Typhoon Milenyo and Angeles

I suppose it's only appropriate that after being away for so long, I should witness firsthand a typhoon of this magnitude. Typhoon Milenyo hit Manila directly yesterday and the damage is substantial. In my sister's area, the streets are littered with fallen branches and uprooted trees. The same is true for the entire city. Several billboard structures crumpled. My friend Tish said the wind flipped a car onto its side near her apartment building. It was crazy! Then in the eye of the storm, there was an eerie stillness but you knew that the craziness was going to come back after about an hour.

Ed arrived here on Tuesday night, just in time to catch the storm. Good timing. :)

The storm has passed and now the clean up effort begins. 90% of Metro Manila is without power and it's going to take a couple more days before it is fully restored. But people just go about the business of cleaning up the streets and repairing their homes. Just the normal course of business during typhoon season. My sister's house has a generator so we haven't really felt the impact of the power outage. Thank goodness.

Because of the storm, we moved back our trek up Mt. Pinatubo by a day. We took the bus to Clark/Angeles today. Clark used to be known as Clark Air Base when the Americans were still here. The town right outside the air base is Angeles and is best known as the R&R centre for the American servicemen. Prostitution is still alive and well here. It is unsettling to see the white man (usually older) walking hand in hand with the local girl (usually quite young) down the street. The main street is lined with girlie bars.

Ed and I decided to pay a bit more and stay at a hotel a little removed from the strip. It is called Orchard Hotel and it's not seedy at all, which is good. And they have a business centre with computers and internet access. Yay.

The highlight of the day so far is the tricycle ride we took from the bus depot to the hotel. I don't think I've ever ridden a tricycle before. I thought the driver was going to get us killed! Crazy driver!

There's an SM (a huge mall) in the Clark airbase. Since the Americans left, the airbase has been converted into an "economic development zone". Not really sure what that means. In any case, SM is a good place to grab lunch away from the seedy bars. Lunch from the mall food court costs about $6 for the both of us. We're splurging on the buffet dinner we'll be having tonight at the hotel - it costs $12.25 per person!

At 5am tomorrow, Edwin Manalang, our guide, is going to pick us up at our hotel. It will be a 2-hour drive then a 2-hour hike up Mt. Pinatubo. Apparently, there is a lake at the very top and it's fine to swim there. Too bad I didn't bring my swim suit. Lonely Planet didn't say anything about swimming in the volcano! Oh well. Then right after our hike at about 3pm, we head straight to the bus depot for the trip back to Manila. It's not too far, just a 2-hour drive. Well, it could be 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the traffic once you hit Manila.

Ed's been a bit spaced out due to the jetlag. But he's doing better today and hopefully, he'll be fully adjusted within the next few days. He was really grumpy the first two days.

On Sunday, we fly to Palawan. I'm praying the weather will cooperate and that the rain will go away. Will try to post again from there. If not, we'll definitely find a internet cafe in Cebu where we head to after Palawan.

ps. The internet cafe here at the hotel costs $3.33 for a 24-hour period. At the mall near my sister's house, it was $1.22 per hour. Crazy cheap internet access.