We arrived safely in Angeles City after an uneventful 1.5-hour drive. Checked into a nice room at the Boomerang Hotel. The only downside (upside?) is that I’m located on the third floor, so I’ve got to endure some stair work coming and going.
So, today is the fifth anniversary of the Corona Hash. I opted out of doing the trail for reasons of my own, but several members from the Subic Hash are here to join in the celebration. Last night, everyone descended on a Hash-owned bar to kick things off.
A bar crawl followed the Harriette’s meet-up, but I opted out of that as well. Instead, I took a stroll to one of my favorite restaurants in AC, Tequila Reef.
So, what to eat?
After dinner, we grabbed a trike back to the hotel. As I mentioned, several Subic folks are also staying at Boomerang, and we gathered poolside for beers and chit-chat. I’m not sure how it happened, but when I got back to my room, I had a banana split with me. Damn, I hate when that happens. Well, I hated it this morning when I calculated my calories anyway. It was delicious last night.
I’m punishing myself today by skipping both breakfast and lunch. That’ll teach me! I hope.
Today’s journey through the archives of LTG features this post from June 2005 entitled, And So Beings The Task. I’m talking about overcoming a tragedy in my life, but I make no mention of just what happened. Unsurprisingly, I don’t remember what it was now. I thought perhaps I had just gotten the news from Carol (wife #3) that she was reneging on her promise to join me in Korea. But then again, she was one of the commenters and doesn’t mention anything about what happened. Weird. Still, I linked and quoted a post from Kevin Kim about “putting it down” that provided some comfort to my troubled mind back then. Of course, whatever that tragedy may have been, I had many more to deal with in the coming years—most of them of my own making.
Four years ago, I was helping the Corona Hashers celebrate their first anniversary, including doing the trail and participating in the wilderness Circle they prefer. Why do I no longer join in the fun? Well, here’s one of the reasons:
Today’s trails are long (11K), medium (9K), and short (6.5K). The long and medium trails include a requirement to SWIM across a river. The short trail includes two big hill climbs. As the Hash GM posted on Facebook, the Corona Hash doesn’t do “easy” trails. That’s fine, I won’t spoil your fun by asking for one. I know my limits and also want to enjoy myself when I Hash. I’m not a good fit for the Corona crew.
Here are some more photos from four years ago at the Hash.
Anyway, to each his own. I go my way, you go yours. I will be hashing with the Angeles kennel tomorrow. They are much more my speed.
Today’s YouTube video is an on-the-street interview with a Korean woman who grew up in the Philippines. She has some interesting perspectives on the differences in cultures.
Well, I thought it was funny:
Okay, next up for me will be dining at another restaurant I remember from the good ol’ days, Margarita Station. After that, who knows? I’m surrounded by bars, which is my favorite kind of tourist trap. Let’s see how that works out for me.
The Boomerang Hotel is Aussie-owned, believe it or not!
Google AI says: “While foreigners can own hotels in the Philippines, they are subject to restrictions on land ownership, requiring them to lease the land and potentially operate under a Filipino-owned corporation.”
Interesting.
That writing on the wall in the background are the Hash names of folks who have visited Harriette’s in the past.
I haven’t been critiquing the English for a while, but I couldn’t leave this one alone. The verb must always agree with the subject. In the above sentence, the subject is “writing.” So the verb should be “is,” not “are.” The phrase “the names” is not the subject, but a noun phrase acting as the predicate nominative (like “teacher” in the sentence “Brad is a teacher”—a noun located in the predicate that refers to the subject). It may feel awkward to use “is” when the predicate nominative is plural, and if you think “That writing… is the names” is awkward (it isn’t, but it may feel that way), then I’d suggest rewriting the sentence completely to avoid the problem.
There are quirks and nuances when it comes to the rule I explained above (subject/verb agreement). For example, there’s the biblical classic, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) The verb “is” is correct because “wages,” in this case, is an uncountable noun meaning “consequence.” Or how about this: “Ten years is a long time to wait.” The phrase “Ten years” is being treated as a single chunk of time, i.e., it’s behaving like an uncountable noun (uncountable nouns are always treated as singular).
Further complicating matters is the fact that many nouns can be both countable and uncountable depending on context. “Juice,” for example. “I spilled some juice on myself” is using “juice” uncountably, hence the “some.” But, “Waiter! Two juices, please” is using “juice” countably. One juice, two juices. So be careful with your nouns and verbs.
I’d never heard of Banoffee Pie, but damn, it sounds delicious.
Stupid Yank that I am, I hadn’t heard of it, either (it’s originally British, a portmanteau of “banana” and “toffee”), until years ago, when I saw someone’s email address said “banoffeepie.” At the time, I thought that that was a single word pronounced “bannuh-FEEpee,” but how wrong I was. I eventually watched some cooking shows or videos that set me straight. I have yet to try such a pie. One day, maybe.
Dinner is served: a taco and an enchilada with rice and refried beans. The meal was every bit as good as it looks.
Carbs, carbs, carbs, with a small bit of lettuce to make you think you’re eating healthy.
Well, I hated it this morning when I calculated my calories[,] anyway.
How accurately do you think you’re calculating your calories? I have a sneaking suspicion that you’ve been undercounting.
Today’s journey through the archives of LTG features this post from June 2005 entitled, And So Beings The Task.
I assume that’s “So Begins.”
I thought perhaps I had just gotten the news from Carol (wife #3) that she was reneging on her promise to join me in Korea.
I read her comment and noticed she actually said something nice!
This was the Subic contingent from four years ago. This year, less than ten joined the Corona “fun.”
Why do you think that is? Are there others in your group who think as you do?
Well, the trip seems like a combination of fun, effort, and more of the same (bars). Try to avoid any more of those intrusive, home/hotel-invading banana splits.
Kev, yeah, that’s one of the reasons I wouldn’t want to try and buy a house here–you can’t own the land it sits on. Some folks go the “fifty-year leasehold” route. Others put the land in the name of a Filipino (wife or girlfriend usually), but that can come back and bite you hard as well. For a business, you can incorporate, but a Filipino has to control 51% of the company.
I did indeed mess up the writing on the wall. A lot of my mistakes are just sloppiness, but ignorance played a part in this one. I guess “are” sounded right in my head, so I went with it and didn’t look back. I’ll try to avoid that mistake in the future. Thanks for the lesson, it all makes sense.
I would rather have tried the Banoffee pie than indulge in the wasted calories in a banana split. Oh well, another day, another time.
Yep, that Mexican platter was carb-tastically delicious! I have no regrets about that; who knows when I’ll be back to Tequila Reef!
I don’t intentionally undercount calories and sometimes wonder if I’ve overcounted. My calorie tracker has a search function to look up foods. As you might expect, the calorie counts are all over the map. I usually take the middle ground. Portion size is also a factor, but again, I strive to get that right. That dinner platter came out like this: taco: 140 cals, enchilada: 198 cals, refried beans 0.5 cup (I didn’t eat them all): 110 cals, Spanish rice 0.5 cup: 240 cals. The banana split was 340 calories.
And So BEGINS the task: a typo and more sloppy proofreading.
Not really sure why, but the Subic Hashers don’t tend to travel like other groups do. There is a large contingent of La Union Hashers here for example. Part of it may be the Subic guys are mostly old like me, and Corona has made it clear that our unwillingness to risk life and limb makes us unwelcome.
Is Corona actively hostile, or is this mainly about that sign calling people “chicken” if they take the shorter route?
I assume this will be your final visit to a Corona Hash, but I’m guessing you’ll be visiting your favorite restos again at some point.
No, Corona is not hostile. Even Subic calls us shortcutters names like wimps and cripples. Corona takes pride in laying hard and, in my opinion, dangerous trails, and that’s fine since that’s what they are all about. I just choose not to participate. I’m here this year because our Subic Outstation Run on Monday is relatively nearby in Floridablanca, I had an ophthalmologist appointment here yesterday, and I’ll join in the Angeles Hash this afternoon. I’m sure I’ll be back to AC a couple of times a year in the future for the Angeles Hash events.