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First Philippine Typhoon of the Year is History

July 14, 2010 By Philly 2 Comments

It’s a little too early in the year for typhoons here in central Luzon … at least so far as I’m concerned., but Typhoon Conson, Philippine name Basyang, was just a tiny dot on the map way out east a few days ago … an inconsequential ‘x’ called “03W”, (the third tropical depression in the western Pacific for 2010.  It picked up force, and much more ground speed than usual and yesterday, the elementary school kids were already sent home under Storm Signal One, the mildest of the three standardized storm signals issued by PAGASA (Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration).

Last night, before bed, I rolled up the outside sun shades on some of the windows, closed all the windows and made sure the candles and flashlights were in easy reach.  Woke up when the air con went off with the rest of the power about 1 am, and actually spent the rest of the night in my recliner in the living room … it was much cooler there because the way the wind was coming I could have a window open.

By first light, most of the wind and all the rain was gone .. but no power and no Internet until after noon time.  (but the way, hint for coffee lovers .. I filled the electric coffeemaker before bed, but without electric I had to wait until noon for the first cup you might be thinking.  No, just boil a kettle of water on the gas stove and pour that through the coffee in the filter and your drip coffee maker will make you piping hot and fresh coffee any time, “curyente” or no “curyente”).

Depression 03W just a few days ago

03w-2010-1

Conson/Bayang current track:

conson-2010-1

The naming of these northwest Pacific storms gets confusing, especially to those folks thousands of miles away who may have family or other loved ones here in the Philippines.  This web site gives a pretty good explanation.

http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/tcfaq/B2.html

The next storm to come, not on the radar yet,will be Philippine name: Caloy

Meanwhile, life goes on at it’s same pace as ever in the Philippines … and I’m a happy camper, because both the the electric power and my Internet service is working just fine.

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I Often Wonder Which Philippines Some Of These Folks Visit

July 7, 2010 By Philly 5 Comments

There’s an old game any serviceman knows well, based on my years in the Air Force.   Probably it is just as common in civilian life too.  Among other things it is called “Can you top this?”.  In practical and irreverent terms it is also called “First liar never stands a chance”.

Basically it involves a bunch of (usually) guys sitting around and (girls can play very well too, women take no back seat in story telling, especially if there is an ex-husband around, believe me) and talking when someone brings up a subject like, say, the weather.  From then on, the tales mount.  You’ve all heard them, kind of like grandpa’s “five miles each way to school and up hill both ways” stories.

Well, it’s only human nature to want to top the last guy’s tall tale, and I see no real harm in it … but if you are trying to learn about the Philippines .. and especially sitting on the cusp of a decision regarding making a move here or not, it probably would be best if you checked first and made sure you were basing your decision on fact instead of fiction.

A few days ago I visited a forum where a guy (from the UK, I believe he was), was opening up a discussion on whether or not his personal retirement plans should include the Philippines.  In one of his first sentences he caught my attention when he said something like, “Of course this discussion is really kind of academic because I am sure I couldn’t stand the brutal weather there.”

Well, having lived in the UK, I guess you could call the weather “brutal” here in the Philippines, but then again, I’ve been all over the world, including Alaska, and England is the only place I ever lived as a young GI where I routinely shaved with my parka on over my uniform before leaving for morning formation.

Let’s face it, there are extremes of weather from time to time where ever you may travel, but to call the weather I enjoy here in the Philippines “brutal” would be a bit much to me .. the weather here is one of the big plus factors for me … in the same way a heck of a lot of 9especially older) Americns gravitate toward Southern California, Arizona and all across the southern border to the “Gray Panther” capital of the USA, Florida. (I think that is also the reason why cities like Colorado Springs … too damn cold for me … is infested with NODAKS and SODAKS … it’s so much warmer there they lose interest in going any farther south). Several other guys jumped in to the weather discussion thread and their stories amazed me,  One guy, in particular, mentioned how he had been here in manila last year .. when I live … and was on and on about 4 or 5 days in a row where the temperature was over 105F.  Huh?  I don’t know how long records have been kept in manila (I expect a pretty long time) but I can easily check 20 years worth online and it has never been 105 degrees Fahrenheit in Manila that I can see.

It’s just past 4 pm local time as I write this and I just checked the weather .. it’s hotter in New York city (where it is 4 in the morning) than it is here right now on the outskirts of Manila. Warm?  Absolutely.  “Brutal”?  I’d say that’s a bit “over the top”, mate.

Here are two charts showing a fill year of temperature highs and lows for two major Philippine cities, one down in the far south of the country and the other pretty well up north where I live.

Manila 2009:

manila weather 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Davao 2009:

2009 Davao temperatures 

 

 

 

 

Now, for comparison, let’s look at three big US cites, northern, central and south and see what the weather “back home” is like, objectively, not what grandpa says it was:

Minneapolis – St. Paul, MN, 2009:

Minneapolis temperatures 2009

 

 

 

 

 

New York, NY, 2009:

New York JFK temperatures, 2009

 

 

 

 

 

Dallas, TX, 2009:

Dallas temperature 2009

 

 

 

 

 

They say that “Figures never lie, but liars figure”, or something else about proving anything you want to with statistics, but in all honesty, you be the judge … do you think the weather here, especially the heat, if “Brutal”?  Hardly, mate, hardly.

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Help Is Really, Really Needed — This Is The Opposite Of A “Good Thing”

October 11, 2009 By Philly 2 Comments

I just 5 minutes ago received this mailing list email from my friend JD, a retired US Marine, who lives in Baguio, Philippines.  I’ve know JD for years and believe me, he is not a rumor monger nor a guy who is prone to panic:

Sunday (11 October 2009) 1330 hrs:

SM Rosales on the road to Baguio Just got internet after 4 days of no Globe broadband. Smart Bro USB from SM is now set up on my laptop, and sitting here at Red Lion (defending against panic beer drinking!!)..

Seriously, here is where we are. ALL ROADS IN AND OUT are CLOSED!! There is a slight possibility one lane may open late Monday on Kennon Road only.  I will assume no travel until late Tuesday or Wednesday.

Some panic buying has taken place, rice stock is nearly depleted. (to a Westerner this may sound like an inconvenience, to a Filipino, especially hungry Filipinos, no rice is a bad, bad thing).

Some bread available at SM mall, meat choice is VERY LIMITED and no poultry is left at all! Vegetables are limited and will probably spoil if not purchased in the next day or two. (Philly’s note.  We already observed here in central Luzon (200 plus miles from Baguio) that there were nearly no fresh veggies left when we were at the supermarket here in Marilao more than 24 hours ago.  This could prove to be a big problem).

There is no diesel fuel left anywhere. Most Jeepneys are shut down, some taxis are still running but transport for public is very limited. All schools at all levels are closed until Thursday.

City water pumps lost electricity, but hope to be delivering some water in areas where the water lines have not ruptured.

Globe broadband, PLDT and Digitel internet are not working.  Smart Bro works in limited areas (I just got SmartBro USB to log on to the forum but may not have signal after I leave Red Lion to go home down Asin rd at KM 3).

In Baguio over a 2 day period over 2,300 mm of rain (for you in the Metrically challenged world, that is 90 plus inches … look up at the ceiling over your head as you are reading this.. from floor to ceiling in many US homes is this same dimension) dumped on us, an incredible 6.5 (more like 7.5 feet)  feet in a 48 hour period that NO country or land mass could possibly handle.  The devastation is going to be long lasting and a terrible cost in lives and agriculture will be borne by these farmers and families in the N. Luzon areas.

They opened Laoakan airfield to some relief supplies by air, but the real supply transports may not make it up here until wed or thurs.  Just got word US Marine Amphibious group has flown many helicopters into La Union/Pangasinan for relief and rescue operations this afternoon. This will help the most desperately flooded victims down the hill.

Up here Paula Hall single handedly delivered emergency food and cash to the blind school where a terrible landslide has killed many people and wrecked Bowkaken road. Extraordinary woman that Paula!!

Most expats are trying to meet the needs of their distant families with cash transfers as we are all isolated from the rest of Luzon at this time.  I encourage all outside of the Philippines to lend your support to those legitimate calls for help from the Red Cross, Unicef, VFW.

Down in LaUnion terrible flooding has engulfed La Union and over 90% of Pangasinan. Some VFW members are wiped out of their homes and lost their automobiles to flooding in Bauang and San Fernando.

We (VFW Post 9892 and Pup Tent 7 MOC) will meet next Monday and Tues. to assess what funds we have and what priority missions we will have. this is assuming travel for members will be possible to La Union from Baguio.
I will log in again when signal is available.
JD Keller

Thank you, John David.  Believe me, faithful readers, this is the real deal.  Mita and I are so lucky that we missed (by a few miles) being actually flooding.  But aster the initial hoopla more than a week ago about the storm called Ondoy which pepeng storm trackdevastated a lot of Manila, this second storm, Pepeng has been a little less publicized.  People all over Luzon, many in areas that have never flooded are homeless, and as things sound may very soon be pretty hungry as well.

This is the culprit this last storm … notice the squiggly track line, going back and forth across Luzon for several days, refusing to leave and give flood waters a chance to recede.

Not many weeks back I published a post about Martha Stewart and Can Martha Teach You About Philippine Living?  how she could teach you a bit about living in the Philippines.  Martha is well known for her expression “It’s a Good Thing”.

Well this storm and the conditions here in the Philippines are definitely not a good ting right now.  What can anyone do?

1.  Bob posted a comprehensive post a couple days back about how to work through the American Red Cross. It’s here:  Luzon Flooding

2.  I posted this a few days ago, Free Money While You Fill A need a way to contribute directly into the bank account of the Philippine National Red Cross (and get a free money transfer to use for family and friends here as well).

3.  If you feel that you can only contribute physical goods “in kind” as we call it here, then you can send to:

ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya

13 Examiner Street,

Quezon City, Philippines

011-632-413-2667 or 416-0387 and Look for Ms Girlie Aragon

In the end it matters not what you do, but that you do something. 

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"Super typhoon" bears down on flood-ravaged Philippines

October 2, 2009 By Philly 2 Comments

This afternoon I spent some time depositing my monthly check to myself at the bank (yes, you can write a check to yourself and deposit it in a bank account in the Philippines … it’s easy and it’s cheap … hard to believe how many people search here every month looking for information on that subject, but I am happy to furnish it.

I took out pesos and made sure there was plenty food and water as well because Pepeng. Palmas is coming and I don’t like the look of things at all … nor do I like the sound of a downpour I’m listening to through my open windows right now, either.

Manila floodwaters I spent some time at lunch watching a live cabinet meeting in a makeshift office in Cainta, metro Manila, chaired by the president herself.  Very instructive, actually, as you would never see anything like that in the US, live and unedited.  Also interesting to see how many presidential hopefuls who normally never miss a chance for free TV time …but since the President was demanding answers of those she addressed question to, and most of these pretty boys think that your qualification for the presidency revolves around how your father died and what color shirt you wear, a few were conspicuously absent. Explaining pictures like this one are more difficult than chanting slogans.

Noteworthy were senator Dick Gordon, head of the Philippine Red Cross among other tough jobs (but not yet an official candidate) and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. …. who had plenty opportunity to toot his own horn for the excellent work his AFP forces have been doing, but actually had very little to say … not very impressive in the leadership department.

School girls in philippines flood The President looked very presidential, although very tired and run down.  She was actually working from a written agenda, which I noted virtually no one else bothered to have with them .. since she kept using the agenda and steering each speaker along the meeting didn’t deteriorate in to the usual Congressional hearing style blather group where people start reciting the wrongs that were done to their grandfather by some else’s grandfather … the Hatfield’s and the McCoy’s were rank amateurs at having a family feuds compared to the family feuds here in the Philippines.

Anyway, the weather picture right now looks like this:

MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines declared a nationwide state of calamity on Friday as a "super typhoon" bore down days after flash floods killed nearly 300 people in and around Manila.

Typhoon Parma, 180 km (110 miles) northeast of the island of Catanduanes in the central Philippines, was gaining strength as it churned west-northwest toward the Luzon mainland, bringing heavy rain.

It was expected to make landfall near the northeastern province of Isabela on Saturday. The area is mountainous and not heavily populated, but Parma was likely to lash Luzon with rain over the next two days, making life worse in flood-hit regions…. full article on more Philippine floods here.

I posted up to date sites to keep track of this storm …I’m not worried abut the wends but if it hangs around as long as it predicted to the amount of original flooding could be horrendous.  I also posted a direct aid to the Red Cross link a post or two back, please think about sending some help if it fits into your plans at all, believe me, tings are still a long way from recovered here in the Philippines.

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Free Money While You Fill A need

October 1, 2009 By Philly Leave a Comment

I have been a customer of RemitHome for many years now.  When I first moved here to live full time, they were our money ‘life line’ who kept us afloat during the time it took to getting our bank accounts set up here and ‘aging’ deposits until there was enough “in the bank” here to take care of day-to-day living as well as emergencies.

Many in my family use them regularly as well.  In short, I trust them, they have always been responsive, secure, scrupulously honest, and unlike some of the more popular “name brand” services, they are fully licensed and legal in all 50 US states.

What they are offering here is essentially a twofer.  If you make a donation direct to the bank of the Philippine Red Cross they will also give you a free transfer, to be used when you wish, to someone else, like a family member here in the Philippines.

Sounds like a good deal to me.  I high recommend this company, disaster or no disaster, and for those who need to know, I have no commercial connection and this is not an affiliate or commercial link.  It’s just a way to give to people who are needy in ways most of us rich Americans can’t begin to believe.

By the way … the International Red Cross, governing authority of the Philippine Red Cross is a real non-profit, unlike some who pop up from time to time in disasters, and I can’t say enough for the Philippine Red Cross.  It is headed by a true Philippine Hero, Senator Dick Gordon, (yes he is Filipino), a man whom I could do several blog posts about … he gets things done for the country and he isn’t getting rich along the way …. I can highly recommend the Philippine Red cross as well … they were on the job Saturday virtually from the first rainfall, along with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and support from US Forces … amazing how much faster disaster relief is without politicians in blue shirts like FEMA.

Donate to The Philippine National Red Cross in October and Receive a $10 Fee Credit from remithome

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) is leading relief efforts for flood victims of Typhoon Ondoy. They urgently need financial support to provide disaster relief services.

If you would like to support these worthy relief efforts, remithome wants to help. For the entire month of October, when you use remithome to make a donation to The Philippine National Red Cross, we will give you a $10 fee credit, which makes your next transfer free.

To make a donation, you first need to log into your remithome account and add The Philippine National Red Cross as a recipient. After we verify the recipient bank account information and notify you that the recipient is activated, you can schedule a transfer on the Send Money page.

You will need the following information for the Add Recipient page:

FULL NAME: The Philippine National Red Cross
ADDRESS LINE 1: Bonifacio Drive, Port Area
PROVINCE: Metro Manila
CITY: City of Manila
CONTACT PHONE NO.: 2 527 0000

DELIVERY METHOD: Credit to existing bank account

BANK NAME: Philippine National Bank
BANK BRANCH: Sta. Cruz
BANK ACCOUNT NO.: 3623-3680-0011
ACCOUNT TYPE: Savings
CURRENCY: Peso

If you have any questions or need assistance adding The Philippine National Red Cross to your remithome account, please call us at 1-800-919-0787, weekdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Pacific Time (California), or email us at customerservice@remithome.com.TrustEBBB Accredited BusinessVeriSign

www.remithome.com

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Storms Aren’t Over Yet — Just A Part Of Living The Philippines Experience

October 1, 2009 By Philly 8 Comments

U.S. Embassy Manila

Warden Message

October 1, 2009

THE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES IS TRANSMITTING THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION THROUGH THE EMBASSY WARDEN SYSTEM AS A PUBLIC SERVICE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS IN THE PHILIPPINES.  PLEASE DISSEMINATE THIS MESSAGE TO ALL U.S. CITIZENS IN YOUR ORGANIZATION OR NEIGHBORHOOD.  THANK YOU.

—————————————————————————————————————————————

Typhoon Watch in Effect

Be advised that there are three tropical depressions east of the Philippine Islands which may develop into typhoons.  You can check for weather updates at the following websites: http://metocph.nmci.navy.mil, www.typhoon2000.ph, or www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph . 

I personally also recommend: http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/

This site is more of a weather research organization than a current tracking site, but overall their predictions (I have been watching them more than 10 years now) have been amazingly accurate:

01 October 2009 Phi9lippines Storms

As you can see. International name Parma, Philippine name Pepeng, is building well to the east and threatens to cross the northern end of Luzon in a few days.

Not a very powerful storm, but then again, Ondoy wasn’t even a named storm until the rains fell, so your guess is as good as mine.

Many schools and offices will close tomorrow … it’s likely we will keep the girls close to home.  It’s already been a rough week for them.

Life in the Philippines goes on.

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What is a Typhoon, Anyway

September 26, 2009 By Philly 2 Comments

We’ve been a little slow on actual posts from the Philippines lately, as business here in the US has been consuming a lot of time.  A fellow whom I’ve know on line for some years, Thomas Glenn, who lives in San Fernando la Union, on the western (South China Sea) coast of Luzon sent some info on the latest storm along with his kind permission to repost.

This latest storm blew by the east side of Luzon and nailed Taiwan pretty good.  As storms go it was not a big one, but this fellow or gal seemed to drop a lot more rain than normal.  Here’s Tom’s min-report and a link to a very short live video of what was going on in his front yard.

—————————————-

Hi, today I will send you my weather. Where I live the “rainy season” is July through September. That is the normal ‘monsoon’ season. For the last several weeks the monsoon has been amplified by a typhoon and now a tropical storm that just fell short of typhoon strength. For us, here, it has meant a lot of rain, too much. Areas of San Fernando become unpassable for tricycles and small cars. In Baguio there have been at least 16 landslides. For me, since I have no urgent business in town I behave retiredly here in the house. I like to sit on the balcony and watch the waves and listen to the rain on the sheet metal roofs. Last week the effect of the typhoon created some very nice surfing waves right in front of the house. For this mailing I’ll send a capture from the Typhoon2000 web site http://www.typhoon2000.ph/ and a small video of the waves I see from the balcony. If anyone can’t use the videos please let me know and I’ll avoid that in the future. I have been considering sending some small videos since they sometimes show more clearly or more interestingly what I’m trying to illustrate.

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