I’m glad to be alive! On a whim, I decided to welcome in the new year on the beach, so when the grocery shopping was done, we dropped off the goods and headed for San Narciso.
We took a short nap, then got ourselves ready to celebrate the coming new year.
We took our seats at a table fronting the stage. The only other customers there departed shortly after we arrived. As we perused the menu offerings, I was surprised to see this:
Interestingly, Mula only sells wine by the bottle, not the glass. So, naturally we ordered the cheese platter and Swan got her two glasses of wine for not much more than we would have paid in Barretto, plus all those snacks. Best bargain I’ve seen in quite a while.
The band started playing, and we had their full attention as the only members of the audience. The female lead singer teased Swan a little and sang a good mix of romantic songs during their first set.
We went back to Mope after Mula, enjoyed some more beers, and chatted with Matt, the Aussie owner of Mope. I also met another guest named Jim, who has Hashed in Subic in the past and hopes to do so again soon. Anyway, I was in high spirits by now, but not so high that I didn’t remember some awesome-sounding dessert selections on the Mula menu, particularly the ice cream sundae and the brownie a la mode. Our plan was to go back to our room and set the alarm to wake us shortly before midnight. And seeing as how it was the last night of the year, I detoured back to Mula for some takeout dessert. I couldn’t decide which one I wanted, so I ordered both, thinking Swan and I would share. But she went to bed as soon as we got back in our room, so I had no choice but to eat them both myself.
When the alarm sounded, we got out of bed, dressed, and headed for the beach to watch the fireworks.
When the fireworks were done, so were we. Back to the room and back to bed. I didn’t wake again until 6:30, which is sleeping in for me. Swan wanted to head to the beach and look for a sunrise, and I told her I would join her a little later (I had to see what I’d been missing on the internet).
When Swan had finished satisfying her toes in the sand urge, she joined me, and we shared a breakfast (I ate the bacon and eggs; she had the toast and jam). Owner Matt stopped by our table to greet us. I’d met Matt on my previous Mope outings, but something has changed with him, and not for the better. A couple of months ago, he had a crash on his motorcycle, and his injuries resulted in him losing a leg.
In addition to being a motorcycle enthusiast, Matt was an avid surfer (his resort was built to cater to the surfing crowd). He told me he would be fitted with an artificial limb soon, and he has every intention of resuming his passion for riding the board shortly thereafter. So much respect for this guy!
After breakfast, we headed out for a morning stroll.
And now I am back home and dashing out a blog post before heading out to visit the Kokomo’s floating bar. I haven’t been there since last year!
A special memory for today:
Today’s episode in The Story of My Life is a post from New Year’s Day twenty years ago called “Journey Through The Past.” I had just returned from a cross-country drive after visiting Oklahoma, one of the states I’ve called home. During the trip, I reflected on the life I had lived there and how I had failed to recognize all the things that were great about it, but I had never fully appreciated it until looking back all those years later. I resolved with my pending move to Korea; I would not make that mistake again. And, of course, I did blow it in a similar fashion while spending my final year before retirement, missing my past life in Seoul and looking towards my future life in the Philippines, while forgetting to fully appreciate the life I was living in Pyeongtaek. It’s a bit disconcerting when your own words come back and bite you in the ass.
In today’s YouTube video, George takes you on a Sunday stroll through Barretto. I haven’t had a chance to watch it myself yet, but if you are curious have a look.
And now for some laughter:
Okay then, I’m running late. Meeting up with my pal Steve and his gal on the floater so time to get myself on the road. I’ll tell you all about tomorrow!
All the best for 2025.
One of these days, perhaps.
That octopus looks worthy of a closeup photo. I saw a lot of statues and sculptures of octopi during my walk along the east coast, and when I was a kid, they were my obsession. I used to know everything about them.
This place has potential as a future residence, don’t you think?
Ye gods. As I said, you’re a funny guy.
How far is San Narciso from Barretto?
The Mope Resort is 29 kilometers from my house door-to-door. I measured the distance because I have a dream of walking it someday. Imagining that as we drove home yesterday had me thinking, “you must be crazy!”
Oddly enough, I hadn’t even noticed the octopus until you mentioned it. If that place ever reopens, I’ll get a close-up shot for you.
Yeah, maybe that shack isn’t ideal, but what do you really need? I spend 75% of my home time at my desk. It wouldn’t be hard for me to downsize.
If the 29K is flat, that’s a fairly easy day-long walk, especially for you since you never have blister problems, etc. Just rest several times to give your feet a chance to recover as you do each chunk of the walk. You did the flat 18K with me that one time, so you probably don’t need to stop more than once or twice, and only for a few minutes each time.
The problem is when I stop mid-hike to rest, I tend to stiffen up. I’ll test stopping and resting next time I do a long hike and see if I get re-invigorated. An advantage of walking home from San Narciso is that I can take a Jeepney back to Barretto if I get exhausted and a rest break doesn’t work.
I was younger and lighter when we did that 18K hike. I can’t remember; did we stop and rest on that one?