Waiting for rain

I hear Manila has been having some serious rainy weather; not good if you are stuck in traffic somewhere in the metropolis; good if you are warm and toasty at home, sipping coffee, watching re-runs or reading a Stephen King novel. When I was still with my ex and living in this crummy hole in the wall (in the name of love, ha), there would also be lots of cooking (sinigang, always) and looking out for new leaks on the ceiling (and emptying the bucket where a leak has already appeared).

This can go on for days, as the rain in Manila can persist for days and not just for hours. The damp air spares nothing - soaked shoes, laundry that refuses to dry, cooled coffee, the heightened paper smell of a book. Wet weather always condenses everything to a comforting lethargy that settles in your bones like a vacation.

Forget snow. Why can we have typhoon season in Singapore once in a while?