Here are some of the “its” I did yesterday.

Fixed me a Sunday breakfast to start the day. That’s newsworthy because lately, my lazy ass has just been pouring milk over cereal.

Then I got a message from Julie asking if she and her friend could join me on my morning hike. Sure, the more, the merrier. My standard Sunday hike is a flat valley walk, but Julie said they preferred the hills but with beginner-level difficulty. I deemed the My Bitch trail pretty much fit that description. We met up at the entrance to Alta Vista and headed for the hills.

I gave the gals the option of going down to the valley, which would likely require getting their feet wet, doing another moderate hill climb, or walking the pavement on Rizal Extension back to town. They opted for the latter. I treated them to lunch at Sit-n-Bull, and when I turned off my tracker, I saw that our hike was exactly 7K.

Once I got back home, I did a couple more episodes of Manifest. Almost to the end of Season 3 now, and there is no resolution in sight. There will be a fourth and final season, but it is not yet available. I’m interested enough to want to see how they pull this together for a logical conclusion. It’s taken a bit of a turn into religion, with the US government playing the role of Satan. That’s my take so far, at least. Stay tuned.

And then it was time for my workout.

But I also had promised myself a steak dinner for my birthday, so John’s place was my first stop. John was there, and we had a nice chat. He was running a weekend steak special, but it was New Zealand beef. I wanted a good ol’ American ribeye. I got to pick out my steak; John weighed it, added the 350 peso cooking charge, then gave me a 10% “birthday discount.” Thanks for that! It still came out to almost 2000 pesos, $35.00 at the current exchange rate.

I also ordered the fish tacos at John’s for takeout. Got those for Joy and stopped at Chooks To Go to get a box of fried chicken for the other girls at Hideaway.

After Hideaway, I made a stop at the Green Room. Marissa has just started working as a waitress there. I welcomed her with a couple of lady drinks and wished her well. The hours are 4:00 p.m. until closing (usually around 2 a.m.), so I don’t envy her that.

I woke up this morning, and there was a male lying in bed next to me.

Did my Monday morning 5K beach walk on Baloy.

And now it’s time to get ready for another Hash Monday. Today’s trail is starting out in Subic, and I’ll be taking a Jeepney to get there. I know where the trail begins, but several others don’t, so they’ll be meeting me at 7/11 to tag along. I just hope we can find room in a Jeepney for us all.

I’ll tell you how it goes tomorrow.

When you know she's no high climber
Then you find your only friend
In a room with your two timer
And you're sure you're near the end
Then you love a little wild one
And she brings you only sorrow
All the time you know she's smilin'
You'll be on your knees tomorrow

You go back, Jack, do it again
Wheel turnin' 'round and 'round
You go back, Jack, do it again

And so do I. I completed my 67th journey around the sun today. My plan is to make that trip a few more times before I give it a rest. Wish me luck!

I’m happy to report I’m having a pain-free birthday. Even got off my lazy ass and walked almost 10K today. I’ve still got my evening bar crawl steps to add in, so I’m back on track in that regard.

Everything went fine at the SOB. I’ll share photos once the sponsor posts them. This week the top three were Wet Spot, Alaska, and Hot Zone. At least, as far as I recall. I made it a beer night again to make sure I maintained the proper amount of control. And balance. It must have worked.

UPDATE: Here are some photos:

Marissa has moved back to Barretto from Manila, and I invited her to see the show. Seemed a little bit like old times. Turns out she knows the manager from Green Room, and he’s wanting to hire a couple of waitresses. Looks like she’s found a job, and that made me glad I extended the invitation.

Otherwise, everything is what it always is around here. I’m planning to treat myself to a steak dinner at John’s place to start my evening, then hit a few of my favorite bars. I heard from one of the gals at Snatchbar that they have a cake for me, so I’ll need to make that one of my stops tonight.

I’ve been surprised by all the birthday greetings and messages popping up from my Facebook friends, almost 100 so far. I guess I’m not as alone as I sometimes feel. Now, if I could just find a worthy girlfriend. Luckily, I’m still young (at heart) and gwapo. I just need to give it some time.

So the years spin by and now the boy is twenty sixty-seven
Though his dreams have lost some grandeur coming true
There'll be new dreams maybe better dreams and plenty
Before the last revolving year is through

And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We're captive on the carousel of time
We can't return we can only look
Behind from where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game

I didn’t do my walk routine yesterday. I used my toothache as an excuse, but I’m sure it wouldn’t have hurt more if I’d gone out and done something healthy. Instead, I binge-watched Manifest. I’m well into season three now. It’s okay enough that I continue to watch, and I understand that telling a consistent story in an episodic fashion is a complex undertaking. That’s probably why I like movies better; you get the whole shebang from beginning to end in a couple of hours. Anyway, watching filled the hours with something besides the pain in my mouth.

I did have an afternoon visit from Joy, who helped distract me from my misery.

After Joy left, I headed into town. First stop was a drop-in visit to my dentist. I told him the Advil wasn’t doing much to dull my pain and asked if he could prescribe something more potent. He gave me a prescription for two different painkillers–one to take in the morning and one before bed. He also gave me the name of an over-the-counter pill I could take as needed between the other meds. I stocked up at the pharmacy and then began my self-medication journey.

Had a couple of drinks at It Doesn’t Matter, waiting for 6:00 p.m. to roll around. My friend Bhel joined me there and then accompanied me to Whiskey Girl to help me use my 500 peso voucher (it was the last night before it expired). We accomplished that mission, but it was still too early for me to go home, so we crossed the highway for a visit with Queen Victoria.

Bhel knew one of the waitresses there, so I invited her to join us at the bar and bought her a lady drink.

I knew a waitress too, and it only seemed fair for her to join me too.

I left Bhel in the safekeeping of her friend and headed home to take the bedtime painkiller. I woke up at 0300 with the pain flaring again and gave up trying to sleep more.

I took one of the daytime painkillers, did my internet routine, and then swallowed one of the “in-between” pills. That dulled the pain enough that I was able to catch a morning nap. I bailed on the Friday hike, though, again as much out of laziness as pain. Watched a couple more episodes of Manifest and suddenly realized my tooth wasn’t hurting. I’m not sure if it is the antibiotics or the pain pills, but I hope the hurt is gone for good.

It’s another SOB Friday. Tonight’s contest is being hosted at Wet Spot, so I reckon I’ll be spending some time (and money) with Aine as I enjoy the show.

Here’s hope that I’m feeling normal again tomorrow. Someone is turning 67 on Saturday.

My yesterday began in the wee dark hours of the morning when I woke with a painful tooth. I took some aspirin and went back to bed. The pain subsided enough for me to sleep until my regular 0430 wake-up time. I knew I’d have to get that tooth checked out by my dentist before it got worse. I’m a very low tolerance for pain kind of guy.

In the meantime, I went about my regular Tuesday routines.

Next up on my “to-do” list was the weekly shopping excursion to the Royal supermarket.

My sweet tooth has been causing me problems as well, and I decided to stymie my lack of willpower by refusing to purchase ice cream this week. But when I walked by the ice cream freezer, I was surprised to see a new brand in stock: Sunnyside Farms. Wow. That had been one of my favorites back in the USA. Then I noticed it was priced at “only” $6.00. The Bryers ice cream cartons displayed right next to it were selling for $9.50.

On the way home, I had my driver stop by my dentist’s office to see if I could do a walk-in appointment. The receptionist told me to have a seat, so I waved for my driver to go on without me. After about twenty minutes, Dr. Barrera finished with his scheduled client and had me come back to his office for a consult. I described my issue, and he had me sit in the dental chair for a look-see.

When I indicated which tooth was causing the pain, he said that that tooth had a crown. Hmm, well, I knew that all my crowns had been preceded by a root canal, so where was the pain coming from? He said, let’s do an x-ray and find out. The x-ray showed that a small portion of the nerve was still present, hence the pain. The swelling around the tooth was consistent with an infection which was likely responsible for the pain. He prescribed a week’s worth of antibiotics and told me to continue taking ibuprofen for the pain as needed. If this doesn’t work, he’ll go back in and do another root canal. Alrighty then.

Dr. Barrerra’s total charge for the appointment, including the x-ray, was 500 pesos (ten bucks). The pharmacy charged me 95 pesos per tablet of the antibiotic (3X a day=21 pills), so the meds were almost forty dollars. It seemed weird paying so much more for the medicine than I paid the dentist. But $50. all in is still a bargain. Here’s hoping the pills work.

My dentist is practically across the street from John’s place. I’d hit the ATM, so I had a pocketful of money and a hankering for some quality beef. It was still early, and John wasn’t in yet. One of the staff showed me some ribeyes that looked good, but she couldn’t tell me if they were US or Aussie beef. At 2300 pesos a kilo, I wasn’t settling for anything less than prime USDA meat. I’ll have to go back another time.

It was still raining hard, but I was able to catch a trike right in front of John’s to whisk me home. My helper prepared a dory fish and mixed vegetable lunch for me.

I ate, I blogged, and then I settled in to watch a couple more episodes of Manifest. I’m getting deep into season two, and I’m concerned the story may be going off the rails. I’ll watch some more to find out if my sense of direction is correct. But some things the writers have done are just plain stupid. For example, the main antagonist is a female character everyone calls “the Major.” I’ve been thinking that’s a pretty low rank for someone running a major operation on behalf of the military or government or whomever it is. I decided it was probably more of a nickname than a military rank. And then it was revealed that she had been (she’s never depicted in uniform) at one time a Major General in the Army. Hmm. No one calls a Major General “Major.” In fact, all flag officers are referred to as “General.” (Brigadier General (BG), Major General (MG), Lieutenant General (LTG), and a 4-star General (GEN). You mostly say “sir” or “ma’am” when speaking to them directly, but regardless of rank, you’d say General Jones in casual conversation or by the actual rank in more formal settings. But you would NEVER call a Major General “Major” unless you were trying to be insulting. A stupid mistake that is distracting to me. I’ll stay tuned for a while longer, so you don’t have to.

When it was time to head into town, I took my umbrella and the coupons I’d won at the SOB, including a 500 peso voucher at Whiskey Girl bar. On my way there, I saw “mama” sitting in front of the 7/11, so I crossed the highway to give her my standard 100 peso donation. Of course, the ladies at Snatchbar saw me, and I felt compelled to have a drink before continuing on my mission. I limited myself to one (and a lady drink each for the two waitresses at my table). I paid my tab and left despite the pleas for me to stay for “one more.”

I guess I could have, I arrived at Whiskey Girl shortly before 5:00, and they weren’t open yet. I had a coupon for Queen Victoria, so I crossed the highway again and had a free drink. It seems rude to accept the freebie without buying one also, so that’s what I did. When I returned to Whiskey Girl, they were STILL closed. Damn, I guess they don’t open until 6:00. Now what? Well, one thing for sure is I wasn’t going to stand out in the rain, so I headed up the road and popped into Mango’s.

Drank slowly and kept an eye on my watch, and when 6 p.m. arrived, I departed. I was relieved to see a couple of gals around the door at Whiskey Girl when I got there. Alas, they told me, “sorry sir, we are closed for cleaning.” Apparently, during the heavy rain, the water level on the street rose enough to allow seepage into the bar. And my plans for the evening were foiled.

I was near another bar I hadn’t visited in quite some time, Adam’s. I was the only customer, but one of the girls there knew me and greeted me by name. I had no recollection of who she might be. She said, “I’m Shantelle; you saw me at Bottoms Up.” Hmm. I hadn’t been to Bottoms Up since I did my review back in November of last year. Looking at the review now, I see that she was featured in the write-up. Shantelle also reminded me that we had first met when she was a waitress at Treasure Island on Baloy. “Oh yeah, I remember now,” I lied.

I, of course, bought her a lady drink. When I was done with mine, I headed back out. I was feeling a tad hungry, so my next stop was Cameltoe. I was just getting settled in when my pal Johnny arrived, so at least I had some male company for a change. (Don’t worry, I bought Lydell a drink and some food too).

I ate, I drank, I chatted, and then it was time to call it a night (8:30), so I headed home.

On the trike ride home, I remembered I had some special ice cream in the freezer. When I arrived, I gave the dogs a treat, then walked to the freezer and grabbed the carton of Butterfinger ice cream. Took a spoon from the drawer, sat down at my laptop, and wound up eating the whole damn carton. Again. I told you I had no willpower. I blame it on the rain.

Tuesday, afternoon
I'm just beginning to see
Now I'm on my way
It doesn't matter to me
Chasing the clouds away

Something, calls to me
The trees are drawing me near
I've got to find out why
Those gentle voices I hear
Explain it all with a sigh

I'm looking at myself, reflections of my mind
It's just the kind of day to leave myself behind
So gently swaying thru the fairy-land of love
If you'll just come with me and see the beauty of

Tuesday afternoon

And I’m passing time. It’s my pastime.

I’ll get to my Saturday in a minute, but first, let me post the winners from Friday’s SOB. A commenter reminded me I had neglected to do so. It’s past time that I did so. (Alright, I’ve murdered that pun enough; I’ll stop now. I promise!)

Okay, now that the old business is taken care of, let’s get to the new stuff. And by that, I mean more of the same old, same old. Ready?

I did a walk up the National Highway, which I almost immediately regretted. Not much fun dodging motorbikes and other vehicles intruding into the shoulder where I was walking. I hollered at a couple of them for all the good it did me.

I continued on the highway for a couple more kilometers so I could walk through a little beach village I like. Turned out to be a real hassle getting there because the dirt road was full of muddy lakes you had to find a way around.

Then it was back to the highway going in the opposite direction. The Saturday traffic leaving Barretto wasn’t as bad as what I had faced on the walk out (I always walk facing traffic, so the Saturday tourists coming into town were the ones driving like maniacs).

Once I was back in Barretto, I stopped by Sit-n-Bull and got a pulled pork sandwich to take home with me. Sorry, no pic. I was hungry!

A shower, a nap, and some more Manifest (up to episode 15 now) filled the afternoon hours. When it was time to head into town, I started out at IDM. A nice surprise to see Scott and Chris there after their golf outing. It was good to have some familiar faces to drink with for a change. I just stayed for a couple though; I had work to do.

I got a message about a meet-up with Johnny at Cameltoe (Kamto), so when I finished at Bar Barretto, I headed to the other side of town.

Two or three more drinks, then it was time to head on home. At least my tab was under 2000 pesos this time. I guess that’s a bargain for good food, good music, and good people to hang with.

Time for a little TV before I head out to my Sunday rendevous at Hideaway. As always, thanks for reading.

Not as crazy as I was at last week’s SOB, though. At least I remember everything that happened, and other than being stupid with money, it was nothing bad. I did, in fact, switch to San Mig Zero beer for the night, and that seemed to help me keep my wits about me.

I picked the friendly door girl to be my companion during the show.

The Aftermath event was held at The Green Room this week. When I arrived, all the usual customer tables were already full. The waitress cleared some of the working girls off the table they were seated at, and one lingered around, so I invited her to sit down and join me.

Before long, another gal I kinda know (or, more precisely, she knows me) showed up. I guess I bought her drinks back when she worked at Rum Jungle. She knows my name, but I don’t remember hers. The funny story is we were hiking way out by the shipyard in Cawag a while back, and I heard a girl calling out, “John!”. Turns out it was her, and we were walking past her house. I gave her kids cookies, of course.

These two were enjoying their drinks, and I asked if they were hungry. They were, so I ordered a take-out pizza from Sit-n-Bull (they have a waitress right there in the bar). I got up to take a pee (the comfort room is next door at Wet Spot), and on my way back to Green Room, Aine grabbed me. What could I do but invite her to join us?

One thing about buying all those lady drinks is that you get two raffle coupons for every drink you buy. I had a nice big stack of them but, amazingly, didn’t have my name drawn. A little disappointing, but what are you gonna do? At the end of the event, I tipped my three fans and my waitress 100 pesos each and headed back home with an empty wallet. (Fact of the matter is I spent “only” 5000 pesos ($100) or so on the night, 2000 at the SOB and 3000 at the Aftermath. How do you put a price tag on having a good time? And four gals went home with a little extra money in their pocket, so it’s a win for everyone. I can’t and won’t be that generous all the time, but once in a while, why not?

Earlier in the day, I led the Friday group hikers on a trek over the My Bitch trail, then down Rizal Extension, and back to Barretto at Dynamite Dick’s for some lunch and liquid refreshments.

All told, we did right around 7K, start to finish.

Speaking of milestones, this morning, when I responded to a comment on my post entitled “Comment Tarry,” it turns out that it was the 13,000th comment in the history of this blog. I think it is funny that it was on a post about comments. I just did the math, and there have been 4,304 posts here at LTG. That means each post has averaged three comments. The reality is, though, that in the early days, my posts were besieged by spam comments. I’ve got some spam blockers now that prevent that.

There are a few new bars that have opened since my Bars of Barretto series, so tonight, I plan to visit at least one of them and do a review.

Sees ya tamale then!

It’s been made clear to me that regular readers know my routines about as well as I do. I may have to change things up just to keep things interesting. Ha! I’ve failed at that for over seventeen years now, but 200 or so of you keep coming back for more every day! Thanks for that, and here is today’s installment.

I had a nice enough morning walk, but I cut it short at 6K because of some pain in the ball of my right foot. Not sure what that was about, but it was fine on today’s hike.

It was just a little further up the road where I caught a trike for home. When I got there, I was hungry, so I went to work in the kitchen.

This Facebook memory is something I wrote back in 2015:

Sometimes we wait awhile to begin our journey, but in due time we move on towards our destination. Along the way, people come, and people go, but the reality is we are all solitary travelers. And then the ride is over, and it is time to pay the piper. And the damn fare machine won’t accept the only paper money in your wallet. And so goes another morning subway commute.

Ah, I miss those carefree days in Seoul. Although, looking back, I guess they weren’t all that carefree after all. My wife was destined to break my heart a couple of months down the road.

Facebook also took me back to a photo I had posted of me and my first love:

I watched a couple of more episodes of Manifest, which puts me up to thirteen now. Still in season 1 and still interested enough to keep watching and see what happens next. Way too much time is spent on the relationship aspects of the characters. The unresolved question for me is who is the bad guy, the Feds or a private corporation? Hell, it could be both, I suppose.

A nap, some ab exercise, a shower, and it was time to head into town.

I had a free drink coupon for the Green Room, so I used it, then moved next door to Wet Spot.

So, that was my day and night. Another SOB is on tap for tonight. I’ve decided to drink San Mig Zero (low alcohol) beer this time to ensure there is no repeat of my drunken behavior last Friday.

Wish me luck!

Only one other person showed up for the Wednesday Walkers group hike yesterday. That might have something to do with the downpour that occurred about an hour before our scheduled hike. I actually didn’t expect anyone else to show, so was surprised when Brian walked up. We’d never met before, but did our introductions and headed out for a flat stroll on wet roads.

It was nice meeting Brian. A comparatively young man (mid-forties), but he’s lived in the PI for twenty years or so. He’s relatively new to Subic, so all the paths we walked were new to him, and he seemed to enjoy them. I took him up Sawmill road, across bridge #1, through a San Isidro village, crossing over the river again at bridge #2, then a couple more kilometers on Sawmill before another crossing on bridge #4, then through the Naugsal valley, into Marian Hills, and back to Alta Vista.

We were so busy yakking and getting to know one another that I didn’t think to take any photos (it’s a regular hike for me, so nothing was new). Brian took this one in the valley:

Got home, rested some, then watched another episode of Manifest. I’ve seen ten now, and it is holding my interest, but I’m also thinking, how the hell are they going to drag this out for three more seasons? It would be a good two-hour movie, but I guess we have to explore all the intricacies of every character’s relationships. Ah, well. It passes the time.

I baked up a batch of blueberry muffins (the good kind with real blueberries) to share with the Hideaway Bar girls. Stopped in at Sit-n-Bull and bought Joy some lasagna (her favorite) and some chicken fingers and lumpia for everyone else. The food seemed to be a hit.

Joy had a nice surprise for me as well–a new wallet to replace the one I lost a couple weeks ago.

After Hideaway, I dropped into Blue Butterfly to say hello to Tanya. She didn’t show up to this week’s Hash, so I wanted to check up on her. Turns out she had arrived a few minutes late, and she had the good sense not to try and hike the trail alone.

My next (and final) stop for the evening was at Cameltoe. My friend Johnny was there, and we enjoyed a nice chat and the music from my Spotify playlist. Of course, I wound up emptying my new wallet by buying multiple lady drinks and food for the girls.

It was a pretty nice day.

'Cause I've got friends in low places
Where the whiskey drowns
And the beer chases
My blues away
And I'll be okay
I'm not big on social graces
Think I'll slip on down to the oasis
Oh, I've got friends in low places

Here’s how my lazy Tuesday went down.

Oh well, life goes on. I tried out a new blueberry muffin mix yesterday.

Completed my weekly grocery shopping at Royal without incident. Bought less than usual and still spent $200. Can’t think of a better definition of inflation.

School begins here on August 22. How do I know, and why do I care? Well, I don’t particularly care, but I know because I’ve received several desperate pleas from mothers saying they need to buy school supplies, uniforms, etc., for their kids. I helped a couple that I thought were worthy. That includes the one who pleaded not for a donation but begged to give me a massage in order to earn money to outfit her son for school. I respected her willingness to work for the money rather than have it just given to her. She came over yesterday afternoon and rubbed me the right way. She sent this photo later, thanking me for helping her.

The other recipient just sent me this photo:

Facebook memories reminded me that I first met this woman six years ago:

I am reminded of the trip we made to the Philippines in September 2016. Eun Oke had a great time, but at the end of our vacation, she woke me up early one morning and said, “we don’t have a future together.” I asked her why and she told me, “because you want to retire and move here. Who wants to live in a poor country?” I responded that you could live in your rich country and pretend this world doesn’t exist, or you can live here and try to make a difference for some people. That’s what I want to do.

We wound up staying together for a few more months, but it didn’t work out for us in the long run. But she did render this drawing of me before we broke up:

Everything happens for a reason, I suppose. I enjoyed her company while it lasted. Most of the time, anyway.

I thought for sure I would be in a relationship here, for one thing. Actually, I had trained Loraine to be my caregiver, masseuse, helper, and companion. She dumped me, too, a few months before I arrived. And as regular readers know, I haven’t had a successful relationship in the four-plus years since I moved. Saw this today and thought maybe I’m going about it all wrong:

During my internet wanderings, I came across this map showing the degree of poverty in different parts of the Philippines:

I guess I’ll start calling my bar crawls charity runs. Last night’s efforts to improve the lives of thirsty bar girls included stops at It Doesn’t Matter, Cheap Charlies, Outback, and Cameltoe (Kamto).

I also took a dinner break along the way at Sit-n-Bull.

And there you have the story of my Tuesday thoughts, ramblings, and activities. It may not be a perfect life, but it is the best life I have. I’m going to enjoy it while I can. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

I visit the Hideout Bar on Wednesday and Sunday. It’s become my tradition to feed the girls and to give drinks to Joy during my visits. They all seem to appreciate it, and it’s a nice diversion from my regular routine. Hmm, I just asked myself how it’s different, and the best I could come up with is that I don’t usually buy dinner in other bars. Although sometimes I do. But not on a regular schedule, so it is a little bit different.

I had a tab to pay at Kamto, so once I finished at Hideaway, I made the walk across town to take care of business. I wound up finishing my night there. A couple of friends were there to chat with, I was handling DJ duties, and the staff was kind, attentive, and thirsty. Paid the 3000 pesos from Saturday and another 2000 for last night. Plus, what I’d spent at Hideaway. That’s big spending for me, but not really in excess of my budget. How do you put a price tag on a good time?

It’s Hash Monday, so I’m gearing up for today’s adventure. I didn’t do my usual Monday morning walk to Baloy, just wasn’t feeling it. I’m still working my way through season 1 of Manifest. It’s holding my interest so far, so there’s that. I am curious about what is causing the supernatural/paranormal events being experienced by the story’s main characters. The other relationship stuff is a little boring to me. Naturally, the story is being drawn out to fill in the episodes for the three completed seasons, with one more to come soon. We’ll see if I can hold out that long.

And oh yeah, I found this as an ad on Facebook:

Back tomorrow with a Hash report.