Nippy

On the first day of February, the coldest temperature so far for Metro Manila was recorded at 18.5°C (65.3°F) while Baguio City dropped to 10°C (50°F). You people from the Northern hemisphere who happen to be reading this may choke on your own snicker and say, “You call that cold?” — for a tropical country like ours, THAT’S COLD.

This is probably the best time to take out your Uniqlo jackets and sweaters or sleep in your flannel PJs. These days, taking a bath at 4AM (at least for me on a weekday) might feel like the ice bucket challenge, but there’s nothing that hot water straight from the whistling kettle couldn’t fix.

This kind of weather may also coincide with the flu season (I’m still nursing a bad cough) and it actually triggers rheumatic pains in every joint of my body, yet I’ve got absolutely no complaints. I’ll take this weather anytime than lose my sanity with the infernal Philippine summer.

The weather bureau said we can enjoy this only up until the third week of the month before the temperature rises again. Frankly, I already have that sense of dread with the coming warmer months which we’d probably bear until May.

Sometimes I want to strangle people here who are whining about the cold weather. I mean, one should make up their minds which one they’d prefer and not wail on both. Sure, I’ve heard that winters elsewhere could be very tough and gloomy, still, this nippy weather is just ideal for me that I wish it’ll always be like this.

I hate summer not only because I ain’t a beach person and I don’t enjoy basking in ultraviolet rays; the hot weather and accompanying humidity exacerbate my feelings of distress and discomfort. For one, I cannot stay home cooped up in my room because it turns into a microwave as early as 9AM. I also get prone to very bad headaches during the warm months.

Summer anxiety is real. And I seem to have it every summer of every year since significant global warming started. I don’t know if I’m the only one who noticed how it’s getting worse and worse every year (the hottest temperature in 2019 is around 36-37°C with heat index going up as high as 51°C in Dagupan). So forgive me if I’d rather chill here like a cucumber than sweat like a pig.

And don’t get me started about it being “bedweather” and that it would only trigger the longing of having someone lying beside me to cuddle with. I have such a fantastic imagination that involves Chris Evans wearing his now-famous white cable-knit sweater from the movie Knives Out.

*winks*