Day 3 of my vacation from routine led to an escape from the confines of the Da Nang tourist hub. Or as one expat I met called it, “Cracker Town.” The day featured seeing a tall Buddhist gal and then getting some Dirty Fingers. Read on to learn more about the day’s adventures.

My hotel room comes with a complimentary buffet breakfast, so that’s as good a place to start as any.

So, we had been stopped by a local on the street the day before, and he offered to show us around. Real friendly guy with decent English, so we got his contact info for WhatsApp and said we’d let him know. There’s a giant statue located in the hills, visible from town, at a famous Buddhist Temple, locally known as Lady Buddha. Swan arranged for him to drive us there and back with a 1 p.m. pickup.

From our perch, I put the camera on zoom mode and grabbed a shot of Lady Buddha.

As mentioned, Tom speaks relatively good English and has a nice sense of humor. Along the way, he steered the conversation to the Vietnam War, which made me a tad uncomfortable. He played this clip of Robin Williams in “Good Morning, Vietnam” on his dashboard video box:

He also talked about the Mai Lai massacre, but the best I could offer in response was that the officer responsible was sentenced to prison (I subsequently went back and read the link above and saw that Lieutenant Calley only served three years under house arrest). Anyway, we moved on to other topics and it was a mostly pleasant ride.

So, that was our tour of the Lady Buddha. I was very impressed, even as a non-believer. I’d visited several temples in Korea with my Buddhist wife, but they didn’t resonate with me the way this one did.

On the drive back to town, our driver told us about a place we might like to visit for a meal named Dirty Fingers. He said when an American friend first invited him, he found the name off-putting and didn’t want to go. But once he was convinced to give it a try, he really enjoyed the food. It’s about a 2K hike from our hotel, so after some rest, we headed out for some exercise and nutrition. The walk took us away from the touristy district, and there was a more laid-back vibe to enjoy.

We ordered pork ribs and chicken wings. While we waited for the food, the owner of Dirty Fingers came by our table to introduce himself. Scott is an American who hails from Louisiana originally. We had a very nice chat, and he’s another reason I’d enjoy being a regular here.

Owner Steve saw me admiring the artwork above and told me it had earned him a visit from the authorities. The complaint was that the figure wearing the traditional Vietnamese hat (the non-la) was mocking Ho Chi Minh, the founder of communist Vietnam. Steve explained to the powers that be that the figure was Karl Marx, and no disrespect to Mr. Minh was intended. At first, they were not convinced, and Steve was prepared to replace the non-la with a clown’s hat, but the authorities relented, and that modification didn’t happen. Ah, the joys of living under an authoritarian regime.

As we finished our meal, Steve complimented my “Drunken Grownups” t-shirt, saying it had taken him a while to catch the Dunkin’ Donuts reference. He mentioned he had hats and t-shirts for sale, and I jumped at the chance to acquire souvenirs from my pleasant visit to his establishment.

As we made the post-meal trek back to our hotel, we stopped for a nightcap at the Maia Beach Bar.

We made it an early night and got rested up for today’s adventures at the Marble Mountain and the city of Hoi An. I’ll tell you about that tomorrow. Now it’s time to head out for dinner, and yes, I have a lead on a place serving Vietnamese food.

Day two of my escape from the Philippines landed me in Da Nang, Vietnam. This is my first time here, and it’s been pleasant enough so far, but the tourist vibe is almost overwhelming. I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in, but this is definitely the place where youngish foreigners seem to be coming for vacation. Watching folks walk by, they outnumber the locals immensely. And I can’t remember the last time I saw so many Western women in the mix. Admittedly, some of them look mighty hot in those t-back bikinis. So, that’s my first impression of Da Nang, but we’ll see how I feel as the week progresses.

The day began with an alarm on my phone at 4:30 a.m. We had to be up early and ready to catch the 6 a.m. hotel shuttle to the airport. Once there, it was the typical travel bullshit of waiting in seemingly endless lines. I’d never flown with HK Express before, but they did okay for a budget airline. Didn’t charge me extra for my checked bag, but also insisted that Swan check the suitcase she carried on with AirAsia. Well, since there was no charge, it made things easier. On the flight, snacks and drinks must be purchased, and when I asked for a bottle of water, I was informed that they don’t accept cash. Well, fuck you very much then. But the bottom line was that we achieved a wheels-down landing, and our luggage, although almost the last to come out on the carousel, made it too.

We called a Grab for transport to the hotel. A little confusion on where we’d meet up with the driver, but that was resolved without too much delay.

The hotel wouldn’t allow us to check in until 2 p.m., but the beach was just across the street, so we went there to pass the time.

We found a beach bar, and plopped our asses down there for some lunch.

After lunch, we took a stroll along the beach path.

We got back to the hotel around 1:30, but our room still wasn’t ready. So, we chilled in the lobby until we finally secured our key and headed for the elevator.

The view from our room is sensational.

Beer o’clock happens here, too, but because of the time difference, it comes an hour later. Oh well, just gotta make adjustments and go with the flow. And we flowed our asses down that Maia beach bar we’d seen earlier.

So, after a pleasant visit to the Maia Beach Bar, we headed for a recommended dinner venue. Stopped at an ATM to enlarge my dong.

Just for the record, I will sample the local delicacies soon.

Then we strolled back to the hotel. Swan said she’d had enough, but I went up to see the hotel’s rooftop bar on the 40th floor.

There was no table service; you had to go inside and get your drink from the bar. Only two beers on offer, a local brew and Heineken. I went local, and it was okay (it had a pull-off tab to open; I hadn’t seen one of those since the 1970s). One beer, then back down to my sweetie and a good night’s sleep.

Well, mostly good. I’d forgotten to turn off my alarm, so I was awakened at 4:30. Oh well, an extra hour to enjoy in Vietnam.

Coincidentally, Reekay just posted a video wherein he talks about why the Philippines is losing expats to Vietnam, Thailand, and Cambodia. Da Nang is apparently especially popular. It is still early in my visit, but I don’t think I’d like living here. Da Nang reminds me a little of Phnom Penh, but I like it better there.

It’s time to get out of town and leave the hedonic treadmill I’ve been riding behind. For a week, anyway. Perhaps the stormy weather will spare me in Vietnam. Ironically, despite the wet weather, we’ve not had access to water for two days now. It seems a water line somewhere in San Isidro got severed, and that’s the line that provides for the faucets in my part of Alta Vista.

As for my last night in the Philippines, not much worthy of note. In other words, like every other night. Anyway, fed the crew at Hideaway Bar, and got Swan her weekly ration of birria tacos at John’s place.

A nightcap at Wet Spot wasn’t all that pleasant. Some young out-of-towners requested rap music, and since they were spending big, the manager accommodated their wishes. That’s okay, I can live with it. What I can’t accept is buying my waitress a drink and then having her walk away and sit somewhere else. No, she wasn’t attending to other customers or chatting with a regular; she just chose to sit on a stool with the other unoccupied waitresses. WTF? When I left, her half-empty lady drink was still on the table. Needless to say, it’s the last lady drink she’ll ever get from me (I’ve known her for years), and frankly, I may scratch Wet Spot off my list of places to visit—lots of options where they at least pretend to appreciate my business.

So, that was how my Saturday went.

Back in February 2010, I shared the story of the love in my life that changed everything. I’m sure I’ve linked to it before, but here you go again. It’s one of my personal favorite LTG posts.

Today’s YouTube video talks about the reasons some expats regret their decision to retire in the Philippines. I don’t. Although maybe Da Nang will change my mind.

Time for a little humor:

Anyway, time to pack up my laptop and head out. My driver will take us to the airport in Manila, and hopefully, all goes well with our flight to Hong Kong. Spend the night there, then onward to Da Nang in the morning. I’ll post updates as time permits.

Gonna do a photo dump this morning and get on with the new day. More details to come as time permits.

The bar didn’t have the beer I prefer, so it was a Light night. We went to a nearby restaurant in search of dinner, but they said they were too busy to serve us. So, we grabbed some snacks at a small store and returned to our room.

In the LTG history pages, my granddaughter turns one. She’s eighteen now.

Today’s YouTube video discusses the cultural differences he has observed in the Philippines.

Joke time:

Okay, hope this post was better than nothing. On with my day!

It’s good to be home again, be it ever so humble. I used to take all-day-long cross-country drives when I lived in the USA. Nowadays, four hours feels almost like a marathon. Two-thirds of the trip is on the expressway, free from the clutter of trikes, jeepneys, and scooters. The scenery is pleasant as well. So, it was a good trip all in all. I owe you those Hash photos, and I’ve got a lot of them, but they deserve a post of their own. I’ll try to have them up later this morning. UPDATE: I put the Hash photos up at the end of this post.

Once I had the bags unpacked, it was nearing beer o’clock, but I knew I was already at The Rite Spot, so I stayed there. I baked a carrot cake, then headed up to the roof to enjoy the views.

And then it was time to eat. We’d skipped lunch, so Swan and I were both hungrier than usual. We enjoyed The Rite Spot special and had the helpers up to enjoy the meal with us.

After dinner, I watched some YouTube, then called it a night. Not much excitement in my day, but that didn’t diminish the warm, fuzzy feeling that being home brings.

I knew I’d be home too late to do the Hideaway feeding, so I wired the money to Joy and let her take care of business.

• Charity: 2500 pesos
• Tips: 100 pesos
• Gasoline: 1000 pesos
• Total for October 27: 3600 pesos

Six years ago, I traveled “home” to South Carolina. I haven’t been back since.

So, this is one of those videos I watched last night:

So, that screenshot is clickbait, and I fell for it. There is NOTHING in this video that would warrant deletion, and the Filipinas shown above are nowhere to be seen in the video. That said, the “ten secrets” were interesting enough, although there was nothing shocking about them, and they aren’t really secrets. I was not happy about being misled, but otherwise, I found it a worthwhile watch. YMMV.

Today’s dose of humor:

So, it is Hash Monday, Subic-style. Leech My Nuggets is the Hare, and I’ve been advised there is a climb up to Kalaklan Ridge in my near future. Oh well, what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Speaking of which, I changed my mind–I won’t do a separate post with the La Union Hash photos. Instead, I’m going to post them right here and now. I’ll tell the story of the day in the captions. Let’s go!

And that was how the La Union Hash adventure went down. Hope you enjoyed the photos! I’ll be back with a report on today’s Subic Hash, assuming I live to tell about it. See you here tomorrow (I hope!).

Greetings from Angeles City, Pampanga province, Luzon Island, Philippines. The internet sucks here at the Boomerang hotel, but I’ll do my best to knock out a post before heading off to the ACH3 anniversary Hash this afternoon.

We began our Saturday with a San Isidro candy walk.

We got in 5K before the candy ran out.

Back home for the usual, plus packing our bags for the upcoming trip. Our ride was picking us up at It Doesn’t Matter bar somewhere between four and five (it wound up be closer to five). So, with everything ready to go, we headed out to Baloy Beach to say our goodbyes to the Kokomo floating bar.

We’ll be back when the seasons change.

We grabbed a trike for Alta Vista, loaded up our bags, and then got dropped at IDM. Our ride came, we had a pleasant drive out to Angeles, then checked into our hotel.

We enjoyed dinner last night at the new Margarita Station. It was located near Walking Street for many years but lost its lease. This new location is a bit out of the way, but the food is as good as ever. I had a chicken quesadilla, and it might have been the best one I’ve had—at least as far as I can remember, which these days isn’t much.

And now it’s time to prepare for today’s adventure. The AC Hash is usually pretty tame, so hopefully I won’t get my ass kicked climbing hills. Only one way to find out.

Today’s YouTube is weather related. Yeah, it rained last night and it appears rainy season is finally arriving. Of course, I’d prefer not to Hash in a storm, but I’m gonna be wet with sweat or with water, so I guess it doesn’t matter much.

A little humor:

Until we meet again.

Confucius say man who walks through door sideways is going to Bangkok.

Yes, you are seeing a rare morning post here at LTG. It’s now or never, because I’ve got to be at a Hash run meet-up at 10:30. Not sure what I’m in for; I just know we are catching a ferry to some island and are Hashing there. Should be different and interesting and hopefully not too difficult.

I filled the hours yesterday by exploring the streets here in my part of Pattaya. I had some beers, food, and a massage along the way. My hotel is on Soi 4, so I started there and walked the length of each soi (between the main road and the beach) to see what there was to see. You might call it The Dirty Dozen because that’s how many roads I walked. There was the morning version (through Soi 8) and the nighttime edition, finishing on Soi 13-3 (I don’t understand the numbering system either, there were at least three variants of Soi 13). Anyway, in the interest of time, I’ll let the photos do most of the talking:

That bar above was right next door to where I received my first Thai massage since my last visit seven years ago. It was a nice rubdown that ended happily. She was good with her hands, and when she leaned down and whispered in my ear, “You give me 1000?” it was too hard to say no.

I headed back to the hotel after my rub and tug and the beer next door. Stopped into my favorite little restaurant for a light lunch.

A post, a nap, a shower, then it was time to get back out on the street.

While I was enjoying my beverage of choice, I heard from Dave that he and Jo were back in town from their tourist excursion to the elephant sanctuary and wanted to join me. Wonderful Bar was pretty close to their hotel, so I didn’t have to wait long for company.

Speaking of food, I needed some. We got to talking about possibilities and when Dave mentioned he’d seen a Taco Bell, it triggered a craving. It had been years since I’ve had that American fast food tribute to our Mexican neighbors.

We had one last beer at the original Wonderful Beer Bar, then called it a night. I caught a Baht Bus for the ride back to Soi 4. But something was calling out to me before I reached my hotel.

Alright, time to get ready to Hash with the Pattaya Jungle Hashers. Let the adventure begin! It will likely involve a few beers.

Soi Six here in Pattaya, Thailand, to be precise. That’s the street where I hung out and quaffed some brews last night. But let’s start with the beginning of the day, shall we?

So, I’m taking care of my morning business when I see that my Fitbit has gone black. All my efforts at reviving it proved fruitless. I decided to check out a mall I’d seen on one of my walks in search of a replacement smartwatch.

I say eventually because I arrived at the mall right about 10 a.m. only to discover it opened at eleven. So, I walked up the road a bit and found a restaurant for a late breakfast.

There was a nice supermarket at the mall where I could finally secure some underarm deodorant–none of the convenience stores I checked had any.

I took a 200 baht taxi ride back to the hotel to have time for a nap and to clean up before my doctor’s appointment at 3:15.

Reader Brian had commented that the Pattaya International Hospital was one of the good ones for foreigners. It turns out it is on the same street as my hotel (Soi 4), about two blocks away. I was impressed with how clean, organized, and efficient it was compared to my experience in the Philippines. My appointment was for a consult with an ENT, and I was called in to see him right on schedule. I told him about my recent breathing issues and blocked sinuses. He stuck a scope up my nose and cringed at the image on the screen. That was a little disconcerting. He confirmed what I had already been told–I have stage four blockage from enlarged nodules that must be removed surgically. He took it a step further, saying he’d remove some of the bone so the nodules would not regrow. I told him I was reluctant to have surgery requiring general anesthesia with my COPD. He acknowledged that could be an issue, suggesting I have the surgery performed in a hospital with an ICU to monitor my breathing during the operation better. He recommended I return to the US for the procedure. He also confirmed that my sinus blockage likely affected my blood oxygen, especially when sleeping and breathing exclusively through my mouth. So, he gave me a prescription that may provide temporary relief, but he cautioned it is not a long-term solution. I need the surgery. The bill, including meds, came to 3,440 baht (right at $100), so about twice what I’d pay back home.

With that unpleasant business out of the way, I headed back out to a marketplace I had seen near the mall. I needed to shop for pasalubong for all my Filipina “friends” back home and a suitcase to carry the gifts on the plane.

Another 200 baht cab ride to the hotel, where I stored the goodies and prepared for my night on the town. I decided to get dinner out of the way first and wanted to try that place across the street from my hotel.

After finishing my meal (I even used my spoon to get all of that sauce in my belly), it was time to set out for my evening of exploration.

So, I’m glad I had a look at the Soi 6 bar scene, but I won’t be going back. Just not my thing. This morning on my walkabout, I found myself on Soi 7, and it was full of wide-open spaces-type beer bars. That’s more to my liking, and maybe I’ll get a chance to swing by there again when the bars are open.

I had one more beer on Beach Road as I headed back to the hotel; I might have had a second if the service didn’t suck so bad. And then, as I approached my hotel, I saw my new favorite restaurant and thought it was fitting to begin and end my evening there.

I’m going to meet up with Dave and Jo this evening, and we are going to try the place on the roof of my hotel called Virgin. Since we’ve never been there, I guess we are.

I hear they had some excitement back home in the Philippines today:

I wasn’t completely satisfied with my Thai pun today, so let me give you this:

Okay, cleanse your palate with this one while I go get showered up and ready for another evening out in lovely Pattaya.

A full and mostly fun Tuesday started with a walk to, well, Walking Street. It was about a 7K round trip. Oddly enough, even though it was a flat street walk, I had some severe breathing issues that left me feeling light-headed. I had to stop twice to sit down and try and catch my breath. When I returned to the hotel, my blood oxygen was 89. My deep breathing exercise increased it to 91, but that’s still not good. I’m back in my usual mid-90s today and feeling better. Still, I made a doctor’s appointment for this afternoon at Pattaya International Hospital (conveniently located on the same street as my hotel) to try and gain some insights into what’s happening and what I might do about it. I’ll let you know how that goes tomorrow.

Here’s some of what I saw along the way to Walking Street:

I took a nap and wrote yesterday’s post, then got ready to head out for a rendezvous with an old dart buddy from Barretto.

Steve returned home at the beginning of the scamdemic and got stuck there. When he was ready to return, the Philippines was still locked down for unvaccinated folks like him. So, he basically said, “fuck that,” and moved to Pattaya. He seems to be doing well here. Steve gave up drinking years ago, but since he plays darts, he knows the local bars (at least some of them). He graciously agreed to give me a tour of the bar district near his home. My friends from Barretto, Dave and Jo, also joined in the fun.

We met up at Steve’s home bar, I-Rovers, which is in the SK Metro bar district. We then strolled down Soi Buakhao, an area adjacent to SK Metro. But what blew me away was a bar area called Tree Town that I’d totally missed on my 2016 visit (if it was even there then). The number of bars in this town is mind-boggling. Even a guy like me who goes out every night would need months to visit them all, and my liver would probably fail before I completed the quest. I’m sure most folks just find the handful of places that suit them and become regulars. This is a tourist town, though, so I guess there are enough thirsty (and horny) visitors to keep these bars in business during high season.

Alas, when I sat down to order, I was told the kitchen had just closed (it was 10:30). They said I could stay and drink, but I wanted to eat something before calling it a night. I remembered a place nearby that was open 24 hours, so I headed there.

And that was my Tuesday.