A City Where the Rain Never Ends

It’s been over a week now. Metro Manila has been soaked in relentless rain, and everyone’s just out here trying to exist.

Me? I’m somewhere between “I hate it here” and “screw it, I have to get to work.”

The first few days, I ranted. Like, really ranted. My usual 2-hour commute doubled, and that's just one-way traffic, excluding the hours of waiting, queuing, and fighting my way through the commuter crowd to get a ride to work and back home.

Imagine showing up to work like a half-drowned rat in office wear. Cute, right?

Now, it’s Sunday. I haven’t left my apartment all weekend. No groceries. No decent food. I’m basically living off whatever I can Frankenstein together from the pantry. Rain’s still here, and I'm still pissed at the world.

Rain, Rage, and Desperation

Honestly, I’ve hit that point where I’m no longer mad. I’m just fucking exhausted.

That helpless feeling of being trapped in a city that doesn’t know how to deal with rain properly? Yeah. It’s real.

Somehow, while staring at the grey sky for the hundredth time, a line popped into my head:

“In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer.”

Lovely, right? Albert Camus said that. Probably something I saved from Tumblr back in the day, but here’s the thing. It's so hard to believe that right now, while trapped in a city where the rain never seems to stop and life is put on hold whenever that happens.

My “Invincible Summer” Was in Cebu

Whenever I hear invincible summer, I think of home. I think of Cebu -- sunny, free, slow. I think of beach days, road trips with no destination, and the kind of stillness I haven’t felt since moving here.

One of my favorite escapes back home was a resort called Hale Manna -- a hidden gem of a resort that's tucked away from the chaos, with private beachfront and zero noisy or drunk crowds to deal with.

It's paradise in lowercase, and god I love it there.

We’d go kayaking, snorkeling -- your usual beach bum starter pack -- with a private guide that came with our stay. That place was everything.

Then there were the road trips.

No plans, just vibes, with my mom enjoying the scenery and doting on Chumchum (yes, the OG fluffy companion), with either my brother or our driver taking the wheel.

We’ve probably covered every inch of mainland Cebu by now, north to south, but it’s been years since our last one. I miss doing that a lot with my fam.

Would road-tripping around Manila or nearby provinces be cool? Sure. But without a car, a driver, or Chumchum, it doesn’t really feel the same. Just another idea collecting dust in the back of my brain.

Anyhoo, here are some more pics of the road trips we took in Cebu: hazy windows, summer air, packed snacks, feet up on the dashboard kind of vibe.

Current Mood: Damp and Reluctantly Hopeful

So it's raining again, but is anyone still surprised at this point?

I’m tired of staying in bed the whole day, so I guess I’ll look for a nearby coffee shop and try to be a semi-functioning human being. Wish me luck. ☕️