Showing posts with label shake shake shake shake it. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shake shake shake shake it. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Shake It (Part III)

WARNING: DUE TO LARGE TREMORS AND CONTINUOUS GROUND-SHAKING, THIS BLOG ENTRY IS STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION. AS OF THIS WRITING, THE AUTHOR IS WAITING FOR THE AFTERSHOCKS TO DIE DOWN BEFORE SHE CAN PROVIDE A FULL-BLOWN ACCOUNT OF HER EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER SANITY... AND SAFETY, OF COURSE. :p

Friday, August 31, 2012

Shake It

The title is symbolic of tonight's latest event: another big earthquake. Here is the information I've gathered from PHIVOLCS' website:


PHIVOLCS-DOST Earthquake and Tsunami Advisory, August 31, 2012

Update as of 9:00 p.m.
PHIVOLCS-DOST TSUNAMI ALERT LEVEL 3: Immediate Evacuation
A strong earthquake occurred Guiuan, Eastern Samar at 8:47 PM , 31 August 2012 (Philippine Time), located at 10.83 N 126.76E with depth of 10km and a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 .
PHIVOLCS Tsunami Alert Level is now raised to 3. People in threatened coastal areas are STRONGLY ADVISED TO IMMEDIATELY EVACUATE to higher grounds. Coastal areas in the following provinces are expected to be affected by high tsunami waves. Boats at sea are advised to stay in the deeper parts of the open seas until the threat has passed. If there is sufficient time, boats in harbors and enclosed bays are advised to go to the deeper parts of the open seas until the threat has passed.
Coastal areas fronting the Pacific Ocean of the following provinces should evacuate immediately:
• Northern Samar
• Eastern Samar
• Leyte
• Southern Leyte
• Surigao del Norte & Sur

Slaire and I were about to finish dining at a dim-sum restaurant, having just met Keena, an old friend of mine from my public service days and a fellow Carolinian too, when the whole mall started rattling - as though we were in a doll house aimlessly dragged around by a curious toddler. As I told myself (and my covert readers) back in February, I rarely panic in the midst of a real calamity. Honestly, I was torn between waiting to see how long the shaking would continue and acquiescing to Slaire's request that we get out of the mall (we couldn't leave without paying, dearest). Somehow I could hear my friend's voice rising; everyone else in the restaurant was looking at one another, but unsure of what to do - as I'm pretty certain no one had paid their bills yet just as we hadn't - they remained glued to their seats. 

People at the corridors and nearby shops were already rushing to the exits. The ones dining at Harbor View, however, were surprisingly very poised and hardly anyone left the restaurant in a dither until the tremors died down. Talk about a "cultured crowd" - or are some people that apathetic these days that not even an earthquake can faze them? Or you may blame the unpaid bills and the distracted food attendants (it really took them a while to spot hand gestures, much to the exhaustion of diners who were discreetly panicking). 

Keena had just left our table when the aftershock arrived. Seeing friends you've not seen in a long, long time still is a blessing - earthquake or no earthquake. I feel like He's sending me a message with every long lost friend I encounter. One thing I've realized from my reunion with Keena is that I'm not the only one having problems completing a graduate degree. I'm not the only one who got delayed. Well, there's no rush but really... was I that dense? I kind of remember this line from a Robert Palmer song: "... you're not the only one on planet earth." I know, I know. But my masochistic tendencies always get the better of me and I often wind up torturing myself with self-deprecating thoughts. It was fun seeing Keena though and lucky her for preserving that cuteness.

As for my beloved Slaire, who's been with me throughout my "heartbreaks" (my paper heart is bleeding, people), we got to eat the gelato ice cream we were planning to eat weeks ago. Mission accomplished. The earthquake was momentarily forgotten as soon as we got hold of our ice creams (Veronese Choco for me and Hazelnut Choco for Slaire). My friend has her fair share of disappointments so, like the best friends we are, we always meet and talk and do just about anything to reassure us of our worth. As women of deep faith and conviction, we cannot just squander our love away. 

What a blessing to have friends like her and Eva. Though the latter is currently absorbed in a calamity of her own and we're doing our best to support her. Earlier this month, we spent a night at a pension house after some backbreaking activities - watching the last full show of Bourne Legacy and getting overexcited when the setting finally switched to the Philippines, walking for hours and hours in search of a cheap place to crash, and talking until the break of dawn while passing around a bottle of red wine. We went home the next day, somewhat refreshed and fearless of the future. We know full well that although life may shake us up every now and then, we always have each other's company to look forward to (I can hear Metro Station's Shake It booming at the background). (:

This earth we tread on moves and erupts and trembles without notice. Many other things will tip our lives out of balance besides quakes. Whatever those things are, we cannot lose faith. If it's your time, it's your time. Panicking will not help. So panic not. Just be thankful for occasional tremors and the chance to continue your mortal journey. Quakes are not always about tsunamis and deaths. Who knows somewhere, a beautiful unadulterated island is growing, where your descendants might one day live in peace and prosperity. Should this be otherwise, surrender to His reason. Light will be shed on those who sincerely ask.

Ah, one of those rare occasions where you feel like posting a real photograph just to show to the world the people who mean so much to you. Here are some of my closest friends in College (the others could not attend the photo shoot for reasons that escaped my memory). This was taken during our retreat a week before graduation. Someone actually ruined that night with a thoughtless prank, but we did our best to enjoy the time we had left before we parted ways. From the right: Slaire (who still sported curls), Ehx Tihn (drab boyish garb), Eva (in a pose that would define her), Titay (with the glasses that became her), Julie (sitting in style), Gen (puckered lips) and Tonet (the cutest).