Summer Solstice

Tomorrow marks the summer solstice at the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year. However, this doesn't have drastic effects on countries located near the equator or just below the tropic of cancer. In Manila, where I'm currently residing, sunset is at around 6:40 PM, but in other countries, like Sweden and Canada, sunset time is at 10:45 PM and 9:01 PM respectively. It'd be cool to go out at 9 PM but the sun is still shining. The longest duration of the day that I've experienced was when I traveled to Melbourne last February. It was still mid-summer and the sun goes down before 9 PM. It was cool to experience though.

Tomorrow also marks my grandfather's birthday. He should've been 79 this year, but he died almost four years ago. I terribly miss him so much. But, I guess we had great memories together when he was still alive. At least I grew up with a grandfather figure behind me. We used to catch grasshoppers and ladybugs when I was three (I was really a nerd since I was young), fly a kite together, and he would never hesitate to give me piggyback rides, even if his neck and back hurt.

Anyway, still no news about resuming flights to Davao. I mean, flights have slowly resumed, but leisure travel is not yet allowed by the government. While other countries have started to recover, Philippines is still reeling with this global pandemic, and Cebu City is now the center of the pandemic. We are now close to 30,000 cases, 7,500 of which have recovered and over a thousand people have died as of this writing. This is frustrating. This government has been lenient ever since, and they just focused on draconian measures to curb the virus. Instead of implementing mass testing and early suspension of flights from China, they focused on community quarantine which is heavily guarded by military and police. This is disheartening. I'm out of words. It's taking a toll on me. 

This year has been tiring and frustrating as fuck. I am mad.

Can we just skip this year?

It's been four months since the last time I went home to Davao. Thank you, Rona, for ruining my travel plans this year. A few hours ago, I received an email from PAL, and my flight to Davao this July got canceled as well. Why am I not surprised? Ugh, this is my fourth time to rebook my flight with this airline. It shouldn't be a problem at all knowing we are still currently battling the global pandemic, but it's a pain in the ass whenever I rebook my flights with them. I had no choice but to call their customer service again. There's no way I could rebook my flight through their website. They're so proud of calling themselves the only 4-star airline in the Philippines. 4-star, my ass! I'll give you a rating of 4 out of 100 stars if you like!

Breathe in, breathe out. This year sucks. The economy is suffering. Everyone is suffering. The government has higher priorities than addressing the current situation of this pandemic. I am frustrated and disappointed. Everyone is! I am sick and tired of reading and watching the news. It's depressing, frankly speaking. But I find ways to keep myself – writing travel stories, reading Paul Theroux novels, and catching up with my favorite tv shows.

But I still hate 2020. I can't wait to wake up from this bad dream. This year is a fucking nightmare to begin with.