Typhoon Frank (international code name: Fengshan) hit the Visayas region yesterday, killing at least 17 with scores missing, including the passengers of an inter-island ferry which sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province, and continues to lash Luzon as I write this. Thankfully, while it slammed Metro Manila full force early this morning , with maximum winds of 120 kph and gustiness of up to 150 kph., our abode suffered no damage as far as I can see. It blew part of the roof off the church annex being built across the street, but spared our house. The debris now hangs across the utility wires adjacent to our neighbor’s house. It could have hit our residence but didn’t, thanks to divine providence.

Read also: Typhoon Frank, the MV Princess of the Stars Tragedy and the Culture of Disaster

My good fortune was compounded when I found this video in the Far East Economic Review’s Travellers’ Tales while surfing. In the run-off to the Beijing Olympics in August, the Chinese have set new standards for taste and class in promoting the games, this time involving around 1,200 girls forming the iconic Olympic rings.

Something to brighten up an otherwise gray day. Such is life.