What You Need to Know About Vog/Smog/Bad Air Quality/Haze

I started understanding more about air quality when I lived in Singapore. I was there when the AQI reached 300+ a few years ago. They gave us N95 masks at work and I remember we were sent home when the air quality reached unhealthy levels. I remember giving an uncle my extra N95 mask on the bus ride on the way home.

Luckily, there was a lot of materials available in Singapore about air quality. The National Environment Agency (https://www.nea.gov.sg/) in Singapore has a website full of resources. They publish air quality info on their website, https://www.haze.gov.sg/, and the info is also available on their social media sites. I started reading more about haze and air quality when I started to have asthma. At that time I didn't know it was asthma because I never had it prior to living in Singapore. 

Here's a few things you need to understand about air quality.

What is air quality? I simply understand air quality as the measurement of how clean or dirty the air is. It can be referred to as haze, vog, smog. 

What causes bad air? Air pollution can be caused by many things. A few I could think of right now include vehicle emissions (car/trucks/planes/trains etc.), emissions from volcanoes, your friendly neighbor's siga*, fire etc. 

How do you measure air quality? From what I understand governments install sensors to measure the concentration of air pollution. In Singapore, they publish information by area. In the Philippines, I normally check the IQ Air website to check for information. The data IQ Air publishes normally comes from volunteer contributors who install sensors in their building/area. 

How does a report look like? Here's an example of the air quality in my city right now (as of writing) -

Source: IQAir.com

How should I read this report?

The number, 153, refers to US AQI. My understanding from my experience in Singapore is this refers to the concentration level of PM10 in the air. PM10 are particles with a diameter of 10 microns or less and inhalable into the lungs. It can irritate your eyes, nose and throat. This is usually dust (from roads, dry riverbeds, farms, construction sites etc.).

The smaller number in the box with exclamation point, x11.8, refers to the concentration level of PM2.5 pollutant in the air. This are teenie tiny particles that can easily get into your lungs. It is more dangerous because it can cause heart and lung issues. This is likely what triggered me to have asthma and have frequent ER visits.

How to protect yourself from inhaling pollutants?

This is something I've been doing for many years now and moreso now since I'm immunocompromised and my lung function is down in the dumps. Here's what you should do:

• Always check the air quality in your area. If your area doesn't have it, nag your local government to install sensors.
• Wear a N95 mask. Those surgical masks you used to wear to prevent getting viruses won't work as it doesn't block those tiny air pollutants. 
• Stay indoors and follow what the AQI alerts recommend.
• Use an air purifier (I've used them for many years now and here's a review of the different brands I've used).
• If you have asthma, make sure you have your medicines and go see a doctor if you are compromised. 
• I also have mint tea and essential oils on hand as preventive measures (a whiff of bad AQI immediately triggers asthma for me). 

Take care everyone!

*When your neighbor burns leaves or trash, which is btw prohibited by the Clean Air Act.

#BeKind #StaySafe

There's Something in the Air

Taal Volcano has been erupting again. It had several phreatomagmatic eruptions in the past two days. The air has been different. I've been having allergies and have had to stay indoors. Unlike the 2020 eruption though, there's no ash fall. It was reported that it rained after the eruption, so that must have helped keep the ash there. I hope the families affected by the eruption are all okay and can go home soon. I pray that the Taal Volcano will quiet down soon since the businesses in the area are just picking up and recovering from the lockdowns. 

On a positive note, there are happy changes happening. Mom finally got her hair cut and she even had her nails done. I hope to get my booster shot in the next few days. I got some help from a friend since I'm required to get Pfizer. Got Mom more groceries also so she can have a variety of dishes that can be cooked for her. She's been eating a lot more now and has been more energetic. 

I watched the CaMaNaVa rally yesterday. It was a music extravaganza with 64 performers! I tried to stay up to finish it, but I conked out after Tanya Markova performed. I stayed up mainly to wait for my friend's band to perform. It was so cool they also observed Earth Hour. VP Leni cut her speech short for it. She wasn't really scheduled to join the rally, but she still showed up despite her very busy schedule (plus helping out for the Taal evacuees). I heard they have initiated house-to-house campaigning. This is very important to do and I mentioned this in a previous blog post. 

Planning for a less busy week since I'm getting my booster shot. Sweetie was down for a few days when he had his booster shot. Hope to finish everything I need to do before my schedule. We wanted to do it earlier, but had a hard time finding a non-hospital vaccine center that offers Pfizer. Too bad the Nayong Pilipino vaccine center only offers Moderna. 

Looking forward to have a better week! Enjoy the rest of your weekend guys. 

#BeKind #StaySafe #VoteWisely

Learning More About the Taal Volcano

Taal holds a lot of beautiful memories. Back in college an org mate brought us there to visit her grandma's place. It was where I tasted the best coffee in the whole wide world. We arrived early in the morning and her grandma boiled freshly picked coffee beans. After breakfast we spent the rest of the day by the lake where we attempted to swim, but discovered that the bottom of the lake was mud so we just hung out at the shoreline.

Photo of the Taal Volcano I took in-flight in 2011.

For many years my family would also go to Tagaytay for rest and recreation. The last time was last year for CNY which didn't end well because Sweetie dislocated his knee. I like going to Tagaytay because it's peaceful and they have a lot to offer. I always like to stay and eat at places which overlook the lake. I have a a lot of photos of the Taal Volcano, but I just learned this past week that I've mostly been taking a photo of just one of its 47 craters. The Binintiang Malaki. i just one of the visible craters which is near the main crater.

Taal Sunset during one of our trips.

I've never had the opportunity hike to the crater because it requires stamina. Maybe when I was a child, but I have no recollection. I always had in my mind that all volcanoes are just like the beautiful Mount Mayon. I know some are underwater, but I always thought they only had one crater. I was so surprised to learn that Taal Volcano has 47 craters. I also learned from Phivolcs while watching the news that volcanoes can erupt horizontally.

To understand the situation better and all the terms they've been using in the news I've been doing a lot of reading the past few days. I just normally search the terms on Google and read materials published by reliable sources. There's so much available content online there's no excuse not to learn.

I hope and pray that things stabilize soon. There's thousands of people displaced now and lots of help still needed. You may refer to this list if you want to donate.

Taal Volcano Erupts

Taal Volcano had a phreatic eruption this afternoon. Miguel and I were out to hear mass and buy some supplies so I monitored the situation. On the way home I promptly started having an asthma attack. Before Miguel locked me in the house we collected our newly laundered clothes from the roof deck. I remembered back in 1991 when Mt. Pinatubo erupted and we experienced really bad ashfall in Metro Manila.

View from home around 6pm just before the ash started falling.

My lungs are already a mess from years of experiencing haze so please, please stay indoors and wear a mask. If you do not have a mask (like me!) you may use a a wet towel (or clothing) to cover your nose and mouth. Do not mouth breathe because you may be breathing in smaller particles that are really bad for your lungs.

Our balcony around 11pm. This is nothing compared to those 

who are in the surrounding areas of Taal.

Here are important reminders from the Philippine Red Cross -

Back in 1991 we only got information from TV or radio, we have a lot of sources now but please make sure to get information from the right sources. Here's a list -

PHIVOLCS Twitter, Facebook, Website
Philippine Red Cross Twitter, Facebook, Website
News: Inquirer.net, PhilStar.com, news.abs-cbn.com, gmanetwork.com/news, news.tv5.com.ph
*Always handy to have an old radio which can work with batteries

If you are feeling unwell and cannot breathe, please go to the nearest hospital/clinic.

And don't forget to pray.

Take care everyone. 

Tagaytay

Tagaytay is just 45 minutes from home so it's a great place to go to for a quick whole-day getaway.

We brought my sister and aunt to Tagaytay last weekend. We left at around 8 in the morning and had time to grab some breakfast at McDonald's SLEX. We arrived at our first stop - Sonya's Garden at past ten in the morning. We went around a bit and got some goodies in the country store and spa shop. I got a takatak -- wood chime that sounds like the street vendor's takatak box. I've yet to hear it takatak though since it hasn't been windy the past few days.

Lily in her pond?

Next stop was supposed to be the Flower Farm, but it was closed so we headed to Leslie's Restaurant for lunch. The bulalo was absolutely delightful! It was exactly how my Dad cooks bulalo. I think I'm going to be just like Markku who raves about Leslie's bulala everytime he gets a chance. I want bulalo!

Beef bulalo... the meat's hiding under the veggies.

Our trip wouldn't be complete without dropping by Starbucks and taking photos of the Taal Volcano. It was a gloomy day, but we were lucky the sun peeked through the clouds after we got some fraps.

For pasalubong shopping, we went to Mahogany Market. My aunt went crazy over fruits and I went crazy over plants and flowers. I have been toiling over my garden the past few months, trying to overcome my very brown thumb. I've admittedly killed a few plants already, experienced pesticide poisoning, but I'm keen to become a green thumbed gardener. And to show my commitment, I've actually started a new blog on gardening -- Gardening for Noobs. My Mom has just been rolling her eyes at my efforts, but she's been a great mentor, and she's my plant emergency room/hospital hehehe. 

One day I will have my own plantation!

I hope to go back before the year ends! =)