More or less.

First up was the Friday group hike. We took a Jeepney to the far side of Subic and commenced our journey on Philseco Road, then over the hill to barangay Balaybay, finishing in downtown Castillejos. We had a new hiker visiting from the USA with us, and he struggled some due to the heat and improper footwear. Also, one of our regular old-timers was experiencing some fatigue and weariness during the hike, possibly related to low pressure. Both of them made it down to the other side of the hill climb but took frequent rest stops along the way. Once we were back on the pavement, they bid us farewell and grabbed a trike. I saw both later in the afternoon, and there didn’t appear to be any repercussions from their ordeal. It all goes with the adventure!

We had to wait on the busy highway in Castillejos to catch a ride home. The first few Jeepneys and busses were all filled to capacity. Finally, one came along that we could all squeeze inside, and the long ride back to Barretto went without incident.

I didn’t have much time to kill once I got back home. I got showered up, had a bite to eat, and then headed out to the VFW for the annual Hash meeting that began at 2:00 p.m.

There were no changes in leadership or other excitement during the meeting. I did make a motion that Subic Hashers, with over 1000 runs (there are only four), should have the weekly Hash fee (300 pesos) waived in recognition of their longstanding loyalty and achievement. It passed! So, there was that. This being a Hash meeting, beer was available, and I had four of them during the ninety-minute duration of my participation. Then, we moved on to It Doesn’t Matter for some after-meeting comradery.

So, I’m not much of a day drinker, much preferring my usual 5-8 p.m. window. Starting early means I finish early and drink more in the process (twelve bottles of Zero yesterday). I did have an early dinner of chicken nuggets from the IDM kitchen. Home by 6:30, had some sugar-free jello, surfed the net, and went to bed before 8:30. Swan joined in a Hash girls’ night out and seemed to enjoy herself judging by the pictures. She was beside me when I awoke this morning, so all must be well in the world.

My Friday weigh-in has me at 235.5 pounds, down 31.6 since November 1. My goal is 199 pounds, so I’m not quite halfway there.

So, here are some memories from this date in history:

Eight years ago, I blogged about my health issues on an ill-fated trip to the Philippines to ring in the new year in a post called Stayin’ Alive. This was before I was diagnosed with COPD. My Korean doctor wanted to hospitalize me and pump me full of antibiotics. I bought a nebulizer instead, which kept me going until I got the proper diagnosis and treatment at the Army hospital on Yongsan. That post has now been updated as an episode in The Story of My Life.

So, I went looking for the book this morning, and it was in the spare room where Swan stores her things. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve frequently seen her reading my poetry books. My quest was to find the poem I posted here on LTG a couple of days ago.

And when I was preparing to take that photo above, I noticed that the page corner had been folded down. I asked Swan about that, and she said she always likes to mark her favorites that way. Wow! A girl with the same taste in poetry as me! What are the odds?

It’s good to be alive to remember those days from the past and great to be alive to make new ones!

I feel sorry for the true believers that trust the lying “experts.”

Today’s YouTube video is from The Filipina Pea, and I really enjoyed this one about the “ten bizarre things that will shock you about the Philippines.” Well, I’ve been living here going on seven years now, and I’ve seen most of these up close and personal. It made me smile when she mentioned the half-finished buildings I frequently photograph. And she has a strong rant about the litter culture here. Give it a watch; she’s easy on the eyes!

Now, it is humor time:

So, that was yesterday, and yesterday’s gone. And so am I until tomorrow!

A busy day in store, so here’s a brief post to tide you over until I’m back.

Swan and I enjoyed some pre-dinner drinks at The Green Room before our dinner date with the neighbors. I played a game of pool and got my ass handed to me by our waitress, Chu. She’s an outstanding player, so I can take some comfort in that.

At the appointed hour (6:30), we arrived at our dining venue, the Hops and Brews Beer Garden.

I was surprised to see my other neighbor, Martin, was also there with his bride. Martin is only in town a few days each month (he works in Manila), so it was good to catch up. So, all the residents of Bryce Street were together in the Beer Garden. What are the odds of that?

Jeff is just home from a holiday visit to Texas, and he brought an interesting table game back with him. So, after our meal we all dived in.

When we had all had enough, we headed for Bryce Street. No trike for us, we hitched a ride with Martin and Joss. It was a good night out on the town.

I also got a congratulatory message from my Fitbit app:

Eight years ago, I had just returned to Korea from a visit to the Philippines where I had suffered a couple of severe breathing attacks.

The good news is I’m breathing great these days. Haven’t used my nebulizer in months.

Three years ago, I posted this poem on Facebook:

Where are you hiding my love?
Each day without you will never come again.
Even today you missed a sunset on the ocean,
A silver shadow on yellow rocks I saved for you,
A squirrel that ran across the road,
A duck diving for dinner.
My God! There may be nothing left to show you
Save wounds and weariness
And hopes grown dead,
And wilted flowers I picked for you a lifetime ago,
Or feeble steps that cannot run to hold you,
Arms too tired to offer you to a roaring wind,
A face too wrinkled to feel the ocean's spray.

--James Kavanaugh

And as regular readers know, I have finally found her!

Today’s YouTube video is a nice tour of the Subic Bay Freeport Zone (aka SBMA or the old Navy base). I visit weekly for shopping and occasionally for dining. If I had a car, I’m sure I’d visit more often. And yes, I’ve hiked through that area with the horse stables.

To the humor then:

Alrighty then, I’ve got the Friday group hike to do this morning. And then, at 2:00 p.m., we have the annual Hash leadership meeting. When the meeting is done, I’ll meet Swan at It Doesn’t Matter, where the Hash girls will hang out during our Hash business. Hence, it is now or never to get a post up today, and by golly, I’ve done it!

A good reminder to enjoy it while you can. Here’s how I kicked things off in 2025:

Just before we departed San Narciso yesterday, we took a quick tour of a beachfront property for sale.

So, the price is 3.5 million pesos or around $60,000 USD. It is not currently up to my living standards, so more money would have to be invested to make it a possibility. We’d also want to construct a place where locals and tourists could sit and enjoy beachside beverages and food. At this point, we are still in the dreaming stages, but you never know. Foreigners can’t own property here, so the purchase would have to be in Swan’s name. (UPDATE: I just checked with Swan, and she says it is too expensive for an untitled property. She also prefers to find something closer to home.)

It was good to be back on familiar turf after being gone since last year. Having missed our Tuesday routine of visiting the Kokomo’s floating bar on Baloy Beach, we made up for lost time last evening.

One of my goals for the new year is to create a revised Wednesday routine that includes a seldom-visited bar during my night out. We kicked things off last night with a visit to Harley’s for our nightcap. And we killed a second bird by having some dinner while we were there.

Back home again and enjoying my pudding when a big dogfight broke out between Buddy and Lucky. Apparently, there is some jealousy over Swan’s female dog. It was hard to break them up, and both dogs had battle scars. That was my last straw with Lucky. He will live out his days in the yard downstairs as he is no longer welcome in my house. I considered having him put to sleep, but I can’t quite bring myself to take his life. Yet.

Speaking of starting things off right, I wanted to make my first solo walk of the year a good one, so this morning, I pushed myself to see how far I could go. I documented the effort with a photo every one thousand steps. Here’s what it looked like:

Fourteen kilometers is about twice the distance I usually walk. I don’t think I’ll be doing this on a regular basis, but I do want to up my game some. My fantasy of walking the 29K to Mope in San Narciso got a reality check this morning. I would have been only halfway there and out of gas. Maybe an hour or two of resting would have reinvigorated me, but I doubt it.

And that brings you up to date on how I’ve kicked off the newest year I’ve had the pleasure of living in.

Nine years ago, I was doing what folks do when in Itaewon:

And here’s a timely reminder as we begin a new year:

Alright, we’ll lighten things up with today’s YouTube video. We haven’t heard from Mikey Bustos for a while. Enjoy!

And some more of my so-called humor:

The rest of Day 2 awaits. We’ll be meeting the neighbors, Jeff and Vina, for dinner at Hops and Brews later. And I haven’t been to Barretto since 2024, so I’m looking forward to see if anything has changed. I’ll be back tomorrow with more of this goodness. You are welcome!

And the “first time hearing” reaction:

I’m glad to be alive! On a whim, I decided to welcome in the new year on the beach, so when the grocery shopping was done, we dropped off the goods and headed for San Narciso.

We took a short nap, then got ourselves ready to celebrate the coming new year.

We took our seats at a table fronting the stage. The only other customers there departed shortly after we arrived. As we perused the menu offerings, I was surprised to see this:

Interestingly, Mula only sells wine by the bottle, not the glass. So, naturally we ordered the cheese platter and Swan got her two glasses of wine for not much more than we would have paid in Barretto, plus all those snacks. Best bargain I’ve seen in quite a while.

The band started playing, and we had their full attention as the only members of the audience. The female lead singer teased Swan a little and sang a good mix of romantic songs during their first set.

We went back to Mope after Mula, enjoyed some more beers, and chatted with Matt, the Aussie owner of Mope. I also met another guest named Jim, who has Hashed in Subic in the past and hopes to do so again soon. Anyway, I was in high spirits by now, but not so high that I didn’t remember some awesome-sounding dessert selections on the Mula menu, particularly the ice cream sundae and the brownie a la mode. Our plan was to go back to our room and set the alarm to wake us shortly before midnight. And seeing as how it was the last night of the year, I detoured back to Mula for some takeout dessert. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted, so I ordered both, thinking Swan and I would share. But she went to bed as soon as we got back in our room, so I had no choice but to eat them both myself.

When the alarm sounded, we got out of bed, dressed, and headed for the beach to watch the fireworks.

When the fireworks were done, so were we. Back to the room and back to bed. I didn’t wake again until 6:30, which is sleeping in for me. Swan wanted to head to the beach and look for a sunrise, and I told her I would join her a little later (I had to see what I’d been missing on the internet).

When Swan had finished satisfying her toes in the sand urge, she joined me, and we shared a breakfast (I ate the bacon and eggs; she had the toast and jam). Owner Matt stopped by our table to greet us. I’d met Matt on my previous Mope outings, but something has changed with him, and not for the better. A couple of months ago, he had a crash on his motorcycle, and his injuries resulted in him losing a leg.

In addition to being a motorcycle enthusiast, Matt was an avid surfer (his resort was built to cater to the surfing crowd). He told me he would be fitted with an artificial limb soon, and he has every intention of resuming his passion for riding the board shortly thereafter. So much respect for this guy!

After breakfast, we headed out for a morning stroll.

And now I am back home and dashing out a blog post before heading out to visit the Kokomo’s floating bar. I haven’t been there since last year!

A special memory for today:

Today’s episode in The Story of My Life is a post from New Year’s Day twenty years ago called “Journey Through The Past.” I had just returned from a cross-country drive after visiting Oklahoma, one of the states I’ve called home. During the trip, I reflected on the life I had lived there and how I had failed to recognize all the things that were great about it, but I had never fully appreciated it until looking back all those years later. I resolved with my pending move to Korea; I would not make that mistake again. And, of course, I did blow it in a similar fashion while spending my final year before retirement, missing my past life in Seoul and looking towards my future life in the Philippines, while forgetting to fully appreciate the life I was living in Pyeongtaek. It’s a bit disconcerting when your own words come back and bite you in the ass.  

In today’s YouTube video, George takes you on a Sunday stroll through Barretto. I haven’t had a chance to watch it myself yet, but if you are curious have a look.

And now for some laughter:

Okay then, I’m running late. Meeting up with my pal Steve and his gal on the floater so time to get myself on the road. I’ll tell you all about tomorrow!