Greetings from Bauang, La Union. I enjoyed reading some of the history of this area at the link and got a chuckle when Swan said the name sounds similar to the Tagalog word for garlic (bawang). The four-hour drive from Barretto went without incident, although the traffic was heavy at times after we exited the expressway. I’m staying at the GO Resort once again, a clean, comfortable, and reasonably priced lodging.

Unlike Barretto, there aren’t many bars around here. The one nearest our hotel, Footloose, is where we tend to go to fill some evening hours. On Friday, Footloose does an SOB-like thing: All you can drink from 4:00 until 7:00 and dinner for 650 pesos. They don’t have a dance competition, but for about thirty minutes, the waitresses and GROs go up on the stage and strut their stuff.

And then they finish their performance by doing something you NEVER see in Barretto—they strip naked and dance around the stage, showing their stuff. Personally, I prefer leaving something to the imagination, but that’s just me.

Neither the hotel nor Footloose Bar serves San Miguel Zero beer, so it was a Light night for me. There were more calories and more alcohol in each bottle. A wise man would have reduced his intake accordingly, but no one has ever mistaken me for a wise man.

For some reason, I don’t remember much after we left Footloose. Swan told me that we had come back to the hotel, and I continued drinking with Dave and Jo at the hotel bar. She said I also ordered a mango and ice cream dessert, and that really surprised me. I don’t like mangoes much, and the dessert menu includes a banana split. Of course, since I don’t even remember ingesting those calories, it doesn’t matter what I ate. Another reason it doesn’t matter is that Swan told me when we got back to the room, I threw up (not on the floor, thankfully). Yeah, it was one of those nights. I’ll be doing a hangover Hash this afternoon.

I can do better and I will.

I did a two-minute video of my walk to the hotel restaurant for my breakfast this morning:

When I got back to the room, the door was wide open. I thought it must be housekeeping, but when I looked inside, there was no one there. Thankfully, my laptop was still prominently displayed on the table. I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, and then Swan watched the video above and observed that I hadn’t closed the door behind me when I left for breakfast. Damn, it sucks to be stupid.

Today’s memory is from eight years ago:

That was also the day I learned I had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). I wrote about that experience in The Story of My Life here at LTG. I’m glad I lived to tell about it. Let’s see how long I can keep it going.

I really enjoyed today’s YouTube video from the Filipina Pea. She discusses some quirks about aspects of the culture and personalities of the Filipino people. And she looks good doing it!

Some stuff that may make you smile:

That’s all for now. Time to get out of the room and walk around some.

Until next week. We are heading out to La Union for the weekend to participate in the LUH3 2000th Hash run. Getting out of town for a couple of days will be nice.

The last day in Barretto went down like this: a solo walk to Waltermart and beyond, a visit to Dr. Jo for chelation treatment, dinner at Jewel Cafe, beers at Cheap Charlies, and a nightcap at Green Room.

At 1.6-kilometer intervals, the walk looked like this;

So, 6.4 kilometers found me on the river in Mangan-Vaca, and I celebrated by making a video of the riverwalk.

Damn, I need to do something about that cough. Sorry!

I walked another kilometer down the highway and passed a trike stand in Calapandayan. A trike driver shouted out, offering me a ride. I was going to shrug him off, but he somehow knew I lied in Alta Vista. Damn, I never catch trikes in this area, how did he know that? Upon reflection, I surmise he must have taken Swan and me home from the Subic Marketplace sometime in the past. Anyway, I accepted his offer to drive me home.

Next up was the visit to Dr. Jo.

Anyhoo, the chelation treatment was just an injection this time. Next week will be the IV drip. I asked if there were ways to measure the effectiveness of the stuff pumping in my veins, and Dr. Jo said my significantly reduced blood pressure was a good indicator that it was working. In another month or so, I’ll do the lab work to see if my blood sugar has diminished.

After my appointment concluded, we walked up the highway for an early dinner at Jewel.

Then, we were off to the seldom-visited Cheap Charlies.

Some of the Hash gang dropped in while we were there.

We crossed the highway (always the most dangerous part of my day, especially in the dark and after a few beers) and enjoyed our nightcap at Green Room (I had another buy one, get one coupon to spend).

And then I had another moment of weakness. The Sit-n-Bull waitress came by, and I asked if pecan pie was in stock. It was, and I took a slice home with me. And, of course, I smothered it in ice cream.

Will I ever learn? Maybe, maybe not. I’ll probably declare my weekend out of town “cheat days.”

Some memories from this day in history courtesy of Facebook:

My ride to La Union is on the way, so I need to finish this quick. Let’s do Mikey for our YouTube today:

I hope I haven’t posted that before. Oh well, still worth three minutes to see it again. Some humor before I go:

Alright, time for me to hit the road. I’ll see you from La Union!

The steps I took to get through another day included the group hike with the Wednesday Walkers, a journey into town to visit some bars, and an overindulgence with bedtime dessert. Here is some of what I saw along the way:

A short video from the trail:

Sorry for the abrupt ending; the video shut off without my realizing it.

I had some SOB coupons to use or lose, so later in the afternoon, Swan and I journeyed into town. I made a short video of the path we frequently take out of Alta Vista:

To kick things off, we used a “buy one, get one” coupon at Sloppy Joe’s. Four beers later (two free!), we moved next door to Alaska Club, where I had a 500-peso voucher to spend. We ended the evening at Wet Spot with yet another “buy one, get one” deal. I did two and two, which added up to ten for the night. Yep, time to go home. We brought some take-out from Sit-n-Bull to bring with us (pizza for Swan and a chicken quesadilla for me).

Maybe the beer impacted my better judgment, but I asked Swan to prepare me a piece of apple strudel with some ice cream on top for dessert. Oops!

Just before I hit the hay, I looked out the window and viewed this message from God:

So, this morning, I took a longer than usual 9K solo hike. And for some reason, I thought of a long-ago Korean girlfriend along the way. And in another odd twist, this photo appeared in my Facebook memories today:

My journey through the blog archives continues, and I came upon this post from March 29, 2005, in which I recount my discovery of a blog that remains a daily read for me nearly twenty years later–Big Hominid’s Hairy Chasms. In that Good Friday post, Kevin Kim talks about the concept of “putting it down,” a philosophy that still resonates with me even if I fail to adhere to those principles. Give it a read and see if you agree.

I’m no foodie, but if today’s YouTube video is to be believed, renowned chef Gordon Ramsay is a fan of Filipino food, even preferring it over Thai delicacies. I’m skeptical, but what do I know?

And now for some funny business:

There’s a weekend adventure on the horizon, so stick around. I can’t promise it will get any more interesting, but at least the scenery will change. I’ll tell you more about it tomorrow.

Motion pictures
on my TV screen,
A home away from home,
and I'm livin' in between
But I hear some people
have got their dream.
I've got mine.

I hear the mountains
are doin' fine,
Mornin' glory
is on the vine,
And the dew is fallin',
the ducks are callin'.
Yes, I've got mine.

Well, all those people,
they think
they got it made
But I wouldn't buy,
sell, borrow or trade
Anything I have
to be like one of them.
I'd rather
start all over again.

Well, all those headlines,
they just bore me now
I'm deep inside myself,
but I'll get out somehow,
And I'll stand before you,
and I'll bring
a smile to your eyes.
Motion pictures,
motion pictures.

Tuesdays are my blah days (yeah, even more than the others), but yesterday was a tad more interesting than usual. I didn’t say exciting, so don’t get your hopes up. Anyway, here’s how things went down.

My laptop has some keyboard issues. For some reason, the “c” and the “v” keys only function intermittently (I just now had to tap the “c” a few times for it to work). Just my luck; it couldn’t be a key I rarely use, like the comma. Oh, well. Since I needed to go to immigration anyway, I took the laptop to a nearby repair shop in Olongapo. The technician ordered whatever part is required, and I’ll bring the computer back on Thursday for the fix.

Next up was the grocery shopping. First stop, the YBC supermarket.

I tried to pause at 48 seconds, but when I hit restart, it created another video instead. Oh well, the first one is enough for today.

I checked some more prices compared to Royal, and YBC is cheaper on everything. We are going to expand our shopping there and use Royal to fill in the gaps for what we can’t get at YBC.

We finished this week’s grocery restock at Royal and then sent my driver and helper back home to offload. Swan and I had other business to attend to. We began by hoofing it over to Harbor Point Mall to resolve issues with my phone. I paid for a premium unlimited data plan through Globe (at a premium price of 3800 pesos a month), but for the past several days, whenever Wi-Fi was unavailable, I couldn’t get internet using data. The helpful attendant at the Globe store confirmed my account was in good standing and then asked to see my phone. She removed the SIM card, put it in her phone, and the data connection worked. Then we tried in Swan’s phone, and it also worked there. So, the problem seems to be with my phone. When we reinserted the SIM, my data worked again. I guess if this happens again, I’ll take out the SIM and put it back (I just now had to let spellcheck put the “see” in back and spellcheck). So, problem kinda sorta resolved.

Meanwhile, Swan had been looking over a price list and asked if I had ever received a free phone. I responded, what are you talking about? Well, it turns out that as part of the Premium Plan Rewards Program, I’m entitled to a free phone every two years. After six years with Globe, no one had bothered to tell the stupid white guy. So, Swan and the attendant chatted in Tagalog, and there was no retroactive way to redeem my past rewards, but I could collect a new phone today. Hell yes, why not?

When we were done with Globe, we walked half a kilometer to the SM Mall on the other side of the river. I was in the market for some new hiking shoes, and the SM department store is the only place around these parts that carries my favorite brand, Merrell. Of course, finding my size (11) is always a challenge, and sure enough, the shoes I liked best weren’t available larger than 10. I settled for the only pair they had in my size and made my way to the men’s clothing section in search of shorts. I asked the salesgirl for anything with a 40″ waist; the biggest she could find was 38″. I tried them on, and I’ll be damned, they fit! I guess the diet plan is having some practical impact, after all.

With the shopping mission completed, we caught a taxi back to Barretto.

When beer o’clock rolled around, it was off to the beach so Swan could get her Tuesday toes in the sand fix.

We had to wait a bit for the raft transport to bring several youngish-looking guys ashore. When we got taken aboard the floater, we were the only customers.

We brought cookies and lollipops for the girls, and they seemed happy enough with our contributions.

When the sun goes, so do we.

After our meal, we triked on home and called it a day.

I had a good laugh this morning reading this post from Kevin Kim’s blog. It turns out there have been some scientific studies trying to determine why people like me have such a warped and unfunny sense of humor. I could blame it on age, I suppose, but truthfully, my jokes have always been a mess. Maybe the puns are worse now, but the biggest difference is it doesn’t matter anymore if people laugh or if they cringe. A reaction is a reaction! I don’t know, and I don’t care if that makes me ignorant or apathetic (you knew that one was coming!).

Facebook memories carried me back to those long-ago days in Seoul (15 years now) when my wife and I would hike up to Seoul Tower atop Namsan.

Damn, sometimes happy memories make you sad.

Today’s YouTube video provides advice to old farts living in the Philippines to enjoy life while you have it and not to worry too much about what’s inevitably to come. I do sometimes wonder just how long I’m going to be around, but I don’t dwell on it much. Every morning, I wake and am thankful for another day to fritter away in meaninglessness. But you know what? I am okay with the life I’m living.

And the stuff I find worthy of a smile:

That’s all for today’s report on yesterday. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Let’s close out with some Korean-style music:

And life is a treasure. A Treasure Island, if you will. Here are some gems from my Saturday.

Swan joined me for a Saturday morning stroll. Naturally, that involved her handing out candy along the way. Hey, it’s what we do! I made an eight-minute video of the first portion of the walk if you are curious about what the local terrain looks like.

Towards the end of the hike, I did a two-minute video of another village we passed through.

Our Saturday evening entertainment was provided by the live music we enjoyed at Treasure Island on Baloy Beach.

Hear for yourself:

Hmm, it sounded better in person. Go figure.

Back home at the usual time and finished Season Two of “Squid Game.” It still leaves me shaking my head in disbelief at times, but I’m all in for the concluding episodes in Season Three. Kevin Kim has a fine review of the second season here.

I was a bad boy last night and couldn’t overcome my urge for a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a crumbled Oreo cookie on top. Damn, it tasted good!

No Facebook memories worthy of note today, but there is this old post from twenty years ago about my first big case in Korea, representing management in a dispute with the American union. We couldn’t resolve our differences, and the case was scheduled for binding arbitration. At the last minute, the union withdrew. I had some court precedents on my side. For one thing, a curfew doesn’t entitle you to pay for the hours you aren’t allowed out on the street. “Stand-by pay,” which is what the union was asking for, only applies when you have to be ready and able to report for duty when called. That wasn’t the case with the curfew; you could be drunk on your ass in a motel room, just not outside. Also, it was well-established that the Commanding General, in this case, a 4-Star, has broad authority to invoke actions deemed necessary to protect the individuals under his command. I wound up getting promoted after this victory.

Welp, it is Groundhog Day, so you can guess what today’s YouTube video is about! I probably need to watch the movie again; I really enjoyed this clip.

And now for some humor:

I don’t know; it seems weird that I have nothing exciting to post about here, yet I’m still enjoying my life. Maybe acceptance comes with old age. I’ve got an upcoming Hash event in La Union next weekend, so there’s that to look forward to. In the meantime, I’ll just keep doing what I do. Today, that means a Hideaway feeding, some time with my girl on the Arizona floating bar, dinner at John’s place, and then a nightcap somewhere or other. Damn, am I living my own Groundhog Day?

In between those bookends, here is how I filled the hours. It being Friday and all, that meant there was a morning group hike to be enjoyed.

We got a Jeepney out to Calapacuan and started our trek from there.

Swan took a video of a portion of our hike:

And I did a short (two minute) video of a rickety bridge crossing:

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I decided to join Tim and Scott for this week’s SOB dance competition at Alaska Club. Swan opted not to attend, so it was the rare (for me) guys night out.

After the SOB is an event called The Aftermath. I very rarely attend because I’ve had enough of drinking by the end of the SOB. I made an exception last night and attended the first hour of The Aftermath at Voodoo. Tim was enjoying his last night in Barretto for a while.

It was a good Friday.

Facebook helped me remember my best dart game ever:

Oddly enough, I don’t miss my darting life all that much these days.

In today’s YouTube video, Reekay talks about why waiting to retire may be a mistake. My original plan was to retire as soon as I became eligible at 55 (that was back in 2010) and move to the Philippines. But then I changed my plans and decided to share my life with Jee Yeun. I retired in January 2011, and we moved back to the USA with a plan of spending six months in the States and six months in Korea. I was a happy camper with that life, but something happened with Jee Yeun that I still don’t understand. In 2015 she declined to return stateside, so I found part-time work as a contractor back in Korea. I spent a year trying to change her mind, but in 2016, she said she wanted a divorce. I was devastated (it still hurts to be honest). Then I got an offer to come back to work in my old job with 8th Army, and I took it. I worked for two more years and then packed my bags for the Philippines. I don’t really regret those wasted years, but I’ve seen too many people who keep working until they die. I’m glad I wasn’t one of those.

Maybe you’ll like these:

Yeah, those were worse than usual. Sorry ’bout that! I’ll try to do better tomorrow.