A change of scenery will give you a new perspective, and that’s a good thing. Yesterday, the Wednesday Walkers took a thirty-minute drive to the end of the road in Cawag and commenced our hike from there. We’d last ventured out this way a couple of years ago, so the vistas had a fresh look about them. The only downside of the hike was that it was an “out and back again” path, and I don’t like retreating. Still, it was a nice way to kick off the Lunar New Year.
Here’s a couple of minutes of video from the hike coming back:
I didn’t go horizontal because hiking on a rocky path with a phone in one hand and my trekking pole in the other is tough enough.
The Wednesday evening hours were spent at The Green Room and Alaska Club. I had the usual good time at GR, and I even almost beat Chu at pool. I had the first shot at the 8-ball and missed; she didn’t.
The Alaska visit was unusual. An old waitress “friend” I hadn’t seen for several months was back, she came and said hello and took our drink order, but a different waitress delivered them. I called her back over and asked her why she didn’t serve me, and she said it wasn’t her turn. Apparently, the waitresses serve customers in rotation. Okay, no big deal. Would you like a lady drink? And she declined. That’s never happened to me before in fifteen years of visiting and living in the PI. Weird. I called over another waitress I knew, and she gladly accepted my offer to buy her a drink. It’s no big deal; it’s just unexpected to be rejected.
After the Alaska adventure, we headed home and watched another “Squid Game” episode from Season Two. Once again, I’m finding aspects of the show hard to believe. I’ll reserve judgment until I reach the end—two more episodes to go.
Here are some Facebook memories from this day in my history:
In today’s YouTube video, Reekay talks about expats who choose to “go native” and live like the locals. In the comments on another post, I had just mentioned that I chose not to live on SBMA because the vibe felt too much like living in the USA. So, here I am, living the high life in Alta Vista, looking down on the Filipino communities below. As I am wont to say, I may not be living in the Philippines, but I can see it (and hear it) from here.
To the humor we must go:
And that’s all for now, folks. I’ll be heading off for this week’s chelation treatment with Dr. Jo, and then we’ll see what’s going on in town after that. Thanks for coming by.
So! Wednesday was a good day for calories and creek crossings. Looks to have been a very nice trail.
When will we hear about chelation therapy’s effectiveness? I need numbers!
Enjoy your eternal summer.
Here’s a crazy ass thought. Give up the beers (or G&T’s) a few nights a week. The XXX calories you save by not drinking you can use on a dessert, etc. LOL
re: Going native – I always think of Col. Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. There is a reason that the US State Dept rotates it foreign service personnel every few years. They dont want people going native on them.
It is natural to be around people of similar cultures, languages, etc. You see it with immigrant communities all over the world. And you see it with western expat communities in places like PI, Thailand, etc.
But, I do think that people should make an effort to interact with locals, but it is tough, with language being one of the biggest hurdles.
Brian, it is hard to imagine a crazier thought than that! 🙂 I’ll just keep on keepin’ on this path I’ve chosen.
When I worked for the Army, they had a “five-year rule” limiting overseas assignments. The stated rationale was to ensure that skills didn’t deteriorate from lack of exposure to new ideas/challenges. The other reason was to provide opportunities for other people to experience the challenges of working outside the USA. The problem was that while lots of folks wanted to work in Europe, recruiting to Korea was a real bitch. I would argue to no avail that sending someone home because their five years were up and being unable to find someone as good to take their place was not wise. Occasionally, exceptions would be made for critical positions, but it was still a dumb policy, in my opinion. Perhaps the going native thing was the real reason.
I know some expats prefer the province life and being the only foreigner around. I’m the opposite–sharing this PI adventure with other like-minded folks is what I like best. I guess that’s just putting a foot in the water rather than diving in, but it works for me!
Kev, I asked Dr. Jo about that yesterday. She said you can see improvements through things like reduced BP and improved blood sugar measurements (which I don’t monitor). Otherwise, I’d need to redo some of those tests and compare results to know if my veins have less blockage. She said for someone like me without severe symptoms, the chelation was more of a preventative treatment. According to her, folks who are suffering feel the difference after chelation.