It appears I’m on the road to recovery. Not 100% yet, but lots better than yesterday. Not much else to offer here today, but what you see is what you get.

Feeling poorly is no excuse not to help keep the bars in business. Last night, it was Red Bar and Rum Jungle that helped lighten my wallet. I didn’t have a particularly enjoyable time at either one, but that’s the nature of the beast.

Speaking of bars, it appears another one has bitten the dust: my former hangout, Hideaway. The way it went down was self-inflicted. Owner Griff is back home in the UK for medical reasons, and he left his girlfriend in charge during his absence. Yesterday, she somehow managed to piss off the entire staff, and they all walked out. It’s hard enough to stay in business with no customers, but a bar without waitresses is pointless. The good news is that the manager at Red Square has offered to bring the old Hideaway crew on board at his place. Good luck to everyone!

Continuing with the April 2022 LTG archives, and there was a day full of dreams and disappointments. Hey, nothing like a roller coaster ride!

Today’s YouTube video is another one of those “walking through a neighborhood” types. What’s different is that I made this one. Yeah, I don’t know what got into me, but I filmed six minutes of our stroll yesterday. Maybe I’ll make this an occasional thing. Or not. Oh, and I got a chuckle out of the closed captioning picking up my “snorts” as I sucked the snot back into my nose.

On with the humor:

And now it is time carry on with my Friday. I might feel well enough to actually enjoy myself tonight. We shall see.

I’m not sure of the cause, but in addition to congestion and a runny nose, I’m coughing up phlegm from deep in my lungs. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired, so hopefully this ailment will run its course and allow me to soon be healthy once again.

Despite feeling poorly, I forced myself out of the house for a walkabout.

When beer o’clock rolled around, I headed out for liquid refreshment, knowing that drinking plenty of fluids is important as you strive to overcome illness.

We did our night cap at Wet Spot, and San Miguel Light was my best and only option there as well. We had some food delivered from Foodies and enjoyed our eats. As usual, manager Brett was spinning some fine tunes, and waitresses Beth and Irene enjoyed their lady drink bounty.

Remember this photo I posted the other day?

Today, Scott sent me a version he enhanced with the help of Google Gemini:

It is now April 2022 in the LTG archives, and in this post, I’m getting out of my lane. It was weird inviting someone I’d never even met to my house, but I was worried about her being out on the streets in the early hours of the morning. She turned out to be a nice enough gal and plenty hot by my low standards, but our paths in life weren’t heading in the same direction.

For today’s YouTube video, let me share a short Western drama. Only seven minutes long, but that suits my reduced attention span these days.

Maybe you’ll find these amusing:

Still dealing with all these damn symptoms. I’m going to stop by the drugstore and try to score some Amoxicillin and see if that won’t clear out my lungs and nostrils. Fingers crossed.

Tuesdays are my “nothing much” days, and yesterday was no exception. The Bureau of Immigration did approve a 60-day extension of my tourist visa, so there’s that. I got the grocery shopping out of the way, then visited Dr. Jo for another GLP-1 injection. I’m now at Mounjaro’s maximum dosage, so hopefully I’ll start making more progress in my weight-loss quest.

We kicked things off at beer o’clock with a visit to Sloppy Joe’s.

I decided to change things up and climb the three flights of stairs to BarCelona for the first time in a very long time. It’s under new ownership now, and they’re calling it a “disco bar,” so my expectations were low. Maybe because it was still early, they weren’t playing disco music, which was a blessing. Only a couple of other people were there during my visit. As much as I like the bar’s well-appointed ambiance, I don’t think the old expat crowd in Barretto is going to make that climb for a disco. Time will tell.

For our nightcap, we decided to pop into the newest bar in town, Voodoo. Since our last visit on opening night a couple of weeks ago, they’ve moved the pool table and rearranged the customer seating area. I think the new floor plan works better. There were fewer dancers and waitresses, but maybe that’s just the nature of a Tuesday evening. Five or six guys were playing pool, so at least they had some customers besides us. The music was much better this time, too. We enjoyed our visit, and Voodoo is now on our list of places to go.

And that brought our Tuesday on the town to an end.

I had a rough night, waking up at oh-dark-thirty with a bad case of acid indigestion. That’s a fairly common side effect of GLP-1 drugs, and fortunately, I had some medication in my nightstand drawer that eased the discomfort. A little later, I developed a scratchy throat and persistent cough. The cough still hasn’t gone away, but hopefully I’ll be over it soon.

What else have I got?

Moving onward through the March 2022 LTG archives, I share some thoughts on “Closing the Loop.” There are fond memories of John Kim’s restaurant, my acceptance of being relegated to the friend zone with Jenny, and the wisdom not to take the bait offered by a 21-year-old bar girl. My favorite part of the post was seeing photos from my best day ever as a tourist in the Philippines: taking the gals from Alaska Club to my hotel for an impromptu pool party. Let the good times roll!

Today’s YouTube Short features the Filipina Pea interviewing an online dating scammer. It brought back memories of the days when I frequented dating sites before moving here. Yep, I got scammed more than once before learning some hard lessons.

Coincidentally, I came across this meme today that pretty much captures the reality of online dating:

Now for some humor:

And now you’ve made it through a nothing post about a nothing day. Congratualations!

So, one of the Hares for today’s trail got sick, and Swan volunteered to take her place. She asked me to help scout a trail yesterday, so I headed into the hills, and we came up with something I think will be good for the Hashers this afternoon. I went out this morning and helped the girls, Cums Alone and Goat Fucker, mark the trail. I just got home from that endeavor, and now I need to dash off a proof-of-life post before I shower, nap, and head back out to the Hash On-Home venue to participate in the beer-drinking portion of the Hashing lifestyle, a drinking club with a hiking problem.

So, here we go with my Sunday in pictures:

Back home for some rest and relaxation, then I decided we’d change things up a tad and head out to SBMA to kick off our Sunday evening.

We caught a jeepney to the Kalaklan Gate, then walked the 1.5 kilometers to Harbor Point Mall. Swan was surprised and asked why we were there. I said, “You told me you needed a new laptop, so let’s see what they have.”

We found a store that had some laptops, but Swan wasn’t pleased with the prices. She says she wants to shop around some more and suspects that my presence may have triggered a “skin tax.” Oh, well. At least I tried.

My real motivation for making the journey to SBMA was my craving for some good Korean food. Seoul Restaurant serves the best I’ve found in the Philippines. Alas, as we reached the parking area, it was packed, and I feared the worst. Sure enough, there was a waiting area full of hungry would-be diners. Nope. As good as it might be, I’m not patient enough to sit around waiting for a table. So off we went in search of an alternative.

Anyway, the meal was disappointing but better than nothing. I’ll try Seoul again on a weekday next time.

As we walked back to the taxi stand at the Kalaklan Gate, the sky was entertaining us with views like this one:

We took a taxi back to Barretto for 400 pesos. Yeah, I paid a premium for comfort over an inexpensive jeepney ride. Once we were back in town, we popped into Alaska Club. Owner Jerry is back in town and greeted us warmly. The place was hoppin’ like I haven’t seen it since before the scamdemic.

It turns out a mamasan from Rum Jungle brought her crew of dancers to Alaska, and they filled the stage. There was an MSC (Military Sealift Command) ship in port, and the civilian sailors were having a good time being two-week millionaires with the girls. It was a nice, lively vibe for a change.

We had our nightcap at Cloud 69, which was pretty busy with a pool-playing crowd. Our regular waitress wasn’t around, but our server was fun. My jokes were all new to her, and she laughed at them, so naturally, I rewarded her with some lady drinks. Good times!

And here’s the surprise: I stayed out until a little after 9 p.m. last night. Wow! I’m not sure I’ll make a habit of it, but it was good to enjoy a nice night out on the town.

From the March 2022 LTG archives, a happy day began with hiring a banka boat and making some sweet memories at Sampaloc Cove. I brought along my old friends from Treasure Island and that girl, Jenny, I’d been crushing on. I never did escape the friend zone with her, but that’s okay. A couple of years ago, she married a Brit and seems to be living happily ever after in the UK. Good for her!

Today’s YouTube video is a short, three-minute excerpt from an old Twilight Zone episode. Even as a young kid, I always enjoyed the show, although its deeper insights were lost on me. And now here I am, living my life in paradise, even if it isn’t always as heavenly as I like to imagine.

Humor time:

And there you have it. Now I need to prepare myself for a Hashy Monday. Already got the trail out of the way, but that beer ain’t gonna drink itself!

Tuesdays are normally the most routine of my daily routines, but yesterday turned out a little different than usual. Prior to hitting the grocery stores, I stopped at the BPI ATM to refill my wallet. Once again, my debit card from the USA was rejected. When I tried to use the card from my Philippines bank, it didn’t work either. Hmm, so I figured it must be the machine not functioning. So, I had my driver take me to the BPI branch on the other side of SBMA (it has three ATMS), and I got the same result. WTF? Well, I needed to get some cash, so I figured we’d go back to BPI once it opened. In the meantime, we proceeded with our first supermarket, YBC. Luckily, my credit card hadn’t been blocked, so I was able to pay for the groceries. Loaded up the car and headed back to BPI, arriving just after 9 a.m. Alas, it turns out the bank branch didn’t open until 10. The bank security guard was on duty, and Swan showed him the “unable to process transaction” receipt from my first attempt. The guard asked to see my card, cleaned it with rubbing alcohol, and told me to try again. And it worked! I guess those chip readers are sensitive. Lesson learned. It was good to have money in my pocket again, and we finished our weekly shopping at Royal and headed back to Barretto.

I got dropped off at Dr. Jo’s office so I could get my weekly GLP-1 injection (I’ve switched from Ozempic to Mounjaro). I have now been upped to the highest dose, and the monthly cost is 10,500 pesos (around $200). I lost almost two pounds last week, so hopefully that trend will continue. I’m still a long way from my goal.

When I got back home, I had an email from my credit union saying my card had been blocked due to “suspicious activity.” Yep, trying to withdraw money from an ATM in the Philippines is considered possibly fraudulent for some reason. The sad fact is they do this every f’n time I try to use my card. I send a message saying the transaction was legitimate; they unblock my account, and then block it again when I attempt to make a withdrawal. It’s a good thing that I have the local bank account (in Swan’s name) that I can wire money to from my US bank, or I’d be really fucked.

Late in the afternoon, when it was time to head into town, Swan wanted to get a haircut and a foot spa, so the plan was that I’d wait for her at Cheap Charlies.

I was the only customer during my visit, and I felt sorry for the bored but friendly bar staff. Still, I adhered to my principle of not paying 250 pesos for a lady drink. That’s one of the more expensive prices in town, and seems inappropriate for a bar calling itself “Cheap Charlies.” My personal stance is not to spend more than 200 pesos for a lady drink. I did spend almost 1000 pesos on food for the girls, the equivalent of four lady drinks, so I am not a cheap Charlie.

When her foot spa was completed, Swan messaged that she was craving a Coffee Shop taco, so I told her I’d meet her there when I finished my beer. I arrived as she was finishing her taco. The restaurant was busy, and I couldn’t help but notice that I was the only foreigner there. I had a beer, then paid our bill, and we headed out.

Where to next? We were on the seldom-visited far side of town, and there is a small bar there named Dempsey’s that I’d only been to a couple of times. So we popped in. No one else was there, and the duties of bartender, waitress, and cook were all being performed by the same person.

A cozy little place, the music was good, and they served XL beer. I’d likely visit more often if they were more conveniently located. I’d heard rumors they would be closing soon, but who knows?

After a couple of beers, we moved on down the highway and visited another bar we hadn’t been to in over a year: Cloud 69. The last time we were here, the music was blaring so loud we couldn’t have a conversation. As we prepared to enter, we agreed we’d turn around and walk out if we didn’t like the noise. Thankfully, that was not the case. Our old waitress friend Sheryl was working and was very happy to see us again. So, we plopped down at a table and had a nice time. A couple of other gals joined us, and I bought a round of lady drinks (more reasonably priced at 190 pesos) and shared some chat. A good conclusion to our night out, and Cloud 69 is back on our list of places to go.

From the January 2022 LTG archives, I post memories of my mother on the 11th anniversary of her passing. Time marches on, but we never forget a mother’s love.

Today’s YouTube video is an evening walk through Barretto. I was amused to see, at the 1:15 minute mark, my friends Joy and Ace from Hideaway Bar standing on the street. The video also shows some of the places I was at last night, and other hangouts I frequent. Anyway, it’s a bit longer than it needs to be, but it gives you a feel for the town, including the notorious traffic on the National Highway. Hell, just speed up the playback if you want.

And let’s get the daily jokes out of the way:

Alright, time to finish packing my shit for the two day getaway to the beaches of Pundaquit for our monthly “get outta town” trip. A change of scenery always does me good.

A nice sunny morning made for a pleasant Sunday Sweets Street Stroll.

Swan spent the afternoon helping a friend celebrate her birthday. I baked a batch of brownies and pulled them out of the oven right at beer o’clock. Then I headed for some fun in Barretto. As I was leaving Alta Vista, the thought occurred to me that perhaps I’d forgotten to turn off the oven. Swan wasn’t home, and I didn’t have any way to contact my helper who lives downstairs. Shit. I decided to play it safe, so when I reached the trike stand, I had the driver take me back to the house and wait while I checked the oven. It was off. My brain ain’t what it used to be, but better safe than sorry. So, back in the trike, I had him take me to Shamboli’s Pizza and wait while I ordered a pizza for delivery. Then it was back on the highway, where I got dropped off at Hideaway.

Joy and the other gals were very surprised to see me back, and I was given a warm greeting. Visiting Hideaway had been part of my Sunday routine for years, until I’d finally had enough. I returned yesterday to say hello again. And goodbye, because the bar isn’t going to be around much longer, at least in its current iteration. Owner Griff is back in the UK for medical reasons, and the lease runs out in December. I doubt it will last that long. But at least they had the San Miguel Extra Light beer I prefer.

Back in the day, I always had food delivered during my Hideaway visits. So, the girls were delighted when the pizza arrived.

I dispensed some cookies and lollipops before saying goodbye and heading up the road to my new Sunday hangout, Red Bar.

Swan joined me at Red Bar when her party time was done, and we had some quesadillas and pancit delivered from Foodies for us and the crew. We did our nightcap at Red Square (formerly Jumpin’ Jacks), and as I expected, the former staff had been replaced, and the vibe there was just not the same without them. I’m not saying I won’t be back, but it will no longer be part of my Sunday routine.

Finished our drinks, and then we were homeward bound. And so ended another day in the life.

Back to the January 2022 LTG archives, and it seems the only way I learn in life is the hard way. But I’m not a quitter, and given another chance to pursue a love relationship with Pearl, how could I say no? In my defense, she was like no one else I had met, and win or lose, I thought she was worth it. Obviously, I lost. But at least I tried.

Today’s YouTube video talks about the misconception that the Philippines is cheap to live in. Well, it depends a lot on how you choose to live. I’m paying a little over $600 a month for my comfortable house with a view inside a gated subdivision. Beer has gone up, but it is still under two bucks a bottle. Dining out costs more these days, too. Still, the meals I enjoy here for ten dollars would cost at least twice that much back home. I shop at Royal, and a lot of the imported items (like cheese) have gone through the roof. More and more, I just take a pass on the overpriced stuff. Bottom line, I’m living far better here on my pension than I would elsewhere.

Me me me me me me. (that’s the equivalent of three memes.)

And now it is time to prepare for today’s Hash Run.

Leech My Nuggets is the Hare, and he shared the map of his trail with me. It starts near the end of Rizal Extension, climbs up to the Kalaklan Ridge, then back down in Barretto. It’s a pain in the ass getting to the start, but I’m going to try to find a trike with enough horsepower to get me there. I’ve been missing the views from the ridge for quite some time, and by golly, my intention is to make it to the top and shortcut from there as needed. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow, assuming I survive.

Another day full of sunshine yesterday.

It was a good morning for doing the Decay Dance, and off we went.

Swan elected to start our evening at It Doesn’t Matter. It was surprisingly empty for a dry Saturday evening. It was still pleasant enough having the patio to ourselves, and we ordered some food to snack on from the kitchen and shared it with the girls. Then we moved on to Wet Spot and it was busier than I’ve seen it in quite some time.

When we first arrived, a youngish-looking guy was sitting at a table surrounded by bargirls- must have been a dozen of them- and he was buying tequila shots for them all. I suspected he was a newbie, and my waitress confirmed he was an off-duty sailor. I was thinking to myself the guy ought to have a wingman with him, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. When the drink bill came, he got up and walked out with a girl on each arm. He was back a few minutes later after hitting the ATM outside. He paid for the drinks, then went out the side door that leads to the hotel with three girls. I asked my waitress if he was doing what I thought he was doing, and she confirmed that he was taking the gals for a “short-time” romp. Wow! I wondered what that was going to cost him, but after a few minutes he walked by again and went out the front door. I’m thinking, damn, that really was a short time. Turns out, he needed to raid the ATM once more, and soon enough, he headed back upstairs with a big smile on his face. I’m sure he had a night he’ll remember in those lonely moments at sea.

Well, even in my wild days, I was never quite that wild. Again, I hope he didn’t get taken advantage of, but it’s his money, and you only live once. For some reason, I just recalled the words every Filipina said to me the first time we made love: “Ouch!” “Oh, shit!” “Already?”

It is now New Year’s 2022 in the LTG archives, and by golly, I made it to midnight. Barely. I was still dealing with the sadness of losing Pearl, but accepting the reality that it just wasn’t meant to be. So, I found some comfort with my bar friends and tried to move on with my life, such as it was.

Today’s YouTube video discusses the issue of whether foreigners are safe in the Philippines. There have been some murders recently in other parts of the country, but honestly, I never feel threatened around here. I guess it just takes once if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time or if you piss off a local by making them lose face, but I still feel safer here than I would back in the USA. My doom is much more likely to come by taking a misstep while hiking up in the hills or getting squashed trying to cross the National Highway here in Barretto.

Humor me:

And so it goes. After two and a half days with no rain, we just now got hit with another shower. Looks like I’ll be bringing an umbrella with me when I head out this evening.

Something amazing happened yesterday…it didn’t rain all day! So, the Friday hikers (all three of us) headed for the hills. It was nice to be wet with sweat for a change.

Swan had some errands to run, so when beer o’clock arrived, I made my way out to Baloy Beach and didn’t even bring my umbrella with me. Champs Sports Bar at the Baywatch Resort has new ownership (the same owner as Whiskey Girl, Crazy Horse, Voodoo, Tryst, and BarCelona), and I wanted to see how things looked since my last visit more than a year ago.

Two beers (no XL, sadly) later, Swan messaged that she was on her way, so I went downstairs to meet her.

We decided to visit the Foxhole Resort and maybe enjoy some birria tacos. Alas, the former Myleen’s chef wasn’t working, and the tacos just aren’t the same without him. But anything is better than nothing, so we placed our order anyway, only to be advised that birria was out of stock. Alright, fine. Make it chicken quesadillas then. The waitress returned and said, no chicken, only beef. Whatever. They were still good. My bartender friend Norman wasn’t working last night, but I also knew his replacement, Bernadette, from her days at Mango’s. Turns out, Swan knew her too from back in high school. So, they had fun chatting away in Tagalog while I sipped my beer (no XL here either). Still, a pleasant enough visit to the Foxhole.

When it was time to move on for our nightcap, we caught a trike to take us to Queen Victoria. For the first hour, we were the only customers and enjoyed the usual nice chat with manager Jake. And then a couple of youngish-looking guys came in, sat at a table, and were soon surrounded by just about every gal in the bar. And yes, they bought them all a lady drink.

Thanks to people like those guys, the girls make some drink commissions, and the bar might even break even for the night. I’m always glad to see it.

And that was how my Friday played out.

Some disturbing news this morning. Swan showed me a video on Facebook of a man on the ground in front of Rum Jungle being treated by paramedics and loaded into an ambulance. She asked if I knew the guy. I was shocked to see it was Gary! He’s not responded to my messages, but someone told me he was back in his apartment now. Scary shit. I don’t know how to post a Facebook video here, but here’s link to it.

Continuing with the December 2021 LTG archives, the journey with my new love has become a rollercoaster ride. It’s actually been painful reading and reliving those moments. If you are a glutton for punishment, here are a couple of examples: A Whacked Wednesday and Revelations. The recurring theme is that an asshole I called Dick was trying to win Pearl’s affections. His methods included attempting to undermine me with her mother by spreading lies about me. In the end, he succeeded. No, he never got Pearl’s love, but she did end the relationship with me. Months later, Pearl’s mother apologized to me for what happened. I forgave her.

Today’s YouTube video is a short from the Filipina Pea. Yes, I’ve had the pleasant experience of seeing the wild side of Filipina revealed once she is behind closed doors. But I’ve also had my share of starfish. Still, you don’t know what you’re getting until you try.

I could use a little humor in my life, how about you?

And that’s about as lame as it gets. Until tomorrow.

And now a radical Muslim is the mayor of NYC. And another terrorist sympathizer who thinks the USA deserved the WTC attack is running for the Senate. We’ve come a long way, haven’t we? I’m old and will likely be dead when the real shit hits the fan, but you never know. Here’s the post I wrote on the twentieth anniversary of that fateful morning. I was working in DC that morning and felt the Pentagon attack in an up-close and personal way. It changed me and put me on the path that led me to work for the US Army in Korea.

I’ve also been remembering to honor two of the heroes of 9/11 every year:

May all those Americans who perished that day rest in eternal peace.

I’m a long way from my homeland here in the Philippines, and the life I’ve chosen to live goes on. Yesterday had some unusual elements, including a morning without rain. We took advantage of that rare opportunity to undertake an umbrella-free hike.

Another unusual happening yesterday was me making up a batch of my Aunt Pat’s World Famous Fruit Salad. It’s been quite a while since I’ve done that, and the inspiration was finding a bag of flaked coconut at the Royal Supermarket. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it in the Philippines, which is weird, because coconuts grow wild here. In the past, I’ve had to use diced fresh buko (what they call the coconut innards here) instead. It’s okay, but not as sweet, and the purpose of the coconut is to sweeten the salad.

We caught another break in the rain late in the afternoon, which made the walk into town more pleasant than usual. We parked our butts at Sloppy Joe’s and enjoyed the street-view ambiance. Across the street, the new Voodoo Bar was preparing for its grand opening, and at the appointed hour (6 p.m.) we headed over for a looksee.

I was shy about taking photos, but everything inside is new and fresh. The CR has a single toilet and no urinal, which is a little unusual for a male-oriented bar. The bar’s interior is on the smallish side and features a pool table near the entrance, six customer tables, and a stage in the middle. The stage is smallish, but they had six gals crammed on it, and they were all slender and fairly attractive (which is a rarity these days). They also had a bunch of waitresses/GROs, and I couldn’t help thinking that even if all the tables were full of customers, the girls would still outnumber the menfolk. I’m not sure how this arrangement will impact profit margins, but maybe making money isn’t important to this owner, who has now purchased seven bars in the notoriously slow Barretto bar market.

So, I’m going to refrain from judgement until the bar has been up and running for a while and I’ve visited again. That said, my first impression was poor. I was hoping for something like the old Green Room vibe (Jim, the Voodoo manager, used to manage the Green Room), but alas, it comes off as just another girly bar. Sadly, they elected to play crap disco music at high volume, one of my pet peeves. As I say, I’ll give it another chance, but it doesn’t appear to be my kind of place.

Oh, the dancers were good and actually dancing. So, I knew they weren’t first-nighters. Jim told me they all moved over from the Lux Bar, which closed down on Saturday. Now, I didn’t visit Lux often, but it was definitely better inside (larger, more comfortable seating, nicer ambiance) than what I saw in Voodoo. So, Lux couldn’t stay in business with all those advantages. I’m not sure how Voodoo will do better. But as they say, when one bar (door) closes, another bar (door) opens. Good luck with that!

We had our nightcap at Rum Jungle (the former Green Room). It was odd, but after my time at Voodoo, Rum Jungle was better than I remembered it being. The biggest difference I noticed was the music. Even with dancers on stage, they saw fit to play songs suited to the bar patrons. Yeah, we are a bunch of old fuckers who like music from the 70s in our 70s, but we’re spending the money, so cater to our tastes, damn it! I wound up splurging during our visit, buying three gals (waitress, GRO, mamasan) two lady drinks each. Hey, I was in the mood!

Then it was time to head for home and a heaping helping of my Aunt Pat’s recipe fruit salad. Yep, I’m a lucky bastard.

Moving on to December 2021 in the LTG archives, and me and my new love have hit the first bump in the road in our relationship. Alas, there were more bumps to come, and the woman I thought was perfect for me didn’t share that feeling towards me. The thoughtful comments on that post meant a lot to me back then, and I enjoyed re-reading those words of wisdom today. Coincidentally, she was in the parking lot at 7/11 with her new flame this morning and didn’t even acknowledge my presence. Time moves on.

Today’s YouTube video shares ten shocking cultural differences foreigners discover in the Philippines. Yeah, I’ve experienced them all, and I’m glad to be here.

Time for a smile or three:

Okay, I’ll stop now. We’ve had a nice break in the weather so far today. Let’s see how long this one lasts.

Okay, this is the song “Only Time” by Enya. It’s beautiful on its own, but it is especially moving with the 9/11 background photos. The pussies at YouTube don’t want your feelings to be hurt, so you have to watch it there. Go ahead and give it a click to remember the day we’ll never forget.

Not a lot to say about what was yesterday, so let’s get it over and done with, shall we?

First up was getting the weekly grocery shopping done, and I did. Five thousand pesos were spent at YBC supermarket, mostly for the contents of the goody bags we hand out on the candy walks. Then on to Royal to restock the cabinets, and another eleven thousand gone forever.

Ten days and counting now with no running water at the house.

It rained all day again. As I suspected, this season has been unprecedented. Here are the August stats for Olongapo City:

Yesterday’s downpour didn’t even have the courtesy to let up some for my beer o’clock walk into town. I went anyway, but the wind pretty much rendered my umbrella ineffective.

We did our nightcap at Wet Spot and had the usual good time. Then back home for some strawberry-banana smoothies to bring a sweet end to the day.

From the November 2021 LTG archives, I was experiencing a different kind of sweetness with my new love. We were off to a good start!

Today’s YouTube video shares the vlogger’s experience exploring Manila. I despise that city and avoid it to the extent possible. Intramuros does look interesting, and I wouldn’t mind exploring it one of these days. BGC and Makati, the upscale districts, are nice enough, but a bitch to get to in the notorious Manila traffic. Anyway, it was nice to see his experience as he explored the city.

I have a (funny) bone to pick with you:

What a long, strange trip it’s been. It’s all groovy, and I’m gonna keep on truckin’!

Today is my firstborn’s birthday. It was 51 years ago that fatherhood found me and changed my life forever. I told that story here if you want to read all about it.

In other news, this happened yesterday morning:

So, we took advantage of the pause and were good to go for the Sunday Sweets Street Stroll.

Things got better again late in the afternoon, so the walk to Red Bar didn’t require the umbrellas.

The other part of our Sunday evening routine is a nightcap at Jumpin’ Jacks. Last night may well have been our swan song. The new management has brought in their own crew, so we were saddened to learn that our old pals were on their last night at the newly renamed Red Square Bar.

I did put in a word for them with the manager of the soon-to-open Voodoo Bar, so hopefully they’ll be reemployed soon.

Needless to say. we splurged on lady drinks as a going-away gift for the gals. And I reckon I’ll be looking for a new Sunday nightcap hangout. Voodoo might work.

And that’s the tale of how my Sunday went down.

It’s the end of October 2021 in the LTG archives, and I’m thinking about possible next steps. My “friends with benefits” program wasn’t working out as planned, and I was crushing big time on a special woman I had met recently, which made me question my decision to live a loveless life. Two quotes in that post aptly define my internal conflict:

If I had been born a woman I would certainly have been a prostitute. Since I had been born a man I craved women constantly, the lower the better. And yet women—good women—frightened me because they eventually wanted your soul, and what was left of mine I wanted to keep. Basically I craved prostitutes, base women, because they were deadly hard and made no personal demands. Nothing was lost when they left. Yet at the same time I yearned for a gentle, good woman, despite the overwhelming price. Either way I was lost. A strong man would give up both. I wasn’t strong. So I continued to struggle with women, the idea of women.

Charles Bukowski

Man, Bukowski, also a former postal worker, and I had a lot in common when it comes to women folk. Then there is this one from one of my favorite writers:

“Like attracts like. Just be who you are, calm and clear and bright. Automatically, as we shine who we are, asking ourselves every minute is this what I really want to do, doing it only when we answer yes, automatically that turns away those who have nothing to learn from who we are, and attracts those who do, and from whom we have to learn, as well.”

Richard Bach

What a long, strange trip it’s been.

Today’s YouTube video is another one of those short dramas (this one is five minutes long) that I find enjoyable to watch. Most likely because they appeal to my ever-shortening attention span.

Time out for some humor:

And now another Hash Monday is upon me. Guess what, the rain is back in full force once more. Still a couple of hours before we hit the trail, so hopefully things will calm down some by then.

Oh, well. At least I won’t be sweating.

Once again, it was too wet to get out about for most of the day yesterday, which meant no Decay Dance this week. It sucks to be stuck inside all day. Of course, when beer o’clock beckons, there is no stopping me. Fortunately, there was only a light rain during my journey into town, and my umbrella provided adequate protection.

First stop, Sloppy Joe’s. This is one of the few bars in town that seems to be holding its own. Several big-screen TVs showing a variety of sporting events are one draw. They were also having a pool league match during my visit. Me, I’m content to just sit on my stool and take in the street view and passersby.

Three XL beers later, I was ready for some grub and decided to visit Sit-n-Bull. Someone had posted a picture on Facebook of the SnB pulled pork sandwich, which triggered my desire for one.

Alas, Sit-n-Bull doesn’t stock XL beer for some odd reason (they used to have Zero back in the day), so I made do with a San Mig Light.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go next, so I just moseyed down the road to see what impulse might strike me. I briefly considered Cyclone, but rejected the idea. Nipsey’s was closed for some reason, and so I ultimately decided I couldn’t go wrong with Queen Victoria. As I walked in, the bartender informed me that XL was out of stock. I guess it is getting popular. Manager Jake said he’d tried to get some off the San Miguel truck and from a local beer distributor, and neither had any available. Weird, why introduce a new beer and then not brew enough to keep the bars supplied? Oh, well. Take a deep breath, relax, and accept the Filipino way. San Mig Light for me, then.

The beer situation notwithstanding, I did enjoy my visit. Some big spender was there, playing darts with a group of gals and buying them all drinks. It was kind of fun to watch, even though none of them had any talent for the game. Then the guy rang the bell (3500 pesos), providing a drink for all the ladies working. Good on him!

I was ready to move on, but not ready to call it a night, so I paid the rare visit to SnackBar. They at least had some XL beer available for me. I sat with one of the waitresses I’ve known over the years, and of course, provided her with a lady drink. The owner, a former love of mine, was at the next table chatting with a customer, but she did at least welcome me this time. Two beers for me, and I was done. A trike stand right next door made getting home a breeze. And so ended another rainy day.

My new housekeeper, Swan’s sister Cyrene, is going above and beyond the call of duty. I was impressed to see how she has decorated the foyer at the front door of my house:

On with the October 2021 LTG archives, and today is a two-fer. I did this post about firing one of the participants in my “friends with benefits” program due to her constant begging outside the scope of our helping-each-other encounters. A few days later, I did a follow-up post responding to criticisms that I had just given a new name to what amounted to old-fashioned prostitution. Sex was honestly not the intent, although admittedly, it turned out to be a byproduct. My needs were for companionship, and that could be satisfied in ways that didn’t involve sex (hiking, massage, etc.). In return, I would help with some of their financial needs. The real purpose was to stop the incessant begging, and in that regard, the program admittedly failed.

Today’s YouTube video is something I posted on Facebook 13 years ago. It’s as funny now as it ever was. Perhaps one of the best pranks ever. I especially enjoyed the pissed-off reactions of some of the victims when they found out the joke was on them. Worth the two-minute watch, trust me.

We’re on a roll, so let’s keep the humor coming:

We’ve gotten a bit of a break today. Still some occasional showers, but I was able to get out for a stroll this morning. Felt good! Rumor has it we might not have water for another two weeks because they can’t fix the pipe until the river recedes.

Oh well, it is what it is, and that’s all I’ve got to say for today.

We’ve been in the red weather-wise, which is why I’m in a rut—no hikes for two straight days now. I miss being out and about. But at least today’s post will be brief since I have little to bore you with.

Me being me and all, I still managed to make my way into town to celebrate beer o’clock. I began my journey at It Doesn’t Matter.

That’s Tony sitting there on the right. He’s not doing so well lately. He’s trying to get back to the UK for treatment. Hope things turn out for him; he could barely move yesterday. We had to help him into that chair.

Three XL beers later, I crossed the highway and climbed the stairs to Cheap Charlie’s. Was greeted by Gerlie, my new favorite CC waitress, and I invited her to join me for a lady drink. Had a nice chat. She’s in her forties with three kids, but she carries herself well. Enjoyed bullshitting and sharing some laughs with her.

Cheap Charlie’s had a decent crowd, considering the weather. Even some guy there with a bakla (ladyboy) “girlfriend.” I honestly have no issues with how someone chooses to identify. Pretend to be a woman if you want; just leave me out of it.

I did my nightcap at Alaska, and I was the only customer. Owner Jerry is still out of the country, and the vibe when he isn’t around is not as fun. Still, there were two attractive enough dancers on the stage, the beer was cold, and the music and service were good. No complaints.

And that was my day.

From Facebook memories: an old postcard from my girlfriend Gail. When’s the last time you’ve seen a postcard? Or someone writing in cursive?

I’ve moved on to October 2021 in the LTG archives. In this post, I talk about the existing drinking establishment varieties as a prelude to beginning a series of reviews of all the bars in Barretto. The first review was for Redz Pub at the Arizona Resort. Redz shut down for good several months ago, and Arizona will be closing its doors in two weeks. Lots of memories there, but times change.

Today’s YouTube video is based on my favorite short story by Ernest Hemingway, “A Clean Well-Lighted Place.” It’s only fifteen minutes long and worth the watch. Or read it here if you prefer. I first read it in one of my literature classes as a young man, and for some reason it really resonated with me. And now, all these years later, I’ve become a similar old man to the one depicted in the story. Funny how that works.

Today’s daily dose of humor:

I’m not sure when we are going to catch a break in the weather. I’ll contemplate that over some cold beers later on and see if I can figure it out.

As I live out this final chapter of my life, sometimes I need to take a step back and take time to reflect on the blessings that have been bestowed upon me rather than bitch and moan about the parts that are less than ideal. One thing I am thankful for is my overall good health. Yeah, I get the aches and pains that come with old age, but I’m no longer suffering from the breathing attacks that tormented me a couple of years ago. My blood pressure is the lowest it’s ever been (consistently in the 1-teens over low 70s). Once I complete my quest to lose the excess poundage, some of the other risk factors will be reduced as well. I see a lot of my fellow expats who can barely walk, so even my ability to do my easy hikes is something to be appreciated. Whatever the future may bring, I’m going to do my best to live in the moment and be grateful for all that I have.

Yesterday’s Wednesday Walkers group hike was special in its ordinariness. We did a mostly flat, mostly paved trek from the Subic Market to Waltermart, totaling almost 7K. We carried umbrellas, but miraculously never had to open them. The downpours resumed within an hour of our completion of the journey, so we were fortunate in that regard.

In other “news,” my housekeeper, Jane, has decided to pursue other opportunities. I wish her well in those endeavors. So, now I have a new employee:

I’ve been impressed by her performance thus far. Here’s how she rearranged the clutter that used to occupy the top of my bedroom dresser:

So it rained almost all afternoon, but like magic, it let up at beer o’clock, and we made it into town without using our umbrellas.

It wasn’t long after we arrived that the latest deluge commenced:

We finished the evening at Rum Jungle and Wet Spot. And another wet day came to an end.

Oh, and I may have been a tad overoptimistic about how San Miguel XL would help me sleep through the night.

Sad news from Dumaguete:

In the September 2021 LTG archives, I recount a couple more occasions where I invited women to join my “friends with benefits” program. Honestly, looking back on those days now, I feel embarrassed by my behavior. But as I explain in the post, it was a defensive mechanism to the almost constant onslaught of money requests from women in need. So, my rationale was that both of us have needs; let’s make a mutually beneficial arrangement. I did come to find these kinds of transactional relationships to be unfulfilling, and I’m not proud of that phase I went through. Still, it’s part of The Story of My Life”, good and bad.

Today’s YouTube video is from an expat vlogger talking about his experience with this unprecedented rainy season. I’ve been here going on nine years now, and it is the worst I’ve seen. These past couple of days have been more “normal”–still lots of hard rain showers, but with periodic breaks in the storm. At least that way the flooding is greatly reduced.

How about these:

And now I’ve gone and done it once again. Time to get out and make the best of whatever time I have left. Thanks for reading as I make my way through this journey of life.

Nothing much to say about my yesterday. We had our driver pick up our freshly showered bodies at the Anbon Hotel and headed into the city for grocery shopping. Stopped by the BPI ATM to withdraw some cash, and my card was rejected. There was a “fraud alert” email from my credit union when I got home, saying the withdrawal was suspicious activity and I needed to contact them to unblock my account. This is the second time they’ve done this in the past month, and it is getting old. I sent a message telling them it was a legit transaction, but so far, no response. It’s a good thing I’ve found an alternate way to transfer funds from my account using Wise. Anyway, that was about as exciting as things got around here.

Still no running water in our subdivision. So, we are flushing toilets and washing with water in buckets.

No idea how long this water outage will last. The water company posted this today:

Meanwhile, there is still plenty of water falling down from the skies. At least it is coming in intermittent showers now, which is helping to reduce the flood issues.

We caught a break in the rain when we made our trek into town at beer o’clock. We kicked off our evening at Sloppy Joe’s. Swan saw a gal she knows walking by and invited her in to join us. She used to work on the Arizona floating bar, which is long gone now, but she will be starting to work for the new owner of Champs Sports Bar on Baloy Beach soon. The owner is the same guy who has recently purchased several other bars in town. So, by my count, he now has Whiskey Girl, Crazy Horse, Tryst, Barcelona, Champs, and the soon-to-be reopened Voodoo Bar and General MacArthur’s Bar. That’s more bars than customers in most bars. But if you have more money than sense, why not? It’s been said that the easiest way to become a millionaire in the Philippines is to start with two million. Still, I wish him well. Weather permitting, I may venture out to Baloy tomorrow to see what Champs is like under new management.

We shared a pulled pork sandwich and chicken quesadillas from the Sloppy Joe’s kitchen. I liked the quesadilla best. I also downed six San Miguel Extra Lights (XLs). They go down smooth and easy, and at only 3% alcohol, I wasn’t even buzzed.

And we weren’t done yet. We headed down the road to Queen Victoria for our nightcap. Alas, they were out of the red wine Swan prefers, so she had a Mai Tai cocktail instead. I mentioned to manager Jake that he needed to restock, and he disappeared. Came back about 30 minutes later and said he’d gone to two different markets and couldn’t find any. Wow. It wasn’t my intent for him to do that, but that’s the kind of manager he is. And he wasn’t done yet; he sent his bartender out to another local market to continue the quest for a bottle of wine. Impressive!

I’m, of course, drinking more XL. On Tuesday night, Queen Vic has a “buy two, get one free” deal. When I’d finished my free third beer, Swan still wasn’t done with her first drink, so I ordered another. Then another. And that earned me my second free beer. As crazy as it sounds, I still wasn’t drunk. But I didn’t push my luck and called it a night. Always a good time chatting with Jake and enjoying the Queen Victoria ambiance.

I’ve also noticed that when I’m drinking XLs, I stay out a little later than I usually do. I can only empty a bottle so fast after all. Oddly enough, the residual impact seems to be that I’m sleeping better.

Well, I’m going to have to continue to assess the positive aspects of drinking XL. I’ll let you know how that works out.

From Facebook memories on this day in my history:

From the September 2021 LTG archives, a typical day-in-the-life, including a hike and a barhop. It stands out for me because things I took for granted are no more, like enjoying a chat with the now-deceased Dave Fischer and getting my weekly fix of Korean chicken wings courtesy of John Kim’s The Pub, both of which no longer exist. Life goes on until it doesn’t.

Today’s YouTube is something a little different: why it sucks to be born a Filipino. I think maybe the biggest difference between being born poor here versus in first-world countries is that there are fewer opportunities to escape poverty. I wonder how Dolly Parton would have fared had she been born a Filipina.

Humor time:

And that’s all I’ve got for today. It’s pouring down rain again, but beer o’clock will not be denied!

As bad as the weather has been for the past few weeks, yesterday might have been the worst day overall. Heavy wind-blown downpours that were, for the most part, unrelenting. And as bad as yesterday was, so far today has been worse. All the long-time expats I’ve talked with agree this has been one of the roughest rainy seasons they’ve seen.

At least I’m above it all here in Alta Vista. Lots of other folks are dealing with flood waters inside their houses.

Throughout the day, I confined myself to quarters, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be a prisoner under house arrest when it’s time to enjoy beer o’clock. We did an umbrella walk through the deserted streets of Barretto and, for the most part, were able to avoid the ponds that had formed on the uneven roadways.

We decided to hit Cheap Charlies first and take advantage of the Foodies dining option. We were the only customers, and so we fed the six bored gals working some fried chicken and pancit. I shared an order of chicken quesadillas with Swan. As we were eating, the skies opened up, and torrents of wind-blown rain forced us to retreat to the bar seating.

As the storm outside continued raging, we stayed longer than we normally would. Once the rain lightened up a bit, we headed downstairs and discovered the streets were flooded.

So, we made it as far as Annex Bar without getting too wet and popped in. They actually had a few customers. A couple more XLs, and the flood waters had receded, so we crossed the highway and had a nightcap at It Doesn’t Matter. Then we headed home in a trike and made it without incident.

Another day stuck at home, and I’m worried about the difficulty I may encounter tomorrow when I try to finish scouting and marking the Hash trail. If it keeps raining like this, chalk and powder are going to be useless. We shall see.

So, all the bars are now stocking the new brew, San Miguel Extra Light, aka XL.

And also in the good news department, I haven’t had to deal with tampo lately.

Facebook is burning up with photos and videos of local flooding.

I was just thinking, at least the power hasn’t gone out. Oops! It just did. Fuck.

Continuing the journey through the August 2021 LTG archives, I got bit by the love bug again. And just a few days later, I got a brutal reminder that love is just a four-letter word. Well, at least I tried. And no money changed hands, nor was there physical consummation of the “relationship”. Maybe that’s progress.

Changing it up a tad for today’s YouTube video with a little WWII history. Japan knew they couldn’t win a war with us, but they started one anyway. Here’s why:

Yep, here we go again:

That’s all I’ve got. Man, oh man, I hope we catch a break in the weather soon. But yeah, I’ll be escaping the house again later today regardless.

Oh, well. I’ve got nothing but time on my hands.

Today is my birthday, but we’ll talk about that tomorrow. Assuming I live that long. Still dealing with wet weather, but it is less intense now and more typical of what you expect during rainy season. So there’s that. The Wednesday Walkers convened and set about undertaking a 6K street walk. Here is some of what we saw along the way:

We kicked off the birthday-eve celebration at Harley’s on Baloy. They had my new favorite San Mig Extra Light in stock, so I was off to a good start. Next up was Mango’s for our traditional grilled pork chop dinner. They hadn’t heard about Extra, but now they have. Hopefully it will be in the fridge on our next visit.

I messaged the Jumpin’ Jacks manager to ask about the rumors of the bar’s demise. She responded that a new management team was taking over, but she had not been informed whether she and the current staff would be retained. I asked if they were going to be open tonight, and she said that they were. So, I said we’d come by later.

We popped into the seldom-visited Annex Bar on our way to Jumpin’ Jacks. Hasher Fast And Loose is the bartender there. And by golly, they had some cold Extra waiting to be enjoyed. Looks like I’m gonna have plenty of venue options for drinking extra lightly.

On to Jumpin’ Jacks for our nightcap. And yes, my manager friend had secured the San Mig Extra I had requested on Sunday. Woo-hoo! So, we had our usual good time soaking up the ambiance and enjoying the always nice music. Hopefully, not for the last time. The former manager at Thumbstar is going to be taking over, and Jumpin’ Jacks will be renamed Red Square. The perfectly fine current interior will be remodeled to accommodate a stage for dancers. Yeah, just what we need in Barretto. Anyway, I passed on my advice that they keep the current music playlists and let the dancers move to that. I fear the current good vibe is doomed, but if the bar isn’t currently making money, I understand the effort to draw more customers. Good luck with that.

And that was the way I spent the last day of my 70th year.

Maybe I’ll still be alive in 2028 to witness this:

And here’s a memory from my racist past:

Moving on to August 2021 in the LTG archives, where I share a post about what passes as a bad day in the Philippines. Yeah, I bitch and moan about minor medical-related frustrations, but compared to what the locals deal with every day, I’ve got nothing to complain about. Oh, and my “friend with benefits” Joy crossed a line, and I terminated the relationship. Looking back, perhaps I was overly harsh, but then again, at least I’d learned to apply Rule #1 (don’t be a sucker).

Today’s YouTube video offers a brief history of Luzon Island. And by brief, I mean less than four minutes. That suits my ever-decreasing attention span.

These never get old:

Last year I had the biggest birthday bash of my life, thanks to Swan. This year is going to be a lot more laid-back. So laid-back, I’m not sure what I’ll do to celebrate as yet. I’ve got a pretty good hunch beer will be involved, though. Hopefully Extra!

“Age has no reality except in the physical world. The essence of a human being is resistant to the passage of time. Our inner lives are eternal, which is to say that our spirits remain as youthful and vigorous as when we were in full bloom. Think of love as a state of grace, not the means to anything, but the alpha and omega. An end in itself.”

― Gabriel García Márquez, Love in the Time of Cholera

I always love seeing those other 70s I lived through.