I usually do a street stroll for my solo Saturday walk, but yesterday I had a hankering to hike the My Bitch trail one last time this year. And once again Swan surprised me by offering to join me. This was especially nice because I get a little nervous alone up in the hills. I just can’t seem to stop my mind from thinking about all the trouble one false step could get me into. Anyway, it’s good to have a companion along on the trail.

It was a pleasant 5K stroll, and Swan seemed to enjoy it. She joined me again this morning but cautioned it was for the last time—this year. Fair enough.

Swan has been joining me for my nighttime activities as well, but advises she’ll be seeking employment in the new year so she is taking advantage of the opportunity to spend time together while she can. I usually leave the house around four and she joins me around six, so I still have time out alone. Last night I hung with Chris and Shyrel at Sloppy Joe’s.

When Swan arrived, I was ready for some dinner. We went to Mylene’s and sat down to order. The waitress advised that the kitchen was swamped with orders and it would be thirty minutes before our meal could be prepared. I didn’t want to wait, so we said next time and got up to leave. The owner apologized, but hey, I appreciated the heads up and was glad they were doing such good business. Oh, and Mike, the fellow WHS grad I met on Friday, was eating there—small-town life in a small-world scenario.

Plan B was Jewel Cafe, a couple of blocks further up the highway. And by golly, right after we sat down, the waitress advised the kitchen was very busy, and it would be thirty minutes before our food would be prepared. It seemed the fates had ruled against dining out with my girl on a Saturday night, so we went to Wet Spot instead. I did order an enchilada from Sit-n-Bull while there, but eating in a bar isn’t as appealing as it might sound.

I may have had a beer or two over my limit and had a misunderstanding (alright, I was a dick) with Swan after we arrived home. I apologized this morning, and we are back to normal again.

Facebook memories reminded me of my hill climbing in Korea six years ago.

I’ve resolved to make no resolutions for the new year.

In life, you have to be yourself–everyone else is already taken.

And my last Star Trek joke of the year:

Okay, that’s it for this year.

A morning valley walk and a pleasant evening eating and drinking at my next-door neighbor’s place. And I’ve got the pictures to prove it!

Gary came back later and gifted me a case of beer. Said he felt guilty drinking mine without reciprocation. Thanks again!

I fired up the oven and prepared some stuff to share at the cookout party next door.

There were no leftovers, so I’ll take that as a positive sign they turned out good. (The flies liked them for sure!)

The guy seated on the right also lives in Alta Vista and is currently in the early stages of building a house on my old street, Shenandoah Bend. But the coincidences didn’t end there. As we became acquainted, it turned out he also grew up in Southern California. When he mentioned he graduated from Westminster High School, I about fell out of my chair. So did I! His name is Mike Smith, and he graduated in 1966. I finished in 1973, so we didn’t attend together. Still, we shared memories of the local haunts and hangouts in our neck of the woods. He was professionally involved in the music industry and talked about many of the famous bands he worked with. I’m not sure what the odds of meeting a fellow WHS Lion in the PI might be, but it must be astronomical.

And then the music box turned into a videoke machine. That’s usually not to my liking, but the volume was kept at a reasonable level.

It was nice to stumble on home when my night was over. A little too drunk to do anything but go to sleep, but it was a nice change of pace to take a night off from the bars. Swan wants to get one of those music machines for our rooftop, so I reckon there will be some drunken singing in my future. Nothing wrong with that. Unless you’re my neighbor. But I’ll fix that by inviting him to join us.

So, I’m taking a break from the Star Trek humor today.

I guess that’s just about enough for now. I’ll post tomorrow, but then I’m taking a break from blogging until next year.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

As days go, yesterday was a good one. Swan told me she was going to go to Olongapo to look for a table and chairs for our rooftop. I suggested she check out Waltermart in Subic instead. Then I said, “Let’s walk there,” and she surprisingly agreed. So, off we went.

Swan says she’s never walked that far before, and she was pretty wiped out when we were finished. Kudos to her for making the effort. We’ll see if I can get her out again sometime in the future.

I called my driver to carry us and the furniture back home. I also had him stop at Barretto’s newest eatery so we could grab some lunch.

I guess I must hate myself if this meme on Facebook is to be believed:

After our healthy meal (Swan had chicken), we carried the new furniture up the stairs.

Swan rested most of the afternoon, and I headed out at beer o’clock for Cheap Charlies. I enjoyed some cold liquid refreshment, and then I moseyed over to John’s place to meet Swan for some dinner.

I was planning on getting a pulled pork sandwich, but as I perused the menu, the Philly cheesesteak called out to me.

We did our nightcap at Alaska Club, bought some lady drinks for our waitresses, then called it a night.

And then I woke up to another fine morning.

It’s Friday, but I won’t be going out tonight. Got an invite from the guy next door to join them for a cookout and it didn’t seem neighborly to decline. I’ll be bringing a batch of brownies and some cornbread muffins as my contribution to the meal. And beer, of course.

Hope to see you back here tomorrow for another update.

And hopefully plenty more to come. Here’s how the Eve of Christmas Eve went down.

It should come as no surprise that my day started with a hike. Saturday is one of my solo days, but I did change the trail I walk for variety’s sake, and it turned out to be a pleasant 8K jaunt.

As I am wont to do, I finished my hike at Sit-n-Bull to grab some lunch to go.

When it was time for me to head into town for my imbibing ritual, Swan said she would join me later when she finished a kitchen project (yes, she is a good cook, too.) I hadn’t visited Cheap Charlies in a while, so I started there.

I, of course, bought my two regulars, Alma and Nerissa, a lady drink. And I gave them both a generous “Merry Christmas” tip when I departed. I had seen my neighbor and fellow Hasher Simon (Leech My Nuggets) on the rooftop of BarCelona, so I decided to join him there for my next beer.

I hadn’t noticed that Simon’s wife was with him, but they graciously allowed me to join them at their table.

Swan joined me at BarCelona and met Simon and the wife, who is also a Hasher. Swan will be attending tomorrow’s special Christmas Candy Run, and I’m looking forward to having her there.

After a couple more beers, I was ready for a change of scenery, so we moved downstairs to Alaska. We were the only customers when we arrived, and as I sometimes do, I rewarded the eight dancers on stage for their efforts with a 50 peso tip. My regular waitresses also joined Swan and me at our table for a drink.

I’m happy that Swan gets along with the bargirls and doesn’t display any signs of jealousy or the like. I’ve told her she is always welcome to join me when I’m out in the bars, but if she would rather not, I’m totally fine with that, too. Swan says during Christmas break, when she has no tutoring duties to perform, she wants to spend the time with me. Ain’t that sweet?

We did our nightcap at Wet Spot and treated Aine and Irene to a lady drink before departing for home.

And now it is Christmas Eve. In Filipino culture, this is a bigger day than Christmas itself. Families gather together and stay up until midnight to celebrate the birth of Christ. Swan will be spending the night with her family in Subic. I was invited to join them, but that’s really not my thing. I’m sending a batch of brownies in my place. I’m going to maybe invite them here to my place for a New Year’s Eve celebration.

I’ll be attending the Hideaway Bar Christmas party this afternoon and will, of course, be conducting the regular Sunday feeding.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

What are those Star Trek dudes up to today?

Back with more tomorrow!

Only me and Gary showed up for the Friday group hike, but we put in our steps with a pleasant walk through Matain, Calapacuan, San Isidro, and Santo Tomas. Here’s some of what we saw along the way:

A healthy start to the day. How did it finish? Like this:

I began my Friday evening with an invite to the Alley Cats bar for their Christmas party. It’s been a while since my last visit, and there has been an almost complete turnover in staff. The same owners and the dart players were all familiar, so catching up with folks was nice. The party was supposed to start at five, with a tournament at six. I knew I wouldn’t be participating in dart action, so I planned to meet up with Swan when I left Alley Cats. Alas, there was a delay in the food prep, and folks didn’t start eating until six, so I bailed out on the best part of the party. I did at least contribute a batch of brownies to the mix.

Swan messaged that she was with some friends at BarCelona and asked that I meet them there, so off I went.

After a couple of beers with the group, my missing the food at Alley Cats began to invade my thoughts in the form of hunger pangs. I suggested to Swan that we pay our tab and give Mugshots a try. And that is just what we did.

I’m a very infrequent visitor to Mugshots, even though it is a nice venue with a good kitchen. We ordered up fried chicken wings and buffalo wings. Both were quite tasty. Once again I was surprised that the bar staff, waitresses, and owner all greeted me by name. I mean, it’s nice to be recognized, but a little disconcerting for some reason. Anyway, no other customers during our visit, which doesn’t bode well for a Friday night. Hopefully they did better later.

As is our custom, we headed for home after Mugshots and arrived around 8:30. I caught an episode of “Shameless” then hit the hay.

Oh, speaking of “Shameless,” my fellow traveler Scott sent me a clip from a Season 9 episode (I’m only on Season 6) featuring the late Bob Saget remembering his Navy days in Subic Bay. It’s hilarious and is worth the three-minute investment of time:

And now it is Saturday. I began the day with a hot cup of coffee and this view from my desk:

We shall see what the rest of Saturday holds in store. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

And a bonus pun:

I was going to use Jackson Brown’s “The Road” for today’s song, but discovered I’ve used it before. So, here’s another old favorite from the days of my childhood listening along with my daddy’s record player.

There wasn’t much about yesterday that will make it memorable, mostly just more of the same old, same old. A boring 6K solo street walk to start the day, lasagna for lunch, a blog post, and a nap. My plans for the evening included visiting Whiskey Girl to wish my favorites, Jenn and Kim, a merry Christmas. I also baked up a batch of brownies to share with the crew.

Whiskey Girl doesn’t open until 6:00 p.m., so I sat my ass down at Sloppy Joe’s to wait it out.

My pal Chris and his gal Shie were there, so I had some company I didn’t have to pay for. Chris got control of the music remote and asked what I wanted to hear. I recalled that the forty-first anniversary of the death of Marty Robbins had recently occurred, so I suggested we play one of his songs as a tribute. Judging that the Sloppy crowd might not appreciate old fashioned country western music, I selected a more mainstream tune, “Don’t Worry”:

The song is from 1961, and my father was a big Marty Robbins fan. I still remember him coming home from work, putting an album on the record player, opening a beer, and sitting back in his easy chair to relax and enjoy the music. It’s funny the things you remember from your childhood when some days it’s hard to remember your name.

So, beers were drank, music was played (I also requested some Doors songs), and time passed. A few minutes before six, I headed up the highway to take care of my business at Whiskey Girl. I arrived a couple of minutes early, but the sliding steel door was still closed and locked. Some guy did arrive on a motorbike right at six to open the door, but since none of the staff were waiting to get inside, I knew it was pointless to pursue the effort.

Meanwhile, I got a message from Swan saying she was going to meet Aine at Wet Spot at 7 p.m. Apparently, Aine had asked to “borrow” some money, and Swan had consented to accommodate some, but not all, of the request. What Swan does with her money is none of my business, but we both know it is unlikely ever to be repaid. Anyway, with my Whiskey Girl plans foiled, I told Swan I would see her at Wet Spot.

I arrived at Wet Spot and put my “buy one, get one” coupon to work. I bought Irene, my waitress, a lady drink but when Aine approached the table, I told her Swan would be arriving soon, and she took the hint and departed. When Swan got there, Aine came back, but then one of her regulars arrived, and I was more than happy to have him buying Aine’s lady drinks all night. I used my savings (and a 10% discount coupon) to order dinner for me, Swan and Irene for delivery from Sit-n-Bull. The brownies I’d baked were shared with all the girls and seemed appreciated. We drank until a little after eight, Swan slipped Aine the “loan” in the CR, and we departed for home. I watched another episode of “Shameless” and then enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

As I say, there was nothing special about the day, but nothing wrong with it either. As far as I remember anyway.

My buddy Scott provided me a map of the portions of Kalaklan Ridge that we have Hashed in the past.

I also seemed to recall that a group that had hiked from Barretto to Angeles City (80K) had used the Kalaklan Ridge trail. Turns out my memory was mostly faulty. They went thisaway:

This YouTube video of that adventure is a good watch:

The days when I had the physical ability to tackle a hike this are just a memory now.

In checking for title duplication, I came across this post from 2007 telling the story of my boss’ death and the obituary I wrote. Not all memories are happy ones.

Speaking of memories, Facebook let loose an onslaught of them today:

Time moves on, and perhaps one day, I will look back at the memories I’m making now.

And I didn’t forget your Star Wars Trek pun:

Alright then, it’s time to leave the past behind and get on with the rest of today. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!

This is my last best opportunity to post today, so let’s get to it. Luckily, there isn’t much to say. The early start is dictated by my participation with the Wednesday Walkers at 0830 this morning, to be followed this afternoon with the rare dart league appearance. Yeah, I got drafted to fill in again. Haven’t thrown since the last time I was asked, so I’ll likely live up to my nickname of “better than a forfeit.” We shall see.

Yesterday saw me complete my grocery shopping chore, supplementing my Royal experience with a trip to Pure Gold as well.

I also finally made a successful ATM cash withdrawal. Speaking of which, I visited the BPI bank branch where the ATM didn’t dispense any money, but my US bank account had the funds withdrawn. I assumed it would be an easy fix (just show me the money), but it doesn’t work that way. There was “complaint form” paperwork to complete and an investigation to be conducted, and if my complaint is validated, the money will be returned to my account “in two weeks.” Ironically, I had an uncle who was a bank robber. Never expected the bank to rob me, though.

My lazy afternoon included beginning Season 6 of “Shameless.” I’m sticking with it even though the show is seemingly all about sex, booze, and drugs. Hmm, I guess I just answered why. But seriously, despite its repetitive plot lines, the underlying stories keep it interesting.

And then me and my gal hoofed it out to Baloy Beach to spend some time on the Kokomo floating bar.

When we first arrived, there was only one table of tattooed drunks, but the music was blasting at insane levels, and I was thinking this was going to be a short visit. But they departed before I downed my first beer, then the volume went down, and the song selection improved. Go figure.

Swan drank red wine, I had San Mig Light (about three bottles per each glass of wine), and we soaked up the on-the-water ambiance as we passed the time.

We enjoyed dinner at D’Kudos, then caught a trike for home. Life is good!

Yesterday featured another fruitless quest for cash, a Hideaway feeding, and some quality time spent floating on the water. Yep, just another day in the life here in my version of paradise.

I don’t know if it is related to the enhanced breathing, but I’ve been feeling a tad more energetic of late. Hence, when contemplating my Sunday solo walk, I was willing to make the perilous journey on the National Highway to SBMA (the old Navy base) in an attempt to extract funds from the ATM at Harbor Point Mall. It had been quite some time since I’d walked this route because the heavy traffic and narrow shoulders made it less enjoyable than most of my hikes. Still, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Coincidentally, Facebook memories reminded me of a walk I did three years ago where I took a photograph every one thousand steps. That may have been the last time I used that technique (nowadays, I use the 1.6K method), so I thought, why not give it a shot this time?

Ready? Here goes:

So, I get to the ATM at the BPI bank branch, insert my card, punch in the numbers, the machine makes the usual whirring sound as it counts the money, and then–nothing. A receipt comes out saying the cash could not be dispensed. I turned the machine over to the person waiting behind me and wished them good luck. I waited to see what would happen, and her transaction went through. Okay then, I’ll try again. She suggested I only withdraw 10,000 pesos, so I gave that a try. Nope, no dice. What’s up with that? So, I got home and checked my bank account, and it showed 30,000 pesos in ATM withdrawals. It seems BPI withdrew my funds and then didn’t dispense any money to me. Hopefully, they will self-correct the error; otherwise, I’ll visit the branch tomorrow.

Frustrating, to be sure, but nothing to be done but make the best of it. I did that by paying a visit to the Burger King inside the mall and having myself a meal.

I briefly considered walking back home, but I took a taxi instead. These are unmetered taxis, so I always ask the fare first, and when the driver said 500 pesos, I told him I usually only pay 400 and started to get out. He came back with 450, and I said okay. When I arrived home I gave him a 500 peso note and told him, Merry Christmas, keep the change.

Later in the afternoon, I baked a batch of brownies for the Hideaway girls and had their desired meals delivered from Jewel Cafe.

I left a little earlier than usual so I could enjoy the sunset from the Arizona floating bar.

The floating bar was very busy when I first arrived, and once again there was a large group of free spenders having a good time. I guess I was either remembered or putting out a vibe, because none of the unoccupied girls wasted anytime trying to extract lady drinks from me. Didn’t matter to me, I had company on the way.

We stayed until dark, then headed ashore. Had a nightcap at Oasis, then triked home for some smoothies and a little Netflix entertainment. I’ve been sleeping better, too–over seven hours a night the past few days.

And now it is Hash Monday. The trail is in Subic, and I’ve already been involved in the scouting, so I know what I’m in for. I’m going to take the easy route and avoid the jungle I encountered on Friday’s hike.

See you all tomorrow.

A 10K walk to Subic town and back was pretty much all I had in me, but I got it done. Well, everything except the purpose of the walk:

I did take note of a new eatery nearby:

I finished the walk at Sit-n-Bull and brought home an El Padre burrito as a reward for my efforts, fruitless though they proved to be.

The highlight of the evening hours was dinner at John’s place with Swan.

I’ve had worse Saturdays, that’s for sure.

I guess you have to give credit where credit is due, but Biden is doing the work of three men.

Hmm, why didn’t I think of that?

Anyhoo, another quest for cash this morning. I’ll share that adventure tomorrow. I also have the Sunday Hideaway feeding ahead of me, and I’m thinking a return visit to the Arizona floating bar might be just what I need. Stay tuned!

My four days of doctor-mandated post-operative rest have ended, and I celebrated by hitting the road.

This morning, I successfully completed my first hill climb in over a month with the Friday group. It wasn’t easy, but it never was. Even my fellow hikers commented that I was breathing quietly these days.

As for my nighttime activities, I was never all that much incapacitated, but I’m definitely back fully in the swing of things. I started my evening at Sloppy Joe’s, where I reviewed the status of my remaining SOB coupons. Two were due to expire at midnight–a “buy one, get one” at Green Room and a five hundred peso voucher at Whiskey Girl. I planned to move next door to Green Room, drinking for an hour until 6 p.m. when Whiskey Girl opened for business. I finished my third Sloppy beer, said goodnight to Troy and Chris, and headed for Green Room.

I settled into a seat at my favorite table and ordered a Zero. As time went on (and beers went down), I began to reconsider my plan. Five hundred pesos of free customer drinks is a great bargain, but it requires walking to Whiskey Girl to use it. And it was happy hour until 9 p.m. at WG, which meant my beers were half-price. There was no way I would be able to drink five hundred pesos worth of beer in one night. Plus, my regulars there would be expecting me to quench their thirst for lady drinks. Doing the math, I determined that staying at Green Room doing the “buy one, get one” for the remainder of my time out was the best deal. I ordered some lumpia for the girls to share, had a GRO backrub, and enjoyed watching the girls play pool.

When it came time to pay the piper, I was surprised that my tab was a little over a thousand pesos. I had the waitress double-check the amount, and she said, “Three lady drinks, ten beers, and I was charged for five.” Wow! Turns out I’m drinking better than normal! I don’t usually count my beers, but ten in one sitting is quite a feat. I wasn’t feeling any pain, but I wasn’t falling down drunk either. That’s the advantage of a low-alcohol beer.

Back home, in bed at 8:30 and woke up at 4:00. Just like the good ol’ days. It’s nice to be back!

Things are back to normal with Swan, too. She’s joining me at the SOB tonight and bringing along a girlfriend. Should be fun!

And here is one of life’s mysteries I’ve often contemplated:

And then there is this:

Oh well, bad humor is also the normal around here. I hope you’ll come back for more!

It occurs to me that even on the most mundane of days, I am living a life of comfort and ease. Sometimes, it is worthwhile to take a moment and embrace the goodness that surrounds me. I am a lucky man, indeed.

First up was the trek to Hideaway Bar for the Wednesday feeding. I made stops at Shamboli’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts along the way.

With the feeding mission accomplished, it was time to plan my next move. Initially, I considered doing the Arizona floating bar since it was practically next door. But I noted it was going to be dark soon, and for me, it is the bay views that make the floating experience worthwhile. I’ll come back when I can start earlier.

Swan joined me at Oasis when her church service was over. When we were ready to move on, I planned to introduce her to the Green Room, but alas, all the good seats were taken. So we went next door to Wet Spot instead. I had some coupons from last week’s SOB to expend and elected to use the “buy a lady drink, get a customer drink” ticket. As usual, I was buying lady drinks for my waitress Irene and my old pal Aine, who is Swan’s bestie when we visit. I got two beers for every round of lady drinks, so it was a pretty good deal for everyone.

I also had a coupon for a free blow job shooter and Irene volunteered to be the recipient.

I ordered some finger foods from the Sit-n-Bull waitress for the girls to share (I had a 15% discount coupon to use).

Everything was fine when we first got home. I sat on the couch with Swan and turned on the TV to watch some “Shameless.” And then something happened.

Not sure how this will resolve itself. I took a long walk this morning to think things over, and I’m still not clear on how to proceed. I’m definitely reminded that I despise the drama that seems to be inherent in relationships. Perhaps I’m better off alone.

UPDATE: We talked. She thought I was mad and so she was giving me “space.” I told her that doesn’t work with me and that it is better to talk it through at the time. Perhaps we have learned our lesson.

Well, when you are small-minded, everything seems large. And being alive is always a big thing. So, a post about my evening on Baloy Beach and my morning dog walk is HUGE! Alright, who am I fooling? Still, it is what it is, and that’s better than nothing, so here goes.

After some internal debate about where to do my beer time, I elected to start out at the Kokomo’s floating bar. The 2K walk to get there was pretty much the extent of my exercise for the day.

Part of the reason I chose the Kokomo floater was to try and assess whether I like it better than the new Arizona floater. For example, Arizona charges me 125 pesos for a San Miguel Zero, my preferred beer. Kokomo doesn’t serve Zero (despite my repeated requests) and charges me 120 for a San Mig Light. Arizona wins that category. As for the vibe, it is still too close to call. I thought the music was too loud yesterday at Kokomo, and the playlist wasn’t really to my liking. At the Grand Opening of Arizona, I was allowed to play the music from my Spotify app and was rewarded with a couple of free beers as a thank-you gesture. Yeah, I’m leaning toward Arizona, and after the feeding tonight at Hideaway, I’ll pop in to confirm that judgment.

Oh, and I had a special guest join me during my time aboard.

When my stomach said, “Feed me,” we headed ashore and grabbed some seats at Treasure Island.

Early to home, early to bed, early to rise.

Doctor’s orders that I take it easy through tomorrow, so I bailed on the Wednesday Walkers group hike. But I wanted to get some morning exercise, so I did an elongated dog walk.

Back home and nothing much to do to fill the hours I normally hike. I watched a couple more episodes of “Shameless” and baked a cake.

I’m not sure why, but Swan wanted me to try a new look.

I always do a quick search in an attempt to avoid duplicating post titles. A week after my move here in May 2018, I wrote a post called Living large. And today, I am Livin’ large. That’s different enough for my purposes. I also came across the post about my first-ever Hash run. That brought back some fun memories, even though the woman I was with that day wound up scamming me for a thousand bucks and then ghosted me. Ah, tuition in the school of hard knocks can be expensive. But I learned my lesson. Mostly.

No more bleeding from the nose, and my sinuses feel almost completely clear. There’s a good chance I’ll be back to post again tomorrow. Although I do have to cross the highway tonight. Life goes on.