…where it stops, nobody knows. And just to be clear, I’m not in any hurry to find out. It may not be much of a life, but it’s the best one I’ve got. I actually kinda like it, and for me, that’s saying a lot. Here’s a sample:
You can’t see where you are going by looking backward. And I have gotten a lot better at living in the moment. But Facebook likes to remind me of moments I’ve lived in the past and the people I’ve shared them with.
Funny story behind that picture. It was our first night in Angeles City. We went into this bar and we were the only customers. All the girls came down off the stage and surrounded Eun Oke like she was a movie star. I guess they’d never seen a Korean female before. They were stroking her arms and touching her hair, talking K-pop and K-dramas, and Eun Oke was loving the attention. “Buy them all a drink!” she announced. I leaned over and advised, “you should pick one and buy her a drink.” She wasn’t having it. “Nope, drinks for everyone!” The next morning she says “so, how much did we spend last night?”. Around a hundred dollars, I told her. “How much do we spend when just me and you go out in Seoul?” she asked. I smiled and said around a hundred dollars. Anyway, it was a fun trip and she had a blast. On our last night there she broke up with me, but that’s a different story.
Last night, I did my weekly trip out to It Doesn’t Matter bar and spent some time in the company of my current favorite bargirl, Roan. Great sense of humor and she can hold up her end of a conversation. I like that! I told her last night I was going to take her to Seoul. For dinner on her day off. At the Korean restaurant named Seoul on the old Navy base. Should be fun!
I heard from Judy today. She’s currently the only remaining friend with benefits in my stable. Unlike the recently fired Joy, Judy didn’t beg me for money. She begged me to let her give me a massage. Yeah, it may be a subtle difference, but that’s the way the FWB program is supposed to work–I help you, you help me. I wasn’t really in the mood for a massage but I let her come over anyway. After we were done, we cuddled some on the bed. I liked that.
Here’s a good example of why Judy is not girlfriend material, despite being very attractive, sweet, and kind. When I agreed to the massage I asked if she could come at noon. She said yes. And then she asked me “what time is noon?”. Seriously, that had me shaking my head. The Philippines has a reputation of being an English-speaking nation, but there are very few Filipinas that I’ve met who can actually engage in any semblance of a meaningful conversation. And yeah, I know it likely has as much to do with the type of women I meet in the places I tend to frequent, but still, I had better conversations with the Korean bargirls I met over the years. I think the quality of education in the Philippines has really deteriorated. The sex is good here though, so there’s that.
I mentioned in yesterday’s post that we have officially entered the holiday season here. I came across this article today that sheds a little more light on that unique cultural aspect of life in the Philippines. Read it if you care.
So, that leaves the Wednesday Walkers group hike to talk about. It was kind of like deja vu all over again. And a little ironic I suppose. One of the reasons I hadn’t done the Monday Hash trail was not wanting to take the uncomfortable ride out to Olongapo. So, of course, that’s what we did yesterday. Not as far out as Monday, and no need to make a transfer to another Jeepney, but still. We also climbed up a steep-ass hill to Kalaklan ridge. Not as long and hard as the climb up on Monday’s Hash, but plenty challenging for this old fart. And once we reached the top of that climb, I found myself back on the ridgeline road that I had hiked as my alternative trail on Monday. And there was still a good bit of uphill to complete. Anyway, it was still good to be out and about. Here are the photos:
That’s the way it is around here. And it suits me just fine, thank you!
I guess you never have to worry about snakes in the grass, correct? Or chiggers? In your blog posts, you say almost nothing about bugs, so I’m guessing they’re not that bothersome, which is surprising to me.
Then again, it makes sense that life that evolves in an area that’s lush with life tends to be a bit lazy and slow-pokey. But go to where the climate is austere—like a desert or, say, Alaska—and the local life forms all tend to be aggressive because you never know when your next meal might be. Alaskan mosquitoes are notoriously vicious; desert snakes and spiders are, too. Even the people evolve in consonance with their geography; lush, verdant India produced contemplative religions like Hinduism and Buddhism; sere, arid climates like in the Arabian peninsula produced decisive, uncompromising religions like Islam.
Not sure where I was going with the above thought, but there we are. Anyway, no chiggers, eh?
No chiggers, but I’ve pulled a tick or two off the dogs. The biggest pest I’ve encountered on my hikes are ants. I hate those buggers. Their bite is usually more like a pinch, but one variety has a stinger. Got into a nest of them once and they were all over me. Yikes! I’ve been surprised that mosquitos aren’t worse than they are. I wear repellant when I’m out, but still occasionally get bit, especially in shady areas near a creek.
I’m very thankful that snakes haven’t been a problem around here. Seen a couple of dead ones on the road, but nothing on trail. There is a variety of cobra that I hope I never see. It’s funny you ask about snakes though because just yesterday I read that the only manufacturer of anti-venom in the PI is closing down. So if you do get bit now you are really screwed. Then again, if snakebites were more common here I reckon the anti-venom company wouldn’t be going out of business.
We all have to die of something I suppose, but I’m hoping for something pain-free and less traumatic than an encounter with a slivering devil in the wild.