; the lighting was poor; half of the attendees were standing; and the speaker taped his manila paper presentation on the wall. It's barely a homeowners meeting, if I may say.

I signed the log book and took my place just behind the rest. The topic was about the flooding and how the developer, Empire East Land Holdings, should do it. As what I already surmised watching the flood water drain through our area from the rice field beside us, the speaker (from what I found out, he's an attorney, but I didn't get his name) claimed that our area is a catch basin. Thus, when the perimeter fence was swept by the flood water, our water level didn't subside immediately. He (the speaker) claimed that there should be a drainage that is 5m by height and 5m by width, I am not sure where he got the specs, going to the tributary on the other side of the compound. He claimed that having such facility (or lackthereof), the buyers should not be paying PHP30,000/sqm, but should not be more than PHP10,000/sqm. Where he got that figure is another matter.

Another point that was raised (which I've seen the copied document, but no idea if it's real), is the Cease-and-Desist Order from the housing board. What it says is that the buildings are not compliant. According the speaker's explanation, the development is only allowed to build 2-story buildings; however, the developer kept on adding more levels, reaching the current 6-story buildings. He made an example of Ruby Tower this is the building that collapsed during an earthquake in 1960s, I am familiar with this because my mom told me the story more than a couple of times.

I could feel the interests of the participants were increasing. Me, I was just there to observe - I haven't attended any homeowners meeting yet. Besides, I know for a fact that when I decided to purchase the unit, I was attracted by the model unit and never investigated it. Now, I (and the rest of my family) have to suffer my stupidity.

Questions started to pop up, like what can the buyers do. One possibility that the speaker raised is to file a damage suit to the developer. Two howeowners claimed that they are not paying anything to the developers, except for the association dues (which goes to daily ops of the compound). When the parking fee was raised, everyone agreed that what we are paying is unfair since the parking area doesn't offer any kind of security. I really don't know if this is the case, I haven't put too much thought on what I am paying for except for compliance sake.

And what about those who paid cash? According to the attorney, they have the rights to take their payment back.... with interest! The way it was said, it sounded quite attractive (at least in my perspective). So there's hope alright. And what about those who doesn't want to pay, but are paying via PDCs (post-dated cheques)? They can stop paying; according to the attorney, there's a law allowing them to avoid the bouncing check law.

There were harrasments, like people with unpaid parking bills were not allowed to go inside (police and barangay officials were not allowed to join in because it's a civil case, whatever).

What I found out, that I will clarify with the admin, is that the regular officer election is May 5 of the year. According to those who lived here for 3 years now, no election was seen or called upon. However, there's a list of officers posted on the bulletin board (I saw this, one last name caught my attention was "Tan").

My hunch was confirmed - the group who organized it wasn't allowed to use the clubhouse's facility. Thus, the lights were not turned on, except those that are turned on at nights regularly. Mosquitos were everywhere!

Anyway, the mosquitos won! I left the area when I couldn't stand them punching through my skins. The discussion was just starting, but I have a good feeling where it will lead to.

I am interested to know, really, what my rights are. I will be consulting the admin on some stuff and want to know the details. I pity them because I know they are caught in the crossfire. But then, this is the job that they signed for.

In my opinion, the money that I paid for this area is just what I am getting. I mean, if you buy a condo in Makati, that will cost you PHP4M a pop! But the service is incomparable. I also didn't do a due diligence when buying this unit. Besides, I work in Eastwood Cyberpark - the building where I am working got flooded 2 weeks after Ondoy!!! Wait 'till you hear this - there are 3 elevator shafts in the office building, one elevator is always out most of the time of year for repair considering that it's a 30-story building! Guess what, the developer for our condo area and Eastwood is the same - Mega World. East Empire Land Holdings is the developer for low-cost housing project. I mean, there's no difference between buying a cheap condo unit from buying a made-in-China products - they are cheap, alright, and there are undesirable consequences.

I am sure worse will happen to this area. I am not an expert on land development, but I know when some facilities are out of place - in engineering course, they thought you to be logical and practical, and not where the money is. And this is not the case here.

This community is simply unsustainable from what I am observing.

Lesson that I learned - don't attend the homeowners meeting! =P

Welcome to the world of adults who wants to have a house of their own...

Leah's Graduation

I am at the 2nd floor of the PICC's Plenary Hall looking down at the school officials. I am also listening to this particular speaker (she's a commissioner, but not sure where). She's harping about the important document (diploma) that their getting after years in college; she also mentioned about the effective learnings that the graduates earned in college. (Unfortunately, I have a different perspective, but it's another story for another time).


I did like what the speaker said - be the best you can be. This is what I always advise my sister.

I am just glad that my sister has hurdled through college. She's very pretty with her dress (unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her yet). I am sure she's starving now (we were here since 1130am), unlike myself and my mom who dropped by Jollibee to have lunch; Nanay also had to buy a new pair of sandals since her original pair cut through her skin.

This is the second time I've been here. The first time - it was my graduation 11 years ago.

[New Software Installation - anong version ka]

Anong version ka???  =)

 

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1..0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system.

Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed,

Desperate.

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --

DEAR DESPERATE,

First, keep in mind,
Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, while Husband 1.0 is an operating system.

Please enter command: ithoughtyoulovedme. html, try to download Tears 6.2, and do not forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update.
If those applications work as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, remember, overuse of the above application can cause  Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5,  Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1.

Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the FartingandSnoringLo udlyBeta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program. This is an unsupported application and will crash  Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0  is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly.. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck ,
                Tech Support

 

 

 

 

 

Caitlin has Fever

Caitlin fell to the ground last Saturday, just beside a pile of wood with protruding nails. When we checked, she has a scratch on her knee. Since we are not sure if that was caused by a nail, Kristine gave her a DPT booster anyway.

While Tin was giving her the shot, she was moving and I had a hard time holding her. After an hour, Caitlin was complaining about her arm. And she started crying afterwards because of the pain. Eventually, she have had fever.

When we left this morning, she was more active and she was using her arm already (the one that got the needle). But she still have fever.

I called the house today, my dad told me that Caitlin was asleep and she's fine. I am glad.

Caitlin in Santa Cruz Church

Last September 21, I went to visit Tito Arnel in the Sta. Cruz Parish. I brought Kristine and Caitlin with me. Caitlin behaved accordingly. Afterwards, Tito Arnel treated us for snacks in the nearby Chowking fastfood.

As much as possible, any activites in the church, I want to take my family with me. This starts Caitlin's exposure to the Catholic church, at the same time, it's also a family affair even though I am the one who has the main business.

Here are some pictures:

Figure 1. Caitlin is enjoying her own chair, while Tito Arnel (not included on the picture) and myself are having a discussion.

Figure 2. Caitlin waves her hand to me while I am trying to take the picture.

Figure 3. Enjoying the trip to Sta. Cruz Parish.

Figure 4. From the eyes of a child.

Figure 5. Caitlin is curious what's happening outside the fastfood. She doesn't see that much activities in our compound.

Learning how to Read

Caitlin's First Mural

Kristine didn't catch Caitline on time. And this is what Tin saw. How's that for a canvas??

Mommy and Caitlin

Sleeping with Caitlin

Kristine told me while having dinner tonight that last night, Caitlin was complaining about me - from time to time, I would roll over her arms or so. She complained, "dadee, ipeet, ipeet". Then, I would roll off, and both of us will go back to sleep.

The 3 of us are sleeping on a single-sized bed. So Caitlin could barely move and she would kick around to gain some space. Or simply roll over us (yes, she could do this), pushing us on the side.

No dull moments with my daughter!

Worrying Husband - 09282009

Yesterday, i was able to call my wife - she is safe and staying in the hospital. She saw what happened to us in TV, and decided that it's too risky to go ahead and go home. When she heard Caitlin's voice, Kristine cried. And at that moment, the line worsened (this time Globe was able to connect, but the line was out of whack). I tried calling again, but failed. But I was glad that she's in the hospital. That made my day.

The water is gone when I woke up, but traces of mud can still be seen as expected. The road is deserted. I got to the office at 630m, I simply took the jeep. There was a bit of heavy traffic near the entrance of De Castro (severely hit by the flood). Also, the foot of the Ortigas bridge were made as evac centers; lots of government vehicles were parked on the bridge, allowing only 1 lane per direction. The evac tents provided by the local government seemed to be deserted; there were a couple of people inside, but I don't see it as your typical evac center.

I brought our cellphones and chargers, just in case the situation worsens. At least we have available communication (SMART only) if this happens. I brought my office clothes since we ran out of water and the office has this expensive bathroom.

After taking a bath, I called my wife. I decided not to call her when I got to the office since I knew she's safe and I don't want to wake her up. It was just a relief that the whole family is totally safe. I am also glad that she's a doc and she can stay in the hospital.

Kristine met me at Shopwise late in the morning - we bought some supplies for the rest of the week. Luckily, my boss advised me to go to ShopWise first thing in the morning since there is panic buying since Sunday. True enough, I wasn't able to grab water for my kid; the buyers were both affected by the typhoons and those helping out the victims (buying boxes of instant mami and canned goods). It took us 2.5 hours waiting for our turn to pay for the goods!

I wasn't able to get back to the office due to the heavy traffic caused by the rescue vehicles on the De Castro area. The F. LEgazpi Street is also closed due to high water level. The normal cab fee of PHP100 per trip to our place became PHP300 - the cab driver have to go around Taytay, if he doesn't want to wait on the heavy traffic.

Whatever resentment I have yesterday, I am taking it back.... Life...

Worrying Husband - 09272009/1105H

It's 1105H, 09272009. Our cellphone batteries are dead; those that have charges cannot get signal from the provider. Only Smart has a signal. The last conversation our nanny had with Kristine was a 3 hours ago (and I was out observing our surroundings). According to the nanny, there was no indication that Tin is coming home. She did inform Tin that Caitlin's milk was running out fast.

I am worried that she might try to force her way home without considering the risks. I know she's much safer in the hospital than in the road. Besides, our place is still flooded - almost waist-deep. But the place near the second guard house must have higher water level than ours since it looks like the lowest area in our compound.

Before we had Caitlin, Tin could easily decide on tight situation. But when she became a mom, most of the time she would lose composure if Caitlin is involved. This is well understood from my side. And this is what I am worried about since she might panic and forget that there are several adults at home to take care of Caitlin.

I just hope that she gets home safe if ever she decides to.

1652H,
There's no sign of Kristine. The maids were not able to charge their phone outside, so there's no way we can contact her. I just hope she stayed in the hospital instead of trying to come home. I will know by tomorrow when I get to the office.

1716H
The maids told us that they had to walk to Ortigas bridge to find infant milk for my daughter. That's approx. 3 kilometers away from Cambridge. According to them, the country's President and Bayani Fernando were in the vicinity managing the disaster. A lot of people were crying while they were passing by.

This makes me more worried. Kristine might have forced her way in but got caught somewhere between UDMC and Cainta. My wife is not familiar with alternate routes going to our place. I just really hope that she's back in the hospital safe.

This is the only time that I resent her job that, I feel, doesn't see natural calamities as an valid reason not to report to the hospital.  Well, she had to report 2 weeks after our daughter was born due to similar practices in their department - she went through the knife and not via a natural birth process. I am sure this won't be the last of it.

Well, this is what I signed for...

Typhoon Journal - 09272009

0636H
Caitlin woke up before we did. When I woke up, she was just rolling all around, I guess, waiting for us to wake up. When I sat down, she started calling my name and her tita (Lea).

Last night, every now and then I would check the water level. But around 9pm, the water level stabilized; my reference point was the plant infront of the building on the opposite side.

Our main challenge is that all of us don't have enough battery charge and only Smart has signal; Globe's is completely out of service (their cellsite might be the one just outside our compound - it's power supply is completely submerged last night.


0751H
I just got back from checking the status of my car - based on my estimate, the water might have reached the engine but not the computer box; if this is not the case, I am sure that the flooring is all wet. The car park is relatively higher than where our unit is standing. Furthermore, the fence in the parking space was washed out.

I also took some pictures. I spent around 45 minutes talking to the same person I met last night. Apparently, he's quite experienced about this situation; he grew up in Quezon, specifically Pollillo Is.

I also checked the other side of the compound, now I could see the roof of the Alto that I was checking yesterday - the roof is barely visible under the water.

One scene is the garbage (originally thrown in a water pit just outside our compound) surrounding the house, trying to get in, just like in TV about Manila's garbage problem.

I am sure the developer didn't anticipate this situation. I mean their power generator stopped earlier yesterday due to the rising water level. Oh well, this is a problem of yesteryears, I would say and it can happen again.

I pity those that are in the ground floor units. One resident told us this morning that there are only 2 of them, both ladies. They were only able to carry legal documents, otherwise, the rest were left to nature.

Time to save some water, I am not sure when the power will be back. The water may not recede until end of the day, looking at the progress. Besides, our building seems to be the lowest point of the compound and the power lines are buried on the ground.


0945H
People were shouting outside claiming that the sighted snake near the fence has been caught. From what we heard downstairs, there 2 sightings - 1 near our building (we are near the fence) and near the club house.


These people are personnel from the admin, trying to enjoy whatever is there around them. Not noticing that the water is highly polluted. This is just infront of the clubhouse.

I went out again to check the water level in the parking space, it is receding on a slow pace. But the flooring of the 626 is a bit above the water level; but I am sure inside the car is flooded. The CRVs and the other non-American SUVs were no match for the flood! But that gave me more reason that if ever I purchase a SUV, the clearance should be increased (my 626 has extra clearance due to higher humps and deeper potholes in where I lived before).


Figure 3. The black car (Mazda 626, 1994 Model), partly covered
by the crane, is my car. You can see that the water reached the
flooring level.


Figure 6. This was taken in the next day. But the highest water level I've seen, it reached the spokes of the spare tire.
The good thing is that it's sunny.

I also saw 2 people wading in the water (nearby the construction site); while a flow of, most probably, fuel or oil (if I am wrong, I am sure it's not water since it reflects rainbow color agains the sun light) from their right side crossing the stream. One of them, a lady looks like a mestiza, sporting a contemporary designed sunglasses with a leather-like lady bag (and she was wearing a pair shorts) leisurely wade on the water and seemed to be talking to her companion. In my perspective, she's a candidate for an infection or allergy of some sort since it was the second time i've seen her wading.

And this is why I discouraged the maid to go out for a cellphone recharge (all of our phones are dead, just enough time to inform Kristine that everything is alright except for Caitlin's milk that is running low).

The nanny decided to delute Caitlin's milk - it worked. But it's just a matter of time that the milk runs out completely. Hopefully, by then the water has receded enough for us not to get wet. I am planning that when the water level reaches knee-deep (relative to the road level infront of our building and not on the sidewalk level), I will check my car if it starts (I hope so since my worst experience with flood was when we were almost floating near the Kalentong area and waves from the trucks would push us to the gutter).

I am surprised how people (most probably haven't seen devastation from typhoon first hand) reacted. But then again, I lived thru hundreds of typhoons in our province. But one thing that I noticed today, everyone is smiling at me when we meet somewhere in the building - normally, ma at pa kami dito. The condo personnel who collects garbage every morning still did their chores and greeted me "good morning".

Behind the chaos, order are still being observed by some.


1649H
Lea cooked the remaining pancake powder. Caitlin had peanuts for snacks. I had to take the saucer full of peanuts away from her since she wouldn't stop.

I checked the car 30 minutes ago (the water is knee-deep when I went to the parking space), aside from the soaked interior, the engine started just fine. I waited for 3 minutes before I turned it off. But the interior is full of mud! I guess it's time for a full detailing service that I've been planning for the last 2 years.

The ground floor is all messed up with mud everywhere. It will take a day to fully clean the ground floor, not counting those that are damaged by the water in each unit.
The maid just came back from the market - they can't find milk from what I heard from the distance. They are just talking with my sister sharing their experience. I am not sure if Lactum would work with Caitlin.

We are also running out utility water. Our drinking supply is still enough until tomorrow or after.

If the situation doesn't get better tomorrow, I will bring my kid to Sun Valley and report to the office afterwards.


Figure 5. Here's the water level around 9pm on September 26. This is infront of our loft.

Note: For more pictures of the event, you can visit this public site.

Typhoon Journal - 09262009/1943H

I just got back from outside our unit - the water level is still rising fast! Some of the unit owners from the ground floor are all over the staircase with their appliances or whatever they can save from the rising water level.

I checked the situation of the parking lot, the plate numbers of the cars can still be seen from the 4th floor. What caught my attention was the MB200 parked on the opposite row of where my car is parked on; I estimate that the water level is almost the same level of the flooring. I met one of the residents and we started talking of the nearby areas - we shared the same conclusion that the water must be coming from the mountains nearby (you can see the Antipolo area still lighted).

He also told me that some residents who have their parking slots infront of the building parked their car near the main entrance of the compound. However, the guy that I talked to wasn't able to start his car and decided to leave it to nature. I left with a heavy heart, I am not confident that my car would be lucky not to go under the water. I am still hoping thought that the engine won't go under (I don't care about the car interior), especially the computer box.

One CRV parked near the construction site is half-submerged with the water level reaching its spare tire at the back. How bad, the water level infront of the club house was already chest deep when I got there.

I checked again the other side of our building where the last time I saw an Isuzu Alto, I could still see the roof. Now it's gone! I compared it with some reference points, like the jeepney on another corner, it's sure is gone down under!

I pity those residents who evac from their ground floor units. I am pretty sure they bought their units thinking that it can be a better life for them. But here they are, staying on the stair case waiting for the weather to get better. It could happen to us also.

The last time I checked the water level infront of our building (before I got in our unit), it's approx. 4 feet from the road level. I almost panicked because I thought it was the 2nd level of the ground-floor unit; I realized I got down 1 level lower than ours. Whew!

When I got back, Caitlin has her normal tantrum when she's not staying on an airconditioned room. Luckily, my sister has all the patience in the world to put up with her.

The rain is also getting stronger...


The Suzuki Alto (far right) will be totally under water before the sun sets.


This scene is quite familiar around Saturday afternoon. On the far left of the picture shows (albeit vaguely) the roofs of the submerged houses. In the evening of the 26th9, the roof the jeep (on the lower right) can be barely seen.