No money, no honey

After my free-spending ways on Friday night, I noted the depletion of funds would potentially impact my Saturday night plans. So, in the tradition of “killing two birds with one stone,” I altered my standard walk plans and headed for the BPI ATM in Subic-town.

I hadn’t been this way since the big storm, but I came across this reminder of why I lost electricity for two days a couple of weeks ago. When the tree went down, it took the powerlines with it. Why it took so long to repair the damage is a whole other matter.
Since it was a boring highway walk, I reverted to the take a photo after every 1.6 kilometers. This bar is only 1.6K from my front door. I’ve been there zero times. Nothing else around it, and I don’t want to go into a Filipino bar unaccompanied.
3.2K on the road in Calapacuan.
4.8K, and this big girl tried to whisper sweet nothings in my ear.
Show me the money! After a successful withdrawal, I turned around and headed back down (up?) the highway.
6.4K on the road in Calapadayan.
I went out of sequence for this scenic river shot.
8K found me at the market street in Calapcuan.
9.6K chimed right in front of this trike stand. So I took one the rest of the way home. Hey, the ball on my right foot was hurting.

Feel free to Relive the adventure here:

My Saturday night plans included helping Daddy Dave celebrate his 80th birthday at Green Room and Wet Spot bars. I had some time to kill until the event kicked off, so I cooled my heels at It Doesn’t Matter. The waitress who done me wrong there was working and tearfully apologized again. I’ve long ago accepted her apology and bear her no ill will. I’m still not gonna buy her lady drinks again, though.

It’s always good to know.

A couple of beers later and I was ready to go check out the newest place in town: Hops & Brews. Turns out it’s a very nice place; you can read my review here.

Next stop, The Green Room. Dave hadn’t arrived yet, but I entertained myself in the usual way–more beers, some lady drinks for my waitress (Marissa), and a chair massage from one of the GROs. When the birthday boy arrived, he joined us at my table for more drinks and chat.

Dave is by far the most interesting person I’ve met in the Philippines. He’s a long-time resident (well over twenty years) and businessman. The stories he can tell about his life adventures are always amazing. Retired from a career in medicine, he maintains residences in the Netherlands and Manila (and Barretto, of course), and he’s always on the go. Dave’s off to his Ohio hometown this week. I told him last night I’m looking forward to him attending my 80th celebration in thirteen years.

Well, I made it to ten o’clock last night again. That’s twice in a row now!

I can’t remember if I posted this before.
Another beautiful morning in paradise. You can see what the construction has done to my view so far, but it appears this is as high as it is going to go, so I can still see the water. It doesn’t matter, my move to the blue house is still in the works, and I’m really excited about the change of scenery. Just a few more months.

I saw a couple of memes that made me think of regular reader/commenter Kevin Kim. And if you aren’t checking out his blog on a regular basis, you should be.

It’s all Greek to me, but Kevin’s a foodie who speaks French, so he’ll get it, I’m sure.

Kevin is constantly experimenting in the kitchen; his latest adventures have been in the meatless meat realm. This is where I stand on that particular food genre:

Enjoy!

Speaking of food, I’ll be doing my regular Sunday feeding at Hideaway Bar tonight. I’ve baked up some chocolate cupcakes, and I’ll be going by John’s place to pick up some bulgogi and Korean-style chicken wings for the girls. I also promised the Snackbar crew I’d pay them a visit tonight.

Looks like my plate is full once again. I was tired yesterday, and I’m tired today. Guess that makes me retired. (sorry)

More to come; stick around.

7 thoughts on “No money, no honey

  1. Daddy Dave doesn’t look 80 at all, but with a nickname like that, he sounds as if he manages a stable of porn actors. He could’ve played the Burt Reynolds role in “Boogie Nights.”

    Nice photos of the walk, especially that scenic river view. On my own walks, when I photograph stuff, I’m often attracted to dilapidation and decay. Old and worn-down things have their own strange beauty in how they show off the passage of time. It was interesting, in that photo, to see how garbage got repurposed into housing material.

    Yeah, charcuterie usually refers to prepared pork products ranging from cuts of meat to sausages. I think that, in American English, a “charcuterie plate” normally refers to a platter of thinly sliced meats—mostly pork, but possibly other meats as well. The plate will also often come with some sort of sliced cheese(s). Definitely the makings of a sandwich, but without the bread. There might be crackers or other carbs, though. See here.

    I’m increasingly convinced that the best vegan food doesn’t even bother imitating carnivore stuff. I keep remembering that one Buddhism conference I went to years ago, I think in Anyang, where they served a high-end, unrepentantly vegetarian spread, and it was absolutely delicious. I never once missed meat. Vegetarian/vegan food, when done right, can be awesome. That said, I remain a confirmed carnivore. All the stuff I do in the vegan realm is just curiosity-driven experimentation.

    Oh, and since I’m not gluten-intolerant, I never worry about gluten-free shit. Vital wheat gluten is, in fact, a major ingredient I use in making many keto breads. (It’s bread flour after you wash away the starch [i.e., the carbs], leaving only the protein behind, i.e., the gluten.)

    May the crew appreciate your wings, bulgogi, and cupcakes.

  2. Kev, well, the gals that work for him say Daddy Dave as a way of expressing respect. It does sound a little creepy when I do it here, but he’s just Dave in real life.

    I agree with you on the beauty of “old and worn,” and there’s plenty of that to be found in these parts. It is impressive, though, how people with extremely limited resources are able to create a shelter with whatever materials they can salvage. It’s often occurred to me that I don’t have the skills required to live an unblessed life.

    Thanks for the link. Now that I’ve seen a pic of charcuterie, I recall both seeing it and eating it. Just don’t remember it being called that. At least now, the meme makes sense.

    Yeah, I get what you are doing with your meatless meat experiments, but that doesn’t stop me from poking a little fun at you. I think I’d be the same way you were at the Buddhism conference. I might enjoy a vegan meal, but I’m somehow repelled by eating fake meat. Maybe when the quality is enhanced to the point where I can’t taste the difference, AND no one tells me what I’m eating, I’ll get over my meat bigotry.

  3. I spent a fairly long assignment in southern India, which is pretty heavily vegetarian, and was pleasantly surprised, how good some of the vegetarian dishes were. Like @Kevin Kim, relatively easy to get by without meat.

    Dave seems to be living the life, but I dont think I’ll have any desire to be running a business when I am eighty.

  4. BTW, inadvertently clicked on the “About Me” tab of your blog. Time to update that section. LOL

  5. Brian, I think it is more of a hobby for Dave these days. He used to have hotels/resorts as part of his empire, but now just the two bars and a boutique hotel. Of course, he has managers to do the heavy lifting too. Appears to be living the dream!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *