Burgos Street, Dumaguete

Okay now, time to go see the boulevard! I opted to walk along Burgos St., so I could hit the boulevard just about near its southern tip. This was planned so that I could walk the entire length of the sea wall, then head straight to the pier to reserve my Siquijor boat for the next day, then walk back home to Harold’s to freshen up in preparation for dinner and the nightlife.

Burgos St. is not particularly heavily trodden on a Saturday afternoon. And from how I saw it, this street probably does not become too busy anytime of day the whole year through! But I liked the fact that it is tree-lined on both sides. Going to the boulevard, on the right were grown big trees lining the street while on the left were also quite grown trees in uniform height and size.

Still on the left side, and probably they’re the ones who planted those interesting trees (are they called fortune trees?), the scene is dominated by the building that houses the “Angel’s Touch Spa”. Not that am particularly interested in such establishments (yet), but the concrete wall caught my interest. It sports an uncommon color that seems to be somewhere between peach, pink, orange or pomelo – or something in between those. And, that color dominates the outside of the premises.

The concrete wall has big and clear writings generally about the services offered like exercises, gym workouts, spa, a swimming pool and so on. But there was something else with an even bigger font and even highlighted in yellow paint that invited my amusement. That signage made me think that there is really a thing I’d like to call BisLish (BisayangEnglish)… or perhaps I should call it EngSaya hehe! Here is it…

Now, there is really the challenge on being ‘not-so-busy’ like Burgos Street. As everywhere else in this country if there are no frequent onlookers, each and every corner of the street becomes a vast urinal for all the male populace who need to relieve themselves urgently or otherwise! Maybe Dumaguete should call in MMDA with the ubiquitous pink and blue open-air urinals? But it’s only on Burgos St. that I saw the practice very easy to spot. In that short walk from the tourism office to the corner with the boulevard, I saw about 5 different men urinating – at least on the unpainted walls to my right – which I think was even still part of the city hall compound. Of the five dudes who urinated on the walls, I was sure 4 were tricycle drivers and the 5th am not sure if he was a family driver or whatever. I just know he stopped his car, walked from the side of the street to the wall and peed!

Hey, its not that the city government does not care about guys urinating just about anywhere. There is even a city ordinance that prohibits the act and there are corresponding penalties for violators. Funny that one of those tricycle drivers relieved his bladder just near one of the prominent (though starting to fade) warnings for people not to urinate in public places.

When I took that picture, I was silently laughing and thought that if reprimanded, the manong could say… “but I did not pee where the sign was written”! Oh well, guys, if we must do it, let’s do it where it’s not prohibited! And not in the beautiful Burgos Street please?!

For a chronology of stories on this trip, click the following article numbers: