Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Bangkok, Part 3

One of the big reasons I have no interest in visiting any Southeast Asian countries is the weather. The equatorial location means it’s going to be hot and humid no matter what time of the year you go. For a life-long San Franciscan such as myself, accustomed to our wonderful natural air-conditioning and constant high 50s (Fahrenheit), traveling to hot weather is tough. Cold, we can do. We are used to bundling up tightly for the majority of our nights, year round.

But, when your good friend is getting married in Bangkok, you must go. I was born in Guangzhou, so high temps and intense humidity is not foreign to my upbringing. Perhaps some of that latent acclimation from my early childhood years can come in handy. Also, I’ve done Japan in the summer as well, and it can get equally hot and sweaty there during the post-solstice months. What am I saying is, as much as I would rather not be in constant high 90s weather, I consider myself well trained for it.

Lucky for me, the humidity during my brief five day stay in Bangkok was not all that bad. I’ve been informed that it can and does get worst. There weren’t any rain, either, which is always a plus because in these parts of the world, when it rains, it really rains. You go from completely dry to needing a boat to get around in matter of minutes.

But, high 90s is still high 90s. There’s no escaping the fact that when you’re outside, you will be constantly sweating. I think that is the thing to get used to: perspiration. We really don’t sweat much here in San Francisco, so we think of it as yucky and dirty. Over in Thailand (and, you know, normal places where there’s an actual summer season), you start sweating the moment you leave the air-conditioned confines of the hotel, and don’t stop until you return.

The key to combating the weather is to stay hydrated. Whenever I was outside, a bottle of something was always in hand, sipping every so often. Bangkok - like most other major Asia metropolises - makes this easy: there’s 7-Eleven convenient stores everywhere. Unlike the 7-Eleven here in the States, the stuff inside is actually good, and there’s zero risk of getting shot or mugged. Convenient store culture in Asia is something I deeply miss when I come back to America.

Don't heat it up

October in San Francisco has brought along the typical few days of hot weather (hot for this region, anyways), even though it’s autumn. This brings a unique problem to someone like me who lives in a studio (read: very small). When the temperature is high, I cannot cook at night. The room (singular!) is warm enough already; cooking a hot meal adds heat to it, delaying the natural night cool down. The slower the room cools down, the more difficult it is to fall asleep.

A cascade of negative consequences, that’s what it is. Good news is, I live right by a mall with plenty of food options. So on the hot days these past few weeks, take-out dinner was the only sensible option. Not that I need any extra excuse to not cook. The downside of course is the hit to the wallet. Inflation is still high, food prices are still ridiculous. Can you even eat a non-fast food meal for less than $20 these days?

In addition to not cooking when the weather is hot, I also do not use my LG OLED TV. Did you know that OLED televisions consume more power than the equivalent LED unit? All that wattage has to go somewhere: radiating right into the room. So what do I do for entertainment on a hot October San Francisco evening? I use the iPad. That thing runs so cooly that it doesn’t even have an internal fan. Indeed it’s kind of slumming it to go from a 65-inch screen to a 10-inch screen, but I must avoid heating up the room unnecessarily.

Because as mentioned: sleep is utmost importance. The body needs to cool down 1 to 2 degrees in order for the person to fall asleep. The warmer the room, the more challenging it is to get there. What would be ace is one of those mattress toppers that has active cooling. If climate change gets worse, and San Francisco sees more and more hot weather days, it’s something worth considering.

You can go to Chinatown for a meal under $20.

Historic heatwave

Man, that was some heatwave, wasn’t it? Even the west side of San Francisco got up to the 90s. That’s still not as bad as the rest of California: soon as you leave sight of the ocean, you are in the 100s. I feel most bad and concern for my father who works in construction. It cannot be fun at all yesterday at the work site. God bless the men and women who have to work outside under these scorching conditions. The construction workers, the firefighters, and the guy with a food cart selling hotdogs to the neighborhood.

Yesterday afternoon we got an email from campus saying PG&E is instituting rolling blackouts from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM. The funny part is the email cautioned us to avoid using the elevators - if possible - during that time. Make sense: last thing any of us want is to be stuck inside an elevator that’s only going to get hotter because no electricity means no circulation, either. Folks in the downtown campus simply left and went home. I guess there’s less oversight over there!

Turns out much of California was under potential blackout conditions during peak hours yesterday, our house included. Thankfully it never came to pass. It seems enough household heeded the warnings and reduced their energy consumption enough to mitigate the need to cut off power. It’s a good reminder for me to be prepared. I really should get one of those fancy multi-hundreds of watt battery generators. The type that people take to go camping or hashtag van life.

Just like air conditioning, you’ll be glad you have it when you need it. Speaking of which, I’m lucky my studio is somewhat subterranean so it stays cool even when outside temperatures are in the 90s. If that weren’t the case, I would be running a portable air conditioning unit for sure. As a friend said: “Comfort [at the home] is paramount.”

London is burning (hot)

The news today out of Great Britain is the country is suffering through a record-breaking heatwave. Temperatures there breached 100 degrees (Fahrenheit, natch), a phenomenon supremely unusual for the island nation that far up the latitude chart. People from hotter climes must be confused at the news: “What’s so especially devastating about 100 degree weather?” And to think that England conquered the world whilst dressed in multiple layers of wool.

The answer is of course obvious: Britain is simply not built for temperatures that hot. The country is famous for its perennial rain, cold, and cloudy grayness. Houses and infrastructure aren’t designed to keep the populace comfortable under those heat conditions - there was never a need. Same situation exists in San Francisco, also famous for its temperate climes year round. When it does get super hot for that one week in October, we suffer just like the Brits are suffering right now.

When it gets that hot in a region where air-conditioning is not really a thing, the only effective way to combat it is one, stay indoors and keep hydrated. Then two, do absolutely nothing else. Productivity is going to and will have to decline massively during that period.

I have to say I was pretty smug this morning, after hearing about the heatwave in England. I walked to work in a balmy high 50s (again, Fahrenheit) weather. Complete cloud cover, no direct sun in sight. How have the climate change gods managed to avoid wrecking their havoc on San Francisco? Last summer was rather mild, and thus far this one has been too. I see reports of massive heatwaves elsewhere and I can only sheepishly chuckle, “Well, it’s still nice and cool over here!”

Granted, there is the great drought our region is continuously going through. What use is cool weather if there isn’t any water?

I slept just fine

Yesterday was the type of day that I am glad I live at the bottom level of a three story home. The upper two levels absorb all the heat from the sun, leaving my place relatively nice and cool. It was said that yesterday was the hottest day in San Francisco since October of 2020. Which is to say it was the hottest days I’ve experiences in this new place since I moved here back in November of that same year. Upper 80 degree day? No problem!

I do feel for my housemates upstairs who were absolutely roasting. At least they’ve got a portable AC unit for their office. After work they should have shut it off and turn the room into a sauna. No need to pay heftily for a monthly gym membership!

Joking aside, I too would be running portable air conditioning if my room doesn’t stay as cool as it does. Not for during the day, mind you, but for the precious sleep hours. The body needs to cool down a few degrees in order for us to fall asleep. With indoor temperatures above 80 degrees, it’s nearly impossible to cool down. You’re already sleeping without blanket; there’s nothing more to remove! I know this deeply, because my previous bedroom was on the third floor.

Obviously, sleep is one of the most importantly things to do daily, so the cost to run an AC overnight is completely worth it. I bet my friend, who bought a new house last year and had to take some convincing to install central AC, was loving the decision last night. Even though it only gets that hot for a handful of days per year in San Francisco, it’s only going to get worst, right? Hashtag climate change.

Baby stay cool

Last week, we saw a string of unseasonably warm weather days here in San Francisco. Temperatures got into the mid to high 70s. It was sunny, dry, and kind of nice to be outside. The bad news is, we haven’t had any substantial rain since the end of autumn. It’s always disconcerting to see such excellent summer weather right in the middle of winter, what is suppose to be our wet season. At least it hasn’t been totally dry: the deluge of last October is absolutely hard-carrying our rain stats right now.

Anyways, San Francisco going through one of its few warm weather spells is when I can appreciate the fact my studio in-law rental is on the ground floor of my friend’s house. Physics being what it is - hot air rises - my place stays relatively cool no matter the outside temperature. Sometimes I actually have to remove layers when I leave home, always surprised at how hot it actually is outside.

Meanwhile, my friend who owns the house is sweating his butt off in his third-floor office, working from home. At least he’s got a portable air-conditioning unit. I left mine at my parents’ place. I don’t need it.

Walking distance to work and a mall with absolutely everything (got to have my Saturday morning McDonalds), a nice and quiet neighborhood, and the room stays cool year round: I really can’t ask for a more ideal place to live. Difficult to say whether it’s a long term solution, but for now I’m just enjoying every bit of it as much as possible. It'll be a sad day indeed if I ever go back to having to commute by car.

Heat training

The curse of living in San Francisco and this year-round mildly cold weather of ours is that we are rather fickle with temperature extremes. Especially when the weather gets hot. Far easier to to deal with cold when it’s always sort of cold. But high temperatures? There’s only so much we can do when weather in the 70s already feel like shorts and t-shirts time. Imagine making that clothing combination last all the way into the triple digits.

I just end up sweating it through. Traveling the grueling summer heat in Japan, I brought a towel with me everywhere, constantly wiping sweat away.

But that was Japan. I made the mistake of not bring a towel with me this past weekend when we went to Marysville, deep north of Sacramento. Back home in San Francisco it was a nice low 60s, but it was well into the 90s near our State capitol. A 30 degrees swing from departure and the destination. How would you prepare for this? We all left San Francisco with two upper layers and long pants - as you do. Upon arrival, we took off our sweatshirts to the t-shirt layer. That was it.

Suffice it to say, I was struggling in the heat. At least I had the presence of mind to wear canvas shoes instead of my usual wool Allbirds. Really should have worn shorts, but I would have froze at the beginning of the trip in. By mid-afternoon I was feeling the adverse affects, and had to find shade whenever possible.

I actually don’t mind hot weather. Because we only get it for one week out of the year in San Francisco, we never get a chance to acclimate. I think I can do quite well living in a place where it’s always above 80 degrees during the Summer. So long as there’s air-conditioning indoors, of course.

Overall I think it does the body well to experience temperature extremes once in a while. It’s good training for resiliency. Going to Marysville and being in the heat felt great the next day, as if I had exercised the day before.