Tropical Storm Jangmi.

At around 2 AM this morning, Tropical Storm Jangmi (AKA Seniang) hit Negros Island, landing somewhere near San Carlos City. I don't have the exact location.

We knew the storm was coming, though fortunately for us, the center of the storm did not come thru Dumaguete as it had been forecast. Judging from the maps, it appears to have landed approximately 100 miles north of us. Still, it was a bit scary here in Sibulan around 2 or 3 AM. The wind and rain were heavy - maybe not heavy enough to be technically, a typhoon, but heavy enough for me.

The electricity went out during the storm. We have the gas burner and the LP gas we bought for Typhoon Hagupit , so we would have hot water and we'd be able to cook. When I finally got out of bed around six or six thirty, I put on water to heat for coffee. It wasn't long before the electricity was back on, so I didn't need to use the gas burner to cook breakfast, after all.

We'll still have plenty of LP gas for the next brown-out.

75 pct chance 'Hagupit' to hit PH: PAGASA

From ABS-CBN  "75 pct chance 'Hagupit' to hit PH: PAGASA"

"Weather bureau PAGASA on Wednesday said there is a 75 percent chance that Typhoon Hagupit will make landfall in the Philippines, particularly in Eastern Samar, this Saturday."

"44 provinces 'critical'"

"Forty-four provinces were also declared critical areas by NDRRMC and PAGASA. There provinces are expected to experience heavy to intense rains, and strong winds from 95 to 110 kilometers per hour."

"These provinces are Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Aklan, Albay, Antique, Biliran, Bohol, Bukidnon, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Camiguin, Capiz, Catanduanes, Cebu, Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental, Dinagat Island, Eastern Samar, Guimaras, Iloilo, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Leyte, Marinduque, Masbate, Misamis Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Northern Samar, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, Quezon, Romblon, Samar, Siquijorr, Sorsogon, Southern Leyte, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur."

 According to reports, we're in one of the 44 critical provinces.

My first typhoon.

'Hagupit' to become typhoon before entering Pilippines.

'Hagupit' to become typhoon before entering Pilippines.
It's a possibility the typhoon will hit Visayas. We'll post any news.

Button, Button. Who's Got the Button?

Having just recently learned how to make a proper html    I spent a couple of days re-doing the nearly three dozen pen-pal affiliate pages. The work wasn't difficult, but merely time consuming.

This led me to do an update to the Dumaguete Photos page, and an over-haul of the index page.

Of course, now I'll have to update the Hotels and Resorts page. That section is probably the most frequently visited section on the website, and it's really in need of work. I should be able to get more information on the hotels in the area now that I'm here in Dumaguete full time.

Bud and Billy Ray Not "Buds".

For those who have been following the adventures of Bud Tugley and Miley Cyrus: we have Bud and Billy Ray Not "Buds".

Bud Tugley Weds Miley Cyrus.

After Friday's blog post, where I wrote of my parody news article reporting the the man from Alabama winning the Georgia lottery, I've posted a continuation of Bud Tugley's story and his recent marriage to Miley Cyrus.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I wish the lovely couple all the best.

Alabama Man Wins GA Lottery.

One of the cool things about having my own website is that it gives me the opportunity to experiment and be a bit creative. Even though this website is primarily devoted the the actual city of Dumaguete, it is my website after all, and I can feel free to do with it as I like.

Over the years, I've used the site to try my hand at design.......making my own parody web news site, where I could fool around.

One of those parody pages was called Alabama Man Wins Georgia Lottery. I got a few laughs - mostly from myself - when I used the link on my other blog, Sorry, All The Clever Names Are Taken.

It's been a long time since this parody page has been online. I've had to update it a little. Now, I suppose it's as ready as it will ever be. So, here you have - Alabama Man Wins Georgia Lottery.

St. Paul University Dumaguete Founders' Day Photos.

I've made a number of updates on the DumagueteCity.net website over the past few days. One of the more subtle changes was the use of a new background image for the menu. I had been using a dark, navy blue image, but after seeing a red gif. on another website, I thought I'd swipe the red one, and put up on the website.

The most productive updates, I think, are the updates to the photos section. I've updated the old pages and added another photos page - St. Paul University Founders' Day -.

A few of the older photos pages are in desperate need of additional photos. Needless to say, the current section of the boulevard is pitiful. That's a project that can be taken care of, hopefully, within the next week.

Additional Buglasan Photos on the Dumaguete Website.

In my seemingly never ending effort to keep my website, dumaguetecity.net up to date, I've added 30 Buglasan Parade photos to the website's Photos area.

A dozen of the photos have already made their way onto, an earlier post on this blog. In my latest series of updates to the Photos area, I've also made changes to Around Quezon Park,St. Paul University, DowntownDumaguete, and Mary Immaculate.

At present, the Photos area has 10 sections - or pages. Five have been updated within the last few days, with five more to go.

All I can say is, stay tuned.

More Buglasan Parade Photos.

This afternoon, there was another parade in Dumaguete for the 2014 Buglasan Festival; this one more colorful than the first.

I took over 450 photos of the parade. Of course, some were better than others. It's difficult to say how many will make their way on to the website. I'll need to give some thought as to the best format for the photos.

In the mean time, I've uploaded a dozen of the photos to this blog. I've tried to pick a few that were representative of the whole set. Clicking on each individual photo will show an enlarged image. Once I've put the other photos onto the website, I'll be sure to post a notice on this blog.

Thanks For The "Likes".

This blog has been around since Oct. 2006' and for the most part has seen very little growth. That shouldn't come as a surprise since I haven't exactly set the blogosphere on fire with posts. As a matter of fact, I'm sorry to say, I've neglected this blog.

The original purpose of this blog was to promote my website, dumaguetecity.net. The original purpose of that was to help promote the city of Dumaguete.

I've recently returned to posting on this blog, along with updating the website. I've also created a Facebook page to promote the blog. I wish I had done that sooner. According to the latest stats, the Dumaguete Website Facebook page already has 14 fans. That may not seem like much, when compared to sites like creativeminorityreport (one of my personal favorites) but I appreciate the fans I have.

Now, I have to keep up the work.

Today's Updates.

Continuing along with the changes mentioned in yesterday's post, I've updated the index page to the Dumaguete website.

Among the changes, I've removed the links to Philippine radio stations and replaced those with links to the websites for the Dumaguete City government, Silliman University and St. Paul's University.

I've also removed everything on the index page referring to the now defunct Blogosphere page. That page just wasn't working. I still need to go to other pages on the website to eliminate any other references to that page as well.

I've also created a Facebook page for this blog. The link to that can be seen on the right.

Updated Photos on the Dumaguete Website.

Having gone far too long without creating any updates for The Dumaguete Website , I finally spent time today making changes to the Photos page and the assorted links on that page.

The updated pages are:

1)Mary Immaculate Parish Church
2)Around Quezon Park
3)DowntownDumaguete
4)Our Mother Of Perpetual Help Redemptorist Church
5)Saint Catherine Cathedral
6)Along the Boulevard

In addition to these six updated pages, I've added three new pages to the Photos section.The three are:

St.Paul University
Silliman Parade 2014
Buglasan Parade 2014

I'm planning on adding more photo page links in the near future.The website needs a good going over. Expect more updates soon.

Shakey's Pizza at Robinson's Mall.

After church this morning, my wife and I - along with our son and my wife's youngest sister - went to Robinson's mall in Dumaguete. We weren't in the market for anything in particular; we were going, mainly, to walk around, kill time and window shop.

When we arrived, it was too early for lunch - we had eaten a late breakfast before Mass. As it turned out, however, we stayed at the mall long enough for lunch time to come around.

My wife wanted pizza. She was about to enter Greenwich Pizza, when I told her about the Shakey's Pizza on the other side of the Mall. She was unaware of Shakey's having a location in Robinson's and I had only just learned of it when I took a side trip to a bookstore. We'd give them a try.

We looked over the menu. We decided on a large half and half. With drinks, it was going to cost about 550 Philippine Pesos.

About 15 minutes after he had taken our order, our waiter came to our table to tell us that a mistake had been made and it would be another 10 or 15 minutes before we'd get our pizza. The cook had mistakenly prepared a "party" size rather than the large. Had this been a pizza joint in the States, the manager would have just given us the larger "party" size pizza at no extra charge. That's not what happened here. Instead, they had the cook make us the smaller "large" pizza, making us wait an additional 15 minutes. To make up the difference in price, they made the cook pay for the "party" size pizza. It would cost him about 700 pesos......probably two days pay for him.

Rather than make us wait, it would have been better customer service for the management to give us the "party" pizza and maybe charge the cook the 200 peso difference. If I were the manager, I don't know if I would have even charged the cook the 200 pesos.

I really feel sorry for the cook. I feel sorry for the waiter as well. I had originally planned on giving him a 50 peso tip. I know it wasn't his fault that our experience wasn't as good as it should have been, but I just couldn't bring myself to leave a tip. 

Buglasan Festival Parade Photo #2.

A photo of one of the many marching bands in the 2014 Buglasan Parade.

Buglasan Festival Parade Photo. #1

Photo of unknown balloon vendor, walking along the route of the 2014 Bugalasan Festival parade. Saturday, Oct.18, 2014.

Jollibee's Amazing Aloha Champ

In Dumaguete, there are only two choices when it comes to the burger and fries thing; McDonald's and Jollibee. Of the two, I normally go with Mickey Ds. That should tell you something when McDonald's has the best burger in town.

That may be changing, however.

Yesterday, I had my first Amazing Aloha Champ burger from the Jollibee located inside Robinson's Mall.

I had seen the burger advertised on TV and had been looking forward to giving it a try.

This has to be the largest hamburger/cheeseburger in Philippines. 1/3 pound beef patty, lettuce,bacon, cheese and a slice of pineapple. I was impressed.

Some may shy away from a burger with pineapple on it, but it ain't bad. I can remember the first time I heard of putting pineapple on a pizza. Sounds gross, I know, but now I love Hawaiian pizzas.

I doubt that the Amazing Aloha Champ is marketed to the typical Filipino. Surely, it must be for the foreigners.

But, who knows? Times change and maybe the Filipino market is changing too.

I'm Back.

I've just noticed that it's been nearly a year since I've last posted on this blog. That really is disgraceful, and I have no valid excuse. With this post, I intend to correct my errant ways.

I retired a few months ago and we are currently living not far from Dumaguete - in Sibulan.Now that we're here, I'll be able to update this blog and the Dumaguete website on a more regular basis.

Earlier this morning, I found a video on Facebook posted by Hulagway ug Kasikas sa Dumaguete. The video was made by an American expat who is currently living in Dumaguete. He is speaking of a recent incident that occurred at Robinson's Mall. I hadn't heard of the incident before watching his video.

I'm afraid that Dumaguete may be getting a bad rap due to the incident involving a Canadian named Mark Cohen.

I'm posting the Youtube video because I feel like my fellow American expat (who made the video) does a good job summing up the issue.