a morning in mandaluyong posted by imani , Monday, January 5, 2009 at 2:17 PM, in Labels: freefall

i do not know about you guys, but the title sounds a little funny to me.

i don't understand how it became so suddenly, unexpectedly, incredibly cold in manila lately - or at least in mandaluyong.

the airconditioning in our office, which usually makes my body so stiff i start feeling like android sometimes (you see working in that kind of situation makes me feel and look more 'mechanical') has began to feel more like a nice, comfortable house with a little fireplace - compared to the temperature outside our building.

last january 4th, i went out for a break and i swear the air was perhaps several degrees below 20 - as all the tiny little nerves on my face broke - that second i knew that people around me could mistake me for a stressed-out vampire kept awake not by blood but by caffeine.

there was a point i started worrying that because of the cold, my boogers will turn to icicles (would be cuter if they'd look like snowflakes), impair me of my sense of smell and prevent me from breathing altogether. the truth is, i just think it is unfair. for people like me at least.

you see, for the past few years, despite my unbelievably humongous appetite, i have remained, steadily at a hundred pounds. i am not sure why. my bosses have, to some extent, concluded that it is either that i am anorexic or weirder - diabetic. blame it on genetics. but, i would have to say, that i am thankful to my mom and dad for their excellent genes i never worried about dieting and am relieved i never have to suffer the ill effects of dieting.

that morning when i went out for a breather, i was with one of my friends - ryner - and i could just imagine what the poor guy must be going through when he muttered a line from the movie simon birch: 'it is so cold my balls are turning into marbles!' wahahah. i had to let out a fiendish laughter.

i think i consumed half of my chapstick that morning. i had to - lest i want for my lips to chap and for its skin to flake and for me to ultimately not be able to talk. this weather is driving me insane. how do you imagine i keep myself warm - even my jacket and muffler are useless. the fact is i do not have enough body fat to keep me from getting hypothermia! i bet it makes me look so pale and lifeless that if i would have a coronary, people will not actually notice anything different.

i am not ready for this kind of weather. if i wanted cold i would go to baguio - but the thing is i was just in baguio three weeks ago. i do not suppose anyone is ready for this kind of weather. even the 'healthier,' 'fleshier,' people at work are going ballistic, arguing that they cannot stand the weather because they do not have a jacket on. i wanted to scream at them - i HAVE a jacket on and it's not helping me!

you know what, i think it's really just plain global warming. the sudden change in temperature. we are a tropical country. i would understand why it is so cold in baguio - for christ's sake it's in the mountains - but manila? mandaluyong? it has been so chilly the past few days even the smog is cold. the smog is supposed to trap the freaking heat. having said that i just realized that we can actually vie for a spot on the guiness book of world records - with manila being the biggest greenhouse on the face of the planet. global warming is scary especially when i know i never really used 'spraynet' growing up. i have never cut a tree in my life. i know i kill ants for fun but that is beside the point.

okay. i think i have done enough ranting here. let me just fix myself a cup of coffee.