No war in Iram

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Someday I’m going to write the story of my life. Heh, I guess I already have in daily doses here at LTG.

Yesterday’s episode was a good one. And yes, it included a hike in the morning and some bars in the evening. That’s just the way I roll!

The Friday group hikers shared the 17 kilometer journey out to the Old Cabalan barangay in Olongapo City. Thanks for driving us, Scott!
The backseat riders.
This week’s iteration of the Friday group: Scott, George, Steve, and yours truly.
Plus Swan.
Our destination was the peaceful Aeta native village of Iram.

Last time we were out this way was January 2025 when we did a feeding at the village.

A shady spot somewhere.
A river runs through it.
Strollin’ on the riverside.
We couldn’t help but notice this is one of the breast-looking hills around.
This place along the river was interesting. It looks like it was a small resort at one time.
That’s the house on the compound that includes swimming pools and picnic areas.
Nothing fancy, but fine for a country-living lifestyle I reckon.

I was curious to learn more, so I had Swan call the number. The rent for the complex is 30,000 pesos a month ($475). And that includes electricity and water. Because there is no electric service out here and you get your water from the river. Um, nope. I can’t live that way.

Passing by the Iram elementary school.

Here’s a short video Swan took as we entered the village:

I’ve been here several times but never knew there was no power out here. A lot of the locals had some small solar panels for nighttime lights.
If the bridge can hole me, y’all are safe to cross.
Down by the river.
After some discussion, we opted to not cross the water this trip.
Another group of hikers crossed over from the other side of the river.
Monkeying around in the shade.
This dog thought it was a goat.
And this one was getting a bath in the stream.
On the way back, Steve went down to check out the river.
Then he decided to take a swim.
He said the water was surprisingly warm.
Not a bad looking little house. I’m guessing it is elevated because it floods down there.
I can’t remember the last time I saw a high-flying jet leaving a contrail behind.
Back to where we started from.
There and back again was just under 5K. Yeah, we were lazy.

The usual afternoon duties (shower, nap, blogging) then it was time to head out for the usual evening good times. I chose Champs Sports Bar on Baloy Beach as our starting point.

We took a seat next to the pool table.
With a nice second-floor view outside the window.
I decided to get in some pool practice. Played the waitress two games, shot like shit, and won one of them.
I’d never seen anything like this before. Anyone know what it is and how it works?
Swan got in some practice by herself.
The sun was almost gone, so we paid our tab and headed for the beach.
Swan got her toes in the sand fix.

Then we walked up the beach to Treasure Island, thinking we’d grab a meal. When I asked for a San Miguel Extra Light, the bartender acted like she’d never heard of it. I told her Sloppy Joe’s (same owner as Treasure Island) serves it, and she just shrugged. Okay then, we’ll go elsewhere. We went next door to Foxhole, and they didn’t have it either. Again, this wasn’t a matter of being out of stock; these bars aren’t ordering it. Which tells me they don’t want my business. We caught a trike and had it drop us off at Gold Bar in Barretto. We got the beer I wanted, and a pulled pork sandwich from the little eatery next door. Problem solved.

It appears the Gold Bar dancers have lost a lot of weight.

When it was time to move on, we decided to do our nightcap at Queen Victoria. As we were leaving Gold Bar, we ran into Douglas, the guy I had met in Bohol. He wanted to join us at Queen Vic, so off we went.

Nice to see you again, Doug.
A full stage of Queen Victoria dancers. Most of them were easy on the eyes.

I was pushing myself to make it until 9 p.m. Doug left, and then Troy came in and joined us.

Thanks for the chat, Troy. He’s a busy guy, head of the local VFW Chapter and travels a lot for various events. His children live in Japan (he was stationed there with the Air Force) and he’ll be spending some time with them next week.

And then, having achieved my target time of one hour later than usual, I was ready to head for home. And so ended another day in the life.

On to November 2022 in the LTG archives, and I’m in the midst of a visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I had to leave the country for my visa renewal because tourists can only stay for three consecutive years, and Cambodia was among my favorite places in Asia. I also had a dear friend living there whom I wanted to see. It turns out that it was the last time I saw him. I haven’t been in contact with him for over two years. I assume he passed away, but I’ve been unable to confirm that. Dennis was a private person and loathed social media. He was living alone, and I know no one there whom I can contact about his status. The fact that he hasn’t responded to multiple emails from me leads me to believe he’s no longer among the living.

Today’s YouTube video is from a vlogger I’d never viewed before, but I saw online that he had died this week. The video, which was posted last month, indicated that he was happy with his life in the Philippines and had no regrets about moving here. It turns out he was also 71 years old. I’m sorry you had to leave the life you loved.

Here’s the video his son posted announcing the death of his father:

On a happier note:

Yeah, better without the filter.
Sounds delicious!
Ferme ta bouche.

And now it is time to get back to living my way through another Saturday. Tell you all about it tomorrow.

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