Typhoon

Small typhoon in October 2009

One thing about Taiwan that is not often mentioned in their tourism ads is how temperamental their weather can be. Right now news reports going overtime as the nation gears up for what is expected to be a really strong typhoon. After the bad rep on negligence the last time, the authorities are taking no chances this time round, even activating the army to build barriades and conduct evacuation measures. The school too has installed metal stops on all basement-level entrances to prevent the underground levels from being submerged. Our hostel has taped up its glass doors so that in the event the winds actually break the glass, the shards wouldn't fly too far (yeah I know!)

With all this paranoia going around, I'm not quite sure what to make of it since this is my first major typhoon (I've been through a mild one where its basically just non-stop drizzling for 3 days). My roomies though are rather relaxed: they have been through every typhoon imaginable and are rather used to it as earthquakes and typhoons are a frequent occurrence here. The typhoon will officially hit Taiwan sometime tonight; it has been drizzling non-stop today which is probably a foretaste of greater things to come. Wonder what's in store? Let's wait and see...