Yesterday was full of decadence, or so I’ve been led to believe. Don’t get your hopes up, it’s not as tantalizing as I make it sound. Anyway, during our Candy Walk yesterday, there was a bit of an incident at one of our most popular neighborhoods. There is a small church there, and the Sunday school is in session as we pass. While we service the non-attending children, the kids in church are released to partake in the free sweetness we dispense. This has been going on like that for the two years we’ve been doing the candy thing. So, yesterday, after Swan had finished handing out the candy bags, a woman (presumably the Sunday school teacher) approached and started speaking to Swan. This went on for like five minutes or so, and Swan had a funny look on her face when the conversation was over. The teacher had told Swan that she was concerned about the children’s dental health, and she suggested that we hand out something healthier, like biscuits. Hmm, or the teacher could just tell the kids not to accept candy gifts. I seriously doubt that our once-a-week offering is going to rot teeth, but we aren’t forcing anyone to eat the sweets we give away. Just say no, and we’ll move on. I admit I found the teacher’s intervention more than a little irksome. Next Sunday, I’ll suggest to Swan that we walk on by that area, although I feel bad for the kids who are always looking forward to our arrival. We’ll see.
Nobody complained about the feeding at Hideaway. I guess some customers might blame me for fattening up the girls, but no one has said anything. Yet.
At the appointed hour (5 p.m.), I moved on to John’s place for dinner.
After our meal, we headed up the highway to Red Bar.
I had initially planned to go to Nipsey’s for our nightcap, but I offered Candy Bar as an alternative. Then, as we passed Jumpin’ Jacks, Swan said, “Let’s go here instead.” I guess that makes it official, our new favorite place to chill.
So, I told the girls, best out of three, winner gets 100 pesos, loser gets 50. They happily agreed to my terms, and it was game on! One of them had superior pool skills (the one shooting in the photo above), but the other had enough luck on her side to take it to a third and final game, where talent won out after a hard-fought battle. Swan surprised me by pulling another 100 peso note from her purse and said, make it 150 and 100 for the girls.
And so another day ended without bitterness.
Today’s episode from the LTG archives is a pictorial from the celebration of my 55th birthday at Pub Dolce Vita in Itaewon. Coincidentally, I’ll be turning 70 later this month, barring any unforeseen circumstances.
Today’s YouTube video is about how Filipino food shocked the “experts” at an international cooking competition. I apologize for the crappy AI narration, but I’m sharing anyway because I know at least one of my readers is a foodie and may learning more about the local food offerings. For the record, I’ve had Kare-Kare before and enjoyed it. (Now I’m wondering if the whole thing is bullshit.)
Humor me, please:
And now it is time to ready myself for another Hash Monday. Tell you all about it tomorrow.
a woman (presumably the Sunday school teacher) approached and started speaking to Swan. This went on for like five minutes or so… The teacher had told Swan that she was concerned about the children’s dental health, and she suggested that we hand out something healthier, like biscuits. Hmm, or the teacher could just tell the kids not to accept candy gifts.
The teacher may be assuming the kids will mindlessly grab whatever you offer, no matter what she tells them to do. You could arrange to give gifts only every other week. Or, yes, you could have her tell the kids not to accept sweets. Even better, she could come over to you and control the kids’ behavior. Of course, if she tells the kids to tell you to bring fruits or something, well, I guess you’re gonna have to bring fruits or something. Skipping the kids entirely seems harsh.
It’s rice planting season again. Damn, that looks like backbreaking work.
Eternal spring, eternal summer. I guess it’s hot and humid even during harvest season. In Korea, as you know, rice planting is a spring thing while rice harvesting is a fall thing. Because Korea has four distinct seasons! as they constantly say.
The Matain River is still flowing, um, rapidly.
Am I missing a joke here? Something to do with rapids? ‘Cause I don’t see no rapids.
Guess what Swan had?
We’re all creatures of habit.
Swan surprised me by pulling another [100-peso] note from her purse and said [to] make it 150 and 100 for the girls.
So at 54-ish pesos to the dollar… that’s not even $3 for the winner, and not even $2 for the loser.
And so another day ended without bitterness.
Except for that teacher/sweets thing.
re: that AI video
I loved all of the misspellings in the transcript, with kare-kare occasionally spelled correctly, then spelled “carry carry.” Plus a lot of other errors. I tried to look up Chef Maya Tanaka Santos, but AI had only this to say:
So—a nice AI fabrication. Nothing is real anymore. Still, the words at the end, about opening your mind and trying new things… did that register at all with the pulled-pork, taco, quesadilla, and burger-only crowd? I mean, I can’t seriously preach total open-mindedness since there are things I’d never eat, like Filipino balut or Korean dogani-tang (lots of gristle) or chicken feet, which I had once—never again. It was like chewing on rubber gloves. But I live in Korea, so I eat a lot of Korean food. Being closed-minded about simple things like rice and lumpia just strikes me as weird, and unnecessarily so. But we are large… we contain multitudes. Sigh.
I hope the Hash went well today.
Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think the lady in the church has a point. The kids that are on your route probably never see a dentist and overall, have pretty bad oral hygiene. Giving them pure sugar may not in and by itself cause their teeth to fall out, but directionally, is not a good thing to do.
I know it is a “feel good” thing for you guys, but kind of the gateway drug to an unhealthy diet. LOL I think that RFK jr. has a lot of crackpot ideas, but one of things that he is trying to do that I fully agree with is cutting down on sugars and processed foods in school meals.
Just my 2 pesos worth.
How about handing out nuts or something like that?
Thanks for the feedback, Brian. I don’t have any issues if someone doesn’t want their child to eat candy. We hand out 400 or more bags every weekend, and the parents usually call their kids to come runnin’ when they see us approaching. So, I’m not of a mind to deny candy to everyone because of the few who don’t want it. We will just bypass the Sunday school kids from now on. That leaves more for everyone else.
I’m not arguing that candy is a healthy snack, but the kids were serve are poor and likely couldn’t afford to buy the treats we provide them once a week. I don’t think we are causing any real harm with our project.
Kevin, Swan works throughout the week, filling little plastic bags with an assortment of candies (six or seven pieces per bag). When the kids line up, she hands a bag out to each one. Often, there is a parent or other adult standing nearby. So, the Sunday school teacher could just keep the kids in the classroom during the handouts. Attempting to dictate the content of what we freely give seems rude to me. Beggars can’t be choosers comes to mind (I know the kids aren’t begging, but you can accept what we offer or nothing at all.) There are some kids who decline, and that’s fine.
Yeah, the weather here makes rice a year-round crop, but rainy season is the big one because the fields are like lake beds, perfect for planting. At other times of the year, they have to pump water into the fields from wells.
So, thanks for confirming my suspicion that the content of the video was also fake. I’m not in favor of censorship, but I wish YouTube would require a disclaimer for fictional content. Oh well, we are likely doomed to an AI-dominated future of lies.
I might have been a little more adventurous food-wise during the Korea chapter of my life. I, too, drew the line at eating anything containing dog meat, though. The weirdest thing I recall eating was barbecue shell. When they plopped that still living clam on the grill, and it was squirming in the shell right before my eyes, it seemed almost cruel. Then again, it was pretty tasty.
Oh, and about the 150/100 peso “reward.” Yeah, it’s chump change to us, but for a girl whose salary is probably 300 pesos for her entire shift, it is a pretty significant bonus.
Yeah, but it is a bit disingenuous to think that any kid would turn down candy (yes, I know that some do) and their parents are most likely uneducated when it comes to healthy eating and cause and effect of sugar on oral health and obesity. In the US, the poorest ZIP codes have the highest rates of health and teeth problems and there is a pretty good correlation that it relates to diet.
To take the candy handout to a ludicrous extreme, would you be okay handing out (assuming it was legal) small baggies of drugs to addicts in the neighborhood? They would be happy, you would see a lot of smiles, it would be a feel good for you……. LOL
Anyways, in the grand scheme of things, you are correct, handing out candy is but a tiny blip in the cosmos of life. And there are definitely worse things you could be doing. It is a good reflection on you if this is what passes for bad behaviour on your part.
Brian, the candy giving is intended as a small act of charity, worthless though it may be. Seeing the kids scream with joy as we approach makes me feel good, selfishly perhaps. Maybe I could hand out flyers with healthy eating tips, but then I’d be accused of contributing to the litter problem.