That Structure on the Roof

Across the street from the hotel where I’m staying stands an old apartment building. From its looks, I am guessing that it’s probably at least 50 years old. It stands about 10 stories high and judging from its exterior, the building obviously suffers from lack of proper maintenance. The following picture shows the sight that greets me every time I open my hotel room window:

It shows the apartment building’s 10th floor and its rooftop. Please pay close attention to the structures on the rooftop. The concrete structures house the utility stairways that lead to the rooftop and, I’m assuming, the building’s water tanks. There are also non-concrete structures present, mostly built of wood, galvanized iron, and meshed wire. You will see that all of the non-concrete structures on the rooftop are used as storage sheds except for the one at the right. The one on the right looks like someone uses it as living quarters.

The rather thin layer of iron roofing ought to provide the structure’s resident with adequate shelter from the rain.  However, the roofing becomes more of a liability during very hot and humid days because its thinness hardly provides any buffer between the resident and the sun’s rays.  In fact, the thin metal sheet could even exacerbate the heat within that structure.  As a result, the temperature inside could be much higher than what it actually is outside. 

Unlike residents of the regular apartments on the lower floors, this structure does not have the benefit of any installed airconditioning unit and the absence could be due to a number of reasons.  One reason could be that its wooden walls are probably not strong enough to support the average window-type of airconditioner;  another reason could be either the lack or absence of appropriate wiring to support the power requirements of an AC unit in that particular section of the building; and lastly, it’s also possible that the resident simply decided not to have one installed. 

Let me switch gears now by saying that when I started writing this piece, my original intent was to simply write about that rooftop structure that caught my attention and piqued my curiosity.  I was almost done with organizing my geeky thoughts for this piece when the SO informed me that there are actually two or three Filipino women living in that structure.  She knows it for a fact because she actually saw them come out of that structure one morning to retrieve some clothes that they had hung out to dry. 

Thus, from wondering about an inanimate structure, I now started wondering about the people who have made it their home.  A different set of questions now came to mind.  How long have they lived in that structure?  How long have they been away from their families?  Are they related to each other or are they friends who decided to live together in one housing unit in order to save rent money?  Do their families back home know of where they live and how they live?  Do the folks back home know of the tremendous sacrifices these women are making in the hopes of a better future for their respective families?

I hope that they all eventually do well with their lives.  I hope that they don’t get to stay in such a structure for long.  I hope that when the day comes and it’s time for these women to come home, that a loving and grateful family will welcome them back with open arms and with gratitude and positive returns to show for their sacrifices.  Given all the hardship they’ve gone through for their families, it is only fair to say that these women certainly deserve no less.

Baker’s Vacation Suite

Since this is a much needed break, one that I’ve waited for months to take, I decided to do a bit of splurging on myself in order to ensure that my stay in Hong Kong becomes a very enjoyable and memorable one. One of the things I decided to splurge on was on my choice of a hotel to stay in. Prior to booking my travel, I sought the inputs of a friend Terence who often vacations in Hong Kong. Terence told me that whenever he’s in town, he always stays at the Happy Majestic Valley Hotel situated at the corner of Electric Road and Tin Chong Street in the North Point District of Hong Kong Island.

Since I’ve known Terence for quite a while now, I know that he is a man of impeccable taste. Thus, I decided to forego with doing my own hotel research and simply went with my trusted friend’s recommendation. I immediately went to the Happy Majestic Valley Hotel’s website and to my pleasant surprise, found their rates to be very reasonable and competitive with the finest hotels in the area. The website stated that the hotel towers over the busy North Point district and is only footsteps away from the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) subway station at Fortress Hill.

I then decided to stay in their prestigious Dor Ho Penthouse Suite which, according to their website, boasts of a breathtaking 360-degree view of the impressive Hong Kong and Kowloon skylines, contains state-of-the-art digital and satellite-based entertainment equipment that meet the most stringent US Department of Defense requirements, pampers you with the utmost in luxurious yet environment-friendly living amenities, and last but not least, provides unlimited 24-hour access to a rooftop garden that one renowned, but now deceased, HK-based hotel critic hailed as “simply to die for”.

Once I checked into the hotel last Saturday night, the place was truly everything what the website said it would be. The view indeed from my hotel window was breathtaking as the following photo shows:

And of course, this blog entry won’t be complete if I don’t show you a picture of my lovely penthouse suite:

Have a lovely day, folks.  Take care.

Recharging

Will be away for a few days to take a much needed rest.  Both mind and body need it badly.  The change in scenery will hopefully help.

I’m not sure if I can blog where I’m going.  Not that it makes much difference anyway since activity at this site has gone down tremendously.  I don’t want to say that this site’s dead because the spirit behind it is still willing.  It’s just taking a terribly long time to recharge.  Awful.   Just plain awful.

Will be back….. soon.  I wish you all well.

September Blues

Baker’s Note:  In light of that deadly storm that passed through the Philippines this past weekend, I hope this message finds you and all your loved ones safe and in good health.

This blog ain’t dead.  It just seems like it.

This month has proven to be a very exhausting one for me.  I haven’t been able to find the time and muster the energy to either finish pieces that have been in draft for quite a while or to start writing new ones.  I’ve been doing a lot of writing at work, business writing that is (memos, reports, and appraisals) on a daily basis that by the time I get home in the evenings, I find myself too mentally exhausted to do some blogging.

I have the September blues too in a number of ways.  Summer has ended here.  The nice, warm days are over and the cold weather is starting to settle in.  The trees are starting to shed leaves.  I’ll miss the greenery and the warm, sunny weather around me for the next few months.  The cold makes it much harder to get up in the mornings.  Dressing up becomes a chore because of the number of layers one needs to put on.  I want to spend more time in bed but I can’t for fear of missing my bus if I do so.

My weekends had been busy too since they were spent helping my cousin get settled in his new apartment.  I helped him shop for furniture and other stuff that he needed in his apartment.  It was exhausting to do all that moving of furniture from the car to his fourth floor apartment.  As a result, I have been suffering through some aches and pains throughout my body for weeks now.

September also reminded me of my own mortality.  My blood pressure has been at an elevated level since early last year.  My doctor has so far refused to prescribe any blood pressure medication to bring it down and has only recommended a lifestyle and diet change at this point.  It bothers and depresses me quite a bit because prior to that, my blood pressure had remained at a normal level for quite a long time when compared to a lot of my friends and other people my age.  But I guess that’s part of life.  Somewhere along the way, things happen that remind us that there’s a limit to our stay in this world.

And as September drew to a close, Typhoon Ondoy suddenly came and battered the country with rains and floods not seen for decades.  All the concerns I wrote above are nothing when compared to what a lot of people lost in my home country.  The town where I spent my elementary and high school years was one of the hardest hit.  A lot of childhood friends and their families still live there.  I hope and pray they’re ok.  I’ll find a way via some friends and high school classmates based here and in the Philippines to somehow extend help.

Thanks a lot for all the visits and the comments you have left in spite of my rather long absence from these pages and from your respective blogs.  I will make up for such absence somehow sometime, hopefully soon.  I need to regroup right now given the demands on my time and energies these past several weeks.  But I will surely be back.  Until then, I wish you all well.