Maybe it’s all about survival of the fattest, but I made it through another Hash alive yesterday. The weather has been hotter than normal, and it was a roasting 95 degrees as we started our trek. To make matters worse, I walked the 2K from my house to the start of the trail, and on the way, my left knee started its tingly numbness BS again. By the time I arrived at the meet-up location, I had pretty much decided I’d be making my own trail on the streets. I was just too paranoid to get up into the hills and have the knee give way again. Turns out, making my own way wasn’t necessary. The Hare, Fireman, had provided two trails to choose from. That’s not unusual; there is usually a long and short option (sometimes called hard and easy). Yesterday, Fireman gave us an “eagle” trail and a “turkey” trail. I gobbled up the second option, which to my delight, was almost all street walking.

So, all in all, it was a good day. I had one beer after the Hash at IDM, then headed back home for some rest and recreation in the form of Netflix. Almost through Season Two (of six) of Lucifer. I’m not a reviewer, but I’ll share some thoughts and observations soon.

And remember, grammar is important!

A pretty laid-back Hash trail yesterday, with one moderate climb and a mellow down. That suits me just fine. I started the trail ahead of the pack and left the Hash circle before it was over. Ah, the freedom to do what you want, when you want, with whoever you want is definitely underrated.

After a few beers on board, I walked up the beach to McCoy’s for my nightcap. I even sang a couple of videoke songs. All in all, a pretty fine day.

I’ll be back on Baloy this afternoon for my first date with Darlene, the gal I “met” on Date In Asia. Looking forward to seeing her in person. When I was telling her about the Hash, she must have done a Google search because she sent me some pictures of me at the Hash. And they were from my blog! It’s a little scary to think she may be reading my diary, but since she hasn’t backed out of the date, maybe I haven’t scared her away. Yet.

I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

The good news is that the feedback from yesterday’s Hash participants was almost all positive. And after this post, y’all will get a year of not having read about my exploits on the mountain. How’s that for a win-win situation?

The Hashers gathered at the usual meet-up venue, the VFW, and rode rented Jeepneys to the start of the trail. I walked the 2K from my house and met them there. Once the group had started the hike, I walked back to the On-Home venue and awaited their arrival. I was surprised that a couple of the runners were back in just over an hour. Everyone else trickled back in over the next couple of hours, and no one got lost or injured, so I’ll call that a successfully completed mission as a Hare.

Glad things turned out as well as they did. Also glad I won’t be climbing Easter Mountain again until next year. On-On!

That’s all for today.

Or triple threat. Either way, I successfully completed my third climb to the top of Eastern Mountain this week, and we now have a marked trail for this afternoon’s Hash.

I’m going to walk out to the start from my house this afternoon to give the pre-trail briefing to the Hashers. Then I’ll walk the roads to Smokes and Bottles and wait for everyone there.

Yesterday’s Easter dinner with Mary went well, even if she was a little late. I don’t much care for “Filipina time” culture here, but in this case, she had a valid excuse…traffic has been practically gridlocked all weekend. Old timers here have never seen anything like it before.

It was a nice meal, and afterward, we took a nap which was also nice. We spent a couple of hours at Sloppy Joe’s, watching the insane traffic and crazier drivers on the highway. There is no traffic law enforcement, and people take full advantage of that. Oh, well. I’m just a guest in this country. Glad I don’t drive!

Okay, time to head out to perform my Hare responsibilities. Back with more tomorrow.

I wound up doing all of the short trail (4K+) yesterday. It featured three climbs, something I would not normally do voluntarily. In fact, at the top of the first hill, a long, steep slog, I could have taken a left turn and avoided the other ups, but that would have meant finishing too soon, even by my low standards. I figured I could either bail at the bottom of the down or after the second climb. Turns out, at the bottom, there was nowhere else to go but up, and at the top of the second hill, there was nothing to be done but follow the trail to the end. Well, it’s always nice to get through a tough trail, so that sense of pride is my return for a hot afternoon’s work.

My night after the hike went to shit. I was just in a pissy mood for some reason. Wound up leaving the circle early, being an asshole at IDM, and then heading home about the time the other Hashers arrived. Luckily, that behavior is not my norm. I was embarrassed thinking about it this morning.

I can and will do better.

I made the ascent to the peak of Easter mountain yesterday without incident. In fact, I made it to the top without much difficulty, which is especially surprising. I had carried my portable nebulizer with me in anticipation of a breathing attack during the climb, but I didn’t need it. Oh sure, I did some huffing on puffing on the way up, but the normal kind, not the “oh my God, I can’t breathe” feeling I’ve been experiencing recently. Even my hiking companion, Jim, was surprised at my slow but steady progress up the mountain without the need to stop and rest. I hope this is a sign that whatever has been ailing my worn-out lungs has left the building. Another indication that things may be improving is that I’m sleeping through the night without the need to get up and nebulize. I’m not sure what has changed, but it occurs to me that perhaps my rejection of gin as my alcoholic beverage of choice had a positive impact. Whatever, feeling healthier is like, well, a breath of fresh air!

The purpose of yesterday’s climb was to scout the trail for the traditional Easter Monday Hash run. The way we are going to the top is steep but not as tough as some other paths we’ve Hashed recently. Now, getting back down was another matter. There is still a lot of grass, which made finding an easy-to-follow trail difficult. In fact, we are going back out on Wednesday to find a better alternative than what we took yesterday. We’ll do that by starting at the bottom where we want to come out and then working our way back up. So, yes, I have another Easter mountain climb in the near future, actually, two more because we’ll also need to go back and mark the trail on Easter Monday.

The Hashers will ride rented Jeepneys to the trailhead next week. Jim and I took a trike yesterday to the starting point.

We are off to a good start, though.

And now, for the rest of the day. I bought the Hideaway girls some Korean-style chicken wings and bulgogi from John’s place, along with a pizza from Shamboli’s for their Sunday feeding.

And after my time at Hideaway, I kept my promise and dropped by to see Aine, the new old girl at Wet Spot.

It is Hash Monday for me, so I need to prepare myself for that adventure. Hopefully, it goes as well as yesterday did for me.

I’m still here. So far. I hope the transition to the new host goes smoothly.

I don’t much care for the Hare for yesterday’s trail. It was a hotter than usual afternoon. The trail started halfway up Rizal Extension, which made it a pain in the ass to get to for me. Which is why I said fuck it and made my own trail. Actually, I met up with Scott, whose healing ankle wasn’t up for a mountain climb, and did a street walk with him. At the end of our hike, we had a late lunch/early dinner at Sit-n-Bull.

After our meal, we walked up the street to the VFW for the Hash circle. I got called out for a Hash crash and was required to sit on the ice for my non-Hash-related drunken tumble on Friday night. That’s okay.

After the Hash circle, I joined the group at It Doesn’t Matter for some more beers. I was mindful of my inebriation level and departed prior to reaching the danger zone. It feels good to be back in control!

Hopefully, it will be a more normal Hash adventure next week with pictures and everything.

(With apologies to ZZ Top)

Hash shirt, hiking shoes
But I don't know where I'm goin' to
Fresh powder, bright chalk
And now I know where to walk

Gonna make it ON-HOME without any fails
'Cause Hashers go crazy about a well-marked trail

Steep hills, thick grass
But I ain't losin' my ass
Checkpoints, creek beds
But I'll keep movin' ahead

Gonna make it ON-HOME without any fails
'Cause Hashers go crazy 'bout a well-marked trail

Commenter Kevin asked for a post showing how a Hash trail is marked, so I will attempt to do so using yesterday’s trail as an example of a well-marked trail. The trail itself was overall the easiest I’ve done in recent memory. I forgot to turn on my tracker, but the Hare said the short trail was 4K. I finished in just over an hour, so I doubt it was actually that long.

The climb I did was of average difficulty and length, but damn, my poor old lungs were making me wonder if my days in the hills are numbered. I had to pause a couple of times to use my inhaler, but I finally made it to the top. After that, it was clear sailing without any issues. In fact, I was surprised to find myself at the proverbial end of the trail much sooner than I expected.

Let’s do it again through pictures, shall we?

So, you have the powder on the ground, which indicates you are on the trail. The chalk arrow points in the direction you should go, and the “1” confirms the marking is for the day’s trail, #1541. That’s important because we often encounter marks from previous Hashes, and without a number, you may follow an old trail. The circle with the “x” is a checkpoint. Some Hares will place a checkpoint when there is an intersection of trails. This requires the Hashers to explore the various options until they find the right path. If they come to the three lines, it means On-Back; you are on the wrong trail. You know you are on the right trail when you find a chalk or powder marker, which indicates you are “On-On!” I personally despise checkpoints and never incorporate them into my trails as a Hare.

After the Hash, I had some more beer at Sloppy Joe’s. I even bought Jamaica a lady drink. When I was walking back towards my end of town in search of a nightcap, I heard Jenn calling out to me from across the highway at Whiskey Girl. So, I got to finish the day with some cuddling. That’s always nice!

Here’s the original version of the song I re-wrote for this blog post:

Feedback from yesterday’s trail was mostly positive, although we could have done better marking in a couple of places where the path was unclear. Hey, nobody’s perfect! I’ll share the pictures that others took along with a few from me taken while laying the powder.

My co-Hare and I did some scouting yesterday and pretty much finalized our trail for Monday’s Hash. We’ll go back out in the morning and put chalk on the trees and powder on the ground for the Kennel to follow.

That’s the trail; you can Relive the scouting adventure here:

Now, about my Friday night. I did decide to skip the SOB. Back in the old days (pre-scamdemic), I only attended the SOB once a month or so. When the SOB resumed last year, I went every week as a show of support and appreciation to the sponsoring bars. Lately, they have had more attendees than they can accommodate, so I can take a break and give my seat to someone else to watch the show.

I started out at Cheap Charlies, where I enjoyed some facetime with Nerissa. She’s definitely not the typical bargirl type, at least not yet. I need to decide if I want to take the next step toward a potential relationship. As with Mary, I’m just not sure I want to give up my freedom from drama and my ability to do as I please. I know some positives come with having a girlfriend, too, but damn, why risk it?

After I left Cheap Charlies, I was feeling a little hungry. Running through the options as I walked down the highway, I decided to pay Thumbstar a visit. It’s rare for me to patronize this venue for various reasons, but their shwarma shop was enough motivation to overcome them. Plus, a girl I met at Queen Victoria several months ago messaged me that she was working there now, so it seemed appropriate to pay her a visit too.

It was weird being in Thumbstar on a Friday night during the SOB. Thumbstar briefly was a participating bar in the SOB, but because of some disagreement over something, pulled out. And now Thumbstar’s management is engaging in a Bar Wars tactic–a competing event on Fridays they call the SOP. It’s ridiculous and, frankly, one of the reasons I don’t visit this bar very often, but by chance, here I was, experiencing my first-ever SOP. It’s nothing like the real thing, though. No dance competition, just the regular Thumbstar crew.

When I arrived, I saw Che, the former Queen Vic waitress, on stage dancing. So, I called her down to join me. She tried to order a bottled beer double lady drink for a whopping 350 pesos, but I put a stop to that, and she settled for a more reasonably priced single drink. I did buy her two (or maybe more), so it’s not so much the money as it is the principle. My waitress had difficulty understanding my drink order (a shot of gin in a tall glass and a can of soda water on the side). Seems simple to me, but it was confusing to her, and I admit I got a little frustrated and cranky with her. Felt wrong about being a grumpy old man, so I bought her a drink too.

The best part of the SOP is that drinks AND food are all buy one get one free. So, I got two chicken shwarmas for the price of one. Che wanted chicken, so the second order went to our waitress. The waitress wanted fries, so we shared those as well. The way I drink, every order is a double–the shot of gin and the can of soda. So, last night at least I could get my soda water for free.

And in a first for me, the waitress picked up my phone from the table and took a selfie without being asked (or asking permission). I didn’t care, of course, but joked that my wife would be very angry when she saw it. That made her nervous until I explained I was kidding.

And then a two-week millionaire (the name we expats use for free-spending tourists) came in and called most of the dancers down from the stage to join him at his table. I snuck a picture of his bounty and their booties.

I have to admit; I had a better time at Thumbstar than I expected I would. I decided to make Queen Victoria my nightcap destination, and I appeared to be the only customer in the bar. No idea how they stay in business, especially when they were paying a live band to perform with no audience. Anyway, I was joined at the bar by two friendly waitresses, and I enjoyed sharing a drink with them to end my night on the town.

And now it seems I have a dinner date with Mary tonight. There’s just no telling that girl no.

Oh, I almost forgot. I came across this post of mine from 2009, back in the days this blog has some substance. I found it especially interesting given what’s been going of late with the media covering up the sins of our government rather than reporting them to the people. Our founders believe a free press was the “fourth estate” that would help preserve our freedoms. Instead, they are facilitating their destruction.

Half a trail is better than none, I suppose. And while I avoided a couple of hills, my trail, including the distance gained when I walked to the start from my house, was a respectable 8K.

When the Hash was over, I walked back to Barretto and stopped at Snackbar for my nightcap. It was nice to visit with one of my old favorites there, Heidee, again. During our conversation, she asked me how my girlfriend was doing. I was surprised and told her I didn’t have a girlfriend, then asked what made her think I did. Heidee said to me that Lydell and another Snackbar waitress saw a girl on the Jeepney, and she had a keychain with my picture on it.

A friend had gifted me several of those key chains, and I gave them away to some young women I know. I’m unsure who it was on the Jeepney, but she wasn’t my girlfriend. This is just another example of how everyone *thinks* they know your business in this little town. Kinda scary, in a way.

This provides a good segway to me telling about some edits to yesterday’s post. I had revealed some private and personal information about someone I know, and a regular reader commented that I was wrong to do so. When I took a step back and looked at it again, I realized he was right to call me out on it. It was not my intention to cause anyone pain or shame, but if the information that I shared came back to her, she would likely be devastated. No excuses; I just wasn’t thinking about the potential repercussions. I appreciate that thanks to this reader, I was able to make the edits shortly after publishing the post, and hopefully, no damage was done.

I tend to forget that this blog isn’t a personal diary and that what I share has a potentially larger audience than I imagine. Perhaps some with bad intentions. Like that Dick who tried to use my sketchy history with love (i.e., four marriages) to undermine my relationship with a woman I cared about. You’d think I’d have learned by now.

Anyway, I’ll try and do better in the future. I have taken to changing the names of some of the people I write about here. Going forward, I’ll keep in mind that some things may be best left unsaid. But don’t worry, dear readers; I’m quite sure that I’ll continue to serve as a bad example.

Yesterday’s Hash trail proved to be quite the challenge. A long hard climb to the top of Kalaklan ridge, and then stroll on the ridgeline before descending back down to Barretto and the On-Home at the VFW. My tracker says it was a 7.7K journey, and that was on the SHORT trail.

Anyway, despite the difficulty, it was nice to be up on the ridgeline again. I was recently looking up at Kalaklan from my barstool at Cheap Charlies and missing the views from up there, so it was good to see them again. There are no really easy ways to get up there, but the one taken was at the higher end of the difficulty scale. My poor nephew Josh wasn’t in condition for such a challenging hike, and I was worried about him completing the journey safely. Luckily, he made it back down. Once we were on the street again, I asked if he wanted to trike back to the VFW, but he insisted on completing the trail with the rest of us.

Some after Hash beverages at It Doesn’t Matter, then home for some well-earned sleep.

You can Relive the hike here if you are so inclined:

And now my masseuse has just arrived. Time to enjoy some Valentine’s Day comfort.

Camp John Hay, that is. This is the second time I’ve had the pleasure of hiking through the forested trails on this former U.S. military installation. The path we took on the short route (6.5K) had its ups and downs, but no exhaustingly long climbs. And the lungs didn’t give me any trouble during the hike. Thanks to the La Union Hash House Harriers for the invite and for providing everyone with a Hashy good time.

After dinner, the Subic group gathered at the small bar back at The Log Cabin hotel.

Made the long drive home after breakfast, and I’m a bit exhausted, but it is Sunday, and that means there are hungry girls at Hideaway to feed. And I’m sure they will be expecting some pasalubong from Baguio.

Oh, here are a couple of shots I took on the drive down the mountain looking back at Baguio:

Time for me to get on with it, then. Back tomorrow with more of the inanity you’ve come to expect from me!

It’s strange sometimes how your mind takes you to places you never thought you’d go. I took one of those little side trips this morning, and it turned out to be kinda fun. I’ve already forgotten what the Quora question being answered was, but the response included a reference to Paul Newman playing the banjo in a scene from the movie Cool Hand Luke. Wow, I hadn’t thought of that film in years, but it has always been one of my favorites. Recalling that scene of Newman with the banjo got me trying to think of what the song was that he was singing. I knew I really liked it, but I was drawing a blank. So the search was on. And with the help of Duckduckgo (fuck you, Google!) I found it:

Here in the real world, yesterday’s Hash seemed to go well. There were many positive comments about the trail from the Hashers, and no one got lost or injured. For some inexplicable reason, three of the girls voluntarily took the long trail and were the last ones to reach our On-Home at Johansson’s. I was worried about them and relieved when they finally showed up.

Sorry, I haven’t seen anyone posting pictures from the trail, so that’s all I have for now.

While the Hashers were out, I went to the Outback pool bar to check on Josh. He was ensconced on a beach-view stool and tapped into the wifi, working on a course assignment for his Masters in Divinity he is completing online. Josh had asked me earlier where he could buy some shorts, and I suggested he take a trike to Divimart, a few blocks up the road from his room. He was wearing shorts, so I was glad to see they had his size. I asked how he liked his first trike ride, and he said it was pretty cramped and uncomfortable. Then he told me the driver had charged him 300 pesos. What? That’s a 50 peso ride at most, even with the “skin tax” (a Filipino wouldn’t pay more than 20P for such a short trip). I felt bad that he had gotten scammed on his first day in town, but he really should have known better.

Josh is trying to get back in shape after being laid up for months with a severely broken leg. He walks with a limp now and has this massive bump on his hip that will require surgery to remove. He did okay on the Baloy hike, but no way he could do some of those trails up in the hills. Still, he is lucky to even be alive after getting run over by a truck while riding his motorcycle.

The On-Home was where Josh is staying, and I invited him to watch the circle proceedings (he’d have to buy his beer from the bar, though). He seemed to enjoy the spectacle, especially some of the Hash songs. We’ll see if he wants to participate in the Hash rituals sometime during his visit.

I was feeling tired at the conclusion of the Hash (the Angeles trip had interrupted my sleeping hours), so I went home directly after we finished the free beer portion of the circle, and I was in bed by 7:30. That might be a new record for this oldtimer. Josh was already “home” and hung out with a couple of the female Hashers, Trouble Cumming and Black And Dick Her.

Today is Joy’s birthday, and I’ll be doing a special feeding at Hideaway bar in her honor. I invited Josh to join the festivities, gave him directions, and told him no more than 50 pesos for the ride. We’ll see how that works out.

Full report tomorrow.

It’s Hash Monday, but since I’m a Hare, I have already made the trail. I’ll meet the group at the VFW starting point, offer guidance, and send them on their way.

I hope everyone enjoys the trail. Nothing all that new to see and not particularly challenging for most folks, but it’s still a pleasant hike.

The Hideaway feeding went well last night. I had several dishes from the Jewel restaurant delivered, and the girls devoured the feast in record time. My cornbread also seemed quite popular.

I had a few and bought a few, as usual. I got home and set my alarm for 12:30 in anticipation of my driver’s 1 a.m. arrival. I woke up a little after one to pee and had an “oh shit!” moment when I remembered where I was supposed to be. I’m not sure what happened, but my phone was lying on the floor, and the alarm had been turned off. Next time I will keep my phone out of arm’s reach.

Anyway, we arrived at the airport just as passengers were beginning to exit the terminal. We were loaded up in the car within ten minutes and headed home to Barretto.

I took Josh for a walk on Baloy Beach this morning and followed up with lunch at Sit-n-Bull.

That’s it for now. More about today, tomorrow.