Post-Christmas Tsunamis

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Tsunami spawned by a huge earthquake in Sumatra have battered coastlines in Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India. Thousands dead. I’m looking at pictures on CNN from Phuket in Thailand, and it’s a mess.

We went on a diving/sailing trip to Phuket in 1997, and it’s a popular tourist destination for Americans and Europeans, especially around this time of year. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be snorkeling or scuba diving there when the surge came. Places I’ve been: Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee) Island, home to an idyllic tourist town and five star hotel, devastated; the main street of Patong Beach, half a meter underwater.

The Philippines has been safe from any tsunami so far, since the epicenter of the quake was on the other side of the Indochinese Peninsula.

Update: A WaPo writer’s firsthand account from the beaches of Sri Lanka. We also have a friend in Thailand who captains yachts for delivery, and he was in Bangkok, about to head out to Phuket, when the surge hit. His wife just called in to say they’re fine, and dang lucky too.

And The Word Was God

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“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Today we celebrate the mighty God becoming a humble child in a manger. Though it may not have happened exactly on 25 Dec 0 AD, and though the early Christians may have had other reasons for setting that date, it’s nonetheless a fitting symbol that a season of cold and darkness should be marked by that glowing point of festive light. Merry Christmas to all of you, and may you enjoy it with family, with friends, and most importantly, with a heart warmed by the true Light who humbled Himself that he could dwell among us.

Tiangge

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Tiangge means “bazaar,” in this case a tight gridwork of crowded stalls peddling discounted clothes, jewelry, accessories, electronics, and handicrafts in the hallways, plazas, parking lots, and other empty spaces between the various sections of Greenhills Shopping Center. Today being the practical tail end of the Christmas rush, the tiangge was a veritable crush of human traffic.

The cellophane-wrapped stars are called parol, a traditional handmade Filipino Christmas ornament.

Photo taken with a Canon Powershot A400.

Virra Mall: The Last Days

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The two “home” malls of my childhood were Virra Mall and Shoppesville at Greenhills Shopping Center, a short walk from my house, where I would go for school supplies, video arcade games, computer repairs, art classes, Taekwondo lessons, cheap clothes, haircuts, Chinese noodles, 10 and 20-sided dice for AD&D and Robotech, and of course, “discount” PC software. Virra Mall and Shoppesville have withstood the years mostly untouched by the rapid development sweeping through that part of San Juan. (Just a couple of days after arriving, I went to Iggy’s Barber Shop in Shoppesville, and got my hair cut by Mang Dado, ang barberong kalbo, who has cut my hair since I was a boy. Nothing about the place had changed.)

Sad news, though: the years have caught up with Virra Mall, and I’m hearing that the structure will be demolished renovated to make way for a new SM-Greenhills SM-type mall, starting early next year. (Update: Renovation plans detailed somewhat here.) So I went over there yesterday morning and took a bunch of photos, to document the last days of this old Greenhills establishment. Just for posterity’s sake.

Full Virra Mall photo album here.

In Heat

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The heat’s always the first thing that hits you. As soon as you step off the plane into that brief space of outdoor air between the fuselage and the airconditioned airport bridge, the sensation is not unlike that rush of air from an oven. I often joke that the Philippines’ three seasons (tag-init, tag-lamig, tag-ulan) could be more appropriately named “Too Hot, Not Too Hot, Hot and Wet.” In December we’re just coming out of “Hot and Wet” — the typhoon season — into “Not Too Hot,” when the amihan, a cool seasonal north wind, tempers the climate with air swept from the frigid northern wastes of Siberia.

For the few days I’ve been here so far, however, it’s felt just like summer. Our low house being surrounded by higher wind-blocking neighbors is no help either. As I sit here in 32°C heat at 80% humidity, I wonder how I survived three and a half years in that tiny shared room in Parañaque without airconditioning, with just an occasional swampy breeze for respite.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, it’s -10°C, with winter weather advisories.

Scenes from JFK-DXB-MNL

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As some of you may know, I’m a big planefan, so air travel is often as exciting for me as the destination itself. On that note, some photos from my flight:

High over the Arabian deserts, a lovely sunset.

Dubai Airport mixes modern and traditional Islamic architecture, with an overall futuristikitchy effect.

The First Class “seats” aboard the A340-500 are like little lounges in themselves, with cubicle walls, reclining seats, large TV screens, and even a little compact mirror popping out of the desk. (No, I didn’t ride First Class, but I did go forward to see what it’s like.)

Were it not for the personal ICE (Info, Communication, Entertainment) System, I would have gone nuts. Instead I watched five campy action movies in a row, and some Bollywood too.

Frost on the window forms into letters. A cryptic message from the lower stratosphere?

Wingtip of Emirates Airbus A330-200 from DXB to MNL.

Photos taken with a Canon Powershot A400.

In Manila

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As soon as I stepped off the plane into Ninoy Aquino International Airport, I was stopped by the crowd milling around an immigration counter which had run out of copies of the standard airport immigration forms. The week before Christmas. Yet another of those “only in the Philippines” moments. I eventually got through immigration, baggage, and customs via some kind cajoling of airport personnel. After a long taxi ride home, I got wind from the ex-GF that my fellow Guidon edboard colleagues were meeting up in Makati, so I hopped over there in another taxi to join them for Italian food at Greenbelt 2. Now I’m back home. And very tired. Must rest now.

Marhaba

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That was the longest long-haul flight I’ve ever taken: twelve hours. I occupied a window seat near the back of the plane, beside a large, unkempt man from Ghana with invasive elbows. Passengers were asked to keep their windows closed to the sun through most of the flight, thus denying me any view of Europe or the Arabian desert passing under us.

Were it not for the ICE (Info, Communication, Entertainment) system in front of me, the trip would have been altogether unbearable. I watched a total of six movies, I think, mostly of the Dumb Fun variety: I, Robot; Day After Tomorrow; A Shark’s Tale; Aliens vs Predator; Disney’s The Rescuers, and The Right Stuff.

Now I’m in transit in Dubai Airport, alternating between dozing and the internet in the Marhaba Lounge after a short Duty Free shopping spree. Just one more eight-hour flight, and I’m in Manila. My intention is to use the ICE movies to watch nothing but Bollywood all the way.

A340-500

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A340-500

There it is: an Airbus A340-500. It’s not evident in this light or at this angle, (not a very good phonecam) but her wingspan is huge. I got a window seat.