Walk of ages

Walk of ages, it's just me
Let me hike and feel so free
Let the water and the mud
From the rains that made a flood
In my quest not be deterred
It's good to be back, that's for sure

It seemed like ages since the Wednesday Walkers had been able to head for the hills and enjoy the unique paradise of northern Luzon island. We began our adventure with a Jeepney ride to the fair barangay of Calapadayan. From there, we marched up to where the roads ended in grassy splendor and then came back down the other side. We’ve done longer and harder hikes, but this one had a welcome-back feel to it. Let me show you what I mean:

The route we walked
The Wednesday Walkers (plus me)
Where it all began
Let’s do this! Marching into a nice subdivision called Subic Bayview.
The bay view of which they speak
Malfunction junction? Nope, our path was always upward.
We paused to take a gander at this log cabin-style house under construction. Wood is not used in construction much because termites in the Philippines are ubiquitous. This house is no exception; those “logs” are made from concrete.
Out of the subdivision and into a squatter village
The natives we met passing through were quite friendly; a couple of the ladies advised that they were single.
Biscuits dispensed!
It’s the end of the road for this litter!
But we marched on!
Past the “haunted” hospital. I call it that because it is a hospital that was under construction forty years ago and never completed. Now if’s forbidding shell feels creepy and foreboding.
Good to have dirt under our feet again.
Still moving in an upward direction
Into the wild
The trail is over here!
And now to make our way back down.
Here’s an angle on Easter Mountain you don’t see every day.
All in all, we are just between the bricks in the walls.
Bottomed out
Where trash that fails to become litter goes to die.
On the wet streets of Calapacuan
In the shadow of the Black Rock
Headed back home on the National Highway

It was a good day to be on trail. I still had some business to attend to last evening, though.

My friend Kim’s first day on the job at Showgirl bar.

This was my first visit to Showgirl since it opened last year. Last night I was reminded why. It’s a tiny bar, and it has a jail cell vibe about it; at least, it did to me. I got there at opening time, and I was the only customer. None of the girls looked happy to be there, and I can’t blame them. I bought Kim the promised drink (actually, two) and gave her the brownies I had prepared before departing. Kim chose not to share her brownie bounty with her new co-workers, which surprised me. She said she wanted to take them home to her family. They are yours to do with as you please. I admit that I selfishly enjoy seeing the girls with my sweet treats in their mouths, but that’s just me.

After making my escape from Showgirl, this was my highway view.

I was hungry, and Sit-n-Bull was across the street. Lately, I’ve been going to Wet Spot and having my dinner delivered to me there. That often involves me buying food for my waitress crew, and now with Aine back, I expected there would be lady drinks on my bill as well. In a nod to my vow of better frugality, I decided to dine in.

For some reason, I had meatball sub on my to-do list, and this twelve-inch beauty was on the list of daily specials. How could I refuse? I could only eat about seven inches of it before I was full.

After my meal, I decided to visit Whiskey Girl for my nightcap. I gave my waitress friend Jenn the remains of my sub which she seemed to appreciate. It was nice to see her again. Two beers for me (buy one, get one) and one lady drink for Jenn, and I called it a night.

More excitement on tap for tonight, but of a different variety. Swan’s two sisters will be celebrating birthdays (not twins, different days and years), and I offered to treat them to dinner on SBMA. This will be my first foray into the “meet the family” adventure that comes with a Filipina relationship. Wish me luck! I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

And you thought my puns were bad…

2 thoughts on “Walk of ages

  1. Was that poem a McCrarey creation to the tune of “Rock of Ages”? No source credited, so I assume it’s an original.

    Now if’s forbidding shell feels creepy and foreboding.

    I’m guessing that “if’s” is supposed to be “its.” Grammarly didn’t catch that, eh? Yeah, we love Grammarly.

    Where trash that fails to become litter goes to die.

    Nice. You guys ever thought of grabbing several giant trash bags each and stopping, along each path, to gather and bag litter? I’m not blaming you if you don’t have such thoughts: I’ve often thought of doing some trash collection myself, but I never do it.

    I had meatball sub on my to-do list, and this twelve-inch beauty was on the list of daily specials.

    Can’t see the meatballs for the cheese, but that looks genuinely fantastic.

    I could only eat about seven inches of it before I was full.

    Oh, how many women have said that very thing?

    I gave my waitress friend Jenn the remains of my sub which she seemed to appreciate.

    Spot the error!

    And you thought my puns were bad…

    The first two puns led me to think the entire thing would be puns based on brand names, but that was not to be. Then there’s the “Les miserably” pun, which is the only one not to include Tom. Had they gone for perfect consistency, they could have written

    “You call this a musical?” asked Tom tonelessly.

    —then it could have been all Toms, all the time.

    Good luck with Swan’s rellies (Britspeak for “relatives”).

  2. Yep, I wrote the lyrics based on “Rock of Ages” and take full blame.

    I’ts not Grammarly’s fault if I’m a sloppy proofreader. (And yes, that’s an intentional f’up in this sentence.)

    I don’t think we have thought seriously about doing a litter collection event. The problem is, we all know it will be back the next day. It’s a littering culture for some reason, so you just got to shrug it off. Part of the problem is those folks living in the squatter villages in the hills don’t have government-provided trash collection. So, they toss it or burn it.

    Spot the error? Do you mean a lack of comma before which? That’s the obvious one (I didn’t even need Grammarly to see it); anything else? I sure was sl0ppy this morning!

    Yeah, I didn’t like how they suddenly switched from the Tom angle, either.

    Eh, what the hell? Why are you using British slang? Well, good on you, then!

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