The past month had been the most devastating time I had personally witness in our country. I've come from the south and storms and typhoon doesn't usually affect us much, so it was a shocker to have witness the chaotic effects of two nearly simoultaneous storms. It didn't just destroyed homes and roads, but worst, it took the lives of almost a thousand of my countrymen. Most were affected, if not structurally, also emotionally, and brought the whole nation into darkness. It had engraved a new meaning of fear for most who have seen its capacity. And so paranoia for storm had been common this days.
After more than a month, another storm was bound to hit the country once again. It was no Ramil who just grazed northern Luzon and spared our wounded country, nor was it like Quedan who never bothered to look at an injured prey. It was Santi, who unmercifully tested the nation once again as it cross right into the heart of luzon. A stormy night in an All Saint's Day was feared to happen. A To Dos los Santi as many would joke around.
But if others felt fear, I saw a completely different perspective for the upcoming weekend. It was a time to redeem ourselves, prove that no matter what comes our way, we will always rise up to the challenge and overcome any mountains that block our way. Grief was a thing in the past, now is the time to tell those who listen that we can't remain scared forever, we have to face our fears someday, and now is the perfect day.
Friday night, same night when Santi finally landed on South Luzon, we meet at our place, cooked some foods, equipped ourselves with short shorts, summer shirts, beach slippers, and lots of candles and flashlights in case Santi did get wild. But Santi was in for a fight, it was already midnight and the rain just keeps getting heavier. Reminded us of the night Ondoy hit Luzon, unstopped raining all night then followed by flashflood the following morning. Yet we waited and let our spirit stay burning and wait for it to stop. About 3am, the whole vicinity turned black, power interruption almost disrupted our spirits. But still, we were still wide awake when the next hour approach. It was a relief when the rain begun to stop. But it is then that we saw what was the real danger hiding in the heavy rains, gust of winds were strong enough to let the roof from small houses to fly, branches of trees cracked at the angry wind. With no electricity and the wind continuously testing our spirit, we were at our darkest moment. We slept about 5am with little thought continuing on our meaningful journey.
About 10am, a familiar sunlight woke me up. It was still dark and hot with no fan to cool us off, but a relief was there when a ray of sunlight was forcing me to open my eyes. And as if I was completely repossessed by my own spirit, I jumped up and with burst of excitement, declared that no storm could stop us,it was the sign that our journey continues.
Despite the wind still staying strong, we went to cubao at about 11am to begin our journey. We embarked from the terminal about noon. 3-4 hrs more and we'll be at Batanga Pier.
On our way, after almost halfway, we experienced heavy rain along the way. This got us thinking if we were stupid or just plainly not thinking at all. But to our relief, we look at east and we could see a glare of sunlight. At least part of Batangas has sunlight. And we were lucky we were going to where that sun is. And after about 3 hrs, we arrive at Batangas Pier, and this is where reality struck us.
We arrive at the pier, with shorts, foods on our hands, and large backpacks you only see when people are mountain climbing. It's like we were screaming, "Puerto here we come". But what greeted us wasn't happy boatman, but countless passengers waiting for a ship to bring them home. I can almost subconsciously hear them saying, "what the hell with these people, don't they know we are in the middle of the storm?". I can almost feel their eyes at our backs staring with mixed feeling, partly angry and partly laughing at us.
But we were persistent, we asked around, look for possible way cross the sea despite the big waves. And we weren't lucky enough to find one. But it was nice to know we weren't the only one stranded there and bound to puerto, only that they weren't as vulgar with their intention as we were. With the sun starting to set, hope seems to fade along with it. We realize there was no way to cross the sea.
And so Puerto did became an unreachable goal that day.... But it didn't end there, our spirits can never be broken, and we did execute a Plan B...
After more than a month, another storm was bound to hit the country once again. It was no Ramil who just grazed northern Luzon and spared our wounded country, nor was it like Quedan who never bothered to look at an injured prey. It was Santi, who unmercifully tested the nation once again as it cross right into the heart of luzon. A stormy night in an All Saint's Day was feared to happen. A To Dos los Santi as many would joke around.
But if others felt fear, I saw a completely different perspective for the upcoming weekend. It was a time to redeem ourselves, prove that no matter what comes our way, we will always rise up to the challenge and overcome any mountains that block our way. Grief was a thing in the past, now is the time to tell those who listen that we can't remain scared forever, we have to face our fears someday, and now is the perfect day.
Friday night, same night when Santi finally landed on South Luzon, we meet at our place, cooked some foods, equipped ourselves with short shorts, summer shirts, beach slippers, and lots of candles and flashlights in case Santi did get wild. But Santi was in for a fight, it was already midnight and the rain just keeps getting heavier. Reminded us of the night Ondoy hit Luzon, unstopped raining all night then followed by flashflood the following morning. Yet we waited and let our spirit stay burning and wait for it to stop. About 3am, the whole vicinity turned black, power interruption almost disrupted our spirits. But still, we were still wide awake when the next hour approach. It was a relief when the rain begun to stop. But it is then that we saw what was the real danger hiding in the heavy rains, gust of winds were strong enough to let the roof from small houses to fly, branches of trees cracked at the angry wind. With no electricity and the wind continuously testing our spirit, we were at our darkest moment. We slept about 5am with little thought continuing on our meaningful journey.
About 10am, a familiar sunlight woke me up. It was still dark and hot with no fan to cool us off, but a relief was there when a ray of sunlight was forcing me to open my eyes. And as if I was completely repossessed by my own spirit, I jumped up and with burst of excitement, declared that no storm could stop us,it was the sign that our journey continues.
Despite the wind still staying strong, we went to cubao at about 11am to begin our journey. We embarked from the terminal about noon. 3-4 hrs more and we'll be at Batanga Pier.
On our way, after almost halfway, we experienced heavy rain along the way. This got us thinking if we were stupid or just plainly not thinking at all. But to our relief, we look at east and we could see a glare of sunlight. At least part of Batangas has sunlight. And we were lucky we were going to where that sun is. And after about 3 hrs, we arrive at Batangas Pier, and this is where reality struck us.
We arrive at the pier, with shorts, foods on our hands, and large backpacks you only see when people are mountain climbing. It's like we were screaming, "Puerto here we come". But what greeted us wasn't happy boatman, but countless passengers waiting for a ship to bring them home. I can almost subconsciously hear them saying, "what the hell with these people, don't they know we are in the middle of the storm?". I can almost feel their eyes at our backs staring with mixed feeling, partly angry and partly laughing at us.
But we were persistent, we asked around, look for possible way cross the sea despite the big waves. And we weren't lucky enough to find one. But it was nice to know we weren't the only one stranded there and bound to puerto, only that they weren't as vulgar with their intention as we were. With the sun starting to set, hope seems to fade along with it. We realize there was no way to cross the sea.
And so Puerto did became an unreachable goal that day.... But it didn't end there, our spirits can never be broken, and we did execute a Plan B...
(...to be continued)
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