Because of the brownout yesterday my wife and i thought it would be a good idea to go to robinsons get the car valeted, have lunch, see a movie and get some take away food for evening, sounds good but only one problem, everybody else in Dumaguete and surrounding area had the same idea, maybe not the carwash, lunch and movie but going to robinsons yes. It's a known fact that the car parking space is inadequate but the problem is further compounded by there being nobody to regulate the traffic flow so most of the time it does not flow and grinds to a halt as people wait for spaces, stop to drop off/pick up at the entrances and reverse very slowly into spaces. But among this mayhem the motorbike still appears to be sacred, there comes a point when the car park is physically and literally full and thats the end of the quest, not one more car will fit in but there is always room for one more motorbike even if it means narrowing the roadway so much that a car can hardly pass as happened yesterday at the road behind mooon cafe going to the v-hire area and out to the link road, this had a major effect on traffic flow as cars trying to leave by this exit had to wait until it was clear of cars coming in to cause more gridlock. Among all this there was one ray of humor, when we eventually gave up and were leaving by the link road there was a security guard out there telling people not to park there WHY
I passed by the 'mayhem' and was glad not to have been there. The Boulevard was not so bad, and I was able to have a burger and beer without any prob (except the noisy traffic) will that nice boulevard ever be a nice quiet place to walk/relax/drink/eat??
It would not have crossed my mind to go anywhere near that place on a brownout day or for that matter any weekend! Maybe tue am at 10 am get what's needed and have lunch and get out quick. So next week the kids go back to school thank god,atleast they're won't be dozens of 8-12 yr old aimlessly riding around on their parents scooters all day.
A small generator is a great investment. Dumaguete during the day is bad enough, daytime Dumaguete during a brownout.......screw a whole lot of that!
When you have a car go as far as to either the north or south of Negros where there is no brown out. I did it yesterday up till Guihulngan. Roads almost deserted except for the stretch between Sibulan and Tanjay. In Bais took a lunch in La Planta and a snack and drink in a place called Mama's choice in Guihulngan. With a lazy speed (up till 80kph) aircon and nice music on plus a passenger for conversation you can also survive a brown out for sure. Though hopefully not all members on Dumaguete info board will do the same next time or else it's also no more fun down the highway going north or south.
On the subject of 'Mayhem', avoid the North Road if possible from around 10pm onwards, Sibulan fiesta, usual 3-4 lanes of standstill traffic, each way, expected as usual.
