It will come as no surprise to learn that there was nothing surprising about my Thursday. That won’t stop me from posting about it, but at least today’s diary entry will be short and sweet.

Then we moved on to Wet Spot for our nightcap. And that’s all there was to it. Yeah, maybe it is surprising to have a more boring day than usual.

The appetite remains more or less suppressed. A couple of pandesal biscuits for breakfast. A pulled pork sandwich after the hike (but I didn’t eat the bun). And four or five chicken fingers at the dinner hour. None of the usual between-meal snacks, although I did have a strawberry-banana smoothie (made with yogurt instead of ice cream) as a before-bedtime treat.

I try to avoid politics here at LTG for the most part, but sometimes I can’t resist:

Ten years ago, I met a gal with a heart of stone while hiking in Seoul:

It’s still May 2018 in the LTG archives, but at least now I’m having a good day in the Philippines. Of course, wherever you are, your happiness depends on you. I’m getting better at accepting the way things are. Not exactly serenity, but I’ve been worse.

I think the only episodes of “90-Day Fiancé” I ever watched were the ones with Big Ed and Rose. At the time, I considered Ed an ignorant loser. In today’s YouTube video, Smart Girl Philippines highlights what Ed got wrong. I never heard the epilogue to the story, but I’m sure Rose came out of it just fine.

Let’s end this on a happy note:

Yeah, this post sucks. So, we’ll leave it at that and try to do better tomorrow.

Chip Taylor passed away yesterday. I never knew who he was, but reading his obituary and Wikipedia page today was a voyage of discovery. Here’s the first song of his I ever heard. Man, the 60s were a groovy time to be alive.

So, here we go with another day in the life. This could be a false positive, but I noticed some changes in my eating habits yesterday that might be a sign the Ozempic has already started to kick in. After my 7K hike yesterday morning, I was served a meat pie that Swan had prepared for me. It is one of her specialties, and as usual, it was very good. I ate less than half of it. I had a delicious steak dinner at the Viking Resort restaurant, and didn’t leave much in the way of leftovers. But when we got home, I had zero craving for my usual sweet bedtime snack (I had stocked up on sugar-free pudding to replace my ice cream addiction). I honestly don’t remember the last time I didn’t indulge my sweet tooth after a night out. Yeah, it is too soon to tell, but it does seem my appetite is being suppressed. And since I have no willpower to resist hunger pangs, that’s a good thing! Here’s hoping I’m on the right track, especially if this is happening with a low dose of Ozempic.

I messaged the Wednesday Walkers yesterday morning to say I wasn’t feeling well (nasal congestion and sneezing fits) and wouldn’t be participating in the hike. Then, before the start time, I told myself I needed to man up and push myself out of my comfort zone if I was serious about reaching my weight-loss goals. And so I put on the hiking shoes and hit the road.

Ever since those two AC Hashers got attacked and hospitalized by an angry carabao, I’ve been wary when I encounter one. This was the first time one came at me aggressively.

I invited Steve, who lives on Baloy, to join us on Kokomo’s floating bar so I could buy him a beer for his birthday.

Steve and Viola invited us to join them for dinner at the Viking Resort. When he mentioned Viking offered a steak dinner for only 550 pesos, I couldn’t say no. I hadn’t been to Viking for a couple of years (we used to Hash there occasionally), but hadn’t really ordered a meal there before.

I’d call that a good day.

Facebook memories took me back to a dinner gathering from thirteen years ago.

On with May 2018 in the LTG archives. It’s my last day in Korea. I wrap things up in two posts: “The End of Days” and “It’s Time.” One life ends, and another begins.

Today’s YouTube video offers up five signs that you might be an alcoholic. By this standard, I am not. Yes, I drink beer every day. But I’m in control for the most part. I have a narrow window, usually between 5 and 8 pm, when I imbibe. I have no desire to drink in the morning. I rarely get drunk-drunk (falling down or floored), so I feel like I am maintaining control of my drinking rather than my drinking controlling me. Beer is a part of my life that I enjoy, and like my father, I plan to drink it until the day I die (he made it to 83).

Humor time:

And now to get on with the rest of this day I’ve been gifted.

What a long, strange trip it’s been that brought me to this moment in time. Despite the scars, it is good to be here. I may not be making the most of it, but I’m doing the best I can, while I can. I’m not the man I used to be, but the man I am can still find pleasure in the simple things. That’s enough.

Here are a few pics I took on the Sunday Sweets Stroll:

Actually, it was flatter than usual. I’m still not feeling 100% right, and my lightheadedness and laziness lack of energy convinced me to forgo the stair climb near the end of the hike.

It’s not about changing the world, just making it a little sweeter.

The Sunday routine still involves a trip to the Arizona floating bar.

And then the big spender funding all that fun came over and introduced himself. Joe is a fellow retired American who has lived in the Philippines for several years, but moves around every few months. He said he came to Barretto four months ago because his wife is from this area. All those young Filipinos were the wife’s nieces and nephews.

Without our John’s place routine, Sunday dinner is hit-or-miss. I thought we’d do our Red Bar stop, then order something from Jewel Cafe for delivery there. But Red Bar uses the Foodies menu, so that was fine with us, too. Swan had kare-kare, and I had quesadillas and chicken wings. I didn’t think about taking a photo.

Then we moved on to Jumpin’ Jacks for our usual Sunday nightcap.

And so another day in paradise came to an end.

From the April 2018 LTG archives, I write about my goodbye weekend in Seoul in a post called “Letting Go.” Lots of good times and memories, including a final climb up to the Seoul Tower on Namsan with Kevin Kim, partying with the Shenanigans crowd, a dart tourney, recognition from the Seoul International Dart League, and a stroll along the Han River. Damn, I miss those days. But when one life ends, another begins. And here I am still living it almost eight years later.

In today’s YouTube video, Reekay discusses world events and their potential impact on the Philippines. Gas prices are up significantly, the dollar is worth over 60 pesos now, and China might be dissuaded from invading Taiwan (with the Philippines being collateral damage). Time will tell what happens next.

Please humor me:

Another day, another post. When will it end? You never know.

This relaxed and laid-back retired life I’m living suits me just fine. As shallow and repetitive as it may appear to others, it works for me. I’m comfortable in my routines, and my only goal in life is to keep on living this way for as long as possible. Granted, it does not make for exciting blog content, but documenting my life story daily is part of who I am. So, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Saturday morning is all about doing our Decay Dance for the children of San Isidro and vicinity.

When it was time to head out for our evening in Barretto, I gave Swan three dining options: Harley’s, Mango’s, or Foodies. She picked Harley’s, so we were off to Baloy.

So, we paid our tab, grabbed a trike, and headed to Central Park.

Part of small-town living is running into people you know. A friend of Swan’s came in with her boyfriend, and we invited them to join us at our table.

We came to see the sunset, and we were not disappointed.

We decided to cross the highway and visit Nipsey’s for our nightcap. We had the place to ourselves, and they must have remembered the kind of music I like. It was a nice finish to the evening.

Having achieved my goals for the day, we triked on home for a smoothie and sleep. What a life!

From the April 2018 LTG archives, I’m closing out some projects with only 17 days left in my working life. The highlight of this post is remembering the complaint someone made to the command about my blog. Fuck off, you cunt!

Today’s YouTube video is another good one from the Filipina Pea. Western gals can’t understand why men don’t want to date them, preferring warm-hearted Filipinas for some reason. The Pea explains why, not that it will make a difference to the women back home.

Humor time:

It may not be much, but that’s all I’ve got for today. It’s all good.

The thing about a bad day is that it makes you appreciate the good days all the more. Now, I ain’t saying yesterday was a bad day, it just wasn’t as good as my days usually are. I woke up in the wee hours of the morning, congested and sneezing. That made sleep impossible, so I just started my daily internet travels earlier than usual. When it came time for the Friday hike, I was still feeling stuffed up, lightheaded, and tired. I hoofed it down to the 7-Eleven meet-up, but I bailed early in the hike, caught a trike home, and went back to bed.

Swan went to the drugstore and got me some medicine to relieve the congestion, and it did seem to help. I chucked a few darts in the afternoon and threw like shit, but decided to attend the Alley Cats tourney anyway, even if I didn’t play. It was Liezel’s birthday celebration, so I baked up a batch of brownies to add to the smorgasbord.

After some arm-twisting by Billy, the tournament director, I agreed to participate. I got partnered up with a young half-Filipino, half-Swedish lad, who attended the tourney with his brother and Swedish uncle. Turns out, he had never played in a dart tournament before and didn’t understand the rules of the games we played (501 and Cricket). He didn’t throw badly at first, and once I figured out he needed to be told what to throw at, we did alright, taking our first two rounds in the winner’s bracket. I’m not sure how much experience the young man had with drinking, but he was knocking down the mixed drinks. Now, the more I drink, the better I throw. That was not the case with him, and we got our asses handed to us in our third match and were relegated to the loser’s bracket. Prior to our next game, my partner said he needed to leave with his uncle, and I told him no problem. It was already after 8 pm, and I’d had enough anyway. Billy tried to set me up with a new partner, but I declined and took the forfeit.

Anyway, it was not a bad time at darts, but I’ve still not recovered my old passion for the game. I’m not giving up yet, so we’ll see what the future holds.

And so a not-as-good-as-usual day came to an end.

In the memory lane department, here are a couple of poems I wrote when I was in high school. I posted them on Facebook seven years ago and probably here too, but poems are meant to be read again and again.

Thirteen years ago, I was dining at the top of Namsan in Seoul:

It’s still April 2018 in the LTG archives, and I’ve got twenty-one days left in Korea, so I’m busy closing doors. It wasn’t as over with Gem as I thought. I stayed in touch with her after the move and wound up getting scammed out of a thousand dollars. She still holds the record for taking advantage of my stupidity.

Today’s YouTube video is a good reminder not to put off retirement and to live your dreams while you can. I retired the first time at 55, but gave up my dream of the Philippines for what I thought would be a love-filled life with Jee Yeun. When that dream died, I went back to work, retiring again at 62 and making the delayed move to the PI. If I could have a do-over, I’d forego the heartbreak I endured and spend those wasted years in paradise.

And here we go with my attempts at humor once again:

Now to get on with making sure today is a good one.

It has been said that it is a curse to live in interesting times. So, on my list of positives, I can be thankful for not being cursed. Here are some highlights from Thursday that probably won’t interest you.

I don’t drive here, so I don’t worry much about fuel prices. I’m sure the people who drive me (primarily trikes and Jeepneys) do care, though.

Now, I understand that the war in Iran is causing a spike in oil import prices. But the gasoline retailers here raised the price on the inventory they already had in storage facilities before the upheaval in the Middle East. Seems kind of scammy to me. I hear the most egregious price gougers have been sanctioned by the government. It will be interesting to watch how this all plays out.

The Jeepney driver was incensed about the rising cost of fuel and angry that the government hadn’t allowed fares to be raised to cover the increased expenses. He said the Blue Jeepney drivers (the ones who cover the Olongapo-to-Castillejos route we use) are planning a strike on Saturday. Most locals rely on Jeepneys for their work commute, so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Maybe the Philippines should start buying some American oil.

Meanwhile, life goes on. Swan and I took that ride out to Calapandayan to kick off our morning hike. I wanted to do the walk where the grandmother who I like to help out occasionally lives. Before I suggested it, Swan said we should visit the lola (grandma). Hey, great minds really do think alike!

In the afternoon, I had a consultation with Dr. Jo. After reading and watching videos about visceral fat, I was concerned I might be stressing my liver, even though I give it plenty of exercise every night. We reviewed my most recent blood work results, and the liver numbers were all in the normal range. Her biggest concern remains my kidneys and the impact of my high blood sugar. I told her I had removed most sweets (no more ice cream and candy) from my diet, but it didn’t seem to be making much difference weight-wise. I also showed Dr. Jo an herbal remedy I had purchased online, but hadn’t tried yet, pending her guidance.

When I showed her the bottle, Dr. Jo laughed and said I was the second patient to ask about this product. She looked at the ingredients, and she and Dr. Chris both agreed it wouldn’t hurt me, but they couldn’t say how effective it would be in reducing visceral fat.

Alright, it was time for me to make a life-altering decision. No, don’t be silly, I’m not giving up beer. But this coming Tuesday morning, I’m going to begin the Ozempic injection regimen. We’ll see how that works out for me.

After leaving the doctor’s office, we headed to Sloppy Joe’s. When the hunger pangs hit, I asked Swan what she wanted to do about dinner. She looked at me sheepishly and said, “You know I want birria.” As a matter of fact, so did I. So, it was off to Myleen’s.

I shared a YouTube video Kevin left in the comments for making birria tacos at home, and Swan is going to give it a try. Looking forward to her version!

After dinner, we paid a visit to the Alaska Club. After we sat down, I noticed that most of the familiar staff faces were missing. I guess owner Jerry saw the look on my face, because he came over and told me a big spender had come in earlier in the week and dropped over 500,000 pesos in the bar that night. The newly rich girls haven’t been showing up to work since. Well, the girls who were there last night seemed okay with my meager 50 peso tips.

We did our nightcap at Wet Spot, and I might have inadvertently caused some drama. As previously mentioned, Green Room is closed while undergoing renovations. The GR staff is working in Wet Spot during the interim. I’ve noticed some tension between the competing crews; more girls chasing the same customers, and I’m not sure what else is happening behind the scenes. I’ve made it a point to continue buying a lady a drink for my two Green Room regulars and my two Wet Spot regulars. Another thing I do when I hit the bars is bring cookies and lollipops for the girls. Knowing there are twice as many in Wet Spot now, I doubled the volume of sweets. Now, in the Green Room, I just open the bags of goodies and pour them onto the table, and then the ladies come and help themselves until it’s all gone. Some tend to be a little greedy, take more than their share, and so some gals get left out. Oh well. Now, in Wet Spot, my regular waitress divides the goodies and delivers them so everybody gets some. But last night, the Green Room gals got grabby and pissed off the Wet Spot waitress, and then loud words were exchanged. The manager eventually told them to tone it down, but the drama wasn’t fun for me to witness. Swan says that in the future, we will give the Green Room ration to the mamasan for distribution, and let our waitress handle the Wet Spot share. Geez, no good deed goes unpunished.

And so another uninteresting day came to an end.

How about a quick stroll down memory lane:

From the April 2018 LTG archives, I continue the transitory process between my soon-to-end Korean life and the upcoming life in the Philippines. Some nice pictures from around Pyeongtaek and my fifth Hash run with the Humphreys Hangover Hash House Harriers. Five runs earn you a Hash name, and that was the day I became known as Cum Together in the world of Hashing.

Today’s YouTube video is about how aging impacts your ability to travel. It kind of resonated with me. That trip to Da Nang in January was special, but some of the getting there and back again details were stressful. I think I was more resilient as a younger man.

Some call it humor, some may not. I post, you decide:

And that’s it for today’s post. I’ve been feeling like shit all day, and even had to bail on the Friday group hike. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll make it to darts today. We shall see.

Each day is a new step, hopefully in the right direction. Here are the paths I took yesterday:

I wasn’t feeling 100%, and Scott gave me the option to bail on the climb. I opted not to take it.

Wednesday is also our Baloy Beach day.

Swan surprised me by suggesting we go to Queen Victoria for a nightcap. Who am I to argue with that? So, we grabbed a trike and got dropped off at QV.

Queen Vic was plenty busy for a Wednesday. Nice to see at least some of the bars doing well. Lots are empty, and I have no idea how they stay in business.

We finished our drinks, caught another trike, and made our way home. I’d say we made the best of another day.

In the April 2018 LTG archives, I’m getting all philosophical about destiny versus free will. I’m definitely in the camp that we create our destiny through the exercise of free will. I smirked a bit as I read my speculations on applying all the wisdom I had gained from past mistakes to my upcoming life the Philippines. Let’s just say there were many more mistakes to come.

Today’s YouTube vlogger argues that while tourism is down in the Philippines, the Philippines doesn’t need tourists. Hmm, tell that to the bar owners in Barretto. But in a back-handed way, he is right. The Philippines doesn’t make an effort to be tourist-friendly, so tourists explore other options. Honestly, if I had discovered Vietnam before moving to the PI, I might be living in Da Nang right now.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh:

So, let the journey continue! I’m off to consult with Dr. Jo this afternoon. I want to know more about my liver and kidneys. Shit, that sounds like a dinner my mama used to cook.

…but as good once as I ever was.

You know I must be talking about Tuesday when I’m so devoid of content that I have to kick off this post with a song. Don’t worry, it will end with a song, too. And there won’t be much else in between. Let’s get on with it, shall we?

The first stop of the morning was at the Bureau of Immigration for a 60-day extension of my tourist visa. I checked their website to confirm they’d be open (I heard a rumor it was a holiday), and it said the office opened at 8 a.m. I arrived a little after eight, signed in, and took a seat in the waiting room. There was one other person ahead of me. And then we sat there and waited for the immigration staff to arrive. Finally, around 8:40, a female agent arrived with her child in tow. The agent went about turning on the equipment needed to process visa extensions, and ten minutes later, the guy ahead of me was served. Then it was my turn, and the process went smoothly. I paid my 5180 pesos for the privilege of staying here for two more months (oddly, my receipt shows 3180 pesos), and I was good to go. I’m such a tourist!

Then it was on to the grocery shopping mission. I was able to purchase a case of San Miguel Light at the YBC supermarket, and Royal had sugar-free pudding in stock for the first time in months. Hey, it’s the little things that make for a good day, right?

There is a private school near the Manila Avenue entrance on SBMA (aka Subic Bay Freeport Zone). I noticed some new signage while we were at a traffic light in front of the school.

Oh, and it turns out yesterday was indeed a holiday, Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Day. Luckily for me, it is not a “non-working holiday,” so government offices were open for business. I’m pretty sure employees report late for work, whether it’s a holiday or not.

I’m still not feeling quite right, which provided an excuse to be lazy and not do a neighborhood walk. I did practice with my darts for a bit before heading out to the Alley Cats tournament. It was a doubles tourney, and I once again drew Amie as my partner. We went 1-2 in the double elimination tournament. That was better than our two-and-out last time. So, I can truthfully say that I was as good once as I ever was.

After being eliminated from the tourney, Swan and I stopped by Gold Bar for a nightcap. They had a good crowd for a Tuesday night, and we enjoyed the music, the vibe, and our visit.

I even stayed out late, not leaving for home until almost 8:30 p.m.! Not bad for a Tuesday, eh?

We’ve now marched into April 2018 in the LTG archives, no fooling. In a post titled “The Lasts Shall Be Firsts,” I reflect on entering my final 30 days in Korea and discuss my preparations for the upcoming big move to the Philippines.

Even when I was a kid, I was a big fan of Rod Serling’s “The Twilight Zone.” So, I especially enjoyed today’s YouTube video talking about events from ten 1960s episodes that seem to have come true in 2026. Fiction can sometimes be truth, it seems.

Let’s share a laugh or three before I go:

And now to see what happens next.

I heard this song for the first time last night, and I might make it my anthem. Around the one-minute mark in the video, a guy pulls up in a Ford pickup truck like the one I had in high school. A few seconds later, an AMC Pacer appears, like the one I bought as a family man in 1978.

And the wheel in the sky keeps on turning. Here’s a quick look in the rearview mirror.

From the Sunday Sweets Stroll:

Sunday is also the day we visit the Arizona floating bar. For the second week in a row, we were the only customers during the two hours we spent on board. At this rate, I don’t know how long it will remain operational. In the meantime, we’ll continue to enjoy the views on the water.

Without the John’s place option, we no longer have specific Sunday dinner plans. So, we decided to have some food from the Arizona Resort kitchen delivered to us on the floater.

Next stop in our Sunday routine is Red Bar.

We offered our regular waitress a lady drink, but she told us she preferred a cash tip instead. No problem for me, I consider that a win-win; she gets money, I save money. Coincidentally, an internet forum I visit had a post today about the history of lady drinks. I found it interesting, perhaps you will too. (If the link takes you to the comments, just scroll up to see the post.)

We did our nightcap at Jumpin’ Jacks, and I played two games of drunken crappy pool, but I still played well enough to win both, which says more about the competition than me. And so on that high note, our night on the town came to an end.

Today, the 8th Army Director of Human Resources Management sent me this photo from the past:

Today’s post from the March 2018 LTG archives is also work-related. I enjoyed my work, but in my heart I knew it was time to call it a career and move on. I had 58 days left to go. Also included in that post is a copy of my federal career work biography. It was quite the ride!

As an added bonus, in the comments to the post linked above is this gem from Kevin Kim:

This sudden spate of mutual politeness calls to mind an old joke that my mother heard at work and brought home to the family:

The politest man in the world managed to find the politest woman in the world. The two fell in love, got married, and in short order, the wife was pregnant. After a few months, the wife had her first sonogram, and the doctor reported, “Congratulations! You’ve got twin boys!” The couple were delighted, and they eagerly anticipated the arrival of their two kids.

But something strange happened. The due date for the birth came and went, and there was no sign of the mother’s ever going into labor. Days became weeks; weeks became months; months became years. Nothing.

Even the most polite couple in the world couldn’t wait forever, so the two finally broke down, went to the hospital, and demanded a full examination to determine what was going on.

The doctors put the mother under a scanner, flipped on the audio and video, and saw two ancient, wrinkled babies inside the mother, each with a snow-white beard, and each endlessly prompting the other with, “After you!” “No, after you!”

You are welcome!

Today’s YouTube video is also work-related as it explores the five things that disappear after retirement. I’ve found my personal replacements for four of them, but I’ve never overcome my loss of ambition. I guess it wasn’t that important to me.

I’m glad I never lost my sense of humor:

And with that, it is time to move into preparation for today’s Hash. I won’t be doing the Guenter trail, but I will walk to the start from my house and decide where to go from there. I’ll let you know how that works out for me tomorrow.

If you are depressed, you are living in the past.
If you are anxious, you are living in the future.
To be content, you must live in the present.

When you get what you want in your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn’t your father, or mother, or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He’s the fellow to please – never mind all the rest
For he’s with you, clear to the end
And you’ve passed your most difficult, dangerous test
If the man in the glass is your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of years
And get pats on the back as you pass
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you’ve cheated the man in the glass.
–Paul Dale Wimbrow

Greetings from the lovely retirement community of Barrio Barretto. With over fifty bars to serve you here, being bored or lonely is a matter of choice. We’ve got beaches and mountains to enjoy, lots of dining options, and plenty of friendly Filipinas ready to assist in fulfilling your needs. Compare that to vanilla places like Sun City, Arizona, and you will be happy you chose to spend your golden years in a town where your money goes further, and age is just a number.

See, I told you I was going to strive for a more positive attitude! If I spend the remainder of my time amongst the living like I did yesterday, I’ll be satisfied. No, it was nothing out of the ordinary, but that’s the point; ordinary here is extraordinary compared to sitting around playing cards in a retirement home stateside. Let the good times roll!

We began our Saturday with the usual Decay Dance.

As we got closer to Easter Mountain during our Dance, I noticed there had been a recent burn there as well, probably while we were in Pundaquit. The Easter Monday Hash is on the horizon, but I’m doubting I’ll be able to make the Easter Mountain climb this year. Part of aging gracefully is accepting and adapting to your increased physical limitations. We’ll see.

I decided to change things up for our Saturday night out by making a rare visit to Harley’s, located on the road to Baloy. It had been months since we were last here.

It was a busy day on the bay.

When we were ready to move on for our nightcap, we headed out to Wet Spot. With Green Room still closed for renovation and both bar crews working out of Wet Spot, it was pretty packed. Like last time, I felt obligated to take care of my regulars from both bars with lady drinks. Better than the drama of them fighting over me, right? And yes, I’m being facetious. These gals have been serving me for years now and I am happy to help make their night a little more profitable.

Then it was time to scurry back home before my early bedtime. I made a tasty batch of strawberry-banana smoothies, and they were a sweet ending to a sweet day.

From the Facebook memories, an old photo of my workmates in Korea in 2005:

Continuing on with the March 2018 LTG archives, a meeting with the Korean Employees Union brought me back to Seoul. Naturally, I spent the night and partied in Itaewon with some old friends, then went back to Pyeongtaek the next morning and climbed a mountain. Life’s a Dance, indeed. It was nice to feel happy for a change.

In today’s YouTube video, The Filipina Pea interviews foreigners about their impressions upon visiting the Philippines. Very similar to my experiences: friendly locals, happy despite living in poverty, loud and littered, cheaper, an easy visa process, and you can get by speaking only English. It’s not for everyone for sure, but it works for me, and I’m happy to call it home.

Humor time:

And on that note, I’m positive there’s nothing left to say today.

Here I am again, immersed in the activities that fill the hours of my so-called Barretto life. As boring and repetitive as that may seem here on the blog, I’m not complaining. I had a bit of an epiphany this morning. Between not being able to shake the feeling of impending doom and my fantasies of going back in time for a do-over life, I’m forgetting to live in the moment and enjoy the days I’m blessed with living, no matter how many I may have left. I’ve made that mistake before, as revisiting my old posts about my last year in Korea has reminded me. I was sad and lonely, looking forward to moving to the Philippines, yet unable to let go of the heartbreak of the past. But now, when I look back from the perspective of eight years on, I see what a happy time that could have been if I’d opened myself to all the positive aspects of that life. Hell, I was living in a palace paid for by the government, I had a six-figure salary plus my monthly retirement pension. I was surrounded by beautiful countryside. I was climbing mountains and hiking riversides. Work provided some substance and meaning, along with the companionship of my coworkers. I don’t have any regrets about retiring when I did, but I wasted a year lamenting what I’d lost and thinking about a future that hadn’t yet arrived, instead of living in the moment. So now I’m resolved and committed to embracing what I have today and appreciating this life for what it is.

Okay, with that out of the way, let me share the story of my yesterday. Our driver, Swan’s friend Mercy, picked us up from the Wave Song Resort at 8:30. I had it in mind to treat everyone to breakfast at the FRA in San Antonio, which has a great kitchen, at least the last time I visited. I entered the venue into Google Maps for directions, and we were off. Or the app was, because the direction it wanted to take us didn’t align with my memory. Who you gonna believe, GPS or a feeble brain? Eventually, I just had Mercy take the route I knew to the main highway, and we went from there.

We were the only car in the parking lot when we pulled into the FRA. I planned for us to sit in the outdoor dining area, so I went to the service window to fetch a waitress. It was empty inside except for one young woman behind the counter. I asked if they were open (it was after 9 now), and she said yes, then added that the kitchen staff had not yet arrived. I asked how long it would be until they got here, and she didn’t know. Hmm, okay then. I heard the FRA was going downhill, and this seemed to be confirmation. So, we reloaded into the car and hit the road for Barretto.

I was hungry, but unfamiliar with alternative options in San Antonio. I remembered a place in Castillejos called Mukbang, but as we passed, it was closed. There is a place called Spice Restaurant in Subic that I’ve always wanted to try, but it wasn’t open yet, either. As we entered Calapandayan, I recalled a new resort that had recently opened. We did a walkthrough on a previous hike, and it looked nice. So, we pulled in to give it a try.

The gals all got traditional Filipino breakfasts, and since I was hungry, I of course went with the Hungarian breakfast.

Anyway, it turned out to be a nice enough place to enjoy a bayside meal.

Back home safe and sound, I set about my usual afternoon routines of napping and blogging, then showered up and headed into Barretto for the first time in days! I needed to hit the ATM, and It Doesn’t Matter has a good one, so that’s where we kicked things off. The ATM worked fine, but sadly, IDM isn’t what it used to be without Cliff and Ashley running the show. A totally different vibe these days, not unfriendly, but not warm and welcoming like we were accustomed to. I’m sure we’ll still visit occasionally, but there are plenty of bars to choose from here in Barretto.

Not as many restaurants these days (yes, still missing John’s place), but I offered Swan three dining options all within a block of IDM: Jewel Cafe, Myleen’s, or Foodies. Swan chose Myleen’s because it has the best (and only) birria tacos in town.

Myleen’s was busier than I’ve ever seen it, but they handled it well. As a long-time customer, I’m on friendly terms with the manager, Eve. Which means I subject her to my warped sense of humor, and she doesn’t get offended.

Swan said the dipping sauce was much better than what they had served during our previous visit. I passed that along to Eve, and she said she’d let the chef know.

After our meal, we crossed the highway and did our nightcap at Cheap Charlies. They were fairly busy as well, and we sat near several folks we are acquainted with, so we had some nice chitchat while we drank our beverages.

Well, there was a surprisingly brisk breeze blowing last night, and that made Swan chilly. Poor girl has never experienced what a real winter is like. She says she wants to, though. Maybe I’ll take her to Korea in January before I die.

Since we had already had dinner, I didn’t order food for the girls or buy them an overpriced lady drink. I did give each of the staff (seven in all) a 50 peso tip. Then we headed home for bedtime.

Until I die, I’ll keep exploding heads on Facebook with crap memes like this.

Still February 2018 in the LTG archives and in a rare positive post from back then, I talk about My Beautiful Life. It shouldn’t be hard to focus on the good in life. I’m going to do my best to get better at it.

Although I accept that time travel is not in my future, you can still visit the past via YouTube videos, such as this one about saloon life in the Old West. Honestly, I don’t think I’d enjoy drinking piss-warm beer and hanging out in joints like those. But I guess there weren’t any other options back then.

I haven’t lost my sense of humor. Such as it is:

So, now it’s time to get out and enjoy the things I have in my life while I can. I know folks who are crippled up and homebound, but I hope that if that day ever comes for me, I’ll make the best of it. Life truly is a gift.

It’s time for my monthly get-out-of-town trip, so this morning we will be heading to Pundaquit for two days of beach life. Let me dash off a quick post about yesterday before I go.

Mostly more of the same old, same old Tuesday shit. Grocery shopping in the morning came with the standard out-of-stock frustrations. I mean, I get it that imported goods are occasionally subject to shipping delays, but come on, Royal, what’s your excuse for being out of locally brewed San Miguel Light, for crissake?

And speaking of imported foods, I was thinking some good ol’ string cheese might be a healthy snack.

I took a pass on playing darts because of my back issues. I only experienced pain when bending over or lifting a leg — walking wasn’t bad. So, at beer o’clock, we marched on down to Baloy Beach.

We had the raft driver contact the floating bar on his walkie-talkie to confirm they had wine available for Swan before we made the voyage. They did, and so we boarded.

After a while, another couple came aboard and joined us at the bar. Being on the introvert side of the spectrum, I don’t generally engage with strangers, but this guy wanted to chat, and I’m not rude (at least when I’m sober). Wallace is a Canadian expat, and he and his gal were visiting from Davao, a place I’ve been to before, so we compared notes. He also worked in Korea for 20 years, so we had that in common as well. Anyway, it turned out to be a pleasant conversation. Nice to meet you!

We headed to shore for some Treasure Island dining and ran into Lizza, the owner of Kokomo’s, on the beach.

Against all odds, I met and interacted with another stranger while at Treasure Island. A retired Navy guy who lives in Florida, but is currently working out of Singapore. He hadn’t been to Barretto for many years, so I gave him the lowdown on the best places to hang out. He’s a dart player with a warped sense of humor, so we had that in common. It was nice chatting with him as well. And yes, I’ve already forgotten his name (I was six beers to the wind by then).

From my Treasure Island perch, I could see something going on up on the mountain behind the Hanjin shipyard, so I headed down to the beach for a closer look.

With our hunger satiated and my beer capacity reached, we headed back home and called it a day.

Today is my son Kevin’s 48th birthday. I’ve been ghosted, but I hope he is happy.

I’m not a big Bill Maher fan, but like a stopped clock, he gets it right sometimes.

From the January 2018 LTG archives, I’m back in Pyeongtaek and experiencing being ghosted for the first time. It doesn’t get easier with experience.

I never knew there was such a thing as “Generation Jones,” or that I was a member of that elite group (those born between 1954 and 1965). Today’s YouTube video enlightened me. Ain’t I special?

And now some humor before I hit the road:

I’m happy to report that the back is feeling much better today. Still a little stiff, but not nearly as painful.

And now to prepare for my adventure. At least I’ll have something different to post about tomorrow.

I guess there is something to be said for being fat and happy. But it probably isn’t too fun to be fat and prematurely dead. And taking a half-assed approach to weight loss is marginally better than not trying at all, so that’s what I’m doing. Maybe instead of hitting that brick wall at the end of the alley going full speed, I can downshift and delay my arrival at death’s door. We’ll see how that works out for me.

So, I’m giving up the ice cream (miss you, baby!) and sweets. I’m also making an effort to reduce my beer consumption by slowing down the intake. That’s a work in progress, but I’m getting there. I’m getting in 15,000 steps per day, so hopefully, I’ll burn off some fat along the way.

Speaking of beer, I came across this article from a “longevity doctor” who drinks in moderation and doesn’t see that as a bad thing. Of course, I drink more than he does, but the doctor notes that genes make a difference. I’d say my daily beer intake is similar to what my father would imbibe, and he lived to be 83. It’s that Irish blood, I reckon.

In unrelated news that proves things can always be worse, this guy fell in love with one of those AI girls, and it didn’t end well for him.

Meanwhile, things continue on in my daily grind much as they always do. An uneventful Sweet Stroll kicked off the morning.

Sunday is usually our Arizona floating bar day, but given the overcast skies at beer o’clock, we opted not to bother since there would be no sunset to enjoy. We started out at Red Bar instead.

When it was time to eat, we cautiously crossed the highway and popped into Jewel Cafe.

We crossed the highway once more and did our nightcap at Jumpin’ Jacks. I played a couple of games of pool as much to slow my rate of beer ingestion as anything. I played pretty well against a skilled waitress opponent, but still lost both games. That’s okay, I had fun anyway.

Then it was time to trike on home. I’m going to need to make some adjustments to my schedule, though. Getting back to the house so early, I’m finding myself going to bed at 8 pm for lack of a better option. The problem with that is I’ll wake up four or five hours later and have a hard time getting back to sleep. It could be that I need to fire up the TV for an hour or two before bedtime. We’ll see.

Moving forward in the December 2017 LTG archives, I’m back in the Philippines as I prepare for the upcoming move. Gem, the gal I met on a dating site, joined me for the adventure, and she seems to be enjoying herself. Met up with my vlogger friend John and his new girl. They are married now, but John is in late-stage Parkinson’s and has moved to the wife’s province, where she and her family care for him. And I also did some exploring around Alta Vista and Club Morocco in search of somewhere I might live. A good trip thus far, we’ll see what happens next. Why wait? Here’s another post about the small-town vibe Barretto has, as evidenced by my running into a guy named Scott, whom I had recently friended on Facebook, several times. And I haven’t even done my first Hash run yet.

Today’s YouTube video talks about the seven things you should not do after turning 70. Yep, I’m guilty of #4, labeling myself “too old” to try new things. I also struggle with #5, letting memories of the past invade my present. Well, there is always time to do better. Until it runs out. I’ll get right on it.

You are never too old to laugh. I hope.

Another Hash Monday has arrived. The Hare sent me a preview map, and today’s trail involves a 400-meter climb to the top of Kalaklan Ridge. It’s been a while, and I miss the views from up there. But alas, I’m still feeling off, and upon further consideration, I’ve decided that today is not the day to undertake that challenge. Instead, Swan will join me for our own Hash trail. We’ll still do a climb, but only about half as difficult. But I’ll be back on the ridgeline one day soon.

Country Joe McDonald has passed away. Back in my teens, I was big into the anti-war movement, so songs like this one resonated with me. And look at me now, all “bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran.” Anyway, here’s Country Joe firing up the audience at Woodstock. Thanks for the memories.

Nothing to get pissed about, though. I hope to keep peeing well into the future. Speaking of health, Kevin Kim left a link in the comments to a video about measuring visceral fat. The video provided a link to a webpage with an easy at-home method to calculate the amount of visceral fat you carry in your innards. So, I did the measurements, and the results weren’t pretty.

Not good, not good at all. Somehow, I don’t think I can walk this off. I’ll think of something. Or die trying.

Meanwhile, life goes on. We did our usual Decay Dance in the morning.

At beer o’clock, we journeyed into Barretto and kicked off our evening at Sloppy Joe’s. I’ve decided the downsides of doing the gin-and-soda thing outweigh the benefits. So, my new plan is to drink beer at a slower pace. My goal last night was to limit myself to one beer every thirty minutes. I had my first beer at 4:30 and my last for the night at 7:30. By my reckoning, I had seven SMLs during that 180 minutes, or one every 25.7 minutes. I didn’t achieve my goal, but that’s still slower than normal for me. I’ll keep working at it.

Two beers at Sloppy Joe’s, then we headed to Myleen’s for dinner.

One beer to wash the tacos down, then we moved on to Wet Spot for our nightcap. Green Room is closed for renovation, so all the staff from there are doing duty in Wet Spot (same owner). Wet Spot was a lot more crowded than usual, including some of the familiar Green Room customers. We found an open table, and I treated our regular Green Room waitress and our regular Wet Spot waitress to a lady drink. Hey, I didn’t want them fighting over me! If I had stopped at three beers, I would have met my 30-minute-per-beer goal. But it was too early to go home, and Swan hadn’t finished her wine yet, so I enjoyed beer number four before calling it a night.

Swan captured the moment where I managed to play my air guitar and sing some Money for Nothing before we departed Wet Spot. The chicks weren’t free, though.

From the December 2017 LTG archives is a post in which I recall the dozen times I’d loved and lost in my life and assigned blame for those failures as appropriate. You can see for yourself that I wasn’t always at fault. One of these days, I’ll have to update the list with my relationships since moving to the Philippines.

Today’s YouTube video talks about how living in the Philippines is a different experience from short-term visits. No duh. I’ve certainly encountered some of the difficulties he mentions, but that just goes with the territory. The “sorry, out of stock” thing still irks me, especially at a big grocery store like Royal. And when the shelf goes bare, it often stays that way for months. Um, ever heard of inventory control? (Heh, I just now remembered what my father would sometimes exclaim when he became frustrated: “Damn, that just frosts my balls!”) Of course, here in the tropics, they wouldn’t know what frost is. Anyway, when you choose to live in a third-world environment, sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, relax, and accept the Filipino way.

And now to lighten things up some:

And on that note, this post has come to an end.

Live ’em while you got ’em, that’s the best and only option. Here’s how that worked out for me yesterday.

Our housekeeper, Jane, is Swan’s niece and resides in our basement apartment with her hubby and three kids. It’s equipped with everything they need to live comfortably except a television. Our mission yesterday morning was to rectify that situation. There’s an appliance store on the far side of town, and I told Swan we could make that our walk destination. She was a little surprised when I took her the back way via the My Bitch trail and Rizal Extension, arriving at Robinson’s a little over 6K later. Here’s some of what we saw along the way:

And then we arrived safely at the Robinson’s appliance store, where I purchased a 50″ Smart TV for a little under $400. Our downstairs residents were ecstatic.

Later in the afternoon, Swan and I made our way to the Kokomo’s floating bar.

Our visit to the floating bar proved to be a disappointment. No wine for Swan, so she had water. They wanted 120 pesos for a gin shot, plus another 100 for the can of soda water. I had one, and then we decided to move on.

But we weren’t giving up on our beach time. There’s a small resort named Tropical Garden, further up Baloy, owned by a Hasher (Goat Fucker). We decided to check out the vibe.

So, Tropical Garden wanted 180 pesos for a gin shot. Add in a can of soda water, and it’s nearly three times more expensive than a beer. Nope, no can do. I’ll have to find another way to reduce calories and carbs. I still haven’t been able to find out what’s going on with the unavailability of San Miguel Zero beer.

I’d given up on gin and soda by this point, but I enjoyed a couple of cold San Miguel Lights, then we called it an early night and headed on home. Notwithstanding the Kokomo’s disappointment, we enjoyed our beach time.

It’s December 2017 in the LTG archives, and in this post, I recount the once-in-a-lifetime experience of walking over 50,000 steps. It’s chock full of pictures of the area surrounding Camp Humphreys and the city of Pyeongtaek. Thanks to Kevin Kim for the challenge and inspiration to make the journey of a lifetime.

For today’s YouTube video, we’ll take a journey back in time and see what traveling on a stagecoach was really like. Spoiler alert: it was not a comfortable experience.

Now we will travel on to where the humor is:

Another day, another post about yesterday. And now to get on with today.

As I’ve alluded to in my recent posts, I’ve kinda sorta been feeling out of sorts lately. I’m sure some of this derives from being in an emotionally weird place, but there are physical aspects as well. Light-headedness, lethargy, weird aches and pains are some of the symptoms I’ve been enduring. I need to schedule another consult with Dr. Jo to see if any of this is liver-related. God knows, my liver gets plenty of exercise, but it ain’t as young as it once was. I saw an ad on Facebook that described what happens when your liver begins to fail, and it was a little too familiar for comfort. And since it was an advertisement, they suggested an herbal remedy called Lymphoria. Well, it was “only” 1800 pesos ($35), so I decided to order a bottle. I figure it can’t hurt, right?

Wednesday went as Wednesdays usually do, starting with the Wednesday Walkers group hike.

A 6K trek on a hot day was plenty.

Swan took a “me day,” so I was on my own for the evening adventure in Barretto. I plopped my sorry behind down on a stool at Cheap Charlies and put my new drinking strategy to work. On the plus side, my gin shot with a can of soda water lasted around thirty minutes, about twice as long as a bottle of beer. On the negative side, after two gins, I was feeling a tad more buzzed than I wanted to be, so I switched to beer for the remainder of the evening. I’m not giving up yet, but I’ve got to learn to pace myself better.

Otherwise, my visit to Cheap Charlies was pleasant enough. My hike buddy Todd popped in for a while, so I had someone to chat with, which is nice. I fed the girls in lieu of lady drinks, and they were very appreciative. I was even given the rare beer on the house as a thank you.

I wasn’t quite ready to call it a night, so I popped into Alaska for a final round of drinks. Still made it home before 8 pm, where Swan was awaiting my return and the smoothie I promised to make for her. And that was all there was to Wednesday.

From Facebook memories:

In the November 2017 LTG archives, I share my Thanksgiving blessings. I’m not sure why it is that it seems that it is always in looking back that I realize how good my life was, despite my feeling that it sucked. Hopefully, I’m not going look back on the present in a similar fashion.

Today’s YouTube video features people even dumber than me. Yep, you read that right. The most dangerous thing I do is crossing the National Highway, but I’d never try to take a selfie while doing so.

Shit, I hate when a video I select to share won’t embed. You’ll have to click this link to see it. Sorry!

On to the humor, then.

And that’s all I’ve got for today.

I’m going to make the effort to change things up around here. We’ll see how that works out for me. Me being me, I’m not taking the hard road, but I intend to tweak my lifestyle by eating smarter. No, I don’t plan to count calories or anything like that at this point. I’ll just try to show a little more discipline and self-control when it comes to what I put in my mouth. As a first step in that direction, while grocery shopping yesterday, I successfully avoided purchasing the usual half-gallon of ice cream. Instead, I made a sugar-free pudding before heading out to the bars, and my drunken dessert was waiting for me when I returned.

Speaking of drinking, I’m making some modifications in that regard as well.

So, one shot of gin is around 97 calories. That’s not much less than the 100 in a bottle of San Miguel Light. But I get the shot in a tall glass and order a can of soda water (no calories) on the side. That turns one drink into three, reducing the calories consumed and lessening the alcohol volume. But I’m not giving up on beer entirely. My current plan is to alternate between the drinks. Hopefully, that will moderate the impact of the gin intake whilst also reducing my overall consumption of calories. In my previous switches to gin, I suffered some repercussions that included getting drunker than I wanted to be (like falling down getting out of the trike drunk). Wish me luck as I move forward with my new plan!

Oh, and if you are wondering about my motivation, for some reason, I stepped on my bathroom scale yesterday. 259.7 pounds. Yikes!

I walked home from the Royal supermarket after yesterday’s shopping excursion.

As nice as the views along the highway are, there isn’t much shoulder space, and people drive here like pedestrians have no business being out walking. The scooters are especially bad, treating that small roadside space as a motorbike lane. It tends to take the joy out of the hike for me.

I did my drinking at Sloppy Joe’s and Wet Spot yesterday. Green Room is closed for renovations now. As I understand it, the new owner is adding restrooms (yay! no more going next door to pee) and a dance stage (boo! we don’t need another dancing bar). We’ll see how that works out. In the meantime, all the Green Room staff are working out of Wet Spot. That meant buying twice my usual number of lady drinks. Anyway, I was still standing when I got home, so my moderation plan is working so far.

From the November 2017 LTG archives comes a post about my working life. With less than six months to go before re-retirement, I felt appreciation for the meaning work brought to my life and some trepidation about what my life might look like without it.

Today’s YouTube video offers five signs that your life may be ending soon. Other than my expanding abdomen, none of them is yet in evidence for me. Well, the memory is fading, but not to the extreme extent the AI voice talks about. I still can’t shake this feeling of impending doom for some reason, but I’m going to keep on doing what I do for as long as I am able.

Bad puns and bad humor are always here to be enjoyed:

And now on with my snack-less and sweet-less life. Thank God for alcohol!