Luckily for those in Manila and provinces in the south of Luzon island, the super typhoon isn’t going to be a direct hit. It’s a different story right now for the people up north who are bracing for the strongest typhoon yet of 2018.

I haven’t been in a typhoon in years since I am in the Philippines usually in December. It was business-as-usual for me today. I met up with my high school friends at SM Mall of Asia. We even went to the Manila International Book Fair.

Outside it’s gusty. The rains at the moment aren’t torrential. You can get a sense of the typhoon by the way the trees are moving. I acknowledge that my family lives comfortably here in Cavite. I can’t imagine a typhoon, whether a direct hit or not, in a house with a crappy roof. I can’t imagine how it would be like to live in an area prone to flooding. I can’t imagine how it would be like to be worried about loved ones who still have to commute in this weather. I know I am lucky. And a typhoon like Mangkhut is a reminder of that.

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Stay safe, Philippines.

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Visit my fave resource of typhoon information: maybagyo.com