The Trashy Side of Olongapo

  With the recent rains that we have experienced this rainy season and the subsequent flooding that they brought about, the Bugle decided to look into some of the problems as to why are all the roads being flooded.  So off the Bugle went to take a look at some of the scenery in the area.   The above photo is a perfect example of why we are experiencing flooding.  How does one expect water to drain into the rivers when the drainage ditches and culverts all look like this? 

   You hear things about disaster preparedness and getting ready for the rainy season but why can't our elected officials keep these culverts clean.  This is not about hiring underemployed people and giving them a day job this is about enforcing regulations consistently and changing peoples attitudes.  Once people realize that there is a penalty for littering they won't litter.  Sounds pretty simple to me.

New Smoked Barbecue in Angeles:

From a reader:

My family and I checked out the new Obeavers barbecue house in Clark. It is on Friendship road about 20 minutes from Friendship gate. It has a nice open air atmosphere. It feels like a Texas barbecue house. By all accounts, the owner is properly smoking the meat (not boiling like Racks and the other chain restaurants). Only problem was when we visited, they were “out of stock” on ribs. A barbecue smoke house without ribs? We packed up and headed to Cottage Kitchen, still the king of smoked ribs in Subic and Angeles. We’ll try again and send in a report.

Real Medical City in Clark

From a reader:

Another sign that while Subic flourishes, Clark is booming. Inside Clark, near the Clark South exit of the SCTEX, a Medical City hospital is being built. For those not aware of the hospital scene in Manila, Medical City is one of the best, along with St. Luke’s. For a long time in Subic, we’ve had promises of quality medical care but to this day it remains third rate. (We have a world class mall but we can’t seem to get a world class hospital!) Though Baypointe made a lot of promises, their facilities remain limited and their specialists show when they feel like it. But the good news is, if you need top quality medical care and live in Subic, it will be 30 minutes away on SCTEX.

Job Opening for Foreigners in Angeles

We are an American based web  design/marketing company with an extension here in Angeles City.  Our campus is located in Malabanas

We are looking for native English speakers to fill 8 available sales positions.

We offer full time employment with a salary/draw of $300 USD a week.

Contact Terry at: 09477402718.  .

American Tackle Football in Subic

Apparently, there is a fledgling semi-pro American football league in the Philippines and they are playing their season at Remy Field in Subic. Here is the schedule we found on their website:

Remy Field, SBMA 5:00pm

July 28, Saturday Regular Season Game

Aug 11, Saturday Regular Season Game

Aug 18, Saturday Regular Season Game

Sep 1, Saturday Super Four (Playoffs)

Check out their website at:

http://www.arenaballphilippines.com.ph/index.html

A "Better Name"

          The Bugle recently went out to the National bookstore and realized that it should actually be called National "everything but" Bookstore. Their sale of reading material is incidental to their sale of school supplies Office supplies, and Christmas ornaments. During the Christmas and Back to School seasons books are grouped in as small an area as possible so the higher marked up items can be peddled. The selections and genre of the actual books stocked is a very bad joke. A real bookstore does not look anything like a National Bookstore as anyone who has traveled knows. There are very few options available to serious readers. One are the used bookstores in most of the malls now. For the most part these stock ancient paperbacks that did not sell well to begin with but a reading junkie will take his fix where he can find it. Often there are diamonds hidden in the shelves of used book stores all one has to do is invest the time to look.

Rainy Season Equipment

Now that we are full on into the rainy season here in the PI the Bugle would like to make a few suggestions about things that make life easier while we are constantly being deluged with rain from the above.

Rechargeable LED lights.  These things are really great and you can pick them up at Traders for a couple of hundred pesos.  You plug them into a wall socket and then when the power goes off they automatically turn on.  Not too bright but plenty bright enough to move around by and they will last 10-12 hours so more than enough to get you through the night.  Just remember to drain them down completely once a month so that the battery lasts.

A cellphone charger that plugs into your car or someone elses to keep that cell phone of yours running strong.  A great peace of mind when you can reach out and call someone if help is needed.

Candles and matches.  Just remember to keep them somewhere handy so that you aren't stumbling around banging your shins trying to remember where you put them.

I know there are a lot more things to have but I figure just these few will make llife so much easier.  If you can thing of others then lets hear about them. 

Dredging Up Votes

The Bugle has noticed that since the start of the rainy season he sees that the Kalaklan river has been being dredged.  While it doesn't look like it is a huge effort that is being undertaken.  It probably is nothing more than a photo op.  The Gordon camp is letting them dredge up some of the silt in an effort to remind the local populace that he is concerned with their well being and is doing all he can to alleviate their flooding problems.  In reality all he is doing is the bare minimum required so that he can point to the dredging and be able to say he is working on the problem.  I mean dredging it up during the dry season would be more effective, the lower water level would allow the dredger to dredge more deeply.  But, with the short term memory of voters that wouldn't be a good idea. 

The AntiPinoy

While browsing the Internet the other day the Bugle happened to stumble across a very interesting site.  The Anti Pinoy. This is a really good site that focuses on issues that are crucial to the Philippines.  There is some anti government bias out there but I think that most foreigners may tend to agree with the posts/articles on this site.  Check it out and use some of these facts/tidbits the next time you are out chatting with some of the natives.  You are guaranteed to be the hit of the cocktail circuit with the points of view espoused in this highly entertaining website.

New Flight Service From Clark

The Bugle couldn't help but think that this is going to be a big bonus for our Aussie readers who would like to take a cheap visa run back to the homeland.  These Air Asia flights just keep getting better and better.

From the Sun Star

Fly-Thru service from Clark International Airport to Gold Coast, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia and to Osaka-Kansai in Japan.
AirAsia’s Fly-Thru service offers guests seamless transit, hassle free luggage check-in and other connecting convenience.
“Our Fly-Thru service is designed to allow our guests to seamlessly connect on multiple flight legs, on certain flights without needing to pass through immigration, collect bags, re check-in between flights or have a transit visa. Bags will also be automatically checked through to the final destination. This new service is part of our continuous effort to make air travel more affordable, convenient and accessible to all,” AirAsia Inc. chief-executive-officer Maan Hontiveros said.
The Fly-Thru service was introduced by AirAsia last year with connecting flight options from selected destinations in the AirAsia route network which spans across 20 countries and 77 destinations.
Guests who will avail of the Fly-Thru service will be charged with a minimal fee of P900 only which will already be included in the all-in fare upon booking via airasia.com while connecting time is expected to take less than five hours.
All connecting destinations will come from AirAsia’s transit point in LCCT (Low Cost Carrier Terminal) in Kuala Lumpur.
“The awesome connectivity and convenience when travelling between Australia and the Philippines as well as Japan and the Philippines will further drive up tourism in the country. We hope to draw tourists from these countries and at the same time encourage our OFWs to come home as often as possible” Hontiveros added.
Guests can also follow Philippines’ AirAsia on Facebook (facebook/airasiaphilippines) and Twitter (twitter.com/airasiaph) to get the latest bargain deals

Hand Signals

  The Bugle has been having a problem lately and is hoping that some of his loyal readers will be able to help him out.  I am not sure if it is just me or not but lately it seems like the professional drivers here in the PI are getting worse.  I know that most Jeepneys, Trikes, or motorcycles do not have self cancelling turn signals.  What this leads to is you following some idiot with his left turn or his right turn signal blinking incessantly for miles down the road.  It is a real pain in my bum when these things are happening as I would like to overtake them but you can never be sure what they are going to do. 

    Lately though I have been thinking of coming up with some kind of universal hand sign that I could use to convey to  them that their blinker is on.  I have tried clenching my fist and shaking at them but that didn't seem to work nor did trying to pinch my thumb and forefinger repeatedly.  But I have found though that if I extend my arm and clench my fist whilst having my middle finger extended in their general direction gives me at least some sort of general feeling of satisfaction.  Try it readers and see if it works for you.  

65 And Still Rolling

The Bugle was out and about the other day and happened to stumble into one of the local Barrio Barretto daytime bars to find out the old Doc from Hooyah's had hit 65 years of age.  There are numerous residents of the area who can attest that they would have never seen this day arriving as someone who drinks/smokes as much as this old frogman would surely succumb to something or other but it is not to be.  The constitution on this man makes younger men envious.  So if any of our readers out there happen to stop by drop in and say hello and see if you can figure out what makes this old relic keep ticking.

Harbor Point Raises Fees

Harbor Point recently implemented a new policy to use it's family lounges/restrooms.  The old policy was that if a customer had 300 pesos worth of receipts they could avail themselves of the lounges free of charge.  But alas this is no more as of July 2nd you have to have either 500 pesos worth of receipts from a single store or you will have to fork over 10 pesos.  I guess the cost of having three people sitting in the rooms to clean/collect the receipts was not economically feasible and they needed a new revenue stream.

Ship Visits

It seems like the little spat that the Philippines and China are having is turning out to be a good thing for our local establishments.  After last weeks visit by the USS Louisville we are now having the USNS Mercy visit our local area for some rest and logistical resupply.  Hopefully these visits will continue and the local economy will gain an infusion of American dollars.