Xangsane's Wrath

International Code: Xangsane - but she was called Typhoon Milenya in the Philippines. An apt name - Milenya was the strongest typhoon I've seen in years. IWhile was safely tucked inside a tall building, I had full view of the Manila Bay and I saw the wind lashing about from the glassed terrace. At one point, I went down the parking lot in the 3rd floor and I had to stay close to the walls because the winds were too strong, I felt like I would be lifted outside. The wind was actually hooting, or whistling, or whatever you may call the high-frequency sound. And everywhere you looked, there were plastic cellophane and other light debris whirling around, tossed by the furious wind. It went on for hours, it seemed like it would never stop. After a while, Nature started to look sinister to me.

Afterwards, they declared a state of calamity. No one expected the extent of Milenya's power. Or maybe the people at the atmospheric agency did, but never really told anyone. It wasn't your usual rainy typhoon; it was a windy one. At around 3 30PM the typhoon slowly left the capital and headed somewhere else. In its wake, it uprooted hundreds of trees (some centuries old), toppled billboards along EDSA ( creating traffic jams), caused massive power outage, and well, basically f-ed up life in the city.

I went to the office this morning and there was no water, no electricity. Obviously no Internet. And I had to finish some stuff. SO I was forced to do my work elsewhere. In the afternoon I attended a seminar and less than 1/4 of the target participants were there. Everyone was at home, busy taking care of the aftermath of the disaster in their respective homes.

Meanwhile, last night, I was so hungry. There was no food to be cooked in the pantry. I tried calling the delivery lines - Yellow Cab, Taps, Pizza Hut, Tapa King, even Mc Donalds and Jollibee. I was desperate for some grub. To no avail - no delivery in the wake of Milenya. I was forced to make do with the stuff left in the fridge. So here's the Milenya recipe, for when there's nothing left in the pantry or fridge, and youre desperate to have dinner, and there's nowhere to go:

Typhoon Chicken Hotdog

Ingredients:
8 pcs chicken hotdogs, sliced (bite size pcs)
cornstarch powder
garlic powder
celery
tomato sauce
celery
onion, sliced
garlic, slivered
black pepper, ground

Procedure:

Hotdog:
1) Combine 1 cup of cornstarch with a pinch of black pepper and some garlic powder
2) Dredge the hotdog slices in the cornstarch mixture
3) Heat oil
4) Fry the hotdog pcs in the oil
5) Set aside

Sauce:
1) Saute garlic and onion
2) Add the celery
3) Add the tomato sauce (I used this left-over fancy Bravo tomato-garlic sauce used for dipping cause there was nothing else)
4) When done, pour over the chicken hotdog pieces.

Have fun eating this with no electricity, no water, and with the howling wind.