It has been raining non-stop since I arrived in Manila on the 28th of June. I don't think I've even seen the sun since I left Singapore. Hahaha. Sofia's school has been suspended almost every other day due to bad weather, but life normally goes on and I just bring her with me to office and she keeps occupied by attending class at the day care.
However, today was different. The news has already been full of flooding reports and stories of the water levels going up due to rain fall the past few days, but it was only today that the government and some private offices suspended work due to the continuous strong rain and floods. Employees have been told to stay home and stay safe while the news reports focus on the different flooded areas where the people need to be rescued.
This really brings back bad memories. 'Bad' being an understatement too. Three years ago, around this time of the year, I flew home from a business trip in Europe and my brother picked me up from the airport. It was a rainy day that was similar to today, because of Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana). We never made it home because the flood just kept getting deeper and deeper until we had to go to my aunt's condominium in the Central Business District to wait for the rain and floods to subside. The trauma came when I found out that my daughter, who was then not even 2 years old, was stuck on the roof that night because the flood waters got that high. I am getting super goosebumps just remembering. I think it was a very, very difficult two or three days that followed, because we couldn't do anything until the floods subsided enough for me to be able to pick-up my daughter who was with my sister and our helpers. They were rescued from the roof by our neighbors. I remember that I was just too happy to get my daughter back, that I didn't really sweat the small stuff,
Anyway, I digress. This time around, we know a little bit better. My brother (the last one out) evacuated our home when the water started getting into our garage this morning. Before that, he called me to ask what important documents I needed him to bring for me, and he helped our helpers bring up the important things to his room that was built on top of the garage as a contingency plan in case history repeats itself, while knocking on wood that it doesn't.
I just told my brother to bring our passports, all the currency I stashed in my drawer, and to lock up my jewelry in his room and bring up my new bags. Only the new ones kasi sayang naman. Hahaha. The rest can be replaced. I felt very anxious this morning because we haven't really had any news from our helpers at home. But then I think I'm just happy to know that the family is safe and our helpers know what to do, plus the rain has abated, so I decided I can breathe more.
We're also lucky that I am still checked in at The Oakwood in Ortigas Center because we don't have to worry about not having electricity and food. It's also nice to hang around with my siblings who love eating as much as I do. The first thing we did after ensuring that everyone was safe was to go to the grocery to stock up on food. We have a lot of instant noodles, hotdogs, eggs, bread, cube cheese, cereal and cheetos! However, when we got hungry, we were all craving Fried Chicken, saving our groceries for another rainy day.
My brother went out to buy us Manang's Fried Chicken. (manang is a term you use to give respect to a female who's older that you who you may not even personally know, similar to the way auntie is used in Singapore). It's the first time I ever heard of it, and I was expecting something similar to Ikea's chicken wings. Fried Chicken that reminds you of home cooking.
Surprisingly, Manang's reminds me of BonChon Chicken.
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| It claims to be the Filipino Fried Chicken, with it's Soy Garlic Sauce, but it doesn't really taste Filipino to me. It's double fried so it's crispy even with a coating of the sauce. |
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| They also have Mild Spicy Extra Spicy flavors. I liked it because the wings were big and meaty, and the mild spicy had a slight kick. I would be interested to try the Extra Spicy one. 24 pieces of the Wings (2 buckets) was Php582 (SG$17.50) |
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| They also had deep fried potato chips with creamy cheese or garlic mayo dip. The chips were good but I tried to limit my fried carbs intake. A Large Packet of Chips is Php58 (SG$1.75) it comes with one dip. |
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| Around 5pm: Picnicking at the Oakwood Evacuation Center. We're expecting to be hungry for pizza around midnight. |
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| Manang's has branches in Makati, Ortigas, Taft, Katipunan, SM North Edsa and SM MegaMall and some branches deliver. |
Manang's is good comfort food on a rainy day. Even on the traumatic rainy ones.
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| This has been my view since I arrived. |
Rain, Rain, Go Away... Please!!! Just Saying.
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