2012. Day 2.

Started the year by having a blast with my inner self. I heeded a friend's advice to try having a personal time alone and boy, he's right! I enjoyed every single moment of it. After work, I had a massage at a spa near the office. Wasn't expecting that it'll be the best massage that I've had so far in my life. And to those with malicious minds, it's a clean massage. No hanky panky. I got relieved of physical stress that have been contained in my system in weeks. The tension eased and my clouded and distracted mind seemed to have relaxed and cleared up.

I decided to treat myself to dinner. Nothing fancy as I was craving for one of my recent comfort food - Special lamb chelo kabab and a tall glass of Watermelon shake at Kabab Korner. I devoured everything in less than five minutes. Talk about my increasing apetite. I then spent the rest of evening watching NBA at the same restaurant. Would you believe... NBA. haha. 'twas fun.

I was actually planning to have crepe for desert at the nearby crepe store but decided to go home instead. Kinda excited to start reading the e-book I downloaded last night -- "The hunger games". Heard that it's quite similar to the epic Battle Royale flick. Will start flipping through the pages once I'm done listing the stuff that I'm gonna buy this weekend for the upcoming beachscapade. I'm really looking forward to that trip with my bessie and a friend. I'm happy that I was able to book the flight and make the necessary resort reservation for that trip. Chinese New Year in Boracay!!! Woot! Had to cancel the Maldives trip on the same date for this. I'd prefer to have friends around than being alone on a beach island on a foreign land with no one to talk to. Though that would be a good idea for having a sound conversation with my inner self. Soon.

Paranormal encounter in the house

I've had another freaky paranormal encounter. This time, inside our beloved home.

Last night was Black Saturday. The rest of the household went ahead to the chapel to hear the easter vigil mass. I was left alone at as I had some urgent matters to attend to. After finishing what I need to do, I took a quick shower and hurriedly dressed up to be on time for the mass.

I was walking down the stairs, the door of my grandmother's room slowly opened with this eerie squeak. I stopped for a moment to assess if there's a burglar in the house. But apparently, there's none. I started walking down again then suddenly, the door slammed close. I went to the kitchen to drink a glass of water then had the guts to check out the room. There's no one inside. The windows are closed thus the wind couldn't be the culprit. Freaked out, I immediately left the house.

It didn't end there. When I was locking the front gate, I heard the door of my parent's room open and close similar to what happened earlier. I stood still. It couldn't be the wind as the windows of my parents room are all closed. It couldn't be a household member or a burglar as there's no one inside the house. So what else could it be?

I told my siblings about this while ago only to confirm that they also had the similar encounters within the house.

Freaky

Ondoy's Wrath

Exactly two Saturdays ago was definitely a time of my life -- the day that I feared that could have been the end of me being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I should have headed straight home after having a little snack at Coffeebean Tomas Morato. But I decided to drop by Viktor's and the flash flood happened.

At 9am, Flood water start seeping through the front door. It was waist level in a matter of minutes. When I looked out from the terrace, my car was already two feet submerged in water. It's useless to have some people push it to safety as I won't be able to start the car. I can't also risk exposing the open wound I got on my foot the night before in flood water. I was just praying that the rain would stop and that the flood would subside but Lo! the rain just kept on pouring and pouring and the flood water kept on rising and rising. It pains me to see my baby Maddy (my auto) drowning in flood water. Eventually, she transformed into a submarine and dove approximately 15 feet underwater.

As the water continued to rise, I helped Vik salvage some stuff from the ground floor of the residence. The main switch was turned off to avoid the risk of electrocution. Water level kept on rising and rising. When I noticed that it's only three plight away before the water levels with the second floor, I told him that we need to start packing just in case we need to evacuate. I searched for flotation devices and waterproof containers to encase the necessities. Found a floating coleman in the flood water, had it dried then stashed our cellphones, wallets and keys inside then sealed it with a small rubber ball making it buoyant and waterproof. Dried clothes were packed along with some biscuits, a bottle of water, and alcohol in a plastic container which Viktor eventually used as his flotation device.

Water level continued to rise and we had to create an evacuation plan. We can't swim from the terrace the the lamp posts are still lit up - it's either we get electrocuted by the live wires or get wounded by the barbed wire and 'bubog' on the fence. Looked around and saw a higher ground - the abandoned house at the back of his room (Later to find out that a family was murdered in that hourse). I called home and told my sister of what's happening and our contingency plans just in case we need to evacuate. tears tricked down my eyes as I'm not certain if that's gonna be the last time I'm gonna talk to my family. After deciding on our plan, We removed the window panes and started jumping into the flood water in order to get to the higher ledge. All wet and cold, we stayed there for like ten to fifteen minutes. We assessed other options just in case we need to get to another higher ground.

As the water keeps on rising, our last option was to swim towards the abandoned condominium in front of their house. It's either we stayed where we were and get electrocuted once the water touches the live wires or risk our lives by swimming to safety. It's either we get there safely, towed by the current, or drown in the attempt. We braved the almost 15 feet flood at that time and got there safely. We stayed at the 2nd flood business center changed into dry clothes, cleansed our wounds and then rested. At around 5 or 6 pm. water level still keep on rising. Another three plights of stairs then we're gonna be sealed off the rest of the building. We had to wade into the flood water again in darkness (only with a cellphone to light our path to where we should be headed). We settled at the 5th flood to rest and wait for the flood water to subside.

We were stuck with families from the squatters area who got displaced by the flood. Changed into dry clothes and then ate the food we packed up. Gad! They were too damn noisy. As much as I would to rest, I can't fall asleep after what had happened. Flood water finally subsided at around 5am. We waded into a knee-deep flood to find something to eat. We thought Mc Do would be opened but apparently, it was closed. We ended up buying drinks at 711. and from there, I called home for my dad to pick me up.

I adopted Viktor for the night as he has no place to rest given that his home was submerged in water. We cleaned ourseleves up, had breakfast and then took some rest. I drove him home at around 4pm that Sunday to get the stuff I left at his pad and at the same time, check on my car.

My car was a total disaster. there was still water inside and it's all covered in mud and oil. The problem of having it towed and fix is another story. But the hell! I survived the deluge and it built character.

Next: Reflections on this catastrophe

A Twister in Manila

I've never seen real tornadoes except on National Geographic Channel and Discovery Channel. Not until this afternoon. I was capture a real one but not this soon and definitely not in Manila! I was on my way to the CR and the ruckus that's going on in our office lobby caught my attention. Syempre, Naki-usi na rin. and WTF, there's this black funnel ravaging the Manila Bay!

I don't know why these events happen when I don't have my camera with me. Sayang. lolz. The tornado seems small in the pictures. But in person, malaki sya tignan... Photos are courtesy of Ms. Maanne Umandap taken from the 12th floor lobby of the GMA network center.

We're pretty lucky na hindi sya lumaki an nawala kaagad. Otherwise, the damage could be very devastating with all the people in Manila off-guard. Syempre, it's inevitable to blame this to global warming or climate change. The signs are everywhere na. We have to take care of our planet na before it's too late. otherwise, we'll be experiencing tons of freaky weather patterns.

Oh My Ghost!

I just got home a while ago at around 3:45 in the morning after having a late night dinner and catching up over coffee with my Bestie. That routine is quite normal to me on a daily basis with my usual gimiks. But what happened freaked me out like hell.


When I was nearing our house, I've noticed that the area is kinda darker than usual -- One of the Meralco lamp posts around our perimeter is dead. That's quite scary with all the trees at the park in front of our house. My mind is starting imagining things as I was parking at my usual spot fronting our gate. I reached out for my office ID and the house keys and then hurriedly picked up my bag and barong from the back of the car. I got out of the car out of anticipation that I'm gonna see something unnatural.

When I locked the door, it was quite inevitable not to look at the direction of the park I've noticed someone in all white. I though that it was just David, my neighbor, in his nursing uniform. I called him to invite him to have a stick of ciggies but he didn't respond. Then out of nowhere, he vanished into the thin air! I rubbed my eyes to double check if I'm just imagining things. I even tried approaching thinking that he just crouched. But Lo! That guy in all white outfit appeared again! Nakngpotah! This time, from the other end of the car heading towards my direction!


Fear got into me. I had difficulty finding the right key to our main gate. But luckily. I was able to open it and shut it immediately. My body was a big goosebump while I was uttering the prayer of St. Francis while I was opening the locks of the door of our house. When I got it, I felt an instant relief but the trembling, palpitation, and goosebumps didn't wane until I came in contact with my dog.


I have third eye and have seen freaky spirits and demons. But this incident is kinda new that the spirit was actually reaching out towards me. That faceless spirit in all white really freaked me out. I might as well wait 'til sunrise before I go home next time.


It's time to sleep for me now and forget what had just happened.

Accidents Do Happen

A terrible news was cascaded to me by an officemate just a few minutes after arriving at the office this afternoon. Angela, one of my closest friends and an ex-officemate, had a vehicular accident last midnight. She's currently confined in an intensive care unit of a hospital in Las Pinas suffering cranial fractures and serious bruises. Jonas, her bestfriend, even had a worse demise -- his leg had to be amputated.

I stumbled upon a news article on the accident they encountered on the Philippine Star (Article posted below). I couldn't belive that they survived after I saw the wreckage of their car. It was indeed a miracle.

Please join me in my prayers for their speedy recovery - both physical and psychological.



2 injured in collision along C-5 Road
Bernardo Batuigas


Traffic aides examine a Honda Civic damaged in a collision with another Honda sedan along the C-5 Road in Taguig City at past midnight yesterday. Police said Marlon Sandoval – reportedly a son of San Nicolas, Batangas Mayor Epifanio Sandoval – lost control of the vehicle (ZEP-823, top photo) as he was traveling along the northbound lane of C-5 Road, hitting an electric post before crossing over to the southbound lane and smashing head-on into the vehicle driven by Ranimel de Jesus (XLF-227, lower photo). The two motorists and Sandoval’s passengers, Jonas Polines and Angela Angeles, were seriously injured, police said. Bernardo Batuigas

Lost For A Week

I've been out of circulation for the past six days -- from work and social scene. I was nowhere to be found and could not be contacted. Only a handful of people actually knew my exact whereabouts. I was actually swinging between our home and the hospital. I was dead sick.. I’ve had the following symptoms: loose bowel, high fever (39.4 – 40.5C), chills, nausea, vomiting, intense muscular pain, difficulty in breathing, swollen throat, congested nasal pathway, and a very very red skin tone similar to that or a roast pig. It was later diagnosed as multiply viral infections resulting to LBM, intestinal flu, and tonsilo-pharyngitis. Whew. I thought it was something serious and deadly such as the Swine Flu. I’m still recuperating and hoping to be back soon.

Huwat?!? I have a doppleganger?!?

Mhars reported seeing my Doppleganger lurking here in the office. That was between 4 and 5 am today. She saw me daw wearing a brown jacket walking to and fro the pantry, eh that time I stepped out to smoke a few ciggies downstairs. Another thing, I didn’t bring any jacket to work! I don’t even own a brown jacket! Syet! Ang saya! May fan na rin ako… yun nga lang… doppleganger nga lang! It flatters me that beings from the other world try to imitate me.

Another freaky incident on my way downstairs (siguro this was the time of the doppleganger attack) dumadaan ng every floor yung elevator (sabay) and there’s no one inside it! pagsakay ko, pababa, I got so nauseous coz dumaan nanaman sa lahat ng floor ang elevator! Freaky sobra. And then pagdating ko sa Gazebo, sakto pagkasindi ko ng yosi, the lights turned off. Even the guards were surprised coz no one turned off the lights! Whew. what a Freaky morning.

This is no bull. nor a shit. and definitely not a bull shit. Hindi na ko magoovernite sa office. I’ll report to work pag may araw na. I’m gonna make saboy agua bendita around me para it can’t make lapit to me. One thing that I can say about this freaky morning: ‘OMAGAD! Doppleganger in da haus!’