Ins and outs

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Alright, here’s a post that I promise will be as boring as my life. And don’t give me that “what else is new” bullshit. This time I really, really mean it!

As expected, the President has extended the enhanced quarantine provisions for all of Luzon through April 30. So it’s going to be more of the same for me around here for a while yet. Unfortunately, more of the same is a whole different animal for the less fortunate. I got a frantic message from a bargirl acquaintance this afternoon lamenting about her inability to feed her daughter. I asked about whether the barangay was providing some provisions and she said yes–a little rice, some ramen, and three cans of sardines. She said her daughter started crying when she saw her cooking sardine pasta again. Well, this woman lives next door in the squatter village outside my subdivision so I told her I would meet her at the gate with some Spam and tuna. I also threw in some cookies and candy for the kid. I gave her 1000 pesos ($20) and told her to go buy food her daughter likes at Divimart. I’m always glad to help out when I can and who knows, maybe I’ll pay off some of that Karmic debt that keeps sabotaging my love life. Hey, it could happen!

This morning I took a long two-hour hike out to the old Navy base and back. Stuck to the highway and it was almost pleasant with the reduced amount of traffic.

Staring death in the face at the hillside cemetery I passed.
Life is for the living and so are the views.

I am getting more cautious when I’m out walking alone, that’s why I stuck to the highway. I did get besieged by one man saying he was hungry and needed money. I shrugged and kept walking. I know better than to pull out my wallet on the street. Yesterday afternoon I decided to just stay within the confines of my subdivision for my walk. To make it a little more interesting I was determined to document all the points of access and egress. And here they are (hey, I warned you this would be boring!):

Alright, to begin, Alta Vista is a gated community. And this would be that gate. It’s the only road in and out by vehicle anyway. The subdivision is not fenced, however. And that means people on foot can pretty much come and go as they please.
So, this was one of the ways I would occasionally enter or exit Alta Vista on my hikes. Not too often and apparently not anymore as someone has erected this makeshift barrier. I’m not sure who or why. I did look to see how easy it might be to bypass and it appears to be a no go.
It may look like just a bunch of sticks, but damn, get a load of those thorns. I’d rather be stuck in barbed wire.
This is probably the most used trail, both by me and the Hash. It leads down into the Marian Hills area.
Since someone is building a house that blocks the path I used to use to get to the trail I call “My Bitch”, I explored this one as a potential alternative. Nope, it winds up in a difficult to traverse creek bed. It was one of those once and done trails for me.
But no worries, I found this path that provides reasonably easy access to my favorite bitch of a trail.
I’ve never gone this way on my own, but we’ve hashed it a couple of times. The gate is not locked.
I did this trail once before someone blocked it off. It was a shitty way to go anyway.
This way in and out goes through a yard with no trespassing signs. A couple of the Hares use it anyway.
But this trail is only 20 yards away and it is easier to boot. Guess which one I use more often?
Earlier in this post, I mentioned the squatter village right outside Alta Vista. This is the primary way to get there. This is very near my house, in fact, you can see my house from here.
Another way up to squatter town…
…and one more. Yeah, I’m pretty sure the person who robbed my house came from that village. Easy access and escape.

Anyway, that’s what passes for excitement around here these days. But before you go let me share this Facebook memory from six years ago:

Yours truly trekking on Seoraksan in Seoul. I was carrying 30 extra kilos with me back in those days.

Wake up now. It’s time to go.

UPDATE: I was surprised to see I’ve used “ins and outs” as a post title before–back in 2014. That was a post about darts and it was only mildly more interesting than this one. Go figure.

2 thoughts on “Ins and outs”

  1. Fascinating survey of the local trails!

    And I’m sure you’re happy not to be carrying the equivalent of a fifth-grader’s weight any longer.

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