Just another day in the Barrio.
Bruce, my new friend visiting from Taiwan, was up for joining us on a Saturday morning romp. I usually do a boring solo street stroll, but with Bruce and Swan along, I needed to up my game. So, we headed for the hills. We met Bruce at Sit-n-Bull and then climbed the steps up from La Union Street. From there, our journey was through the tall grass, and I had difficulty finding the trail in places. It went better after we reached the top and then rendezvoused with the familiar My Bitch trail. Then we circled around through the backstreets of Barretto and finished the hike at Sit-n-Bull after a 6K jaunt.
Thanks for joining us, Bruce. Safe travels home, and we’ll look forward to more hikes when you return.
Swan had mentioned craving the grilled pork chops at Mangos, so when it was dinner time, that’s where I took her. We got a table right next to the beach and enjoyed the views while our meal was being prepared.
After our meal, we popped in to The Green Room for our night cap. I had some SOB coupons to expend.
We had the Sit-n-Bull waitress deliver some pecan pie for us to bring home for our bedtime snack. And that’s how we ended our day in the Barrio.
Facebook carried me back seven years ago to remind me of the day I did a three-and-a-half-hour walk in Seoul.
This year’s Olympics may earn the Gold Medal for provoking memes like this:
Today’s YouTube video discusses some cultural aspects of the Philippines that folks in the West could learn from. I am happy with my decision to live here and have absolutely no desire to return to the USA for anything more than a brief visit. If I needed to move, I’d stay in Asia, most likely Cambodia.
Today’s attempt at humor:
It’s Sunday and the Candy Walk is completed. Next up, a feeding at Hideaway bar and a dinner date with Swan at John’s. Stay tuned for more tomorrow.
Ah! A long-shadow photo! Those look mighty familiar.
Happy with what I have
Is that meant to be praise? Sounds more like settling.
It’s a short one (less than five minutes) so give it a watch
I couldn’t figure out his accent at first. Finally pegged it as Irish, but d’oh! He’s Scottish. His insights were positive, but if the Critical Drinker is to be believed, a lot of Scots are trying to get the fuck out of Scotland. (Then again, if you watch The Hoof GP, you see the beauty of the Scottish countryside everywhere.)
More and more, this is me.
Sounds like a Biden quote.
Have fun at John’s. And happy trails to Bruce.
It is always good to get some steps and elevation into your walks, John. If you had slipped even just a couple of 2.5lbs vinyl weights into your rucksack you could have done some moderate resistance exercises upon reaching the summit. That would have really helped burn those excess calories.
Did the Beached Whale appeal to Bruce? I ask because on my travels over the years I used to find many of the local asian men enjoyed the company of young white girls and women, many of which you wouldn’t look twice at at home. I member this expecially in the beach resorts of Thailand (Koh Samet in particular for the more mature lady).
Do you swim John there, John? I know the water is not great but don’t let body shaming stop you from getting into your Speedos for a little dip every now and then.
Where is Bruce going next? Did he pass though AC on the way to Barretto? I used to enjoy the Perimeter Road bars but I am told that area is a shadow of its former self. Is it?
Yes, I think we are talking about the same blogger. His blog was called “Warren’s Subic Bay” if I remember correctly. He was black fellow with spectacles and had been in navy (possibly merchant) and had lived in Singapore before arriving in Subic about 15 years ago. I know he had a partner and little daughter there but, like I said previously, he suddenly stopped posting about 10 years ago without any explanation and there is no trace of his blog online anymore. I enjoyed those posts because they were a more nightlife orientated.
Here is the link to the other blogger I was telling you about https://rubberboa.wordpress.com/
I see that gent is back in the US now. He is like me: he seems to spend the winters abroad. I have been doing that since I retired at 52. I like slow travel. I enjoy mapping out a little route which involves me staying in each place a couple of weeks and moving on cause I firmly believe in the old adage about a rolling stone gathering no moss. Have rode the ferries between islands over the years. Even made it down as far as General Santos once.
You said you were going to travel more, John, but I have not really seen much evidence of that in the 6 years of posting from arriving to live in the Philippines full time. Is it because you are anxious about keeping your number of Subic Hash participations high? Either way, looking forward to some reports from other areas once the rainy season has ended at least.
Enjoy your hash tomorrow and good luck with Dr Leon on Wednesday.
Meant to comment a couple of days ago and mention that last Friday was International Beer Day. I was glad to see that you did not disappoint, and were able to imbibe in honor of the day! LOL. Every day is beer day, right?
Have spent a lot of time in Taiwan – cool country to visit. 2/3’s of it is mountains, so like Korea, hiking culture is pretty robust.
I can’t wait for Monday to arrive, John, as I am getting a payment. It’s been a rough couple of days on my end. Left it to the last minute – as I’m increasingly wont to do – to make a last-minute trudge to the shop on a booze run. I thought I had $6 left in my bank account, obviously not enough to tide me over and get something to ward away the shakes the next day so figured I might as well go out with a bang and get myself a bottle of mouthwash. Fuck going to Walmart, at one of the worst crossroads in the city for crime and methed-out mentalists, so late at night. I’d have to trudge to the alternate ‘posh’ grocery store the ex always preferred we go to, despite their products being indistinguishable to Best Value shit, at ridiculous mark ups.
In a rare bout of forward-thinking I decided to double check my bank balance before leaving, probably inspired by the high(er) prices of the particular store I was going to. Turns out I actually only had like $3.55. Groan. Decided to check the price of their mouthwash, dreading they weren’t going to have one anywhere near as cheap as Walmart. Sure enough, they didn’t. The cheapest one was like $4.50, and that was for a smaller bottle than the 1.5L I was used to getting. Still, rummaging around for some change I’d discovered earlier, I was able to find enough to add over a dollar to the mouthwash fund. With that I finally set off.
After a false start – I was a few houses down the road before I realized I left my wallet at home, and then couldn’t find it – I was on my merry way when I was almost run over. Now, I hate US car culture on general principles, but Tucson is particularly notorious for pedestrians getting run over and this was almost a textbook case of that. Came to an intersection that usually fills me with a little anxiety, when it’s busy, because I’ve almost been run over there a few times before while casually strolling around drunk. I wait until the relevant vehicles come to a full stop and the pedestrian walk light comes on. I wait for half a second or so, in case a driver decides to turn because of the weird ‘disregard red lights if you’re turning’ rule before I step on to the road. The intersection is well-lit but even then I’m still constantly looking around me. It’s especially a good thing I am, then, as to my right I see a truck slowly pull into the intersection. The driver must see me, surely, I’m almost halfway across the road. For a microsecond I figure they’ll idle there until I’ve fully crossed. Nope. In slow-motion I watch them turn left on to the road as I’m still walking. I see the driver clearly, she’s not looking at me, she’s not even looking in my direction, she’s looking to her right, looking for oncoming traffic because why would a pedestrian be crossing the road when the walk light is on? I immediately stop and can only watch in amazement as the truck completes the turn and drives right past me, maybe only about 4 feet in front of me. The driver stares straight ahead as she pulls into the road, completely oblivious to me in the middle of the road. If I hadn’t been constantly looking around there’s a distinct possibility she could have run me over. Fucking idiot.
Get to the store in good time and make my way straight to the health aisle. Guess what? They don’t have the bottle of mouthwash I can afford. I think maybe I’ve missed it, maybe they’ve sold out, but no; I desperately scan over the price tags again and again, looking for that $4.50 special, maybe there’s a gap I missed, but it’s simply not there. The cheapest bottle they have is $5.99. Fuck. I absentmindedly wander over to the booze aisle on the off-chance they have something discounted or on offer. No such luck. Only thing I could afford is like a $2 small carton of shitty, weak, wine and such a small amount of weak booze was only going to give me anxiety. Ye gods do have a sense of humor; almost forgot my wallet at home, almost got run over on the way here, and now the trip’s been all for nothing.
I distantly consider the possibility of just trying to power through the night and hopefully catch some sleep. I wasn’t feeling too bad; surely if my body didn’t go into meltdown on just 3 tall boys and a shooter it should be ok, right? Maybe pop some of the ex’s sleeping pills to knock me out. I’m about to accept defeat and just head home when I have a eureka moment: I can get extract! I still have food stamps, so if I throw in some mixer as well I can make some acceptable, if not gross-tasting, drinks to tide me over. I head on over to the spice aisle and am greeted with all the colors and flavors of the of the discerning booze-lover’s rainbow: vanilla, almond, lemon, mint, rum, maple, anise, coconut. I’m spoiled for choice! Shit is not cheap though, with prices going from $3.50 up to $19 for comparatively tiny-ass bottles. I hadn’t drank any of the stuff since I recommended to you that Swan start drinking it and I couldn’t remember exactly how much I needed to make do, so I grabbed a few bottles of different flavors and brands, just in case. I even managed to pocket a couple on the sly to make up for the bad karma of almost getting run over. Made sure to check the ingredients first – IIRC by law extracts in the US must contain alcohol or they have to be marketed as imitation extract. Sure enough, the small(ish) bottle of lemon extract I grab has 83%(!) alcohol, as do the others. I pick up quite a few bottles; if that’s more than enough to get me fucked, let alone just tide me over, I can use the rest for later. Price tag isn’t cheap and I wince at paying $50+ for a couple bottles of soda and, erm, baking ingredients in the packed self-checkout section. Still, at least the mission wasn’t a complete failure and I had something to warm me cockles.
When I got home later it was time to sample the wares and wind down for the night. I chose lemon as, from memory, vanilla was a bit blegh on the tongue, and also mostly because I had my eye on that “Alcohol (83%)” label. Tentatively poured about a shot’s worth into my ice-filled glass and topped it to the brim with some nice soda. As I brought the glass up to my lips I could really smell the lemon; it was potent, like industrial cleaning product. Well…bottom’s up. The sensation was…somewhat unpleasant, to say the least. My lips instantly began to tingle and I felt this itching, biting, sensation. Even when I wiped my lips clean I could still feel them burning. I worried for a second I might then start to feel my guts melting and wondered if I’d made a terrible mistake. My mouth felt strange, itchy and tingly; and I had the constant urge to lick my teeth and scratch my tongue. The taste was how I imagined lemon pledge with a dash of soda flavoring would be. Couldn’t be done with maintaining on that all night, so take another big swig to top up the glass with more soda. Maybe diluting it further would help. Had to do that maybe three more times – even committing the sin of just tipping some down the sink to get the liquid out faster for more soda – before finally it approached something tasting like an overly-liqueured Long Island iced tea. Still, eventually got the job done – despite the itchy, burning, lips.
Sleep was, once again, put on the back burner. It was already something like 0430 in the morning before I even entertained the idea of going to bed, and I barely felt tired despite having been up for some 48 hours by that point. I decided to just power through and blast some Uriah Heep on my headphones while the ex was still passed out from her sleeping pills. I briefly consider getting up to check if she is still alive, but I’m quite comfy on my Doctor Who cushion on the floor. The only thing to do now is keep drinking until that money is in my account tomorrow, and then I can buy something snazzy like a few cheap box wines and a handle of Tito’s. Cheers!
I carry cookies and lollipops in my backpack, but they don’t weigh much. Hey, it’s a start!
Bruce wasn’t with us at dinner, so he missed his chance with the old fat white chick. And yeah, I’m not one to talk, but it was just so unusual to see her in the Philippines.
No, I don’t swim in the bay. I’ve seen what goes into that water, and it is not appealing. I can swim, but I don’t really enjoy it.
I believe Bruce was going directly back to Taiwan; I’m not sure if his flight was from Clark or Manila. I’m not a big fan of AC and don’t visit often. I’ve heard a lot of the old bars on Perimeter are gone now, but I also read that some new ones have opened recently. When I do go to AC, it is for the Hash, so I don’t spend much time in the bars there.
Yeah, we are talking about the same guy. I’m told he also used to run a Facebook group page called Warren’s Subic Bay, but he disappeared in 2021, and no one seems to know what happened. Thanks for the link to the RubberBoa blog; it looks interesting.
No, I haven’t b n able to find the motivation to get off my lazy ass and get out of town more often. I still have some places I want to visit; I just need to break out of my routines and stop making excuses. Nothing to do with the Hash; most places I would travel have a Hash group, so I could join in there.
Thanks for the comment and info.
Kev, No, not settling. It is far from perfect here, but I’m comfortable and know that wherever I choose to live, I will still be me. It’s a good fit for me in my little town, and there is nowhere else I want to be.
Most expats believe they are escaping their old lives for a new adventure and better overall quality of life. The USA has a lot of beauty and things I miss, but I still wouldn’t want to live there.
More and more, I’m like Biden. I hate to think about what is to come. Some would say I’ve always been demented, but this feels different somehow.
It’s nice to hear from you again, Thompson. I was wondering how things were going with you. It seems that every day is a new adventure in your life. I’m glad you didn’t get squished in the crosswalk. I read somewhere that women can turn into good drivers, so if you are a good driver, be on the lookout! Apparently, that applies to pedestrians as well.
I’m glad you found something to tide you over until payday. It’s nice to put that creativity of yours to work when concocting a cocktail. And now you know the right level of mixing so you don’t burn your tongue off. Good job!
“So we shall let the reader answer this question for himself: who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?”
Hunter S. Thompson
Brian, actually, I only drink beer on two occasions: when I’m alone or when I am with someone. I’ll also drink on days that end in “y.”
Bruce did mention that the mountains in Taiwan are larger than here. That reminds me of when I first moved to South Carolina. I sent a picture of the Smoky Mountains to my friend in Arizona. She responded, “Y’all call those mountains? Folks sure do exaggerate there!”