Yesterday was full of decadence, or so I’ve been led to believe. Don’t get your hopes up, it’s not as tantalizing as I make it sound. Anyway, during our Candy Walk yesterday, there was a bit of an incident at one of our most popular neighborhoods. There is a small church there, and the Sunday school is in session as we pass. While we service the non-attending children, the kids in church are released to partake in the free sweetness we dispense. This has been going on like that for the two years we’ve been doing the candy thing. So, yesterday, after Swan had finished handing out the candy bags, a woman (presumably the Sunday school teacher) approached and started speaking to Swan. This went on for like five minutes or so, and Swan had a funny look on her face when the conversation was over. The teacher had told Swan that she was concerned about the children’s dental health, and she suggested that we hand out something healthier, like biscuits. Hmm, or the teacher could just tell the kids not to accept candy gifts. I seriously doubt that our once-a-week offering is going to rot teeth, but we aren’t forcing anyone to eat the sweets we give away. Just say no, and we’ll move on. I admit I found the teacher’s intervention more than a little irksome. Next Sunday, I’ll suggest to Swan that we walk on by that area, although I feel bad for the kids who are always looking forward to our arrival. We’ll see.

Nobody complained about the feeding at Hideaway. I guess some customers might blame me for fattening up the girls, but no one has said anything. Yet.

At the appointed hour (5 p.m.), I moved on to John’s place for dinner.

After our meal, we headed up the highway to Red Bar.

I had initially planned to go to Nipsey’s for our nightcap, but I offered Candy Bar as an alternative. Then, as we passed Jumpin’ Jacks, Swan said, “Let’s go here instead.” I guess that makes it official, our new favorite place to chill.

So, I told the girls, best out of three, winner gets 100 pesos, loser gets 50. They happily agreed to my terms, and it was game on! One of them had superior pool skills (the one shooting in the photo above), but the other had enough luck on her side to take it to a third and final game, where talent won out after a hard-fought battle. Swan surprised me by pulling another 100 peso note from her purse and said, make it 150 and 100 for the girls.

And so another day ended without bitterness.

Today’s episode from the LTG archives is a pictorial from the celebration of my 55th birthday at Pub Dolce Vita in Itaewon. Coincidentally, I’ll be turning 70 later this month, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Today’s YouTube video is about how Filipino food shocked the “experts” at an international cooking competition. I apologize for the crappy AI narration, but I’m sharing anyway because I know at least one of my readers is a foodie and may learning more about the local food offerings. For the record, I’ve had Kare-Kare before and enjoyed it. (Now I’m wondering if the whole thing is bullshit.)

Humor me, please:

And now it is time to ready myself for another Hash Monday. Tell you all about it tomorrow.

Greetings from Da Nang, Vietnam. Here’s the down and dirty of day one of my trip as told through photographs.

And then AirAsia charged me an additional 2,400 pesos to check my bag.

We arrived at the airport five hours prior to our scheduled departure time. Hey, better early than late. The Manila airport isn’t known for its comfort levels, so we went looking for an “elite” lounge to spend the time.

We *almost* managed to get our money’s worth when our outbound flight was delayed for two hours. They never told us why.

Me being me, we went downstairs to check out the hotel bar.

I asked the bartender what beers were available, and said I drink San Miguel back home. He grinned and said, ‘I’ve got some San Mig, but you’re in Hong Kong now.’ Why not try something different?

Which is not to say things were not expensive. I pay around 100 pesos for a beer in Barretto. That’s less than two bucks. That local beer was 635 pesos each, or about twelve dollars. Even the San Miguel Light was almost five times more expensive than the PI. Well, I was spending money that no one else wanted, so why not go a little wild? I’ll be returning to HK on Saturday to spend the rest of it.

And that was pretty much it for day one of my week out of town.

Seeing as I’m in holiday mode, I’ll spare you the usual content I post here until I return home. I’ll update you on the journey to Vietnam tomorrow.

Each day is a step closer to normalization, so we are getting there. I’m not ready or willing to give up.

I’m finishing up with the preparations for my upcoming trip to Da Nang, Vietnam. That required a visit to the Immigration Bureau in Olongapo to submit my application for an Emigration Clearance Certificate, which permits me to leave the country. In the absence of any outstanding wants, warrants, or other violations being found, I should be able to pick it up tomorrow.

Next on the agenda was grocery shopping at the YBC and Royal supermarkets. This caught my eye at YBC:

After shopping, we dropped Swan off at the government office in Olongapo that handles the Philippine social security program. I increased Swan’s allowance so she could resume paying into the system and be eligible for benefits when she reaches her golden years. She had to wait almost six hours for her number to be called. My head would have exploded long before that.

Since Swan still wasn’t home at beer o’clock, I headed out on my own. First stop was my old haunt, Snackbar.

Whatever magic this place once held for me is long gone. And so was I when I finished my beer.

I decided to take a stroll down Baloy Beach and see what was happening.

Kokomo’s Tiki Bar was still closed, and so was Kim’s Place. So, I circled back to Foxhole (formerly DaKudos) and took a seat at the empty bar. Monette, my old friend from Mango’s, was serving, and it was nice to see her again. She confirmed that Baloy continues to suffer from a lack of tourists, and business is slow everywhere.

I heard from Swan that she was on her way home after completing her ordeal in Olongapo (she messaged via phone since I have not as yet been unblocked on Facebook). We agreed to meet for dinner at Treasure Island.

While waiting for the food to arrive, a storm blew through.

Dinner is served:

It was only seven, which is early even by my low standards, but I was ready to call it a night and head home. Swan heard that Season 3 of Squid Game was now out, so we settled onto the couch and watched Episode 1 of the final six-episode season. Swan’s a bigger fan than I am, but it’s an okay show. My issues are with plot holes that make no sense. Last night, the detective was still trying to find the island by hiring a drone operator. Somehow, I think an island with all the infrastructure required for the games wouldn’t be that difficult to find off an isolated coast in Korea.

Oh, and I got a Father’s Day card from my daughter via a friend’s FPO account. The postmark indicates it was mailed on June 10 in South Carolina. Must have gone via the pony express.

It’s nice to be remembered by one of my kids anyway.

Long ago, in a land far away, I climbed a mountain. Then I had lunch at the top before riding a cable car back down the other side. In February 2010, I wrote a post full of pictures documenting that historic day. You can read all about it in The Story of My Life.

In today’s YouTube video, Smart Girl Philippines tells us how foreigners fuck up their relationships in her usual cheerful and witty style. I have no idea what she is talking about.

Just because I find it funny doesn’t mean you won’t:

A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named ‘Amal.’ The other goes to a family in Spain, they name him Juan. Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his mum. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Amal. Her husband responds, ”But they are twins. If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Amal.”

Spoken like a true dad.

And that’s the way it was. Oh, I was writing this post, I got a Facebook friend request and a message on Messenger from Swan. I’ve officially been unblocked! Now we can communicate via social media like true lovers do!

It’s a slow ride so far, but I’m getting there. I’ve mentioned before that my memory is increasingly feeble. I find myself writing down things I don’t want to forget, at least when I remember to do so. My attention span is also growing more and more limited. That makes it hard to sit through a movie or a long video. And then last night, I was in the midst of a dream, and the song “Smooth” was playing in the background for some reason. It eventually overtook the narrative of the dream (of course, I don’t remember what I was dreaming about now), and it eventually caused me to wake up. And the damn song was STILL playing in my head! Try as I might, I couldn’t clear my brain or get back to sleep. I finally had to get up and put on my earbuds and play from one of my Spotify song lists. It kept me awake for a while, but it shut up Santana and Rob Thomas, and I was able to achieve slumber without distraction once more. At this rate, I’ll be a happy man soon, assuming ignorance truly is bliss.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah, a blog post about yesterday. Let’s get to it!

Next up was the Friday group hike.

The meeting I alluded to in yesterday’s post was to finalize plans for the Subic Bay Hash House Harriers’ 32nd Anniversary event. We took care of business and finished at 3 p.m. Well, that’s too close to beer o’clock to go back home, so I went to It Doesn’t Matter instead. Ran into some familiar faces, had some beer, and ate some chicken wings. Swan joined me there.

Some of the group wanted to pay a visit to Red Bar, so we joined in.

I hadn’t been to Red Bar on a Friday, so I was not aware of the daily special.

I don’t recall what the shot was, but thankfully, it was not too powerful. It’s for the best that I stick with San Mig Zero.

When the group was ready to move on, I suggested we pay Jumpin’ Jacks a visit. I told them about the nice time we’d had there on their re-opening weekend, and everyone was up for checking it out.

And the happy vibe and good music were still front and center. Also, as promised, they had stocked some Zero beer. Swan got her wine for 200 pesos, and that’s within my price tolerance. No complaints, and there were a couple of other folks there playing pool, so hopefully this iteration will be successful.

I’m joking, of course. I never play that suckers game of tossing the balls. The girls scramble around and get ten pesos for each ball they retrieve, but the bar gets about half of the 300 pesos. Instead, I bought all five of the girls working a lady drink. Yes, it cost me a lot more, but they earn a better commission and maintain their dignity.

Starting at three in the afternoon was a challenge, but I made it to eight, so that was an accomplishment of sorts. It was a very nice change of pace hanging with a group, and we had a fun night on the town. More fun than the SOB has been lately.

I’ve made it to December 2009 in my journey through the LTG archives. I’m going to offer a twofer today…On December 7 (talk about infamy), I was elected as President of the Seoul International Dart League. And on December 8, I was quoted in the Stars and Stripes about tour lengths for civilians in Korea. The link to the Stars and Stripes article in the post no longer works, but I found the story here.

Today’s YouTube video from the Filipina Pea is concerning. She discusses some recent legal changes that will have a negative impact on her and other vloggers in the Philippines. Sadly, the government focuses on shit like this instead of working to improve the lives of the Filipino people.

I didn’t forget the humor!

I’ve got a long way to go to catch up with Biden, so I’ll be back with more tomorrow. Unless I forget.

That’s the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority or the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, also known as the old Navy Base.

Anyway, Swan and I couldn’t decide where we might go for our Thursday hike, but we proceeded down to the highway anyway. I figured we’d grab a Jeepney, but I wasn’t sure which direction to go. When the moment of truth came, we headed towards Olongapo. We initially thought we’d get off near the Kalakalan gate at SBMA and then hike the beach back to Barretto. On the way there, I was trying to discern if the tide was high (which makes a beach walk more of a wade) when Swan declared, Why not just walk on SBMA? Yeah, why not? Hadn’t done that for a while.

So, off the Jeepney, through the gate as pictured above, and onto SBMA.

Now, SBMA is unique in that laws are enforced, and things like littering aren’t tolerated. Sadly, the bay is full of crap from everywhere else, and when the tide recedes it leaves behind the trash it carries.

I didn’t see any straws, at least. I told Swan that almost nothing came in a plastic bottle when I was a child. Soft drinks were in glass bottles, and you were charged a deposit when you bought one (three cents each). Litter didn’t last long, because kids like me would go scavenging for bottles and cash them in for pocket money. Ah, an old man’s tales from the good ol’ days.

So, that’s how we spent our morning, but there was more sand and water to come as we made our way to Baloy Beach.

I’m not sure what is happening on Baloy, but it had a ghost town vibe yesterday. We started things off with a beach walk to Kim’s Place. It was closed, but Kim was drinking at a table outside with some friends. He said he’d be ready to reopen on Monday for the Hash On-Home. Kim said there was no point in opening in uncertain weather.

Next, we went to Kokomo’s, which was closed as well. This was especially surprising because just a few days ago, I saw a post from Kokomo’s on Facebook saying that although the floating bar was gone now, the Tiki bar on the beach was open to serve you. Except it wasn’t. We checked with the receptionist at the front desk, and she said it closed because there were no customers. And now, when customers come, they aren’t open. That’s a self-defeating circle.

In our quest for something to drink, we continued on to Foxhole (aka DaKudo’s). Yay! They were open, although we were the only ones there except for the bartender/waitress, Nhel. She’s an old friend from Mango’s, so it was nice to say hello again.

When it was time to eat, we headed next door to Treasure Island. Not many customers, but it was fully staffed and felt like an oasis from the surrounding isolation.

As usual, we enjoyed our Treasure Island dining experience. When it was time to decide on a nightcap venue, we’d both had had enough of the desolate Baloy vibe. So, we grabbed a trike and headed into Barretto, getting out at Whiskey Girl.

We don’t come here often, and the last couple of times they didn’t have wine. I verified that red wine was in stock before we were seated. Our regular waitress, Kim, was there to serve us and enjoyed the bounty of my lady drink generosity. Kim lives on our Sunday Candy Walk route, so her kids are also always happy to see us.

I guess it is not just Baloy; there are not many tourists around this time of year, and for whatever reason, the expats haven’t been out in force either. Well, I’m doing my best to keep the bars in business, but there is only so much one man can do.

During our outing last evening, I kept getting messages from one of the bargirls I know. When she told me she needed help with the rent, I put her in ignore mode. I don’t get the mentality of why someone I’m barely acquainted with thinks I should give her money. In this case, I know her sister has a foreigner boyfriend, so why not ask her? My charity budget is maxed out helping folks with important stuff like medical expenses and tuition. I hate to seem Scrooge-like, but random bargirls just aren’t my priority these days. Yeah, there was a time when I might have done one of those “transactional” arrangements, but those days are gone now.

I’ve progressed to September 2009 in the LTG archives, and I enjoyed reading this post about my best Labor Day ever again.

Some Facebook memories from this day in history:

Today’s YouTube video is a travel documentary revealing some “unseen facts” about the Philippines. I found it interesting, perhaps you will, too.

And now for the funny business:

A Frenchman, an Italian, and a Texan were discussing lovemaking.

“Last night I made love to my wife three times,” boasted the Frenchman. “She was in sheer ecstasy this morning.”

“Ah, last night I made love to my wife six times,” the Italian responded, “And this morning she made me a wonderful omelet and told me she could never love another man.”

When the Texan remained silent, the Frenchman smugly asked, “And how many times did you make love to your wife last night?”

“Once,” he replied.

“Only once?” the Italian arrogantly snorted.

“What did she say to you this morning?” asked the Italian.

“Don’t stop,” said the Texan.

I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.

That’s all I’ve got to offer for today.

After a one-week hiatus, the Wednesday Walkers reconvened for an outing yesterday. Granted, it was flat and mostly paved, but it was good to get together once more on a 7K journey.

It rained again in the afternoon, but that didn’t stop us from heading out under umbrellas at beer o’clock. We confined ourselves to The Maze, visiting Sloppy Joe’s, Alaska, and Green Room. The usual good time was had, and then another day came to an end.

I’ve moved on to August 2009 in the journey through the LTG archives. I discovered that nearly all my posts were about politics (the Obamacare shit was hitting the fan) or darts. And you thought the content these days sucked! But the post about the farewell party for my pal Dave New was worthy of inclusion in The Story of My Life. Seeing the old Itaewon crew again in the photos made me once more realize how fleeting friendships truly are, at least they have been in my life. C’est la vie.

Coincidentally, I posted this three years ago on Facebook:

Welp, life’s a beach, so embrace it!

If you have a couple of minutes, this YouTube video from Smart Girl Philippines is worth your time. I thought it was funny how she says it’s always the woman’s fault. I will say her points about the “crab mentality” in Filipino culture are valid. I try to stay away from drama, but there is a fair amount of it currently taking place amongst the Hash womenfolk.

Time for a little humor (very little, some might say):

And now we are done for today.

For some reason, I posted a link to this song on Facebook ten years ago. I reckon it’s time to give it another listen:

Started the day like a rich man spending big at the grocery store. Came home and took a pleasant stroll through the neighborhood. And the good news is I’ve got my appetite back, and the expulsion chamber is working again.

A typical boring Thursday, and then, at about three p.m., this happens:

I don’t recall the last time I’ve seen it come down so hard. And the lightning was right outside my window. Big bolts and immediate thunder booms were driving the dogs crazy. And it lasted long enough to flood the streets in town. It was five-thirty before it lightened up enough for us to brave an umbrella walk to Barretto.

Some light rain was still falling after we finished our meal and headed out. We agreed a visit to Cloud 69 was in order. Man, we were in for a surprise as it was nothing like our previous visits. It had apparently flooded much worse than Mango’s, and the staff was still mopping up the floors when we arrived. Our regular waitress wasn’t there, and we were served by the bakla (transgender female). Let’s just say I prefer my regular server. Anyway, Swan got a good laugh when she overheard the bakla say to one of his/her coworkers that “My balls keep falling out of my underwear.” (S)he was wearing a miniskirt, and I didn’t look to see for myself.

We were the only customers as usual, but this time the music sucked (rap) and we asked that they play some classic rock instead. To the bar’s credit, they did so. None of the dancers bothered to get up on stage, and all of the staff just sat around playing on their phones. Then another customer came in, sat down, and ordered a beer. The bakla brought it to him, and then it was all as if he wasn’t there again. In a girly bar, the point is to pretend you are glad the customer is there and hope your faux kindness will be rewarded with a lady drink. These girls couldn’t be bothered to put their phones down. The guy took about three sips of his beer, got up, paid, and then walked out with a disgusted look on his face. Can’t say that I blame him. We left shortly thereafter.

I gave Swan two nightcap options, Wet Spot or Nipsey’s, which are about equally distant but in different directions. She opted for Nipsey’s and off we went. Another surprise here, a pleasant one this time. A friendly welcome, and as soon as we were seated (again, the only customers), two dancers hopped on stage and began “performing.” The music was just how I like it, and included the videos on a big screen TV. Jam, the person I knew on our last visit, wasn’t working, but one of the dancers greeted me by name. We called them both down to join us for a lady drink. It turns out that the one who knew my name used to work on the Kokomo’s floating bar, and last night was her first at Nipsey’s. Welcome aboard. Swan had a nice chat with the gals in Tagalog, and I just chilled, enjoying my beers and the vibe. The mood warranted buying a second round of lady drinks, and that’s just what I did.

When it was time to depart, I asked for my tab, and the waitress brought a bill for 1980 pesos. That seemed high to me, but I was buzzed enough not to care. Swan asked the girls how much the lady drinks cost (the standard 180 pesos each). I apparently had five beers, and Swan had one wine. Swan used the calculator on her phone and totaled our bill, which came to 1560 pesos. We called the waitress back over and told her our bill (which I had already paid) was wrong. The waitress consulted the cashier and then brought us the refund for the difference. So, was it an attempted scam or an honest mistake? I have no way of knowing, but it is a good reminder always to double-check what you are being charged.

Oh, and our waitress was wearing this t-shirt:

Anyway, it was a more interesting than usual night on the town and we enjoyed ourselves. That’s what it’s all about.

Today’s entry from the July 2009 LTG archives is the after-action report from my Bali adventure. Looking back now, I’m surprised I never returned for a follow-up visit. It’s an amazing place. I also found myself wondering why I didn’t seriously consider it as a potential retirement destination. I think I rejected it primarily because I was uncomfortable with Indonesia’s Muslim domination and rules. The other thing that struck me from those old Bali posts was how people who are important to you ultimately disappear from your life. Tom and Yuli were two of my best friends when we lived in Korea, and we stayed in touch via Facebook for years after they went back to the USA. At some point, Tom decided he didn’t like my political viewpoints and unfriended me. I guess there is no better way to show how little my friendship mattered. The other thing that made me sad, of course, was remembering how happy I was sharing my life with Jee Yeun. I’ll never get over losing her.

Twelve years ago, I was living another life and enjoying time in my backyard with the grandkids.

Let’s lighten things up with a Mikey Bustos YouTube video today. In this parody song, he tells the story of the Filipino rejection of Spanish culture, starting with the slaying of Magellan. Good stuff!

And now for some more:

Good medicine!

Life goes on, so I’d better get to it.

I may have posted this song before, but I like it. Of all the big-name bands I saw live growing up in Southern Cal, ELO put on the best show.

Now I hope to see it all more clearly. I’m not experiencing any post-surgery discomfort, but my left eye vision, while better than it was, is still blurry. I suspect I just need to give it more time, but I have a follow-up appointment this afternoon with my ophthalmologist, so I’ll see what he says.

Picking up from where I left off yesterday, it was after 1 p.m. when we escaped the hospital, and I was ready for some grub. Texas Joe’s was only a kilometer away, and it’s been a while since I’ve had authentic American-style barbeque. On the other hand, there were lots of other places even closer.

We opted instead to visit The Lighthouse. I’d been there a few times and recalled the food was good, if a bit pricey.

The waiter kept trying to talk us into moving inside for the aircon. I prefer open air myself, and I suspect he just didn’t want to be bothered with going in and out to serve us. Too bad for you, we ain’t movin’!

When it came time to pay the bill, I was in for a shock. The food was reasonably priced (380 for my sandwich, 600 for the kare-kare), but I was charged 180 pesos per bottle for my San Mig Zero beer. That’s double the price of most places I visit in Barretto. I know when I buy a case from the local distributor, I pay around 50 pesos a bottle. So, I felt like I’d been ripped off. At least The Lighthouse will now be easy to avoid in the future.

We caught a taxi back to Barretto, and I got busy with blogging. My eye was a little itchy and felt like I had a bug in it, but that eased up some as time went on.

I decided that home is where I needed to stay last evening, so I set myself up for some quality time at The Rite Spot On The Roof.

Swan made a batch of spaghetti for dinner, I fooled around on the laptop some, then decided to hit the hay at 8:30 so my eye could get some rest. Yeah, that’s my story!

Thursday’s report card: 9,308 steps, 7.15 kilometers walked, 2,830 calories burned.

From the LTG archives, a May 2009 post about picking up my new hire, Dennis McPeters, at the airport in Incheon. I had worked with Dennis back in my Postal Service days, and he was top-notch. We were also friends. When Dennis retired, he moved to Cambodia. I visited him there a couple of times. And sadly, he’s another person in my life who has seemingly disappeared. Dennis abhorred social media, so our contact was exclusively through email. And about a year ago, he stopped responding. Dennis was/is several years older than me and I fear he may have passed away. I’ve done some Google searches for his name (I know he has family in Florida), but I didn’t see any news or obituaries. Then again, if I died tomorrow, how would any of my old friends and acquaintances find out?

From my Facebook memories on this day in history:

Today’s YouTube video is an update on that crazy vlogger Vitaly, currently residing in a Philippine jail. Apparently, he claims to have found religion and wants to be forgiven and released from jail while awaiting trial. Somehow, I don’t think that is going to happen.

Let’s take a moment for Zen:

Always Try To Be Modest, And Be Proud Of It!

To the humor we must go!

There’s an old priest who got sick of all the people in his parish who kept confessing to adultery. One Sunday, in the pulpit, he said, “If I hear one more person confess to adultery, I’ll quit!”

Well, everyone liked him, so they came up with a code word. Someone who had committed adultery would say they had “fallen.”

This seemed to satisfy the old priest and things went well, until the priest died at a ripe old age. About a week after the new priest arrived, he visited the mayor of the town and seemed very concerned.

The priest said, “You have to do something about the sidewalks in town. When people come into the confessional, they keep talking about having fallen.”

The mayor started to laugh, realizing that no one had told the new priest about the code word.

Before the mayor could explain, the priest shook an accusing finger at the mayor and said, “I don’t know what you’re laughing about, your wife fell three times this week.”

Have a good trip, see you next fall!

And there you have it. Time for me to fly, well, Jeepney, to my doctor’s visit on SBMA at the Baypointe Hospital. Adios, amigos! Hope to see you again.

Back in the Tuesday groove: shopping, a walk through the hood, and a Baloy Beach outing.

I took note of the fact that I’m now spending over a hundred bucks a week on candies and cookies. Yeah, that money could be spent in a more productive charitable fashion, but we’re filling our niche, and the smiles we get in return make it feel like a worthwhile cause. So, dispensing sweetness will continue unabated for the foreseeable future.

Back home, groceries unloaded, I set about my neighborhood stroll.

At the appropriate hour, we headed for the beach.

We changed things up a bit and went to DaKudos after departing the floating bar. An acquaintance of mine, Norman, is working there and asked us to pay him a visit. So, promise kept. There was a time when DaKudos was a popular spot on Baloy. The new owner set about changing that and had a great deal of success. There used to be pool league teams, horseshoe tourneys, Zumba dancing, and Hash On-Homes there. The owner put a stop to all those. Last night, Norman was the bartender and only waiter. So, the only other customers during our visit (a large table of Filipinos) were not getting the kind of service I would expect, through no fault of Norman’s. There is only so much two hands can handle. Back when Mango’s owned DaKudos, we enjoyed the pork chop dinner, so we tried it again last night.

We stopped by Treasure Island after our meal, mostly because we’ve been bringing cookies and lollipops for the worker bees there, and I figured they’d be expecting to see us. I was right about that! I recognized some new faces at TI. Owner Bert recently purchased Sloppy Joe’s bar, and while it completes renovation, he brought the staff members he’s retaining to work at TI in the interim. One of the gals informed me that June 6 is D-Day (sorry, couldn’t resist), that Sloppy’s will reopen.

The trike dropped me off at home around 8 p.m., and Swan continued on to visit a friend celebrating her birthday (Marissa’s twin sister). I was sound asleep by the time she returned. And that’s how the weakest day of my week, Tuesday, went down. Yeah, if that’s the worst, I’m doing pretty damn good!

Tuesday’s report card: 13,533 steps, 10.41 kilometers, 3,345 calories burned.

There was a time when playing darts was my main passion and a big part of my life. This post from March 2009 recounts my performance in a big tournament with the Seoul International Dart League. Even though I’ve retired from the game, it was nice to look back on this aspect of the story of my life.

Facebook memories from this date in my history:

Eleven years ago, I shared a link to this post on Facebook (something I no longer do). Anyway, it’s a bird’s-eye view of some cultural aspects of life in Seoul, as seen from my apartment balcony.

Today’s YouTube video features Reekay talking about self-healing and past forgetting. Those are things that each individual must accomplish on their own. Simply leaving it all behind and moving to the PI won’t get you there. I can relate. Truth be told, my wounds didn’t (and haven’t) healed through the miracle of beautiful surroundings and kind-hearted people. That said, when I look back at what was, I see the happiness I missed by not embracing my blessings and failing to live in the moment and appreciate them. These days, I often take a step back, look around me, and think, damn, I’m a lucky SOB. The past is history, the future a mystery, and today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.

That Zen thing I’ve been doing:

He Who Laughs Last, Thinks Slowest.

And the humor attempts:

That’s it for today’s dose of LTG.

Or should I just say, SMH? Things didn’t go according to plan yesterday, which can be frustrating. Still, we made do with our own alternative, and in the end, that proved to be as satisfying as our original intentions. Funny how that works.

Sat 24 May at 3.00 pm: BEACH run (men only).  Start at T-Backs (Thunder Girls) bar.  P100.

The Angeles Hash provided the above information regarding the BEACH run and my fellow SBH3 mates, Rob and Erik, were up for it. Swan was meeting some old friends of hers here, so I was free to join in the guys-only fun. Things went awry, and I’ll take some of the blame for that. When I saw “T-Backs,” I assumed they were talking about a restaurant/bar about a kilometer from my hotel. We arrived around 2:30, so we enjoyed a beer while we waited. Twenty minutes later, when no Hashers had appeared, I knew something was up. We asked our waitress about the Hash event, and she didn’t know what we were talking about. Then she suggested it might be at a bar named TBACs on Perimeter Road. Duh, we had walked right past it on our way here. So, we grabbed a trike and headed for the other bar with a similar name. And there were no Hashers there either. WTF? Seeing our perplexed faces, the waitress asked if we were looking for someone. When we mentioned the Hash, she told us they were coming at 6:00. Damn, so this must be the last bar on the hop. Now what? I checked the Angeles Hash Facebook page, and nothing was posted about the Beach Run. To hell with it, we ordered a beer and decided to do our own bar hop and finish here when the Hash arrived.

And that’s just what we did. The bar we went to next told us the Hash was coming at 5:30. We laughed about doing the barhop in reverse. But we enjoyed seeing some new places and having them all to ourselves.

I bailed at nine, but Rob and Erik kept going, all the way to the notorious Walking Street. It was a different experience barhopping in this part of town, and overall, I enjoyed it. We didn’t go big on buying lady drinks, but I rewarded a couple of the thirsty young ladies. I was back at the hotel before Swan. Damn, did I lose my balls somewhere along the way?

Oh, and when we ran into the Angeles Hashers later, I learned that they had started at Jollibee’s and did a 5K hike before beginning the barhop. Thanks for letting us know. (To be fair, the Hash webpage was updated, even if Facebook wasn’t. I just didn’t know about the web address. Now I do.)

Saturday’s report: 6041 steps. 4.64 kilometers. 3043 calories burned.

In January 2009, I wrote about the dynamic changes in Itaewon I had witnessed over the preceding four years. That only escalated after the Army Garrison at Yongsan moved down south to Pyeongtaek.

Today’s YouTube video deems Angeles foreigners to be “lowlifes.” Not everyone here is a whore monger, and even those that adopted that lifestyle have their reasons. Why judge? I preferred Barretto’s more laid-back lifestyle, but I understand why some like Angeles better. To each his own.

A moment for ZEN

 Honk If You Love Peace And Quiet.

And some funny business:

Time for me to prepare for an Angeles-style Hash. I know where it starts, we’ll see how it ends.

Nothing special about yesterday, but that won’t stop me from telling you about it anyway. I will endeavor to keep it as brief and painless as possible.

Swan and I are going to Angeles City for the weekend (leaving in the morning), so we decided to do the Saturday Sweet Stroll on Thursday. Y’all have been on that walk with me (vicariously through photos) several times, so I won’t bore you with multiple pics again.

After sweetening the lives of the children we encountered, it was our turn for some fun. When beer o’clock arrived, we headed into town. Swan wanted to get a haircut, so I waited for her patiently at Red Bar.

Swan joined me an hour or so later and had her usual glass of red wine (she drinks slowly; I do about three beers per glass of wine).

When it was time for some dinner, we crossed the highway and strolled to Jewel Cafe.

Another glass of wine for Swan, and I’m too much of a gentleman to let her drink alone. Dinner was served while we drank.

After our meal, we moved on to It Doesn’t Matter. You guessed it, Swan had a wine, and that meant I was forced to drink yet more beer. And that’s not all; we went to Cloud 69 for our nightcap and did it again. When we arrived home, Swan declared herself “tipsy” and went to bed. I was fine, so I played some on the internet before joining her slumber there.

The Thursday report card: 16,948 steps, 13.02 kilometers walked, 3521 calories burned.

After my hospitalization in October 2008 (I shared that post yesterday), my almost total lack of blogging continued for over two months. I was indeed a Long Time Gone. I finally returned with a post on December 23, 2008, appropriately titled, “It’s been a long time comin’,” where I talked vaguely about what had been going on in my life, and once again promised to post on a more regular basis in the future. I’m still unsure why I took such a lengthy break from the blog. I got promoted to the GS-15 Director of Human Resources job, which created some stress in my life. My marriage to wife #3 had ended, as had my relationship with the Korean woman I’d been dating (she moved to the USA to attend graduate school). I’m also pretty sure this was the time frame during which I met Jee Yeun, who was destined to become my final wife. Back in those days, I was not as inclined as I am now to write about the drama in my personal life, and that seems to have been all I had going on.

You may have missed a recent comment from James, a long-time reader here. He notes that my blog content is not as enticing as it was in the days before I began my relationship with Swan. Yep, much less drama and sexcapades. Here’s what James had to say:

Long time reader, haven’t visited in a while.
Glad to see that you’re keeping up with your correspondence, as it were.

As you may recall, I was one of the readers who showed no enthusiasm when you settled down with your lady. And I come here to celebrate your success 🙌
But of course it’s no coincidence that your readership may have dropped, or at least changed demographics. Now that you’re a man settled down, there’s less drama and conflict to write about, fewer bar visits and new random characters introduced, and there’s only so much information you can convey to a potential tourist when you’re living the sedate married life.

I say all this because I am still shocked at what Browser wrote all those years ago. Last year I think you attracted some political commentary that animated the blog for a while. But to imagine there was once a time when you were berated for not writing on your own blog; I am shocked. What was he even thinking 🤔 Writing daily is hard
And yet you keep writing ✍️ My gratitude and admiration will never cease. You inspire me to pick up a pen and write, starting with just my grocery list. There’s something soothinng and invigorating about writing down one’s thoughts daily.

and for those who miss the drama, let me say that Joy – she of the feeding scheme- has gotten fat. We’ve all gotten fat, but I don’t have a mirror and I have a side-by-side photos of Joy’s face. Boom! There’s some drama for you addicts

Again, thank you for the daily writing ✍️

James

Today’s YouTube video is short and sweet about the five things a first-time visitor observed about the Philippines. It was nice to look back and remember my first trips here, where I pretty much saw the same things this vlogger talks about. For me, the first thing I noticed that was shocking was the poverty that so many here endure, which made all the positive traits noted in this video all the more impressive. Filipinos are a special breed.

Today’s Zen wisdom:

Light Travels Faster Than Sound, Which Is Why Some People Appear
Bright Until You Hear Them Speak.

And now for the funny stuff:

My last night in town will be spent at the SOB. I’ll try to dash off a post in the morning before we hit the road to Angeles City.

Both bad and good. While marking yesterday’s Hash trail, one of the Hares, Stewed Rat (Rob), experienced numbness in his left arm, lost his ability to speak, and then could not stand. He was fortunate to be near the bottom of the hill and close enough to civilization that the locals could assist in bringing him down to the road, where he was transported by ambulance to the hospital in Barretto. He was diagnosed with having had a transient ischemic attack, commonly referred to as a ministroke. Rob’s symptoms disappeared after an hour or so, and he felt strong enough to attend the Hash Circle. Man, that’s some scary shit. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Pubic Head (Scott) had a similar experience, albeit more severe. This morning, Althouse linked to an article in the NY Times detailing the consequences a ministroke can bring. Bottom line, it is a warning sign that frequently leads to more severe stroke symptoms if not treated promptly. Rob is a relatively young guy (appears to be in his 40s) and still works on a ship, so this condition affects more than just us elderly types.

It was another hot day, and I was on the fence about whether or not to make the big climb up Kalaklan at the beginning of the hike. After hearing about Stewed Rat, I said fuck that and did my own shortcut, coincidentally picking up the trail at Barretto High School again and doing the more gentle end climb before finishing on Baloy Beach. My trail, including the walk from my house to the start, was still a worthy 8K, so I feel good about the effort.

That’s the way Run #1654 went down. I’m happy to report there were no fatalities.

I’ve got friends in low places:

From the archives, the first post from June of 2008 here at LTG was a snapshot of a day in the life back then. Yes, that means mostly darts and drinking.

Fourteen years ago, I was settling into my suburban American life in Columbia, South Carolina:

Damn, it still hurts to have lost it all.

Today’s YouTube video is from The Filipina Pea as she compares an American Jollibee’s with the ones back home in the PI. I’m not a big fan of Jollibee’s, but as fast food goes, it ain’t bad. This video reminded me of the first time I had a KFC experience in Korea. All I could figure was the Colonel’s recipe didn’t translate well.

Today’s moment of Zen:

On The Other Hand, You Have Different Fingers.

And now for some better humor:

Livin’ it while I got it. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

A-Hashing, we did go! More or less. And if it is true that less is more, I did the best trail ever! Yeah, even as a notorious shortcutter, I bit off a little less than I like to chew yesterday, but the alternative was taking a Jeepney out of town to the start, then climbing up to the Kalaklan Ridge. I just wasn’t feeling that. Instead, our group (me, Swan, and Beth) walked from my house to Barretto High School, then picked up the last portion of Leech My Nuggets’ trail. It was just shy of 5K for us, with one moderately easy climb. The On-Home was at Leech’s house, and it being election Monday, there was no after-Hash at It Doesn’t Matter. So, I had an early end to the evening as well. Anyway, I’m glad to be still rolling along in my dotage.

I made a short video clip of a portion of the My Bitch trail. (Okay, now there’s a first. I went to upload the video and discovered YouTube had made it “age-restricted.” All I can figure is calling the video “My Bitch” triggered the algorithm to punish me. So, I’m making a new video with the same content and calling it something else. Let’s see what happens.)

Success. Well, the quality is still crap, but at least you can watch it here.

The other day, I mentioned the student in Bohol I was sponsoring. Here he be:

And today I took the bait:

Not political, but still funny:

And as long as we are thinking about religion and tolerance, this seems like a good idea:

It’s been interesting (to me) delving through the old posts in the LTG archives. I’m up to January 2008 now, and most of my posts are about darting and drinking in Itaewon (compared to now, when they are about hiking and drinking in Barretto). In this post, I note the occasion of the 50,000th visitor to my site in its third year of existence. I thanked the handful of loyal readers who bothered to engage my content, just as I appreciate the few of you who still visit now. Sometimes I wonder why I’m still doing this every day, but I guess it has just become part of who I am. And I am a selfish bastard.

Five years ago, I made this post on Facebook.

On that day, I also posted this two-minute video to make my point:

Never again!

Thirteen years ago, my sense of humor was on full display for the world to see:

An 85-year old man is having his annual checkup. The Doctor asks him how he is feeling.

“I’ve got an eighteen-year old bride who’s pregnant with my child. What do you think about that?”

The Doctor considers this for a moment, and then says, “Well, let me tell you a story. I know of a guy who’s an avid hunter. He never misses a season.

But one day he’s in a bit of a hurry and he accidentally grabs his umbrella instead of his gun.

So he’s walking in the woods near a creek and suddenly spots a beaver in some brush in front of him! He raises up his umbrella, points it at the beaver and squeezed the handle. BAM !

The beaver drops dead in front of him.

“That’s impossible!”, says the old man in disbelief, “Someone else must have shot that beaver.”

The Doctor says, “My point exactly.”

Today’s YouTube video is from Smart Girl Philippines, and she makes some interesting points about how the sex industry has ruined it for the rest of us.

Humor time:

And that’s all I’ve got for today. Back tomorrow, the good Lord willing.

And hopefully, not for the last time! Yep, keep that Sunday sameness going because boring is better than dead, right?

Anyway, started things off with the Sunday Candy Walk.

This week I videoed the seventh section of the walk. It’s a short one:

The booth was hopping, so I knew the fish was fresh.

Next on the agenda was the weekly Hideaway feeding.

With that duty done, it was time once again to hit the beach.

But back to living this life I have now. Next stop, John’s place for dinner. Sometimes, it’s almost scary how my thinking is in sync with Swan’s. I floated the idea of sharing birria tacos and Korean-style chicken wings. Swan gave me an OMG! look, and said she was craving the wings, but still wanted a taco. She told me she had planned to ask if they would allow a special order of one taco (the menu offering is three), but my plan gave us both what we wanted. I got sixteen wings, so we had some leftovers for breakfast.

We’ve added Red Bar to our Sunday itinerary, so that was where we headed next. They had a big crowd inside the bar, but we prefer the ambiance of sitting on the patio anyway.

We also did our customary nightcap at the Green Room before bringing our Sunday to a close.

My firstborn grandchild, Gracyn, celebrates her twentieth birthday today. I wrote a post nine years ago noting that her birthday was also a national holiday in Korea. I deem it worthy of inclusion as an episode in The Story of My Life.

And now for some Facebook memories:

Five years ago, in the midst of the scamdemic hysteria, I posted this quote from John Adams:

“Be not intimidated, nor suffer yourselves to be wheedled out of your liberties by any pretenses of politeness, delicacy, or decency. These, as they are often used, are but three different names for hypocrisy, chicanery, and cowardice.”

–John Adams

Seven years ago, I climbed Younginsan in Asan for the final time.

Six days later, I was on the plane bound for my new life in the Philippines. And almost seven years since then, I’m still an “outsider” here. Today’s YouTube video discusses how a foreigner can never fully integrate with Filipino culture. I’m not sure why that comes as a surprise to him, and frankly, I have no problem whatsoever being an outsider. I am what I am, and that’s all that I am.

Let’s end this with a smile:

And that’s that. It’s Hash Monday, and Vienna Sausage is the Hare. I expect I’ll be making my own way today. Full report here tomorrow.

Today’s music selection is a little bit off the wall. The song was never a favorite, but I love the video. Cheers!

And so am I. So far, at least.

Started the morning with the Wednesday Walkers group hike. Only three in attendance this week. We did a shady hike on the My Bitch trail, and came back down in the familiar streets of San Isidro. We didn’t beat the heat, but we survived it.

When I headed into town with my gal later in the afternoon, we witnessed a rare sighting of Mary Poppins:

The first order of business was a visit to the Angel’s Touch salon for a foot spa and pedicure.

I was finished before Swan, so I waited for her at Red Bar. When she arrived, we enjoyed some beverages on the outdoor patio, then headed up the highway for dinner at Mylene’s. We both ordered off the Filipino menu:

We did our Wednesday “seldom-visited bars” thing.

(Both of those bar photos were taken this morning on my walk.)

Then we headed back home, where the night did not end well. Things still aren’t right today, but hopefully there will be a resolution soon.

I’ve progressed to May of 2007 in my journey through the LTG archives. And I was astonished to find a post that was actually interesting. It recounts some strange happenings at home and then ends with my only encounter with Korean police during my time in Seoul. Certainly worthy of inclusion in The Story of My Life.

And three years ago, I had some pizza. This one is for commenter Bentley:

Today’s YouTube video is from Smart Girl Philippines reminding her viewers not to pay for O.P.P. (other people’s pussy). It’s short and sweet, just like she is. She’s fun to watch!

Humor me these:

And so it goes. I’m kind of on edge, waiting to see if my life is about to take a wrong turn, but there’s nothing I can say about it at the moment. The greatest gift you can give someone you love is happiness. I’ll leave it at that for now.

Word.

And this creature was stirring outside of the house. Starting with the Saturday edition of the Candy Walk.

And here’s a short video of the stretch we walk to get to neighborhood #6. The kids at the end of the clip were asking Swan the name of my vlog so they could watch the video I took. That’s a first, even though I’m not a vlogger.

Here’s a view from neighborhood #6:

As we were finishing our walk, Swan said she was hungry. I knew what that meant, so I asked, “Jollibee or McDonald’s?” She responded, “Macdoo” (that’s what the locals call it). So, we declared it a “cheat day” and indulged our cravings. I had a chicken sandwich and shared an order of fries with Swan. My big sins were the apple pie AND a chocolate sundae. Oh well.

When it was beer o’clock, we headed for It Doesn’t Matter. I was surprised that it wasn’t very busy for a Saturday. Once we’d had our fill of beverages, we moved to Jewel Cafe for some grub.

The waitress surprised me when she delivered this to our table after our meal:

We did our nightcap at Wet Spot. Swan invited her waitress friend Beth to join in an early morning trip to Botolon (about an hour’s drive up the coast) for an Easter church service. They left at five a.m. and still aren’t back, and it’s after noon now. I hope they don’t need saving! UPDATE: I just got a message that they are stuck in traffic in San Felipe. No surprise, this is the biggest holiday of the year, and just about everyone heads for the beach, it seems.

Forgive me, Father, for I cannot resist taunting my liberal Facebook friends with stuff like this:

Okay, and now back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Today’s find in the LTG archives is about the evening in March 2007 when my realtor treated me to a dinner show at the Walker Hill Sheraton Hotel in Seoul (I’d just renewed my lease for another two years in Korea). I did a mini-review of the “Subway” performance, finding the acting not up to par, but still an enjoyable night out away from the Itaewon bar scene. Another memory in The Story of My Life.

Speaking of which, Facebook reminded me of this beer drinker in 1990:

Today’s YouTube video is a vlogger I never previously watched discussing ways to avoid the current heatwave. Most are just common sense, but I’ve been saying this is the hottest it’s been in years, and he agrees with me. There are also relatively cooler places to reside in the PI, like Baguio, where he’d like to move. Baguio is okay for a visit, but just a tad too isolated for my taste. It’s the only place I’ve been in the Philippines where I felt chilly. Even saw my breath there one night.

Humor time:

Happy Easter to all you believers out there. I’m not trying to get a rise out of you, honest! Hideaway Bar is closed today for the holiday, so there won’t be a feeding to attend (I sent money so they could eat last night). Not sure if the Arizona floater and John’s place will be open, but the best way to find out is to go and see for myself. I’ll let you know how that works out tomorrow.

An eruption of good times yesterday. Well, maybe I’m blowing smoke, but it was mostly good.

I do have a friend traveling there today, so I hope things calm down before he arrives. More of the same in my little town, but still tweaking things some to enhance the experience. Here’s the lowdown:

Me and my gal did our standard Saturday stroll, dispensing candy and cookies along the way. Some of what we saw:

Here’s a five-minute video clip of one of the streets we walked.

And the best part of the day was yet to come. We had made plans to join our neighbor Jeff and his wife Davina for the grand opening of a new bar named Tryst last night. Alas, we discovered that the opening has been delayed until Wednesday. Despite that setback, we kept our scheduled dinner meetup at Sit-n-Bull for 6 p.m. Swan and I headed out early for some pre-dinner refreshments at Sloppy Joe’s.

After our meal, we paid a visit to Alaska Club where Swan and Davina played some pool.

We moved next door to Wet Spot for our nightcap. A busy Saturday night in the bar. And then Davina showed Swan how to do a blowjob. Wow! And I’ve got it on video!

You knew I was talking about a blowjob shooter, right? Right?

After the blowjob revelry, we headed for home. The nice thing about partying with the neighbors is the free ride home in comfort. My resistance to the call from a brownie smothered in vanilla ice cream was nil.

A Thanksgiving post from November 2006 in the LTG archives. It’s pretty worthless without the photos. I hope I can figure out how they might be recovered.

Today’s YouTube addresses which is the better choice, Thailand or the Philippines. I know how I chose, although I still enjoy an occasional visit to the Land of Smiles.

And a bonus video from a vlogger friend who made a video of the recent Fralics bikini contest. Go Philippines!

And now for the smiles:

And that’s that; I hope I didn’t blow it. Stormy skies and rolling thunder as I write this, so my Sunday on the Arizona floating bar is looking doubtful at the moment. I am blessed to have options, though.

The same old, same old does get old after a while, but that’s just small town life I suppose. That’s not to say I ain’t having fun, and even a small tweak can liven things up a tad. Friday kicked off with the group hike, as usual. It’s been hotter than normal these past few days, so we opted to keep things flat and mainly on the street. We hadn’t done that Matain-Calapacuan-Santo Tomas route in quite some time, so that added a taste of freshness as we marched along.

When the day had progressed to the point of making plans for the drinking hours, I wasn’t sure what to do with them. The fact of the matter was that I was feeling a little bored with the Barretto bar scene. Then it occurred to me that we hadn’t made the journey out to Kon-Tiki for quite a while.

When darkness descended, we headed back into Barretto. Our friend Beth was back to work after a two-week vacation, and I was hoping to run into Daddy Dave at the SOB Aftermath, so we did our nightcap at Wet Spot. It was good seeing Beth again, but Dave was a no-show. I hope he is feeling better soon.

We stuck around for the first raffle drawing at the Aftermath, and my number was the first ticket called.

It was after the ungodly hour of nine p.m. before we finally headed for home. Hard to believe I was able to stay out that late, I know.

From the LTG archives is this post from October 2006 recounting some of my daily adventures as I immersed myself in the South Korea lifestyle. For some reason, the photos I posted back then are no longer showing. Perhaps they were lost when I moved the blog to a new hosting service. Are they gone forever?

In today’s YouTube video, the Filipina Pea weighs in on the vlogger Vitaly controversy. She interviews an attorney about the deep do-do this lame motherfucker has gotten himself into. Vitaly is now living my nightmare inside a Filipino jail. It doesn’t look like he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon.

Let’s cleanse the palate with these:

And that’s the way it was. Now, to get on with the way it is. Tell you all about it tomorrow.

I’ve been having some issues with pain in my lower back, primarily when I sit upright or lie in bed. Standing and walking are fine. So, I wake up early (the moonset above is at 3:30 a.m.) and then plop down in front of the computer, which does nothing to ease the pain. Hopefully, this, too, shall pass.

My big Tuesday event was traveling to Angeles City for an updated ECG. My cardiologist wanted the test taken at the same hospital where I had my previous ECG done, and she thinks the AUF hospital is the best around for cardiology testing.

My appointment was at ten, and we arrived a little after nine. The cost for the testing was 4800 pesos, and that was paid upfront. There were two different tests, ECG and something called a 12-Lead. The hospital will email the results on Friday.

Since we were in town anyway, I had my driver take me to the S&R store (it’s like a Costco) to do some shopping. I always come away a little disappointed in not being able to find things that I want that aren’t available at Royal, like sugar-free pudding, but I still managed to spend 15,000 pesos on groceries.

When it was time to hit the beach, Swan opted out because she was preparing for a family outing today. So, I was on my own.

Sunset is my cue to head ashore for dinner at Treasure Island.

Well, it filled the void in my stomach. It had been quite some time since I ventured out without Swan by my side. Everyone on the floater and at TI asked where my “wife” was. I admit I was missing her and realized how empty my life would feel without her. My, how things have changed. I don’t think I could ever be satisfied with a transactional relationship again.

I departed Treasure Island after my meal and headed for home. Surprisingly, no trikes were waiting for customers for the entire length of Baloy Beach Road (about a kilometer). I’d never seen that before. Even the trike stand at the highway junction was empty. I finally flagged down a passing trike for the rest of the ride home.

Swan had prepared a cheesecake-like dessert and I enjoyed a slice before bed.

Tomorrow is going to be one of those days, and I’m powerless to do a thing about it.

My plan at the moment is to rent a room at the Outback Resort so I’ll have a place to relax in the comfort that only electricity can provide. We’ll see.

I’ve made it to August 2006 in my journey through the LTG archives. It was nice to remember celebrating my 51st birthday with my good friend, Duke. We went to a play (a Korean version of Grease, if you can imagine that), then dinner at a fancy Korean restaurant that included singing and dancing performances. After that, we hit the bars, played some darts, and drank a lot of beer and shots. We also stayed out well into the wee hours of the morning. Damn, I thought fifty-one was old back then, but from the perspective of being sixty-nine, I seem so young. Lots of pictures in that post to enhance the memories. Definitely a worthy night for inclusion in The Story of My Life.

Today’s YouTube video provides an update on that scumbag vlogger Vitaly. Guess what? He is not being deported after all. Instead, he has been charged with multiple crimes that could potentially result in a lengthy prison sentence. But this being the Philippines, there is no entitlement to a speedy trial. He may well spend years in a hellhole Filipino jail before he has a court date. Honestly, he fucked up big time and is going to pay for it. I almost feel sorry for him.

And now for the fun stuff:

And that completes today’s blogging duty. You get what you pay for, and LTG is free!

Well, more like a sprinkling of new on top of the same old, same old. That’s just the way I roll.

Kicked off the morning with the Sweet Saturday Stroll, handing out goodies to the kids in the surrounding neighborhoods.

I did a four-minute video clip of one section of our stroll.

Back home and glancing out the window, there was smoke on Black Rock:

So, by now, you are probably thinking, WTF? There’s nothing different here. Well, when we ventured into town at beer o’clock, we went somewhere we’d never been before: the new Red Bar. Or, more accurately, the new location of Red Bar. It occupies the space that was formerly the home of Blue Butterfly, a bar I reviewed here. All the things I liked about Blue Butterfly are still present at Red Bar, but inside, they also added a dance stage. Well, my thing is sitting outside and watching the world go by, and that’s just what we did yesterday.

So, despite it being our first visit, we felt right at home. We both knew several of the waitresses working there now, and Swan bought them some food from a passing vendor. I chipped in some lady drinks, and we let the good times roll. Perhaps the best review I can render is reporting that Swan wanted to stay for a SECOND glass of wine. That almost never happens. She said she was enjoying the outdoor vibe and the music.

Sticking with our open-air desires and seldom-visited theme, we did our nightcap at Cheap Charlies.

It was a lovely Saturday night out on the town. We will definitely be adding Red Bar to our list of frequently visited venues.

From the LTG archives is a post from January 2006 written on the occasion of my one-year anniversary in Korea. I’d signed up for a two-year tour, so I was thinking I was halfway home. Except it didn’t turn out that way. Just another tale in The Story of My Life.

Today’s YouTube video strikes a little too close to home. I feel estranged from my family back home, and from my perspective, they’ve turned their backs on me. Perhaps they see the opposite. Either way, it hurts.

And here I go again:

And there you have it. Back to normal today, but I’m okay with that. I’ll share the details tomorrow. Y’all come back now, hear?