Comments Posted By Brian
Displaying 361 To 390 Of 1,055 Comments
Re: #50 Wild Orchid Bar – yeah, it is strange that they would be so much higher in price, especially with all the competition around.
You can sell on value or you can sell on price. Obviously, they are trying to sell on value, but what they offering that the other 50+ bars in towns dont have that justifies their price? Doesnt seem like anything.
:shrugs shoulders
» Posted By Brian On 23/December/2024 @ 8:31 am
Manila is a metro area of 15 million people and Barretto has a population of 20000 or so.
Makes sense that there will be more extremes in Manila. More super poor, more super rich, more homeless, more abject poverty, etc.
Interesting bar tour. After seeing the population of Barretto, not surprising that there is a lot of turnover in bar names, management. The # of bars per capita is really high, especially since most of those are geared towards expats, which I assume are pretty small % of the overall population. But, the average expat there most likely drinks a lot more than the average person. LOL
» Posted By Brian On 20/December/2024 @ 11:31 pm
Re: Bed early. Read somewhere – “If you sleep until noon, you are considered lazy. Shouldn’t the same be true if you go to bed early?”
Re: expenses – slide into home with the last penny (or peso) in your pocket.
» Posted By Brian On 19/December/2024 @ 2:13 am
LOL. I had the same thought as @Kevin, though was thinking about the upcoming Santa hike. Maybe you could decorate your golf cart like a sleigh and you and Swan could be a couple of the elves helping Santa hand out candy.
Re: stupid stuff on Twitter: Yeah, people on both sides have a tendency to forget that the internet is forever. There are so many times that I will see something stupid written and think, “that is not going to age well”
» Posted By Brian On 17/December/2024 @ 2:37 am
The electric vehicle is basically a golf cart, correct? Does it have side flaps that come down so it can be used in the rain?
I hope we dont read a story about you getting pulled over for a DUI. LOL
» Posted By Brian On 14/December/2024 @ 12:18 am
20 years!! Wow!
I know we discussed this before, but I read a SF story about how a parallel universe is created every time a decision is made. So, in some parallel universe, you were offered a job in Iraq and took it. It would be interesting to see where that John is 20 years later. Maybe in Barretto? 😛
Here’s to 20 more years!
» Posted By Brian On 13/December/2024 @ 12:50 am
To get into the weeds a bit on sweeteners, at the beginning of my career, I was in R&D and one projects being worked on was synthesizing L-glucose.
Naturally occurring sugar is D-glucose, so L-glucose is an isomer but not naturally occurring. However, it has the same taste, sweetness factor, and texture of regular sugar. The advantage of L-glucose is that it is not absorbed by the body and just passes through the system, making it a virtually non caloric natural sweetener.
I was not directly involved with the project but do know that while we were successful in synthesizing it, and made some batches of chocolate bars with L-glucose, we found out it gave people the shits. Tasted great, couldn’t tell the difference from regular sugar but had those unwanted side effects. LOL
There was thought to marketing it as a laxative, but the market was too saturated and low margin to make it worth while.
» Posted By Brian On 12/December/2024 @ 4:56 am
To answer Maria Rosa – no vaccine requirements to enter the US.
» Posted By Brian On 12/December/2024 @ 4:41 am
I think one reason a lot of expats leave a SE Asian country is that they expect that being in a foreign country will somehow change them. If they were a loser back home, some expats think that somehow moving to a foreign country will change that. Usually doesn’t work that way. Another reason is that people who have never been to a foreign country before or scoped out where they are going to set up their new life move to this new place and then are surprised with _____________ (fill in the bland; pollution, poverty, English skills of the locals etc.).
Granted, it is a lot easier now than it was 25 years ago or longer. A lot more info is available and accessible.
You had done your homework and had lived overseas, so already were one step ahead of the game.
» Posted By Brian On 10/December/2024 @ 3:02 am
Sounds like a pretty good hash overall. Does the guy who hosted actually farm? Anything around there, or is it pretty rural? Where did the other hash groups come from?
Re: Scottish brogue. Worked with a guy from Scotland who was ironically named Ozzie Scotland. Hell of a time understanding him, and his wife was even worse. I worked with him overseas, so the locals would look to me to translate and I would just shrug. LOL
Re: No beers – but what about G&T’s? 😛
» Posted By Brian On 09/December/2024 @ 1:32 am
So, are the responsibilities of a godparent the same as in the west? (I.e. if the parent(s) is no longer able to take care of the child, the godparent takes over that responsibility??) LOL
You had better make sure that the parent of that kid stays healthy!!!! 😛
» Posted By Brian On 06/December/2024 @ 11:59 pm
Castillejos loop de las loonies
Re: Pavement vs. dirt – I agree. Definitely can go faster on pavement, but IMO the little bit of extra cushion found on dirt or grass makes a difference on the legs and how they feel after a long walk.
Re: “Wild West Days” in Barretto – is that because the US Navy was still there in Subic Bay and there was spillover from that?
A pretty natural smile in that pic of you and Swan. Good to see. LOL
» Posted By Brian On 06/December/2024 @ 12:38 am
Your first paragraph was exactly what I was thinking. If doing a fun thing becomes work, then it is not fun anymore.
Re: “First” listen video. Yeah, a song like My Way is so ubiquitous that seems hard to imagine they have never heard it. But, I guess their whole channel is based on “first listen” so they have to keep up appearances. LOL
» Posted By Brian On 04/December/2024 @ 1:06 am
Did I infer correctly from the video that you won your dart match back then?
Looks like a fine feast and that a good time was had by all.
Agree that it is okay to splurge occasionally. Otherwise, something like a diet becomes too much of a chore.
» Posted By Brian On 30/November/2024 @ 12:19 am
Re: Dire Straits video. Never played the drums or really know anything about them, but I always find it interesting that some rock drummers think that the more drums you have in your kit, the better. (ie the drum kit at the beginning of the video or someone like Neal Peart from Rush and his drum kit). Contrast that with Bun E Carlos from Cheap Trick or early Keith Moon from The Who, who both had very basic drum kits and I dont think that their bands were any worse because of it.
Re: candy walk. I think it is great what you guys are doing, but somewhat unfortunately (at least in my mind), you have been so regular in doing the candy walk that it has turned into an expectation rather than a “good deed”. I am guessing there is sometimes of a feeling of “this Sunday, I dont real feel like doing it, but the kids are expecting us……..” But hey, as long as you guys enjoy doing it
» Posted By Brian On 26/November/2024 @ 12:52 am
@Kevin, my take is that he initially turned right. LOL
Your lost key saga reminded me that I have no keys for my house. In the US, live in a rural area, so dont usually lock the doors. If I do, I go out through the garage and use the opener to get in and out. But now I envision a scenario where I have locked the doors and the power goes out. Time to get a new lock/key for at least one of my doors.
As you said about John Kim, too young to pass. 🙁
» Posted By Brian On 21/November/2024 @ 2:19 am
Shorter than it should have been
Re: fears – For the most part, I agree with your take on things. However, I am a bit more concerned about medical care in a third world country. Basic stuff – yeah, not a problem, but if I had a lingering serious medical issue, i am not sure a place like Barretto would be the spot I would want to be.
But, that wouldnt stop me from living in a place like Barretto. Would need to have an exit plan “just in case”.
» Posted By Brian On 20/November/2024 @ 1:08 am
Sorry to hear about John. Hopefully, he left his family in a good place. Would suck otherwise. 🙁
Unfortunately, I think that you are probably correct in that the restaurant will not survive his demise.
Good job on the weight loss. Slow and steady wins the game.
» Posted By Brian On 16/November/2024 @ 12:21 am
How is the beach bar name pronounced? At first glance, I thought of laryngitis, but I doubt that it what they were going for. LOL
Suppose I could do the research myself, but out of curiousity, what is the lowest calorie hard liquor per ounce out there?
» Posted By Brian On 15/November/2024 @ 12:30 am
Sorry to hear about John Kim. Seems like he has really struggled with health issues over the last couple of years. Here’s hoping things get better for him.
» Posted By Brian On 13/November/2024 @ 6:54 pm
Maybe my eyes are bad, but what am I supposed to be seeing in the picture you took of the sari sari store?
Glad to hear that your better half is feeling better!
» Posted By Brian On 12/November/2024 @ 12:25 pm
John (and @Kevin), A while back, I came across the Cebu Highlands Trail, which is a 400 km trail that goes end to end on the island.
With nothing but time, maybe that is in your future……………. LOL. Kevin could come down for a change of scenery, etc.
» Posted By Brian On 10/November/2024 @ 12:43 pm
Article recently about 7-11 in the US closing a bunch (1000+(?)) stores. In addition to shopping habits changing including on line shopping, another hit to 7-11 has been the decrease in smoking rates. Cigarette sales used to be a pretty significant portion of their sales and those have decreased quite a bit. I am guessing that vapes and things like Zyn pouches have not made up the deficit.
» Posted By Brian On 09/November/2024 @ 11:40 am
Woo hoo on the 17000th comment.
I have been plotting for years to make sure I was the one that did it!!! LOL
» Posted By Brian On 08/November/2024 @ 12:25 pm
No offense, but I have to laugh when people on both sides claim that the sky will fall if their candidate is not elected (e.g “I dont think we would have survived a Kamala presidency”). Seems like every 4 years people say that, and you know what, the sun comes up the next day, the bars open on time, stock market goes up, etc.
There have been some shitty presidents over the last 250 years and the US is still going strong. I am confident that the US has enough checks and balances to keep any one idiot (be they democrat or republican) from f’ing things up too badly.
I have said this before, but an unfortunate part of the internet is that news sources are so fragmented, and that results in a lot of people getting their news only from sites/sources that just confirm their biases. In turn, that just amplifies the extremes and makes things seems worse than they really are.
IMO, we had a choice between two terrible candidates. Trumps election does not mean unicorns will run down the street, shitting out rose petals. On the other side, If Harris had been elected, the US would not have descended into some sort of Mad Max apocalypse. I am baffled that in a country of 300 million, these two were the best we could do.
Can you tell I am a bit cynical about politics (or at least the business of politics)? LOL
Anyways, enough about that. 🙂
Why do you think Johns place doesn’t get the business? Seems as though he caters to the expat crowd? From your pics and descriptions, food seems of a high quality. Too many ‘cheap charlies’ that aren’t willing to pay for that?
» Posted By Brian On 07/November/2024 @ 11:19 am
Getting that deja vu feeling all over again. LOL. Hopefully this time, there was be more of a long term benefit.
Re: switching over to G&T’s from beer. Probably discussed previously in one way or the other, but is it the taste of alcohol, the buzz you get from drinking, or just the atmosphere of sitting in a bar having a beer or three? From my 30000 foot perch, it seems as though you mainly enjoy the atmosphere that goes along with drinking. If that is case, just switch to having a Coke zero or soda water. If you like the buzz you get, then yeah, not much that can be done other than to continue drinking.
Re: Halloween costumes. Swan’s = good. Yours = well, unless you have explained it to me, I would have had no clue what you were trying to pull off. LOL. And I follow US current events. I am sure the locals there figured you were just making an impromptu rain jacket.
Re: expenses. You are in a good position. Nice to know how much you spend, but even better that you really dont have to watch it too much.
» Posted By Brian On 02/November/2024 @ 11:33 am
What did the chicken scratch in the dirt say? “Call something a something?”
» Posted By Brian On 02/November/2024 @ 11:06 am
Munching on those sweet, tender loins
re: Chinese EV’s. Quite popular in Thailand also. BYD and Oppo are the two that I see the most. For the most part, people vote with their wallets when it comes to buying something. With the PI being a developing country, it is a relatively easy decision when choosing to spend $50K or $25K on a car.
All the US automakers are aware of the threat. Tesla is at the cusp of this. Sales are up but market share keeps going down. In fact the CEO of Ford has been driving a Chinese made EV for the past six months and somewhat ruefully indicated that it was a decent car. One of the reasons Biden increased tariffs on Chinese EV’s to 100%
» Posted By Brian On 31/October/2024 @ 10:51 am
Good to explore new places, even if they are similar to the old place. LOL
Any more thought to a return trip to the ROK?
I have to ask, what did Swan thinking the birthday suit dancing?
Enjoy the hash.
» Posted By Brian On 26/October/2024 @ 10:58 pm
«« Back To Stats PageRe: the video. Agree for the most part. You are smart to think of the future. I think a fair amount of your monthly income comes from your pension, which will presumably stop upon your demise. Hate for Swan to go from 60 – 0 income-wise if that happens with no pre planning.
However, I am not sure a business is the way to go. Maybe an annuity or something like that?
The PI seems a bit more liberal in allowing the silent partner (i.e. the foreigner with the money) to actually participate in the running of the business. You have mentioned a couple of times going into Bar X and the “owner” was behind the bar, serving customers.
In Thailand, unless you have a business visa, just being behind the bar is enough to cause some serious problems visa-wise, etc. if the police happen to stop in and see you.
» Posted By Brian On 22/October/2024 @ 2:29 am