I was feeling lazy yesterday morning, and I blame that on Friday’s overexertion. I overcame the urge to say fuck it and skip my daily hike and instead confined myself to the neighborhood for a relatively leisurely 5K stroll.

I was feeling hungry when I arrived back home, and Swan happily prepared some lunch for me.

I had a dinner date scheduled with Tom and his gal Kate later in the afternoon. I had invited them up to enjoy The Rite Spot On the Roof after our meal. So, I did some final preparations in anticipation of their arrival last evening.

Tom is retired from the CIA and still does security consulting in the Philippines and other parts of Asia. We hold similar viewpoints on the disaster our elites are imposing on the USA, and he has lots of stories to tell about the things he’s seen and done (nothing classified, of course). And we’ll leave it at that to protect his privacy. When he arrived to pick us up for our dinner on SBMA, he informed me that he had been contacted by one of his clients and had scheduled a meeting with him after our dinner. So, the Rite Spot will have to wait for another day.

All that food plus three beers came to a whopping 2100 pesos (40 bucks). Only in the Philippines!

After dinner, Tom dropped Kate and us off at Wet Spot while he went on to take care of business. Looking forward to having them up on the roof one day soon.

We went home and watched “Shameless” until I fell asleep on the couch, went to bed, and woke up to another day in paradise. And the wheel in the sky keeps on turning.

My immediate future includes the Sunday feeding at Hideaway and a sunset on the Arizona floating bar. Back tomorrow with a full report.

Today’s song is something a bit different. A friend sent me this video of a singer who goes by Skuzz Twittly. I’d never heard of him before, but I found the song hilarious. Yeah, it’s “Cuntry” music, but it lasts less than three minutes and is worth the time. Give it a listen:

Yesterday was another milestone on my journey to find domestic bliss. It looked like this:

And when beer o’clock came around, something strange (for me) happened. I felt no desire to go hit the bars in town. Why should I when I had a beer in the fridge and a rooftop to enjoy them on?

Later, I went back downstairs for another dose of “Shameless.” I woke up in the wee hours as usual and noticed the moon had completed its journey to the front side of my house.

Anyway, I enjoyed my stay-at-home night, and I will make some room for more in the future. It was a very nice change of pace, that’s for sure.

A LONG hike today and I’m feeling a little wiped out, but I’m going to try and do the SOB. Or not. We’ll see. It’s good to have options!

I’m going to do an unrelated song for today in honor of Melanie, who died yesterday. I wasn’t a big fan like I am with Ronstadt, but she was talented and lived a good life. RIP.

Last night we attended the birthday party for Dr. Jo’s husband, Chris. The party was held at the Pinatubo Brewery in San Marcelino. I’d heard of it, but never been, so I was looking forward to the visit.

When I arrived, I jokingly asked the waitress for a San Miguel Zero. She told me I’d have to go to the 7-11 store for that. Obviously, the only beers on offer were those brewed in the building. And although I am a consummate consumer of beer, I am not a connoisseur. Hell, I don’t even know the difference between a pilsner and a lager. Serious beer drinkers deride my usual preferences as “making love in a canoe” (both fucking close to water). Hey, to each his own. So, last night, I was faced with six locally brewed options with no clue as to where to start (the bar did offer a taste of each in a shot glass, but that seemed pointless to me–you haven’t had a beer until you’ve finished the bottle. Chris suggested I try one of his favorites, The Golden Nectar Pilsner, and that’s where I started.

I wanted to do a lager next to see if I could discern any differences from the pilsner, so I did a Crown Lager. It was good, but I couldn’t say that I liked it better than the Golden Nectar, so I had another one of each to help me make up my mind. Chris dropped by to check on my progress and suggested I try one of the dark beers. I said, I don’t like dark beer, and realized how racist that sounded. So, I checked my white privilege and ordered a Dark Angel Lager.

As time went on, I began to feel those pangs of hunger.

Like the beers, I wasn’t sure what I should order. When I was a kid growing up in Southern Cal, there was a fast food hot dog chain named Der Wienerschnitzel. So, I ordered the Wiener Schnitzel from the menu. Fool that I am, I was expecting a hot dog dish. This is what I got instead:

So, I’m a big fan of open-air bars with a view, and the Pinatubo Brewery provided that. And as an added bonus:

Anyway, I really enjoyed hanging out at the Pinatubo Brewery last night. I mentioned to Chris that the owner should put up some small cottages to rent for a night for out-of-town guests like me. Another idea I had was that the owner could open a brewery branch in Barretto, and I know just the spot–Subiza! That resort needs a reason to exist, and if they offered freshly brewed craft beers in the open-air setting on the bay, I think it would be a big hit.

Chris and Dr. Jo picked up the tab for everything last night–all the beers and all the food. I’m sure that was a pretty penny for them and much appreciated by their guests. I gave the four waitresses a big tip to thank them for all their hard work serving us. Good times!

The other part of my Friday was the group hike in the morning.

Six years ago I was doing a river hike in Pyeongtaek.

Sometimes, life can be a beach. It was yesterday for me.

It began with walking Swan to work at the Subiza Resort on Baloy. Then, I did a beach walk before returning home.

I had plans to meet Swan at the end of her shift so I headed back to Baloy at beer o’clock. I’ve been wanting to get a feel for how I might like Harley’s as a regular venue for imbibing.

I had three or four beers at Harley’s and decided to change things up, so I headed over to McCoy’s.

I chatted with the owner about hosting a Hash On-Home. She was interested but asking for 65 pesos per beer. I told her the most the Hash could pay was 55, and she agreed. We will have our first McCoy’s On-Home on February 26.

Then it was time to head over to Subiza and check in with Swan.

Subiza was totally devoid of customers at 7 p.m. Swan says there was only one person before I arrived. I have no idea how they stay in business. Or if they will. It had been years since my last visit, and other than Swan, I’d have no reason to return. It’s a nice venue with lots of potential, but I’m not seeing any effort to attract visitors.

I asked Swan if she wanted me to order us some food, and she responded, “Let’s eat somewhere else.” Hmm, maybe she knows something about the kitchen I don’t. So, when she got off work we walked up the road to that new restaurant in town for some takeout.

I fell asleep watching “Shameless” again, but all in all, the day was beachy keeno. I’ll have to do it again one day soon.

I’m off this afternoon to a birthday in San Marcelino. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Yesterday’s big adventure was my weekly shopping excursion to the Royal supermarket on the old Navy base. For no particular reason, I decided to document the trip and share it with you here. You are welcome!

But there is more to a Tuesday than shopping alone. There is also drinking to be done, and when beer o’clock rolled around, Swan and I walked to Baloy Beach for our weekly visit to the Kokomo floating bar.

When we departed the floater we headed to Treasure Island for some dinner.

It was a nice night out.

I hope there are no spelling errors in this post. You can’t even trust a dictionary these days, it seems:

Some things are better left unshared:

Sadly, this is a real thing:

Don’t worry, I’ve still got the Star Trek memes to share.

I reckon that’s just about enough for today, don’t you?

I usually do a street stroll for my solo Saturday walk, but yesterday I had a hankering to hike the My Bitch trail one last time this year. And once again Swan surprised me by offering to join me. This was especially nice because I get a little nervous alone up in the hills. I just can’t seem to stop my mind from thinking about all the trouble one false step could get me into. Anyway, it’s good to have a companion along on the trail.

It was a pleasant 5K stroll, and Swan seemed to enjoy it. She joined me again this morning but cautioned it was for the last time—this year. Fair enough.

Swan has been joining me for my nighttime activities as well, but advises she’ll be seeking employment in the new year so she is taking advantage of the opportunity to spend time together while she can. I usually leave the house around four and she joins me around six, so I still have time out alone. Last night I hung with Chris and Shyrel at Sloppy Joe’s.

When Swan arrived, I was ready for some dinner. We went to Mylene’s and sat down to order. The waitress advised that the kitchen was swamped with orders and it would be thirty minutes before our meal could be prepared. I didn’t want to wait, so we said next time and got up to leave. The owner apologized, but hey, I appreciated the heads up and was glad they were doing such good business. Oh, and Mike, the fellow WHS grad I met on Friday, was eating there—small-town life in a small-world scenario.

Plan B was Jewel Cafe, a couple of blocks further up the highway. And by golly, right after we sat down, the waitress advised the kitchen was very busy, and it would be thirty minutes before our food would be prepared. It seemed the fates had ruled against dining out with my girl on a Saturday night, so we went to Wet Spot instead. I did order an enchilada from Sit-n-Bull while there, but eating in a bar isn’t as appealing as it might sound.

I may have had a beer or two over my limit and had a misunderstanding (alright, I was a dick) with Swan after we arrived home. I apologized this morning, and we are back to normal again.

Facebook memories reminded me of my hill climbing in Korea six years ago.

I’ve resolved to make no resolutions for the new year.

In life, you have to be yourself–everyone else is already taken.

And my last Star Trek joke of the year:

Okay, that’s it for this year.

A morning valley walk and a pleasant evening eating and drinking at my next-door neighbor’s place. And I’ve got the pictures to prove it!

Gary came back later and gifted me a case of beer. Said he felt guilty drinking mine without reciprocation. Thanks again!

I fired up the oven and prepared some stuff to share at the cookout party next door.

There were no leftovers, so I’ll take that as a positive sign they turned out good. (The flies liked them for sure!)

The guy seated on the right also lives in Alta Vista and is currently in the early stages of building a house on my old street, Shenandoah Bend. But the coincidences didn’t end there. As we became acquainted, it turned out he also grew up in Southern California. When he mentioned he graduated from Westminster High School, I about fell out of my chair. So did I! His name is Mike Smith, and he graduated in 1966. I finished in 1973, so we didn’t attend together. Still, we shared memories of the local haunts and hangouts in our neck of the woods. He was professionally involved in the music industry and talked about many of the famous bands he worked with. I’m not sure what the odds of meeting a fellow WHS Lion in the PI might be, but it must be astronomical.

And then the music box turned into a videoke machine. That’s usually not to my liking, but the volume was kept at a reasonable level.

It was nice to stumble on home when my night was over. A little too drunk to do anything but go to sleep, but it was a nice change of pace to take a night off from the bars. Swan wants to get one of those music machines for our rooftop, so I reckon there will be some drunken singing in my future. Nothing wrong with that. Unless you’re my neighbor. But I’ll fix that by inviting him to join us.

So, I’m taking a break from the Star Trek humor today.

I guess that’s just about enough for now. I’ll post tomorrow, but then I’m taking a break from blogging until next year.

Uh-huh, uh-huh.

As days go, yesterday was a good one. Swan told me she was going to go to Olongapo to look for a table and chairs for our rooftop. I suggested she check out Waltermart in Subic instead. Then I said, “Let’s walk there,” and she surprisingly agreed. So, off we went.

Swan says she’s never walked that far before, and she was pretty wiped out when we were finished. Kudos to her for making the effort. We’ll see if I can get her out again sometime in the future.

I called my driver to carry us and the furniture back home. I also had him stop at Barretto’s newest eatery so we could grab some lunch.

I guess I must hate myself if this meme on Facebook is to be believed:

After our healthy meal (Swan had chicken), we carried the new furniture up the stairs.

Swan rested most of the afternoon, and I headed out at beer o’clock for Cheap Charlies. I enjoyed some cold liquid refreshment, and then I moseyed over to John’s place to meet Swan for some dinner.

I was planning on getting a pulled pork sandwich, but as I perused the menu, the Philly cheesesteak called out to me.

We did our nightcap at Alaska Club, bought some lady drinks for our waitresses, then called it a night.

And then I woke up to another fine morning.

It’s Friday, but I won’t be going out tonight. Got an invite from the guy next door to join them for a cookout and it didn’t seem neighborly to decline. I’ll be bringing a batch of brownies and some cornbread muffins as my contribution to the meal. And beer, of course.

Hope to see you back here tomorrow for another update.

And hopefully plenty more to come. Here’s how the Eve of Christmas Eve went down.

It should come as no surprise that my day started with a hike. Saturday is one of my solo days, but I did change the trail I walk for variety’s sake, and it turned out to be a pleasant 8K jaunt.

As I am wont to do, I finished my hike at Sit-n-Bull to grab some lunch to go.

When it was time for me to head into town for my imbibing ritual, Swan said she would join me later when she finished a kitchen project (yes, she is a good cook, too.) I hadn’t visited Cheap Charlies in a while, so I started there.

I, of course, bought my two regulars, Alma and Nerissa, a lady drink. And I gave them both a generous “Merry Christmas” tip when I departed. I had seen my neighbor and fellow Hasher Simon (Leech My Nuggets) on the rooftop of BarCelona, so I decided to join him there for my next beer.

I hadn’t noticed that Simon’s wife was with him, but they graciously allowed me to join them at their table.

Swan joined me at BarCelona and met Simon and the wife, who is also a Hasher. Swan will be attending tomorrow’s special Christmas Candy Run, and I’m looking forward to having her there.

After a couple more beers, I was ready for a change of scenery, so we moved downstairs to Alaska. We were the only customers when we arrived, and as I sometimes do, I rewarded the eight dancers on stage for their efforts with a 50 peso tip. My regular waitresses also joined Swan and me at our table for a drink.

I’m happy that Swan gets along with the bargirls and doesn’t display any signs of jealousy or the like. I’ve told her she is always welcome to join me when I’m out in the bars, but if she would rather not, I’m totally fine with that, too. Swan says during Christmas break, when she has no tutoring duties to perform, she wants to spend the time with me. Ain’t that sweet?

We did our nightcap at Wet Spot and treated Aine and Irene to a lady drink before departing for home.

And now it is Christmas Eve. In Filipino culture, this is a bigger day than Christmas itself. Families gather together and stay up until midnight to celebrate the birth of Christ. Swan will be spending the night with her family in Subic. I was invited to join them, but that’s really not my thing. I’m sending a batch of brownies in my place. I’m going to maybe invite them here to my place for a New Year’s Eve celebration.

I’ll be attending the Hideaway Bar Christmas party this afternoon and will, of course, be conducting the regular Sunday feeding.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

What are those Star Trek dudes up to today?

Back with more tomorrow!

Only me and Gary showed up for the Friday group hike, but we put in our steps with a pleasant walk through Matain, Calapacuan, San Isidro, and Santo Tomas. Here’s some of what we saw along the way:

A healthy start to the day. How did it finish? Like this:

I began my Friday evening with an invite to the Alley Cats bar for their Christmas party. It’s been a while since my last visit, and there has been an almost complete turnover in staff. The same owners and the dart players were all familiar, so catching up with folks was nice. The party was supposed to start at five, with a tournament at six. I knew I wouldn’t be participating in dart action, so I planned to meet up with Swan when I left Alley Cats. Alas, there was a delay in the food prep, and folks didn’t start eating until six, so I bailed out on the best part of the party. I did at least contribute a batch of brownies to the mix.

Swan messaged that she was with some friends at BarCelona and asked that I meet them there, so off I went.

After a couple of beers with the group, my missing the food at Alley Cats began to invade my thoughts in the form of hunger pangs. I suggested to Swan that we pay our tab and give Mugshots a try. And that is just what we did.

I’m a very infrequent visitor to Mugshots, even though it is a nice venue with a good kitchen. We ordered up fried chicken wings and buffalo wings. Both were quite tasty. Once again I was surprised that the bar staff, waitresses, and owner all greeted me by name. I mean, it’s nice to be recognized, but a little disconcerting for some reason. Anyway, no other customers during our visit, which doesn’t bode well for a Friday night. Hopefully they did better later.

As is our custom, we headed for home after Mugshots and arrived around 8:30. I caught an episode of “Shameless” then hit the hay.

Oh, speaking of “Shameless,” my fellow traveler Scott sent me a clip from a Season 9 episode (I’m only on Season 6) featuring the late Bob Saget remembering his Navy days in Subic Bay. It’s hilarious and is worth the three-minute investment of time:

And now it is Saturday. I began the day with a hot cup of coffee and this view from my desk:

We shall see what the rest of Saturday holds in store. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

And a bonus pun:

I was going to use Jackson Brown’s “The Road” for today’s song, but discovered I’ve used it before. So, here’s another old favorite from the days of my childhood listening along with my daddy’s record player.

There wasn’t much about yesterday that will make it memorable, mostly just more of the same old, same old. A boring 6K solo street walk to start the day, lasagna for lunch, a blog post, and a nap. My plans for the evening included visiting Whiskey Girl to wish my favorites, Jenn and Kim, a merry Christmas. I also baked up a batch of brownies to share with the crew.

Whiskey Girl doesn’t open until 6:00 p.m., so I sat my ass down at Sloppy Joe’s to wait it out.

My pal Chris and his gal Shie were there, so I had some company I didn’t have to pay for. Chris got control of the music remote and asked what I wanted to hear. I recalled that the forty-first anniversary of the death of Marty Robbins had recently occurred, so I suggested we play one of his songs as a tribute. Judging that the Sloppy crowd might not appreciate old fashioned country western music, I selected a more mainstream tune, “Don’t Worry”:

The song is from 1961, and my father was a big Marty Robbins fan. I still remember him coming home from work, putting an album on the record player, opening a beer, and sitting back in his easy chair to relax and enjoy the music. It’s funny the things you remember from your childhood when some days it’s hard to remember your name.

So, beers were drank, music was played (I also requested some Doors songs), and time passed. A few minutes before six, I headed up the highway to take care of my business at Whiskey Girl. I arrived a couple of minutes early, but the sliding steel door was still closed and locked. Some guy did arrive on a motorbike right at six to open the door, but since none of the staff were waiting to get inside, I knew it was pointless to pursue the effort.

Meanwhile, I got a message from Swan saying she was going to meet Aine at Wet Spot at 7 p.m. Apparently, Aine had asked to “borrow” some money, and Swan had consented to accommodate some, but not all, of the request. What Swan does with her money is none of my business, but we both know it is unlikely ever to be repaid. Anyway, with my Whiskey Girl plans foiled, I told Swan I would see her at Wet Spot.

I arrived at Wet Spot and put my “buy one, get one” coupon to work. I bought Irene, my waitress, a lady drink but when Aine approached the table, I told her Swan would be arriving soon, and she took the hint and departed. When Swan got there, Aine came back, but then one of her regulars arrived, and I was more than happy to have him buying Aine’s lady drinks all night. I used my savings (and a 10% discount coupon) to order dinner for me, Swan and Irene for delivery from Sit-n-Bull. The brownies I’d baked were shared with all the girls and seemed appreciated. We drank until a little after eight, Swan slipped Aine the “loan” in the CR, and we departed for home. I watched another episode of “Shameless” and then enjoyed a good night’s sleep.

As I say, there was nothing special about the day, but nothing wrong with it either. As far as I remember anyway.

My buddy Scott provided me a map of the portions of Kalaklan Ridge that we have Hashed in the past.

I also seemed to recall that a group that had hiked from Barretto to Angeles City (80K) had used the Kalaklan Ridge trail. Turns out my memory was mostly faulty. They went thisaway:

This YouTube video of that adventure is a good watch:

The days when I had the physical ability to tackle a hike this are just a memory now.

In checking for title duplication, I came across this post from 2007 telling the story of my boss’ death and the obituary I wrote. Not all memories are happy ones.

Speaking of memories, Facebook let loose an onslaught of them today:

Time moves on, and perhaps one day, I will look back at the memories I’m making now.

And I didn’t forget your Star Wars Trek pun:

Alright then, it’s time to leave the past behind and get on with the rest of today. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow!

This is my last best opportunity to post today, so let’s get to it. Luckily, there isn’t much to say. The early start is dictated by my participation with the Wednesday Walkers at 0830 this morning, to be followed this afternoon with the rare dart league appearance. Yeah, I got drafted to fill in again. Haven’t thrown since the last time I was asked, so I’ll likely live up to my nickname of “better than a forfeit.” We shall see.

Yesterday saw me complete my grocery shopping chore, supplementing my Royal experience with a trip to Pure Gold as well.

I also finally made a successful ATM cash withdrawal. Speaking of which, I visited the BPI bank branch where the ATM didn’t dispense any money, but my US bank account had the funds withdrawn. I assumed it would be an easy fix (just show me the money), but it doesn’t work that way. There was “complaint form” paperwork to complete and an investigation to be conducted, and if my complaint is validated, the money will be returned to my account “in two weeks.” Ironically, I had an uncle who was a bank robber. Never expected the bank to rob me, though.

My lazy afternoon included beginning Season 6 of “Shameless.” I’m sticking with it even though the show is seemingly all about sex, booze, and drugs. Hmm, I guess I just answered why. But seriously, despite its repetitive plot lines, the underlying stories keep it interesting.

And then me and my gal hoofed it out to Baloy Beach to spend some time on the Kokomo floating bar.

When we first arrived, there was only one table of tattooed drunks, but the music was blasting at insane levels, and I was thinking this was going to be a short visit. But they departed before I downed my first beer, then the volume went down, and the song selection improved. Go figure.

Swan drank red wine, I had San Mig Light (about three bottles per each glass of wine), and we soaked up the on-the-water ambiance as we passed the time.

We enjoyed dinner at D’Kudos, then caught a trike for home. Life is good!

Yesterday featured another fruitless quest for cash, a Hideaway feeding, and some quality time spent floating on the water. Yep, just another day in the life here in my version of paradise.

I don’t know if it is related to the enhanced breathing, but I’ve been feeling a tad more energetic of late. Hence, when contemplating my Sunday solo walk, I was willing to make the perilous journey on the National Highway to SBMA (the old Navy base) in an attempt to extract funds from the ATM at Harbor Point Mall. It had been quite some time since I’d walked this route because the heavy traffic and narrow shoulders made it less enjoyable than most of my hikes. Still, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. Coincidentally, Facebook memories reminded me of a walk I did three years ago where I took a photograph every one thousand steps. That may have been the last time I used that technique (nowadays, I use the 1.6K method), so I thought, why not give it a shot this time?

Ready? Here goes:

So, I get to the ATM at the BPI bank branch, insert my card, punch in the numbers, the machine makes the usual whirring sound as it counts the money, and then–nothing. A receipt comes out saying the cash could not be dispensed. I turned the machine over to the person waiting behind me and wished them good luck. I waited to see what would happen, and her transaction went through. Okay then, I’ll try again. She suggested I only withdraw 10,000 pesos, so I gave that a try. Nope, no dice. What’s up with that? So, I got home and checked my bank account, and it showed 30,000 pesos in ATM withdrawals. It seems BPI withdrew my funds and then didn’t dispense any money to me. Hopefully, they will self-correct the error; otherwise, I’ll visit the branch tomorrow.

Frustrating, to be sure, but nothing to be done but make the best of it. I did that by paying a visit to the Burger King inside the mall and having myself a meal.

I briefly considered walking back home, but I took a taxi instead. These are unmetered taxis, so I always ask the fare first, and when the driver said 500 pesos, I told him I usually only pay 400 and started to get out. He came back with 450, and I said okay. When I arrived home I gave him a 500 peso note and told him, Merry Christmas, keep the change.

Later in the afternoon, I baked a batch of brownies for the Hideaway girls and had their desired meals delivered from Jewel Cafe.

I left a little earlier than usual so I could enjoy the sunset from the Arizona floating bar.

The floating bar was very busy when I first arrived, and once again there was a large group of free spenders having a good time. I guess I was either remembered or putting out a vibe, because none of the unoccupied girls wasted anytime trying to extract lady drinks from me. Didn’t matter to me, I had company on the way.

We stayed until dark, then headed ashore. Had a nightcap at Oasis, then triked home for some smoothies and a little Netflix entertainment. I’ve been sleeping better, too–over seven hours a night the past few days.

And now it is Hash Monday. The trail is in Subic, and I’ve already been involved in the scouting, so I know what I’m in for. I’m going to take the easy route and avoid the jungle I encountered on Friday’s hike.

See you all tomorrow.

A 10K walk to Subic town and back was pretty much all I had in me, but I got it done. Well, everything except the purpose of the walk:

I did take note of a new eatery nearby:

I finished the walk at Sit-n-Bull and brought home an El Padre burrito as a reward for my efforts, fruitless though they proved to be.

The highlight of the evening hours was dinner at John’s place with Swan.

I’ve had worse Saturdays, that’s for sure.

I guess you have to give credit where credit is due, but Biden is doing the work of three men.

Hmm, why didn’t I think of that?

Anyhoo, another quest for cash this morning. I’ll share that adventure tomorrow. I also have the Sunday Hideaway feeding ahead of me, and I’m thinking a return visit to the Arizona floating bar might be just what I need. Stay tuned!