Gearing up for this crazy Philippine rainy weather.

Before anything else, I would like to ask everyone to keep safe. Please stay indoors because no amount of rain gear right now can protect anyone from this crazy crazy weather. I got this infograph from the Ang Nars: National FB page and it shows the many hazards one can encounter on flooded streets. If you think colds and drowning are the worst that can happen to you, think again (click to enlarge):

I had scheduled this post for last week but it looks like things are just going to get worse from here on. Remember, Milenyo and Ondoy happened in late September. It’s just August. So better prepare for the next few weeks.

I live in a condo in Makati where weather like this would render me and my room mates stuck in the building. So I started gearing up for it recently. First, I found some rain boots in SM Makati. I bought these on sale for P299.

These are so effective that they actually kept my feet dry while the rest of my body got drenched during one really rainy day.

I realized that carrying an umbrella is useless. The small ones crumble against heavy winds and the big ones…well, I’m 5’1.5″. The only person who would enjoy flying with an umbrella is Mary Poppins.

So I decided to get myself a rain coat.

I purchased this one from Landmark Makati for about P150. Forgot exactly how much it is, but their raincoats range from P130-P200+. There are more expensive ones but those are huge. I made sure to get size XL because I wanted enough room for my head. I noticed that the smaller raincoats have hoods that are too small for an adult head.

The best part about a raincoat is that it leaves both your hands free to hold bags. There are also times when the road is so slippery that I would suddenly need my hands to find something to grip.

Hm. This is one of the rare times when I was totally dry in the office. The reason why I am calling this weather crazy is that I feel that it’s sometimes trolling me.

Imagine the scenarios:

  1. It started raining so I wore my rain boots. Halfway to the office, it suddenly stopped raining. So I spent the entire day in the office in these extremely warm footwear.
  2. When it’s not raining, I would wear my sneakers or sandals. There were days when it would suddenly rain when I’m already walking halfway to the office. This was what happened to me yesterday evening, when I was walking home. The streets of Buendia, Pasong Tamo and Dela Rosa were completely flooded. So my new Converse sneakers found themselves immersed in murky waters as I waded to the condo. Thank goodness for the raincoat because only my feet, legs and thighs were wet. The rest of me remained relatively dry.
  3. Yesterday morning, as I was again walking to the office, it started to rain. I was almost ready for it, so I dropped the two bags I was carrying and hurriedly put on my raincoat. It took a bit of effort because the button holes were round (which made sure that the coat would stay securely in place). After all that effort, the rain stopped. Auuuugh!
Well, anyway, I’m currently stuck here at the condo. I’m just advising everyone to stay indoors as well. I don’t think these gears can save me from the floods, at least, not for long. But I think these are pretty useful for rains that don’t yield waist-deep flood waters.
Also, I urge everyone to do our part. One thing I noticed about the streets, and about people in general, is that a lot of us treat the road as if it’s our own personal garbage bin. These things happen because of terrible waste management and I don’t know why people still keep throwing their trash carelessly on the road. *Sigh* We should all really learn our lessons from past typhoons.

4 Comments

  1. Mel u

    August 12, 2012 at 11:25 pm

    Great post. We live in a Condo in Capital Heights area of Quezon City. By luck we are on one of highests points in metro. My wife was returning from a business trip north and a trip back that should have taken six hours took twenty, with ten hours totally stranded. Trash blocking drains is a lot of the problem.

  2. skysenshi

    August 13, 2012 at 2:49 am

    Yeah, we have to do something about our trash management. We have such a beautiful country but people are always turning it into one huge garbage bin.

    Thanks for dropping by! 🙂

  3. Ashley Madison

    July 21, 2015 at 7:39 am

    Hi everyone! I'm just wondering, Where did you get your transparent raincoat? I bought my raincoat at goods.ph (https://www.goods.ph/spiderking-raincoat-knee-length-nylon-509-19395.html) a month ago because the rainy season is about to start. I wish that there are no sudden storms that will visit our country. Thank you very much for this post!

  4. skysenshi

    July 21, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    Hello! I got the coat from Landmark Makati. 🙂

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