Putik!

literally and figuratively...

Now I know how it feels being surrounded by heaps of water but can't drink even an ounce of it. It's torture, I tell you. And at the same time, you have to also control your water intake since there's no running water in the bathroom.

Video taken by Glenda
This was taken on Sunday, the day after
The day itself, lubog na bubong ng mga sasakyan

Only got to see the flood on the street the day after. Lagpas-tao na daw sabi nila Glenda. We were cooped inside our house's second floor, together with heaps of my mother's clutter. Syempre nauna pa rin ma-save ang mga 10-year old na tela at stockings kaysa sa mga ibang electronics. Who wants stockings? Buy 1, take 100. Out of all the appliances, furniture, etc that were damaged by the flood, I was most sad about our piano. I don't know if it's older than I am, but I know it's been with us for a long time. To see our piano in such a sorry state just breaks my heart. I know it's very shallow of me to feel sad about a material thing's loss when people have lost their entire home, some their lives, but there's some kind of attachment I feel towards that piano even if I can play only three songs. Totoo ngang you don't know what you got 'til it's gone.

Eto ang original Hidden Objects Game
Objects to Find:
toaster
PLAN
Downy

Never have I experienced anything like this before in my 27 years of existence. Well, so did thousands of others. The last time there was flooding similar to this was when I was still in college. That time, it was only in our house that the flood didn't get in so I was pretty confident that last September 26 would be the same. But much to my surprise, at around 12pm, water started pouring in from outside, fast. Mommy started evacuating her precious tela to higher grounds aka the library. We thought that that would be the worst case scenario. Wrong. It rose until chest level through the night.

Sunday, we were still trapped in our house's second floor. Flood still wasn't subsiding. Was surprised to see floodwater was murky brown. Most people blame the non-stop rain and the dams for the flashfloods but I blame the illegal loggers, the real estate developers because I think that much mud didn't come from overflowing rivers. That much mud came from denuded mountains. What's weird is nobody seems to be touching this angle.

Monday morning. Floodwater's gone, leaving mud mud mud all over. Clean-up was pretty tiring. Tingnan mo pa lang, mapapagod ka na. We started drying out the pictures. Sayang ang memories. Furniture, appliances, you can still replace but with pictures, you can't. Malungkot pag wala kang baby pictures :( Luckily, most pictures were saved.

Clean up was difficult since there was no running water. Don't know if Maynilad's controlling water usage or it's just everyone's doing clean up all at the same time. Imagine trying to scrub all that mud with just a pail of water. I went to the plaza to check up on my nail spa. I was hoping na-spare siya although I know na malamang hindi. Medyo double whammy sa akin kasi yung bahay na plus eto pang plaza, my source of income. Not only do I have to repaint the structure but I have to buy pa new foot spa machines, hand spa machine and all the other chuva.

But really, I shouldn't be complaining. Other people have lost more than I did. Our neighbors who live in bungalows weren't able to save anything. While some other people lost their house and/or their family member/s. Swerte na nga akong maituturing.

Our neighbor's stash

Outside...

While walking to the plaza, heaps and heaps of trash were outside every home. Pieces of furniture, mattresses, even carcasses of dead animals were in sight. Depressing, if you ask me but at the same time, there's nothing to do but grin and bear it. Alangan namang magmukmok ever ka sa isang tabi dahil bumaha? Lahat ng tao naglilinis, lahat gumagawa. At dahil walang tubig, lahat ng taong makikita mo mukhang taong grasa. Haha. We even had to go to my sister's friend's house para makiligo. And take note, this was just days away from my sister's wedding.

It may sound like I'm complaining but really I'm just saying my piece. In spite of what happened, I'm still glad that all of my family and friends are safe and in good physical condition. Madaling palitan ang material things pero ang buhay ay irreplaceable. I'm super thankful to all my friends who called or texted me to check up on me and my family. Your concern is very much appreciated.

I hope something like this won't happen again.

Wai Ying na tayo!