Time for a little catch-up, not that there is much to be missed in this nothingness I call life. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not complaining. As Kris Kristofferson sang long ago, “nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’, but it’s free.”
Yesterday’s post was devoted to the Aeta outreach and hike to Mamueng Falls. As such, I didn’t get the chance to detail my Wednesday night activities.
With the new year approaching, I have decided to embark on an expedition to visit bars I haven’t seen in quite some time. Next door to Hideaway at the Arizona Resort is Redz Pub. My last time there was in October 2021, when it had the “honor” of being the first in the Bars of Barretto reviews. It’s currently ranked #32 (out of thirty-four bars), and I saw nothing last night that would warrant a revision–unless it is downward. Well, two girls there knew me by name from the long-ago Arizona Floating Bar days, but both were fat and unattractive. I had one beer, paid my tab, and left. And oh yeah, the beer was 120 pesos, making Redz Pub the most expensive bar for customer drinks in town. Quite the honor. Not!
I also visited Whiskey Girl and enjoyed the company of waitress Jenn. I’ve got to say, she is quite the snuggler, and damn, I’ve really missed having someone in this life to cuddle with. And I guess that planted the seed for a thought that’s been growing in my brain ever since. Still not fully developed, and maybe it will never be ripe for implementation, but when I wake up and can’t get back to sleep, it is something to think about in those early morning hours. More on that a bit later.
I finished my Wednesday night at Queen Victoria. It’s a strange bar; the girls seem to have me set on ignore. Well, to be fair, Irish was with a customer, and most of the others don’t interest me at all. I heard the band start playing in the back room, and there was a female lead singer, so I went to have a closer look.
Which brings us to yesterday. Again, nothing really out of the ordinary–did my solo walk, had a nap, blogged, and then headed out to the bars.
I left the house a bit earlier than usual because I had a delivery to make at It Doesn’t Matter.
I stayed for a couple of beers, then crossed the highway, hoping to get a haircut. Nope, my barber was still occupied with other customers; that’s three times in a row now. So, I walked up the highway to a beauty salon and asked about a haircut–“three people ahead of you, sir.” Damn, this town needs more barbers!
Seeing as how I was on the far side of town and also craving a pulled pork sandwich, I paid a visit to John’s place.
After my meal, I walked back to the barbershop, and there was still a woman in the chair. Fuck it; I went upstairs to Cheap Charlies to drown my sorrows. Sitting there alone with three gals surrounding me. The back rub was very nice, but the reality of the whole scene is growing a little wearisome. I want a gal who pretends to like me at my side even when I’m not buying her drinks. Alma, my CC favorite, asked me why I looked so sad. I told her I wasn’t sad, just contemplative. I doubt she understood what I meant.
I had gotten a message earlier in the week that Flor, the owner of Alley Cats’ partner, had gotten me a Christmas gift, and I should come by to get it. I missed the Christmas party there because I was at Hideaway’s party. Well, times change, and without me playing darts these days, there isn’t much reason for me to go to Alley Cats.
I didn’t have a gift to offer in return, so instead, I bought all the girls working a lady drink. That cost me over a thousand pesos, so I guess we can call it even.
They were having trivia night at Alley Cats, which I’ve never enjoyed but last night reminded me of how my brainpower has been reduced. I couldn’t think of the answers, even when I knew them if you know what I mean. Anyway, I didn’t stay long.
My last stop was Queen Victoria again. And the bartender’s shirt seemed to be sending me a message:
And then he turned around:
So, how do I reconcile those sentiments with my desire to have a companion by my side, at least occasionally? Well, this thought occurred to me. The girls who are so good at faking it are only making 300 pesos a day. I can pay more than that and give them better hours and working conditions. Yeah, you heard me; my big idea is hiring a girlfriend. I’m not even looking for a live-in, maybe just two or three overnights a week. I’m looking for some cuddles, and I’d like to have someone to cook for and maybe travel with me occasionally. And yeah, company on my barhops would be nice, too. Anyway, it’s just an idea that I haven’t thought through yet, but maybe it could work. No breakups or broken hearts; if things aren’t working, I can emulate Trump and say, “you’re fired!”
Another option I’m going to pursue is the dating site Filipina Cupid. I had good luck there meeting gals I liked back when I was still living in Korea. That’s where I met Loraine. Oh, wait. That didn’t work out so well for me, did it? Well, it will be different this time. I hope. Actually, it is just an easy way to meet non-bargirls who live close enough to me where we can actually go on dates. I’d quit the site over three years ago but signed up as a premium member for one-year this morning (a little over a hundred bucks). You can’t chat or get messages from the women there if you are not a premium subscriber (the women don’t have to be). Anyway, I’m going to give it a try and see what happens.
I do need to update my profile and pictures. Haven’t gotten around to that yet. These are the ones I’m thinking about using:
How will they be able to resist those manly charms? You never know unless you try. The worst-case scenario is that I’ll come to actually appreciate being alone all the time. There’s value in that.
SOB tonight, and I’d better head out now if I’m going to get a good seat. Stay tuned; some exciting days are bound to be right around the corner!
IMHO, ditch the food mode. Not only is the food out of focus, but the colors look unnatural.
Happy New Year.
Actually, it is just an easy way to meet non-bargirls who live close enough to me where we can actually go on dates.
As I’m sure you know, another way to meet non-bargirls is to (1) frequent the bars a little less and (2) experience the rest that the Philippines has to offer. A country isn’t simply the sum of its bars. I mean, I get that that’s your comfort zone, but the things you’re wishing for, in terms of meaningful companionship, require you to step outside of that comfort zone (by which I don’t mean dating sites, which are a comfort zone of their own since you’ve done that sort of thing before)—a good mission for 2023. Can John step off the samsaric wheel, or is he trapped in his own Matrix forever?
Here’s hoping for something big to happen in 2023. And by “big,” I mean good.
I cant find my previous comment on a “girlfriend for hire” possibility, but the gist of it was, go for it.
You are not going to find the unicorn you are looking for in the places you frequent.
Finding a 20 something attractive, sexy, young lady in Barretto that likes you just because you are you isn’t going to happen. You are going to have to offer her something that she cannot get from someone her own age, cultural background, etc and realistically, that “something” is money.
Put a girl on a stipend, lay down the ground rules and it can work. And work very successfully. I would look outside of Barretto.
If you do go on the dating site, be completely honest about what you are looking for.
Describe yourself and say you are looking for a companion. Monthly stipend. Approach it like when you were hiring people in your former life.
Manila is probably your widest pool of applicants. Take a weekend or two, set up some “interviews”, see how it goes.
Of course, you could always change your criteria of what type of lady you are looking for. LOL
Brian, Ha! And I thought I had an original idea. At this point, hiring a “girlfriend” is still in the thinking about it phase, but you make some points, and I appreciate the insights. If I do go that route, I can see the value of getting someone from out of town. But either way, honesty is key, with both parties going into the arrangement with eyes wide open.
And hey, I’m not an age bigot…hell, I would consider someone in her 30s! All kidding aside, my favorite bargirls are the older ones–they are more skilled at conversation, and I’m just more comfortable with someone a little longer in tooth. We’ll see what happens.
Ha ha, glad you clarified what you meant by “big.”
Well, I’ll cop to being comfortable in my comfort zone, but that doesn’t mean I’m unwilling to try something new. I’m not sure what that might be, though. I do plan to get back into travel mode in the new year and see some places I haven’t been to before. I just don’t expect that will provide much opportunity to meet “the one.” That’s one of the advantages to the dating site–I can target my searches. I’m thinking Bohol will be my first trip, and I could do a search of gals living there and see if one might be interested in being my tour guide.
I’m not as comfortable on the dating sites as you may think, though. There are some scammers out there and the usual losers and users. But I’ve also met some “real” girls, and by that I mean never having worked in the adult entertainment business, looking for true love. Looking back, I fucked up by rejecting a woman like Eva (she came and visited me in Korea) who sincerely wanted to be my partner in life while I foolishly thought I could do better (and yeah, part of that was she was older and not as physically attractive as some others). I don’t think I’m as shallow as that now with almost five years under my belt here.
Anyway, one day at a time, eyes wide open, and see what the new year holds in store. Thanks for the encouragement to try something new!
Great to hear from you, Nomad. It’s been a while!
Yeah, at least on this phone camera, I’m ditching food mode. I might be doing something wrong, but the quality just isn’t there.
Happy New Year to you and your family.