Category Archives: Life in the Philippines

A day

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Still no water. Unfucking believable. Every promise made has been broken, so I’m in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” mode. Ah well, deep breath and all that…

Spent the night at The Pub hotel last night. Prior to a shower and sleep (alright, something else between those two but I’m not going to go there because I’m a gentlemen and all that) this is was how I filled the day:

Did some walking, over 15,000 but less than 20,000.

Had a fight with Marissa.

Played some decent darts (our team won the match 13-0).

Had dinner at Mango’s Resort.

That would be the fish and chips…

Made up with Malissa. I was fully prepared to just cut her loose, but she is a pretty sweet gal. She is far from an ideal girlfriend. I don’t think it is in her nature to give me the type of relationship I desire. But in the end I just decided that at least for the time being I’ll try to appreciate her for who and what she is and not let what she is not bother me overmuch. We’ll see if I can live up to those words.

Better than eating alone, that’s for sure!

After dinner we headed out to Alaska bar for the weekly SOB dance competition.

I sat in judgment of these assembled dancers from the six competing bars.

Afterwards I booked the hotel room, took a shower, and hit the sheets. It was nice to have a smokin’ hot body sweet someone to sleep beside.

What’s gonna happen next?

Glory days

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One of the activities I’ve engaged to fill the time is playing darts again. I play league on Wednesdays and Fridays, and tourneys on Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. And while I have yet to recapture the passion I once held for the game, through sheer repetition some of my old skills appear to be returning. I’m not the darter I once was, but I’m good enough to be reasonably competitive here in Barretto.

Given the frequency of my play I’ve brought some of my old darts jerseys out of retirement. I probably look ridiculous or worse, like I’m bragging or showing off, but what the hell. I’ve got to change shirts at least twice a day here anyway, may as well wear the ones that were purposed for darts.

Like this one. Had it custom made at an Itaewon tailor probably ten years ago or so. It actually used to fit! I’m not the man (or darter) I used to be!

My dart nickname was “The Walrus”. I had the handlebar mustache “tusks” and the big ass belly to play the role.

Times change. Things change. And life goes on. Even the parts without darts:

My Buddy chillaxin’ after our walk. Really proud of him for learning so much so fast, most importantly that I’m the boss! Not that I don’t have to remind him now and then.

Buddy does like to chew on stuff. Got him off the tissues, but he likes my dirty socks now. He must really love me! I want to find him a chew toy like this one. Enhance his watchdog image!

I’m paying big bucks for views like this, you bet your ass I’m going to enjoy it!

Keeping the grill busy with these New York steaks…

These were much more tender than the ribeyes I bought at the same store. Flavorful too.

And I’m keeping the crock pot busy. My first pulled pork experiment in the Philippines.

Still haven’t found a good pork roast yet. This meat I bought the other day was just okay. Still, better than nothing!

Here’s to hoping one day I’ll look back and remember these as the “glory days”.

Taking stock

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Welcome to August. I’ve been keeping track of my finances and health in a pretty detailed fashion throughout July and here’s how things stand as of now.

The good news is I came in under budget. I’m working on a baseline of 250,000 pesos a month (around $5000.00). That’s a pretty comfortable living standard for the Philippines. My goal is to bank $1000. of that each month to be used for travel adventures. I didn’t achieve that this past month. I had a some unusual and unanticipated expenses and I’m also living a little too large. Still acting like I’m on vacation sometimes (two week millionaire syndrome). I’ve got a savings nest egg as well but I don’t intend to tap that unless there’s an emergency or other unusual event that requires me to do so. Ha, but I’m not opposed to spending my kids inheritance if I feel like it!

So, according to my handy spending tracker app, this is how it breaks down for July:

Rent: P45,000 ($900.) Yeah, probably too much. I could get a nice enough place for half that. Fuck nice enough though!
Groceries: P40,000 ($800.) That’s somewhat more than I was spending in Korea, but I’m not getting commissary prices here.
Charity: P27,000 ($540.) I help out when and where I can.
Drinking: P22,000 ($440.) Okay, I enjoy my beers. This also includes lady drinks, and I’m pretty generous with the girls.
Shopping: P21,000 ($420.) Non-food purchases. Mostly stuff for the house (i.e. ceiling fans, etc).
Domestic helper: P21,000 ($420.) I’m overly generous with this salary by half I suppose. But that’s how I roll.
Eating out: P17,000 ($340.) Breakfast most everyday, dinner a few times a week, and occasionally dinner for two if I’m lucky.
Entertainment: P9,000 ($180.) This covers dart league, Hash cash, SOB entrance fees, and other “just for fun” activities.
Immigration fees: P8,000 ($160.) Still need to get moving on the retirement visa, although it’s not really cheaper.
Transportation: P6,500 ($130.) Mostly for my driver, also Jeepney and trike fares.
Hotels: P5,500 ($110.) What with my power and water situations, I’ve been booking lodging without leaving town. An anomaly. I hope!
Electric: P5,000 ($100.) This was surprisingly low. I expect it will be more next month.
Phone: P4,000 ($80.) Hey, I’ve got unlimited data! Slow as molasses, but as much as I want!
Propane: P2,500 ($50.) A tank for the stove and for the grill.
Vet: P2,000 ($40.) Taking care of my Buddy!
Laundry: P1,500 ($30.) I could buy a machine and put Tere to work, but why not spread it around?
Gifts: P1,000 ($20.) Two birthdays at Alley Cats this month.
Water: P850 ($17.) Don’t get me started on the water situation! That does include my bottled water too.
Medical/Pharmacy P850 ($17.) Lucky month health wise. Just one prescription refill.
Cable/Internet P800 ($16.) You get what you pay for, but this is currently my only option. Hey, it works. Most of the time.
Personal grooming: P100 ($2.) I got a haircut and gave a 50 peso tip. About time for a pedicure though.

So that adds up to around P230,000 ($4,600). Four hundred banked for travel and will hopefully settle down some this month and save even more. Or I’ll find a girlfriend and go broke. One of those!

As for my physical health (we’ll deal with my emotional health another day) all indicators are positive. At least the ones I’m tracking.

Blood pressure is consistently below 130, which is a significant improvement over my Korea readings. My resting heart rate is in the mid-60s, which is also much better than before the move here. I don’t know why.

As to my weight, I started the month at 201 and finished it at 197. Very happy to have finally broken the 200 pound barrier. I’ve rewarded myself by relaxing my low-carb routine. I’ll have toast with breakfast these days and I enjoy a guilt-free ice cream when the mood strikes me as well. As long as I stay under 200 anyway.

Still doing my walking of course, but I’m not walking as much as I used to in Korea. I guess I have more of a life here, even with the extra 8 hours per day to fill. I made my 20,000 step goal only 12 days last month, and was under 15,000 (my self-imposed minimum) on 7 days. Some of those were weather-related though.

There you have it. Life is good and getting gooder!

Hash tense

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Yesterday’s Hash was my personal worst experience in my short Hashing career. No, I didn’t get hurt. I did get left behind.

The day’s Hares have a reputation for laying difficult trails. I’m okay with that. I knew it was going to be a long one when the Hash truck dropped us further out than I’ve ever seen thus far. As is customary, the runners started from a more distant starting point, and we walkers started maybe a kilometer further up the trail.

Things went south pretty quickly once I got out of the truck. The walkers split into two groups: those of us following the trail and those who chose to take a shortcut. I’m all about respecting the Hare by taking the path as he intended. And so it was On-On:

Our trail started straight up a rather steep hillside. I snapped this picture (which put me at the back of my group). This was the last I ever saw of them.

I’m not the slowest walker, but the group I followed left me in their dust. I really, really hate being alone on the trail. It wasn’t too long before the runners caught up and passed me. And that was it. I guess there is no Hash ethos of “no man left behind”. I was able to follow the trail markings at least (which isn’t always the case with me). Coming back down the muddy hill was perilous, slipping and sliding and wondering what would become of me if I happened to hurt myself. I made it to the bottom and said, “fuck this.” I hiked back to the National Highway and followed it on into Barretto and the “on-home” at Midnight Rambler. I was, of course, one of the first people back, having missed the majority of the trail.

I made the right call, though. When one of the walkers (Flim Flam Man) from my group (and a very experienced Hasher) returned, he was bitching about this being the most dangerous trail he had ever seen. He was particularly incensed that the Hares had laid a trail that required climbing a TEN-FOOT-tall wall. There is no possible way I could have done that, nor would I have even attempted it if I were alone on the trail. Flim Flam raised his concerns during the circle, but was pretty much just blown off.

Anyway, I do look forward to the Hash each week, and I intend to continue participating. However, I’m not going to put myself in a situation that could lead to serious injury. It’s just not worth it. Even though you are very careful, injuries can happen at any time.

I did purchase a pair of Hash socks, though:

It’s on-on, no, no, or oz, oz, depending on your perspective, I suppose.

Sorry to be such a little bitch about this week’s Hash…

Speaking of close calls, two of the young women (and I’m talking early-20s young) who attended sat and drank with me during the after-Hash activities. I’ve discerned that they are both freelancing to help pay their school expenses. Hell, I’ve been known to help out a gal in need. Plus, I was drunk and horny. I left it up to them to decide who’d leave with me; they got up and consulted out of earshot, then returned and announced they were up for a 3-some. Did I mention I was drunk and horny? Let’s go! I responded.

Now, given my lack-of-water-at-home situation, I already had a hotel room booked (I will NOT be bringing hookers to my house) at Treasure Island. When we arrived, I asked if they were hungry, and of course, they were. So was I, though, so we ordered up some food. Over the course of the meal, I sobered up enough to ask myself, “What the fuck are you thinking?” I didn’t have a good answer to that, so I told the ladies that I had changed my mind. I gave them each 500 pesos and walked back home.

The adventure continues!

Buddy got shot

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It happened yesterday.

We were walking up the National Highway towards Subic. Buddy was a little skittish around the traffic and pedestrians. So, I shortened up his leash some to keep him closer to me.

We were maybe two kilometers up the road when we abruptly stopped our hike. I took him inside the shop with me and then Buddy received his rabies vaccination.

We then walked home without further incident.

Nice to meat you!

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Another Sunday is in the books. As is my tradition, I fired up the crockpot:

Today was a pot roast. I actually bought the beer several weeks ago when I visited the S&R store (like Costco) in San Fernando…

I haven’t been thrilled with the meat options at the Royal grocery store on the old Navy base so I checked out some meat shops here in Barretto.

The display case at the highly recommended Bretto’s. I got my tough ass ribeyes here last time, so decided to try my luck with the New York cut. I’m going to keep them soaking in marinade until Tuesday, then I’ll fire up the grill.

Walking around the neighborhood I observed signs of a Korean invasion.

I don’t cook Korean dishes, so I’m probably not going to be much of a customer for Mrs. Park.

I’ve walked past this joint many times and have yet to see a single customer inside. I don’t imagine they are going to make a go of it…

After Bretto’s I made two additional purchases in other meat stores. Some cut of pork I’ve never heard of from Fresh Options, but I hope to make it turn out as pulled pork BBQ later this week. And then some hamburger patties and sausages from the VFW.

My bounty of meat!

Well, here’s the pot roast after 8 hours in a slow cooker. Meat not as tender as I would like, but all in all it was quite tasty. Marissa joined me for dinner and seemed to enjoy it and my domestic helper claimed to like it as well. I also gave a good share of the leftovers to my downstairs neighbors.

Serving it up…

…while Buddy keeps a watchful eye out for spillage…

Still no running water and now I’m being told it may be another WEEK. Damn, I’m not perceiving a great deal of urgency from the water company.

We have been provided this barrel of water. Talk about old school. Well, a bucket full will flush the toilet at least. Still going to need a hotel for showering though.

And speaking of meat, I thought this was kinda funny:

Second place in darts tonight, but overall I threw well.

And that’s what’s cookin’ from here.

Decision day

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I posted this on Facebook eight years ago today:

I’m postponing retirement until 2 January 2011. Need to regroup and replan.

That was the day I chose love over the Philippines. Eight times around the sun finds me living a loveless life in the Philippines. Funny (in a sad way) how that worked out.

Oh well. Today I’ve decided to make the best of what I do have. Which still doesn’t include running water inside the house. Looks like I’ll be booking another hotel room this afternoon.

One of the things I do have is a sunny day. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen one of those!

I also have memories of last night’s entertainment…

And insights like this as I move on down the road of life.

Let’s see what happens next!

Taking care of business

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It’s not all fun and games around here. Sometimes you gotta take care of business, even when you work at nothing all day.

Here’s a taste of me working hard:

My driver, Donnie, picked me and Buddy up at house at 0930. Next stop was the vet where Buddy was given the de-worming treatment. Back next week to start his vaccinations. 960 pesos. (current exchange rate is 53 pesos to the dollar, which is an almost record high)

Then it was off to CATV to pay the cable/internet bill. Lots of traffic getting through Subic made this a real pain in the ass. 806 pesos.

Next up, ZAMECO (the local electricity cooperative). Left 4804 pesos poorer.

Buddy was getting antsy at this point, so dropped him back at the house. Then it was time get the laundry done. 420 pesos.

Now we were off to Olongapo City. En route Donnie pointed out where a landslide occurred at the cemetery built into the side of a large hill. He said there were caskets and bones on the highway afterwards. Glad I missed that!

In due course we arrived at the Immigration Bureau office to pick up my ACR card.

I was surprised they used the picture from my passport rather than the one they took when I completed the application. Ah well, give the fat man his due.

With my ACR proudly in hand (well, technically in my wallet) we moved on to Harbor Point Mall at the old Navy base. Paid Globe 3700 pesos for the privilege of having unlimited slow data on my phone. But, it worked good enough when I needed it so money well spent.

Next I did my weekly grocery shopping at the Royal Duty Free store on base. Disappointed that I couldn’t find some of the things I wanted/needed. I mean seriously, how can you not have salsa in stock for crissakes? Still managed to drop 12,500 pesos there though.

Donnie carried me back home, helped me unload, and I paid him 2200 pesos for his efforts. The above represents four hours of labor, and he pays for the gas so even if I’m overpaying it’s a fair price as far as I’m concerned.

Marissa’s mattress was ruined in the flood so I offered to help her out with a new one. She joined me for a pleasant walk (in a light rain) to the Saver’s store where we found one she liked for 11,000 pesos. With my good deed for the day completed I rewarded myself:

Fish and Chips Friday at the Arizona Resort. Marissa had this shrimp concoction from the Filipino menu.

Now it’s time to give Buddy some exercise then I’ll head out for Friday night darts at Alley Cats.

I’m working overtime!

If you ever get annoyed
Look at me I’m self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day
And I’ll be
Taking care of business every day
Taking care of business every way
I’ve been taking care of business, it’s all mine
Taking care of business and working overtime

Hash trash

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It rained again this morning. Big surprise, huh? Now I’m wondering if that whole “you’ll have water tomorrow” thing meant rain water. The update from the security guys is service will be restored in “two or three days”. Looks like I’ll be booking a hotel tonight so I can take a shower and a shit before I go out drinking. It’s the little things that matter most.

Anyway, on with the delayed Hash report. I’m calling this one “Hash trash” because I’m going to do a little trash talking. On with the photos* then:

We did get much rain on trail, but the Hares laid a pretty flat and easy course of 7kms which I for one appreciated.

Final words of guidance from the Hare (Fucking Old Man) before starting out. One thing I appreciated was that we went “on-on” from Johannson’s and didn’t have to ride in the back of the godforsaken truck to the trail head.

It was a muddy beast…

…and wet in places, but then again, EVERYWHERE seems to be wet in places these days…

At least these neighborhood kids turned weather’s lemons into lemonade…

Oh home at Johan’s on Baloy Beach. That’s Pubic Head with the front row seat on the ice…

I avoided any infractions that would have cost me a cold ass this week. Always glad for that!

So, let me introduce you to some of my fellow Hashers. Seated in the background are Wonder Woman (WW) and Fucking Old Man (FOM), the Hares for the day (the folks who laid the trail). FOM and I got to talking and I learned some interesting shit. FOM also originally hails from Southern California, but he’s got 15 years on me (graduated in 1959). Yeah, he’s aptly named! Something else we have in common is we are both retired civil servants for Uncle Sam. WW is his girlfriend/live-in/wife. Of course I didn’t ask, but I’d wager she’s at least 30 years his junior.

Now this photo features me way in the background. Directly in front of me is Subic Ice Queen and beside her is Fucking Starfish. One interesting fact I learned from FOM is that Ice Queen is the daughter of WW.

So. Several weeks I met Arcel (Ice Queen) and Joy (Fucking Starfish) at the after Hash event. We chatted some, I let them try my vape (they both smoke) and then, maybe because I was drunk, we exchanged phone numbers. And both of them started burning up my phone wanting to meet up. I finally broke down and agreed to meet Arcel for a beer. She was supposed to arrive at 6 and was a no show, so I bailed at 6:30. She called at 6:45 saying she was on her way and I told her she was too late. I don’t do the Filipino time thing too well yet I guess.

Joy kept reminding me she had a birthday coming up and that put me off right away. I mean, I barely know her. And if I was going to gift her, it would be some front teeth. Yeah. she has a vacant smile which isn’t all that attractive.

Both of them have asked me to pay their Hash fee these past couple of weeks and I’ve agreed. I mean, it’s only 150 pesos (3 bucks) so no big deal for me. But what pisses me off is both weeks they have not done the Hash, only showed up for the after party. Anyway, neither one is my cup of tea.

Alright, I’m off to book a room and take a shower. Stay tuned for the next episode of my so-called life. I’m living it so you don’t have to!

*I didn’t take the photos in this post. Lifted them off the the Hash FB page. Sue me!

If it ain’t one thing…

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…it’s another.

Internet is back. Now the water is out. I of course have an ample supply of drinking water, but damn, not taking a shower (or flushing a toilet) is chillin’ my buzz. We are told we will have water service restored at an unspecified time “tomorrow”. We shall see.

Otherwise it was a pretty good day. Nearly 25,000 steps. My dart league team won our match with me doing my part along the way. Followed by a dinner date with Marissa. And for the first time in a long time there was no rain to speak of.

Got some Hash trash to share, but that will have to wait until tomorrow I’m afraid.

Here’s to hoping things will be back to normal soon. Although I suspect things are in fact normal for the Philippines. Ah well, good with the bad and all that jazz.

Sleeping at the Pub

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As I briefly mentioned yesterday, it has been a crazy past few days here in the Philippines. Here’s the lowdown:

Friday night I did a “do-over” date with Malissa. She had expressed remorse and regret for allowing the memory of past relationship failures to prevent her from being open and responsive to my overtures. I in turn realized that I’m also carrying around the baggage of my many disappointments in the love realm and that contributed to my bailing out at the first sign of trouble. Will we get it right this time? Who knows. I’m going to be 63 next month though and I just want to enjoy each day the best I can. And one of the things I enjoy is having a warm body to snuggle with. That’s enough for now.

I woke up to pounding rain on Saturday morning. That’s not unusual, but this was different in that the rain was accompanied by strong gusty winds. Rendered umbrellas useless as the falling water was coming in sideways. In the afternoon my lights started flickering and I figured I was in for a power outage. And I was right about that. I had the security guys call the power company and was hopeful that the lights would be on when I came home from darts Saturday night. I was happy to see the lit houses as I entered the subdivision. But then I turned the corner and saw my place, black as the night. I kinda sorta thought the outage may have been a loose connection to my house, given how the power was intermittent before finally going out altogether. I was right as rain about that. So, it was a dark night at home, no aircon and no internet. I know now which one I can’t live without! I’m an internet junkie!

So I figured nothing could be worse than Saturday’s storm and I was glad to see the clouds breaking up when I awoke on Sunday morning. They even got my power restored, although the internet didn’t come back. Oh well, things were looking up at least. And then Josie blew into town. That bitch was a typhoon! Made Saturday seem like a drizzle. And Josie brought along lots of thunder and lightning to accompany her downpours. Soon enough my lights went out again. Damn it!

I had seen my pal Jerry at darts on Saturday. He’s a fellow walking hobbyist as well and has been living here for the past 15 years or so. I told him the rain really sucked as it was preventing me from getting my steps in (I had a paltry 8,000 for the day). He told me that he’d decided to just fuck it all and walk regardless of the weather. Made me feel like a wimp it did. So, despite Josie’s fury, I set about walking on Sunday. This is what I saw:

Right at the entrance to my subdivision I was able to ascertain why I had lost power. This was taken on Sunday morning, by Sunday night half of the house at the top of the hill was at the bottom. (as you can see in the picture I posted yesterday)

This is one of my regular waking paths, but on this day it was a river. Gave it a pass naturally….

And it wasn’t just the side streets. National Highway was having it’s own flooding issues, which got much worse as the day went on.

I was supposed to meet Marissa for breakfast but she was a no show. I gave her a call to see what was up and she sent me a photo of her apartment:

Damn. Best excuse for a broken date ever!

She also took this photo of the rescue raft passing by her place. She chose not evacuate and later regretted it. She wound up staying in the 2nd floor apartment of her neighbor.

Speaking of rescue, my domestic helper Tere was spending her day off in Olongapo City. I was surprised when she returned home in the early afternoon. Turns out she had to be evacuated from wherever it was she was with ropes! Yikes!

And even looking out at the bay gave me a sinking feeling…

Anyway, you get the idea. It was not a good day for many, many people. As for me, well, I’m king of the hill and all that. But even King’s lose their power (and internet) and I couldn’t bear facing another night at Casa Rosenda without them. So, I decided to sleep at the Pub.

The restaurant next door is run by a friendly Korean guy.

Well, I should have done my blogging before I went out for a few celebratory beers. By the time I came back to the room and settled in to give my faithful reader(s) an update, the power in Barretto went out as well. Oh the irony! Of course, the Pub Hotel does have a generator so the lights and aircon were back on in just a few minutes, but alas, no internet.

Me too, honey, me too.

So, here it is today. Power on but I can’t access my internet here (still). Although my wifi router is putting out a signal, my network is not appearing as an option. And I don’t have a password for the one that does appear. Someone is supposed to be out from CATV this afternoon to hook me up again. Savvy readers may wonder just how I’m composing this long ass post. Well, duh. I finally figured out how to turn my phone into a wifi hotspot. It’s amazing how three days of desperation will make you smart! Smarter anyway.

Meica from Alley Cats darts bar always inspires me with her t-shirt messages. I responded “are you talking about me?” She said, “no, of course not!” Sarcastically.

So now it is today and so far no rain to speak of, although rumor has it yet another storm is brewing. We shall see.

Took my Buddy out for a walk. He really gets excited at walk time now. He’s come a long way these past couple of weeks…

Saw a couple of the neighborhood kids as we walked about…

And enjoyed a “sunny” day, comparatively speaking anyway.

And I guess it could always be worse.

So, I’ll just Be Positive… (technically O+ just in case anyway in the emergency room should ask)

That just about brings you up to date I suppose. Will give you the weekly Hash update tomorrow. Rain or shine!

I’ll be back!

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Sorry for the lack of updates here. I’ve been stymied by mother nature and third world customer service. Hope to have a ketchup post soon if I can condiment some internet access. Stay tuned.

The way things are around here. Those wires at the bottom are the power lines leading to my subdivision. But in the grand scheme of things, losing internet access for a couple of days is nothing compared to someone who has lost their house…

I sure can pick ’em…

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Last night I’m at Lollipop bar using another coupon I won at the SOB raffle. Free beer! So, I decided to share the bounty by calling one of the dancers down for a lady drink. I usually go for the one who looks like she doesn’t get much male attention. The gal in the back doing an aimless shuffle seemed to fit the bill.

Now, I’m just going for conversation anyway, so looks ain’t that big a deal. I do like them kind of shy and sweet though. There’s a charm to innocence (even in a whore bar) I suppose. Well, my instincts were off on this one.

Geez, she was all over me. Touching and wanting to be touched. It wasn’t that she was rubbing me the wrong way *ahem*, but that’s not what I was there for. Of course, I am a man and before too long the little head started doing my thinking, and he was thinking “fuck that no bar fine rule. You know you want what she’s offering!” So me and my big head paid the tab and got the hell out of there while the getting was good.

Back out on the street I was trying to decide where to go next. I figured Alley Cats was a pass since Marissa was working. I walked in that direction though, halfheartedly thinking I’d pop into Rosie’s, which is next door to Alley Cats. And lo and behold, I run into Marissa walking up the street. I teasingly accused her of stalking me, and she took me serious saying “no, I’m not stalking, I’m going to pick up food”. Okay then. She asked if I was bar hopping and I shrugged and said “sort of”.

I wound up going to Alley Cats.

Time for darts. More of this story to come.

The dog days of summer

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Stumbled home from the bar last night, opened the door, and my Buddy went nuts with glee while greeting me. Same thing when I came downstairs this morning. That just warms this lonely old heart.

He’s a good boy, except when he’s not. I am reminded that owning a dog is very much like being a parent again. He gets into mischief (like raiding my trashcan to chew up tissues full of snot (or worse, he’s raided the bathroom trash as well). Now, I’m working hard at establishing myself as the alpha male around here and it might be working, at least he’s not repeated the trash thefts since my harsh scolding. He is a smart dog and seems to want to please me. Good boy, Buddy!

Buddy finds the oddest places and positions for sleeping. Does that look comfortable to you? Also makes descending the stairs a little more perilous than normal…

I’d say Buddy is about 90% there in the leash training department. I’m very pleased about that. The harness versus the collar seemed to do the trick. This morning I was heading out to grab some breakfast and he stood at the door looking up at me expectantly. That’s the first time he acted like he wanted to go for a walk! So I obliged and let him come along.

Now, we normally just walk around my neighborhood which is very quiet and has little vehicle traffic. Not so the hike to Treasure Island on Baloy beach. He freaked a little bit crossing the National Highway and was skittish as cars and trikes passed us by on the narrow road leading to our destination. About 3/4 of the way there this pack of five dogs went into attack mode (they’ve never bothered me, so it was Buddy they were after. I was carrying an umbrella so I fended them off successfully. Decided to walk the rest of the way on the beach and I’ll be damned if a different group of unrestrained dogs didn’t come after us. Luckily, the skills I developed during eight years of carrying mail kicked in. I just went into “full crazy” mode, cussing and screaming and being aggressively threatening (again with the umbrella). I learned that when dogs think you are a fucking crazy bastard without fear it puts them off their game. They retreated and we proceeded on to breakfast. Fun times!

Buddy channeling Snoopy.

I mentioned the other day that we have construction workers in and out of the house. Twice I’ve caught Buddy sneaking out of the house and hanging out in the front yard. At least he no longer heads for the hills when he escapes, but I don’t like it. I also don’t like keeping a dog chained, but I do now out of necessity when I put him out or have unsecured doors. It’s a long chain though so he can and does climb over the wall to poop and pee further from the house. I’m good with that.

He’s also getting to be a good watchdog, growling and barking when strangers are near the house. I like the sense of security that gives me, especially at night while I’m sleeping. Good job Buddy!

Summertime means insects. Ah, I remember those VW bugs…

Meanwhile, I’ve not been dogging it. Much. Dart league yesterday afternoon and I played well enough to win all my matches. Then I treated myself to dinner at Mango’s. They have a nice menu selection and the food is consistently high quality.

Did the pork chops last night. Well, if you have to dine alone, good food makes it more, er, palatable.

I had a coupon for buy one/get one at Rum Jungle, a bar I don’t normally frequent. I soon came to remember why. Sat down and half way through the first beer I had four women join me at my table uninvited. I really need to learn to be a bigger prick and tell them to get lost. My ignoring them and not buying the coveted lady drinks seems to be a failing strategy. I finally got up and left without finishing the “free” beer. I’m just not that lonely yet I suppose.

The rain stopped this morning so I took full advantage. In addition to Buddy’s walk I went out for another hour and a half stroll. Felt good to be getting my steps in again. Almost 16,000 so far. Rain came back this afternoon of course, but still…

And finally, I am really tired of all this “Russians hacking the election” and treason bullshit. All my lefty friends are going nuts on Facebook. And I had to endure CNN at breakfast. Are people really this stupid? Apparently so.

The cold hard truth. And the cartoonist, Ted Rall, is a notorious lefty. I don’t mean handedness either.

Another reminder of why I am glad to be living here.

Peace out!

Enough is enough!

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This is at the bottom of the hill I live on adjacent to my subdivision.

And it’s still raining. I barely managed 10,000 steps yesterday and today appears like it’s going to be worse.

At least the construction crew is here finally doing some of the promised repairs.

And it turns out I must be a legend.

A legend in my own mind anyway.

And that’s all I’ve got.

What a crock!

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SEVERE WEATHER BULLETIN :#11
ISSUED AT:5:00 AM, 17 July 2018
TROPICAL DEPRESSION “HENRY” HAS MADE LANDFALL OVER DALUPIRI ISLAND, CAGAYAN AND IS NOW HEADING TOWARDS THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA.

Daily Weather Forecast
Issued at: 4:00 AM today, 17 July 2018
SYNOPSIS: At 3:00 AM today, the center of Tropical Depression “HENRY” was estimated based on all available data at 75 km West Southwest of Calayan, Cagayan (19.1 N, 120.8 E) with maximum sustained winds of 60 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 75 km/h. Moving West Northwest at 20 km/h. Meanwhile, the Low Pressure Area (LPA) was estimated based on all available data at 825 km East of Infanta, Quezon (15.4 N, 129.3 E). Southwest Monsoon affecting the country.

Another day, another tropical storm. Been pouring down rain like crazy overnight. Heh, what else is new? Well, I’m not one to complain about the weather. Much. Someone told me yesterday that this rainy season has been the rainiest in several years. Welcome to the Philippines, thank you very much!

Things aren’t all bad of course. There are those indoor activities that help pass the time in a pleasant and satisfying way. Except I don’t currently have a girlfriend. Oh well, I do have this:

I picked up my crockpot from the repair shop. 860 pesos ($16) and it’s good as new. Well, it was new and now it works, so it is BETTER than new!

Wanted to try it out and I had most of the needed ingredients for chili. Except for the seasoning. So I used some burrito spice I had brought with me from the commissary. Oh, and I forgot to add onions I made it Kevin Kim style.

Also baked up a pan of cornbread. And when I say “baked up” I mean I opened a package of mix (Marie Callander’s), stirred it up in a bowl, and popped it in the oven. I did have to go to the internet for the Fahrenheit to Celsius conversion.

And it turned out to be quite tasty if I do say so myself. Even had a bowl for breakfast this morning…

Yesterday was the Hash. It stopped raining for the most part during the event, but the trail was very muddy and potentially treacherous. I’m not sure which is more slippery, mud or wet leaves. But nothing tops wet leaves on top of mud. Trust me on that.

The worst part of every Hash for me is being jammed “on-in” that damn truck for the ride to the trail head.

But I survived and it was “on-on”… I did the short trail (5 kms) because I didn’t see any other walkers doing the runners trail. I’m not that confident (competent) at following the trail markings yet. I absolutely do not want to be alone on a slippery mountaintop…

The short trail had some nice features, like rickety stream crossings….

And as always there were peaceful and serene moments counterbalancing the terrifying ones…

And at the end of the day all I had to show for it was some mud on my shoes. Which in my experience is much better than blood!

I did have to spend some time with my ass on the ice though. The Grand Master of Ceremonies caught me leaning against a pillar instead of standing upright in the circle. So I had to be punished for being lazy. Yeah, I won’t make that mistake again. That fucking ice is as cold as a Korean woman’s heart!

And life goes on…

As you were

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Pretty much closed the door on Marissa. Longish chat on messenger. She told me she was sorry for being “bad” and did the teary eyed emojis. I assured her she isn’t bad, just incapable of giving me what I need. And I’m a needy bastard. Anyway, she concluded with “I need to move on”. I told her I hoped we could remain friends and she responded “I’m not sure”.

I’m more convinced than ever I made the right call. Marissa’s reaction to the breakup confirmed for me that I’m not a priority for her, nor am I worth fighting for. She just gave up. Like most of the other women in my life. I realize now that being with Marissa would constitute “settling” and I’m not willing to do that. The right one is out there. We’ll find each other. Soon I hope.

Back to being alone for now. Probably going to need a new bar home, at least on the night’s Marissa is working. I expect we’d both be uncomfortable in that situation.

The last couple of nights I’ve hung out at Cheap Charlies. This was the view I had with beer yesterday.

There are no darts, no dancers, and no extracurricular activities at Cheap Charlies. As the name implies, the sole attraction of this bar is somewhat lower priced drinks. And the view sitting at an outdoor bar. Saving a few pesos on my already cheap (compared to Korea) beer isn’t a big draw and I have a better view from home. Okay, they do have juicy girls to keep you company while you ply them with overpriced drinks. Yeah, the girls need to make a living and that one beats prostituting yourself I suppose. Anyway, the last couple of nights I’ve shared drinking time with Maya. She’s cute, seems sweet, and is 30 years old with a 10 year old son. I got around to asking his name last night and she told me Ahmad. I blurted out “That’s not a Filipino name. What are you, Muslim?”. She responded “yes”.

Well shut my mouth. While it is no secret that I have issues with the Muslim faith and the teachings of the pedophile Mohammad, the Muslims I have met in person have all been fine people. Never dated one though (something I was toying with in my mind re: Maya). Anyway, I gave myself a bigotry check and think I passed. Maya has outwardly not demonstrated any disqualifying characteristics. So far. We’ll see if I decide to pursue a Muslim bargirl!

In the meantime I will just keep on keeping on. I’ve been alone so long now that it almost feels natural. And you never know what’s going to happen next. Until it does.

Stay tuned!

What do I owe to you
Who loved me deep and long?
You never gave my spirit wings
Or gave my heart a song.

But oh, to her I loved
Who loved me not at all,
I owe the little open gate
That led thru heaven’s wall.

–Sara Teasdale

A matter of perspective

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Oh, another love has come and gone
Oh, and the years keep rushing on
I remember what you told me before you went out on your own:
“Sometimes to keep it together, we got to leave it alone.”
So you can get on with your search, baby, and I can get on with mine
And maybe someday we will find , that it wasn’t really wasted time

Just over two months into my new life here in the Philippines. Been engaged in some introspection about where I am and how I got here. The result of this self-assessment is probably nothing new or particularly interesting (ha! big surprise!), but here goes anyway.

I’ve been asked “are you happy there?”. Well. This is me we are talking about after all. So no, I wouldn’t describe myself as happy. But I can say that I’m happier with this life than I was with the life I left behind in Korea. Those hellish last three years there anyway. I’m adapting to my new environment pretty well I’d say and on balance my life is easy and comfortable here. Maybe that’s enough.

As long time readers may recall, I had originally planned to move here in September 2010. And then I took a detour and chose a life with Jee Yeun over the Philippines. I guess in retrospect you could call that a mistake. But I’m beginning to see it differently. It was a good life for the most part. Living six months in Korea and six months in the USA gave us the best of both worlds. We had a sweet little house in South Carolina, spent time with the kids and grands, and then we’d jet off to enjoy some time back in vibrant Seoul. Things weren’t perfect of course, in real life they rarely are. Looking back on it, my biggest complaint was probably that it could get boring at times. Then again, when you are not working it seems inevitable that some of those hours will be filled with boredom. That old Chinese curse “may you be destined to live in interesting times” just came to mind. So I guess the flip side of that would be that boredom is a blessing. Eh, there are worse things than being bored occasionally.

Everything changed in 2015 when Jee Yeun announced that she didn’t have a happy life with me and wanted a divorce. I still do not understand why she walked away from everything we had built together. And I will probably never completely recover from the emotional devastation her betrayal of our vows brought about. She told me before I left Korea that she regrets her decision. Too little too late and we will both have to live with the consequences of her actions for the remainder of our lives. For better or worse and all that jazz.

So, one of the benefits of living in the Philippines is I do not have to contend with daily reminders of that life. Except when I do.

The God of Love has a whacked sense of humor. This boat is parked at Treasure Island, smack dab in my line of sight from the bar. You can run, but you can’t hide from the past I suppose.

Here’s the big revelation or epiphany or whatever you want to call the fruits of my feeble thinking. I used to look at those years with Jee Yeun as wasted time; a big mistake that cost me several precious years of whatever time is left to me. An unfortunate and unnecessary delay in taking the path that led me to my current destiny. I don’t see it that way now. There were lessons to be learned from that life and hopefully I’ve learned them now. And while I wish I hadn’t lost what I had, I’ve let go of the bitterness (most of it anyway) and perhaps I’ve positioned myself to be ready for the next big thing, whatever it is and whenever it comes along.

It turns out that the Philippines truly was my second choice. I plan to make the best of it.

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared ‘neath the stars above
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you’d ever say goodbye

And now I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I’d have had to miss the dance

Damn

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Well, it seems the budding romance with Marissa has run its course. You may be asking yourself “what happened?”. Well, nothing happened. That was the problem in a nutshell.

I’m not sure I can get my head around it enough to actually articulate the why of that. Maybe it’s just as simple as being in different places needs-wise. Marissa is independent, a quality I do admire. I don’t think she minds being alone. I on the other hand crave companionship. I want someone to share my life. But more importantly, I want someone who wants to share my life. I just don’t get a warm fuzzy that is something Marissa cares to provide.

I took her out last night. We ate and watched the SOB dance competition. She seemed to enjoy herself. Afterwards I asked if she’d like to go listen to some live music. She said can we go by Alley Cats for one beer first? I was fine with that. One beer became two or three and I finally said “it’s time to go”. She walked me outside and said goodnight. She apparently preferred to be with her friends and co-workers than with me.

Nothing wrong with that. I’d put it in the category of things that are good to know. Doesn’t take the sting of a bruised ego away though.

Anyway, feeling blue this morning. But this too shall pass.

After the rains

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The sun is shining again! So no more complaining about the rain.

Damn, it’s hot!

When the clouds finally broke late in the afternoon yesterday, I escaped the confines of Casa Rosenda and commenced to walking…

It’s interesting how the same view is ever changing with the weather patterns of the day…

I concluded my walk with some liquid refreshment at Cheap Charlies bar, which overlooks three girlie bars across the street.

Then I dined on some chicken enchiladas at Dryden’s Cantina. Not the best I’ve had, but not bad either.

A couple of more beers at Hot Zone and Alaska bars, then I made an early night of it and headed home. Plenty of time for some reading before bed:

Ah, first world problems and all that. Which is not to say that I have this particular problem. Although did I mention how tiny Marissa is? I’m sure she will never feel unfulfilled…

Stopped into the pet shop on this morning’s walk and bought a gift for Buddy:

He wasn’t too happy about it and sulked for awhile. I made him wear it for a couple of hours before taking him out for a walk…

Well, he was still somewhat resistant at first, but it was also clear the harness was much more comfortable for him than the collar. And it wasn’t long before he was walking alongside me like a champ. No tension on the leash at all, just like the videos said it ought to be.

“Hurry up old man!”

A good day so far. Now it’s off to dart league. And never forget: You matter! Until you don’t.

I have no energy but it doesn’t matter…