Or at least the way I saw it out walking today.

Daytime done. Darts on tap for nighttime. Tomorrow there will be poetry!

Yesterday’s SBH3 outstation run in Cabangan is now Hash history. As promised, the Hares did in fact set a flat trail. I was frankly surprised because it was so out of character for Leech My Nuggets. I asked him about that later and he said it was because they were unable to find any paths leading up into the surrounding mountains. Pity that!

Anyway, I opted for the medium hike of 8 kilometers. That was about right because it was a pretty hot day with no breeze and little shade. I was a little surprised that I made it back on-home to Samantha’s Resort before the runners who did the 12K hike, but I do make decent time when I’m walking on flat ground.

About that flat ground. It was mostly through farm country and frankly it was a little boring. Not much of interest to see and not all that challenging. Until the surprise the Hares had in store near the end of the trail. Not one, but two of the most rickety bridges over the river that I ever did see. I was so relieved after successfully crossing the first one. I hadn’t even finished congratulating myself for not falling into the water when the second bridge appeared. I made it across that one as well, no thanks to the punk ass kids who got on behind me and bounced around making it all the more difficult to keep my balance. The water wasn’t deep and the bridge wasn’t very high, so probably the worst that would have happened was getting wet and ruining my phone. Honestly, had the bridge been higher I wouldn’t have been able to do it given my fear of heights. It was tough enough as it was. I guess it was instant Karma for my boring trail thoughts. Ah well.

I’ve got pictures, lots of pictures, so let’s relive the journey, shall we?

I do enjoy my Hash life.

We are doing an outstation run in Cabangan today. Never been, but looking forward to seeing some new sights, notwithstanding a two hour bus ride to get there.

The Hare advises that there will be flat trails of 4, 8, and 12 kilometers. We’ll see. I’ve never know Leech My Nuggets to set a flat course before, but maybe there ain’t no mountains out that way.

I’m liable to take some photos along the way so stay tuned!

Get out of town,
think I’ll get out of town,
Get out of town,
think I’ll get out of town.
I head for the sticks
with my bus and friends,
I follow the road,
though I don’t know
where it ends.
Get out of town, get out of town,
think I’ll get out of town.

‘Cause the world is turnin’,
I don’t want to
see it turn away.

UPDATE: Damn, third time I’ve used the “get outta town” title for a post. Once last year about a journey up to Seoul, and a 2015 trip to Bomunsa Temple on Seokmodo island with Jee Yeun that just makes me sad now.

That’s what I did today. Well, everyday. But this time I joined the Saturday walkers. Such as we were. Five of us all told. It was a goodly long hike though. I led the way for the first half, mostly just doing Monday’s Hash trail in reverse. Gunter took over for Part Duex and as is his custom had us do an almost straight up climb. I know I was muttering “never again!” all the way up.

I drank four bottles of water during the hike today. And four bottles of beer at the conclusion. It’s good to keep things in balance.

One of my big dislikes here so far is the willful trashing of the environment. People litter the streets and rivers with impunity. I’ve never seen folks with such a disregard for keeping their own community clean. It’s really quite astounding to see individuals from all walks of life nonchalantly chuck trash out of their car window, dump garbage into the water, and leave crap all over the beach after a picnic.

As bad as that is, I think this pisses me off more:

Smoke filled air ain’t too good for my diminished lung capacity either. Anyway, nothing I can do but go with the flow…take a deep breath (*cough*, *cough*), relax, and accept the Filipino way. I don’t have to like it though.

And speaking of Buddy, what a crazy dog he is. I’m not even sure if he knows he’s a dog. He’s taken to sleeping on my bed. Like this:

And there you have the good and the bad. I’ll spare you the ugly for now.

Only three showed up today for the Wednesday walkers group. I seized the opportunity to take on the leader role for the hike. My two compadres are also not into those massive and difficult trails so I felt confident in showing them some of My Bitch and the route I’m developing for my debut as a solo Hare.

As we passed through my Alta Vista neighborhood at the beginning of the hike, Bimbo pointed at a house and said it was where one of our newest Hashers lives. A recent widow by the name of Heidi. As we neared the residence Bimbo started calling out her name and a very cute young woman came out. Not Heidi, but apparently one of her friends. Heidi soon after come downstairs and invited us in for a quick tour of the house. It was massive and beautiful. Including a rooftop bar! Heidi told us she rents out rooms on AirBnB. After a quick visit we continued on our way. I felt an instant attraction to the friend and Heidi was also an attractive woman. I may have to make an effort to get to know my neighbors better!

So we did my trail and then took a lunch break on my back patio. My house is nothing compared to Heidi’s, but the guys liked it too. The trail came in at around 6K, so I’m getting there. I saw a couple of new paths I’ll investigate over the coming days to see if I can’t get another kilometer or so added.

As is our Wednesday tradition, we finished our walk at Cheap Charlies where we re-hydrated ourselves with some refreshing cold brews.

And oh yeah, here’s a fun little song that explains the attraction of Filipinas…

What a day it was yesterday. Full of highs and lows. Here’s the first part of the story.

A very good Hash. Interesting trail as the Hare (Demolition Derby) worked hard at finding paths that have not been used for any recent Hashes. I was disappointed that included a trail I had been scouting for future use, but I still had to give Derby credit for his discovery. One steep climb and two moderate ones, took me two hours to complete all told.

After the Hash circle was completed I went home where the day turned to shit. I’m not quite ready to talk about it yet as I’m still working my way through it in my head. This illustration will serve as a little foreshadowing:

Oh, here’s a group photo from the Hash Bash. I’m off to the right.

Life goes on. And you have to eat. Here’s my dinner for one tonight:

And now I reckon it’s time to go out and try to drown my sorrows.

UPDATE: Hmm, I used the Peaks and valleys title once before in 2014. I didn’t have a clue back then what was in store for me.

Yesterday’s Hash may have been the best one ever for me. And the reason in large part was we spent a lot of time on perhaps the best beach I’ve ever seen. It was stunningly beautiful.

So, Nagtabon beach was an hour bus ride from our hotel in Puerto Princesa. That included a 15 minute delay when the lead bus broke down. The drivers did some roadside repairs, got a couple buckets of water from a nearby house, and refilled the radiator. Pretty impressive really. Once we reached our destination we off loaded Hashers and supplies and hoofed it the half kilometer or so down the beach to Oliver’s. The Hare (Wild Wolf) advised there would be three trails with durations of 7, 5, and 3 kilometers. And two beer checks along the way! Beer checks were quite common in my Korea kennel but this is only the second time I’ve experienced them here in the PI.

And so ended my first ever Hash Bash. Lots of fun, lots of interesting people from all over the world and of course, lots of beer!

Good times!

The Day 1 adventure is now history. As these photos illustrate.

No San Mig Zero here so I’ve been getting a little drunker than normal. Need to work on pacing myself better I suppose. Anyway, time to get ready for Day 2. More to come….

Greetings from Palawan. May the force be with you!

Let’s ketchup, shall we? Headed out early yesterday morning for the airport in Angeles City, about 1.5 hours away. Driver Donny once again managed to defy the odds and got us there safely. First time I’d taken a domestic flight from Clark, and the terminal really sucked. Still managed to kill the hour before boarding without too much discomfort.

Then it was time to board our Philippine Air flight to Puerto Princesa. I was curious what kind of plane it would be since no checked baggage was allowed. When the bus from the terminal pulled up it turned out to be an Airbus 320. After landing, I noted some bags being offloaded so I can only surmise the “no baggage” was about my discounted ticket or some such. No problem, for a three day trip my carry-on was more than sufficient. I was just worried about whether my liquids (i.e. vape juice) would be confiscated at security, but I sailed right on through.

Oh, and I was accompanied by a first time air traveler:

After exiting the airport our driver from the Blue Palawan Resort was there waiting for us. I had gotten an email a couple of days earlier advising me of the free hotel shuttle which was a pleasant surprise.

I’m staying here because the hotel that is hosting the Hash event, the Seaview, was booked up. It’s right next door to the Blue so no problem.

Anyway, that’s where things stand as of now. Fixin’ to grab some lunch and get ready for the first Hash trail this afternoon. They have long (9K) medium (6K) and short (3K) options. We are busing out to the start point and have 1.5 hours to get back “on-home” at a place called Kay’s Resort, wherever that turns out to be. I haven’t seen any nearby mountains so maybe it will be easy walking. We’ll find out soon enough I suppose.

Especially when I’m drunk…

Anyway, more of the same around here. Did some exploring this morning looking for new mountain paths to incorporate into my trail when I go solo as a Hare. I’m shooting for May.

Went out again this afternoon and finished the portion of the trail I missed two weeks ago.

Do not despair dear readers things are bound to get more interesting around here.

Of course, I’m going to be participating in a Hash event, so maybe it won’t be much different than normal. Except for the views!

Thank you for your understanding and support…

My first trail as a co-Hare was delivered yesterday more or less successfully. We had a large turnout of Hashers (47) and although not required of the Hares, I walked the entire trail again with the group. It was harder than the first time for me which I attribute to the afternoon start instead of early morning when I have more energy. Took me about an hour and fifty minutes start to finish, and as usual I was one of the last to complete the trail.

My overall assessment: I could have done a better job with the powder. Although the trail was pretty well marked, the chalk arrows are not always readily visible. You can see the powder from a distance which is helpful. Also, there were a couple places that were directionally confusing and some folks missed the true trail as a result. I should have laid better powder to make things more clear. Also, in the future when I’m a Hare I will walk the trail and put down powder on the day of the Hash. Even after only one day on the ground the powder lost its freshness and appeared faded.

During the trail feedback session of the Hash circle most of the criticism was fair I think, dealing with aforementioned lack of clarity at some trail junctions. Surprisingly, no one said the trail was too short, too flat, or too easy which are pretty standard complaints. A couple of folks even said it was too hard and had too many mountains. Well, we only did two climbs but I admit the second one was a tough slog. And I think given the terrain, the distance (6K) was just about right.

A little anecdote that made my day: I caught up with one of the Germans (Almoranus) about halfway up the second climb taking a breather. He asked if we were going all the way to the ridge line, and I responded affirmatively. I do believe he turned around at the point and shortcutted the trail. Which is fine, but he’s one of the guys that routinely kicks my ass on the Wednesday walks. I think in German the feeling I was having is known as schadenfreude.

All and all, not a bad day.

That was yesterday after completing right at 29,000 steps. Desperately needed to re-hydrate.

15,000 this morning, a nap, a shower and now ready to go Hash the trail I helped set yesterday. Technically, the Hares are not required to Hash the trail they laid with the group, but I need/want to get some steps in and see if I can follow my own trail with no problems. We’ll find out soon enough.

Commenter Kevin asked how well the powder holds up. Well, I did walk a bit of the trail today (the street portion) and was disappointed to see how dissipated the powder already looked. I’m chalking it up (no pun intended) to vehicle and foot traffic. Hopefully it is holding up better up in the mountains.

So that’s my nothing post on what’s been a nothing day thus far. No complaints though.

The road is filled with homeless souls
Every woman, child and man
Who have no idea where they will go
But they’ll help you if they can
Now everyone must have some thought
That’s going to pull them through somehow
Well the fires are raging hotter and hotter
But the sisters of the sun are going
To rock me on the water now
Rock me on the water
Sister will you soothe my fevered brow
Rock me on the water
I’ll get down to the sea somehow

UPDATE: Here’s a map of the trail.

Today I served as a co-Hare for the first time. This simply involved me assisting the primary Hare, Pubic Head and another Hasher, Buddy Fucker, to set the trail for tomorrow’s Hash.

Pubic Head has been Hashing in Subic since 2004 so he pretty much knows all the trails and where they go. He had a course in mind so off we went. My job was to mark the trail at appropriate locations using powder.

Overall I deem the trail we set as being a good one, although I had nothing to say about the course selection. We did two moderately difficult climbs and the last downhill through a rocky creek bed was not much to my liking. The trail is approximately 6 kilometers long from the walkers drop off point. The runners will have the option of starting out from our on-home at Johannson’s which adds another 1.5 K to the trail. It should be a good day for everyone!

It is a Subic H3 tradition that the Hares sit on the ice during the portion of the circle where the other Hashers give feedback on the day’s trail. And anytime throughout the proceedings if any of the Hare’s are found in violation we all sit: “When one Hare sits, ALL Hares sit” as the saying goes. Last week Pubic Head had a “Hash Crash” at the Grandmaster’s bar which may or may not have been caught on video. That may well result in more time on the ice for all three of us. Hopefully that’s all!

Anyway, I think the trail I’ve been working on may be a little too wimpy for SB H3 standards. Pubic Head likes an easy trail and today’s was quite a bit more difficult than mine (which only has one uphill). I’m going to have to search out ways to spice it up some. I’ve got time to work on it, Hare’s are already scheduled through April.

I expect I’ll be hearing this song tomorrow:

Shitty Trail (A Song For The Hares)

S-H-I-T-T-Y T-R-A-I-L
Shitty trail (It sucked)
Shitty trail (really fucked)
The motherfuckers laid a shitty trail
I would rather drink a beer than hash your shitty trail,
S-H-I-T-T-Y T-R-A-I-L
Drink it Down down, down down…

Back home again where I belong.

The final night in town was blessedly uneventful. Before I commenced to drinking I took an afternoon walk.

Last night I ate and drank at place called Handlebar bar. Really loved the ambiance of neighborhood pub. I do miss that. If I were ever going to open a bar (I won’t!) it would be in this genre. Food was excellent too! Thanks for the tip, Brandon.

The night ended for me with one of the best damn banana splits ever from the Filling Station. Yum!

My driver Donny picked me at 0600 and we had a mostly traffic free drive back to Barretto. One last surprise from my “guest” the other night. Upon checkout I was advised that the mini-bar had been raided for a bag of cashew nuts. That added 110 pesos to the cost of that mistake. Still pissed at myself for being so stupid.

It’s good to be home.

My last day in Manila and nothing really to do with it, so I spent the morning doing pretty much what I always do–walking around. City hikes are not my favorite but I got in over an hour and a half anyway. Actually saw quite a bit of Makati and the surrounding environs, including some real upscale and gated subdivisions. And this:

I also found a couple of restaurants on the backstreets that commenter Brandon had recommended. I’ll definitely be giving one of them a go tonight.

Last night I dined at a little hole in the wall place called Tequilaria or something like that. Had some great service from a cute little waitress with a sweet braces filled smile. And I also had the chicken enchiladas.

Now, P. Burgos street is famous for it’s go-go dancing girly bars. Maybe I’m getting old (shuddup!) but I find them more boring than anything else. And overpriced. Last trip I ventured into one and my beer was 150 pesos–the same price as a lady drink back home and more than double what I normally pay. No thank you! I haven’t been to any of them this trip. I did find some open air sports bars on a side street off the main drag and I’ve enjoyed hanging out in those when I’m not at Cafe Cubana.

There’s a big Hash event taking place here this weekend called a Nash Hash. I had actually considered joining up but it is a four day affair and most of the events are out of town. I just didn’t want to spend time in Manila traffic getting there. Plus I have the big Hash event in Palawan next week, that’s enough I think. I did run into several Subic Hashers while I was bar crawling last night. Always nice to say hello to a familiar face!

Anyway, I finished the night back at my hotel bar feeling no pain. A woman walking by made eye contact and the next thing I knew she was sitting with me at my table She gave me her tale of woe about not having bus fare to get back home and asked me to let her do a one hour massage for 300 pesos. Like the drunken idiot that I am I consented and brought her up to my room. She performed a lackluster massage and I overpaid her for it. Sometimes I too nice for my own good I guess. Anyway, I noticed this morning that she had repaid my kindness by stealing a vape pen and one of my chargers. A lot of good it will do her when it comes time to change out the wick. Here’s hoping the bitch gets the Karma she so richly deserves.

Ah well, life marches on.

Greetings from Makati, the heart and soul of the metropolis known as Manila. This is a city I don’t frequent much, in fact, I normally try to avoid it whenever possible. But as I mentioned previously I had business to attend to at the American embassy and this is where that’s at.

Arrived yesterday afternoon following a harrowing drive through murderous traffic with my crazy driver Donny behind the wheel. I’m staying at the Royal Bellagio hotel this trip as it is conveniently located in the foreigner bar district on P. Burgos street. The hotel contains one of my favorite watering holes (Cafe Cubana) and one of the best damn restaurants I’ve eaten at in the PI, The Filling Station. I wrote about both on my last visit here back in November.

Then it was back to Cubana for more beer and watching the street walkers ply their trade. A couple of them are just bat shit crazy, which is sad. I wondered if they were always crazy or if the life of a prostitute made them that way. I personally just don’t find paying for sex that interesting or exciting. I do enjoy a good massage now and then though.

So, I get up bright and early this morning to make my journey out to the embassy. My appointment was at 9:45 but given the traffic situation I hailed a cab at 7:30. The first guy wanted a flat fee of 500 pesos. I told him I preferred that he just use the meter, to which he declined so I moved on to another cab. This guy turned on the meter right away but as we drove he asked to do a flat fee. At first I declined but then got to thinking it might be wise to give the driver some motivation to take the fastest route. I asked how much and he wanted 400 pesos. “Fine” I told him, figuring I saved myself 100 pesos anyway.

The trip surprisingly took less than an hour (I’d been told it could take 1.5), so I walked around the Manila bay front area for awhile before making my way through embassy security. There I was relieved of my cell phone, Fitbit, and e-cigarettes. A strict no electronics policy was being enforced. It was only 9:00 so I commenced to walking around the waiting area. I guess it made the security guard nervous because he asked me to sit down. I said “I can’t walk?” He pointed to the back of the room and replied “only there”. Fine. My Fitbit couldn’t register my activity anyway.

Once my appointed time arrived, I was allowed to go upstairs and wait for my number to be called, which it was in due course. I had two power of attorney forms to be notarized and Uncle Sam relieved me of $100 for the service. I caught a cab back to Makati and the driver used the meter without complaint. I was curious how much the actual fare would turn out to be. It came in at just under 200 pesos. HaHa! I guess I did get taken for a ride this morning. I tipped the driver 100 pesos and it still felt like a bargain!

Once back in familiar environs I set about looking for a FedEx outlet so I could get the newly signed POA’s off to South Carolina. Google said there was a FedEx store about 20 minutes away on foot. Damned if I could find it though. I did come across a small shipping business that had a sign saying there were an authorized FedEx agent. I hope so, because I paid 2000 pesos ($40) and gave them my papers. Supposed to arrive stateside in three days. We’ll see.

And that’s been my excitement for the day thus far. I’ll head out soon for some more exploring, then grab some food. And beers of course.

And the sign said anybody caught trespassin’ would be shot on sight
So I jumped on the fence and-a yelled at the house
“Hey! What gives you the right?”
“To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in”
“If God was here he’d tell you to your face, man, you’re some kinda sinner”
Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?

Not a good night for me last night. The usual BS, feeling sorry for myself and thinking about what I’m missing instead of what I have. Luckily the self-pity parties are much more infrequent these days. As is my custom when I’m in “one of those moods” I commenced to drown my sorrows take some pain medication in the form of San Miguel Zero beer. And before long I was comfortably numb.

I started and finished my night at Cheap Charlies Bar. I had a good seat overlooking the highway and couldn’t be fucked with moving on. I was in no mood for company and successfully fended off the thirsty bargirls vying for a lady drink (I’m usually quite generous in that regard). Arrived around 5:00 p.m. and left a little after nine. My bill was 600 pesos. Beers are only 50 pesos each at Cheap Charlies (hence the name) so by my calculation I drank 12 beers in four hours! That’s a lot even for me. And 3 beers per hour is a pretty good pace as well. I guess all that practice is paying off!

Good thing I was doing Zero at 3% alcohol. Had I been doing the 5% brews I’m sure I would have been floored. As it was I had no problem walking the 15 minutes it took to get home. And so ended another drunken night as a lonely guy. Yeah, I acknowledge (embrace?) my patheticness.

Off to Manila this afternoon. A city I love to hate. But, changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes, right?

It’s those changes in latitudes,
changes in attitudes nothing remains quite the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane.