Monthly Archives: September 2019

As the dart flies

Posted on by
3

Regular readers know that I’ve had my ups and downs over the years in my dart tossing “career.” Kevin Kim took time out from his massive hiking adventure to share this video of “dart skipping”:

I don’t think there’s a bar in Barretto quite big enough to accommodate this variation on the game.

Still, I’ve had some recent success throwing the old fashioned way. One thing I have learned is that darts is a game, and therefore, you ought to keep it fun when you play. I’ve gotten pretty good at avoiding the whole dart drama crap that arises when you combine competition with alcohol consumption. Sometimes that requires biting my tongue until it hurts. Other times you just gotta walk away. I’ve done both recently.

I get along with most people, but there are some that for whatever reason, I just don’t like. The other night as I looked around Alley Cats I discerned that there was only one other participant present that I did not want to draw as a partner. And of course, that’s who I wound up getting. Oh well. I just ignored her bitchy attitude and played my best, while at the same time not giving a shit if we won or lost.

I’ll be damned, we wound up winning.

And I threw some of my better darts in quite a while. In the 501 game that is featured at Alley Cats tourneys, hitting the double out at the end is the key to winning. And as they say, I was on my outs that night.

Including a 114 out (single 20, triple 18, double 20). That earned me a free beer to boot!

I came back the next night for more darts. While I was warming up, some loud-mouthed, drunk ass Swede came into the bar. I’d never seen him before, but apparently he’s a frequent visitor at Alley Cats whenever he’s in town. After about 15 minutes of his antics, I realized that I was unlikely to have much fun that night. And I also assessed that after a few more beers I might not be able to resist the urge to engage him in a confrontation over his rude behavior. That’s a no-win situation, especially if it results in violence. So I decided I had better things to do and I could do them somewhere else. And that’s just what I did.

Anyway, it’s all good. Darts isn’t the big part of my life it once was, but it is still an enjoyable pastime. At the end of the day, that’s enough.

And oh by the way, on this morning’s dog walking tour, I saw that snake from yesterday again:

It was pretty much right where it had been when I left it. Except then it’s head hadn’t been smashed into the pavement. I guess someone came along right behind me and did the deed I didn’t have the courage to accomplish. Cobra or not, the world is a safer place now.

And now I must head out for the Hash adventure. Leech My Nuggets is the Hare so I’m expecting a tough trail. We shall see soon enough.

For goodness snakes

Posted on by
1

Out walking the dogs this morning in the neighborhood as usual. Then I turn the corner and see this thing raise up and give Buddy the evil eye.

Reminded me of a garden snake, skinny and maybe four feet long. Except I’d never seen a garden snake flair out its head like this one did.

So, I sent the pic above to one of the old-timers here and asked if he knew what kind of snake this is. He responded with this photo:

The caption identified it as a Philippines cobra…

Damn. Wikipedia wasn’t all that reassuring either:


The venom of the Philippine cobra is a potent postsynaptic neurotoxin which affects respiratory function and can cause neurotoxicity and respiratory paralysis, as the neurotoxins interrupt the transmission of nerve signals by binding to the neuromuscular junctions near the muscles. Research has shown its venom is purely a neurotoxin, with no apparent necrotizing components and no cardiotoxins.[9] These snakes are capable of accurately spitting their venom at a target up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) away.


Although venom toxicity values can vary greatly even among specimens of the same species, the Philippine cobra is considered to possess one of the most toxic venom among all of the Naja (cobra) species based on murine LD50, according to most toxinology studies. 

I showed my photo to the subdivision guards as well and they said: “many cobras here”. Now you tell me. Guess it’s time to update my “top ten ways I’m going to die in the Philippines” list. Hmm, I guess I could replace #7 (fucked to death by a horny Filipina) as that is seeming less and less likely these days. Or maybe a subcategory of #3 (Hashing). For sure, it is one additional thing I’ll have to think about whilst on trail.

Speaking of Hashing, I’m scheduled to Hare again on October 14. I once again enlisted the help of Pubic Head as my co-Hare. We did some scouting around in the Calapacuan area yesterday. And we climbed Black Rock mountain which I had hoped to incorporate into our trail.

It seems like going up always involves some stairs to start with…
Subic Bay as seen from the top of Black Rock…
…and the unlovely village of Calapacuan from above…

Alas, our efforts were mostly for naught. Once we made it back to flat ground we both agreed that the climb (mostly the coming back down) was too fraught with peril to utilize for the Hash. A bit surprising as I’ve been up there a couple of times previously and it was never this bad. Not sure if we missed the regular trail or if things have changed up there. Oh well. Two more weeks to find some alternatives.

Some other things I’ve seen while walking recently:

Who are you looking at?
And they say that baby carriages don’t grow on trees?
One of the reasons I chose the Philippines is that English is the common language here. More or less. Here’s an example of less. Kudos for the effort though. And the laugh this gave me.

And speaking of things you’ve seen a hundred times but never really saw, there’s this:

This fine work of art hangs in the stairwell that provides access to Cheap Charlies Bar. I’ve gone up and down those stairs countless times.

It wasn’t until last night that I noticed this detail that enhanced my enjoyment of the painting so much more:

Well played, sir. Well played.

And finally, all this whistleblower talk reminded me of the last time a President got impeached.

Yeah, she really sucked, Bill. And didn’t swallow. At least when she wore the blue dress…

Don’t forget to check-in on Kevin Kim’s odyssey here.


And so we took a stroll
Wound up down by the swimming hole
And she said, “do what you want to do”
I got silly and I found a frog
In the water by a hollow log
And I shook it at her and I said, “this frog’s for you”
She said

I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
You fool, you fool
I don’t like spiders and snakes
And that ain’t what it takes to love me
Like I want to be loved by you

The things you see

Posted on by
1

My usual morning stroll, but I consciously kept my eyes wide open despite the familiar surroundings. This is what I saw:

I didn’t stop to smell the flowers, but I paused to snap a photo of this one.
Thatch grass in full bloom…
The remains of the squatter shacks recently demolished on Abra street. I’m told the government relocated the folks who had been living here. I hope that’s true.
This tree stands proudly on a vacant lot here in my subdivision. Not sure why it caught my eye, but I like the way it looks.



hear the croaking frogs at night sometimes, but alas, this frog has croaked for the last time.

Time marches on, and so do I.

What a Wednesday

Posted on by
7

That’s one thing about being retired. All the days are pretty much the same and you can do pretty much whatever you please. Still, you tend to fall into a rhythm associated with activities that normally occur on any given day. Yesterday featured the Wednesday Sausage Walkers group followed by the darts tourney at Alley Cats.

Regarding the darts, I confess that I have not been motivated to practice. But you wouldn’t know it based on the way I threw last night. Most of my throws were on target and I was consistently hitting my “out” shots. Of course, it didn’t hurt that I drew Christy, the top female player in Barretto as my partner. We were expected to win and we didn’t disappoint. In fact, we never lost a leg, winning all our matches 2-0 in the best of three format.

I guess you could technically call it a tie for first. As is my custom, I offered the other team the chance to forego the final round and split the 1st and 2nd place money 50-50. It was after 10 p.m. and we were all tired. I’m confident we would have beat them for the second time that night, but why bother over a couple hundred pesos?

I was more tired than usual because the Wednesday walk was pretty strenuous. We climbed the “big” mountain that separates Barretto from Olongapo City. By big, I mean that the mountain My Bitch crosses is approximately 100 meters of uphill. Our hike yesterday was around 250 meters of elevation. It being sunny and hot didn’t make it any easier, but I was still glad to not be hiking in the rain.

Anyway, with the improved weather, we had a big turnout of walkers, twelve all told. Nice scenery as usual and only one injury. For some inexplicable reason, someone had strung a strand of barbed wire across the trail–at head height. Gunter, who was leading the pack, walked right into it (like most of us do, he was looking down at the trail so didn’t see the wire). He got a gash on his forehead, but it didn’t appear deep enough for stitches. I teased he’d make a good Frankenstein for Halloween. Ah well, it can always be worse.

Here are some photos from the day’s march:

Waiting to head out for adventure from Angel’s bakery…
We started our climb up these stairs off Abra street. Steep they were. Made me reminisce about all those times I climbed Namsan.
The concrete steps gave way to rubber. Man was I tired!
Soon enough, we were climbing the old school way. That’s me with the black backpack by the way…
Up and up we go. You might notice that even up in the mountains there is no escaping the litter.
Well, people do live up there on the mountainside. I’m sure it is a tough life. And I guess disposing of their trash properly is the least of their worries. A sad situation.
Onward and upward.
A brief rest near the top…
And a look back at Barretto…
Now, that’s more like it! The climbing is tough on these old lungs of mine, but I do really enjoy being up there on trail…
We took a lunch break. At this resort on top of the mountain we had just climbed. It was really a pretty nice place. We were the only visitors, but maybe it’s busier on weekends. I asked one of the veterans in our group where do people come from who visit here? He said Olongapo. How do they get up here? They walk. Yep, there is no road. I can’t imagine why they built here. I guess it’s a Filipino thing.
Some of the group chillin’ out at our private resort.
Time to head back home. Crossing a creek…
Horsing around.
Ride ’em, cowgirls!
Down we go…
Our destination, Cheap Charlies, awaits below. I can almost taste the cold beer!
As usual, I’m always bringing up the rear. At least on Wednesdays, my fellow hikers wait for me to catch up. Usually.
A little over 7K of hard mountain walking!

And that was my Wednesday.

High cotton!

Posted on by
20

Well, not cotton. But that irritating wild grass that towers over my head and makes hiking more difficult does have a name: talahib. At least that is what the Filipinos call it. Scientists say Saccharum spontaneum, and us English speaking folks might call it thatch grass or fodder cane. Whatever the name, it is a pain in the ass.

It can also, however, be quite pretty as this picture I stole from the internet demonstrates.

On my dog walking excursion this morning, I took note of the thatch grass growing throughout the neighborhood. From the vantage point of the pavement, I could better appreciate it’s beauty. Like the photo above, the grass here has gone into its “blossoming” phase.

Not that Buddy and Lucky gave a shit, they just wanted to get on with the walk.

Anyway, it was just another example of looking for new within the routine.

I did the Wednesday walking group this morning. I’ve got some photos of that to post tomorrow. Right now, I need to head out for darts. But before I go, let me share this:


A girl at the bar showed me a picture of her mother. I said “wow you look like identical twins”. After a pause, she said “Yes, we were separated at birth.”

Here comes the sun

Posted on by
2

Run #1367 of the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers is in the books. And for the first time in weeks and weeks, the rain was not a factor. In fact, after three straight days of sunshine, the trail was almost dry. It was a pleasant day to hike, even if I was drenched in sweat.

There were two options: a short 3.5K trail, or the long 6.5K. I went with the long version.
As usual, signups were at Johansson’s. 35 Hashers in attendance yesterday.
I had a couple more questions for the Hare, Anal Retentive, before heading out.
And we are “on-on!”
Then on up. The first third of the trail took us up the mountain nearest my subdivision. I’d been up there on my own recently.
Hazy skies, but dry. I’ll take it…
Looking down on Barretto and the bay…
And the view from the other side of the mountain.
We were in tall cotton…er, grass, or whatever that shit is called.
Always nice to have some “Gash” (female Hashers are also known as “Harriettes”) on trail. As usual, I was near the back of the pack with these two and my friend Tinkerbell. When we reached the junction where the short trail turned off, they decided to stay with me for the long version. I was duly impressed.

Now, once we came down that first mountain I was on very familiar turf–yep, it was My Bitch. So I was pretty confident I knew where we were heading–Rizal Extension. My only concern was the last time I’d hiked that way the tall grass made it almost impassable. But then, just before we got to that section, the Hare took us in a direction I’d never seen before. Now, I do enjoy exploring a new path, but damn, this one was pretty f’n steep. And that wasn’t the worst of it…

…this was. A double-stranded barbed/razor wire fence. Too high to step over, and low enough to make it difficult to crawl under. Especially for an old fucker like me. Worse yet, there were three of them we had to get under. Pain n the ass (luckily, not literally). Safe to say, I will NOT be walking this path again.
We were rewarded with a nice view of the valley from our mountain top vantage point.

And I had to chuckle once we came back down–we intersected with My Bitch again and did in fact, wind up on Rizal Extension. Ah well, it was an easy paved walk from there to our “on-home” at the Hot Zone.

Paused for a photo with my Hash buddy Tinkerbell along the way. She’s heading back home to Belgium next week, so who knows when we shall meet again.
We can’t do the traditional Hash circle in the somewhat cramped confines of Hot Zone. So we just make do the best that we are able.
And the obligatory photo of “gash on ice” for you, my faithful reader(s).
All the Hashers in attendance were given this handy pocket-sized songbook to facilitate the enhanced performance of our Hash circle songs.

We are I believe one of the more perverted Hash kennels around. Definitely not family-friendly. Here’s but one example:

(to the tune of “if you’re happy and you know it”)

If you girlfriend tastes like shit, roll her over

If your girlfriend tastes like shit, roll her over

If your girlfriend tastes like shit, it’s her asshole not her clit

If your girlfriend tastes like shit, roll her over.

Well, you get the idea. It’s silly in a fraternal kind of way I suppose. There’s a couple of songs I actually kind of like, if for no other reason than that they are decidedly non-PC. It’s all in good fun.

I ain’t got nothing…

Posted on by
2

…new to say. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. Writer Pico Iyer has an interesting article called “The beauty of the ordinary”:(found via Althouse)


Put differently, how might we be enchanted by discovery’s opposite — routine — and find in constancy a stimulation as rich as novelty provides? 

“To learn something new,” the wise explorer John Burroughs noted, “take the path that you took yesterday.” A knowing friend in New York sent me that line when he heard that I’d spent 26 years in the same anonymous suburb in western Japan, most of that time traveling no farther than my size 8 feet can carry me. 

For me at least, it’s about finding the right mix of old and new. This morning I walked my familiar path down Rizal street, around Abra road, back to the National highway, along Barretto and Baloy beaches, then onward to home. I marveled at how the market stalls had been torn down on Rizal. I sadly wondered what happened to the occupants of the now demolished squatter houses on Abra. And I was surprised at seeing the lowest tide I can remember on the beach. Everything old seemed new again somehow.

Greetings to all you sunny beaches!

Anyway, last night I was drinking beers in Alaska. This morning I had breakfast in Arizona. I get around some, don’t I? And I never even had to leave my beloved Barrio Barretto.

I just wasn’t feeling the eggs and bacon routine, so I switched it up and had a chicken quesadilla. Quite tasty!

And that’s just about all I’ve got for you faithful readers today. Well, this cracked me up:

“Justin Trudeau greets a man wearing a blue shirt”

I’m so sick of American politics. It’s good to mock the lefty hypocrites (but I repeat myself) in Canada for a change.


No I’d rather go and journey
Where the diamond crescent’s glowing
And run across the valley
Beneath the sacred mountain
And wander through the forest
Where the trees have leaves of prisms
And break the light in colors
That no one know the names of

And when it’s time I’ll go and lay
Beside the legendary fountain
‘Till I see her form reflected
In its clear and jewelled waters
And if you think I’m ready
You may lead me to the chasm
Where the rivers of our visions
Flow into one another

I will want to dive beneath the white cascading waters
She may beg, she may plead, she may argue with her logic
And mention all the things I’ll lose
That really have no value in the end she will surely know
I wasn’t born to follow

Shows improvement

Posted on by
4

A second place finish in darts last night. My partner and I lost in the first round but fought our way back through the loser’s bracket to make the finals. Yep, faced off against Steve, the Englishman who doesn’t drink, once again. We won the first match 2-0, and we went to the third leg of the championship match before succumbing to Steve’s superior darts. Still, I was happy that I threw well for most of the night. Perhaps I’ll be motivated to practice some more and take my game back to the level at which I once played. We’ll see.

It’s a weird thing though. I played better at the end of the night than I did at the beginning. The only difference I can think of is the several beers I consumed during the intervening period. It doesn’t really make sense, I mean, no one would argue that drinking enhances hand-eye coordination. I’m thinking it’s a mental thing–throwing more relaxed and not getting stressed about winning overmuch. Anyway, I just need to learn to keep my focus on the target and let the darts fly. And practice more.

No rain again today, so I did my morning walk up on the mountain.

It was a tiring climb…
…but I stepped it on up to the top.
The Great Falls of Barretto.
My kind of trail…
I never did find the proverbial fork in the road. This is as close as I got…

Another long walk in the afternoon, still scouting a potential trail for the next time I Hare. Still lots to be done to put it all together.


In the meantime, I reckon these baby back ribs ought to hit the spot. They’ll also provide a good base for some Sunday evening beer drinking.

Life is good.

UPDATE: Well, it seems I used “shows improvement” as the title to a post in February 2017. Back then, I was starting to feel better because the drugs prescribed for my chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were working. They still pretty much are, thank you very much!

Those were the days

Posted on by
2

And today was just another one. Not bad, mind you. In fact, we had some sunshine and blue skies for a change. It made my walking routine a little more pleasant.

It is getting to be my Saturday morning tradition to hand out some candy to the kiddies in the squatter village right outside my subdivision. I know they look forward to it, and it is a cheap price to pay for all those smiles. Hell, I guess I look forward to it too.

I changed it up some for my afternoon walk. I’m wanting to Hare a trail out Calapacuan way, so I did a little scouting. I’m still not ready to go up into the mountains in unfamiliar territory on my own, but I explored the streets in between the two mountains I have in mind. That was its own kind of scary. Once I left the highway the neighborhood looked a little dicey. Well, dicey is unfair. It looked very poor and I stood out like the white man I am in a sea of desperate young men. And yes, I am projecting. I got lots of stares, but probably only because people like me don’t normally venture out their way. I was uncomfortable, but never felt threatened.

Part of the problem was probably related to a blog I read this morning about crime against foreigners in the Philippines. Actually, it claimed that most violence and thefts come from people you know, not random strangers. So by that account, I had nothing to worry about. Still, I wasn’t wanting to pull out my phone to take many pictures. Which is a shame, because some of the shacks were built on stilts to be above the standing rain runoff, and looked quite interesting, in a tragic kind of way.

Anyway, such is what passes for adventure in my life these days.

I walked about 3K up the highway, then turned off onto the back roads and alleys.
One of the more depressing sights on my hike was this hungry dog sniffing for what he might find to eat in the garbage.
Like an alley, only smaller. As I mentioned, I was not comfortable pulling out the phone in some of the dicier areas I walked through. This spot was comparatively nice, and there was no one around, so it seemed safe enough.
A street food vendor on, well, the street. I haven’t been quite that adventurous to try one yet…

Anyway, I’ve got some ideas now on how to connect the two mountains. I’ve just got to get up on those fuckers and find some trails. One of the veteran Hashers suggested I wait until after the rainy season because he suspects the tall grasses will make it difficult going. He’s likely right based on what I’ve observed on My Bitch.

Last night I managed a 3rd place finish in darts. Given that I can’t be bothered to practice, that’s a pretty good showing I reckon. I’m going to try again tonight. Losing games I know I should win just might motivate me to actually work on my game. Or not.

I baked up some blueberry muffins to take with me tonight. The girls profess to love my brownies, so we’ll see how these go over.

After re-reading this post, I’m reminded of the words of a wise man known the world over as “The Big Hominid”: “What a boring life you must lead, utterly lacking in nuance and subtlety!”


Once upon a time there was a tavern
Where we used to raise a glass or two
Remember how we laughed away the hours
And think of all the great things we would do

Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way


Then the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If by chance I’d see you in the tavern
We’d smile at one another and we’d say

Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days


Just tonight I stood before the tavern
Nothing seemed the way it used to be
In the glass I saw a strange reflection
Was that lonely [old man] really me

Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days


Through the door there came familiar laughter
I saw your face and heard you call my name
Oh my friend we’re older but no wiser
For in our hearts the dreams are still the same

Those were the days my friend
We thought they’d never end
We’d sing and dance forever and a day
We’d live the life we choose
We’d fight and never lose
Those were the days, oh yes those were the days

Assorted miscellaneous

Posted on by
3

Just another day. Some rain of course, but only about another month or so to go for rainy season. I guess it’s fair to say I’ve become a creature–a creature of habit that is. In bed by ten, and up at six. Coffee and internet. Feed and walk the dogs. Eat. Take a morning hike. Have a one hour nap. And then sit down here and write on the blog. Whether I have anything to say or not.

Who says there’s no excitement in my life? That’s me grilling up some steaks.
Lucky got pretty damned excited too!

I don’t do steaks as often as I used to, but this batch turned out pretty damn good. I sprinkled on some meat tenderizer then let them marinate in an herb and garlic concoction for a couple of days. Still not as tender as American beef, but what are you gonna do?

Yeah, that’s medium, which is okay, although I prefer just slightly more medium-rare. When I’m manning the grill, there’s no telling what you’re gonna get. I’ve been known to serve them blackened.
Last night found me imbibing beers at Cheap Charlies. Nothing unusual about that. The new 4-star hotel, Central Park Reef, is open for business and seems to be doing well. The rooftop infinity pool and bar is not operational, so I’m going to hold off for that before I visit. The tallest building in Barretto at 6 floors.

I also dropped into the Man Cave bar before calling it a night. I recognized a dancer there named MJ, whom I’d met once before through a friend at Alley Cats. Called her down for some lady drinks and conversation. She’s got a smokin’ hot body and an okay face. I was surprised to learn she is 40 years old. And she also has five kids. Oh well.

I had a taco for breakfast this morning. It’s big, but skimpy on the meat. I didn’t eat the shell either, not worth the added carbs…
On Baloy beach for the morning walk, I saw this tour company sign with Hanguel lettering, and the Taeguki fluttering proudly in the breeze. Made me almost homesick.

Here’s some stuff I found on the ‘net today:

Ain’t I special?

This cracked me up:

“Elizabeth Warren admits to wearing paleface at college costume party” . What a fraud she is!

This is funny in a scary way too:

Can’t imagine one of these monsters actually getting elected.

Okay folks, that’s all I’ve got for you this afternoon. Thanks for stopping by!

Soggy sausage

Posted on by
2

It’s been several weeks since I ventured out with the Wednesday Sausage Walkers group. My primary reason is that they do intense and lengthy walks. I prefer to do my hikes in 1.5 hour morning and afternoon installments. But this week a Belgian friend from the Hash was back in town, and she wanted to join up with the Sausage Walkers, so I agreed.

Of course, it was raining Wednesday morning. I told Betty I would show up at the Angel’s bakery start point, and then see how things looked at 10:00 a.m. She’s staying on the old Navy base and had a 20-minute Jeepney ride, but was still willing to chance a trip in vain. And the rain did, in fact, stop prior to our scheduled departure. There were only five of us present for the hike. Gunter, our Austrian leader, suggested taking a Jeepney to Olongapo City and doing the “stairway to heaven” hike. I nixed that idea, saying I didn’t want to be stuck in the wilderness should the rain return. The others thankfully agreed, and Troy led the way on a mostly flat, wet, and muddy, 10-kilometer walk.

That’s Gunter, crossing a makeshift bridge. Me? I waded across. Hey, my shoes were muddy! Although I do tend to be a little bridge-phobic.
Gunter and Betty on a sturdier river crossing bridge.
I’m not sure whether to caption this “ducks on a pond” or “a pond on the road.” Both would be apt.
Moss may not grow on a rolling stone, but it seems to do fine on a block wall…

We were just under 2.5 hours on trail. The rain held off until the last 30 minutes, and then we walked in a freaking deluge to our customary stopping point, Cheap Charlies.

We were all drenched, but the beer was cold and wetter, so we were happy campers.
This is my total for the day. It includes walking the dogs and walking myself to/from the bar last night. Best total I’ve had in a while…

On the subject of hiking, this story captured my worst nightmare when I’m out on the trail alone:


Neil Parker was about 20 feet up a waterfall when suddenly he wasn’t climbing anymore. The same rocks he had scaled many times before were no longer supporting his weight. He was falling, tumbling head over heels as he bounced off the rock face.

Seconds later, the 54-year-old splashed into the creek at the bottom of the falls.

“Straight away I thought, ‘Well, now I’m in a lot of trouble,’ ” he said Wednesday.

His left leg, just above the ankle, had “clean snapped in half” and his left wrist was also broken. To make matters worse, he was alone. Parker hadn’t told anyone about his plan to take a short hike Sunday in the Mount Nebo area northwest of Brisbane, Australia, and a quick check of his cellphone confirmed that calling for help wasn’t an option. There was no service in the deep rocky gully where he was now lying.

You can read the rest at the link, but the guy wound up crawling through the wilderness for two miles before he was finally rescued. Yikes!

Anyway, I’m going to keep on keeping on, but I will proceed with caution. What else can you do?

Trail and error

Posted on by
6

A pretty decent Hash yesterday despite the rainy weather. Actually, the rain stopped a bit before we started, and it didn’t reappear until most of us were safely “on-home.” I say “most” because as the slowest of the group I spent the last ten minutes or so walking in the rain. Such is life.

Our trail took us up the mountain, down into the valley below, then onward to Baloy Beach. 7K all in.
A view from the mountain…
…and a view of a mountain.
Once we were down in the valley, the trail led us through this rice paddy…
My feet were already muddy by the time I encountered this stream. I didn’t even bother trying to jump over, I just waded across.
The ducks at least seem to enjoy everything being wet.
A quiet suburban street…
…and a river crossing.
The Matain river in all her glory. Such as it is.
Especially for commenter Thirsty: Filipinas on ice!

So much for the trail, now about that error. I think I broke the little toe on my left foot this morning. I have a loose tile in the dining room. I stepped on it, causing the tile to sink slightly lower than the adjacent tile. I lunged to grab Lucky who was under the table. Toe met elevated tile, and toe lost. Hurt like hell too. Now it mostly only hurts when I walk. And of course, I walk a lot.

That’s today’s dose of my so-called life.

Comma-tose

Posted on by
9

I make a lot of unforced errors when I write. Some of that is just old fashioned sloppiness. And the rest is simply ignorance. Back in high school, English was one of my better subjects. But even in those long-ago days, I would earn an “A” for content and a “D” for mechanics.

Don’t believe me?

Obviously, grammar, spelling, and punctuation have never been my strong suits. Thank God for spellcheck! And as I write this I’m downloading an app called “Grammarly” which purports to flag the kind of mistakes I frequently make here at LTG. We shall see.

What prompts this newfound interest in getting it right after almost 15 years of blogging? Shame mostly. My buddy and grammar Nazi regular reader Kevin Kim will occasionally point out my most egregious errors, either via comment here or in an email. I actually do appreciate his willingness to help me improve the quality of my writing. He’s threatened to use me as a bad example in a post on his blog concerning proper comma usage. In a recent email exchange, I foolishly asked if he had noticed my efforts to improve my comma placement. His reply was along the lines of “not so much.” He then proceeded to point out no fewer than six usage errors in the first three paragraphs of my most recent blog post. Ouch!

Honestly, I was very impressed with his sincere efforts to educate me in an area where I’ve been pretty much clueless. And it also prompted him to finally begin writing about commas on his blog. You need to go give it read, whether you care about proper punctuation or not. It’s really quite in-depth and fascinating. Who thought a mere comma could be so interesting? And his post is just part 1 of a six-part effort. I’m not being facetious when I say that when it comes to all things grammar, Kevin Kim is a freakin’ genius.

I’m going to make a sincere effort to apply this new-found knowledge, starting with the concept of “FANBOY”. If like me, you hadn’t heard that term, it relates to using a combination of a comma plus a coordinating conjunction: for, and, nor, but, or, yet–-FANBOY, get it?

Now, what I need to avoid is being self-conscious when I write. I’m kind of in a storyteller mode when I blog. I don’t want to feel like I’m back in high school writing an essay. But given the low-quality of my content here, I do hope to improve on the composition grade!

Have at it!

UPDATE: I did run this post through my new Grammarly app. How did we do?

It was good while it lasted

Posted on by
4

A couple of rain free days will spoil you. Woke up to rain this morning and it hasn’t stopped. I hate being stuck in the house almost as much as I hate walking in the rain. So here I sit, alone with my memories of yesterday’s hike.

It was an interesting path I found myself on. I was following the Hash marks from last week’s trail to see what I had missed. Fortunately, the Hare had used shredded paper rather than powder so it was still mostly visible. I had a hunch where the trail was leading but I turned out to be wrong about that. I missed a couple of turns and I had to retreat and search out the true trail. I was kinda of proud of myself for being successful at that, but finally I lost the trail for good on top of the mountain overlooking Barretto.

I’d been up here a couple of times before.
And the views are quite pleasant.

But now I wasn’t seeing any Hash marks and it appeared there were only two options: straight down or walking the ridge line. I took a few tentative steps on the steep down path and then thought better of it. Once I committed to the ridge I noticed there was no more paper, so I had chosen “wrong”. But I was pretty sure I had been walking the trail from last week in reverse, so if it was the steep path, they had come up it, not down. And down looked “slipping and sliding out of control dangerous” to me. No regrets with my choice!

The view from my chosen path. Better safe than sorry!

I wasn’t exactly sure where I was, but I eventually could see my subdivision below me in the distance. I found a path that led down to that familiar ground and I deemed the afternoon a success.

After a poor showing at darts last night, I returned home to be greeted by my loving boys, Buddy and Lucky.

They got a good whiff of my socks…
…and later I found them like this. Powerful stuff!

No real progress on the weight loss to report, but I’m working hard at staying on plan.

A grilled pork chop from Mango’s. Low carb doesn’t have to mean low taste…

And that’s all I got on this rainy afternoon. Well, there is this:

What a joke.

Peace out!

Saigon AAR

Posted on by
2

Here’s a quick after action report on my one week visit to Vietnam. I’m not going to recap everything I’ve already blogged about; this will just be a brief summation of highs and lows.

Overall, I really enjoyed the city. It’s certainly not up to Seoul’s standard infrastructure-wise. For example, there’s no subway (although one is under construction). Saigon is comparatively cleaner than what I’ve experienced in the Philippines, but that’s not saying much. It appeared to be foreigner friendly, at least in District 1 where I was staying. There was a vibrancy and “hum” about the city that was kind of exciting, especially for someone like me coming from a small town.

So, without further ado, here’s a “Top 5” good and bad list.

The good:

  • 1, People were friendly. It probably helped that I had friends there steering me to the right places, but I never really encountered any outright anti-American sentiments or anything like that.
  • 2. The women were beautiful. Although I did not partake in a physical way (other than a massage that ended happily), I enjoyed meeting and chatting with several lovely ladies I met in the bars. Well, chatting may be an overstatement given the lack of a common tongue, so maybe it was just body language.
  • 3. A very friendly and close knit expat community. This was not unlike what I’ve experienced in Barretto, and it’s a big deal for me. I would have a hard time living anywhere where I was the only person around who looked like me. The folks I met were very warm and welcoming and it felt like I fit right in with them.
  • 4. The food. I shared pretty much everything I ate in earlier blog posts. Obviously, I didn’t go all-in Vietnamese, but that’s really my point. There was a variety of foods available to suit my mood and with few exceptions they were all quite good.
  • 5. The service. Maybe this ties into the first point, but damn, people serving you there certainly aim to please. At my hotel, the Lotus Central, I was honestly shocked at how accommodating the staff was to all my needs and requests. Hell, one night there was a personalized handwritten note on the bed wishing me “sweet dreams”. I’ve stayed in hundreds of hotels in my lifetime and as far as costumer service goes, this one was the best ever.

The bad:

  • 1. The traffic. Okay, it’s a big city, and most big cities have traffic. And the traffic certainly wasn’t as bad as it is in Manila. If my tour guide is to be believed, there are 15 million people in Saigon and 7 million motor scooters. Many intersections are not even regulated with traffic signals. It was really something to see the vehicular dance they call driving there. Very surprising how few accidents there seem to be.
  • 2. Not walking friendly. There are actually sidewalks on most streets. And “sidewalk” is Vietnamese for motor scooter parking. Apparently. It was a little shocking how the streets were lined with these scooters blocking both the sidewalk and the street front businesses. I’m not sure if that is something you get used to or not. And crossing those busy streets as a pedestrian? Scary stuff! You’ve got to find the rhythm of the traffic–an inopportune hesitation could be fatal.
  • 3. Not as cheap as the Philippines. But then, where is? And really, Saigon is a big city which always tend to cost more than the ‘burbs. Manila is probably similarly priced.
  • 4. The language barrier. This is huge for me. My Vietnamese is non-existent and with a few exceptions most of the locals I met spoke little to no English (my hotel staff was a happy exception). Thank goodness for Google translate! English speaking ability was one of the primary reasons I chose the Philippines for retirement purposes. Although I could see myself living in Saigon or Phnom Penh, I expect I would be lonelier there.
  • 5. Yankee guilt. Time marches on and all that, and certainly no one (other than my tour guide) ever referenced some of the atrocities that are inherent during armed conflict, but it was hard for me to shake the memories of that regrettable war. I was very much anti-war in the 1970’s. With time I’ve come to see that our intentions in preserving the South’s independence may have been good, but the execution was both flawed and deadly on both sides.

There you have it. A fascinating city that I will perhaps one day visit again. Although if I return to Vietnam I would definitely like to get out of town and see new sights, including the beaches near Da Nang.

Would I live there? I could. But I like where I’m at now better. It’s a good fit for me. Things could change of course so it’s good to have a Plan B. Saigon remains a possibility should I ever decide to move on.

UPDATE: And so without further ado, I bid you adieu.

I would walk 500 miles

Posted on by
2

Actually, no I wouldn’t. Okay, I will. But it will take me 53 days. I just did the math. Now, Kevin Kim on the other hand, is fixing to walk from Incheon, on the west coast of Korea, all the way down to Busan, which is at the southeastern tip of the peninsula. That’s around 650 kilometers! Kevin has created a new blog to document his adventure. Feel free to join me in following along.

As a hobby walker I’m always happy to just achieve my 20,000 steps/15 KM daily goal.

Yesterday was a better than normal day. I guess it was just the joy of being back on the familiar turf of Barrio Barretto.

It was mostly a rain free day, which helped. I also spent the afternoon with My Bitch.

It had been quite awhile since I hooked up on this particular path. And from the looks of things no one else had been up there either. The trail in many places was completely overgrown with tall grasses. It made for some treacherous hiking because I could not see the actual trail under my feet. And there are places where a wrong step to either side can send you careening down a steep hill. At one point I completely lost the path which was especially disconcerting. I eventually saw some barbed wire fencing and I recalled the trail ran along side that fence. So, I found my way but vowed “never again” until burn season is here and the grass is torched.

If I were to do a Kevin Kim-like distance hike, I might enjoy something like these four Hashers did back in 2014: Barretto to Angeles City. Here’s a short six minute video of that adventure. Three of the guys were in their sixties, so perhaps there is hope for me yet!


“It took 3 years to find this route, it’s not on any produced maps and only 4 people have the trail. The route is all off road and follows many animal paths and little known trails straight over the top of the Zambales Mountains. This was completed on 25th Feb 2014 and only 4 of us had the courage and ability to undertake it. “
This is the route they took…

Speaking of Hashers, I got a kick out of this Michelob beer commercial, which captures some of intricacies associated with Hashing. Without the perversions and un-PC songs of course! Damn it, I can’t embed for some reason, so you’ll have to click on the link below:

https://www.tvcommercialad.com/watch/KaGegkoiKBBzFSA

Sometimes this is how I feel when I’m doing a trail laid by one of the more masochistic Hares:

https://gfycat.com/veneratedbeautifuladmiralbutterfly-smr-lmm

Those bastards!

Hmm, better (bigger) view at the link. Sorry!

So, I kicked off my diet plan yesterday. Had a nice big three egg omelet with ham and mushrooms for breakfast. No lunch, although I did have a handful of nuts. Then I had this for dinner at Sit-n-Bull:

Okay, the cole slaw is not really low in carbohydrates, but damn, it was just too good to resist. I compensated by pulling some of the skin of the chicken wings.

Four more 60 calorie beers at Cheap Charlies, then walked back home. Made a sugar free banana pudding for dessert. It’s a start!

So, my goal is to get down to 190 pounds and then maintain my weight within the 190-195 range. My big surprise yesterday was weighing in at 199 pounds. That’s less than I weighed when I left for Vietnam! Granted, I did weigh-in right after my sweaty mountain hike, so I wasn’t carrying much water weight. Still, being under 200 and appearing fat confirms my suspicion: It’s my damn beer belly that’s the problem. We’ll see what I can do about that (and for the record, I’d rather be fat than give up my beloved beer!). Regardless, I have 10 pounds to go. Let’s see how long that takes.


When I’m lonely, well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who’s lonely without you
And when I’m dreaming, well, I know I’m gonna dream
I’m gonna dream about the time when I’m with you
When I go out (When I go out), well, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who goes along with you
And when I come home (When I come home), yes, I know I’m gonna be
I’m gonna be the man who comes back home with you
I’m gonna be the man who’s coming home with you

But I would walk five hundred miles
And I would walk five hundred more
Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles
To fall down at your door

There’s no place like home

Posted on by
1

Be it ever so humble, I’m back home to reality. I’ll take it as a good sign that I’m happy to be here.

My last night in Vietnam was spent at an Aussie bar named Blue Gecko, playing darts with my old friends Alex and John, along with my new dart league teammates who made me feel welcome. I was pleased to play well enough to win all the games in which I participated, and that contributed to an upset of one of the top ranked teams in the league. A team consisting of Filipinos, which I thought was a little ironic.

Speaking of John, he was involved in a motor scooter accident after our dinner gathering on Saturday night. I felt especially bad because during dinner I had asked him about how dangerous it looks to ride in this city and whether he had ever experienced a crash. He hadn’t. Until I jinxed him I guess. Check out attorneys for an auto accidents, here!

He was lucky coming out of it with just a cut above the eye, a shiner, a gash on his knee, and some whiplash. He wasn’t up to playing darts so I was happy to fill in on his behalf.

Got home from the bar late (for me) and had a 5:30 a.m. alarm, ahead of my 6:30 ride to the airport for my flight’s 9:30 departure. All were accomplished on time, no thanks to the Vietnamese immigration departure queue. Longest damn line I ever did see, but I made it through with 30 minutes to spare. But while driving after drinking, we need to remember that a majority of the accidents happen due to the negligence of the driver or due to drunk driving. You can click here if you are wondering What Does a DUI Cost in Orlando and Central Florida? We need to understand that such accidents that are caused due by negligence or carelessness can destroy many people’s lives and cannot be compensated with money.

The fact that I was flying on the anniversary of 9/11 didn’t escape my thoughts. I couldn’t help but notice the Muslim gentleman sitting on the aisle across from me (as evidenced by his beard and taqiyah), but I figured the odds were good that he was a peaceful follower of the faith. Still, when the flight attendant serving lunch reached our row and announced they were out of chicken and only had a pork dish remaining, I surreptitiously watched for his reaction. It was just a shrug and he went without. Mine was up to the standards you’d expect from a third world airline. We landed safely, avoiding damaging any buildings along the way.

My regular driver, Donny, was ill but he sent someone to pick me up as scheduled. We got stuck in Manila’s notorious traffic (crawling along bumper-to-bumper for over two hours). I guess the distance we traveled in that time to be maybe ten kilometers. I know I can walk faster than we were moving. Anyway, once we reached the expressway things went better, but it was still over 5 hours of driving all told. I hate Manila and try to avoid flying out of there, but there were no direct flights to Saigon from my preferred airport in Angeles City. Oh well, it’s done.

My dogs were ecstatic to see me, and it’s always good to feel that kind of pure love. The first thing my domestic helper said to me was “you’ve gained some weight”. Nice to see you too! She’s right though, I threw my semi-good eating habits out the window, reasoning that I was on vacation so why not? I also got in fewer steps than normal, and it shows. I’ve not gotten on the scale yet, but I’ve set a new reduction goal–down to 190 pounds.

In that regard, I’m re-instituting a strict(er) low carb diet regimen (didn’t even buy ice cream at the grocery store today!) and will get back into my 20,000+ steps per day habit. I’m planning on doing that intermittent fasting thing too–a hearty low-carb breakfast and not much else until a light evening meal. I will of course continue drinking beers, but at least I’m back on those low calorie San Miguel Zero’s.

And there you have it, one day back and already my blog is boring again. Normal ain’t so bad!