Unrelatable

Netnet Camomot .

FLAVIANA Hilario, deputy administrator of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), said on Wednesday that the rainy season’s “onset will be either during the first week of June or second week of June.” Hmmm. Promise ha?

But will that make the Pinoy look forward to rain? Since Pagasa also said Pinas would have five to eight cyclones from June to August.

As for the El Niño, Hilario said, “There is still a chance that will continue until the end of this year, 2019. However, the uncertainity is quite high.”

In other words, the weather is confused?

Travel will now have to be planned with the rainy weather in mind, since even without typhoons, flights are already delayed or cancelled, no thanks to an airline’s lack of pilots and flight crews, with pilots now looking for greener pastures, plus runway traffic due to, well, lack of runways. If you’ve experienced sleeping inside a plane while it’s waiting for its turn to fly, that’s no longer a phenomenon. Next time it happens, ask the flight crew for snacks and games.

There’s this unsolicited advice from some wellness gurus, that people should spend money on experiences rather than things. Hmmm. Eating is an experience. Watching movies is also an experience. Window-shopping is definitely an experience, too, as long as it doesn’t morph into actual shopping.

Uh, shopping is also an experience. Tsk tsk. Confusing!

After a friend told me that he buys a new item only when he needs to replace an old one, I always remember what he said each time I buy anything nowadays. Pair that with Marie Kondo’s mantra, “Does it spark joy?”

I promised once upon a time that I would stop posting anything on Facebook. I think that was my New Year’s resolution—I’m not even sure anymore if it was since I didn’t make any New Year’s resolution. Haha!

But then, there were times when something sparked joy, and I ended up posting that. Then, I was asked to join Lihuk 2019 Movement as one of its core team members, got busy with its Pag-ila forum and debate series for Cagayan de Oro’s candidates for city councilors, house representatives, and mayor and vice mayor—my role, as usual, morphed into public relations which, of course, included posting Lihuk’s activities on FB. 

And there was the Europe vacation for which I posted photos and videos.

A friend, who also posts his travel photos on FB, shared a Forbes piece, “Why No One Cares About Your Travels,” written by Jonathan Look Jr.

Wanna know the reason why? “Your adventures are unrelatable,” Look wrote.

Operative word: “unrelatable.”

Anyone who has visited Paris may now have memories of that cccccold late night when he wanted to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower, only to learn there’s a curfew for that tour, and he had to be contented with reaching its second floor. But the unfulfilled wish now gives him another reason to go back for more.

Without that Paris memory, however, people looking at your FB videos and photos of the Eiffel can’t relate at all. It’s neither their fault nor yours—it’s simply how it is.

I wasn’t even thinking of Europe before I left for that vacation since I was busy with Lihuk, the bahay kubo, and the monkey business. Europe is the kind of place that needs some research otherwise your familiarity with it will be limited to obvious tourist spots like the Eiffel. History was never my favorite subject in school where I preferred computing x-and-y equations. That’s why while my travel companions—high school classmates—were asking our jefe de viaje—also a high school classmate—how to go to Versailles, I asked, What’s in Versailles? And one classmate replied, “Marie Antoinette ba.” Oh. Hehe.

Cluelessness is not a blessing in disguise as you savor the food, sights and sounds of Florence, Italy, unaware that David is nearby. And by the time you do learn he’s nearby, the Accademia Gallery, where his original statue is, has already closed its doors for that day. Darn. But you already have photos of the David replica—would that spark enough joy?

So, there you are at a Michelangelo museum, too tired to appreciate his works, but with enough energy to buy a leather bookmark in its souvenir shop.

Europe is known to be the vacation of all vacations because of its history. Europeans have preserved evidence of that history, thus, educating the clueless tourist—like me—who opted to sleep through her history classes once upon a time.

Spring, though, means rain in Europe where an umbrella can easily be blown away by strong winds. We walked and took photos and videos despite the rain because of our limited time there. That same rain pouring in Pinas would force us to stay indoors, with hot choco and sandwiches to soothe our nerves.