Blow Wind Blow

The street lights came on at 5pm. The clouds moved across the darkening sky so quickly it seemed like I was watching a fast forwarded film. The drizzles got heavier and the winds got crazier. The bus stops were overcrowded, as the shuttle buses came in threes and fours ferrying people to the station and their hostels. Cars with headlights on were speeding down the school roads towards the exits, while people scurried on the streets, most with huge bags of groceries and instant noodles. I was one of them, and alike them I gave up on my umbrella as it would probably have overturned on me anyway.

Typhoon Hagupit has arrived!

Precautionary Warning Signal Number 1 came yesterday evening, and winds only started to come in around noon today. The Number 3 Signal (strong wind alert) was soon hoisted, as thunderstorms started to come in. Winds were going at about 40-60 km/h, and it brought a cool to the weather, as my short journey to the canteen for lunch was the coolest walk I had since arriving.

I had a tutorial at 4.30pm, and I was half hoping that it would be cancelled, but the Number 8 Signal (all classes cancelled upon this signal) never came. So I braved the strong winds to go to class, and as expected, it ended really early. So I decided to climb all the way up to the school supermarket to stock up on some food, but when I reached there, it was total chaos. Apparently the queue went one round around the whole supermarket, all the way to the exit. The different isles were all crowded, and when I finally managed to squeeze into the instant noodles section, guess what, the shelve was almost empty. So I gave up, braved the storm again, and went all the way back down to the 7-eleven at the MTR station, before making my way back to hall. Newspapers and boxes were flying across the streets, as my footsteps quickened. Apparently, Signal 8 had already been hoisted.

The winds outside are crazy now, as you can practically hear it whistling and pushing against my room window. The sky actually turned pitch black at around 6.30pm, and its pouring like mad. Now all of us are just wondering how long Hagupit would stay, and whether or not there'll be classes tomorrow.

Living in Singapore all my life, I have had the luxury of being protected from all forms of natural disasters. So when I heard that a typhoon was coming in HK's direction, I was kind of like waiting in anticipation to see what it would be like. And now that it's here, I would have to say it has been a really eye-opening experience, both the typhoon itself and the observation of reaction from the people here. As Bryan puts it, this brings new meaning to the term 'exchange experience'.