Category Archives: Travel

Roughin’ it or wussin’ it?

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A swingin’ Valentine’s Day.

The long day’s journey into night began with a 7 a.m. pickup by our driver, Bong. The first stop was the gas station to fill up with 2500 pesos’ worth of fuel for the trip. Then we met fellow Hasher Beth (BF’s Wet Spot), loaded her camping gear into the car, and were ready to hit the road. I put the destination into my Google Maps app, and we were on our way.

It was an uneventful drive until we reached the end of the expressway. Google told us to go one way and driver Bong wanted to take the route to Baguio he was familiar with. I told him, “up to you,” and we proceeded his way. Normally, the map apps recalibrate to follow the chosen road. Not this time. The Google voice kept telling us to turn around, so I knew something was wrong. I advised Bong that since we weren’t technically going to Baguio City (the venue is actually in Tuba, Benguet), we should go the way Google wants us to. That turned out to be the right call. I spoke with a Hasher who went the other way, and it took him an additional 2.5 hours due to heavy traffic in Baguio.

I’ve always been fond of mountain drives and enjoyed many journeys in the Rockies and Sierras when I lived in the USA. That said, I don’t recall a more narrow, twisty-turny, steep route than the one that took us to our final destination. The excitement was heightened by blind-corner passing, necessitated by idiots who parked and blocked one of the two lanes. It was both a beautiful and a scary ride, but Bong got us there alive.

There were also a couple of impressive tunnels we passed through on the way up, including this one-lane version.
Destination achived!
We arrived at 11:30 and things were still being prepared for the afternoon Hash gathering.
We pitched a tent for Beth and one for Bong.

I opted to stay in a kubo instead of a tent.

My lodging for the night. Don’t let looks deceive you.

That’s kubo #2 (out of three units). Inside, there are FOUR separate rooms, two down and two up.

Looking through the kubo’s front door, you can see two of the rooms. I was thankful to be in the lower room, but later, maybe not so much.
Inside our “room.” I’ve seen bigger walk-in closets. And that thin mattress pad was better than sleeping on the ground, but not much.
I can’t say we weren’t warned.

Oh, there were two toilets behind our kubo, shared by the four guest rooms. The toilets didn’t flush, so you scooped buckets of water into them until the nastiness went away.

Also, the kubos weren’t at the campsite; you had to walk down quite a few steps to get to them. I didn’t count how many, but I was sweating bad when I walked back up to camp.

This photo is from the campsite. That red car down there is parked across the road from the kubos.

But the worst part of the kubo experience was the noise. I swear, every time the person sleeping upstairs from us rolled over on the bed, we could hear the bamboo loudly creaking through the floor. And whoever it was did a lot of tossing and turning throughout the night. All in all, a tent with an air mattress would have been preferable.

Oh, and speaking of noise, someone at the campsite was doing karaoke until one in the morning or so. Luckily, we were far enough away that it didn’t bother us much. I mean, it couldn’t drown out the creaking floor from upstairs. Bong, in his nearby tent, said it kept him awake.

I guess this rule doesn’t apply when the Hash has rented all the space.

Anyway, enough bitching about the minor shit like accommodations, we came for the Hash! We were checked into our room a little after twelve. A Hash lunch was scheduled for 1:30 with the trail due to begin at 2:30. So we had some time to look around.

Loved the signage on the bar.
Swan had a swingin’ good time.
A little bit further up the hill was an actual motel-like room. Wish I’d known about that beforehand. It was already booked by a LUH3 Hasher, of course.
Looking back down at the campground.
Hey, good lookin’!
Beth, Swan, and Bong at the campsite. Bong wasn’t a Hash participant, but we’d packed plenty of food and beers for him to help pass the time.
Other arriving Hashers setting up camp. I understand there were thirty tents, all told.

I was surprised to see that food delivery was available up here (presumably from Baguio), but at the appointed time, a motorcycle rider pulled up with twenty boxes of pizza. Each Hasher was afforded two slices, and I ate mine in due course.

And then right before the Hash run was set to begin, this happened. Yep, those clouds are full of raindrops.

I was really on the fence about the Hash trail. There was no “easy” trail available, and the Hare assured me that shortcutting wasn’t possible either. On the plus side, the trail wasn’t long (around 5K), but on the flip side, it was steep downs and ups the entire length.

Last-minute guidance from the Hare, Booked Up. Well, fuck it. I came to Hash. Let’s go!
We began by going down the super steep road leading to the campground. With each step, I was dreading the thought of hoofing it back up here at the end of the trail.
And oh yeah, it was still raining.
The view from here.
Time for a pee break.
After a kilometer or so on the highway we came in on (all downhill), we got off the pavement and continued our downward journey. You don’t see any other Hashers because we were bringing up the rear by a long shot.
That path took us through this pigsty, and then into the jungle.
Damn, this down was a lot more difficult than I’d bargained for.
But the up was so much worse!

And then, when we got to the top, the trail almost immediately headed back down through the jungle. Fuck that! I could see some nice houses and figured there must be a road to reach them, so the search was on. And by golly, we found not only a road, but the actual highway leading back to the On-Home campground. Better yet, it was part of the Hash trail. I consulted Google Maps just to make sure, but we were on the road to success. Which, of course, is always uphill. Also, I’m a master shortcutter!

And then we got passed by the female Hasher known as Front Running Bitch (I don’t think that’s her actual Hash name, but she is consistently the first LUH3 Hasher to finish the trail.
That relentless uphill highway walk totally kicked my ass. And when I was faced with that long, hard climb back up to the campground, I had to sit down and contemplate options.

And I decided to call Bong to come down and pick me up. Yeah, I’m not proud of it, but I was wiped out.

Much harder than it looks. At least it was for me

Back in the safe confines of the Hash On-Home, I do what most Hashers do after a grueling trail: I opened a bottle of beer, sat down, and waited for dinner to be served.

The burgers hot off the grill were muy bien!
Hungry (and thirsty) Hashers filling the void.
The rain stopped, but then the fog rolled in. I figured the sunset I was hoping to enjoy was doomed.
But the horizon did clear up some a bit later.
And we got to see some color.
I was seeing red by the time it was done.

La Union Hash Circles are much more mellow than the ones in Subic, and that’s fine with me. We all pulled up our chairs around the bonfire and enjoyed the comraderie.

Flame on!

I stuck around later than usual, hoping the beers would help me sleep through the night. As I mentioned earlier, they didn’t. I slept in bits and pieces, eventually giving up around 6 am. We packed our gear and headed up the stairs to the campsite.

The morning view from in front of our kubo.
And a morning campsite view. You can barely make it out on the mountainside, but that’s as close as we got to Baguio this trip.
Here, let me zoom in on it for you. Of course, that’s only a small portion of the large city of Baguio.

Bong and Beth were up and about shortly after we got to the campsite. The Hash breakfast wasn’t scheduled until 9, so we packed up our gear, said our goodbyes and thank-yous, and headed for home. Google Maps unsurprisingly took us back the same way we came.

Going down the mountain, I thought to myself, those rock retaining walls wouldn’t keep a vehicle from plummeting over the edge into nothingness.

And if that happened, you would never land.
We were above the clouds.

And now I’m back in Barretto safe and sound. Feeling tired, though, for some reason.

So, dear readers, I’ll leave it up to you: Did I rough it, or am I a pussy? At least I lived to tell about it.

I’ll get back to the usual posting BS tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by.

Time to rePhil

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Live large instead.

Greetings from the Philippines. I made it home safe and as sound as I ever was, although getting here was quite the adventure. Assuming stress equates to adventure, that is. Living it was probably more interesting than retelling it here, but when has boring ever stopped me?

A morning view from the Haian Beach Hotel’s third-floor restaurant.

Up early and packed, a final complimentary breakfast, then down to the hotel lobby to check out, a call for a Grab car, then headed for the airport. Our Vietnam Airlines flight from Da Nang to Saigon (sorry, I’m old school, no Ho Chi Minh for me) was scheduled to depart at noon, arriving in Saigon at 1:30. Our connecting flight to Manila left at 3:45. I was a little nervous about that because there was little margin for error. It is what it is, and as Swan kept reminding me, our mantra was “Be Positive.”

So, we arrived at the Da Nang airport a comfortable two-and-a-half hours early. The check-in counters all had long lines, and I walked the length of the lobby looking for the one serving our flight. The signage was in Vietnamese, and I assumed the words were the names of destinations. I didn’t see any for Ho Chi Minh, but the last station said “all other destinations,” so I joined that line. A few minutes later, I noticed that the airline for this line was Viet Air. Shit. Yeah, I’m that dumb these days. So, we went back to the Vietnam Airlines section and took our spots at the end of the line. Oh, well. At least we were there early and had plenty of time.

When it was finally our turn to be served, I handed the agent our passports and flight information. She noted that our connection to Manila was with a different airline (Philippines Air). I acknowledged that and asked whether our bags would be checked through to our final destination. “Sorry, sir, that’s not possible.” Okay, so that means when we get to Saigon, I’ll have to retrieve my luggage from baggage claim and recheck in with Philippines Air. And then the agent told me, “You’ll be arriving in terminal three, and the connection is in terminal two.” Okay, how do I get to terminal two? You’ll have to take the airport bus. Shit, that two-hour window between flights was looking more and more insufficient. I guess the Vietnam Air agent noticed my distress. She put “priority tabs” on our luggage so that they would be offloaded early when we landed. Then she changed our seats to row twelve near the front of the plane so we could exit as quickly as possible. Hey, every minute saved helps. We thanked her for the assistance, then made our way through security and arrived at our gate more than an hour before boarding time.

I checked our gate at 11:30 and was distressed to see that no plane was there yet. I didn’t see any way they could deplane arriving passengers, get those of us waiting on board, and take off on time for our scheduled noon departure. When the plane finally pulled into the gate a few minutes later, it was empty. That helped, and Vietnam Air had us all aboard in time for a departure that was only 10 minutes late.

Let’s get this show on the road, er, in the air!

An uneventful flight, and I kept checking my watch to see if we would arrive as scheduled at 1:30. If wheels on the ground count as arrival, we made it on time. And then the fun began. Our plane taxied for several minutes before coming to a stop. Except we weren’t at a gate, one of those portable stairways was rolled up to the door for us to exit. Damn it, that means there is a bus ride to the terminal ahead, so much for being moved to the front of the plane.

Getting off in Saigon.

The bus was uncomfortably packed to the gills (standing room only) before we finally departed for the terminal. I swear to God, that was the longest airport trek I’ve ever been on. From our parked plane, we travelled to the other side of the airport, and had to occasionally wait for passing airplanes to clear. It took almost ten minutes to reach the drop-off point. When we entered the terminal, we were in the baggage claim area, which was a relief. And then, in a first for me in a lifetime of air travel, we saw a Vietnam Air representative (a damn attractive one to boot) holding a sign with two names on it in English: mine and Swan’s.

She welcomed us in broken English and advised that she would be happy to assist us in getting to our connecting flight. Man, I really appreciated that! She walked with us to the baggage carousel, and our luggage was indeed amongst the first to arrive. Then she walked us to where we could catch the bus between terminals, but suggested we consider taking a taxi instead, since that was the quickest way to get there. Let’s do it! She took us to the taxi stand, and we thanked her for her help. The taxi driver wanted 250,000 dong ($9.50) for the ride, which seemed like a lot, but then he said it was a 6K ride. WTF? 6K between terminals? Fuck it, let’s go.

Wow, what a ride. We exited Terminal Three, drove through crazy Saigon traffic, and finally arrived at the Terminal Two drop-off point. Paid the driver, grabbed our bags, and made a dash to the Philippine Airlines check-in counter. Luckily, I had done an online check-in, so I was able to be at the front of the bag drop-off line. The agent promptly checked our bags and issued our boarding passes. Then she asked how long I’d be staying in the Philippines. I know you have visa-free entry to the PI for the first 29 days, so I told her I would be departing on February 16. Where to, she asked. I knew that was coming, so I pulled out my phone and showed her my e-ticket to Hong Kong for the 16th (the throwaway ticket cost me $16 at OnwardTicket.com). She punched in the numbers, and we were free to go. Yay! We made our flight!

Oh, except we still had to go through immigration and security. I had visions of my immigration nightmare upon arrival, but this time everything went smoothly. But, oh my, I’d never seen a longer line to get through security. That extra cushion of time I thought I had quickly evaporated. When we finally got through and redressed (shoes, belt, watch, pockets), we made a dash for our gate and heard the “last call” announcement. We answered, “We’re here!” and boarded.

And we had a very pleasant flight with Philippine Airlines. A whole row of seats to ourselves, a tasty snack, and two free beers! Well done!

That gal I traveled with.

We landed 30 minutes ahead of schedule, went through immigration without a problem, claimed our bags, and went out to find our driver. The traffic outside the terminal was insane. And Swan couldn’t reach her friend Bong (my new driver since Danny’s departure) on the phone. I suggested we move to the far end of the arrivals concourse, which was less crowded, and we’d be more easily seen there. Sure enough, Bong saw us and walked over. He went to get the car he had parked somewhere, and then minutes later, we were on the final leg of our journey home.

Traffic is notoriously bad in Manila, and apparently, on Friday nights, everybody wants to get out of town. Bong handled it as best he could, and we plodded on, finally arriving at the place I call home a little after 11 p.m. Yep, that was a LONG day for me, but it went a lot better than it might have, especially if we’d missed our connection.

Coincidentally, it was a mere 21 years ago that I took a journey that changed the rest of my life forever.

That’s the bird that carried me from DC to Seoul for my first adventure in Asia. As things turned out, I never went back “home” to stay.

And from the October 2016 LTG archives, this post gives my assessment of Thailand after the first scouting visit as a potential retirement destination. As I have said, there are many paths in life to choose from, and we never know what might have been. Unless we get a do-over.

Since I’m back in the Philippines, let’s check in with the Filipina Pea for today’s YouTube video. I’m not sure I’d want to survive a zombie apocalypse, but just in case, here goes:

I’m not funnier now than I was in Vietnam, so take these as you will:

That’s a golden oldie.
It appears someone stole the ability to spell thief as well.
I’d rate this one an X.

And a Saturday night in Barretto is on the horizon. Will all the bars seem new again? Only one way to find out.

Nice to see you again!

Day fifteen, ending scenes

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Vacation is over, but I’m still alive. Just sayin’.

Not much new to experience on my last day in Da Nang, so we just went with the flow and did the things we enjoy here. We had the amazing breakfast buffet at the Haian Beach Hotel as usual to start our morning. Then we embarked on a walkabout that wound up being almost 10K, which is LONG by my low standards. Said farewell to the familiar scenes and saw some things for the first time. After a well-earned nap, then came some city nightlife that included a new bar and a favorite restaurant. We finished our evening on the roof of the hotel we stayed at last year, taking in the views from a 40th-floor perspective (the Haian tops out at 22 floors).

Here are some highlights:

On the road again.
Saying our goodbyes to the Han River.
Another river view.
Signage that caught my eye. Love the name of this place under construction, even though I no longer have any need to hate Mondays. Well, unless the Hash Hare sucks.
I zoomed in to read the fine print. Apparently, it’s a popular restaurant in Saigon owned by a Korean chef. Perhaps I’ll have the chance to visit in the future should fate bring me back to Vietnam.
This is a gated subdivision called “Euro Village,” which I assume is an expat enclave.
I hadn’t intended to cross the river, but what the hell, who knows when I’ll have another chance to do so.
There’s such a thing as too much water for a tree.
Taking the roads less traveled on the way back to the hotel.
We went thataway.

First stop on our evening out was at our favorite beach bar, Maia.

They had a new DJ playing the music.
Some girls have all the luck.

Then we made our way to a place the owner of the 501 Bar had mentioned:

An Irish pub. We sat outside, of course, but the place had a nice vibe—dart boards and pool and a pretty good crowd.
Swan and I both got a kick out of this: Red Horse is a very popular brand from the Philippines. Filipinos love it because it is strong and cheap.

When itis your last night in Vietnam and you are hungry, where are you going to eat?

An American diner named Fly Burgers, of course.
I gave their pulled pork sandwich a try, and they got it right! Better than any of the Barretto versions I’ve had.
Swan got the chicken nuggets. I had them on our previous visit, and they are the best I’ve ever tasted.

So, with our hunger satisfied, we wanted to get high.

Forty floors high to be precise.
Looking down on Da Nang.
The angry sea.
The other side of town. See those black hills in the distance? Those are the Marble Mountains I posted about.
Goodnight, Vietnam!

It’s been an interesting fifteen days. Things didn’t always go according to plan, and I suffered a loss I’m not ready to talk about, but no regrets for having experienced this adventure.

From the October 2016 LTG archives, I write about getting lost in Pattaya. In some ways, Pattaya is like Da Nang, but it is a much wilder town full of girly bars. Da Nang is much more my style. I’ve been back to Pattaya since that first trip for some Hash adventures, and there is much more than the bar scene to enjoy.

For today’s YouTube video, I’ll share a walking tour of all those now-familiar places I’ve seen with my own eyes.

And before I go:

That’s what friends are for.
Honey, you won’t be pretty anytime soon.
Yeah, real life can be funny sometimes, too.

And now it is time for me to get ready to fly. Da Nang (DAD) to Saigon (HCM) to Manila (NAIA), Take off at noon and arrive in the PI at eight o’clock tonight, assuming things stay on schedule. I’ve arranged for a driver to take us back to Barretto, so hopefully, I’ll wake up tomorrow in my own bed. Looking forward to getting back into my routines again.

Day fourteen, in between

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Be careful what you wish for; you could have wound up dead.

Yesterday is over, and tomorrow I fly, so that makes me in between, right? As much fun as we’ve had, Swan and I agree that two weeks is too much. From having to lug around big-ass suitcases to running out of new things to see and do, it just makes more sense to stay less and do more with each day.

Anyhow, when we reviewed the list of things to see and do in Da Nang, we had already done all of the ones we wanted to do. So, we just stayed in the neighborhood and walked about, taking it all in. We found a new place for lunch, then visited our favorite beach bar again. The big excitement of the day was not being able to log in to my blog. I could still access LTG on the ‘net, but I couldn’t perform my admin duties like writing new posts. Yeah, maybe someone’s prayers had been answered. Anyway, I contacted my blog host, and after an hour or so, they found a solution. And here I am again with the kind of content you’ve come to know and loathe love.

A Da Nang streetwalker.

We planned to go back to the 501 Bar, which we had discovered the night before, to give their food menu a try. Alas, they weren’t open for lunch. Along the way, I had spotted a place that featured “American BBQ,” so we retreated there for our lunch.

Authentic American sandwiches, you say…
…yet you spell “fovourites” like a Brit.
I’m always up for a good pulled pork sandwich. I’d rate this one average at best.
My side of coleslaw was even more disappointing. There’s more to slaw than chopped up cabbage.
Swan said her wings were dry and appeared to have been frozen when put in the deep fryer (still pink around the bone).

Oh, well. We knew we had some authentic barbecue in our future — our dinner plans were for Dirty Fingers.

A brief visit to Maia for some beach views…
…then we headed back to the hotel.

I took a nap and finally got my blog access restored, then we showered up and headed out for some dinner at Dirty Fingers. It’s a couple of kilometers’ walk to get there, but that only enhances the appetite.

We passed through a mini-Koreatown along the way.
Don’t ask me…
…I haven’t got a clue.
A kiss for luck and we are ready to order.
A heaping helping of grilled meat platter.
A closer look of our dinner for two.

Service was outstanding, and the food was as good as it looks. If I lived here, I’d be a Dirty Fingers regular for sure.

We decided to hoof it back to the 501 Bar for our nightcap. Owner Karl wasn’t there last night, but we still had an enjoyable visit.

This neighborhood would suit me as an expat.
But we both agree, Da Nang is a nice place to visit, but we wouldn’t want to live here.
Talk about street food, this guy set up his grill literally in the street. He appeared to be doing pretty good business, and no one got run over.

Oh, and I’ve switched to Google Maps to find my way around. Just for shits and giggles, I checked out an alternative route home:

That’s at least an hour too far.

The map app did give us an easy walk back to the hotel, and that’s where our night came to an end.

From the October 2016 LTG archives, I’ve landed in Thailand for the first time as I continue to explore where my future may lead me.

Today’s YouTube video discusses five reasons people avoid visiting Vietnam. I didn’t consider it as a retirement option, so I never came before my move to the Philippines. I do enjoy it here, but the Philippines is a better fit for my life’s final chapter.

To the humor we must go:

Ouch!
Yeah, I got that same diagnosis.
He’s on the lamb, but he ain’t no sheep.

And now for the rest of the last day. No real plans other than a river walk. Yep, ready to go home.

Day thirteen, sights unseen

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Like attracts like…

I didn’t go crazy yesterday, but I lost my Marbles. But I found them again, and paid a second visit. Last year, I explored the Marble Mountain caves inside entrance #1. This year, we walked to entrance #2 and started our climb from there.

One of the mountains as seen from the Grab car we hired to bring us from Da Nang, a mere 8 kilometers away.
The line to enter the most popular cave was very long, but I’d been there and done that, so I moved on.
A statue garden we saw along the way.
The second entrance on the other side of the mountain was much less crowded.
Let the climbing commence. Uneven stair steps only enhance the joy of ascending.
A quick stop to catch our breath.
Yep, more shrines.
A view from the top.
And another one.
Peace be unto you.
You ain’t got nothin’ on me!
Nobody rubbed my belly, though.
Nice architecture.
Hello, there!
Inside the cave.
Where have you been all my life?
Oh, sorry. I didn’t know she was your girlfriend. Put the sword away!
And then I saw the light.
Is that you, God?
Where’s that do-over life you promised me?

Swan captured the moment on video:

Wait a minute…is that what it looks like?
You can see the ocean from here.
The wheel in the sky keeps on turning.
A tower on the mountain.
A dragon lair.
Thank you for the blessings.

After our walkabout on Marbles, we rolled back to town in a taxi. We planned to grab some lunch at Paradise, the beach resto-bar across the road from our hotel. They were busy, and after sitting for several minutes with no acknowledgement, Swan got up and asked the bartender for menus. They didn’t do us any good, because no one came to take our order. We got up and left. I kinda sorta remembered a place further up the beach, so off we went. Turns out, it was a lot further than I thought, but on we trudged. And so we came to enjoy our first experience at the Espo Beach restaurant/brewery.

They were also busy, but we managed to score a table with a beach view. And the service was prompt.
I had to give the Philly cheesesteak a try, and I was not disappointed.

After lunch, we walked back to our hotel on the beach so Swan could get her toes-in-the-sand fix.

The Espo Beach as seen from the beach.
Swan loves the sand, I toed you so.

Some rest and recuperation, then it was time to begin our evening exploration on the backstreets of Da Nang.

We laughed at the name of this place.

After wandering around and not finding the bar I was looking for, we stopped in at the previously visited Game On bar.

The first beer of the day is always the best one. So far.
Our Game On view.

We were still in the mood to explore, so after our drinks we hit the streets again.

And lo and behold, I discovered another bar district I didn’t know existed. I took this photo from a place called Corner Pub. When we couldn’t find a server, we crossed the road and gave the 501 Bar a try instead.
It turned out to be a good choice. As soon as we sat down, the owner came over to greet us.
That’s Karl from the UK. We had a very nice chat. He’s been in Da Nang for 8 years and is also part-owner of another bar called Shamrock.
This sign was on the restroom door. It’s a relief to know that strangulation is not allowed.

I’ll definitely try to find my way back to 501 before we depart. I’d promised Swan some birria tacos for dinner, so we said our goodbyes and headed out.

I’d asked Karl about girly bars in Da Nang. He said there are some places where the girls sit with you and earn lady-drink commissions. This is one of them. No idea what goes on in the Black Hole.
It was nice to read the story of how Adobo came to be.
They seem to be doing well; all the tables were full, inside and out.
Damn, those tacos were beefy and delicious. Poor Swan won’t be able to get her weekly fix in Barretto now that John’s place is closed.
I don’t recall the last time I’ve had churro, but it was a sweet after-dinner treat.

And then we trudged back to our hotel and got some shut-eye.

It is now October 2016 in the LTG archives, and this post covers some work happenings and the usual other bullshit.

For today’s YouTube video, let’s do five minutes of the Marble Mountain experience.

Humor time:

Should be easier to stick with the diet from the hospital.
Bounced it off of her, eh?
I guess it must be nice to have a Big Brother looking out for you.

And now it is time to move on with my next-to-last day here. We’ve pretty much seen and done all there is that we want to do, so it’s time to begin with the routines, I suppose.

Day twelve, riding the rails

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Back to the beach, bitches!

Goodbye, Hue and hello again, Da Nang.

Waiting for the morning southbound train.
On the platform.
And here she comes!
All aboard!
My first train ride since the Seoul-to-Busan bullet train all those years ago (other than a commuter train in Manila, the PI is devoid of this means of travel).
Ah, so those motorbikes WILL stop for something after all.
She’ll be comin’ round the mountain when she comes…
On the drive to Hue, we went over the mountain. The train took a lower route that included several tunnels.

And three hours after we began our journey, we pulled into the station at Da Nang. We took a Grab car back to the hotel we had stayed in last week, the Haian Beach Hotel. The gal at the check-in desk remembered us and gave us a hearty welcome back.

As we settled into our room, there was a knock on the door, and we were presented with this gift of fruit.

This is the nicest hotel I’ve ever had the pleasure of staying at: friendly staff, a great breakfast buffet, and comfortable rooms. The Haian is doing it right!

When you are staying across the street from the beach, it is only appropriate to go there, especially when the beach features our favorite beach bar, the Maia.

The Maia was packed, but a few minutes after our arrival, we got the seats and view we came for.
It was surprising how much more crowded the beach was than last week. It’s warmer now, too.
A zoom shot of the Lady Buddha statue on the hill across the water from us.

When it was time for some supper, we talked about making the hike out to Dirty Fingers, but decided to save that for another day. We walked a bit into town, and Swan declared she wanted another Fly Burger. Fine by me. Turns out, this joint with the disgusting name is quite highly rated.

Here’s a short bonus video so you can get a feel for the place:

I wasn’t in the mood for a burger, so I went with chicken nuggets.

They were the best damn nuggets I’ve ever had. The coleslaw was delicious, too.
Swan enjoyed her fly burger too.

To tip or not to tip?

How could I refuse? And what have they got against Polish people?

We headed back towards the hotel after our meal, keeping our eyes open for a suitable nightcap venue. Not seeing anything appealing, we rode the hotel elevator to the 22nd floor and had a drink at the rooftop bar.

The view from the rooftop.
The girl who joined me there.

And we were a short ride away from our 5th-floor room when our evening out came to a close.

It’s the end of September 2016 in the LTG archives, and it is also the end of another relationship. Go figure.

Today’s YouTube video shows the train ride I took, with better shots of the scenery (I was on the wrong side of the car for the best views). She mentions the Hai Van Pass, but the train doesn’t go that way; it takes a lower route. No way it would have made it up and over the mountain, even on the relatively small inclines we encountered, the train slowed to a crawl.

Let’s get these out of the way:

Well, you need gravity to mash potatoes, so…
I didn’t mean to go out on a limb here.
What a shitty thing to happen.

Okay, time to see what happens next.

Day eleven, hog heaven

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It’s only words, and words are all I have to post about the day…

Being fat and happy qualifies as hog heaven, right? We did a nice 7K hike to the former Imperial Palace and back without getting lost. Later, we took a boat cruise on the Perfume River (I didn’t smell a thing, though) and then had some dinner and drinks in the tourist section of Hue. Damn, three days in town and I’ve already reverted to routines. Oh well, at least they’re good ones.

Here are some photos from vacay day eleven:

A complimentary breakfast on the riverside to start the day. Nothing special about it other than the price.
My girl is such a poser…
Our destination is on the other side of that wall.
Getting through that wall is a lot easier when traffic is light, as it was yesterday morning.
We didn’t get blown away by the cannons either.
I didn’t take notes about the former purpose of the buildings we saw. Sorry!
The fish were hungry.
This critter was kind enough not to attack Swan for posing again.
Old buildings somehow make me feel younger.
I did read that many of the buildings in the complex were destroyed during the Tet Offensive in 1968. Viet Cong were hiding out inside them, so the Americans bombed them.
The survivors still look nice.
Doggone it, Swan!
Bang the drum…
…or ring the bell? Of course, we didn’t do either.
Waterworks.
A stair climb brought us here.
That’s as close as we got to the building with the big flag.
There she goes again!
Then there was this demure Vietnamese girl in traditional clothing.
The way we went.

Back to the hotel room for some R&R, then we headed out for our rivercruise.

I hope this Tet isn’t offensive.
It was a small boat, but we had it all to ourselves. One hour for 300,000 dong ($11.50).
On the river.
That white building in the middle is our hotel, the Century Riverside.
This gal was bathing in the river as we passed.
Oh, and we brought some beer with us to enhance our river experience.
On the banks of the Perfume.
And I was keeping my eye on the sun.
A temple on the riverside.
Okay, let’s get this out of the way.
Trying to hide?
Bye for now.
And that’s about the time our river ride came to an end. Swan said we got shorted on the hour we paid for, but I’d had enough and didn’t see any value in cruising in the dark.

Once we were back ashore, Swan went shopping for pasalubong (it’s a cultural thing, but basically souvenirs for family and friends back home) and I had a beer or two at DMZ bar while I waited for her to finish. When she rejoined me, we headed out to the backstreets of the tourist zone looking for some grub.

Do you want to try this place? I asked. Why not? she responded.
That would be us…
The view from our table.
I decided to try the ga xao chua ngot.
And Swan ordered the heo nuong ong tre.
Oddly enough, my meal was both sweet and sour.
Swan deemed her meal “spicy.”

When we were finished, we went back to DMZ for our nightcap, conveniently located right across the street from our hotel. And so our final night in Hue came to a close.

Still plodding along through the September 2016 LTG archives. In this post, I’ve got a new hiking buddy. Yep, I convinced Eun Oke to join me on a climb up to the Seoul Tower on Namsan. It wasn’t easy for her, but she made it. She seems so perfect for me. What could go wrong?

Speaking of Eun Oke, here’s a drawing she did of me. Talented girl, I look almost handsome!

For today’s YouTube video, let’s visit the Imperial City (aka The Citadel) during less peaceful times.

And now for the daily dose of humor:

Just let them whine.
Time keeps on ticking, ticking, into the future…
I heard it is better to be lucky than good.

I’m back in Da Nang again, so I reckon I’ll be picking up where I left off. Check back tomorrow to see how that works out for me.

Day ten, lost again

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Life is off the charts sometimes.

The big adventure for day ten of my Vietnam visit was a quest to explore The Citadel, also known as the Imperial Palace. We failed in that attempt, mainly because my map app, Waze, led me astray. Nevertheless, we saw some parts of Hue we wouldn’t have otherwise visited, got in some extra steps, and passed by our intended destination on the return journey. So, now I know where the Citadel is located, and I learned not to trust Waze. No big deal, we found our way back there this morning.

I’ve got to hand it to this sculpture we saw while passing through a riverside park.
A Swan in a shady spot.
These kids and their teacher came running up to greet us as we passed by.
Turns out they were English students, and they got to practice their greetings with a native speaker. Good job!
Another statue in the park. Mother and child, ain’t that sweet?
Wait a minute! What the hell is he doing back there? Well, I guess that’s one way to keep from having another baby.
Crossing over the Perfume River.
A marketplace on the other side of the river. This is where Waze first fucked with me. The Citadel is to the left; it had me turn right here.
I’m not sure what this is supposed to be, but there it is.
Insane motorbike traffic (going in both directions) made passing through that narrow wall opening on foot more than a little scary. And yeah, I figured the wall meant we were close to the Imperial City, but alas, that proved not to be the case.
We did see another temple-like structure.
And damn, Kevin Kim is a big man around here. Or a dead one.
A bridge we didn’t take. About 500 meters further up the narrow road we were walking, Waze announced we had arrived at our destination. Except there was nothing there other than a couple of decrepit houses. Fuck you, Waze!

I plotted a course back to the hotel using Google Maps, and off we went.

We passed through another narrow wall opening, but this one didn’t have a traffic jam to navigate through.
Y not?
Our route home took us past our intended destination. We decided to save it for today.
Back on the river.
Our hotel is on the other side of that bridge.

Back to the room for some rest, a blog post, and a shower. Then, we were off again.

All dressed up and ready for dinner.
A river cruise is on our agenda for later today.
We saw this floating restaurant on our morning walk, so we decided to come back and give it a try. It’s up on the roof.
We were the only customers, but they were setting up for a big birthday celebration later in the evening.
The river view from our table.
My first beer of the day. I’m becoming quite fond of Huda.
And they had wine in Swan’s favorite flavor.
Pork on a stick for Swan…
…fish and chips for me. Neither was anything special, but they filled a void.

After our meal, we took a stroll through the tourist district, but didn’t see anything that enticed us to stop. So, we ensconced ourselves at the DMZ and enjoyed some additional alcoholic beverages before crossing the highway to the hotel and calling it a night.

Today is the fifteenth anniversary of my mother’s passing.

Miss you, mama!

The idiot vlogger Vitaly has been deported from the Philippines (and he’s damn lucky they didn’t hold him in jail for years pending trial). I saw this on Facebook this morning, and if it is legit, he’s still an asshole.

From the September 2016 LTG archives is the final chapter of my taking sand to the beach experience with the Korean girlfriend, Eun Oke.

Today’s YouTube video is a walking tour of some of the buildings in the Imperial City complex. I’ll share my photos in tomorrow’s post.

Time for the smiley part:

Hope he didn’t get the short end of the rope.
It’s what’s inside that counts.
You can get arrested for shoplifting!

Here’s the song my nephew sang at the gathering after my mother’s funeral:

Day nine, still fine.

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My hotel is located right in the middle of where the action was almost fifty-eight years ago (near the gray square).

My first impressions of Hue are generally positive. I’m still in the tourist zone, but it’s not as oppressive as the one I experienced in Hoi An. Getting here took almost four hours, including a twisty-turny drive over a mountain. Saw plenty of nice scenery along the way, so no real complaints in that regard. Found some nice bars and restaurants in the backstreets near our hotel last night, and the exploration of which has just begun! One nice thing they do is close those roads to vehicle traffic after 6 p.m., allowing safer stumbling walking about.

Here are some photos of the getting here and our first evening out:

That mountain between Da Nang and Hue we had to cross.
The Hai Van Gate is at the summit.
You can read more about it at the link above.
One of the fortifications.
The ocean view on a hazy day.
Who needs a shitty map?
Coming down the mountain.
An interesting-looking village we passed along the way.
When you gotta go, you gotta go.
Finally made it to our hotel in Hue.
The view from our room.
The DMZ, a restaurant/bar, is conveniently located right across the road from our hotel.
I chuckled over this name and thought of It Doesn’t Matter back home.
No thanks, I read the book.
Looks like my kind of place.
Nice ambiance upstairs at Browneyes.
My blue-eyed view from Browneyes.
At the dinner hour, we moved to the HotTuna and enjoyed the street view as an appetizer. I asked our waitress if they served cold tuna, but the language barrier aborted my attempt at humor.
Some of the local food offerings at HotTuna.
We had something called calamari…
…and grilled pork ribs. Talk about stepping outside the comfort zone!
An after-dinner nightcap at DMZ.
And then we climbed the stairway to heaven and called it a night.

A good day so far, despite getting lost on our hike this morning. Two more nights to go here.

And in news from home:

As I suspected, John’s place in Barretto is closing. The new location is going to be in Olongapo City, way out of my reach. It was good while it lasted. Thanks for the memories.

Back to the September 2016 LTG archives for part 3 of the bringing sand to the beach adventure.

Today’s YouTube video features combat footage from the Tet Offensive back in 1968—some of the heaviest US casualties of the war in that battle. I can’t help but think about all those who died here while I’m living the high life on the streets where blood was spilled. You can read the gory details here if you are so inclined.

And now for today’s lame attempts at humor:

Did you get a spanking?
Well, I’m an old man with bladder control issues.
Yeah, ever been to Switzeland?

Okay, time to get on with my day here.

Day eight, pretty great

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Grabbing that Tiger by the tail…

A rather laid-back day there in Hoi An yesterday. In fact, it was almost Barretto-like: a morning hike and an evening in the bars. There is nothing wrong with Hoi An, which might explain why the streets are packed with tourists. I can’t complain about that since I am one too, but honestly, I think it would make it hard for me to live here as an expat. Then again, it is likely the expat community has its own side of town away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist district. The locals here do seem much friendlier than those I observed in Da Nang.

On with the day. It was a little over 5K from the hotel to the beach. Traffic isn’t so bad here, but you do have to maintain situational awareness, especially with the omnipresent motorbikes racing about. We began in the “old town” district near the riverside, then passed through some rice fields before reaching the beachside urbanization. Here’s some of what we saw along the way:

Over the river near our hotel.
Hoi An has a history of being a major trading center (mostly spice exports) with the Chinese back in the olden days.
The streets of old town are full of shops catering to tourists.
One of the temples we passed along the way.
This is the first McDonald’s I’ve encountered on this trip. It’s like no other McDonald’s I’ve ever seen. No drive-thru, no parking, and housed in an old building. There’s also a KFC next door. It seems so weirdly out of place.
This park enticed us in for a quick look around.
I couldn’t find anything about this guy in a Google search (everything was in Vietnamese), but the placard said he was a scholar who became a leader opposed to French colonization and was executed for his resistance.
That’s what my mama called me sometimes.
Through the paddies…
What do they call a carabao in Vietnam?
Even out here in farm country, they have set traps for the tourists.
Working for a living.
My first thought when I saw those houses was, “We must be getting close to the ocean.”
A river runs through it.
Life on the river.
Where’s the beef?
Destination achieved!
I saw zero locals on the beach.
You can see Da Nang from here. That’s a zoom shot.
We found a cozy place to grab some lunch and enjoy the beach view.
“I blew out my flipflop, stepped on a pop top, cut my heel, had to cruise on back home…” When is the last time you’ve seen one of those?
The route of our journey. We took a cab back to the hotel.
This fat fuck was hanging out in our hotel lobby.

At the appointed hour, Swan and I headed out to do some exploring and find a place to grab dinner.

I wasn’t in the mood for colonial food.
Um, no thank you.
Off with our heads?
A very friendly young Aussie guy welcomed us to the restaurant.
I was craving some pulled pork, but had never seen it on a bed of fries. Sure, why not?
Hmm, more fries than pork. It tasted alright, though.
The view from our table

Oh, and there was a vendor next door selling something called “smoke ice cream.” Swan wanted to give it a try.

Neither of us liked it much.

Lantern boats on the river.

We decided to go back to the LyLy pub for some drinks and music. We were welcomed there like regulars.

The same trio from last night was performing. I asked our waitress where the singer was from, and she said, “Vietnam.” In my defense, did say “kamsamnida” when people applauded at the end of a song. A Vietnamese girl who speaks good English and knows some Korean. Wow! What are the odds?

Here’s a song for you:

Then we moved on to the Bob Marley bar for our nightcap.

They remembered us here, too.

Here’s the Marley’s duo (Filipinos) doing a song:

And now I have arrived in the historic city of Hue (pronounced “Who”), where I will be spending the next three days. First time here, so it will be fun to explore some.

In today’s entry from the September 2016 LTG archives, the story of my taking sand to the beach in the Philippines continues.

Today’s YouTube video is an introduction to the things to see and do in Hue. I’ve never heard “Hue” pronounced as “He” before, but then again, I’ve been calling it “Hew” for as long as I can remember.

Now for the funny business:

Something doesn’t add up…
Just turn the page.
Aren’t they all?

Okay, onward I must go! More to come tomorrow.

Day seven, almost heaven

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I know someone who would be PERFECT for that role!

One week done, and one more to go. So far, it’s been a good time. I’m writing this post from the lovely river town of Hoi An. I’m honestly shocked to be surrounded by so many tourists in this area, many of them young couples. Lots of old-timer couples, too. It is probably the laid-back atmosphere here that makes it more desirable for some than Da Nang’s big-city vibes. Whatever, it is what it is, and I like both.

On the way here, we made a side-trip to visit My Son (pronounced Me Sohn), the site of ancient Hindu temple ruins. Until I read the history at the link above, I was not aware of why this area was so historically significant. Life is for learning, and I learned something new.

Oh, and best of all, it is not cold here! It is nice to be comfortably out and about in short sleeves again.

Let’s get to those heavenly photos, shall we?

A foggy morning as we said goodbye to Ba Na Hills.
Into the cable car for the ride back down to the lowlands.
I have a slight case of acrophobia, so looking down while our car was swaying made me a tad lightheaded.
Swan had the barf bag ready just in case I needed it. I didn’t.
Gettin’ down!
I have no idea what this water was angry about, but it was ragin’.
On the road to My Son.
And here we be.
A cart ride to the starting area.
I would estimate that half of our fellow tourists were from India.
Let’s go check out these ruins.
Swan ain’t afraid of no ghosts.
We saw a few monkeys along the way.
Ruins, ruins, everywhere there’s ruins…
Hello, there.
I guess they had monkeys back then, too.
A bridge too far. Meaning I didn’t take it.

As I said, the viewing might have been more interesting to see if I had known some of the history beforehand—still, not a bad experience. Our driver was waiting to carry us onward to Hoi An, about an hour away.

Checking in at the Lantana Hotel, right on the riverfront.
My room came equipped with this high-tech device. I’m not sure how it works.

I must say, I have never seen such attentive, caring, and friendly staff before. At the reception, a woman sat with us and explained all the amenities available during our stay. This morning, when Swan and I were plotting our course to the beach, the receptionist came out, asked us where we were going, showed us on our map app, and suggested an alternate street where we would see more historic buildings. Thank you for that!

Hoi An is a tourist town, which means being besieged by vendors. This one was very friendly, even though I couldn’t understand a word she said.
The Hoi An River slices through the middle of town.
These boats offer “lantern tours” when the sun goes down.

It was beer o’clock, and we were thirsty. Where can we get a drink around here?

The riverwalk has numerous bars to choose from, some with live music. No dancing girl bars, not that that matters.
We made the LyLy Irish Pub our first stop.
That’s a Tiger in that Magners glass.
Then I saw they had a “buy one, get one” happy hour deal, so I switched to bottles.
The LyLy street view. No cars are allowed on this section of road, which makes it much more pleasant for everyone. Well, except for drivers.
Our next stop was the Bob Marley bar. They had live music, and the singer did a pretty good job singing some Marley tunes.
Those lantern boats I mentioned.
Us chilling at Marley’s.

We’d seen a rooftop place called Sky Bar and decided to give it a try.

A sexy tree grows in Hoi An.
Like a bridge over troubled waters.
Swan says Sky Bar is right up this alley.

Yikes! Four floors of dicey stairs. And you have to duck at the top before entering the bar. They are even worse coming back down. I figured this must be an expat hangout since it is off the main drag and a pain in the ass to get to.

Despite the obstacles, Sky Bar had a good crowd last night.
A Sky Bar view.
And another.

It was time to get some grub, and Jeff liked the menu at LyLy, so we overcame the stairs and headed back to where we had started.

We are back!
And the live music had begun. This gal had a fantastic voice and sang in perfect English. I don’t think she is Vietnamese, though. She looks Korean.
Our pub fare included chicken nuggets…
…and fried shrimp.

I’d reached my limit, so we bid goodnight to Jeff and Davina and headed back to the room.

Onward to September 2016 in the LTG archives, and in this post, I recount the happenings of the first day in the Philippines with my Korean girlfriend.

Today’s YouTube video is a vlogger walking around An Bang Beach, the one Swan and I hiked to this morning. Nothing all that exciting in the video, but at least you can see what things look like around there.

And you knew these were coming:

What’s up, Doc?
Hard to argue with that logic.
Puns like this should be against the law.

Alright, I’ll stop now—time to get on with the rest of day eight.

Day 6, getting high

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It’s been a LONG time since I’ve seen a heating unit. I was very thankful for this one in my hotel room last night.

Damn, it’s been cold. I’ve become acclimated to the heat of the Philippines, and my body hasn’t responded well to the chilly winds at my current nearly mile-high altitude. All I have are shorts, but I’m thankful for that long-sleeved sweatshirt I purchased in Da Nang. Anyway, this too shall pass. We are heading down the mountain to Hoi An this morning for the next phase of our Vietnam adventure.

As for Ba Na Hills, I’ve never experienced anything quite like this place (other than my visit here last year). It’s got a unique beauty, and the buildings bring the vibe of a French village from long ago. If you are curious about the history of this area, here’s a good place to start.

We covered a lot of ground taking it all in yesterday, and I’ve got the photos to prove it:

Up at dawn, once again hoping to catch the ocean sunrise in Da Nang, only to be disappointed by the clouds hiding the sun.
On the road to Ba Na Hills.
Ba Na is around 35K from Da Nang.
The only way to the top of the mountain is by cable car…the longest cable ride in the world. With our bags and us, we filled the car.
Up, up, and away. (Yeah, this is actually looking down from where we started.
Almost to the top.
The highlights of being a tourist.

Dropped our bags at the Mercure Hotel (the only one on the mountain) and had three hours to kill before check-in. Here’s the sights we took in as we wandered about:

Reach out and touch someone.
Yes, she’s my world.
Pretty in pink.
So many castles, so little time.
Swan in a big red dress.
Rock on!
Don’t mess with me, motherfucker!
Some nice pussy up here.
We took a short cable car ride to check out the famous Golden Bridge.
That would be it.
I’ve got to hand it to ya…
Then we toured the old French wine cellars.
A wine lover in her element.
The tour admission fee included a glass of wine at the end.
On with the exploration.
That guy in the back looks familiar.
Dragon the line.
Don’t monkey with me!
The view from here.
Another nice view.
Take a picture, it lasts longer.
Her name must be McDonald…the original Golden Archer.

It was time for some lunch (and beer), so we headed to the brewery.

My hero!
Something’s brewing down there.
The place was packed.
Swan and I shared this platter.
Let’s eat!

After lunch, it was time to check into our hotel rooms.

Nothing like being greeted on the TV screen.

Rooms were clean and comfortable. I got in a blog post and a nap before it was time to head out and meet up with Jeff and Davina again. I was surprised that so many places were closing at 6 p.m. (or earlier). I guess it really is the slow season, but damn, why book a room on the mountain if there is nowhere to go at night?

We did find this cozy bar close to our hotel that stayed up until 9:30.
And our hotel bar was open until midnight, so we didn’t have to go without.
The bar was at the bottom of these stairs. It felt almost like walking into a cave.
But it was actually very nice inside.
The fish and chips we had for dinner were surprisingly delicious!
Ba Na Hills is quite a sight after dark.

Speaking of dark, I woke up at 4:30 and peeked outside the window. I asked Swan if she wanted to take a stroll with me for a better look around. She did.

It felt like a zombie apocalypse.
Scary shit in the shadows.
The end of the world as we know it?

Well, we made it back to our room without seeing any walking dead, so there’s that. It was a really creepy morning, though.

And now I’m writing this post from the lovely town of Hoi An. I’ll tell you all about the getting here and how things are going tomorrow.

The last post in the LTG archives from August 2016 features a recounting of meeting the American Ambassador to Korea in my new suit, having some birthday shots with friends at Shenanigans, and a brief mention of my upcoming trip to the Philippines that would include my new Korean girlfriend. They call that bringing sand to the beach. We’ll find out how that went soon.

Today’s YouTube video is all about where I am now. I visited here for a few hours last year and knew I wanted to come back when I had more time. Let’s see how two nights work out for me.

Maybe I can put a smile on your face with these:

I know what I saw lit me up.
Imagine that.
He’s on the sheep but he ain’t no lamb.

Okay, time to get on with my vacay!

Day four, once more

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I agree! Those young bucks need to back off and let us old fuckers have some fun with those sweet lasses!

Yesterday featured a walk, a cruise, and beer. Lots of beer! Let me show you what I mean.

After a couple of kilometers down the beach road, I turned left, thinking it would lead to the Han River. Turns out I was wrong about that. Or maybe I gave up too soon. I’ll try to find it again today.
A couple of elephants.
A Swan.
And whatever the hell that’s supposed to be. A lion or tiger, perhaps?
I didn’t eat here (yet).
But we did give this place a try.
OMG! They had birria tacos! And guacamole, just the way Swan likes it. They were damn good, too.
That’s probably the biggest burrito I ever did see.
Open wide!
That’s what the innards looked like. Yep, those are fries inside, another first.
We stopped in here to see if I could find a long-sleeve sweatshirt in my size. Yeah, it gets chilly at night this time of year, and we are heading up into the Ba Na Hills tomorrow.
This one fit, so I bought it.
Our loop was a tad over 5K. I’ll try for the river walk again today.

After a nap and a shower, we met up with Jeff and Davina for our river cruise. We couldn’t board until 7 p.m., so we checked out some of the bars down by the river.

Our first stop.
Very large and well-appointed. A nice selection of craft beers, too.
This place has a definite expat vibe about it. If I’m not mistaken, it‘ is Aussie-owned.

The signage in Bamboo’s restroom was also worth a couple of photos:

Wipe that smile off your face!
Yep, that’s the wrong kind of lump in your pants.

Then we made our way along the river towards the boat dock.

A clean well-lighted place.
The Marriott Hotel pays homage to its communist overseers.
A Swan on the river.
There she is again!
One last beer at the Novotel before heading to the riverboat.
The riverboat dock.
Just like last year, we were booked on the Poseidon for our river adventure.
Our table on the bow of the Poseidon.
A heavenly view.
We even saw Chloe, our waitress from last year, and she remembered us, too.
The first of many Larue beers consumed during our two hours onboard. Two bottles of wine for Davina and Swan.
Cheers!

After a decent dinner was served (Swan and I had the salmon), it was time for the cultural dancers to perform.

The live music…
And those dancers I mentioned.

Here’s a short video of the dancing you might enjoy:

Thanks for the show, ladies!

Then it was time to hit the Han River:

Off we go!
The lights of the city.
Heading for that Dragon Bridge.
There it be.
And it’s a fire-breathing dragon.
I guess the dragon spits but doesn’t swallow.

So, the cruise ended at 9:30 local time, which makes it 10:30 back home. My body had had enough fun for one day, so Swan and I caught a cab to the hotel. I think I did okay for an old guy.

In the LTG archives, it’s August 27, 2016, and I turned 61. The post has all the songs I like about growing older. Hey, it must have worked, because almost 10 years later, I’m still getting old.

Today’s YouTube video is a short (less than four minutes) presentation about the realities of Da Nang nightlife. It is spot on, at least from my limited experience here. Nothing like you are going to find in the bars of Barretto or Angeles City. The good thing is, I prefer the laid-back chill atmosphere that is in abundance here.

And that leads us to these:

That absolutely stinks!
That’s gonna be some stinky ink.
When he gets fired, he won’t have a wok to piss in.

And now for day five of the Vietnam experience. No specific plans for today other than a walk/exploration. Hopefully, I’ll spot a new place to try for dinner. We leave Da Nang proper tomorrow morning and will spend a night up high in the Ba Na Hills. I’ve been looking forward to that the most on our vacation itinerary. After that, we have stays in Hoi An and Hue before returning to Da Nang next week. Let the adventure continue!

Day three, let it be

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Things don’t always go as planned, but they still go. The river cruise didn’t happen yesterday because we discovered that the early trip (5:30 to 7:00) doesn’t operate this time of the year. We’ll be doing the later cruise (7:00 to 9:30) tonight instead. We did take Jeff and Davina to the banh mi sandwich shop for lunch so they could enjoy that Vietnamese delicacy for the first time. They seemed to enjoy them. After the meal, we went our separate ways, with J&D going back to the riverside of town to see a museum and a cathedral. Swan and I opted to hike the boardwalk along the beach in the opposite direction from our hotel. Afterwards, we hit our favorite beach bar, Maia. For dinner, we went back to Dirty Fingers. Afterwards, we had a nightcap at the bar on the 24th floor of the Rosario Hotel. I deem it a good day.

See for yourself:

The beach view from our hotel room is minimal, but we caught a glimpse of the sunrise. We’ll try to hit the beach tomorrow morning and see the whole show.
My complimentary breakfast to kick off the day.
The hotel restaurant offers a Vietnamese cooking class. None for me, thanks.
Eating Vietnamese style.
The famous banh mi sandwich.
Time for the beach walk, without toes in the sand.
The Paradise Beach Bar is across the street from our hotel and is always busy.
I’m glad Swan isn’t named Ann, otherwise reading this sign out loud would be dangerous!
Hazy skies and rough waters. That flag is a “red warning” about not swimming.
I haven’t been inside that building that looks like a cave yet. It’s on my to-do list, though.
A beach bar we also haven’t tried yet.
It’s always nice to see a pickup truck older than I am.
There’s something fishy going on here.
Damn, that’s a big bar. Mostly empty in the late afternoon.
I wonder if Phuc Long Hotel translates to something like Hotel Viagra,
Da Nang is known for its sunny beaches.
Back to our favorite beach bar for some after-hike refreshments.
That hits the spot!
The view from our first seats at Maia.
When another table vacated, we were able to move closer to the beach.
Livin’ large, in more ways than one.
The sign that greeted us as we arrived at Dirty Fingers for some grub.
We were in the mood for some grilled meat.
And the chicken and pork rib hit the spot.
Satisfied diners.
A street walk and elevator ride brought us here.
Looking down from the 24th floor.
Cheers!

And we let it be after that and headed to our hotel room to end our third day in Da Nang.

It is still August 2016 in the LTG archives, and big bad John declares himself to be in a relationship. When will he ever learn?

Today’s YouTube video is about the Da Nang nightlife scene. We’ll be taking the Han River cruise and visiting the Sky 36 rooftop bar this evening. One thing you don’t see here is girly bars.

And let’s see how you like these:

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
Don’t plug him in the wrong socket.
I guess he stepped into that one.

Alright, Swan and I are going to hike on the other side of the river this afternoon, then we’ll meet up with Jeff and Davina (they rented bikes today) and head out for our river cruise. It’s an hour earlier here than back home, so this will be a late night for me. Wish me luck!

Day two, I see you!

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I started the day getting this bullshit fixed.

I went to the help desk at my blog host, HostGator, to find out why I couldn’t log on to LTG, nor could my readers. Here’s the highlights from that encounter:

Agent: Hello John  Welcome to HostGator! This is Aries, your Business Consultant. How can I help you today?

Me: I can’t access my webpage.

Agent: Yes, I’ll be happy to check your account and see what options we have to help. Let me pull up your account first

Agent: It shows that your website requires a premium SSL to fully encrypt and verify your website. We can add a premium Single Domain SSL to your website MCCRAREY.COM for only $39.96 for 1 year

Me: I already purchased the premium version of SiteLock.

Agent: SiteLock is for protection against malware. The SSL certificate is for the encryption and verification of the data on your website. The error that you are currently seeing right now is not because of malware. It’s the lack of encryption provided by an SSL

Me: And as my blog host, Hostgator can’t restore access to my website?

Agent: Alright. Let me transfer you over to our Support team for further assistance with this. Please stay on the chat. Thank you

Agent: Hello. I’m Krithika. Welcome to Live Chat. I’ll definitely assist you with today.

Me: (I explained the issue again.)

Agent: that is SSL error, not malware. did you configure SSL in sitelock?

Me: I’m totally ignorant when it comes to technology.

Agent: you are refering to this website mccrarey.com only right?

Me: Yes, that is my only website.

Agent: Okay. Please give me 4-5 minutes of hold

Me: Okay, thanks for your help.

Agent: Most welcome. Thank you for holding. I have uploaded SSL certificate to sitelock dashboard. please give it 15-20 minutes and check, website should be working

And it worked! Mostly. I still have this when I visit the site:

Oh, well. I’ll work on that later. Let’s get to the good stuff. Here’s the story of Day 2 in the lovely city of Da Nang:

I’m on the 11th floor of Haian Beach Resort. The room is clean and comfortable, but doesn’t face the beach. Oh, and that crane is working on building a new high-rise next door. Must be a rush job because I could hear them late into the night.
The room comes with a complimentary breakfast buffet. Damn, this is the best and biggest buffet I’ve ever seen. That’s what I had the first day, plenty more things to choose from during the rest of my stay.
Happy breakfast diners.

Oh, and Kevin, I met this guy in the hotel lobby:

Buddha ain’t got nothin’ on me!

We met up with fellow travelers Jeff and Davina in the afternoon and took a stroll down the beach road to a place we had spotted the previous day.

The Hoy O Cafe just recently opened.
A large open-air restobar with a very nice ambiance.
Several old-fashioned electric bicycles were decoratively placed throughout the restaurant. And yes, I’m old enough to remember seeing those when I was a kid.
Hoy O also features this fancy wood-fired pizza oven.
That would be us.
Jeff and Davina had pizza. Swan and I were still full from breakfast and snacked on the chicken wings.

We enjoyed our lunch and, as time permits, might visit again. After eating, Jeff suggested we check out the September 2 Memorial. Called a Grab car to take us to the other side of the river, and off we went.

The September 2 Monument “offers visitors a serene space to reflect on Vietnam’s journey towards independence and resilience.“
The view from the monument. Yes, that’s a Swan down there.
Having seen what we came for, we decided to take a hike and see what else there was to see.
An amusement park with the biggest Ferris wheel I ever did see.
A wise man.
Not sure what that’s all about.
Pickleball is a thing here, apparently.
A beer club, you say? Can I join?
A little taste of home. To be fair, this was in a side street parking area.
Our walk on the riverside was quite pleasant.
You talking to me? And where are the “do” things you mention?
The famous Dragon Bridge. It blows fire on the weekend.
Another dragon?
Why yes, yes I do!
Hello there!
The “A’s” have it!
A Swan in the garden.
Okay, now I’m thirsty.
Luckily, we passed a bar. I had to pee anyway, and why not enjoy a local brew in a San Miguel holder?
Making our way through the backstreets to visit a Catholic cathedral. Alas, Mass was in session, so we didn’t get in.
We may have lost the war, but American culture still permeates. If I’m not mistaken, those are characters from “The Big Lebowski.”
This oddly shaped building caught my eye.

After a 6K stroll, we grabbed a Grab ride back to the hotel.

Over the bridge at rush hour in Da Nang.

We regrouped later and went up to the pool bar on the 22nd floor for some before-dinner beverages.

We had the misfortune of being seated next to this large and loud group playing that game, the name of which I don’t recall…it’s sort of like soccer, I think.
The views from up there were nice…
…sundown in the city.

We decided to walk to a restaurant Jeff and Davina had spotted on a previous visit. I enjoy getting off the busy boulevards and onto the backstreets and seeing new places.

Thank goodness we weren’t going here. I imagined taking a bite of my burger and saying, “Waiter! This isn’t beef! What kind of meat is this?” Sir, you are having a fly burger.
This is where we ate.
A huge place.
Let’s do this!
I went with grilled pork and got to eat with chopsticks for the first time in quite a while.

After dinner, Jeff and Davina went for a massage, and Swan and I headed for the beach.

Saw this old bug along the way.
We did our nightcap at the Maia Beach Bar. Had this DJ blocking the view, but he spun some good music (all instrumental and at an appropriate volume).

We chatted a bit with our waitress and, despite the language barrier, came to understand that this is low season for tourism here, “too cold,” she said. She also confirmed that the tide is higher than it is in the summer, reducing the beach space.

Then, a short stroll back to our hotel, and day two of our trip was complete.

Still in August 2016 of the LTG archives, and in this post, I shared the photos from an evening out with my new girlfriend, Eun Oke. I cooked dinner for her, then we did an Itaewon bar crawl. You can’t have an ending without a beginning.

She was nice when sober.

Let’s see some more of Da Nang in today’s YouTube video. I’ll be seeing all of this and more before the trip is through.

And now let’s get this out of the way:

A great grammar shark for sure!
You are better off without that smokin’ bitch anyway, Dan.
Yeah, that comma after wife isn’t funny.

So, now it’s time to get on with day three of the vacay. Going to introduce Jeff to his first banh mi sandwich for lunch. Later, we plan on taking a cruise on the Han River (no, not that one in Seoul). After that, we’ll see. Check back here tomorrow if you are curious.

Back to Da Nang

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There’s always a bright side.

Greetings from the lovely city of Da Nang, where litter-free streets abound! Getting here proved to be quite the adventure, but it all worked out in the end. I’m about ready to get out and do some exploring, so here’s a quick recap on the way things went down yesterday.

Left for Manila a little before 5 a.m. with my fellow travelers, neighbors Jeff and Davina. We’d made arrangements with my landlord to park Jeff’s car at her house to avoid the exorbitant parking fees at the Manila airport. We arrived without incident (other than the notorious Manila traffic), parked, then called a Grab car to transport us to the airport. Again, other than traffic, we encountered no difficulties and made it to the airport just before 9 a.m. for our flight scheduled to depart at 11:55.

When I reached the check-in counter, the agent asked to see my Vietnam visa. After looking it over, she showed it to the agent next to her, then returned it to me and processed my boarding pass. Then she asked to see my visa again, chatted with the other agent again, and then asked about the duration of my stay, since only my arrival date was listed on the visa. I explained that I had been told that Vietnam immigration would enter that date. She nodded and handed me my boarding pass. I exhaled a sigh of relief.

I had a Subway sandwich for the first time in years for breakfast/lunch and proceeded to my boarding gate to await departure. They began boarding early, and we departed the airport ahead of schedule. I was exhausted for some reason and fell asleep before takeoff, then woke thirty minutes or so into the two-and-a-half-hour flight to Da Nang. When I got up to pee, I noted something that had never happened before in all my years as a frequent flyer: I hadn’t fastened my seatbelt before we took off. Swan says the flight attendant walked by checking, but must have assumed my seatbelt was on, hidden by the protrusion of my big-ass belly. Oh, well. I survived the breach of safety protocols, and our plane landed in Da Nang at 1 p.m. local time (Da Nang is 1 hour ahead of the Philippines).

Da Nang is a tourist hotspot, and the immigration lines were among the longest I’ve ever seen. It took me forty minutes to get to my turn with the officer. I gave him my passport and visa. He looked at the visa and started punching stuff into the computer. He paused, then took another long look at the visa. He pointed to the date, which I thought was the arrival date, and he told me it was the departure date. So, my visa had expired. I tried to explain, but he wasn’t interested and called someone over to escort me to a desk in the back. The officer there reviewed my paperwork, took my passport, and told me to take a seat and wait.

Ten minutes later, a couple of women in Philippines Air uniforms approached and asked to see my return flight information. They took my paperwork and walked away. Oh shit, I’m going to be deported! They returned after a bit and had me follow them to the visa on arrivals desk at immigration. Americans are not eligible for a visa on arrival, but apparently, an exception was going to be made for me. I had to fill out a new visa application (in duplicate), and I was so stressed that my hands were shaking. Then, out of nowhere, a young man in civilian clothes told me he was there to assist me in getting my visa approved. But it was going to cost me $135, around three million Vietnamese dong. I asked if I could use a credit card, but he said no. I said I’d need to go to an ATM, but since I couldn’t leave the immigration area, that wasn’t possible. I had given Swan four million dong I had gotten at an exchange booth in Manila. She was anxiously waiting in the baggage claim area for my situation to be resolved, so I sent the “agent/fixer” over there. Jeff had dong from his previous trip, and gave the necessary funds to secure my visa. Once the money had changed hands and the visa was issued, I was a free man again.

We got our bags, I hit an ATM to repay Jeff, and we caught a Grab ride to our hotel. I deny being an alcoholic, but after the shit I’d been through, I needed a beer big time. We put our bags in the room, then crossed the road to the Paradise Beach Bar, which I had enjoyed on my previous trip here. And guess what? It was chilly outside. All I packed were shorts and light shirts, but I’ll be shopping for a sweatshirt before we head up for our stay in the Ba Na Hills. It’s not cold-cold like winter, but it’s still uncomfortable for someone who’s become acclimated to the heat in the Philippines.

After a couple of extra cold beers, we took a twenty-minute walk along the beach road to my favorite eatery from last trip, Dirty Fingers. Still as good as ever. Then we headed back towards our hotel and stopped at the Roadside Bar for a nightcap. A couple more beers, and I had had all that I could handle, so we said goodnight to Jeff and Davina and made it safely back to our room.

Oh yeah, something went wrong with my blog, and I wasn’t able to log on yesterday. I understand my reader(s) were blocked as well. Hopefully, that issue has now been resolved.

And now you know the story of the first day of my trip. Here are some photos from the adventure:

Heading into Manila.
We have arrived on the mean streets of my least favorite city in the Philippines.
What’s to like?
Well, they do have a train here, and look at that, a Wendy’s billboard! It’s been a long time since I saw a Wendy’s.
I had an old hundred-dollar bill that I hadn’t been able to exchange in Barretto, but they gave me 2 million dong for it at the airport. I made Swan a millionaire!
The bird that flew us to Vietnam.
The bird I flew with.
Lunch is served!
Happy travelers.
The angry sea on a chilly afternoon in Da Nang.
Waiting for the beer to cure what ails me.
Life’s a beach sometimes.
That’s better!
Give your girl a couple of million dong, and suddenly she wants to take this picture. Go figure.
Love this place.
We may not have won the war, but we can eat like we did.
Yes, dear. Whatever you say, dear.
The menu beckons.
Swan and I shared an order of pulled pork quesadillas…
…and lemon grass chicken wings. Both were delicious!
Hmm, I didn’t see that on the menu.
Walked by this place, but didn’t walk in.
We enjoyed our visit to the Roadhouse American Diner.
The beer here seemed to make sense.
You talking to me?

Yep, it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for today.

Still in the August 2016 LTG archives, and work sucks, I’m walking and playing darts, and some new craziness has arrived in my life in the form of a gal named Eun Oke.

I haven’t had time to watch today’s YouTube video about Da Nang, but here it is if you are interested.

Laughter is better than tears:

Great minds think alike!
A lion ass cheetah, you say?
Why, is Jack off?

Alright, when I think about how screwed I’d have been if I had been kicked out of the country yesterday, I don’t mind paying the price to have my stupidity with that flawed visa rectified. I consider myself lucky. That stress from the blog malfunction added to the misery, but it seems I’ve overcome that as well, at least for now. So, let’s get on with the exploration!

The green grass of home

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Hey, I drank for free all night yesterday. Thanks again, Dave.

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

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

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

We even found seats to gather together at the back of the bus.
That would be us.
Some of that crazy Manila traffic I mentioned.
A Korean language school in Angeles City. Filipinas try to learn the language so they can get housekeeping or caregiver jobs in the Land of the Morning Calm. Or jobs in the bars.

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

On the road again.
I got a laugh out of this. KKK is indeed flammable, especially around wooden crosses.

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

Thanks for the good times, Dave.
Swan got gifted this nice Wet Spot cap.
Our tablemates at Wet Spot.

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

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

It’s good to be home, green grass or not.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now for the funny business.

What’s up, doc?
Me too. That’s why I pun instead.
I prefer catsup and pickle relish myself.

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

A long time to get there

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I’m proud to be arrogant about being ignorant.

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

We said our goodbyes to Maria, our breakfast waitress at Romantic Beach Villas. Friendly and sweet, she greeted us by name every morning and engaged in some enjoyable chit chat.
Nice to see you, beach. Until next time…

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

Our chariot awaits! I have to give props *ahem* to Cebu Pacific for being on time.
Goodbye, Siargao!
Hello, Cebu!

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

You gotta do what you gotta do to fill them hours.
Lots of inspiring words to ponder while we waited.
Yeah, no point in thinking about it. Cheers!
Hangin’ with the neighbors.

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

Our seats were at the back of the bus.
Flying high together. I got high a lot my first time through the 70s, too.
Deplaning in Manila.

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

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

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

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

A LONG day for someone like yours truly.

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

He had a good life and helped many others along the way. Dave is gone, but will not be forgotten by those whose lives he touched.

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

Last day in Siargao

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Yesterday’s brownout lasted “only” 24 hours.

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

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

The Books Cafe was surprisingly packed when we arrived. And you can see the crowd was made up of those young tourists who dominate the scene in General Luna.
Ah, that explains why it was so busy.
They had several of these charging stations set up around the room, and almost all the customers were plugging in. Who knew a brownout could be so good for business?
The oldest couple in the joint.
I’ve never seen a club sandwich that looked quite like this one, but it tasted fine.

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

Hmm, a few brews and I’m always ready for bed.
They had these brewing tanks downstairs…
…and some more upstairs.
Swan was getting comfortable…

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

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

It was okay for a couple of beers. Met a friendly Irish couple at the table next to us and shared some laughs.

Then it was time for some Spanish dining:

I’ve had lots of Mexican, but don’t recall anything from the motherland.
Small but nice inside.
That’s what the tacos looked like.
Some of the other items we shared. A tad pricey: dinner and drinks for four came to 5000 pesos.

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

My kind of place.
But there was something fishy about this wall art.
Filipino youngsters on the street downstairs performing Christmas carols and hoping we’d toss some pesos their way. We accommodated them.

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

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

From Facebook memories:

My old softball team from 1974, the Ringwraiths.
I was a big fan of the sport.

Eight yeas ago, I achieved this milestone:

The first and last time I’ve managed a 50,000 step day.
My face when I hit the 50,000 mark.

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

And a little bit of humor:

I don’t have anything to be ashamed about.
I’m better at stumbling than skipping…
“Let’s get something straight between us.”

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

My final takeaway from the Romantic Beach Villas’ complimentary breakfast buffet.

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

Evicted

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Taking a vacation from the regular routines does make blogging a bit easier.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The meetup with Martin and Joss on the beach.
And away we go.
Another leaning palm tree.
A beached boat.
Oh, shit! Now what do we do?
We plod on, of course.
We stopped into this beachside resort for some fruit juice refreshments. We asked about the room rates, and they were crazy high. The poolside rooms were 35,000 pesos (that’s $600) per night. I guess if you can’t afford it, they don’t want you here.
The way ahead.
Green Room? Where have I heard of that before?
We have arrived at Cloud 9.
They even have a Kokomo’s here!
Let’s go surfin’ now…
It’s a surfing safari!
White girls on the white sand.
Just a tad over 5K to get there.
The Barrel chicken burger that appeased my eviction.
The view from my table at Barrel.
The souvenir shirt Swan gifted me.
Hanging out with the neighbors.
The view we enjoyed.
Speaking of views, here’s a photo Joss took on the beach in front of their hotel yesterday.
Brown beauties.
Nice hanging with you guys!
Except the party doesn’t start there until 9 pm. That’s past this old man’s bedtime.
Why not?
The shawarmas we had weren’t all that good, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

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

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

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

Time for a smile:

Been there, done that.
Age is just a number.
And it is still reigning here,

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