Anyway, this post is specifically about Barangay Pacifico, in the municipality of San Isidro, on Siargao del Norte. Well, about getting here anyway. Everything went according to plan for the most part, so that’s a good thing. My first impressions of Pacifico are positive. It seems to have a fair amount of young surfer tourists, but not in the numbers I encountered during my previous visit to the southern city of General Luna here on Siargao Island.
Here’s how I went about getting here:
We arrived at Clark almost three hours before our scheduled 1 pm departure, but I’d rather be early than late. Although once we were in the departure terminal to check our bags and looked at the signboard for our gate, the only flight listed for Siargao showed this:
I asked a Cebu Pacific gate agent what was going on; she checked my ticket and the monitor and made a phone call.
Still had some time to kill, so I walked around a bit in the terminal. Clark is much nicer than the airport in Manila, but it is still a work in progress. There were many food options in the departure area before security, but not much in the gate area. I thought I’d go for a Subway sandwich. When I went to order, the gal behind the counter said, “Sorry, sir, we have no bread. Would you like a wrap instead?” How in the hell does a sandwich shop not have bread? But I took a deep breath, relaxed, and accepted the Filipino way, replying no thank you. I picked up a bag of caramel popcorn and a Coke Zero at a shop instead.
When I headed for the CR to take a piss, I was a little confused by the signage–is that a men’s room or a ladies’ room? Once I got closer I had my answer:
The plane was on the tarmac twenty yards from the exit door, so I assumed we’d just walk to the plane to climb aboard.
We landed at the Siargao Airport a few minutes early, and the pilot slammed on the brakes before we ran out of runway. That’s the best way to put a stop to it.
I’d mentioned the guy I met on Bohol would be traveling with us. Well, he was on the plane with us, but after landing, he grabbed his luggage and walked away to a van going to General Luna. Didn’t say shit before leaving. I sent him a message later asking how he liked where he was staying, and he didn’t reply. I’m not sure what I did, but maybe I’m not the asshole this time.
The owner of our hotel was there waiting to pick us up for the drive to his resort in Pacifico. He told me he had promised Chris (Dr. Jo’s husband) that we would stop by his brewery for a beer on the way. No problem for me; it was almost beer o’clock anyway.
George, our resort owner, is just about the wildest driver I’ve ever experienced. A scary ride to the hotel, but it was wreckless, even if the driving was fast and reckless. Nothing like a little excitement when you travel, I suppose.
I had some beers at the Bamboo bar. Swan had chicken adobo with her wine. I haven’t had much of an appetite since my injection on Tuesday, so maybe the Ozempic is working again. We walked up the road a bit and spotted a couple of places we’ll want to check out over the coming days. Then it was back to the room at the appointed hour to rest up for the first full day in Pacifico.
At least the weather here has been sunny and nice so far. I hear it is still raining in Barretto, and they may be impacted by a brewing storm.
From my Facebook feed:
Also from Facebook memories is this old collage that Scott put together of my cookie-sharing hikes:
Still in the January 2021 LTG archives. I realized I haven’t been tagging any posts about the darting chapter of my life, so I rectified that with these two. In “Down and outs,” I talk about some of the strategies that a darter employs. The second post was about my resignation as the leader of the Barretto Singles League. I had successfully managed similar leagues in Columbia, SC, and in Seoul. Midway through the first season in Barretto, some players accused me of being “unfair,” which was total bullshit. So, I said goodbye, although I agreed to continue managing the stats and scheduling for the remainder of the season.
For today’s YouTube video, I share a clip from the Team America: World Police movie, a true classic. It came up when I posed the question on Facebook asking whether I’m an asshole. The best response was from ex-wife #3, who said I was a dick, but dicks protect pussies from assholes, and that’s a good thing.
Here’s some more dick humor:
And now it is time to see what comes next. Tell you all about it tomorrow.