Not your regular working day

The Philippines was hit by Typhoon Pedring, international name Typhoon Nesat, yesterday.

This video is not mine, I just got it from YouTube. This is in the city of Manila, and that is the Manila Bay. I live farther inland, and fortunately, my house is not located near any dam or any body of water. My family is safe. Thank you to all my blog friends who sent their well-wishes. 

The area immediately beside the Manila Bay is called Baywalk. And beside Baywalk is Roxas Boulevard. The US Embassy in Manila is on Roxas Boulevard.

Photo Credit

And this is Roxas Boulevard.

Photo Credits: Before, After

 There used to be a lot of small bars and restaurants along Baywalk. It was a nice place to hang out in the evenings after work. But they were cleared a few years ago when a new mayor took his seat. Even without the restaurants and bars, it's still a nice place for a walk. 

Photo credit: Before, After

Not anymore for a while I guess. Those decorative concrete blocks inlaid on the sidewalk were dislodged when they were hit with the waves.

While all of this was happening... I was on my way to work. My husband was still asleep when I left the house and when he woke up, he asked me why I even left the house. My mom called pretty much asking me the same thing. I don't know what I was thinking... I guess I was thinking it was just another stormy day and work is rarely cancelled due to those. 

My house is located on a small street, framed by tall houses so when I went outside, the street is protected from the strong winds. I can hear the winds howling when I was in our bedroom on the 2nd floor, but when I went outside, it looked peaceful enough so I decided to walk to the main road to wait for a cab. When I got to the main road, I noticed very few vehicles... which is rare during this time of day. The first thought that crossed my mind was... "Yey!!! No traffic!!". 

As my cab was making it's way to my office, that's when I started noticing that the small trees along the road was bent almost halfway down due to the strong wind. But since there we weren't passing through any flooded streets, I didn't think much about it. The Philippines is hit with typhoons every month... or every few weeks even, during the monsoon season which starts around June and lasts around November... or December... or January... or February... even until March. It used to be just around October but lately, we don't know anymore.

I made it to the office safe and sound. I found out that most of my officemates opted to stay at home. I had meetings to attend yesterday morning you see... and THOSE were what I was thinking about. When I got to the office, my manager who is based in Taiwan, asked me to go home :-/ I had stuff to finish so I ended up staying until 4PM.

And today? The sky is still overcast... strong winds are still blowing, though not as strong as yesterday... and it's still raining. But today... today is just another regular working day. 

NOTE: As I write this, I found out that we are bracing for another typhoon... Typhoon Quiel, which is scheduled to hit us within 24 hours.