I’m not really looking for love anymore but I still have an active account at Date in Asia (DIA). I usually check it once a day to see if any new lovelies are showing any interest in a gwapo guy like me. That’s usually a negative result. I also have my search parameters set for Olongapo girls only. A long-distance romance in these troubled times is pretty much pointless. A couple of days ago I came across a new member who was pretty cute and 33 years old. Her name is Jane. I gave her a “like” and we exchanged a couple of introductory messages then she sent me her Skype login info so we could communicate there.

I added her and sent a Skype message but didn’t hear back. No big deal to me. Then yesterday I noticed I had something on Skype so I opened it up to find Jane had finally gotten around to answer me with a simple “how are you?” I gave her the standard fine thanks and asked where she was. “Batangas” was the reply. Well, Batangas is way down south of Manila. I asked her why her DIA profile said she lived in Olongapo and she simply said “I’m in Batangas now”. And then she blew me away (not literally) with this question:

Do you like ladyboy? (transgender). Um. I responded that I’m not gay but she is a fine-looking gal. Honestly, I usually can tell immediately when I encounter a “girl with something extra”. Bakla is the name Filipinos use. I was confused so I went back to Jane’s DIA profile for another look at her pictures. I’m thinking no way she’s a bakla. So, I send Jane a DIA message telling her I’m confused about what she told me on Skype. She responded a bit later saying “what are you talking about? We haven’t chatted on Skype.”

Oh shit. I added the wrong Jane Rodriguez on Skype. Yeah, I’m that stupid sometimes. The right Jane did add me to her Skype and we chatted once. She lives here in Barretto. Haven’t heard back from her and probably won’t bother trying to contact her again anyway. It would likely just lead to more transactional trouble.

But wait, there’s more! I mentioned earlier that my friend Gee, the Mangos manager, was involved in some charity projects. I had offered to donate some cash through her but she preferred I meet the people involved and donate personally. So last night I’m at Mangos as usual and Gee invites me over to meet some friends of hers–from the Olongapo police department. We did our introductions (I made sure I followed all the COVID protocols–mask, social distance, etc.). Turns out they are involved in helping some needy folks in their jurisdiction. The guy cop told me they had encountered one individual in desperate need of a wheelchair. I was happy to help out with a little cash.

After that meeting was complete I returned to my beachside perch and my cold beer. Lots of local kids were having fun on the beach.

And as I suspected would happen, before long a sandclod war broke out. It seemed to me that it ended in a draw. Both sides were laughing anyway.

Then I settled in to enjoy my dinner.

I’ll be the Hare for Monday’s Hash, so today the hiking group helped me scout out a trail.

Life is good. I’m going to try and keep it that way.