One thing that I always found kind of interesting here in the Philippines is that you never really know what the temperature is here! I remember when I lived in the States, if you watched the local TV news, they would give very specific figures on the temperature. They would even give temperature readings in different neighborhoods around town. So, you knew precisely what the temperature had been that day! Also, they would give comparisons… for example, it was 89 degrees (Fahrenheit) today, last year on this day it was 87, and the record temperature was 98, on this date in 1937. You know what I mean.
Here, you never hear what the temperature is. You will hear ranges of temperatures. For example, the TV news might say “it was 21 to 32 degrees in Davao today” or something of the sort. If you are out in town and mention anything about the weather, people will say “it’s hot today” or “it’s not quite so hot”, something like that. If you get in a taxi and ask the driver what is the temperature today, he will say “hot, sir” or “very hot, sir” – something like that. I find it kind of interesting.
As far as I can tell, the temperature, when asked is always either “hot” or “very hot”. Now with Global Warming coming into the picture, I wonder what they will say. “Super hot, sir”?
Bob,
Different topic, but still amuses me is "For a while"
Can I talk to John.
Yes sir, for a while. 😕
Dan
Hello Bob,
It's true what you say here, I remember when my wife was still in Phillipines and I was calling her, I was asking her the temperature there and the answer was always "I don't know..very hot" ha ha ha here it's COLD 🙂 Thanks Bob
Dan – for a while… I have to answer Patrice first!
Patrice – It's not so hot today, rained yesterday and that made it cooler today. I have no idea what the temperature is, though!
Hi Bob,
People don't pay so much attention to the temperature maybe because variations in temps don't affect so much the day to day activities, except of course when typhoons are coming. No need to bundle up nor be aware of road closures. If one brings an umbrella or a wind breaker and a japanese fan, then she/he's fine.
Interestingly, weather is a conversation starter here in the US.
Hi Bob,
It amused me when I first came to the States to see people eat outdoors, sitting in the park during their lunch break. Also, it took me a while to reconcile the fact that just because it is sunny out doesn't mean it's warm. It could be bright and sunny but freezing! In the Philippines, when it's sunny, you almost always see someone carrying an umbrella.
I agree with jul, it's the fact that the temperature can drop drastically in a matter of hours, this is why people in these temperate zones are a little more obsessed with the weather. In the Philippines, no matter what the weather is, you don't have to dress any differently. You don't have to buy as many clothes!
Hi Jul – you make some good points there, some of which I had not thought about. You know, it is funny that weather is not a conversation starter here, I had not even considered that! But, it is very true!
Hi Tina – It is funny, and I remember when Feyma came to the States that she thought that if the sun was shining, that meant it would be hot!
hi bob,
my wife always laughs about the weather reporting in the pi ! she says its the same forecast all the time with a typhoon sprinkled in here or there occassionally for good measure ! but one things for sure….its gonna be hot sir !
Hey Danny – one thing nice about living in Davao – there are no typhoons here! We are outside the typhoon belt, so that is something that you don't even have to consider down here!
Wow, no typhoons in Davao? Good for you. I remember how the streets in Manila would get flooded during strong rains, let alone a typhoon.
Hi angie – Yes, indeed, Davao (and virtually all of Mindanao, except the extreme northern tip of Surigao) is outside the typhoon belt. About the worst weather we get is some hard rain from time to time. Very nice!
hey Bob go to accuweather .com it has the weather for davao and other cities for the pines . I use it for the weather in gingoog city ..Phil
Hi Phil – Oh, yes, that is true, there are lots of online sources for temps. I was more making a cultural observation here than saying that I needed to know the temp. 😆
Yea i see what u mean Bob .. when i was there we watch the weather on TV and they zoomed thru it so fast it was better to look out the window and see what it was like outside .. 😎
Hi phil R – Yeah, the TV weather reports are certainly different than the ones back home!