Started out like normal (or as normal as it gets for me), and finished in an atypical fashion. Not in a bad way though.

Did a boring street walk in the morning and a similarly boring afternoon walk in the neighborhood. Achieved my step goal though, so there’s that. A commenter on yesterday’s post mentioned how the flat land of San Antonio looked like a Texas prairie, but the mountains in the distance resembled a New Mexico landscape. I thought that was an apt description and wondered if there was a Santa Fe nearby. And sure enough:

I headed out for darts at Alley Cats at the appointed time. Was surprised to find the place almost deserted with a tournament imminent. Turns out there was a competing tourney at Lagoon on Baloy beach and a lot of the players and staff went there to play. It hurt my feelings a tad that no one informed me about the Lagoon event, although honestly, I doubt I would have played regardless. There were three waitresses present–one was playing darts with a customer, one was keeping score in that game, and the third seemed to be intentionally avoiding me. Yeah, I do flirt with her some, but that goes with the job. Anyway, my initial beer was empty and she never came around to offer another. After several minutes my patience was exhausted, and when I finally got her attention, I just paid my tab and departed. I was not a happy customer.

I headed up the highway to Cheap Charlies to drown my irritation. Three beers seemed to do the trick. Still, I just wasn’t feeling like hanging out in the bar, even though it was Saturday night. My downstairs neighbor, well, technically her daughter who stays with her, was celebrating her 27th birthday. I figured there would be a party going on, so I invited myself. Stopped in at the 7/11 and picked up a bottle of Emperador rum, the Filipino alcoholic beverage of choice, and headed home. I was surprised that no festivities were taking place, but when I handed over the rum, a small party did break out–mama, daughter, me, and the daughter’s boyfriend. Damn it!

Despite living here for going on three years, I have very rarely partied with Filipinos. One thing that is kind of unique is that they share one glass for the rum and lemon juice drink. Pass it around and take turns. Seems like an odd concept, especially during a pandemic, but who am I to judge? I stuck with beer of course. Anyway, Inday seemed to appreciate the gesture and it was a nice change of pace from my usual nights out.

Did my morning walk on Baloy beach. The resort hotels were swamped once again, at least judging by the parking lots. On the plus side, I’m glad to see at least this sector of the economy thriving again. It’s all the more impressive because the crowds are almost exclusively Filipino. The downside is that some of my favorite places are too busy on the weekends for my taste. I didn’t have breakfast at Treasure Island because I figured it would be crowded. When I did my walk-by that feeling was confirmed.

I have a lunch “date” this afternoon. I’ll report on how that goes tomorrow.

And life goes on here in paradise.