(I did a post earlier covering the Dave Fischer memorial yesterday. Be sure to scroll down if you want to see it.)

I actually don’t have any green grass in my yard, but that song came up on the Grab driver’s playlist as we rode to the airport to catch the bus home, and it somehow felt appropriate.

Manila traffic was typically nuts on the way to the airport, and there was some question of whether we’d arrive in time to catch our 8 a.m. bus to Clark airport, where Jeff had left his car. We made it, and I even had time for a piss before boarding.

Picked up Jeff’s car, then hit the highway for home sweet home.

Arrived in Barretto around noon, got some rest, then headed to Baloy Beach for Dave’s memorial. Each guest was given two drink chits, and I accumulated several more from folks who didn’t use theirs. We went to Wet Spot and Green Room after the Treasure Island ceremony so we could continue to honor Dave’s memory (and I could use the rest of my coupons).

We did a nightcap at Green Room, then headed for home, no longer feeling any pain.

Woke up this morning to my regular view from the patio I hadn’t seen in a while:

That might be the best part of travel, you see new places and come back home with a greater appreciation of what you have. Yes, Siargao is cleaner, has less traffic, and nicer beaches. But I have the comfort of being around people that I know, most of whom are closer to my age than the folks I encountered on the island. If there was a local expat hangout on Siargao, I never found it. I also like the convenience of nearby grocery stores and a hospital should I encounter an emergency (traveling an hour by boat sounds like a death sentence for Siargao residents; maybe that’s why old folks don’t live there). I’ve got nice beaches an hour away in Pundaquit, and Subic has a Hash and hiking groups. So, this is where I belong as I live out my days.

We chatted with a business owner at the Cloud 9 surfing area. She told us the two leading causes of death on Siargao Island are motorbike accidents and getting hit in the head by a falling coconut (we all looked up at the tree we were sitting under, and she laughed and said they keep the trees coconut-free).

Anyway, if I were a younger man or a surfer, I might consider living on Siargao. I do plan to make a return visit someday for the different vibe it offers.

It’s that time of year when kids approach and sing carols (or beat on drums) to solicit coins. Well, it is slightly better than begging, I suppose. We’d encountered some from our second-floor perch on our last night in Siargao, and we tossed them a few pesos. When Swan and I departed, Jeff and Davina were still upstairs. So, I figured, why not give it a try? Davina recorded the moment.

And now you are up to date on my so-called life.

Back to the LTG November 2015 archives. I wrote a post called “End of Days” as I prepared to return to Korea after a holiday visit to South Carolina. I didn’t know that it truly was nearing the end of the days for those things I held dear to me back then.

Speaking of coconuts, in today’s YouTube video, The Filipina Pea demonstrates climbing a tree to get some. I’ve seen it done, and it’s scary just to watch. But if you want to eat, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

And now for the funny business.

Alrighty, then. Time to get ready for my last night in Barretto. Yep, you heard read that right. I’m heading out of town again tomorrow morning. This time, it will be Pozorrubio in the province of Pangasinan, here on Luzon Island. I even double checked my spelling and added the second “r” required to get it right. I’ve been there before; it is where the annual Haggis Hash Bash is held at a La Union Hasher’s farm. I’ve been attending for the last two years, and it’s always a unique Hashing experience and a good time. The events are all-day affairs, so finding a blogging niche tomorrow and Saturday may prove difficult. I’ll do my best, but it may be Sunday before you get the full report.

Okay, I made it back to Barretto safe and sound, but I’m in a rush, so I will do an abbreviated update post about the trip from Siargao to Manila.

We scheduled a van through the hotel to take us to the airport. The same one that brought us from the airport last week, non-stop. Not this time. After picking us up, the driver made four additional stops for passengers. I was sweating it, but we arrived in plenty of time to depart as scheduled.

We had a three-hour layover before our flight to Manila was scheduled to depart. What to do? Well, we found a comfortable place to hang out for a while.

We departed Cebu bound for Manila just a few minutes late.

The airport in Manila sucks, and it sucks even more when you fly on Cebu Pacific. We taxied for about 10 minutes after landing before reaching our gate. But we actually didn’t reach a gate. We deplaned onto the tarmac, then rode a bus to the gate. When we re-entered the actual airport, we had to go through security again. That meant waiting in a long line for the single scanner, removing my laptop from my backpack, and taking off my belt, then repacking on the other side. Oh well, at least we landed wheels down.

All our bags arrived on the carousel, which is always a relief. Jeff and Davina do the Grab ride thing, so we dragged our baggage to the Grab pickup area. Except that no Grab drivers were available last night. So, it was back to the arrivals terminal for a wait in the taxi queue. And we needed two cabs to carry us to our destination, the Coco Hotel in Makati. When we finally arrived and got checked in, it was 9 p.m. Jeff was bushed and called it a night. I had a bit of hunger and thirst to assuage, so Swan and I paid a visit to Shooters, conveniently located right across the street from our hotel.

Shooters is a nice enough hangout, and it appeared to be full of locals. It was nice seeing old folks like me out and about after a week of mingling with young tourists in Siargao. Swan ordered something Filipino, and I went for the wedge-cut potatoes dish. They had Zero beer, so I enjoyed a cold one or three while we waited. And waited. Swan asked about the order’s status, and the waitress returned to say it was being “plated.” But when the plate came out, it was only Swan’s dish. It seems they had forgotten about mine. They offered to make it, but it was late, and I was tired.

Back to our room, and we called it a day.

And now that I’m home, I need to get ready for Dave’s memorial service.

Back to regular posting tomorrow. I’ll try to fill in the remaining gaps from my trip.

Waiting for our transport to the airport this morning, so let’s see if I can dash out a quick post about our final day on the island spelled Siargao.

As already mentioned, we were supposed to take an island-hopping tour to bring our vacation to an adventuresome conclusion. The rainstorm and ensuing tour cancellation laid those plans to rest. Instead, we had one of those nothing-special days that can still be satisfying. A walk to the drugstore, a revisit to the Books Cafe for lunch, blogging, then a meet-up with Jeff and Davina for some drinks, dinner, then more drinks. Yep, almost like being home.

We had planned to start our last night on the town at a brewery Jeff had spotted up the road and down an alley:

We were looking forward to another brewery tasting, and then the waitress gave us the news: they were sold out of beer—all of it. That sure sounded like bullshit, but maybe they aren’t brewing much. Looks like Dr. Chris won’t have much competition.

So, we walked back up the road and climbed the steps to give this place a try:

Then it was time for some Spanish dining:

After eating, we went upstairs to the bar for our nightcap.

And then Swan and I headed back home, stopping for some ice cream along the way. The day was nothing special, but still a nice ending to our Siargao vacation.

Continuing on with the November 2015 LTG archives, my last trip to the USA with Jee Yeun at my side. Getting there turned out to be a nightmare. I hope today’s flights back to Manila go better than that one.

From Facebook memories:

Eight yeas ago, I achieved this milestone:

For today’s YouTube video, I’ll share this short from Smart Girl Philippines about “secret menus” that Filipinas have to offer.

And a little bit of humor:

By golly, I got this post done and still have an hour before my ride to the airport arrives. Yippie! We’ll see how I do from Manila in the morning.

And now I’ve reached the end of the line.

Today’s our last day in Siargao, but I have some unexpected free time on my hands to tell you all about yesterday.

Martin and Joss invited us to join them for a beach walk to the Cloud 9 surfing area. We gladly came along and enjoyed seeing a part of Cloud 9 we’d missed on our previous visit. I opted out of the highway walk back and took a trike instead.

When we arrived at the hotel, our room and the one next door were being cleaned. Then we were informed that we were being moved from the Casa Grande room to the Casa Duo. I called bullshit and began to throw a fit, but Swan insisted I calm down while she sorted things out. Of course, the room maintenance folks had no say in the matter, so we marched to the front desk. Swan told me to let her do the talking, so I kept my mouth shut.

Now, here’s the thing. When I booked the room, I had to make two separate reservations: one for our Tuesday arrival with a Friday checkout, and the other for a different room from Friday through our checkout tomorrow. But when I checked into the hotel, I specifically asked whether I could keep the same room for the duration of my visit, and was assured that it would not be a problem. Alas, it was not to be. Now, why this was occurring on Sunday, I have no idea. But the front desk receptionist told Swan our Casa Grande room was reserved for an arriving guest, and we had to move. What makes it even worse is that the Casa Duo room is shit and also half the size of our prior room. Well, nothing to be done but suck it up and move. I let Swan handle the logistics while I calmed myself with a beer and a chicken burger next door at Barrel.

Later in the afternoon, Jeff messaged that we should meet at the hotel bar at 5 p.m. and then proceed to dinner. I went down at 4:30 to escape my crap room, but there was nowhere to sit at the bar. So, we went next door to the hotel where Martin and Joss are staying and found a comfortable place to sit. Martin and Joss were lounging on the beach and came over to join us. I messaged Jeff to let them know where we all were.

When it was time to leave for the restaurant, Swan and I opted to go elsewhere. I just wasn’t in the mood for a fancy, expensive dining experience (1000 pesos each, according to Google). So, we said our goodbyes and headed up the road in the opposite direction.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we got hit with a “brownout” (power outage) earlier in the afternoon. The resorts all have generators, but I was surprised to see so many small businesses also equipped with an alternate source of electricity. The worst thing about generators is that they are noisy, which diminishes the joy of basking in the venue’s ambiance.

Our quest for a pleasant place to chill and eat was fraught with setbacks. Our first option was a nice-looking place on the beach, but it didn’t open until later. Then, there was an open-air second-floor joint that looked good until I saw the sign that only bare feet were allowed upstairs. Now most people wear flip-flops in these parts, but I’m an old-school shoes-and-socks kinda guy (unless I’m on the beach), so I said fuck that. The next place we tried told us they closed at 7 pm (it was already 6:30), so that was another no-go. We finally settled on a little streetside diner. They didn’t offer any alcoholic beverages except beer, so Swan joined me in a San Mig Light to wash down the shawarmas we ordered.

After we finished eating, I wanted to pick up some ice cream to take back to the room, but the shop we’d used before had the freezer closed and locked, apparently to keep things cold during the brownout. I suggested we go check the dessert menu at Barrel and Swan was down with that, saying they have wine there. Win-win! No ice cream at Barrel, but I brought back a tasty slice of carrot cake for my dessert.

And then the rain came and stayed all night. Our new room has a metal roof, and last night felt like being inside someone’s drum with the constant pounding overhead. I guess the generator ran out of gas or something, because for most of the night, we were in the dark with no aircon.

It is still raining this morning, and we were advised that the island tour hop has been cancelled due to the weather. That’s probably for the best, and it gave me time to write a longer-than-usual blog post. Sorry about that!

Pictures from the day say it better than I ever could:

That was how the next-to-last day went down here.

It’s November 2015 in the LTG archives, and in this post, I write about how crazy Itaewon gets on Halloween. It was just seven years later that 159 people died in a Halloween crowd crush. I could certainly understand how that might happen.

For today’s YouTube video, let’s travel back in time and observe Filipino family life in 1956. In some of the backwaters I hike, it doesn’t appear to have changed all that much.

Time for a smile:

Okay, time to get on with making the best of my last day in Siargao. At least I’ve learned how to spell Siargao now.

Another day lived and enjoyed on the beautiful island of Siargao. When you are staying at a beach resort, walking on the beach feels like the right thing to do. So, when the sun was up and the tide was out, that’s just what we did.

Food was good, but we noticed again how much more expensive things are here compared to Barretto. I got four wings for 350 pesos. You get eight for that price at Sloppy Joe’s.

All my fellow travelers were on a motorbike adventure, so Swan and I headed out on our own when beer o’clock rolled around. And lo and behold, as we walked down Tourism Road, Jeff and Davina pulled up on their scooter and told us of a place they had found off the beaten track. It was less than a kilometer away, so off we went. Jeff and Davina joined us there shortly after we arrived.

I messaged Joy and asked where she was. She responded that she was at work. I told her I was at Hideaway, but she wasn’t there. Then I sent the above photo as proof. Joy claims this is not the same Hideaway.

We decided to give that birria taco place we’d seen earlier in the week a try. Jeff and Davina took their scooter, and Swan and I grabbed a tuk-tuk for the 7K journey.

Swan judged the tacos to be okay. She said the shell was less greasy than John’s place, but she missed the guacamole. I found the burrito a bit too ricey, but otherwise it was tasty.

As we were eating, a group of tourists came in and sat at a nearby table. Before long, Jeff had engaged them in conversation.

Oh, and Isla Comida didn’t have San Mig Light.

After dinner, we parted ways. A tuk-tuk ride back to our side of town, then a nightcap at Barrel Bar next to our room. I judge it to have been another good day in paradise.

Continuing on in the October 2015 LTG archives, there was this post about work and darts, two things I no longer have in life. Well, at least I have the memories.

Raffy Tulfo is a Filipino broadcast journalist who often takes on cases involving scams, corruption, and violence. Or so I’ve been told. I’ve never actually heard more than snippets from his show. But for today’s YouTube video presentation, here he is interviewing a foreigner who got his ass kicked in Angeles City. Full disclaimer: I haven’t had time to watch all of this one either. I found it on one of the PI forums I frequent.

Well damn, here I am trying to save some time, and this happens. Click on the YouTube link if you want to watch.

Let’s do the humor, so I can go take a shower:

Alright, almost time to hit the town, so I’d best get myself ready. Tomorrow morning, we are taking an island tour by boat to several offshore locations. I will blog about it as time permits.

So, here’s today’s report about my yesterday in paradise. Kicked things off with an early morning beach stroll to watch the sunrise. Then we did a 6K walk to the outskirts of General Luna and back, before we finished the day with an ill-fated bar crawl. Here’s some of what I saw along the way.

After breakfast, we hit the road again. On foot this time.

So, when the guys came to pick up the car from our hotel yesterday, we had a bit of a disagreement. They owed me my 2000-peso deposit but tried to claim I owed them 500 pesos for not “cleaning the car.” I pointed out that the car was every bit as clean as when they had delivered it and accused the agent of trying to scam me. I also pointed out that there was twice as much gas in the tank as when they brought the car. I was losing my temper at this point, and Swan shooed me away while she continued the negotiation. When she returned, she had my 2000 pesos, so it turned out okay.

Back to the room for a nap and taking care of the blogging business, then spent some time on the front porch while the housekeeper cleaned our room.

Jeff had plotted out our bar crawl route on Google Maps, and we agreed to meet at the hotel bar at 4:00 pm to kick things off.

Things started going south for me from there. We arrived at 5:15 only to be told they weren’t open yet, despite their published opening of 5 pm. I said we should move on to the next venue, but I was overruled. So, we sat at the beach bar for drinks to await the opening of Parluman. Once the doors opened, I walked inside and ordered a beer, only to be told they didn’t serve beer…only gin drinks. Well, damn. I know better than to mix my beverages, so Swan and I left and went to the place next door…a nice big open-air bar that was much more to my liking.

No complaints about Last Chance Bar, but there was nothing special about it either. It didn’t really have a bar vibe or ambiance. When I pointed that out, one of the group told me that’s because you prefer dive bars. Come to think of it, that might be right.

We couldn’t find the next bar on our list, Extension, and someone told us it was closed, so we proceeded on to the next venue, Secreto. Well, along the way, I managed somehow to piss off Swan, and she left me. I was equal parts sad and angry about being deserted, and my mood wasn’t helped when our waitress told me Secreto didn’t have San Miguel Light. I settled for whatever draft they served me, then ordered another to try to kill my pain. Jeff told me I needed to leave, so I finished my beer and said my goodnights.

Swan messaged me that the room key was at the front desk, so I didn’t have any idea where she might have gone. When I got back to the hotel, I stopped by the beach bar for a beer while I sorted things out, and was pleasantly surprised to see Swan sitting there with a glass of wine.

We talked a bit about how my impatience triggered her, but in the end, she agreed to go back to the room. She left before me, and when I left, I decided to stop at the bar near our room to try to ease my reeling mind. Swan messaged asking where I was, and I invited her to join me. She did, and by then we had both calmed down enough to put the misunderstanding behind us and move forward with whatever future we might share together.

One thing that really hit home for me was that I am too old to recover from another heartbreak. If I fuck this up with Swan, it will be game over for me. I don’t want to live with any more regret than I’ve already accumulated over the years.

And on that depressing note, I’ll let go of last night and look forward to the rest of today. It’s been a good one so far.

It is now October 2015 in my journey through the LTG archives, and in this post, I am also enjoying a sunrise on the ocean—the East Ocean (don’t you dare call it the Sea of Japan!). I was making the best of the life I had back then, but sadly, it wasn’t enough.

Today’s YouTube video discusses the differences between typical aging effects and those caused by dementia. While there is no question that I am much more forgetful these days, based on this video, my symptoms fall within the normal aging range. From what I remember, anyway.

I didn’t forget the humor!

We’ll leave it at that for today. More and more, it feels like I’m living on the edge, but better on the edge than over it. So, I’m going to keep plugging away and making this the best life it can be.

Speaking of days, my yesterday was a special one. We rented a car and drove all around the island, stopping at some recommended tourist spots along the way. Then we visited the brewery that Dr. Jo’s husband, Chris, is in the process of opening, and he let us sample some of his delicious brews. We travelled 109 Kilometers and spent nine hours on our road adventure. Here are some photos from our journey:

I opted out of this adventure, as did Martin and Joss. It involved wading through water waist-deep or higher, and that just didn’t appeal to me. Jeff, Davina, and Swan were all gung-ho, so off they went. The rest of us hiked down to the other side of the cave and waited for them to reappear.

Davina has one of those GoPro cameras, and she made this video from inside the cave.

Our next stop was supposed to be at some tide pools, but when we arrived, we were told the tide was high, so there were no pools to observe. Oh, well. We drove on to our next destination.

Lunchtime was approaching, and thanks to Martin’s skill with Google Maps, he found what we were looking for…a place to eat on the beach.

Back on the road again. Next stop:

After some rest and relaxation, it was time to move on to our final stop of the day:

In anticipation of our visit, Chris had brewed up a batch of his “Light Pilsner” for our enjoyment. It was very good indeed, and I quenched my thirst with three (or maybe it was four) glasses.

From the brewery, we had about an hour drive back to our hotel. Once we arrived, we were too tired to go back into town, so we dined on the offerings from the Romantic Villas’ kitchen.

So, it was early to bed and early to rise this morning. I’ll share my today tomorrow.

Let’s check in with the September 2015 LTG archives to see what I was up to back in my Korea days. Oh, I was getting drunk. I’ve come a long way, baby!

Today’s YouTube video is from a vlogger on a mission to help homeless foreigners in Angeles City. She didn’t get the response she expected. Welp, I’m not unsympathetic, but I don’t understand how people allow themselves to be unfunded in a third-world country. I’ll flee for home long before I wind up living on the streets.

And now for that humor you’ve been missing:

As you can tell by the length and content of this post, I have had a relatively lazy Friday so far. On tap (no pun intended) for this evening in a bar hop to some of the best bars in the General Luna municipality, at least according to this blogger. Looking forward to seeing if she is right. Tune in tomorrow to find out!

A busy day ahead today (touring the island in a rented car), so before I head out, I’m going to rush a photo dump showing what happened during our Wednesday on Siargao.

The most interesting things I saw along the way were the signs. Here are some of my favorites:

So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed in the earlier photos I posted, but there is something unique about the ocean here—the waves are a goodly distance offshore. Cloud 9 makes it easier for the surfers to get out to the waves.

Lunch at our hotel, then back to the room for a nap, blogging, and a shower. And sure enough, beer o’clock came rolling around. Time to head for the beach!

Martin and Joss moved to the hotel next door because they didn’t like their noisy room. We walked the beach and joined them there for another round of drinks.

Then it was time to eat, so we hoofed it into town. Jeff had seen a barbecue place, so we headed there.

We ordered a side of mashed sweet potatoes, something I hadn’t seen anywhere. They were excellent. Service was good and friendly, and we all enjoyed our meals.

But the fun wasn’t done yet. As we walked down the street, Jeff spied a karaoke joint and insisted we stop in for a song or two.

Did I sing? Do you think I’m Crazy?

It sounds better when you are drunk.

Anyway, that was enough for me, so Swan and I bailed and headed back to our room. The rest of the group went into full-on party mode and stayed out for a couple more hours.

And now you’ve seen the story of day two in Siargao.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Getting to Siargao wasn’t the fun part, but we eventually made it. We left the hotel at 0600 and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to check in for our 0830 flight to Cebu, where we would connect with the flight to Siargao. And then this happened:

Which meant we were landing in Cebu almost exactly at the time our connecting flight was scheduled to depart. I figured we were screwed, but when we exited the plane, an agent was holding up a sign for passengers bound for Siargao. I was surprised that, in addition to our group, about twenty other passengers from our flight were booked for Siargao. They delayed our connection until we had all boarded, and we were once again airborne.

In another turn of good fortune, our checked bags made the flight with us.

For some unknown reason, Martin and Joss had booked the next flight after ours to Siargao. We opted to wait for them to arrive at the airport to share transportation to our hotel in General Luna City.

It was nearly 4 p.m. before we were finally on our way to our hotel. That was a LONG day of travel.

We checked in, got our keys, and discovered our room at the Romantic Beach Villas was nowhere near the beach. It’s more like a small house than a hotel room: a yard, a big front porch, a kitchen, and a separate bedroom.

I made a video this morning of the walk from my “house” to the hotel building where our complimentary buffet breakfast was served.

So, first impressions: Siargao has a pleasant, laid-back vibe. It’s pretty and surprisingly clean. Another big surprise is that, at least in General Luna, it is a major tourist attraction. Not only that, but the crowd it attracts is young Westerners. It appears they are here for the surfing, judging by all the surfboards I’m seeing. Honestly, I can’t remember seeing so many youthful white women in one place since I left the USA twenty years ago. Most of them are healthy-looking and relatively slender. Of course, I’m the oldest man around these parts, or so it seems. No complaints, I can always tell those young bucks that my girl is hotter than your girl!

We had a couple of drinks at the hotel beach bar, then went to the place next door, called Barrel, for some grub and more beer and wine. I made it my usual early night and was in bed by 9 p.m. Until I was awakened at midnight by incredibly loud live music from the bar at Barrel, which is almost next door to my “house.” That lasted until two in the morning. A good reminder that I am, in fact, still in the Philippines.

We took a nice 8K street walk to a place on the island called Cloud 9. I’ll share some photos from that and the rest of today when I can. We’ve rented a car for tomorrow to do some touring around the island, so blogging may be delayed. Sorry about that!

Sorry for the lack of posting yesterday. It was a crazy day getting to Siargao, but we eventually made it. I’ll tell that story hopefully later today, but here’s a quick catch-up on Monday night in Manila.

We joined travel mates Jeff and Davina for a Makati walkabout after deciding to save the BGC area for another day. Jeff and Davina are regular visitors to Makati, so they gave us a tour of some of their favorite spots, including the upscale Rockwell area. It really was like being in another world. One thing that really stood out for me was the lack of litter. Hard to believe, I know, but this is a side of the Philippines I hadn’t seen before. It reeked of wealth and richness without a shanty in sight. Happy to see successful Filipinos enjoying their lives, but you can’t escape the fact that overwhelming poverty surrounds you right outside this enclave. There is not much middle ground in this country. Anyway, it was an enjoyable night out on the town. Here are a few photos taken along the way.

This being us and all, our tour did include some of Jeff’s favorite venues that also happen to serve liquid refreshments.

An after-dinner pub crawl on our way back to the hotel ensued.

A 5:00 a.m. wake-up call awaited for our morning departure to Siragao Island. Things didn’t go exactly according to plan. I’ll get back to you later today with that story. Oh, and I’ve also just now got caught up with responding to earlier comments. Sorry for the delay!