What in the world is a Ber month? Oh, that’s simple. It’s a shortcut term for what passes for winter here in the Philippine northland. It’s slang for any month with a "b e r" in it.
I’ve mentioned in the past that "night is the Philippine winter", based on the fact that the average swing from peak day to minimum night temperatures is typically wider than the swing from, say, peak June to peak December temps, but there is a winter of sorts.
You can find a lot of weather details for most cites on my dedicated time and temp page, or at Weather Underground.
It is cooler in the evenings when I take my daily walks to momma and daddy’s house, and the days are getting shorter … it’s now quite dark by 1\6 PM, instead of 6:20 or so when it starts getting pretty dark in the summer. That’s right, the length of the days here vary only slightly compared with North America or Europe .. or the populated parts of Australia for that matter.
photo credit: César Rincón The other way you can tell that the "ber" months are here is, it’s the Christmas season. Yep, I was at the mall yesterday and all the music had changed to Christmas carols. The Christmas season here is a serious thing, you need to keep it in mind for planning. traffic, especially around malls will build slowly but surely … by December it’s near impossible. Likewise, lines in the bank … get there early, for sure.
This is also a great time to visit and now that school is ‘in’ in the US, air fares are good … just don’t plan on flying anywhere from 15 December until 15 January or so … that is the highest of any high season demand.
But it’s much drier now .. tree leavers often start to fade and change color, even though the temperature never gets anywhere near freezing … it’s the plant’s reaction to the change of day length. The air is much drier, there are more breezes and soon the mall ladies will start wearing their silly little Santa hats … mandatory, lang.
They say there are really no "seasons" here in the Philippines, but "they" are wrong. Welcome to winter 
Philly,
Can’t wait to get there in Decem”ber”.
Not strictly on topic, but I was wondering if you could recommend a place to stay near San Fabian Pangasinan.
@Laurence: Hi Laurence. Well, there’s anew storm up north today, so it’s clearthe weather hasn’t really changed, yet. That noise you hear is the rain beating down on the roof.
I’ll ask around about San Fabian but I am not familiar with it at all. I have a sister-in-law in Pangasinan so I go up there somewhat frequently, but we don’t pass San Fabian.
There are FOUR seasons in the Philippines:
1 – WET
2 – WETTER
3 – HOT
4 – HOTTER
@Ellen: Ha ha ha Ellen. That may be true down there in the southland, but here the wet and dry is very pronounced. It has still been raining off and on the oast few days … there are a couple more tropical storms likely this year, but once it gets really dry in a month or so … by March we’ll be begging for rain … we’re almost on the same monsoon season as Thailna, where the Water Festival in March is a huge event.
As far as hot … yes it always is, but if you check weather underground you’ll see we are alwys cooler in Manila than Davao .. and I live well outside Manila, my temps are more like Angeles City. Only a few degrees, ut last night watching TV I had to put a blanket ove rmy feet … it was getting ready for a shower, the breeze was picking up, and it felt just like nature’s aircon.
Hi Dave. Yes, I can’t wait for winter. We arrived Dec 23, last year and were quite amazed how chilly it gets at nights, especially when there is a breeze. Now, we are still in the SW monsoon (warmer air from the south) and everytime up north gets a typhoon, all the winds are sucked out of here – gets hotter here when there is no breeze. However, I am beginning to feel some nor’easters some days – transition period into the NE trades. The breeze is much cooler and more refreshing.
BTW, Costco is already selling Christmas items – they have “ber” months there too, but I think they started in August.
@Ellen: Costco? Do you mean the US-based Costco? When were you there last? That’s one of the only things that could make us move back to the US. When Mita and Iget annoyed about something we’ll kid about moving to the Orlando area wher we already know of a Costco with an aprtment complex adjoining … wouldn’t even need a car … and both getting jobs there. I don’t care what th work is, as long as I get my employee discount LoL.
yup THE Costco – i call it the $500 club – cuz everytime you go in there, you end up spending more than you want. In Vancouver, it is in my family’s neighborhood – 5-10 minutes away only, in Richmond, the new Chinatown of Vancouver. There is also 1 or 2 more in Burnaby City, east of Vancouver.
I regularly check coscto.ca (for you, costco.com I think). I check first “what’s New” and then “Buyer’s Picks”. Hehe
I also use them to develop my pictures. You can download them in the site, then I have my family pick it up from the store the following day.
@Ellen: ahhh CostCo. Yes, indeed the $500 club. If I ever was an employee there I would probably owe _them_ every payday instead of the other way ’round. In the private aviation world there’s always talk about the “$100 dollar hamburger” becuas epeople with thier own planes often fly somewhere for a snack and that’s what a simple sandwhich usually works out to cost when you total up the trip. I suspect in the pleasure boating world there is somehting similar.
I like that CostCo for another reason aside from their bargains. While every other US retailer whines and moans about the cost of labor and how no one can afford to pay employee benefits, CostCo pays store help and avaerage wage close to $18 an hour, way above any other retail chain and full time employees get actual benefits. Perhaps the fact that there are only five pay grades in the company from entry level clerk to the CEO has something to do with it … or the fact the CEO won’t allow reserved parking spaces in the Hq. parking lot and he works from a desk in an open office like the rest of the working stiffs. Either he’s lying or the rest of the US retailer world is lying about what they can afford to pay and my guess is, it’s not him.