Category Archives: Life in the Philippines

High Five!

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Today marks five months of life here in the Philippines. Other than being somewhat unsettled emotionally I can’t really complain. Much. And honestly, the negatives are all pretty much self-inflicted. As I’ve alluded to in previous posts I’ve got some ideas for changing things up and living a richer and more fulfilling lifestyle. Wish me luck with that!

I guess it will not come as any surprise to my regular readers, but damn, I didn’t expect to hit the five month milestone without having found some meaningful female companionship. The fact is I’m still reeling from my past relationship failures, Marissa being the last of far too many. Hope springs eternal they say, and I still have it in mind that if and when I fall in love again all the sorrows I carry in my heart will magically disappear. Hey, it could happen!

So how’s the fishing going? Well, the nibbles I got yesterday don’t appear to be all that interested in the bait. But I had a nice chat this afternoon with a gal who has really captured my interest. Most of the women of Date in Asia have very basic profiles, but Cherry said this about herself:

I’m a single mom looking for a descent guy that is willing to trust,love and accept me for who I am.I love adventures,going to the beaches,hiking and watching movies.I am fun and easy to be with but easy to be fall,so once I get fall on you,pls don’t tell and make me feel that I’m replaceable anytime .A good start for better relationship is exerting an effort to communicate from both sides to make everything balance.Pls.don’t think that all women are after with what u have in life because I haven’t asked for anything from somebody since I became a member of this site.Using your money or power in order to make women stay in your life won’t gonna do good in any relationship because happiness comes from within,not in material things.If you are looking for a good, long term partner in life,treat your woman nice,don’t tell her there are many girls are next in line,let her feel loved in anyways and she will stay by your side forever😊😊😊seems like I’m not talking about myself here😂well,Goodluck to each and everyone .

That’s verbatim, grammatical errors and all. Now, English is widely spoken here but it is still a second language for the natives. And really, when I see a profile without errors I’m suspicious that it might just be a cut and paste plagiarism effort. So, this girl–Cherry, age 34, seems real enough to me. At least so far. And I like the fact that she’s into hiking. I already mentioned to her that she might want to give the Hash a go. She asked me where I lived and I told her Alta Vista. She responded that she occasionally jogs through my neighborhood. Wow!

Cherry has indicated that she’s open to meeting “sometime” but has as yet been non-committal beyond that. Could be she has other chat mates and is in no hurry. She has also applied for a job in Dubai which means any potential future together has an expiration date. But I’m not going to get ahead of myself. I’m interested enough to see where it may (or may not) go. That’s a good start I think.

They say beauty is only skin deep, but I’m thinking Cherry might have some very deep skin!

Not much else happening on this anniversary of my arrival. A morning walk on the beach, grocery shopping, and an afternoon walk on the beach. Alone again of course, but… I’m hopeful that will not always be the case. I’m looking forward to saying a last goodbye to past heartbreaks!

And my heart is sinking like a setting sun
Setting on the things I wish I’d done
It’s time to say goodbye to yesterday
This is where the cowboy rides away
Oh the last goodbye’s the hardest one to say
This is where the cowboy rides away

You got lucky

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A thoughtful comment on my post “Comfortably numb” commenced me to thinking it’s about time I shake things up some in my so-called life. But where to start? Kevin Kim suggests I consider “theme travel” which has some appeal, more so in the historical vein as I’m not much of a foodie. I do have a short list of places in the Philippines I want to visit along with some other Asian destinations. When I return from my USA trip I’m resolved to start knocking them out.

And as y’all know, I’ve had some love life doors slammed in my face recently which still has me somewhat out of kilter. So I’ve decided to take up fishing. People keep telling me that “there’s lots of fishes in the ocean”, so I might as well cast out a line and see if I get any bites. I honestly don’t like fishing all that much (preferring the fish come to me ready to eat enjoy). As that doesn’t seem to be happening I’ve got a couple of fishing spots I’m going to revisit–namely Date in Asia and Filipina Cupid.

Sorting out the potential keepers from the poisonous varieties is no easy task, and frankly I’ve just not had the patience to deal with the scammers and desperadoes who you inevitably encounter on the aforementioned dating sites. But my new motivation ties in with my travel planning–I’m going to set up meetings with gals in the locations I plan to visit–a tour guide if you will.

In order to keep my sanity, my plan right now is to identify one woman from each site daily who appears to have some potential and send her a message (a baited hook so to speak). Depending on if and how they respond we’ll see if it is worth continuing the dialog leading to a possible future meeting. If not, I’ll recast my line.

Today’s Date in Asia gal is 31 and lives in Olongapo. So she would be someone I could see locally. So far I’ve only gotten a one word response and nothing to my followup message. Although to be fair she hasn’t been online so hasn’t seen it. We’ll see.

Well, damn. Filipina Cupid does not allow you to lift profile photos so I can’t show you the 28 year old I’m chatting up from Dumaguete, one of the places on my “go to” list. Not a bad chat thus far although there have been a couple of red flags (she knows too much about pensions and asked how much I pay for rent). But we have exchanged phone numbers and a couple of texts, so we’ll see where it goes.

And there you have the story of my first tentative steps into the next chapter of my life. Crap, what if my life is a Stephen King novel? Stay tuned!

You better watch what you say
You better watch what you do to me
Don’t get carried away
Girl, if you can do better than me, go
Yeah go but remember

Good love is hard to find
Good love is hard to find
You got lucky babe
Yeah, you got lucky babe
When I found you-

You put a hand on my cheek
And then you turn your eyes away
If you don’t feel complete
If I don’t take you all of the way, go
Yeah go, but remember

Good love is hard to find
Good love is hard to find
You got lucky babe
Yeah you got lucky
When I found you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QqUs3WqfkE

A question of balance

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Successfully completed yesterday’s Hash without injury. Except maybe to my pride. I’ve just got to face up to the fact that I’m one of slowest in the group. I can make excuses about my photo taking pauses, but the truth is on anything other than flat ground I struggle to keep up with the most of the kennel. Oddly enough it is the downhill portions that I’m particularly slow at. A little embarrassing yesterday to have everyone looking for an opportunity to get around the slow old guy. I just have a hard time keeping my balance (and my feet) on the steep declines. I always feel top heavy, squirrely, and almost out of control. Oh well. Let’s go to the pictures:

The “walkers” portion of the trail was around 7kms. Only one big uphill climb but the coming down was steep and slippery…

So we loaded up the truck and headed on down…

….the highway to the trail head (the runners ran this portion, around 3K)

And then we were “On-On”

And on up

Up on top

How now brown cow?

We meandered through the tall grasses…

And enjoyed views like this one before taking the steep way down…

You do need to keep your wits about you on trail. You can’t really see just how deep this trailside hole actually is, but one false step and you’d be seriously injured.

At the bottom the road was flat but flooded…

Pubic Head is one of the few Hashers as slow as I am. That’s good because it gave me someone to chat with as we marched along. He had a slip and fall on the way down the mountain. Of course, I reported it in the circle and he paid the price on ice. Them’s the rules…

The trail passed through my neighborhood. Actually it went right past my house…

On Home at Da’Kudo’s on Baloy Beach…

The ice is ready and waiting for the circle to commence. I avoided any time there this week…

The sun setting on another Hash…

Cheers to our newest named Hasher, Slot Licker (you get named upon completion of 5 Hashes). She’s a real cutie, but alas, has a boyfriend. Next to her is HIV, our Grand Master.

And finally, this week Wonder Woman got the Hashit. I’m still not entirely clear on the concept, but the song we sing starts “I got the Hashit, the Subic Hashit, for being stupid on the trail…” She’ll name her successor as Hashit next week…

And there you have it. Stay tuned for the next installment.

The white stuff

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Was really surprised to see a light dusting so early in the season on my morning walk with Buddy today.

Honestly, this is something I never expected to see at all the Philippines. I mean, there’s not much accumulation but it’s still only early October.

So, from whence came this powder? I’m no climate change fanatic and I’m certainly no detective, but I think I’ve figured out what is going on:

Whatever the hell these plants are called, they seem to emit the fine dust I found on the road. It’s almost snow like…

But of course, it never snows in the tropics. In fact, we are just now moving into the hottest part of the year….

After finishing up my hike with Buddy, I came home and baked a cake. Yep, there’s another October birthday to celebrate.

This time it is Ru Ru’s turn….
She professed to being pleased with my offering, saying it was the first time that someone has baked for her. That’s what I like about virgins, you are always the best! Haha, easy to please, that’s for sure.

I carried the cake to Treasure Island where Ru Ru was working. I guess the jostling of the still warm cake caused that big ass earthquake-like fissure, but it didn’t impact the flavor, just the appearance.

Spareribs in the oven and the Hash is on tap for the afternoon. It’s shaping up to be another fine day.

Comfortably numb

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I guess it’s natural to fall into habits and routines that fill the hours, however comfortably and well. Thinking back on my year in Pyeongtaek I was pretty much always in my WWD (working, walking, drinking) mode. And now I’m retired so you can see where that leaves me. I think the thing about working is that it changes things up day-to-day. New issues and problems to be resolved, meaningful interactions and intellectual stimulation. I’ve actually dreamed about work a few times recently so maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me something.

Which is not to say my current routines make me feel unsatisfied and unfulfilled, I think it’s just the same-same of everyday living that tends to create a feeling of boredom that I need to shake free from. Or maybe I just accept the new normal and try to achieve a sense of satisfaction with my life. It’s not so bad and I’m really not unhappy. I’m just comfortably numb.

I’m managing between 15,000 and 20,000 (sometimes more) steps everyday. It may be an overstatement to call walking “my hobby”, it’s just what I do. My motivation is primarily weight control (still under 200 pounds!) and staying healthy enough to eek out a few extra years amongst the living (BP is in the mid 120s and resting HR has been mid 60s, so it seems to be working). Other than the Hash though I don’t have much new to see during my 2+ hours daily road trips. I vary between my Baloy Beach, Barretto, and Subic town walks, but they tend to get old. Some days I’ll try a new side road but honestly I get a little uncomfortable walking through some potentially dicey neighborhoods. I guess it’s just my perception but I do stand out as the only white guy in these areas and encountering unemployed and seemingly desperate young men milling about makes me feel like a potential target sometimes. Nothing has ever happened to support those feelings of course. Yet anyway. Better to be bored than robbed perhaps.

I’m a thousand miles from nowhere and there’s no place I gotta be…

My nighttime activities find me hanging out in one bar or another, sometimes playing darts and others just buying lady drinks interacting with the bargirls. Oh, and like Justice Kavanaugh, I do like me some beer. I confine myself to the low calorie, low alcohol local brew however.

My best friend!

It’s always a little surprising to be reminded of just what a small town Barretto really is. I’m known by name even in places I rarely frequent. It can be a bit disconcerting to walk past the bars and have the doorgirls shout out “come in, Sir John”, especially when I can’t recall having ever been there before. On the other hand, it’s nice to see familiar faces and be greeted by acquaintances on the street or waitresses in the restaurants. I’ve been here less than five months but it already feels like home. And that’s a good thing.

They know me a Mango’s where I enjoyed this fish and chips dinner last night.

While I’ve quit playing in the Wednesday and Friday dart leagues, I still play in tournaments a couple of times a week. I like the freedom this provides me to do other things should I choose to without letting down the team. I’ve been playing pretty well, but I really need to put my home dart board to use by putting in some meaningful practice time. And time is something I have plenty of these days!

A first place finish is always nice!

Sometimes after walking and before drinking I’ll prepare some eats on the grill or in the crockpot. Fills some time and my stomach!

Pulled pork with cornbread is one of my mainstays…

And sometimes I’ll even do some dessert!

Like I say, I’m living an easy and comfortable life here. Nothing to complain about (other than boring ass blog posts like this one!). I’m leaving for the USA on the morning of the 24th (at 0200 to be precise). Will return two weeks later. So at a minimum I’ll have some new material to blog about. I’m formulating a plan to henceforth incorporate at least one out-of-town getaway per month. Sometimes in country, sometimes out. I think that will go a long way to providing a greater sense of fulfillment and satisfaction in my life. Who knows, maybe I’ll even find a girlfriend along the way! Hey, it could happen.

And I still have my sense of humor, such as it is…

Life is good.

There is no pain you are receding
A distant ship smoke on the horizon
You are only coming through in waves
Your lips move but I can’t hear what you’re saying
When I was a child
I caught a fleeting glimpse
Out of the corner of my eye
I turned to look but it was gone
I cannot put my finger on it now
The child is grown
The dream is gone
I have become comfortably numb.

White rhythm and blues

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And life continues apace.

Grocery shopping, a morning walk with the dog, and of course the usual excitement derived from drinking copious amounts of beer. Does it get any better than that?

During our walks Buddy always takes the time to stop and smell the, well, whatever the hell it is that he’s smelling. He usually follows up by peeing on it…

Talking about excitement in the bars, this ashtray at Cheap Charlies was more than a little disconcerting:

It’s like a penis, only smaller!

And after the appropriate number of beers, I can be enticed to go to a videoke joint and try to sing away my blues:

People cry when I sing, even if it’s a happy song….

I guess the big news from today (so far anyway) is that I finally pulled the trigger on purchasing my plane ticket back home to the USA. I was on the fence about flying coach and being uncomfortable for 24 hours or getting ass raped for a business class fare. In the end I just decided “fuck it”, I only make the trip once a year and so I may as well do it in style. It’s only money, right?

And that’s all I’ve got from here for now.

You can close your eyes
And sleep away all your blues
I’ve done everything but lie
Now I don’t know what else I can do

Ah, the night time sighs and I hear myself
But the words just stick in my throat
Don’t you think that a man like me
Might hurt much more than it shows

Just send me black roses
White rhythm and blues
And somebody who cares when you lose
Black roses, white rhythm and blues

Purdy thirty…

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Yesterday I helped my friend Jessa celebrate her 30th birthday. Two other gal friends from Treasure Island joined in the fun. All in all a very nice evening.

Jessa had to work until 3:00 so I had a beer and bought her and her co-worker Kat a Jager bomb to jump start the party.

I had my driver Donny come by to transport us to Harbor Point Mall on the old Navy base where the festivities would take place. Once the gals were off duty I had to sit around and wait for them to change clothes. Luckily I’m a very patient man. *ahem*

But they were worth waiting for, don’t you think?

Left to right that would be me, Kat, RuRu, and the lovely Jessa.

So anyway, I told Jessa it was her birthday so the evening’s activities were all up to her. She chose seeing a movie then having dinner. We bought our tickets and had an hour to kill so we walked around the mall some. I took Jessa into the Samsung phone store and told her to pick one. I thought it spoke well of her character that she selected the A-6, a mid-range phone that also happened to be on sale. She was happy and excited to have a nice phone so I reckon that was money ($225.) well-spent. Kat said “I want it to be my birthday too!” which made me laugh.

Kat and Jessa acting like a couple of posers…

So this is the movie that Jessa selected….

Worst movie I have ever seen! I’m not exaggerating when I say that. Several people got up and walked out during the film which was my inclination as well. But of course I had to defer to the desires of the birthday girl. We sat through it all and afterwards Jessa said “that’s the worst movie I’ve ever seen”. That cracked me. Here’s a trailer if you are so inclined, I can’t stomach being reminded.

I’m not a reviewer so I’ll just say there was nothing at all I liked about it, other than the company I was with. It was filmed as if it were being recorded on a handheld video camera so it was jerky and uneven (reminded me a little of the Blair Witch Project in that regard). I also thought the characters were shallow caricatures of tired stereotypes and the actors were not convincing as supposed high school students. The story itself was lame and overwrought to the point of ridiculousness. Oh well, I’m glad I saw it in the Philippines. Four tickets were less than twenty bucks. Although I reminded of the old saw “I went to a $1.99 all you can eat buffet, but I could only eat a dollar’s worth.”

Anyway, we had a good laugh about it afterwards. And oh yeah, in the “it’s a small world” department, I’m standing in the lobby pre-movie and I see a familiar face walking by so I called out “hey Ken, what are you doing here?” I think it took him a few seconds to recognize me, but in all fairness I’m not the man I used to be when he knew me (no mustache now and less fat). Turns out he and his wife were there for the same movie. Ken and I worked in the same HR universe on Yongsan back in the day. He retired back in 2008 or so and moved to the Philippines with his Filipina wife. Until last night I hadn’t seen him since. He’s living on the Navy base these days and I guess life is being kind to him. It was cool running into him that way for sure.

So with the movie behind us we were off to dinner. I tried to tempt Jessa by walking her by the Korean grilled meats place I fancy, but she had her mind set on somewhere else. It was a few blocks away but we all hoofed it over there.

There are quite a few Korean eateries on the base (Hanjin has a shipyard nearby). This one’s sign cracked me up…seems like typical Korean reasoning….open 24 hours except for break time of 4 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. One of the girls asked why not just say open from 10 to 4? I had no answer…

This was Jessa’s choice for dining. I was a little surprised because it looks more like a coffee shop. But they had a nice outdoor dining area, a pretty good menu with various options, and what we ordered at least was well prepared. Not bad at all!

The happy diners…

The restaurant also had a small bakery which was a godsend seeing as how I had overlooked purchasing a birthday cake prior to departing the mall.

We did the one candle equals ten years thingy…

Ain’t she sweet? The cake was good too!

After dinner we headed back to Barretto. I had my driver drop me at Alley Cats for my beer fix and he took the girls back to Treasure Island. I think we all had fun. The gals want me to cook for them at my house soon and I promised that I would.

So, are you wondering about the potential for any future romance with one of these gals? Well, three of them are in their early 20s, so that ain’t going to work. Jessa at 30 is stretching it, but given the chance I might give it a go. She’s never given me any indication that she had any romantic inclinations towards me however. On the other hand, she doesn’t call me Kuya John like most of the young women I meet. She always calls me Gwapo (handsome). Anyway, having no expectations is a good defense against disappointment.

Just going to keep living one day at a time and see what happens next.

My life

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I had some really outstanding comments on the Living Dangerously post. As you faithful readers obviously know, LTG is as much a personal diary as anything else. I’m always frankly amazed that people follow my “trials, tribulations, and adventures” as recounted here. But the heartfelt comments and advice I’ve gotten along the way have meant so much more to me than you can ever know. So, I really wanted to acknowledge that and sincerely say thank you!

Aaron (a reader since 2005!) commented on the pending retirement of his parents and his concerns on how well they will fare in the transition. He’s following along with me for any insights he might glean from my journey. Well, it might be more of a “how not to guide, but my life here is pretty much an open book. It may be recalled that this is actually my second go at being retired, having originally stopped working at the tender age of 55 back on December 31, 2010. In that iteration, I was living six months in the USA and six months in Korea. And of course, I had my Korean wife with me back then. The first year was a busy one; both of my parents died, I bought and remodeled a house, and reestablished relationships with family and friends. And then things settled down into a comfortable routine which while sometimes boring, seemed like it was going well. The bombshell that my wife was unhappy in her life with me and wanted a divorce ended those dreams and that life. So I wound up going back to work for another three years.

This is my “do over” retirement. Before getting married I had planned on retiring to the Philippines. And now here I am. I’m still only five months into my life here so it’s a work in progress. I’m getting settled and slowly but surely finding my way. Yes, I probably spend too much time in the bars but at least I’m not one of those guys I see drinking at breakfast time (and I don’t drink at home either). The biggest void in my life I think is not having someone to love who loves me back. Finding someone who actually had some common interests would be icing on the cake (I’d really enjoy having a partner at the Hash for example). As commenter Kevin Kim has often advised I’m looking for love in all the wrong places. But the right kind of places are few and far between here in Barretto. So I need to expand my horizons and I’ve got some plans to do so, even if it means going back on the dating sites.

I don’t think I’m anywhere near as bored with my retired life this go round, but it’s still early in the game so we’ll see. I enjoyed my work but really don’t miss it much. The people and the social connections were really what mattered. I think it takes time to build something similar, but without the common bond of work that is much more difficult. Commenter Brandon recommends that I develop some hobbies and suggests gardening as an example. That’s probably not for me, but I do have darts and walking and will also be incorporating some travel into my lifestyle. So really, I think on balance I’m doing okay.

If I could just find a girlfriend! I think if I fuck up it’s going to be out of a sense of desperation. I had a bargirl friend who needed some extra money over to the house to give me a massage the other day (and that’s all it was, no happy ending!). And now there’s another woman who is friends with my helper wanting to provide me massage services. She’s married though and I’m not comfortable with that. On the other hand, tonight I’ll be helping a gal from Treasure Island celebrate her 30th birthday. She’s a sweetie and a cutie but I don’t have any illusions about why I’m coming to the party. To foot the bill of course. Her friend has already let me know that Jessa would love a new phone as a birthday present. And you know what, I don’t mind getting her one. I’d like her to remember her 30th as much as I do mine!

And I guess that’s the other thing about living here. I can afford to be generous. I’m very popular in the bars I frequent. But I’m also able to help out some folks when they are in need and that’s a good feeling. Just today I was asked if I could contribute some funds to help my downstairs caretaker who was recently hospitalized. I gave 2000 pesos (about $40.) which is no big deal to me but apparently will help him a lot in terms of getting the medicine he needs. Don’t get me wrong, I live on a budget but my budget allows me to live large by local standards. I’d say my standard of living is high compared to a large percentage of the expat community as well. As I’m often reminded, I’m a lucky man and in the bigger scheme of things what I perceive as problems are really meaningless.

I enjoy views like this one in my subdivision.

The steak dinner I prepared on my grill yesterday afternoon.

The dart tournament I won last night…

And who gives a damn if Subic thanks me for leaving their shitty little town. I’m a Barretto boy now!

So, yeah. That’s my life. It could be worse and it’s bound to get better. Thanks to my readers for joining me on the journey!

They will tell you you can’t sleep alone in a strange place
Then they’ll tell you you can’t sleep with somebody else
Ah, but sooner or later you sleep in your own space
Either way it’s OK, you wake up with yourself

I don’t need you to worry for me ’cause I’m alright
I don’t want you to tell me it’s time to come home
I don’t care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone

I never said you had to offer me a second chance
I never said I was a victim of circumstance
I still belong, don’t get me wrong
And you can speak your mind, but not on my time
I don’t care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone

A grave experience at the Hash

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Sorry for the delay in providing your weekly fix of Hash photos and commentary. Dealing with some shit that has me somewhat distracted, but I’ll figure it out. Anyway, on with the Hash report!

It was a funny thing when I discovered where Monday’s trail had led us. I had just reported in my “Living Dangerously” post about my walk to the old Navy base along National Highway. Well, I was surprised to be back to where I had just been, except this time the getting there was up and over the mountain. And then we meandered through a big ass cemetery built into a hillside. The return trip was a mostly pleasant walk along the beach. So it’s good to know an alternative route the next time I want to take a long hike, although truthfully I wouldn’t attempt the mountain path alone. As usual, let’s let the pictures do the talking:

The route we walked, just under 7ks…

We had 38 Hashers so we filled the Hashmobile AND a Jeepney. Perhaps the most dangerous part of the Hash was getting across the National Highway without being run over.

Assembling at the trail head…

And we are “On-On”!

We almost immediately began a steep and sweaty ascent of the mountain…

But once we reached the top it was easy walking…

And the bay views were pleasant….

It’s always interesting to me to get a new perspective of the bay. To me, that’s the best feature of the Hash, going to places I would never otherwise find on my own.

Heading back down through the tall grasses. You need to be on the outlook for wild things that may be lurking about…

What madness is this? I was surprised to see we were actually going to hike through the cemetery…

I was a little worried we might be considered disrespectful. I mean we were actually marching on top of the graves…

I fell behind as usual as I paused for pictures. And then I fell (well stepped) off one of those concrete graves into a drop off I couldn’t see because of the weeds. Just a deep scratch was my only injury thankfully….

Blood on the trail…

Some nice views but I doubt the dead appreciate them much. Speaking of the dead, it was a little disconcerting to note that many of the “residents” were younger than me when they left this world. Mortality sucks!

The old Navy base as viewed from the cemetery…

After exiting the graveyard and crossing the National Highway we found ourselves on the beach. This was my first Hash where we actually walked the beach. And the beach portion was about half the Hash.

And it was rather pleasant…

A good day to be in the water….

We did have one detour off the beach through a small settlement…

Which was maybe a fishing village…

One of the resorts on the bay features this inflatable island. Looks like fun for the kids!

In due course we arrived “On-Home” at Midnight Rambler for the after Hash activities….

Custom made T-back panties were on offer. I asked “for a friend” if the came in men’s sizes. That cost me time on the ice for a “6-7-8-9 violation”.

Snake Charmer was recognized with a Hash vest for completing her 100th Hash. I wish I could find a gal like her!

And as I’m sure you’ve been waiting for, the requisite hot asses on ice photo….

It was a good Hash and a good time!

Living dangerously

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Down in the dumps yesterday so I decided to take the LONG walk to the old Navy base. It’s about an hour each way but the challenge is there isn’t much shoulder so you have to be prepared to dodge Jeepneys, trucks, buses, and trikes. It’s actually a pain in the ass which is why I rarely attempt it. Sunday morning is probably the only time I’m brave enough for the hike since traffic is relatively lighter then.

A rare break in the traffic afforded the opportunity to take this deceptive photograph….

But it was nice to also get some new vistas, like this shot of half moon bay….

Anyway I really need to work on getting my shit together. Spending too many meaningless hours in the bars drinking beer. Yeah, it’s what I do to have some semblance of a social life. I really do have the type of personality that needs a significant other to fulfill me. Geez, I hate how that sounds. But I don’t want to get drawn into the dating a bargirl lifestyle. I’m going to have to suck it up I suppose and start trolling the dating websites again. That’s a whole other kind of depressing activity though. I just got to find a way to climb out of this rut.

Meanwhile, I continue on with the simple things that bring me pleasure. Like the crockpot chili con carne I cooked up:

It was surprisingly good, if I do say so myself. I like to use Rotel diced tomatoes with chilies but I couldn’t find any at the Royal grocery store. They did have a can of “Mexican style” sliced tomatoes, which worked out just fine. Very flavorful.

And finally, I would like to offer up a heartfelt apology to all of my faithful readers here at LTG:

It doesn’t get much worse than this, does it?

Unmotivated

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Yeah, it’s been one of THOSE kinda days. Other than walking and drinking I didn’t get jack shit accomplished. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

As seen on today’s walk:

A Wal-Mart on wheels.

You call that a bad residence? I’ve seen worse!

Your humble stalker.

What else have I got?

No idea what happened to the rest of him….

And meanwhile on Facebook:

The truth hurts….

Anyway, I’ll try harder tomorrow.

F’n crazy!

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It’s a fine day to be in the Philippines far, far away from all the political madness in the USA.

Took my morning walk out towards Subic town, 45 minutes up the National Highway and 45 minutes back.

Here’s a pleasant street scene to give you the flavor of my walk. Well, since you can’t taste on the internet (yet) it reeked of exhaust fumes and was loud and busy. Why did I choose to walk down such a busy road? Because I can!
Actually, I took side streets yesterday but they were equally busy and without the benefit of a shoulder to walk on. Not all my walks are this way, I just need to change it up now and then to alleviate the boredom.

Speaking of the Kavanaugh hearings, what a fucking fiasco. I stand with the man!

We have a lot in common. Except for the high school shenanigans. I was stoned most of the time so can’t say what I did or didn’t do for sure.

But I knew his accuser looked awful familiar!

Of course, the internet and Facebook are on fire with commentary and memes. The left is basically arguing that all men are guilty until proven innocent whenever a woman makes an unsubstantiated claim of sexual assault. I loved how Senator Booker kept referring to “her truth” instead of “the truth”. Kavanaugh did a good job defending himself against the spurious attacks and Senator Graham was on point in calling out his colleagues on their McCarthy-like behavior.

That’s gonna leave a mark!

So glad I’m here and not there.

Well, I’m glad for the most part anyway.

Rest assured I will continue to navigate the slow seas of connectivity to bring you scintillating posts like this one!

You’ve been warned.

Another day in paradise

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Well, make that days.

Getting settled into my routines and rituals such as they are. Not all that exciting or blog worthy, but that’s real life for most of us I suppose.

I played in my first dart tournament in awhile and took a first place. Even sweeter was beating my arch rival Greg in the finals.

And I also had a good time, which sadly is not always the case.

I wrapped up my dart league commitment yesterday by participating in the end of season MVP tournament. It didn’t end well, but I didn’t care. Henceforth my Wednesdays and Fridays are open again. I like the freedom to do what I want when I want, rather than having an obligation to not let the team down. The problem with league for me is it starts at 2:00 and by the time it’s over I’m buzzed on beer and so the remainder of the day is pretty much shot. With tourneys I can show up or not depending on what I want to do. My plan is to do some travel (both local and international) and I don’t want to feel tied down by darts. Darts is a pastime, not a vocation for me.

I’m still out there hoofing it every morning. I’ve been exceeding my personal daily goal, so I’m happy about that. Even pushing myself to leave my comfort zone and start exploring some new paths to experience.

Did I mention it’s been hot?

I’m more or less a passive observer of the world here as it passes, but a couple of things recently caught my attention. Not everything is cheaper in the Philippines, but labor definitely is. Unskilled workers are lucky to make the equivalent of five dollars a day. You see the impact of these low wages in many ways (other than the shanty towns). Construction projects are swarming with human bodies doing the work that machines do back home. For example, concrete is mixed by hand and carried up to the pour area by hand in buckets. And then yesterday I saw this:

Painting the lines on the highway by hand with a brush and bucket of paint. Never seen anything like that before. Oh, and as you might have noticed, there apparently is no OSHA equivalent here.

The other thing that really stands out for me is that people here have no cultural aversion to littering. Hell, it goes way beyond littering, it’s trashing the environment. I see kids and grownups routinely throwing crap out of windows and vehicles. But the other morning as I was walking across the Matain river bridge I saw something that left me gobsmacked. There was a guy walking towards me carrying a bucket full of trash. I kept saying to myself “no he isn’t, no he isn’t.” But he did. Got to the middle of the bridge and poured the contents right into the river. Which runs into Subic Bay in less than a mile. I’ll be seeing that trash again soon as I walk along the beach no doubt.

The dirty banks of the Matain river awaiting the next heavy rain to carry the garbage out into the bay and beaches.

Anyway, I don’t like to be critical of my adopted home, but cultural sensitivity only goes so far. It’s a beautiful country. I just wish the natives appreciated that as much as I do.

Oh well.

She calls out to the man on the street
He can see she’s been crying
She’s got blisters on the soles of her feet
She can’t walk but she’s trying

Oh think twice, cause it’s another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it’s just another day for you
You and me in paradise

Just think about it

Oh lord, is there nothing more anybody can do
Oh lord, there must be something you can say

A hot ass Hash

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It was sunny and hot for yesterday’s Hash. On the bright side (besides the sunshine I mean) was all the mud was dried up. But damn, I was a sweaty mess when it was all said and done.

Nevertheless, I think the trail was my favorite overall in my admittedly brief Hashing career. Challenging but no so much that I feared for life and limb. And there was a variety of scenery that was almost breathtaking in places (or maybe I was just out of breath from climbing the mountain). Anyway, I enjoyed it for the most part.

We headed out in the Hashmobile this time, having walked out the previous two weeks. I’ve noted before just how uncomfortable I find being crammed into the bed of that truck can be. It is usually my least favorite part of the Hash. This week was no exception, in fact, it was even worse. The steel truck bed was fucking hot! I seriously worried that my butt was in danger of burning, but I couldn’t very well stand up in a moving vehicle so I endured it the best I could. We went out a good ways on the National Highway towards the old Navy base and started the Hash in a place I’d never experienced. So I did like that.

Let’s go to the pictures and let them tell the story:

The day’s trail took us up a mountain, along the crest, back down into town, and then on out to Baloy beach to the On-Home at Johan’s Dive Resort. I did the full trail and it took me an hour and a half…

Exiting the Hash truck brought immediate relief to my hot ass…

And we are On-On!

Did I mention it was a hot ass day? *ahem*

The first portion of the uphill climb was steps…

…and then we climbed up the old fashioned way…

Looking back on where I’d been…

Over the hills and through the woods to (somebody’s) grandmother’s house we go!

A view from the top (part 1)

A view from the top (part 2). A beautiful day!

Hiking along the crest of the mountain…

I really loved the variety of the scenery…

Then we began making our way back down…

…and down…

…and down into civilization…

In a first for me with the Subic Hash we had a beer stop along the way (we did this pretty frequently in Korea).

Your humble correspondent taking some time out to do a little stalking. Heh, the trail took us past Marissa’s house and I couldn’t resist the photo op….

The beach “on home” at Johan’s.

The full moon light’s up the full moon’s on ice…

Cooling off some hot asses….

The day’s effort was satisfying….

It was a good day for Hashing!

Monkeying around

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Yesterday I wanted to show Justin around the SBFZ (Subic Bay Freeport Zone) aka the old Navy base. Getting there was half the fun.

Yep, Justin experienced his first ever ride in the ubiquitous Jeepney.

Hang on! Subway style seating but that is where the comparison ends…

Upon arrival at the Kalaklan gate to the SBFZ, we hired a base taxi to give us a tour. When I told the driver I wanted to visit the Cubi Point part of the base, he said it would be 350 pesos for an hour and that I had to pay for two hours. It didn’t make much sense, but what the hell, let’s go.

The Cubi area is the least developed of the old Navy base and in many places is still mostly jungle. Very beautiful actually. A couple of years ago I looked at some housing up there and found one that I really liked. In the end though I decided living on base was just too isolated and insular. I really don’t regret my choice at all.

Saw quite a few monkeys wandering about…

…and this herd of cows.

Had the driver take us out to Zoobic Safari for a look see. It’s one of those deals where you ride in a caged vehicle and drive through an enclosure containing tigers and the like roaming about in a natural state. We didn’t take the tour this time, but did get out and stretch our legs some. Had the taxi driver drop us Harbor Point Mall and despite our trip being well less than two hours, he said I owed him 1000 pesos because we had exited the SBFZ when we went to the Zoofari. Which is total bullshit. That kind of crap is really irritating, but then it ain’t worth it to throw a fit over a couple of bucks. The driver didn’t get a tip though.

Ate lunch at TGI Friday’s and it was pretty disappointing. Walked around the mall some then headed back to Barretto, again via Jeepney. Upon arrival we popped into Alley Cats for some liquid refreshment.

Justin had been hankering for a Red Horse, a highly potent local brew that is a cheap way to get drunk fast. He just had one, then switched back to the more sane San Miguel light beer.

Justin enjoyed sharing a couple of drinks with the lovely Meica…

And the equally lovely Espie…

The Alley Cats crew wanted to take Justin out to a Filipino bar but I put the kibosh on that idea. Far too dangerous for a drunk Kano in the company of pretty Filipinas to be around drunk and jealous Filipino men. The girls did invite him out (with him paying of course) for a traditional lunch of Filipino food. Hope he enjoys. I was disappointed he chose not to Hash with me today, but that’s the way it goes.

Speaking of the Hash, I best shower up and prepare myself for that adventure.

Stay tuned.

About last night

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Justin’s first day in the Philippines is now complete. Of course as I recounted in yesterday’s post, the day began a little after midnight when he landed at Clark airport in Angeles City. We managed to get a fair amount of walking in, over 20,000 steps by day’s end. And then it was time to introduce Justin to the Barretto nightlife.

We began at my home bar, Alley Cats. The dart tourney was still going on so the place was pretty crowded. We did find a place to sit and quaffed some ice cold beers to quench our thirst. Then it was time to move on to the second stop on the bar crawl–Cheap Charlies.

That would be us enjoying brews with a view.

I introduced Justin to my barfriend Mhaya and enjoyed observing his virgin experience of buying lady drinks for a Filipina bargirl.
He actually did pretty well for a beginner. He controlled her intake by only refreshing her drink when he bought another for himself. He did slip up by being suckered into buying a drink for Mhaya’s “friend”, but he limited the damage by only buying her one. Overall, a good effort for a beginner…

Then we moved on to the Man Cave bar where the party really got started…

With Justin’s new friends, Cherry and Lynn….

…or was it Lynn and Cherry?

Tequila shots and pizza, does it get any better than that?

We next popped into Hot Zone to enjoy their hot lineup of dancers, and then it was someone’s bright idea that we do videoke (otherwise known as karaoke). And so we did, singing our hearts at at Double D’s.

Justin rocking it…

And yours truly doing a heartfelt rendition of the Bee Gee’s “I started a joke”… People often cry when I sing, even when it’s a happy song….

I finished my set and my night with an old Beatles tune I dedicated to all the bargirls who work so hard to gain our money affection.

The best things in life are free
But you can keep ’em for the birds and bees

Now give me money (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want (that’s what I want) yeah
That’s what I want

Your loving give me a thrill,
But your loving don’t pay my bills

Now give me money (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want (that’s what I want) yeah
That’s what I want

Money don’t get everything it’s true
What it don’t get I can’t use

Now give me money (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want (that’s what I want) yeah
That’s what I want

Well, now give me money (that’s what I want)
Whole lot of money (that’s what I want)
Whoah yeah, I wanna be free (that’s what I want)
Oh, money (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want, yeah (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want

Well, now give me money (that’s what I want)
Whole lot of money (that’s what I want, whoo)
Whoah, yeah, you know I need money (that’s what I want)
Now give me money (that’s what I want, whoo)
That’s what I want, yeah (that’s what I want)
That’s what I want

A guest in the house

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My first visitor since the move to the PI has arrived. Welcome nephew Justin!

His flight from Seoul arrived a few minutes late and by the time we got back to the hotel in Angeles City it was after 1:30 a.m. Still, I wanted to give Justin a taste of the AC nightlife, so off we went.

First stop was a “show bar” called Atlantis. Basically, the gals do dance routines as opposed to shuffling aimlessly on the stage. Beers were 150 pesos each, the same price I pay for a lady drink in Barretto. One round and out of there!

We walked the length of Walking Street which is basically wall-to-wall clubs and bars. Wanted to give Justin a regular dancing bar experience, so we popped into Voodoo. Place was pretty full for the late hour and the stage was full of mostly fugly girls. Yep, that’s about par for the course I suppose. Again, we did one round (at a more reasonably priced 105 pesos each) then hit the street again.

I actually have grown to despise AC for a myriad of reasons and they were all pretty much in evidence last night. The street vendors and touts in aggressive pursuit of a sale, and kids out begging after 2:00 a.m. really got to me after awhile, so I suggested we just sit by the pool at the hotel and chill. Which worked out fine. Hit the bed at 3:30 (who knew it came twice a day?) then up at 0730 for breakfast and the drive back to Barretto.

I was happy to see the nephew again, just not pleased with the environment.

We had a nice walk around town and on the beaches this afternoon, including a lunch at Treasure Island. I will be showing Justin the local nightlife here this evening. Should be fun!

Like baking a cake

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Today’s adventures (so far):

Buddy enjoying his morning walk. As the tongue suggests it was a hot day…

Hot or not, the views were nice on this beautiful morning…

Of course, Buddy isn’t up for my step count (yet), so I continued on without him, including this walk on the beach…

One of the hard to find items I bought at the Puregold supermarket yesterday was a carrot cake mix. I turned the mix into a cake this afternoon. With the help of my oven.

Honestly, it’s been awhile since I’ve indulged in such sweetness and it was just a bit too much for me. I guess I just got used to those less sweet Korean baked goods.

I avoid the politics on Facebook, but now and then I come across something that makes me laugh. This did.

Time to shower up and get ready for my overnighter to Angeles City. More to come!

Rolling thunder

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Yesterday was pretty much a typical day here in paradise. Started off with a shopping excursion. Had planned to get some stuff at the mall on base, but arrived at 0930 to discover the mall doesn’t open until 11. Seriously, who opens at 11:00?!

Had my driver take me over to try the Puregold grocery store for the first time. I was kind of impressed with some of the selections, but very disappointed with their frozen foods and meat options. Got what I could find, then moved to the Royal supermarket and got the rest. Was surprised that I spent nearly $300., but I’ve given up worrying about prices. If I want it I get it. Anything left over I’ll spend on the bargirls. Ha! That’s a joke. Sort of.

Did an afternoon two hour sweaty walk along the beaches. As I approached home I could see the clouds building up and the ominous sound of thunder.

This is how it looked from my balcony…

I glanced out the window thirty minutes later and was shocked to see this:

I couldn’t get to my phone camera quick enough to get a decent picture, but a friend posted this on facebook.
That’s out over the bay, so it’s technically a waterspout, not a tornado. Still quite a chilling sight to behold!

And then the storm passed on by with nary a drop of rain. Which suits me just fine. I had copious amounts of liquid in the form of beer last night anyway. And then this morning I awoke to this:

The rainbow looked better in person, but you get the idea. A hopeful beginning to the day!

Oh, and I threw the dog a bone…

He’s my good Buddy boy…

Later this afternoon I’ll be rolling on out to Angeles City. The nephew is flying in from Korea for a visa renewal run weekend. His plane arrives at Clark airport at 12:30 a.m., so we’ll stay over in AC and return to Barretto later on Saturday morning.

And that’s where things stand in my little corner of the world…

Nothing is perfect

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Notwithstanding my bitching and moaning here at LTG, life in the Philippines has been mostly good. Except when it isn’t. Power outages, and that having no water for over two weeks thing have been frustrating to say the least. But at least I’ve had decent internet. Until I didn’t.

So yesterday I couldn’t access my blog or other frequently visited websites. And I couldn’t figure out why. My internet was on and showing a strong signal. I could access Facebook and email, but not much else. I emailed and asked my pal Kevin Kim to see if there were any issues opening my blog in Korea and he reported it was all good there. So I had a local problem to deal with, such as I could. I had the helper contact my internet provider via text, but of course there was no response.

I had darts in the afternoon (we won!) and the guy who runs Treasure Island came into the bar for a beer. We got to chatting (he’s one of the most well-read and knowledgeable folks I’ve met here). I mentioned my internet problem and he said “you must have CATV as your provider”. Yep. He does too and had the same issues. He told me it is a periodic problem with them, as apparently they have capacity issues. I note they don’t have any trouble getting me my monthly bill on time!

I’d change providers except they are the only company that services my subdivision. My blog did open this morning and I’m writing this post before I’ve gone on to check anywhere else on the ‘net. Didn’t want to leave y’all hanging if things go south again.

I’ll be back!

UPDATE: Internet is back to 100% functionality. Woo Hoo! Of course, now the power just went out. It went off at exactly 0800 so I assume it is some scheduled brownout for maintenance or something. Thank goodness for my mobile hotspot function!

Last night’s pork chop dinner at Mango’s.

Mhaya, the Muslim bargirl I’ve been buying drinks for chatting with at Cheap Charlies.

The best thing about Cheap Charlie’s (other than Mhaya of course) is sitting there watching the world go by on the National Highway….

Your humble and neurotic correspondent.

UPDATE II: Power is back on! A 15 minute outage I can live with! Life is good.