I despise Manila.  Getting from the airport to Subic took nearly four hours, most of that stuck in Manila traffic.  It’s an ugly and filthy city and even after all these years I find the poverty shocking.  To be fair, there are nice parts of the city you just don’t see them on the trip from the airport.  I much prefer flying into Clark in Angeles.  Just hard to score a ticket this time of year as it is a very popular tourist destination for Koreans.  Well, Korean men anyway.

Anyway, leaving the city behind it is a quite pleasant and scenic drive.  Arrived safely at my lodging for the week and got checked in.

The Palm Tree Resort was my third choice, everything else was booked. I’m not happy with the “no view” room, but otherwise the place is clean and comfortable.

I normally stay on Baloy Beach at the Blue Rock Resort.  But I knew I’d be dealing with the ghost of Loraine this trip and staying there without her would have been overwhelming.  Honestly, I’ve been haunted quite a bit so far as it is.  Nothing to be done but face up to the fact that the memories will always be there, I can only control how I choose to react to them.  Gem has been a nice distraction.

Speaking of Gem, I’ve introduced to some of the elements of my lifestyle.  She hung in there for a pretty decent walk, some on the beach, some on the highway.  Gem also has now experienced her first “go-go” bar and she was not shocked or offended.  Even seemed to enjoy herself.

Gem is actually a non-drinker. She’s a good sport about my enjoyment of a cold brew though and she’ll even occasionally have a few sips with me.

One of the things I’m hoping to accomplish on this trip is to nail down at least the general area where I will find my house when I move here permanently come what May. (ahem).  Revisited a nearby subdivision called Alta Vista.

Most of the houses in Alta Vista feature bay views like this…

…or mountain views like this.

Some houses even have both views. I liked this one because it was about my size (lots of the houses are McMansions in scope).

I did not see any indication that there were any available rentals in Alta Vista however.  I do have a phone number where I can at least make some additional inquiries.  I did find a house that seems perfect and it will be available for rent in late January.

It has everything!

Including a view to die for.

And what a kitchen!

And the rent?  A whopping $500. a month! The only problem with it is the location.  Club Morocco is 14 kms from my preferred area in Barrio Baretto.  Going to hire a car today and see just how inconvenient living that far out would be.

Met up with my only friend in town for dinner last night.  He brought along his new girlfriend.  Very lovely girl, and very sweet.

They seem very happy together.

As we finished dinner I was rewarded with this lovely sunset view:

It was a good day.

Onward!