The Ridiculous Heat

Sale in SM Marilao. I got myself 5 new pairs of sandals, 11 new pastel-colored tanktops from bench, three big summer hats, 4 denim cargo skirts, three pairs of tokongs and a halu-halo after a long walk from the parking lot. I had a little bit of a change in my shopping list. Why? It's a whole lotta summer in this country. In fact, I think recently, I've just experienced an all-time record of the hottest days of my life. Hottest, literally.

Yes, I'm complaining. For a girl who sweats more than the usual, who loves cold and cool places like Europe, New Zealand, Japan, etc. it's ridiculously hot in this country. I've had 27 summers in my life and I must say never had I encountered severely sun-blazing days like the ones we're having now. I mean, you can't even last 5 minutes long outside under the sun without having been scorched or inflicted with a slight sunburn... even at 9am in the morning! Makes you wonder if that worldwide trend against the depletion of the ozone layer and greenhouse effect in the 90s did work. Makes you wonder if that's the case in other parts of the globe. Makes you wonder how it is in Alaska. Makes you think Alaska may qualify as the best vacation spot in the world afterall. And... makes you want to buy that Chowking miryenda-size halu-halo treat called "petite" while sitting on a table where cool breeze from that big air-conditioning machine is just a breathe away. Ahh...

Girls do have solutions for this emergency... uhm... situation. Tanktops often do the trick. Umbrellas look good on us, so too bad for boys, they had to keep their masculinity under the sun instead. We can always do with sandals to avoid sweaty feet, although I truly hate seeing boys wearing socks inside their sandals. Eww. Skirts- denims, satin, silk, wutever- serve best during this part of the year. Micro-minis are the best, although it's not "in" these days. So 80s, they say... so I came up with buying denim skirts, instead. I resisted getting 'em for myself last time, fearing that I might disappear in the crowd. But when I began to feel that sweat between my legs the first time I step out of the plane from New York, I think there's no ego stopping me these time. Besides, after seeing me in those denim skirts, I realized it's the right time for my long silk-skinned legs to enjoy a little bit being bare... although I still need to get a hang of it.

But still, I can't enjoy wearing my old shirts these days. Bye-bye for the moment for long sleeves. I have to have extra-workout just to maintain my firm arms so I can wear those sleeveless shirts, tanktops and halters. I can't even enjoy my favorite turtletops, closed shoes and long pants anymore. This is crazy. I can't even spend time walking in Intramuros at night because of the heat. I noticed, a regular block of ice in a glass of ladies drink can't last that long compared to last year. (Of course, I'm just assuming that this is evident.) People used to enjoy nights in the streets of Malate. Now, the guys are either grabbing space inside the air-conditioned bars, inside their cars, or bumming around in their houses, where they can sleep away the heat instead. Then, to make matters more weird, notice that this year, we did not have any strong typhoon visiting the country. Of course, this is a blessing. But, I just can't help but feel that year 2003 was incomplete. The Philippines is supposed to be, I mean, normally visited by typhoons yearly, right? 2003 was quite abnormal. This year's not getting away from the symptoms, either.

I used to laugh when David Letterman cracked jokes about President Bush being paranoid on global-warming. Now, I don't think it's funny anymore.