Well, here we go again. I enjoy my life and my routines, but with the exception of an occasional variance, it’s all pretty much the same old, same old. Same doesn’t make it bad or even boring, except maybe when you are writing (or reading) about it seven days a week. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve enjoyed the twenty years I’ve been blogging here at LTG, but I worry that my posts are increasingly about little more than looking in the mirror. I assuage that guilt somewhat by telling myself the blog is my diary, and the handful of faithful readers are just along for the ride. But I’d like it to be more than that if possible. So, I am open to suggestions if there are any subjects you’d like me to weigh in on. I can certainly offer my opinions from a boots-on-the-ground perspective. One commenter wanted to hear me recite poetry, so I did and never heard from her again. Anyway, if there is anything I can do to make the blog more interesting, please let me know in the comments.
So, with nothing better to do, let me share some photo highlights from my Sunday.
On our last street, we ran into some controversy. We had stopped doing candy handouts on this street several months ago because a grumpy old man didn’t like the kids throwing candy wrappers on the ground. When we passed here on the Christmas Hash, some mothers told Swan the kids missed us. The old man shouted at Swan again yesterday, so she walked away from a group of expectant children. That pissed me off, and I gave one of the mothers a bag of cookies and asked her to pass them out. Swan and I disagreed on the matter, but my take is, why in the fuck does this old shit think he can tell us not to hand out candy to kids that aren’t his? Yeah, they should be taught not to litter (I’ve never seen them do it), but he’s out of line for not being respectful towards Swan. Anyway, I will make it a point to come down this street more often and always carry some sweets.
Next on my Sunday agenda was feeding those hungry girls at Hideaway. There was a pool tourney going when I arrived, and the place was packed like I’ve rarely seen it.
An hour later, it was time for me to hit the beach.
And shortly thereafter, so were we. It was time for us to head to shore for some dinner at John’s place.
After dinner, we moseyed up the highway and had our nightcap at The Green Room. I got enticed to play waitress Chu in a pool game, and once again, she kicked my sorry ass. I really need to start practicing, although even when I played in the Itaewon league regularly, I sucked.
Seven years ago, I was trying to find the path I’d heard about from Alta Vista to Rizal Extension.
What with the rumblings about bird flu and a new virus in China, this is a timely reminder:
Today’s YouTube video features a vlogger I don’t much care for because of his persistently negative attitude. Today’s subject is beggars, and specifically children who beg. I got accosted as a tourist in Manila by a “gang” of kids begging for money and literally had to run to get away from them. Although there are a couple of adults in Barretto to whom I occasionally provide coins, I NEVER give money to kids. For one thing, I’ve heard it is against the law, but my main objection is that I don’t want to encourage them to grow up thinking this is an option in life. Have some self-respect and dignity. And shame on the parents who put their kids up to this racket.
Time to lighten things up:
And now it is time for me to get ready to head out to Treasure Island on Baloy Beach to enjoy a pool party. I will surely enjoy it much more than today’s Hash trail, which starts in Lower Kalaklan and finishes at the end of Rizal Extension. It’s a Vienna Sausage trail, which means at least one long-ass climb to the ridgeline and who knows what after that. No thank you! And best of all, I’ll have something different to post about tomorrow! See you then.
Another one of those abandoned houses. This one is as big as a mansion.
Ever look at one of these houses and think, “You know… this has potential as a fixer-upper!”?
Yeah, they should be taught not to litter (I’ve never seen them do it), but he’s out of line for not being respectful towards Swan.
Deck ‘im. Are there any CCTV cameras out there? If not, who’s to say what happened?
And I satisfied my craving for some beef bulgogi
You can make that at home. I’ve got a recipe if you want it.
Seems like an explosive relationship
That looks like a man’s handwriting. So, he’s blowing up his wife?
I am open to suggestions if there are any subjects you’d like me to weigh in on. I can certainly offer my opinions from a boots-on-the-ground perspective. […] Anyway, if there is anything I can do to make the blog more interesting, please let me know in the comments.
How about teaching us some HR-related skills? Maybe once a week, present a conflict (or other) scenario and ask us commenters to see if we can resolve it. After we take a stab at it, you swoop in with your experience and a step-by-step explanation of your solution.
What else could you teach? Other ideas:
1. Cooking. Master one new dish per month. Blog the results, including the reactions of those you serve it to.
2. New skills. Master one new skill per month, learned via YouTube, a paid tutor, or some other method. Blog the results.
3. Travel. Visit one new place per month. Blog with lots of photos.
4. Start a vlog (about life in the PI or whatever) and embed your videos here. One video per week or month. Expect the first few videos to be lame until you get the rhythm of it.
5. Vlogging or not, talk about one new aspect of Filipino culture per month, plus the Filipino word(s) for whatever concept you’re talking about. This would be your own learning, not simply linking to the Filipina Pea. It could even take the form of a dialogue with Swan. (Please make sure your camera is horizontal, not vertical, if you do do this.)
6. Learn Tagalog. One short video a month conversing with Swan and showing your progress. I wouldn’t care how poor your accent is.
7. Or keep vlogging those poetry readings. Buy better and better sound equipment to take full advantage of your voice.
Re: begging. I agree with your take on begging. In Bangkok, it appears that most of the beggars are of the professional variety and sad sack kids/babies that they have next to them are of the “rent a kid” variety. Fortunately, I have never come across an overly aggressive beggar in BKK. They normally just sit passively on the side of the walkway and look sad.
Re:new topics for the blog. @Kevin has a good list. I like #3 (travel more often). I get the impression that you sometimes feel that you are stuck in a rut but the inertia is too great to pull out of it. You often talk about travel, whether it is domestic or international, but nothing seems to come of it.
“So, I am open to suggestions if there are any subjects you’d like me to weigh in on. ” I’ve wondered how you and Kevin met and became friends . He does not do the bar thing. Was it through hiking ?
Terry, Kevin and I met in Korea years ago through our blogs. That was before I developed an interest in hiking. Kevin is a foodie, so our first meet-ups in person were in restaurants around Itaewon that I liked. Kevin doesn’t drink, but I did get him up to my Shenanigans hang-out once. After I became a walker, we did a couple of hikes together. I showed him some paths I used to climb Namsan, and he took me on an 18-kilometer ass-kicker river walk out near where he lives. Good times and nice memories!
Brian, The beggars being almost polite is one of the things I noticed during my visit to Bangkok. They’d sit silently on the sidewalk with a cup in front of them and sometimes bow their heads as you passed. If you are going to beg, that’s the way to do it.
Well now, I DID get out of town for the New Year’s welcome! Totally on a whim, too. But yeah, I do tend to get comfortable and set in my routines these days. Swan and I just talked about doing an out-of-town adventure at least once a month this year. And she said our San Narciso trip counted for December, so we’ve got to come up with something for January. I’m also going to get off my lazy ass and plan that trip to Bohol that’s been at the top of my list of places to see in the PI.
Thanks for the encouragement!
Kev, Regarding the abandoned houses, that one I posted yesterday is, or was, a good example. When I first saw it years ago, it looked almost livable. It’s huge, and I wondered why the owner just walked away from it. Or maybe they died. Over time, it has become the shell you see now. There is a sad story there, but I guess we’ll never know what happened.
As for the grumpy old man, I won’t resort to violence because even without CCTV, the foreigner is always wrong when there is an aggressive encounter, no matter who starts it. Swan and I had a brief exchange of words over the incident because I thought she was wrong to just walk away without defending herself or completing the candy delivery. I was up ahead and didn’t see or hear what was happening, or I definitely would have told the asshole to fuck off.
Thank you for taking the time to offer suggestions for future blogging topics. I’ll see what I can do with some of them. As for the HR lessons, damn, I’ve been out of the business for almost seven years now, and I might have a hard time remembering anything worthwhile. I’ll think about it and see what I might come up with.
It’s interesting to see cooking on the list. I was just thinking the other day how, since I’ve met Swan, I almost never cook. That thought occurred to me when I saw my crockpot sitting forlornly unused for months out of reach on the top shelf in the kitchen. We’ll see if I can get motivated to climb up and get it.
The travel suggestion is one I can and will tackle. I have a once-a-month goal for 2025.
Does the world really need another vlogger? I will think about some of the ideas you suggest, but since I have the perfect face for radio, it may be in writing. Then again, since I’m losing my grip on the keyboard, maybe video is my future. (You think what I publish is bad? You wouldn’t believe the quantity and nature of the typos and fuck-ups that I manage to catch.)
Anyhow, I’ll see what I can do to liven things up a tad here at LTG. Thanks again for the input!