Manila’s beautiful climate

People complain a lot about Manila’s pollution without giving much credit to the generally very pleasant weather here. Compared with the humidity in other Southeast Asian cities such as Singapore and Bangkok, Manila’s humidity levels are very low. I lived in Singapore for four years and, although I am generally a hot weather kind of guy, I did find the soup-like clamminess a bit much from–-it also played havoc with my book and vinyl collections (OK it was a while ago).

In fact it takes a spell of really miserable weather such as the interminable grey days we had in early June to make me appreciate how congenial the climate is in the Philippines. Sure, we have a hot season in April/May but by the standards of, say, Delhi, it is isn’t that hot. Our hottest day a few weeks ago was about 37 degrees, compared with top temperatures of around 45 degrees in the Indian capital—-that’s a shift from the uncomfortable to the unbearable.

Climate doesn’t seem to matter much to some people but it sure does to me. Serene cloudless mornings like the one outside my window are an important reason why, despite everything, I have always been very happy here.

Comments

[cedric]

hey torn
have you read gavin pretor pinney's bk ( he's chair of the cloud appreciation soc!)
he reckons clouds get a bad press!
i like the ones with silver linings
cedric

[cedric]

despite everything?

[torn]

Cloud appreciation sounds an interesting concept! I'll have a look at the blog.

By "despite everything" I meant that to blog about the Philippines inevitably involves a degree of criticism--of corrupt politicians, of unexplained and univestigated killings, of the failure to make the simplest things work. I try to leaven my comments on these subjects with posts on more positive subects -- like the clouds! So I was really saying, despite the fact that I often write about negative aspects of the Philippines because I think these are subjects that need to be aired, I still love the country.

Sadly, one of my next posts will be about yet another killing of an agrarian activist ...

[Higgs]

Bird watchers, cloud appreciators, train spotters-what the hell is wrong with these people?

[Carla]

Was 26C here one weekend, can't complain. Sounds selfish but I *hope* the predicted heat wave hereabouts does happen.

I've been going on lots of walks, among them the 2nd annual Rizal Walk in London on June 20.

Next up: Commie Walk to look at Marx and Engels' homes around Camden.

[yosibreak]

Thank you for writing this. I am a Filipino and did not appreciate the climate here until I went to the US, in sunny California. After only a week there, the novelty wore out, I was cold, and realized how lucky I am to live in the Philippines.