I guess I could use this title for most of my posts here, but last night was special, at least in the sense that it was my first time bar hopping since my break-up. I started out at Cheap Charlies, one of my former regular haunts. Facebook had advised that my favorite there, Alma, was having a birthday so I thought I’d surprise her. That didn’t work out so well since Alma took the day off to celebrate her birthday. Oh well, the other gals were happy to see me back. One, in particular, Jade, was cracking me up with her witty comments–correctly surmising that I must be single again because I was there and the GF wasn’t. She also noted that my plans to celebrate Alma’s birthday had been fruitless, but suggested we party on without her. So, I bought drinks for the three gals surrounding me, and when I got hungry I ordered some extra food so everyone could partake.

My next stop was a new bar in town called Graceland. It’s owned by a Hasher named Dripping Pussy, but she goes by Grace in real life. It’s got to be the smallest bar in town, with inside seating for six. They do have a table out front as well.

Anyway, I wish them well. I’ll probably pop in again sometime but doubt I’ll become a regular.

A highlight of the evening was my visit to Alaska Club. Regular readers may recall that this was the first bar I visited in the Philippines back in the days when it was located in Angeles City. Lots of memories from those days, including my first-ever barfine.

I did a post about some of those AC memories here if you want to get a sense of what I’m talking about. Anyway, like all the bars in Barretto, Alaska has been suffering without the free-spending tourists who used to frequent the place. I dropped in every couple of months or so, but I was almost always the only customer. And really, without the dancers to offer entertainment, there isn’t a lot of reasons to go there. To make things even worse, the owner, Jerry, had been stuck in the USA for the last twenty months. He kept the bar open solely to provide some income and housing for the loyal employees he left behind. That was an amazing act of charity in my opinion.

Anyway, when I entered the bar I saw right away that I was once again the only customer. But then I saw Jerry coming up to welcome me–he finally made it back to the Philippines. We had a great chat for over an hour and the beer was flowing. He’s really an interesting guy (a retired airline pilot who hails from Alaska) with lots of stories to tell. I shared with him some of my memories of those early days back in AC and asked if he remembered Sheryl. He didn’t recognize the photo I showed him but called over his mamasan who has been in his employ for 16 years to have a look. She recognized Sheryl immediately and confirmed that she is married and living in Australia, where she works as a nurse. That last detail was a surprise–I had sponsored Sheryl’s caregiver certification, she must have continued her education in her new life. Good for her! And welcome back, Jerry. Your presence in the bar will be enough to bring some customers like me in and the tourists are on their way! Better days are coming for us all.