Seeing is believing, so keeping my eyes healthy and functioning is a worthy objective. My visit to the ophthalmologist yesterday didn’t reveal any negative surprises. I can’t see shit out of my left eye–not even the big top line on the eye chart–it’s all just a blur. So, the infection I’ve been treating with antibiotic eyedrops since last week has cleared up. The left eye exam didn’t show any retina damage. The eye doc said I could schedule a cataract removal surgery at my leisure, but it wasn’t currently something to worry about. I may see about getting some prescription reading glasses to avoid going under the knife laser for as long as possible.

Next up was a visit with Dr. Jo. After receiving my chelation injection, she went to work on removing the skin tabs on and around my eyelids. I wasn’t sure what that would involve, but it was much more unpleasant than I anticipated. She used a local anesthetic, which dulled most of the pain, but it was a slow process, and I have lots of eye boogers. After an hour of discomfort, Dr. Jo finished with my left eye, and I told her we could do the right eye next week. I’d had enough torture for one day and had no secrets to reveal.

I’m not looking forward to the next session. The things I endure to stay gwapo.

When Dr. Jo finished with me, it was after five, and I had skipped lunch, so I was hungry. Time for a visit to Sit-n-Bull. My diet aspirations aren’t all that strict. I try to achieve my goal of fewer than 1800 daily calories and avoid sweets and other unhealthy options most of the time. At least so far, I’ve been losing weight with that approach. Being hungry and having banked the calories I didn’t consume for lunch, I almost convinced myself that I was justified in satisfying my craving for a roast beef dip sandwich. But before ordering, I checked my app to see how many calories that would cost me. The sandwich alone was more than 500, so I nixed that idea and went with this instead:

I had a couple more drinks (it was my gin and soda night) at Wet Spot to ease the pain, and then we headed home to watch episode six of “Squid Game.” I was surprised to see so many regular characters killed off this time (my favorite survived). There are three more episodes to go in Season One, and hopefully, it will begin to make more sense to me by then.

I didn’t do the Wednesday group hike, and Dr. Jo told me to avoid sweating today, so I’m suffering from a walkaholic withdrawal right now. We have a special hiking event tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to getting back on the trail.

I’ve booked rooms and paid for two Hash events in La Union next month (Feb 7-9 and Feb 28-Mar 2). And I’m in the early stages of planning a trip to Da Nang, Vietnam, come June. Yep, I am finally getting off my lazy ass and preparing to reengage in the travel portion of my retired life. It helps when you have a girlfriend who likes to get out of town. I’ve promised her a minimum of one excursion each month.

And another journey that is ongoing:

Today’s installment in The Story of My Life is a post about a weekend in my new Itaewon life. I visited a bar called Sweet Caroline’s, which would become one of my favorites, and began meeting fellow expats. I mentioned that I was avoiding the bars with lady drink pressure, and this exchange with my then-wife in the comments made me smile:

Carol: You could be the loneliest person ever created, and yet I would highly recommend you avoid buying drinks for pretty or even unpretty Korean females! Get my drift?

Me: yes, dear, I get it…

Carol: Sorry baby, it was the hormones talking. Of course, I meant every word of it.

Good times, and it is nice to remember those long-ago days.

Here’s a travel memory for today:

And keeping with the travel theme, today’s YouTube vlogger takes us along on his visit to Alona Beach in Panglao, Bohol. Bohol has been at the top of my list of places to see in the Philippines. I hope to accomplish that soon, maybe in March.

And now for the daily dose of humor:

And now I have.

My apologies!

So, I am changing things up and staying close to home today. Neighbors Jeff and Vina are having a gathering at their place, and we will be attending. Thanks for spending some time here at LTG.