Yesterday, I’m like, oh shit, Orange! Man, bad.

And today, I’m seeing RED!

There’s some wind, too.

But life goes on, whatever the weather. Here’s how I spent my Tuesday:

Shopping day as usual, but since our weekend candy walks had been cancelled due to rain, we didn’t need to restock the goodies at the YBC supermarket. That meant we arrived on SBMA before Royal’s nine a.m. opening time. I decided to kill time and splurge on breakfast for my crew (driver, helper, Swan).

Royal has a display of their most popular items from the USA.

Back home after shopping, I said, “fuck the weather,” and took a neighborhood stroll.

Later on in the afternoon, Swan asked if we were going to go out. I said, What day is it? She gave me a funny look and said, Tuesday. I said, “Yep, that ends in a ‘Y’, so we will head out soon.” At the appointed hour, we walked under the cover of umbrellas to Mango’s for dinner.

Since we were already on the side of town we rarely frequent, we decided to check out a venue we hadn’t visited recently–Hangout Bar.

We sat in front of a window with a view of the highway below

I guess we weren’t the only ones going stir crazy at home during the relentlessly wet weather. Our friend Michael messaged that he was coming into town, so we gave him directions to Hangout. Before he arrived, my neighbor Jeff called asking where we were hanging out, and I told him, yes. Then I clarified that it was Hangout Bar, and the party was on.

After a beer with the gang, we moved downstairs to check out Lux, a bar I never normally even think about.

A couple of more beers later, we headed across the highway in Jeff’s car to check out Nipsey’s Bar. No one was busy on this rainy night, so they seemed to appreciate our dropping in. Especially when Jeff started throwing his balls around. Well, not his balls, the basket of balls on our table. For 300 pesos a toss, the girls chase after the scattered ping pong balls and receive a commission for each one they retrieve. I’ve never been a fan of this particular bar game, as I prefer spending my money on lady drinks, but to each their own. There was a surprise in store for me when I paid a visit to the CR to take a leak. Jeff’s wife captured the moment on video:

That was a first for me. I made sure no one grabbed the wrong balls!

It was almost 9 p.m., which is a relatively late night for this old man, and we all said our goodnights and headed home. It’s always nice to catch a ride with the next-door neighbor.

The rain continued through the night, waking me occasionally as it pounded against the roof and windows. But I woke up safe and sane enough to tackle another day.

The April 2010 trek through the LTG archives led to a picture-laden post about my climb to the top of Diamond Head on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Good times! And I’m thankful to the blog for reminding me of these otherwise forgotten special moments in my life.

A trifecta of YouTube videos today, all related to the growing ties, both commercial and military, between the United States and the Philippines.

First, Philippines President Marcos visits the USA to meet with President Trump.

As a result of those meetings, the trade deal I mentioned earlier in this post has been completed.

And it looks like the US and the Philippines will be strengthening cooperation between their respective militaries. Part of this may include a revitalization of Subic Bay for use by both navies. I have a nice view of the shipyard mentioned in the video below. When I see the bombs exploding, I’ll know that the seemingly imminent war with China has begun. Hopefully, the current efforts of both nations will deter this from happening.

Hmm, it won’t let me embed the video for some reason. Still worth the watch, so give it a click.

On with the humor:

I think I’m adapting to this recent climate change. I’ll post tomorrow about the 8+K walk we did under and in the water. And I’m going to face the storm and embrace a bottle or two of Zero beer this evening. Take that, Mother Nature!