But things turned out good enough, I suppose. So, I was tasked with leading the Wednesday Walkers group hike yesterday, but I was pretty much out of fresh ideas. Since no one else had a better plan, I chose to do a Naugsol valley walk. We started with an unpleasant walk on the always busy Sawmill Road, then made our way through San Isidro to the valley path I had in mind. Except, it was blocked by a newly constructed fence. The flat way around that obstacle was flooded with water, so we headed up the hill. I figured we’d go up, around, and back down, but I figured wrong. No such route seemed to exist. So, we just continued on to the top of the hill, and as we descended the other side, I knew where we were once again. Our new route led us to the My Bitch trail, and that’s how we completed our 6.5K walk.
Meanwhile, our preparation for the December 27 feeding in Alabang continues.
Swan does the shopping, and I do the paying. This is just another aspect of our 50-50 relationship.
I’ve decided to start a new Wednesday evening routine by visiting a bar that is not in my regular rotation. I kicked off this effort yesterday at Cheap Charlies.
When it was time for some grub, we crossed the busy highway and dined at Sit-n-Bull.
We did our nightcap next door at Wet Spot and had our usual pleasant visit with our regulars, Beth and Irene. Aine arrived just as we were leaving and missed out on the lady drinks. Oh well, actions have consequences.
Now for some memories courtesy of Facebook:
Ten years ago, I shared this excerpt from a poem I liked:
For I shall always let thee do,
In generous love, just what I please.
Peace comes, and discord flies away,
Love’s bright day follows hatred’s night;
For I am ready to admit
That you are wrong and I am right.
I read it to Swan this morning, but she didn’t find it nearly as funny as I did.
So, I posted this on my Facebook page yesterday and made some lefty heads explode:
I’m taking a break today from the losers in the Philippines and enjoying some photos from the good ol’ days I experienced back in the 20th century. Yeah, that’s what old people do, I know.
Humor time:
This morning, while Swan was delivering candy to the school in Tibag, I took a 7K stroll through Barretto and Baloy and photographed every bar in town. Almost all of them were closed, of course, but we have over fifty bars to choose from here. That’s nearly a year of Wednesdays! I’ll share them in a separate post tomorrow.
And here’s one of those ’70s classics I loved back in the day. Hell, hadn’t heard it in years, and it still sounds as good as ever!
And the “first time hearing” response:
I can see how discovering a blocked path could be annoying, but I can also see how figuring out the problem caused by the blockage could be an adventure. What’s your perspective? Have you ever thought that it might be nice for park authorities to label and maintain some official paths for local use so that you’re never in danger of losing old, well-known paths?
I guess calling Trump Hitler is okay, but don’t you dare say anything bad about Obama.
Or about his… wife.
Looking forward to the tranny bar pics, mate. Any bars that play good-old rock ‘n’ roll like AC/DC and Motörhead, mate?
Aaron, I’ve noticed good rock music consistently in places like BarCelona and Cheap Charlies. Kokomo’s floating bar has a great playlist, but it is usually too loud for my taste. Some bars, like Hideaway, will play whatever you request.
Johm’s and Thumbstar are the only bars I’ve heard have trannies. I don’t frequent either one.
Kev, it can be frustrating when your intended path is blocked, but as you say, it can also trigger a spirit of adventure. That was the case on Wednesday’s hike.
I’m not sure what you mean by “park authorities,” but they don’t exist in these parts. The land we hike is generally not public space, and more and more frequently, the land owners are fencing their property, perhaps in an effort to keep squatters out. What I can’t figure out is how the folks who live on adjacent land deal with losing access to their property. You’d think there would be right-of-way passages included in the deeds, but maybe that’s just my first-world mentality.
That Obama meme was meant as a joke. I don’t believe Michelle is a male, just an ugly masculine woman. And my point was that it is hypocritical of the left to get offended after all the hatred they’ve spewed against anyone who has a contrary worldview.
In the States and South Korea, “park authorities” are the ones most closely involved with maintaining the pristine nature of parkland and ecological preserves. They’re the rangers who school young people on how to behave inside parks; they’re the crew that’s out there picking up litter (which, in Korea, needs to happen way more often). Now frankly, I’ve never seen a Korean park ranger, but then again, I’ve never looked hard for one. Do you have ecological preserves in the Philippines? I bet you do, just maybe not in your locality. Such trappings of civilization don’t show up until you’re closer to the big cities, I bet. Kind of the same situation in Korea. Example: remember that 18K route we walked from Seoul to Bundang, a straight shot south? We passed one or two large ecological preserves on our way down. That Seoul-Bundang axis is very urbanized. Out in the boonies, though, when I’m walking a long trail, ecological parks are few and far between. They do exist, but they’re not as numerous.
Kev, we don’t have any nature preserves or parkland that I’ve seen in this area, and certainly no rangers. Most of the land we hike is privately owned, so I guess the owners are free to fence as they please. The barangay will intervene if there are property disputes.
Yes, I remember that journey to Bundang. It was mostly enjoyable, just too short! 🙂 In my Philippines travels, I’ve only seen one nature reserve, a sanctuary for eagles down in Mindanao. I’m sure there are more, just not around where I live.