I covered the best part of my yesterday in yesterday’s post. All that remains is the rest of the day. So here it is:

I’m attending a gathering at my Aussie friend Steve’s place on Baloy later this afternoon. For that reason, I moved the Hideaway feeding up a day. I fed five hungry girls with food from the Jewel Cafe. Actually, I fed four hungry girls because one left before I arrived. That aggravated me a little at first, but then I knew the food wouldn’t go to waste (the girls have hungry kids at home they share with), so why should I care? They ordered a breaded chicken breast, sisig, cornsilog, dangsilog, and longsilog. I always get an order of fried chicken wings for the girls to share as well. I was the only customer during the hour I spent at Hideaway. I don’t know how (or if) they’ll stay in business at this rate. I consider the feeding one of my “charity” projects, and the gals are always appreciative and thank me. Honestly, it’s the only reason I make a weekly visit to Hideaway. Although they do play nice music videos, so there’s that.

With the feeding out of the way, I headed out to the beach for my weekly visit to the Arizona floating bar.

We did our nightcap at Wet Spot. The big news there is that Swan’s friend (and my former drinking buddy) Aine is back to work. Apparently, things didn’t work out with the new boyfriend. Oddly enough, on our way to Wet Spot, I had asked Swan if she had heard from Aine since she declined the invitation for her and her fella to join us on Baloy. She had not. But as soon as we sat down last night, Aine joined us at our table, thirsty for lady drinks. Swan bought her two (I paid, of course). The epitome of a bargirl friendship.

While Aine and Swan got caught up, I chatted with another guy at the table who has been in the Philippines since his Navy days beginning in the 70s. He had some wild stories about the bar scene back in the day. He says everything now is tame and boring by comparison. Honestly speaking, a lot of what he shared sounds disgusting. Getting a blow job while watching a girl fuck a customer on stage just doesn’t interest me. To each his own.

Back home and early to bed brought a good day to an end.

So, I’ve got to say I’ve been astounded by various commenters alluding to me engaging in violence towards Swan. Nothing could be further from the truth, and nothing I have written here implies otherwise. We had a disagreement, and I walked away instead of staying and talking through it. That was the extent of my “sin.” I have lived through four failed marriages and never once hit or otherwise physically abused any of my exes. I can think of nothing more cowardly than a man striking a female. It is just not in my nature and will never happen. I wanted to be clear on that.

Today’s Quora Q&A is a special one:

Q: How was your first trip to the Philippines?

A: The first thing I noticed on my first visit to the Philippines was the poverty. My plane landed in Manila, coming in over the river that was lined with squatter houses and full of trash. Once on the ground, my driver took me through one of the squatter villages and apologized for what I was seeing, saying it was the fastest way to my destination. It was all pretty shocking and eye-opening; I’d never seen anything quite like it.

After spending a few days here, something else became quite apparent. Despite the poverty, the Filipino people are the happiest I’ve met anywhere in the world. The family is the center of life here, and the generosity and love within the family is something to behold. I’d never seen anything quite like that either.

I wanted to see and learn more, so I kept coming back for visits (I lived in Korea, so it was an easy trip). I eventually decided this is where I wanted to live, so I retired in 2018 and moved here permanently.

Here’s a funny and sad anecdote I can share. I brought my Korean girlfriend here for a visit the year before I retired. She had a blast and was treated like a rock star (Korean culture in the form of K-dramas and K-pop music is big here). On our last night in the Philippines, she broke up with me. I asked her why, and she responded, “Because we have no future. You want to retire here. Who wants to live in a poor country?” I told her that you can live in a rich country and pretend this world doesn’t exist, or you can live here and try to make a difference. That’s what I want to do.

So, I have two helpers and a driver. I’m making a difference for them. I do some charity projects that make things better for some. You can’t help everyone, of course, but it feels good to know that my presence is helping at least a few. I’m glad to be here!

Here’s what makes it special to me: This answer received over 2.7 MILLION views (most of my drivel gets seen by only hundreds). I also got 2,986 upvotes and 558 comments. Of course, this was a one-off occurrence and was written over four years ago. I rarely even bother answering Quora questions these days.

Now for some humor:

I made corn muffins and brownies to share with my fellow guests tonight. See you here tomorrow.