A nothing burger kind of day around here. Yeah, yeah, what else is new? Accompanied Justin to the bus station in Olongapo City. So I did get to “enjoy” the excitement of a Jeepney ride. The timing was impeccable though. Justin purchased his ticket and walked right on to the bus waiting to transport him to Manila.

I don’t get downtown very often, so I thought I’d take advantage of my geography and visit the new mall in town. I got there about thirty minutes prior to opening time, so I strolled around the local area. Nothing really wrong with it, but let’s just say I’m glad to be living in Barretto!

Anyway, the mall features four floors of malliness, and it’s all new and clean and full of goods waiting to be consumed. Speaking of consumption, probably the thing I liked best was the restaurants, including a grilled meat Korean place and an all-you-can-eat steakhouse. The only thing I ate this morning though was a Krispy Kreme donut. It had been a while since I’ve indulged that particular sweet tooth and I couldn’t resist the opportunity. Otherwise, there was nothing at the new mall that would warrant a special trip out there. I like the mall on the old Navy base better and it’s closer as well.

I didn’t see any other foreigners at the mall this morning. It was a little disconcerting when an older Filipina came up to me and asked me if I had served in the military. I told her no and asked her why and she explained her retired military husband had died and his pension had stopped. I honestly don’t know anything about how that works and suggested she contact someone at the Veterans Administration or a local VFW chapter. She kinda just shrugged, thanked me, and went on her way. I just now looked it up and unless the retiree opts for a survivor benefit, the widow gets no money. I suspect that is what happened here.

I did come across a group of white people standing around inside the mall and I did my best to blend in with them.

I didn’t notice at the time of the photo but I see now that they aren’t exactly dressed appropriately for the Philippines. No idea why a store would even stock such items. Good luck to that retailer!

And there you have another installment in the adventure that is my life in the Philippines.