We didn’t really plan anything for the long weekend in celebration of Hung Kings which was a good thing because Typhoon Pakhar hit Saigon pretty bad yesterday afternoon.

When we set out to attend Palm Sunday Mass at 2:30 PM, it was raining already albeit not too hard but we bundled Sam up in a jacket and we brought two umbrellas.  When we reached our destination 30 minutes after, the rain was pounding hard and the wind has already picked up.

Towards the end of the mass, the wind was blowing rain into the small church and we didn’t leave right away hoping the rain would stop for a bit to let us grab a cab.

We got home around 4 PM with no mishap except that my heart was in my throat the whole time because the cabbie didn’t seem to mind the big puddles of water on the road.  He drove like there was no typhoon at all!

A tell-tale sign of a real typhoon is the strong wind that comes with it — and that there is no lightning nor thunder to somehow spend it’s energy.  I really didn’t know how bad it was when at 7 PM, we couldn’t see District 1 anymore from our window — no power at all.  Parts of District 7 — Phu My didn’t have lights till 12 midnight.  The rain water was slapping pretty hard against our windows and our laundry area had puddles already!

Luckily though, the power didn’t conk out on us because although we have candles, we couldn’t find our flashlight!  We are so ill-prepared for such things!!!  After almost 3 years of living here in Saigon, this is only the second time I’ve been worried of a typhoon.  The last one that got me worried was when Ondoy hit Manila and there were news that it was on its way to Saigon.

Check out HerDailyDigest for photos on the damage of Typhoon Pakhar.  Although this is just normal stuff that happens in the Philippines, it isn’t here in Saigon.

All I saw from our window of the aftermath is the high level of water from the river and that what little trees we have has gone bald —

This whole area experienced no power last night —

According to my nanny, Vietnamese news reported that 2 Koreans died in Phan Thiet and 2 Vietnamese died in Vung Tau. 😦

Walked around a bit and surprisingly, the Phu My Hung maintenance has cleaned up quickly.  There were only few remnants of what was last night.

The Friends shop signage got obliterated —

Now, Typhoon Pakhar is on its way to Cambodia!  Hope it’s not as strong as the one that hit Saigon.  Good riddance Pakhar!