It hasn’t rained for three days now, and my weather app says the temperature has been higher than normal. Add in the bout of laziness I’ve been experiencing lately, and it is not a healthy combination. Nevertheless, I managed to get up off my ass and do a modified Saturday Solo Street Stroll. Instead of the streets of Barretto, I walked the neighborhood. And to further motivate myself, I decided to document all the house construction currently taking place. Exciting shit, eh?
And when the best time of day rolled around, Swan and I hoofed it out to Baloy Beach for an evening of fun, food, and music at the Treasure Island Resort.
It’s been said that a joy shared is a joy doubled. We enjoyed our Saturday on the beach together.
Yesterday will be a memory some day, just like these are now:
I hope you’ll indulge my sharing some political viewpoints that reflect my perspectives:
This is parody. Or is it the near future?
A man calls Pizza hut to order a pizza…
CALLER: Is this Pizza Hut?
GOOGLE: No sir, it’s Google Pizza.
CALLER: I must have dialed a wrong number, sorry.
GOOGLE: No sir, Google bought Pizza Hut last month.
CALLER: OK. I would like to order a pizza.
GOOGLE: Do you want your usual, sir?
CALLER: My usual? You know me?
GOOGLE: According to our caller ID data sheet, the last 12 times you called you ordered an extra-large pizza with three cheeses, sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms and meatballs on a thick crust.
CALLER: Super! That’s what I’ll have.
GOOGLE: May I suggest that this time you order a pizza with ricotta, arugula, sun-dried tomatoes and olives on a whole wheat gluten-free thin crust?
CALLER: What? I don’t want a vegetarian pizza!
GOOGLE: Your cholesterol is not good, sir.
CALLER: How the hell do you know that?
GOOGLE: Well, we cross-referenced your home phone number with your medical records. We have the result of your blood tests for the last 7 years.
CALLER: Okay, but I do not want your rotten vegetarian pizza! I already take medication for my cholesterol.
GOOGLE: Excuse me sir, but you have not taken your medication regularly. According to our database, you purchased only a box of 30 cholesterol tablets once at Lloyds Pharmacy, 4 months ago.
CALLER: I bought more from another Pharmacy.
GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your credit card statement.
CALLER: I paid in cash.
GOOGLE: But you did not withdraw enough cash according to your bank statement.
CALLER: I have other sources of cash.
GOOGLE: That doesn’t show on your latest tax returns unless you bought them using an undeclared income source, which is against the law!
CALLER: WHAT THE HELL!
GOOGLE: I’m sorry sir, we use such information only with the sole intention of helping you.
CALLER: Enough already! I’m sick to death of Google, Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp and all the others. I’m going to an island without the internet, TV, where there is no phone service and no one to watch me or spy on me.
GOOGLE: I understand sir, but you need to renew your passport first. It expired 6 weeks ago…
Let’s hope for the best.
Today’s YouTube video is something different: A British movie from 1991 called Filipina Dream Girls. It’s said to be a dramatization of a romance tour to the Philippines. I’ve never heard of such a thing as a “romance tour,” but I guess before the internet, you had to meet the girls here somehow. It’s a comedy of sorts, and British humor sometimes doesn’t translate, but seeing a 1990s version of the PI was nice. And damn, Filipinas were even hotter than they are now back then. Or at least the ones in this movie are. If you have an hour or so to kill, it’s worth a watch.
And now for the funny stuff:
Now it is time to prepare for my Sunday evening rituals. I’ll feed the girls at Hideaway, then dine with my sweetie at John’s place. Should be fun.
A day of construction and good eats. Maybe a bit too much heat, but otherwise enjoyable. Nice.
Wow. Lots of construction going on in your little subdivision.
Are most of the already built houses occupied or do some of them sit vacant? What would you say is the ratio of expat owned/occupied vs. PI owned/occupied?
Yeah, it has been a boomtown up here lately. Several more houses were recently completed.
There are no vacancies currently that I know of, and houses here are never vacant for long. I’d guess the percentage of foreigner occupancy is at least 80%.
“Filipinas were even hotter than they are now back then.”
Ouch!
Since Kevin’s still under the weather, I’ll chime in here that I think you mean “Filipinas were even hotter back then than they are now.”
(Get well soon, Kevin.)
Many were also sweeter and less demanding, though no less needy. Bar fines were around P1,000, and there was a lot more GFE, or so I’m told. Taxi drivers were assholes, of course. But basic jeep fare was only P1.50. Exchange rate was about P24 to a dollar. It’s more than doubled since then. But jeep fare has increased more than eightfold, to P13. Considering the exchange rate, beer prices for guys with dollars have stayed pretty even.
Who’s really paying much more for stuff? Average Filipinos. And now there are cell phone expenses and there’s so much more crap to buy!
Cheers.
Drain, damn, that was painful. And not only did I write that, but I also read right over it when I did my proofread. Shit.
Ah, the good ol’ days. I missed those. But yeah, the exchange rate has made up for a lot of the inflationary cost increases. The lowest I’ve ever seen was 43 PHP to the dollar, but that was back in my tourist days in 2007 or so. But you are right; it is the working-class and poor Filipinos who are suffering the most during these uncertain times.