…but this old man ain’t snoring (according to Swan, I don’t snore, I fart in my sleep).
It rained off and on all day yesterday and into this morning. Having something other than the heat to complain about for a change will be nice. Wet with sweat or soaked with rain, it doesn’t matter. Life goes on, and so did our Friday group hike. We kept on the pavement and did a 7K walkabout.
When the hike was over, we were standing in front of the McDonald’s in Barretto. Swan and I agreed it was a good opportunity for a “cheat day,” so we went inside. They didn’t serve the lunch items until 10:30, and my watch said it was 10:28, so we waited. And right at 10:30, the menus on the ordering kiosk (yeah, you gotta do it that way) switched to the burger items, and I proceeded to punch in my selections. Then one of the employees approached and advised that we’d have to wait another fifteen minutes to order. Fuck that, your food ain’t THAT good, so we departed. I didn’t need those unhealthy calories anyway, and when we got home, Swan prepared a nice steak and veggie lunch for me. Who needs McDonald’s?
So, with the rains comes the end of the floating bar season. Arizona is already gone, and today is the last day for Kokomo’s. They are having a send-off party that Swan and I will be attending later this afternoon. Tomorrow, the Alaska Club is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and we are also going to that. So, I had to rearrange my routines, and I did the Hideaway feeding yesterday.
With my Hideaway mission accomplished, I crossed the highway and met up with Swan at John’s place for dinner.
After our meal, we proceeded up the highway and made Red Bar our next stop.
When it was time to move on for our nightcap, I thought Cheap Charlies would be a nice option. The waitress brought me my Zero beer and Swan thought she heard her say that they had sent someone to get her wine. They’ve done that before and I appreciate the gesture.
So, when I finished my beer, there was still no wine. When the waitress returned, she claimed she had told us no wine was available. Alright, fine. We’ll take our business elsewhere. I was almost out the door when I realized I’d left my umbrella. When I returned to fetch it, the bartender said something to Swan in Tagalog. Swan didn’t look happy when we were back outside, and I asked what happened. Swan said the bartender told her that I was stupid for getting angry at her. First of all, I wasn’t angry at the employees of Cheap Charlies. Yes, I think it is lame for a bar to not keep an inexpensive bottle of wine in stock (or get one across the street if need be), but that’s on the management, not the worker bees. I’m not the regular at CCs I used to be, but during my last visit just over a week ago, I bought the staff dinner from Foodies downstairs and plied them with the usual cookies and lollipops. Why would you call a customer like me stupid? Hmm, maybe I just answered my own question. Needless to say, I won’t be back. Who needs Cheap Charlies?
It had been a long time since my last visit to Hot Zone, and now seemed like a good time to rectify that. There were a few other customers when we arrived, and the owner, Jay, directed us to a table where he was sitting. It was nice to visit with the former Grandmaster of the Subic Bay Hash again. I complimented him on his crew of dancers, who were by far the healthiest-looking (meaning not fat) I’ve seen in town. I did my 50 pesos each thing for all the girls, waitresses included (stupid is as stupid does), and dispensed the cookies and lollipops that were intended for that bar that can’t be bothered to keep wine in stock. I’d forgotten how nice Hot Zone is as a hangout. If they opened earlier than 7 p.m. I’d probably visit more often.
Triked home after the Hot Zone experience and whipped up a batch of sugar-free vanilla pudding for my bedtime treat. And so ended another night out in Barretto.
Friday report card: 18,670 steps, 14.36 kilometers walked, 3,552 calories burned.
It’s April 2009 in my journey through the LTG archives. I wrote about a road trip I made to Korea’s east coast at Naksan. I was happy to see that all the photos from that trip are still up and viewable. I think losing the old domain is what caused the loss of pictures on those older posts.
From Facebook memories:
Twelve years ago, I shared this hilarious clip, “What kind of Asian are you?” Still funny after all these years:
And today’s YouTube video is about those damn foreigners who constantly complain about the Philippines. Yeah, I bitch here about the things I dislike the most, like litter, noise, and insane drivers. But what I don’t do is harangue the locals about it. If I did, they’d be right to tell me to go back to my own country if I don’t like it here.
Oh, and sorry I forgot to post yesterday’s YouTube until a commenter let me know about my brain fart. It’s up now.
Today’s Zen thought:
 I Drive Way Too Fast To Worry About Cholesterol.
And the daily dose of humor:
And that’s all for now. Still raining outside, which doesn’t bode well for the Kokomo’s Floating Bar send off, but we’ll head out there for a look anyway. Tell you all bout it tomorrow.
When was the last time you listened to Blue Ă–yster Cult? Damned if I could remember until I came across this one in my Facebook memories:
Seems a lot of problems would be solved if:
– you learned patience
– Swan learned to drink beer
Don’t give up on McDonald’s. It’s presidential food these days.
It rained off and on all day yesterday and into this morning. Having something other than the heat to complain about for a change will be nice.
Is this the beginning of the monsoon season?
It was good to have Scott back with us for a portion of the journey.
Good to see Scott. Guy on the left (white tee shirt) looks like an old Kevin Costner. These days, Kevin Costner looks like an old Kevin Costner.
The unique beauty of the Matain River.
I have days where I want to go out and do nothing but pick up litter, place it in huge garbage bags, then let the garbage people take care of it.
When the hike was over, we were standing in front of the McDonald’s in Barretto. Swan and I agreed it was a good opportunity for a “cheat day,” so we went inside. They didn’t serve the lunch items until 10:30, and my watch said it was 10:28, so we waited. And right at 10:30, the menus on the ordering kiosk (yeah, you gotta do it that way) switched to the burger items, and I proceeded to punch in my selections. Then one of the employees approached and advised that we’d have to wait another fifteen minutes to order. Fuck that, your food ain’t THAT good, so we departed.
Yup—must be Asia. Nothing is ever straight from A to B. Then again, waiting fifteen minutes doesn’t seem that horrible to me.
I’m not the regular at CCs I used to be, but during my last visit just over a week ago, I bought the staff dinner from Foodies downstairs and plied them with the usual cookies and lollipops. Why would you call a customer like me stupid? Hmm, maybe I just answered my own question. Needless to say, I won’t be back. Who needs Cheap Charlies?
Ten to one you’ll be back. Alcohol forgives all. Aside: who knew that Swan’s rather particular tastes would result in so much inconvenience? Is it just that bars tend to focus on beers, not wine, so they don’t keep track of their wine stock? Or is it like in certain snooty Korean shops and restos, where it’s more important to be rude to the customer than to make money? To be fair, I don’t encounter such rudeness often; I’d say most of my experiences with eating out are just fine. But once in a while, there’ll be that one place that pisses me off, usually by placing snottiness above customer service.
And today’s YouTube video is about those damn foreigners who constantly complain about the Philippines. Yeah, I bitch here about the things I dislike the most, like litter, noise, and insane drivers. But what I don’t do is harangue the locals about it. If I did, they’d be right to tell me to go back to my own country if I don’t like it here.
I agree. I complain on my blog about a million little problems, but (1) I also never make a scene in public when things don’t go my way (although I’ve come close to shouting at some idiot taxi drivers… but that’s not exactly a public situation), and (2) I know that I’d be bitching and moaning about America if I lived there. There’s no country without flaws, no expat existence without its share of problems and bullshit. I do take time on my own blog to note that, in Korea, the good generally outweighs the bad, which is why I’ve been here as long as I have.
Good luck at the floating bar.
Kev, three straight days of rain now, so it is safe to say that the monsoon season has arrived in full force.
I hadn’t noticed that Costner look alike until you mentioned it. That’s Chris from the UK playing the part of that other Kevin.
You’d need an army to clean the litter here, and sadly, it would be back the next day. It’s the culture.
For some venues, not serving wine is a choice; most bars do, except when they are out of stock, like Cheap Charlies was the other night. I was frustrated with their attitude more than the lack of wine. I can’t think of any reason I’d return to a bar that called me stupid, especially when I have fifty other options in town.
Yes, it is far from perfect here, but I still prefer it to my nation of birth. Don’t think I’ll ever move back there. I still miss my happy life in Korea.
What floating bar? There ain’t no floating bar. I’ll post about that today.
Razor, that’s why I am not a doctor, I have no patients…
Swan will drink a mixed drink or a flavored beer when wine is not available. I just choose to not patronize bars that choose not to serve wine.
I hadn’t noticed that Costner look alike until you mentioned it. That’s Chris from the UK playing the part of that other Kevin.
That may just have been the angle.