A very nice hike yesterday at the Cubi Point area on SBMA. I hadn’t been up that way in years, and we walked through a place I’d never seen before: the JEST Camp.
JEST Camp, or Jungle Environment Survival Training Camp, was a training facility at Subic Bay Naval Base that provided a five-day course on jungle survival skills, primarily for military personnel. After the U.S. Navy left, the camp was transformed into an adventure camp for tourists.
The camp is closed to tourists now, and the security guard aborted our efforts to do a walk-through, but it is still an interesting area to see, even from afar. Here’s a video about the history of JEST Camp.
I recall visiting the Cubi area during pre-move reconnaissance, scouting potential places to live. Despite the area’s beauty, it just felt a little too isolated and a little too much like Americanized suburbia for me. And so I made Barretto my home instead.
Here are a few photos from the journey:
And then something weird happened. We came upon a series of signs, each bearing a line from a poem, every twenty yards or so. Since we were coming down, we saw them in reverse order. Let me fix that for you:
Thanks for that!
One of the nicer hikes I’ve experienced here. Next up, our weekly visit to Baloy Beach.
Next stop, Treasure Island.
A sweet ending to our Thursday at the beach.
Still in the July 2017 LTG archives, and in this post, I recount the only time in history that three McCrareys were in the city of Pyeongtaek at the same time (the other two were my nephews Josh and Justin). There were pictures from our barhop, including one of my friend, Mi Young. Alas, she was not interested in anything more at the time, but we remain friends to this day.
Today’s YouTube video was a tad disconcerting in that it is a reminder that life is indeed fleeting. I try not to overthink it, but since turning 70, I’ve not been able to shake the feeling of impending doom. It might come in ten years, ten months, ten days, or ten minutes. But it is coming. And there ain’t a damn thing I can do about it, so I’ll just keep on keepin’ on as best as I am able. Unlike the story this vlogger tells, I don’t regret my time in the Philippines, and I have nothing to go back to in the USA. He made his mistakes and will die feeling the consequences. That’s just the way it works. I have a lifetime of sad memories and “what if” thoughts, but the past doesn’t dictate the future, however short it may be, unless you let it. It’s sometimes a struggle, but I’m going to pack as much happiness into each day as I can. And when it is done, it is done. As much as I like to fantasize about a “do-over,” there is no going back.
Let’s try and lighten the mood:
I’ve been feeling off the mark all day today. Here’s hoping for a better tomorrow.
A cafe in the middle of nowhere.
Was it open, or just abandoned?
Hmm, if I had a car, maybe living here in isolation wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
But you’d have to drive back from the bars at night. Unless you had a designated driver for every time you went to a bar.
Today’s YouTube video was a tad disconcerting in that it is a reminder that life is indeed fleeting.
That whole thing felt like a scripted AI artifact. Aside from that, there may have been some potential nuggets of wisdom. Like “Soft men die badly.”
As much as I like to fantasize about a “do-over,” there is no going back.
Yup, as we’ve discussed before, it’s metaphysically impossible. The moment you “do over” your first error, you erase all the future errors that you’d wanted to do over. It’s now a totally new life, with totally new opportunities for totally new mistakes.
Re: Walk at Cubi Point
you have access to a car and driver, correct? Any reason you couldn’t hire him to take you to various locations for a day hike?
Re: Video
Not sure if everything in the video actually happened to one person or if it is an aggregation of multiple stories, but I am sure that the overall content is true. Quite depressing.
As has been discussed here, I think that all relationships are transactional in some way. In the west, a common relationship transaction would be trading love and affection for love and affection.
In the PI (and most other southeast Asian countries), a foreigner/local relationship is often the foreigner giving the local an economic benefit + stability (and love and affection) in return for affection and companionship. Not every foreigner/local relationship is like this, but a significant portion is. Is there anything wrong with this? No, as long as both parties are aware and honest about what the relationship is built on.
Most guys (around the world) let their little head do the thinking for their big head. They need to look at things rationally. The guy in the video should have said to himself, “Okay, I got this hot 20 something local saying she loves me, a 60 year old foreigner. Would she feel the same way if I hadn’t built her this house? Gave money to her relatives? Gave money to her? Would I be able to land an equivalent girl if I were back in my home country?” If the answer to any of those is NO, then she probably doesn’t love you in the traditional western ideal of love. She may like you, she may enjoy being with you, but probably doesn’t love you per our definition.
Again, nothing wrong with a relationship built on that, as long as you know it going in. This guy obviously didn’t. Cautionary tale, but bound to be repeated many many times going forward.
Brian, I’ve used my driver a couple of times for hikes in the past, but that has to be pre-planned and limits the number of potential participants.
Regarding the video, yes, my sense is that it does not represent one man’s views as claimed, but rather a conglomeration of multiple stories. Regardless, the issues raised are true enough. Unwise choices lead to bad outcomes.
I don’t disagree with you regarding the transactional nature of many, if not most, relationships. From my earliest days here, I’ve known that what makes me attractive to a woman is the bulge in my pants (I’m talking about my wallet). Still, back home, women want young, fit, handsome guys. I find that attraction every bit as shallow, if not more so, than being attracted to financial security. In my elderly years now, I’m most attracted to a woman who can and will take care of me. Swan fulfills that desire, and in turn, I make sure she has what she needs to live a comfortable life.
Having been married four times and been on the losing end in countless other relationships, I agree with Bob Dylan’s song: love is just a four-letter word.
Kevin, the cafe wasn’t open at the time, but it appeared to still be in business. Surprisingly, given its isolated location.
Yes, I strongly oppose drinking and driving (I used to keep a breathalyzer in my car back in the USA to make sure I was never over the limit when I got behind the wheel). I suppose the overpriced taxis on SBMA would be an option.
I agree the video didn’t feel like a real story from a 91-year-old veteran, but the tales it told were all too familiar and illustrate classic mistakes expats make when they move here. So, it serves as a fair warning, even if the main character is fictional. That said, I disagree with the advice to flee the country. Best advice, be aware and don’t be stupid.
Yeah, my new workaround is to have multiple do-over lives and see which one turns out the best. Hey, I’ve got an eternity, right?
John, you and I are on the page (I think). Most relationships are transactional and as long as a person understands that, then nothing wrong with it. The transaction could be love – love. Could be money – companionship. Could be money – green card. Etc.
Where it usually goes south is when one side does not understand or believes there is another reason for the relationship.
Brian, yes, we agree. As long as both parties are honest about it and are getting what the need, it works.