Baguio - Revisited. Adieu.

Baguio. 

I first went here last 1988. I was part of a group of young people on a Church mission. I had my first picture on the Lion's head. Also on that picture was a lady who would later become my wife. 

The next trip was a few months later. Our group stayed on the home of a Baguio resident who would later become a very close friend, and more than twenty years later, become more than just a close friend.

I had several trips later on over the years, mostly during summer (one happened during Christmas), including some work related seminars, but these were not as memorable as the first two trips.

Two years ago I had another seminar, and for the first time my close friend gave me a tour of the city. It was one of the happiest moments of my life - cut short by inclement weather that forced me to return to the lowlands ahead of schedule. 

Last week I was back again, but this time with mixed feelings. I had another picture at the Lion's Head. When I texted my wife about it, I commented about our first picture 25 years ago. We intend to go back here and have a picture, just the two of us (or even with the kids) for old times sake. 

But why mixed feelings? One week before this last trip, I texted my close friend about my upcoming trip. The messages were alright, and I was looking forward to meeting her again. But one day before the trip, her phone number suddenly went dead. I had no idea as to why.

The stay in Baguio was pure heartache. I know her address, but I couldn't go there. I didn't know where she worked because she wouldn't tell me. And worst of all, she deleted her FB account

The trip back to Manila two years ago was bittersweet. Now it is simply bitter. The weather in Manila is warm, but for me it is still Baguio weather - wet, dreary and cold. 

Baguio. This is a place full of memories. But maybe the lyrics of the Barbra Streisand song are just so prominent in my mind. "Some good things never last."

Baguio. Adieu.

DAY OFF

Last weekend, my family and my in-laws went to a beach resort in Morong, Bataan.

This is the life.
I enjoyed the sand, sea, and swim.
I enjoyed the scenery and serenity. The sun and the sunset.
I was able to catch up with my sleep and socials.
I shook off the stress and strain of everyday work.

I wish I could do this 363 days a year.

Unfortunately...

Back to reality. Back to work. 

Is it really hot?

People nowadays keep complaining about how hot it is - the weather, that is. Most blame it to "climate change", whatever that is.

But just how hot is "hot"?

Let's look at some statistics. The temperature range these days is about 33 to 36deg C in various locations in the Philippines, except for Baguio. During the last ten years it was more or less the same.

Historically, the hottest day in the Philippines happened almost one hundred years ago, when the temperature reached 40deg C in Aparri, Cagayan. Now there was no such thing as climate change during that time.

So how come we hear nothing but complains about how hot it is? It's hot news at the TV primetime news, where the newsreaders try their best to make some sense of what PAGASA is monitoring. But I think that all they make is a fuss about nothing.

I have a feeling that "feeling hot" is not really on how high the reading in the thermometer is, but on a person's capacity to respond to an increase in temperature. We have read stories of temperatures reaching 41deg C in the center court of Roland Garros stadium during the French Open, but does it affect the quality of play of the tennis players? Absolutely not. In fact, they seem to play even better.

During my high school days (that was during the 1970's), I worked weekends in the ricefields - planting rice, plowing the fields, building dikes and irrigation canals, harvesting rice, threshing it by foot, or carrying sacks of palay on my shoulders from the middle of the fields to the roadside. Temperatures can rise as much as 35deg C in the middle of the fields, and if you are planting rice, the heat combined with humidity (from water evaporating in the fields) makes you feel as if you are in a sauna bath - without its comforts. But hey, that was normal. If you won't work, you'll go hungry.

So what I am saying is that I think today's generation has just grown too accustomed to the comforts of modern-day living that their bodies can no longer tolerate climates that are normal to our country.  And I think the main culpit is our penchant for airconditioning - it seems that we just can't get away with it.

Example, instead of riding in jeepneys, the preferred means of transport is now an airconditioned FX or bus. Shopping malls are airconditioned, and people are flocking to it instead of the open-air parks. Offices are airconditioned too, and chances are, if you are an employer without an airconditioned office, you don't have any employees.

The sad thing about this is that some Filipinos think that we are in a temperate country and not in the tropics. Or is it nowadays a change in our way of living? Or is it that not having to sweat is the in-thing? Today, the obsession is to have fair skin and less-than-black hair. Just look at the boom in the salon or parlor business and you will know what I mean. The trend today is Glutathione - in soap, capsules, creams, etc. And don't forget astringents and facial wash, which carry outlandish claims of a fairer skin after a few days of continued use. 

To sum it up, Filipinos nowadays don't want to feel hot. Period.


Two weeks ago on what was said to be the hottest day of the year, when temperatures soared to about 37deg C, I took a walk from our office to a warehouse. It was a 400 meter walk under the scorching sun. And my companions literally wilted from the heat.

And what did I think of it? I just smiled. Nothing compared to what I endured in the ricefields 35 years ago.
 

Rediscovery

I just rediscovered that I have a blog.

I simply opened one and forgot about it.

With this rediscovery comes the return of the old dilemma.
What will I write here?