So, I guess that makes it a Ruby Tuesday! Here are some of the shiny moments I experienced. Starting with a new twist to the grocery shopping routine:
In the afternoon, I planned to visit Dr. Jo. Meanwhile, Swan would attend the RSL meeting for another chance to win the Joker Jackpot of 90,000 pesos (around $1750). Swan’s event started at 2 p.m., and my appointment was at 3:00. Of course, things don’t always go according to plan. When I arrived at Dr. Jo’s, the door was locked, and the office was dark. WTF? I rattled the door a bit, and she came and opened it. There were some issues with the power company, and the lights had been shut off without warning. Dr. Jo said she could do the chelation injection but couldn’t remove the skin tabs on my eyelids without electricity. Instead, I arranged to come back today after my ophthalmologist appointment in Olongapo.
With nothing better to do, I crossed the highway and joined the RSL meeting in progress at Mango’s. They hadn’t started the raffle drawings yet, so I had to sit there and suffer through an hour and a half of prize giveaways. Neither of us had a ticket drawn this week and the person who got to pick the joker guessed right and won the big jackpot. At least we won’t be motivated to sit through future raffles for a while.
When the RSL concluded, we made our way to Baloy Beach for our weekly visit to the Kokomo’s floating bar.
I was even inspired to do a brief video:
When our time on the floater was done, we hit the beach. Neither of us was hungry enough for a big meal, so we shared a couple of tacos.
So, nice that I decided to do another video:
When I’m sitting in a bar or restaurant, I occasionally check my phone to see what is happening on social media. And that’s how I came across this post from MacArthur’s Bar on Facebook:
Swan told me just to ignore it, but I couldn’t resist leaving this comment:
OMG! I had no idea girls in other bars are slaves who are forced to go on barfines. Who knew?
Then the owner responded to my comment thusly:
John McCrarey please reread the post …. I’m the owner and policy maker . I run a shift with no barfine or early work release . I don’t get money from selling the girl for a bar share of roughly 1500 and I’m not calling out any bar that does this . My girls make their own decisions with their body after their shift . They also choose where they want to work . After their shift they have no fear of being seen with a customer. I can’t say the same from other bars and I’m not calling out other bars as girls choose where to work .
He does make some valid points, but the “pimp girls” and slave thing seems a bit much. If I ran a bar, I wouldn’t permit barfines either. And one of my pet peeves about the bar business here is that some bars will punish the girls who go with customers after work hours, calling them “sneak outs” to avoid paying the barfine. Years ago, I invited a door girl from Hot Zone to join me for lunch on her day off. She said we’d have to leave town to eat because if someone saw her with a customer, she’d have to pay the barfine. On her freakin’ day off! Come to think of it that is a bit like slavery.
Speaking of slavery, we watched episode 5 of “Squid Game” when we returned home last night. I’m trying hard to suspend disbelief that something like this could happen, but I’m sure I’ll learn more about the motivations of those involved as things move forward. I’m committed to getting through Season One so I can read Kevin’s review, spoilers, and all. Maybe it will make more sense then.
I stocked up on sugar-free pudding, so no more brownies!
Things I remember today:
Speaking of the departed, I learned that my high school pal Steve Ewing passed away this week in California. I had lost touch with Steve years ago, but my brother Greg and Steve still maintained contact. I was also relieved to discover that my other best friend from that era, Rod Headlee, is still around. He dropped Facebook and disappeared, but Greg says Rod and his wife are doing well.
Today’s YouTube is a bit worrisome, given my current eye issues. I’ll be back to the ophthalmologist today, but given that I’m basically blind in my left eye, I expect cataract surgery is in my near future. He did a good job on the right eye a couple of years ago, so maybe I shouldn’t worry so much. We shall see. *ahem*
Let’s give ’em something to smile about:
That’s how it all went down on Tuesday. Two doctor visits are in my immediate future, and after that, we shall see. Tell you all about it tomorrow.
YBC definitely seems to be your store. Here’s hoping they never cheese out on you, or at least do so only rarely.
How old was Johnny Tango when he died?
Good luck with the docs.
Re: do the bars in Barretto get crew from the Navy ships or do they generally go somewhere else?
Re: Videos – what was that noise at the 0:10 mark? a sniffle? belch? something else? (seems to repeat at 0:20 of the second video. LOL)
But nice to see the videos. Both look like good places to hang out.
Re: video on healthcare – yeah, definitely a downside of living in a rural area of a developing country. Medical care is never going to be as good as back in the US or a major city. For any medical care that is anything out of the ordinary or emergency type work, I would be a bit nervous to get anything done. One of the reasons that causes people to move back to the US (or wherever)
Brian, the Navy MSC ships are crewed by civilians, and you can see the guys in Barretto when the ships are in port. As I understand it, military members are not allowed to leave SBMA when off-duty.
Re: the videos. Glad you enjoyed them. I have no idea what that noise is, but it sounds like a belch. I need to pay more attention next time. At least it wasn’t a fart. I hope.
Healthcare issues are a downside to living here, that’s for sure. Lots of guys schedule surgery back home or in Thailand. In an emergency, it’s the luck of the draw. I put off that nasal surgery for a long time because I didn’t trust getting general anesthesia here. Anyway, it is something to be cognizant of when you decide to retire in the PI.
It’s good to have YBC as an option. Royal has been so disappointing lately.
Johnny was in his seventies when he passed away. I don’t know much of his story, but he was involved in the music scene in NYC in the 70s and spent the last years of his life managing bars in the Philippines. He was working in Angeles City when he died.