My morning started with an email from Cebu Pacific Airlines telling me I was fucked. Well, the way they worded it was that they were unilaterally changing my flight times to and from Hong Kong, which screwed over my best-laid plans for a week in Vietnam. Instead of departing Clark airport in Angeles City on July 6 in the morning, I was now scheduled to leave late in the afternoon on July 7. So, I had an expensive non-refundable hotel room booked for the 6th in Hong Kong that I couldn’t use. However, the real kicker was that my flight to Da Nang departs on the 7th, before my newly scheduled arrival time on Cebu Pacific. Additionally, the new return flight from Hong Kong on the 13th was scheduled to depart for Manila, not Clark. So much for leaving the car at the airport.

After consulting with my fellow travelers (we’re going with another couple), we came up with a brand new plan. The whole point of booking with Cebu Pacific in the first place was to avoid the dreaded trip to Manila. So, given that there were no other flights from Clark that met our timeframes, we booked with AirAsia out of Manila. We’ll arrive in Hong Kong on the evening of the 6th, which spoils our plans for a full day to explore the city, but allows us to catch our flight to Da Nang as scheduled. I’ve requested a refund from Cebu Pacific, and we’ll see how that works out for me. What a pain in the ass dealing with this was for my frazzled old brain. Here’s hoping the rest of the trip goes hassle-free.

The remainder of the day went better, comparatively speaking. Starting with the Saturday Sweets Stroll.

Swan surprised me yesterday morning when she asked me if I would cook for her. She’s pretty much taken over kitchen duties since we’ve been together. I asked what she was hungry for, and she replied, “beef stew.” Okay, then. Ask and you shall receive!

We didn’t carry umbrellas when we headed into town, and thankfully, we didn’t need them. But shortly after our arrival at Sloppy Joe’s, the skies opened up and the rain poured down.

The nice thing about the Maze is you have six bar options under one roof, so when we were ready for a change of scenery, we went next door to the Alaska Club. Did the usual: lady drinks for our favorite waitresses, a 50 peso tip for the six dancers present, and an order of lumpia from Sit-n-Bull for the staff to share. Then we moved on to Wet Spot for our nightcap. We headed home from there, and Swan was looking forward to a helping of leftover beer stew when we got there. I need to cook for her more often.

In sad news, a longtime mainstay in Angeles, Jimmy Dale, also known as Harry the Horse, passed away yesterday.

Jimmy wrote a newsletter for many years about the nightlife scene in Angeles, and that’s how I became one of his followers. He also owned the Blue Boar Inn, where I had the pleasure of meeting him in person and playing a game of darts back in 2010 during a visit to AC.

He sold his original Harry the Horse newsletter many years ago and had a seldom-updated replacement. He left us with a final post, saying goodbye to his many fans. I hope I get the chance to do something similar when my time on earth is over. Rest in Peace, Jimmy.

I’ve progressed to January 2010 in my journey through the LTG archives. January 4th was a snowy day in Seoul, and the Army sent non-essential staff home early. I walked home and did a post with a lot of photos of a snow-covered Itaewon. I doubt I’ll ever see snow again, not that I miss it.

Today’s YouTube video is from a vlogger I’ve never watched previously. She does a great job laying out the reasons the Philippines remains a poor country. She confirms what I’ve long suspected. And as she describes the government corruption that led to this sorry state, I couldn’t help but think it had a familiar ring to it. Yep, the good ol’ USA seems to be going down this road as well.

Now we’ll get to the funny stuff:

Another day of being alive is in process. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow.

I’ve got to rush today’s post as I have a Hash meeting to attend early this afternoon. So, let’s keep it short and sweet. You are welcome!

I mentioned yesterday that neighbor Jeff had never seen the view from the top of Kalaklan Ridge. I volunteered to be his tour guide, and up we went. In fact, everyone on my street tagged along.

A one-minute video clip of what we saw.

Our evening activities included dinner at Sit-n-Bull again, then hanging out at the Green Room until it was time to go home. That was the extent of our ups and downs for the day.

I came across a sweet memory in the November 2009 archives from my days of playing softball. I was big into softball throughout the 70s and 80s, and I wrote about finding a link to an article in the Prescott Courier from August 2, 1979, recounting my exploits on the diamond. I was surprised that the link still works! Anyway, my sporting days are far behind me, but softball is a worthy chapter in The Story of My Life.

Facebook memories shared this photo of me and my not then wife sixteen years ago.

It only hurts until the pain goes away.

For today’s YouTube video, I’ll share this vlogger’s take on whether the Philippines is safe. Shit can happen to you anywhere and anytime. Maybe I’ve been lucky so far, but I feel safer in most aspects of my life here than I would living in the good ol’ USA.

And now your daily dose of humor:

Dave works hard at the plant, puts in a lot of overtime, and then spends most evenings bowling, playing basketball or working out at the gym. His wife, Mary, thinks he is pushing himself too hard, so, for his birthday, she takes him to a local strip club.

The doorman at the club greets them and says, “Hey, Dave, how ya doing?”

Mary is puzzled and asks if he’s been to this club before.

“Oh no,” says Dave. “He works out at the gym with me.”

When they are seated, a waitress asks Dave if he’d like his usual Budweiser.

Mary is now becoming uncomfortable and says, “You must come here a lot for that woman to know you drink Budweiser.”

“No, honey, she’s in the Ladies Bowling League. We share lanes with them.”

A stripper comes over to their table and throws her arms around Dave.

“Hi Davey,” she says, “Want your usual table dance?”

Mary, now furious, grabs her purse and storms out of the club.

Dave follows and spots his wife getting into a cab. Before Mary can slam the door, Dave jumps in beside her. Right away she starts screaming at him.

The cabby turns his head and says, “Looks like you picked up a real bitch tonight, Dave.”

Those who play must pay.

And the curse of reading my drivel is now over. For today.

According to Facebook memories, I discovered this song fifteen years ago. I’m an old-school classic rock guy, but for some reason I came to really enjoy this song (and the video). YMMV.

Back at it again yesterday, doing what it takes to keep life fun. The Wednesday Walkers convened with seven in attendance. Michael’s back and offered to drive the group for an out-of-town adventure. We decided to hike the seldom-traveled Naugsol-Tibag-Naugsol loop and set out to get there. I was a little nervous that the rainy season water levels might make the requisite river crossing difficult, but we made it across unscathed.

A good hike warrants a good meal, and when we got home, Swan made me one.

When it was time for a change of scenery, we saw it from BarCelona. Erik and Cielo met us there, and a bit later, neighbors Jeff and Davina came up to join us.

When Jeff and Davina arrived, we grabbed a table on the roof.

Jeff had never been up on Kalaklan before, so I invited him to join us on a climb today. I’ll post about that adventure tomorrow.

We said goodnight to Jeff and Davina, and went downstairs for dinner at Sit-n-Bull. Erik and Cielo joined us there.

We did our nightcap at Wet Spot.

I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but rumors are rife. The story is that Dave has sold his bars (Wet Spot and Green Room) and will be exiting the bar scene. I heard that the SOB will also be discontinued. Tomorrow’s show has been postponed, so we shall see what happens next. Dave has been a fixture here for twenty years. It will be sad to see him go, but nothing lasts forever.

I’m happy to be alive and doing the things I enjoy.

It’s interesting (to me) as I explore the LTG archives and read about things I had totally forgotten about. Like the time in October 2009, someone tried to recruit me to appear in a Korean television commercial. Damn, I coulda been a star!

Congratulations to Smart Girl Philippines on the occasion of her achieving 200,000 subscriptions. In her typical humorous fashion, she reveals some things about herself and how they led her to become a popular vlogger.

The end is near:

We’ll leave it at that for today.

No, I didn’t get royally screwed, because I exercised discretion. I’m talking about my grocery shopping excursion to the Royal Duty Free supermarket, of course. What? You were expecting something exciting? Sorry to disappoint, but Tuesdays aren’t the day for excitement around here. Not that that will stop me from sharing the story of my boring day. Here goes:

My biggest issue with Royal is that the items I want are often out of stock, and when they are available, they are overpriced. Take cheese, for example.

And it wasn’t just the cheese.

Well, I survived the drama and didn’t yield to the temptation to be gouged. When I got back home, I was feeling tired for some reason, but figured I could just walk it off with a neighborhood hike.

And then I heard a rumbling up in the sky that wasn’t thunder.

I’d recovered sufficiently by beer o’clock to make the trek into town for some bar socializing. We began our hop at Sloppy Joe’s, and things seem to be going well under the new ownership. The RSL (Returned Services League, the Aussie version of our VFW) invaded on their after-meeting barhop, so we gave up our space and moved next door to the Alaska Club. We had the usual pleasant visit there before moving on to Nipsey’s. I raved about this place during our previous visit, but those great vibes we enjoyed then were not evident last night. For one thing, they didn’t have red wine available for Swan. And the music being played wasn’t to my liking either. Needless to say, we didn’t stay long. A disappointing nightcap at Cloud 69 followed, so we gave up and caught a trike for home.

Yep, just one of those days where things weren’t bad but could have been better. But there’s always tomorrow, and today is already showing improvement. But that’s for another post.

Back in October 2009, I wrote a post about a week in my life. There was certainly more substance in those days when I had a job to attend to, but even then I was looking forward to the life to come in the Philippines (I was supposed to retire in 2010 and make the move, but fate had other plans for me and I didn’t get here until 2018.)

Let’s check in with Reekay for today’s YouTube video. Reekay talks about the dangers associated with a bad end to a relationship, most of which I somehow managed to avoid during my dating life here. Now, the incidents that happen sometimes when you bring a girl to your hotel room were lessons I learned the hard way. More than once, I had girls helping themselves to things in my pocket when I wasn’t looking.

Maybe you’ll get a smile out of these:

And on that note, I will mercifully end this post.

Welp, I’ve heard it said that candy is dandy but liquor is quicker, so why not enjoy both? A Candy Walk to start the day, and then some alcoholic beverages to wrap things up. Sound familiar?

You’ve seen it all before, so I didn’t bother taking many photos of the Candy Walk. This seven-minute video (feel free to speed it up) of Section 14 of the walk should suffice.

Next on my Sunday agenda was the Hideaway feeding.

Then it was my turn to eat, so I met up with Swan at John’s place.

I hadn’t done enchiladas at John’s for a long time, and one bite in, I remembered why. Damn, that’s spicy hot! I had about half, and even my icy cold Zero beer couldn’t extinguish the fire in my mouth. I shared some of my leftovers with Swan and waited to see her reaction…ouch! The tacos were good, though.

A visit to Red Bar and then a nightcap at Wet Spot. I shared my concerns with manager Bret about Friday’s low-quality SOB. He seemed to acknowledge that it may be time for some changes. We’ll see what happens.

The power went out just before we did, and we heard the unmistakable sound of a transformer blowing. So, I figured it would be at least a couple of hours with no fans to escape the heat. Fuck that, let’s go into town and have breakfast. I enjoyed the irony of hopping into Swan’s electric cart during a brownout for the ride down to the highway (we don’t drive outside the subdivision for safety reasons).

I’ve eaten at Sparrow’s once, shortly after they opened in the space that was formerly John Kim’s The Pub. Since Sparrow’s doesn’t serve alcohol, it is not a good fit for me as a dining option, but I don’t drink at breakfast, so we gave it a shot.

We rarely dine out for breakfast, but Sparrow’s isn’t a bad option when we do. And the power was restored about thirty minutes after we returned home.

From the LTG archives, I began a series in October 2009 called “Yoja of the week.” (Yoja is Korean for woman). Here’s the first entry.

Here’s an update on the asshole vlogger Vitaly. He was granted bail for the criminal charges pending against him, but he is still being held as an “undesirable” by the Philippines’ immigration. So, he still ain’t getting out anytime soon. Being moved from the criminal prison to immigration jail is a slight upgrade in living conditions, but he is still fucked. Deservedly so.

Humor time:

An office manager had money problems and had to fire an employee, either Jack or Jill. He thought he’d fire the employee who came to work late.

The next morning, both employees came to work very early. So the manager thought he would fire the first one who took a coffee break. Unfortunately, neither employee took a coffee break.

Then the manager decided to see who took the longest lunch break. Strangely, neither Jack nor Jill took a lunch break that day. They both ate at their desk.

Then the manager thought he’d wait to see who would leave work earliest, but both employees stayed after closing.

Jill finally went to the coat rack and the manager went up to her and said, “Jill, I have a terrible problem. I don’t know whether to lay you or Jack off.”

Jill said, “Well, you’d better jack off, because I’m late for my bus.”

I’m calling HR!

And now another Hash Monday has arrived.

I’ve seen a map of the trail, and it includes a Kalaklan climb. I’m not so inclined to do that during a thunderstorm, so I’m plotting a course for the second half of the trail. Wish me luck!

The Ruck March is an annual event held to raise awareness about suicide and depression amongst our military veterans. There were over forty in attendance yesterday, including some familiar faces like Dr. Jo and her hubby Chris, along with several other Hashers.

It was a new twist to the usual Saturday stroll, and it was nice to assist in raising awareness on the struggles of some of our veterans.

There were more twists and tweaks to the usual as Saturday evening arrived.

The portions at Jewel are small, and prices are comparatively low ($11 for the steak, $6 for the ribs). Quality is high, and that’s the important thing. I’ll be back today to get food for the Hideaway feeding.

There’s a new bar in town: Jumpin’ Jacks. Well, it just reopened under new ownership on Friday. The old version catered to an elite crowd that doesn’t exist in Barretto (150 pesos for a beer is a no-go for most of us stingy expats), so it was no surprise that it closed in less than a year. We decided to pay a visit and see how we liked the new version.

The first thing we confirmed was that red wine was available. But when they wanted to charge 300 pesos a glass, I was ready to walk back out, but the manager offered us a discounted price, so we took our seats at the bar. Alas, they didn’t have San Mig Zero beer on offer, but I settled for a San Miguel Light instead. I told the bartender Zero was gaining in popularity, and she assured me they’d have some available the next time we visit. Swan and the manager had a lengthy discussion in Tagalog about wines, so I think they’ll be offering the low-cost Carlos Rossi (380 pesos a bottle at Royal) she likes when we return.

We’ll definitely be adding Jumpin’ Jacks to our bar rotation. The staff is friendly and customer-oriented. What we liked best was the music, a great selection of classic rock songs played at a reasonable volume on a quality sound system. We stayed longer than we intended because we enjoyed chillin’ in the ambiance and groovin’ to the tunes. I got to feeling generous, and bought the bartender and four customer-less waitresses lady drinks. Hey, that’s how I roll sometimes, and it helped make a slow night better for them.

We waited for a break in the rain and then were on our way to another relatively new venue that we’d never previously visited, Candy Bar. It’s next door to The Annex, and as we approached, a large group from the Ruck March was hanging out there. Naturally, we got dragged inside to join them.

It was good hanging out with the crowd, Candy Bar can wait for another day.

The next stop on the Ruck March barhop was Hot Zone. We tagged along and made that our last call of the day.

Hold on to your hats, but it was AFTER nine p.m. when we rolled out of Hot Zone and headed home. Another twist in the routine!

It is October 2009 in my journey through the LTG archives, where I wrote this post responding to criticism of Itaewon. Itaewon was transitioning then, and once the Yongsan Army base moved down south, the changes accelerated.

Nine years ago, I was in the Philippines visiting Maria for her birthday.

Here’s a post I wrote about my first (and last) experience in Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte’s hometown.

We’ll check in with Reekay again for today’s YouTube video, where he discusses finding trustworthiness among women you date. I had some failures along the way, but I ultimately found my success. Oddly enough, I was friends with Swan through her charity work and knew she was trustworthy long before we became a couple.

Today’s effort to make you smile:

That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

Sad to think that everyone is this video is likely dead now. Talk about twisted.

As days go, yesterday was nothing to write home about. So, I will blog about it instead. I had to take a pass on the Friday group hike because I had a follow-up appointment with the ophthalmologist. The bottom line (yep, I could read it) is that I now have 20/20 vision in both eyes. Sometimes, close up, like reading on my laptop, it gets a little blurry. The doc says the lenses in my eyes are for mid to long-range vision, but a pair of reading glasses should resolve that issue. So now I can see my way clear to a happy future, at least for as long as I might have left in this so-called life.

The only other thing I did yesterday was attend the SOB dance competition. Sorry to say, it has really gone to shit. These may be the final days for that long-running event. The big change since my previous attendance is that the Alaska Club has dropped out. Rumor has it that Alaska owner Jerry was pissed that only one of the other SOB bars participated in his recent 20th Anniversary celebration that included a dance competition. The SOB survived losing Hot Zone a couple of years ago, but Alaska has traditionally been one of the bars where the girls really worked on their performance, had fancy costumes, and put on an entertaining show. They will definitely be missed.

So, we are now down to five bars (there used to be eight) in the SOB lineup, and honestly, most of them don’t appear even to be trying. I’m not sure what the answer might be, but perhaps recruiting some new bars into the mix would help. We’ll see what happens, but this could be the end.

So, I drank my money’s worth of beer, spread some joy with cookies, lollipops, and lady drinks, then headed home at the end of the show. Will I be back? Que sera, sera.

By golly, I came upon the rare LTG post with substance during my stroll through the September 2009 archives. In it, I weighed in on the human trafficking controversy in a post called Juicy bars and prostitution.

The Filipina Pea is back with a new YouTube video during which she responds to questions submitted by her viewers. I could relate to the one about breastfeeding in public, something that is commonly seen here in the Philippines. Of course, I always politely turn my head, but it takes some getting used to. The Pea is always fun to watch as she shares her insights on issues with her unique Filipina perspectives.

Shit I think is funny:

A man and a woman are riding next to each other in first class on a plane. The woman sneezes, then takes a tissue and gently wipes it between her legs. The man isn’t sure he saw what she did, and decides he is probably hallucinating.

A few minutes pass. The woman sneezes again. She takes a tissue and gently wipes it between her legs. The man is about to go nuts. He can’t believe that he’s seeing what she’s doing.

A few more minutes pass. The woman sneezes yet again. She takes a tissue and gently wipes it between her legs yet again. The man has finally had all he can handle. He turns to the woman and says, “Three times you’ve sneezed, and three times you’ve taken a tissue and wiped it between your legs! What kind of signals are you sending me, or are you just trying to drive me crazy?”

The woman replies, ” I am sorry to have disturbed you, sir. I have a rare condition such that when I sneeze, I have an orgasm.” The man, now feeling bad, says, “Oh, I’m sorry. What are you taking for it?”

“Pepper,” she replies.

When I posted the above on Facebook, one of the female commenters asked, “Is it contagious?” That was as funny as the joke!

That’s all there was to it, and that’s all I have to say. For now!

Despite not feeling 100%, I tried to make Sunday as routine as possible. Starting with the Candy Walk.

Here’s a video of Section 13 of our walk if you’ve been following along.

My after-hike nap proved to be disastrous, in a shitty way. Today, I’m still liquid but not leaking. Progress!

I also had some hungry girls to feed at Hideaway, so I headed out to fulfill that mission.

Next up was dinner with Swan at John’s place. No surprise, she once again did the birria tacos.

Red Bar has become our Sunday after-dinner stop, and after a glass of wine and some Zeros, Swan asked, Where to next? I said, “Home.” In another indication that I am not fully recovered, I felt fatigued again. Plus, I hadn’t emptied the liquid brown from my intestines for too long, and I didn’t want to do that in a public place. So, we grabbed a trike for home, I took care of business, and I was in bed before eight. Damn, that’s pathetic even by my low standards. Still, I am better than I was and not as good as I’m going to be.

From the LTG archives in July 2009 is the latest update on the Bali adventure about attending a cultural “Fire and Trance” performance. Lots of photos; the next best thing to being there!

Two years ago, I was enjoying some Thai culture on the infamous Soi 6 in Pattaya:

In today’s YouTube video, we hear the claim (sorry about the AI narration) that Filipino culture is having a worldwide impact. I live here and don’t get out much, but are any of you seeing this phenomenon in your country?

And let’s take a moment to smile:

Happy Birthday to Swan! And I’m going to attempt the Hash this afternoon. Life goes on while you have it.

Happy Father’s Day to all you dads out there.

I got a sweet father’s day card from Swan this morning:

Long-time readers may remember the young woman I call Mary. She was eighteen when we briefly dated which is legal, but WAY to young for an old fart like me. It was when my granddaughter turned eighteen that I knew I couldn’t keep seeing Mary. Anyway, she moved to Manila for a factory job, and I posted about our last evening together here. Mary returned to Barretto several months later, by which time I had moved on with Swan. Mary asked for my financial help so she could attend college in Olongapo. I give her around seventy-five bucks a month, which covers some of her expenses. I don’t hear from her often, but she occasionally updates me on her progress. I’ve told her my expectation is for her to escape the poverty loop, succeed in her career, and then “pay it forward” to help others in need.

Anyway, that’s a long, drawn-out introduction for the Father’s Day message Mary sent me:

Dear John, Happy Father’s Day! I just wanted to take a moment to celebrate you today—not just as an amazing dad, but also as the incredible friend you’ve been over the years. It’s clear how much your kids look up to you, and that’s a testament to the kind of father and role model you are. You’ve always been there for me, through thick and thin, and I’m so grateful for your friendship. It’s like you’re a dad that I never had

Keep being the amazing person you are. Enjoy your day, my friend—you deserve it.

Thanks for the kind words, Mary. Well, that “you’re the dad I never had” line made me cringe a little. But I’m glad I’ve been able to help you pursue your dreams; it’s what dads do.

My ill health, as mentioned in yesterday’s post, has not yet been completely resolved. My temperature is back to normal, and I had enough energy this morning to do the Candy Walk, although it was a struggle. A new symptom, diarrhea, has befallen me, and it’s one of the worst cases in memory. I discovered its onset when I attempted to pass gas and sharted instead. No problem, I will just resist the urge to fart. Except it seems I fart in my sleep, and TWICE during my nap today I soiled my shorts. Yuck!

The appetite hasn’t returned either, although I did have a hamburger patty before walking this morning. You’d think if I weren’t eating much, there wouldn’t be anything in the bowels, but alas, that’s not the case.

Today I haven’t eaten anything other than that burger patty, and I’m still not hungry. It’s like being on a diet without even trying!

From the July 2009 LTG archives is another installment of the report on my trip to Bali. Everyone raves about the beaches in Bali, but I enjoyed our stay in the mountains at Ubud even more. Lots of pictures in that post to show you why. I believe this was also the first trip out of the country I took with my future wife, Jee Yeun. Oddly enough, I spelled her name differently back then.

Today’s YouTube video is about an expat who got ill (and diarrhea) from something he ate. I’ve thought about it, but I’m not sure what I had to eat that may have led to this. I had that enchilada dinner at Sit-n-Bull on Friday night, but my early symptoms don’t seem food-related (fever, lethargy). I threw up once on Saturday afternoon, but the diarrhea didn’t hit me until late Saturday night. Well, hopefully, this too shall pass (preferably into the toilet).

Now for the funny business:

Misery loves company. Thanks for joining me!

Most men and women lead lives at the worst so painful, at the best so monotonous, poor and limited that the urge to escape, the longing to transcend themselves if only for a few moments, is and has always been one of the principal appetites of the soul.” –Aldous Huxley

It almost seems like Huxley suffered through daily reads here at LTG. Sometimes, I do feel like I’m playing out the string of whatever days that remain in this lifetime. But I honestly can’t help but think that I’ve earned the right to enjoy my time here in a laid-back and uncaring manner. Lord knows, I’ve been transcending myself for over fifty years; I need a break!

I’ve been ill today for the first time in a long time: lethargy, loss of appetite (nothing since breakfast), fever, and nausea (threw up once, but my stomach was mostly empty) are the symptoms du jour. Swan, bless her heart, is a certified caregiver, and she’s been working hard all afternoon to give me some comfort. And now I feel strong enough to subject you to more of the pain you’ve come to expect here.

I hadn’t had a hike since Monday’s Hash, but no one in the Friday group felt the need to hit the trail. Swan and I undertook our own journey, walking the seven kilometers from our house to WalterMart on the backroads of San Isidro, Naugsol, and Manga Vacca. It felt good to be out and about once again.

We skipped the SOB last night and started out at Sloppy Joe’s. Then we visited Sit-n-Bull for our dinner.

After a brief nightcap at The Green Room, we called it a night and headed for home.

And there you have it, a day with not much to blog about, but that didn’t stop me. As usual.

In July 2009, I was blogging about my trip to Bali. Loads of pictures from my second day there. Damn, looking back, it was the best vacation of my life. In the coming days, I will talk more about some of the happenings. No energy to do so today.

For today’s YouTube video, we’ll visit Smart Girl Philippines with a story as short and sweet as she is (one and a half minutes). She says giving money to your girl’s family will not endear you to them. My method is giving Swan a healthy allowance; she can spend it as she sees fit. I know she helps some of her nieces with school supplies and stuff, but I never get asked. That works for me.

Here’s some humor before I go lay down again:

And that’s it for now. Today has been a good reminder of how quickly things can change health-wise. I’m glad it wasn’t more serious, but the fact that I’ll be staying home on a Saturday night and not drinking at all demonstrates how whupped I’m feeling. Hopefully, I’ll recover in time for tomorrow’s Hash.

Yesterday was all about preparing for and then enjoying the Independence Day gathering at The Rite Spot On The Roof. I thought we might have overdone it on the food, but the turnout was larger than expected, and there were plenty of eats and drinks for everyone. I was also worried about the weather, having experienced three straight days of heavy rains. And then, in an almost Moses-like fashion, the clouds parted and our patch of land was spared from rainfall for the remainder of the day.

Yes, I added pineapple chunks to the mix. It struck me that chili was a dish of Spanish origin. Not wanting to be disrespectful to the holiday’s history, I Filipino-ized the recipe by adding the national fruit. Hey, Filipinos like pineapple on their pizza, so why not in chili?

For your enjoyment, here’s a minute and a half of the party vibe, including karaoke, that I recorded:

It was a nice get-together, and everyone in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves. Is there a better definition of success? Maybe we’ll do it again for the 4th of July.

From the LTG archives is a June 2009 post from Bali, Indonesia. The first day of my first (and last, so far) visit to that island paradise.

Today’s YouTube video takes us back to a time before air conditioning. I have aircon in my house, but I almost never use it. I keep cool with fans and open windows. I guess I’ve adapted myself to the climate, preferring outdoor/open-air bars to chilled ones inside.

Let’s have a smile or two before I go:

I enjoyed a non-routine day, but now it’s time to get back to normal. We’ll see how that works out for me.

The rain has once again put a damper on things around here, including the Wednesday Walkers group hike. It doesn’t appear there is much hope on the horizon either:

Fortunately, neighbors Jeff and Davina were also attending the grand reopening of Sloppy Joe’s, so we caught a ride with them and avoided a wet walk.

We did our nightcap upstairs at another newly reopened bar, Tryst (formerly La Oficina), for the first time. It really hasn’t changed much from its previous iteration, just your standard girly bar with dancers. It’s okay if that’s your thing, but it won’t be a regular stop for us.

And that’s all my Wednesday had to offer this week.

A few days ago, I posted a photo of a mysterious-looking ship anchored in the bay. A friend sent me this Wikipedia link identifying the ship.

I hope a port of call in Subic doesn’t indicate that trouble is on the horizon. War with China is rising on my list of ways I’m liable to die in the Philippines.

It’s still June of 2009 in my journey through the LTG archives. Lo and behold, I actually came upon a post with some substance! In it, I share some insights regarding my transformation from the left to the right side of the political spectrum. Spoiler: I didn’t move, the left did. I talked about reconnecting with an old high school friend via Facebook, who had followed his dream of becoming a journalist and was working for the Seattle newspaper. Oddly enough, he unfriended me when I shared my political thoughts with him. Over the years, a large number of my lefty “friends” opted to ghost me rather than deal with divergent beliefs. In the post, I quote John F. Kennedy and delve into the deeper meanings of Bob Dylan’s song Blowin’ in the Wind. After reading that post again, I was shaking my head and thinking, Whatever happened to the guy who wrote this? Well, I’m still here, but maybe my deep thinking days are over.

Today’s YouTube video is Reekay’s latest, and he talks about three things you need to have a successful retirement in the Philippines. The first one seems pretty obvious: a source of income. But maybe not so surrpisingly, some fools move here without a plan to support themeseles and once the savings account is empty, they are screwed. When it comes to women, I spent six years screwing up before I finally got lucky and found the right one. And finally, common sense ain’t real common anymore, but I’ve managed to navigate the challenges of living overseas. Having helpers in my employ has been a benefit in that regard.

And some humor before I go:

We are having an Independence Day gathering at The Rite Spot later this afternoon. I’ve got chili in the crockpot, and I baked some cornbread muffins and brownies as my contributions to the feast. I’m also installing some vinyl panels to hopefully stifle the rain from penetrating our alcove of shelter under the roof. We shall see how that works out.

I was sad to learn that Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys founder and songwriter, has passed away. I loved hearing their music while growing up in Southern California. Rest in peace!

Tuesdays come and Tuesdays go. The one that happened yesterday went down like this:

It was time to renew my tourist visa, so that was the first stop on the shopping expedition. The Olongapo office of the Bureau of Immigration has posted hours of 8:00 to 5:00. I arrived at 8:30 and was the first person to sign in. The guard said no one was there yet, so I took a seat and waited. And waited. Someone appeared at 8:50 and set about firing up the computer, and at around nine, he called me to the window to process my extension application. I only requested thirty days this go-round because I’m leaving for Vietnam next month. A few minutes later, I paid my 2300 pesos and had a new stamp in my passport. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks to process my Emigration Clearance Certificate (ECC), which is required to leave the country after an extended stay. As I understand it, the purpose of the ECC is to verify that there are no warrants, other pending charges, or other untoward activities you are fleeing from. That, and it’s another way to generate revenue for the government. Hey, I’m a visitor to this country, and I’m bound to follow the rules, unlike those millions of illegals back home.

Next up were the weekly visits to the YBC and Royal supermarkets, both of which were uneventful. Back home and confined to shelter from the rain, I set about processing the online visa required for Americans to visit Vietnam (Filipinos don’t need a visa, so Swan is good to go). It wasn’t too difficult filling out the usual forms, although I did have to upload photographs of my passport and a recent mugshot-like photograph.

So, I successfully submitted the paperwork and paid the $79 processing fee. If all goes well, I should have an e-visa in four days.

Without a floating bar option, our plans for the Tuesday outing were undetermined. Swan mentioned going to Kon-Tiki, but the rain made that journey unpalatable. And today this post on Facebook made us regret our decision:

Oh, well. I wish them luck on SBMA, but that’s a bridge too far for us. I’m still hoping someone will open a beach bar here in Barretto.

Our alternative plan was to satisfy Swan’s craving for a birria taco from John’s place. We couldn’t make our regular weekly visit on Sunday as John’s was closed. When we arrived, John’s widow greeted us and apologized for our Sunday disappointment. I told her we needed to get a fix for Swan’s addiction, and I’d take some beef bulgogi. She knew that meant tacos for Swan, and she replaced the rice that is served with bulgogi with a side salad. And of course, a red wine and a Zero beer. It’s nice to be a regular!

After our meal, we walked under umbrellas up the highway to Red Bar and enjoyed more wine and beer.

When it was time for a change of scenery, we hoofed it down the road to Cloud 69 bar. Our regular waitress, Sheryl, was waiting to serve the day’s first customers. Several new dancers were hired since our previous visit. One of them greeted me by name and said she knew me from when she worked at Cheap Charlies. She was vaguely familiar, but I had no recollection of any interactions with her there, and she was certainly not one of my regular lady drink recipients. So, she joined us at our table along with Sheryl, and I bought them both a drink. The new girl claimed to have been Swan’s classmate, but Swan didn’t remember her.

We decided to have our nightcap at Nipsey’s, a bar we almost never visit. I was surprised to be greeted at the door by Jamaica, a girl I used to know from when she worked at Snackbar. We are Facebook friends, so I knew yesterday was her birthday, and I offered her belated greetings. She told us today was her first day working at Nipsey’s, so naturally, we bought her a welcome aboard drink.

So, one round at Nipsey’s and we were ready to head home. Before we departed, I slipped Jamaica the 500 peso note that I couldn’t change earlier, and told her happy birthday. It was a nice ending to a good night on the town.

I’m still slogging my way through June of 2009 in the LTG archives, and I came upon a post I erected about blowjobs. Don’t be too hard on me, I had my reasons. Have a look for yourself.

I made a post on Facebook six years ago about a dream I had. In it, a woman handed me a scrap of paper with those words inscribed:

“Don’t ask for what you can’t give”

Hmm, I ain’t asking for nothin’.

Let’s check in with Smart Girl Philippines for today’s YouTube video. In her usual humorous style, she warns about bad decisions brought on by alcohol and erections. I’ve had a lifetime of bad choices, and most were not caused by beer. Although thinking with that small brain has cost me some. I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve experienced some of those outcomes she describes personally. You’ve been warned!

And now for the funny business:

And that’s all I’ve got for today. Still raining, but I’ll venture out for the grand re-opening of Sloppy Joe’s Bar later on today. Back tomorrow with more.