It was a finetastic Saturday, if I do say so myself. I was bored with my Standard Saturday Solo Street Stroll, so I decided to change things up. And for some reason, I thought a hike out Philseco way was in order. I asked Swan if she wanted to join me, and I was surprised when she responded with an enthusiastic “yes!”. So, we grabbed a Jeepney to the far side of Subic town and kicked things off from there. I basically replicated the Hash trail I helped Hare back in April, but I managed to take a couple of wrong turns along the way. No big deal; we still made it to the One-Three Resort for some after-hike refreshments without a problem. My tracker shut off for some reason, so I don’t have an exact count, but our Hash trail was around 7K, and we did pretty much the same thing yesterday.
The Jeepney ride out was unlike any other I had ever taken. A Jeepney typically continuously stops to pick up and drop off passengers. All the way to the Subic Marketplace, the Jeepney made no stops. I assumed it was because we were already pretty full. Nope. No one got off at the market, but two more boarded there. And then there were no more stops until we got off at Philseco. That made the trip much quicker and more enjoyable.And the journey beginsPhilseco road in all its glory. Wider than the National Highway and with less traffic makes it much more pleasant for walking.We didn’t take the side roads up into the hills this time. A long, flat walk was more to our liking.That pretty green hill up aheadThat pretty girl beside meEnough with the highway, let’s get rural!And yes, we had sweets to dispenseA weed farmer?The kind of trail I likeThe kind of tree I likeThe kind of girl I likeAnd she likes me!On Golden PondDown the drainA river runs through itUp the alley Another pond and that lovely green hill againMore sweets for the sweetOn the backstreets of Barangay Ilwasafter one of my wrong turnsBack on trackWhat’s a hike without a rickety bridge?Turns out this wasn’t the right trail, but one of the locals pointed us in the right directionAnother pondAn abandoned resortOn the streets of Calapandayan at last!The view from our seats at the One Three ResortWe shared a Monte Cristo sandwich for lunchThe Hash trail route was similar to what we did yesterday.
The afternoon rains held off, so my plans for a Saturday evening at The Rite Spot were not ruined.
The cloudy skies when I arrived on the roof and popped the top on my first beer.A couple of beers later, it looked like this.A bit later, I wasn’t mad, but I was seeing red.Dinner at The Rite Spot is servedMy dining companionsThe skyline at night. Yeah, I should have turned the flash off.
When I was done at The Rite Spot, I spent a rare hour in front of the TV watching a BBC documentary from the 80s about bargirls in Olongapo. It was interesting to see the Navy base in operation and the impact of those sailors and Marines on the young ladies of that era. Thousands of them found husbands. Thousands of others were left pregnant and brokenhearted. Swan recognized one of the girls, a friend of her aunt’s. One of the featured bars, Rock Lobster, was located in Barretto. We have a Rock Lobster bar here now, but it is nothing like its predecessor. The bar scene now is just us old retired expats with a few tourists sprinkled in. But when one of those Navy supply ships is in port, the girls still get excited about the young two-week millionaires. Here is the video if you want to give it a watch:
Heads up: the first couple of minutes is a test pattern, just scroll forward until the video starts.
I haven’t weighed in on the recent debate, but if you were surprised, you haven’t been paying attention. I’m enjoying the memes, though.
And then there was Hitler’s reaction:
I have this memory from six years ago to share:
My Buddy boy ran away from home. Three days later he was found by a trike driver in a pond off Baloy Road. We both got lucky that day. (The other Lucky came later)
Alright, not much to offer in the way of humor, but I do have this:
I can in fact acknowledge my idiot past. And I also recognize that I’m still an idiot in many ways.It’s what’s inside that counts. And I like Asian innards better.Yes, indeed it is!
Alright, I’ve got a Hideaway feeding to attend to, and after that dinner with Swan at John’s place. See you here tomorrow!
2 thoughts on “Doing it Rite”
Looks to have been a good walk, and you’re getting Swan out of her shell: she’s walking with you more and more often, and for longer distances. Persuade her to do some 20-35K walks on flat ground, maybe spanning large swaths of the PI. Surely, there must be long paths somewhere.
I think you’ve shown that abandoned resort before… it’s somewhere between depressing and horror-movie set. That fuselage really sets the mood.
Monte Cristo looks good.
Keep on a-walkin’!
Swan doesn’t mind walking if she isn’t otherwise occupied, although she has no interest in Hashing. I think the longest we’ve done together is 9K, and that’s probably our max.
Yeah, that old resort is kind of freaky. Water sliding out of a downed airliner doesn’t seem quite right for creating good vibes under the best of circumstances.
Looks to have been a good walk, and you’re getting Swan out of her shell: she’s walking with you more and more often, and for longer distances. Persuade her to do some 20-35K walks on flat ground, maybe spanning large swaths of the PI. Surely, there must be long paths somewhere.
I think you’ve shown that abandoned resort before… it’s somewhere between depressing and horror-movie set. That fuselage really sets the mood.
Monte Cristo looks good.
Keep on a-walkin’!
Swan doesn’t mind walking if she isn’t otherwise occupied, although she has no interest in Hashing. I think the longest we’ve done together is 9K, and that’s probably our max.
Yeah, that old resort is kind of freaky. Water sliding out of a downed airliner doesn’t seem quite right for creating good vibes under the best of circumstances.