I just now got the sad news that Dave Fisher, owner of Wet Spot and Green Room, and a long-time icon of Barretto, has passed away. He will be missed. What always most impressed me about Dave was how he looked out for the interests of the foreigners here. He was well-connected with the mayor’s office in Olongapo and worked hard behind the scenes to protect the bar district from the corruption so prevalent in Angeles City. Things like bar raids are almost non-existent here. And if someone fucked up and wound up in jail, Dave would often visit and ensure they had adequate food and care. I expect we’ll see some changes to the way things are in the future, and I doubt they will be for the better. Dave stuck around until his mid-80s and lived an amazing life as a physician and pharmaceutical executive in Europe, before getting into the bar business in both Thailand and the Philippines over twenty years ago. It won’t be the same without him around.
Yesterday was less depressing than today’s news, so let’s get to that.
We did the Decay Dance under sprinkles of raindrops. There weren’t as many kids around, so we extended our walk by another 3K.
At beer o’clock, I headed out to the side of town I don’t visit often enough.
When we were ready to eat dinner, we headed almost next door.
For our nightcap, we crossed the highway (no easy task on a Saturday night) and visited the newest bar in town, Gold Bar.
Swan had to get up at 3:00 am for a running event, so we didn’t stay late. I’ll share more about that tomorrow, but she did her first 10K run and says she enjoyed it.
Today’s post from the LTG archives in July 2015 recounts the sad story of a Filipino friend getting caught by Korean immigration and deported back to the Philippines. Also, one of my best friends from my time in Korea returned to the USA to teach in Arizona. People come and go in life, and today I’m saying goodbye to the legend, Dave Fisher.
Facebook memories from this date in time:
Today’s YouTube video also comes from Facebook, thirteen years ago. Oddly enough, two years later, I did get rehired by my old crew at 8th Army.
And now, before I go:
Well, damn. Dave put up a good fight, and now his suffering is over. Still hard to believe he’s gone. It occurs to me that mourning has a selfish element to it. And I’m a selfish bastard sometimes.
re: Dave
Seemed like an interesting fellow. Brace yourself for whatever comes next.
The beach view at dusk.
Which directions can you see from your rooftop? N, S, E, W? I can’t remember whether you’ve ever photographed a sunrise. I’ll have to troll your archives.
Here in the Philippines, I just hold up my empty bottle and holler, “Isa pa!”
And the poster gets the French wrong: the “please” should have a space in it: “S’il vous plaît,” not “S’ilvous plaît.” At least they got the accents right.
RIP, Dave. But as you yourself wrote years ago, “no mulligans.”
I guess Trump will show up for the main card ’cause his granddaughter is there.
havent really been watching though….just got it on in the background while i do the laundry. will be done soon though, and then booze time, niggah
now where’s my grok hug, dammit? You always were a sucker for men in costumes and uniforms!!
I never understood the hype of that band. I don’t kmow….maybe they all are super talented and shit, but I never managed to get through a single song. Just found them crap
Re: Dave
And Time continues to be undefeated in the game of Life.
How long had he been ill?
For good or bad, my guess is that other than your personal interactions with Dave, you will not see much difference in how the bars are run, the corruption, bar raids, etc. Seems like somebody always steps in to fill the void, even though to me from a 10000 ft view, sees that it is a futile effort with too many bars chasing too few patrons.
Brian, hopefully you are right about someone stepping up, but Dave was always well-connected behind the scenes. During the scamdemic, he helped reopen the Barretto bars (with certain restrictions) earlier than anywhere else in Luzon. And his charity work was legendary. His Filipino workers were crying last night, including the handyman who has a prosthetic leg thanks to Dave’s generosity. The man’s a legend. Dave lost his battle with skin cancer after a two-year struggle.
No question there are more bars than customers necessary to make a profit.
Mangor, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Kevin, well, whatever comes next is unlikely to be as good as what once was.
From the roof, I have a clear view to the West, and a lesser view to the North. I don’t recall any sunrise photos because my house faces in the wrong direction.
I doubt I’ll be ordering a beer in French anytime soon. I do occasionally order in Spanish or Korean just to fuck with my waitress.
As Dave himself used to say, “Don’t take life too seriously. You’re not getting out alive anyway.”