Hello everyone. Happy New Year!

Sorry you haven’t heard from me for the past 3 weeks because I had to take an unintentional break because life has suddenly gone crazy on me. But luckily, it’s starting to get better and I am now working on getting my life back on track, particularly in blogging and my books and anime lol.

My first post for this year should have been my 2021 wrap-up but life has other plans and I have to share some updates not just about my sudden break but also about the blog as well, *wink.

DECEMBER 16, 2021

This date is definitely going to stay with the many casualties left by the super typhoon Rai (locally known as Typhoon Odette) that hit the Philippines. Currently it’s in the top 3 of the costliest Philippine typhoons despite the preparations we did before it hit.

I can’t tell you about the exact numbers or the technicalities, but I have to tell you, it was definitely the strongest I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. We have a number of strong typhoons visiting the country each year, but usually the capital isn’t greatly affected but this time it was different. In other areas there were a lot of heavy rains, but what we experienced in Cebu was the really strong violent winds.

You’ve got to see all of the destruction it did on the areas it visited. It was really horrible.

Know more about it here.

TOTAL BLACKOUT

In preparation for the typhoon, they cut the electricity around 3 or 4pm in Cebu on December 16. But because of the destruction the typhoon brought on our power lines, Cebu and other provinces were in a total blackout for weeks after the typhoon.

A lot of utility poles were toppled down and power lines were cut, so the restoration of power would really take some time. There were few areas that got their power back before Christmas, but the majority of households celebrated Christmas and New Year with only their candles lit.

There was also an alarming increase in the number of fires after the typhoon. Most of them were because of unattended candles and the remnants of firecrackers since it’s the Christmas season.

DONATIONS

It’s almost a month since the typhoon hit the Philippines, but there’s still a lot of families that need help. If you want to donate, you can find the list of places you can donate here.

Thank you so much for your donations. It can definitely make a change for those families that were greatly affected.

MY EXPERIENCE

I was actually planning on celebrating the holiday in Bohol because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen my grandparents and family there since the covid began. But because of the typhoon, I had to stay. Only my mom had to go home because Bohol was also visited by the typhoon and there’s no one to look after my grandparents.

Luckily, we didn’t have any major destruction in both of our homes in Cebu and Bohol. Since the power was not yet back, means we don’t have water supply. You should have seen the long lines for water, food and gasoline, it looks endless.

Without electricity and water, it really feels like we’re back in the stone age. I can’t work because there’s no power, and no work means no pay. But then again, there were a large number of people who had it worse, so it felt ungrateful to complain. I’m just happy that no one in our family was hurt.

Luckily for us, our subdivision has scheduled free charging so we were able to charge our cell phones and rechargeable lights and fans. And 5-6 days later, we were able to have our water back but only on schedule, which was really more than we could ask for, so we were really thankful.

I wasn’t able to work for a week since only a few areas have electricity and generators so all coworking spaces were already full only a day after the typhoon. If I’m not fetching water (my sister was the one assigned for charging our phones, hahaha), then you can find me lazing in bed or finally reading those books that were sitting idle on my bookshelf for years.

A lot of areas are still recovering but Filipinos are resilient. Our new year may have started on the tough side and it may take a while to get our lives back to normal since we aren’t just dealing with the aftermath of the storm because we still have covid. But I’m sure with everyone’s help and kindness, we will be able to move forward.

PLANS FOR 2022

Let’s now end those bad experiences with some exciting new plans I have in store for the blog! Well, it may not be that very exciting, hahaha, but considering the covid and the storm, I really need this. I only have two for now, but I guess it’s better than not having one, *wink.

1. First in my list would be the monthly to-read and to-watch list.

• I now have an alarming amount of books that needed my attention and my inner OCD is now screaming insults at me.
• The same goes for my anime as well, hahaha. I have so many in my to-watch list but because I usually just watch on a fly, you could say I haven’t improved on decreasing my list, lol.
• Just because I will be creating my to-read and to-watch list for each month, doesn’t mean I don’t get to try some new releases that aren’t in my bookshelf or kindle. I’ll make sure to add some free spaces for some review requests and new books and anime I’ll happen to get interested in along the way.
• I was supposed to start on this plan this January, but because we just had our electricity back last January 3 and our internet connection on January 4, plus some personal matters I am currently attending, I decided to make this month a free reading and watching January. It’s my birth month after all, hahaha. I’ll start implementing this plan in February instead.

2. Second in my list is my most excited about hahaha. I only just travelled a few times last year because we are still struggling in controlling our covid cases here in the Philippines. It’s been two years already, and since I already have a laptop with me, I can now work anywhere. My plan for this year is to finally start travelling, even just within the city. Every now and then, each of us should take a moment to enjoy and unwind despite everything that is happening. We deserve it.

• Unlike the first plan, this wouldn’t be a monthly thing, but I’ll try to make it more than what I was able to do last year.

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And that’s it for now. Each of us have our own struggles, but remember that you are not alone. May all of us have a wonderful year this year for a change right?

Happy New Year once again, and please do wait for my 2021 wrap-up and some backlog reviews to be posted soon, *wink.

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