I made the most of my Thirstday this week. Even stayed out past 9 pm, as hard as that may be to believe. Swan and I kicked things off with a pleasant walk through the Naugsol valley. Then I got the good news from Dr. Jo that my blood work was negative for pancreatic cancer. An overdue foot spa to scrape away the dead skin from my feet, followed by beers at Red Bar, Jumpin’ Jacks, and It Doesn’t Matter, before we joined the fifth anniversary celebration at Smokes and Bottles. That’s what I call pushing the boundaries, but then again, you only live once.

At Dr. Jo’s, she reviewed the ultrasound results and found no issues of concern. I honestly hadn’t considered that cancer might be causing my urination issues, so I was equally surprised and relieved to be told I’m clean. My blood pressure has slowly been coming back down to my normal range (123/73 this morning). So, the meds seem to be working, and I might just keep on keepin’ on for a while longer. Thanks for that!

After Red Bar, the plan was to grab dinner at Jewel Cafe. When we arrived, the place was packed, so I suggested we check out the menu for the newly opened kitchen at Jumpin’ Jacks.

Not bad for pub grub.

Next, we crossed the highway for what I thought would be our nightcap at It Doesn’t Matter.

Swan got a message from her girlfriend group that they were all at Smokes and Bottles for the fifth anniversary event. She wanted to go, so I tagged along.

It was past my bedtime, and I was over my beer intake limit, so we didn’t stay long. It was a nice night on the town, though.

It is now July 2017 in the LTG archives. In this post from Angeles City, I share some observations and perspectives on the grind of daily living in a city I never much cared for. But whatever life you are living, the only real option is to make the best of what you have.

We haven’t checked in with the Filipina Pea in a while, and in today’s YouTube video, she asks her fellow citizens whether they want to become the 51st American state. It’s a mixed bag, but I sure as hell don’t want the USA to follow me here. However, historically, when the PI was a US colony, the people may have been better off. I think the dumbest move the Philippines made was kicking us out of our military bases here. Now that China is threatening, they want us back. We’ll see how things play out.

Time for a smile or three:

Early tomorrow morning, we are heading up to Baguio to participate in the La Union Valentine’s Day Hash. I’ve got some mixed feelings about this going in. We’ll be Hashing from a campground on the outskirts of Baguio, and most of the Hashers will be staying in tents. I reserved a Kubo hut, so at least I won’t be sleeping on the ground. I spoke with one of the Hares who was in town for the Beach Bash last weekend, and he told me the trail was short but had a couple of tough ups and downs. Not surprising given that Baguio sits on top of a mountain. I guess we’ll see if I’m up to the challenge.

I won’t be able to post from the wilds of Baguio, but I will try to update you when I get back home on Sunday. Assuming I survive.

It was a wonderful Wednesday as I partook in my wanderings. Starting with the Wednesday Walkers outing.

George is from a small town in British Columbia named Tumbler Ridge. His wife is still there working. George told us we’d be hearing about what happened there yesterday, and now we have. Sad for sure, but as more details emerge, it was another case of trans insanity. Time to wake up and get them help, not encourage their madness through mind and body-altering drugs. Condolences to all the victims.

We started our trek with a steep climb and we were rewarded with this view when we achieved the summit.

Swan told me she was craving my beef stew. What’s a good boyfriend to do?

But that’s not all she wanted, so then we did this:

Having gotten what we came for, we headed ashore and paid a visit to Treasure Island.

Owner Bert was there, so it was nice to see him again. He even bought me a beer. We weren’t very hungry after our earlier beef stew indulgence, so we decided we’d just share some chicken quesadillas.

And then it was time to wander back home via a tricycle. And I made it through the whole day without Swan calling me out even once for being “arte.”

Back to the June 2017 archives and a post about fathers, sons, and my Korea life. Like a chameleon, it comes and goes.

Today’s YouTube video is about a joint US-PI military exercise. Getting some practice offloading America’s tools of war here in Subic. Don’t FAFO China!

Humor me this:

And so goes another circle on the carousel of time. I’m scheduled to see Dr. Jo this afternoon so she can review my ultrasound results. I’m hoping for an all-clear to continue this life of leisure indefinitely.

Well, when I say double trouble, I’m talking about darts. But I’ll get to that in a minute. I like to keep things chronological around here; that’s what comes with being old and set in your ways.

So, let’s start with the shopping. No incidents or issues, and I came up with a new way to pay for my groceries without a credit card. I transferred money into the local BPI (Bank of the Philippine Islands) account Swan set up for me. That’s cheaper than ATM cash withdrawals and also more convenient. Then I used the debit card tied to the account to pay the cashier at Royal. Easy peasy. Once my new credit card arrives, I’ll just keep it in a safe place for emergencies. Oh, I just now thought of something: the debit card has Swan’s name on it. When I paid, I followed the standard procedure and handed the cashier my card and ID. She glanced at the ID and processed the transaction without comment. Hmm, I thought the purpose of checking the ID was to ensure the card belonged to me. I wonder how often I’ll get away with the name discrepancy. Not that it matters as long as Swan is with me.

Back at the house after shopping, I headed out to do my 4+K neighborhood walk. Nothing new or even worthy of a photo. Then it was the usual routines of a nap and a blog post. With those tasks completed, I broke out my darts and commenced to practice.

I’m not saying I threw all that great, but I beat the Dartbot twice (501 and Cricket). Last time the bot kicked my ass, so there’s that. Then it was time to head out to Alley Cats for the Tuesday dart tournament. And that’s where the troubles began.

Billy, the tourney organizer, told me it would be doubles and asked if I still wanted to play. Well, I had to break that ice eventually, so I agreed to join despite feeling bad for whoever drew me as a partner. When the numbers were drawn, I got paired with a woman I’d never seen before. When we shook hands, she apologized, saying she was new to the game. I also apologized in advance for not being very good at the game. We were the perfect pair for my return to doubles! No pressure, no expectations, no disappointment!

Our first game of the night was 501. We didn’t play well, but we were decent enough to keep it close, and we had a couple of shots at the double-out, which we failed to execute. The second leg was cricket, and I played embarrassingly badly. So, two games, two losses, and down to the losers’ bracket.

When our turn came to play again, things hadn’t improved much. A loss in 501 followed by another beating in cricket. I did manage to hit the double bullseye twice, but that wasn’t enough make up for the otherwise shitty darts I threw.

So, it was two and out, and my doubles debut was a double dose of bad darts. I’m not giving up. Yet. I will try again on Friday.

After darts, we stayed on the same side of town and popped into Gold Bar. There were no dancers on stage, and I wondered why. Then I saw a “two-week millionaire” had them all tabled. That’s a dream come true for the gals, and I’m happy for them. When he got up to go to the CR, I noticed the shirt he was wearing had a Kern River logo on the back. Wow! I spent many happy times camping there when I was growing up. When the stranger returned, I mentioned how much I’d enjoyed my time on the Kern. We introduced ourselves, and he told me he lives in Bakersfield, the nearest city to Kernville, and that he visits often. He hopes to retire and move to Barretto within a year or two. Nice to meet you, Jeff. Thanks for the memories and good luck with your Philippine dreams.

We did our nightcap at Queen Victoria.

We triked home, and then things got a little heated when I looked out the bedroom window.

Anyway, the fires never seem to burn out of control as they do in California. This morning, I could see the blackened landscape but no apparent collateral damage.

So, I took a stroll through my photo albums and enjoyed the memories of happy times on the Kern.

And now to the more recent past, but still feeling like a lifetime ago, a post from the June 2017 LTG archives where I write about becoming a biker again after the move to Pyeongtaek.

Today’s YouTube video discusses “bitter expat syndrome.” I suffer from occasional grumpiness, but I’m not bitter about it. Life in the Philippines is the best life I currently have.

Maybe these will dissolve bitterness:

Not bad for a Tuesday, eh? We’ll try to keep the joy alive with a visit to Kokomo’s floating bar later today. Lord, keep these days coming!

Oh, and at Queen Victoria last night, the girls were “dancing” to their kind of music. Then, a customer wanted to pick a song for them, and it was some hip-hop crap. Well, I figured if he can pick a song for the gals to dance to, so can I. I don’t think they were expecting this:

Yeah, I know I just posted that song on Monday, but it is worth hearing again. I even did some swing dancing with Swan when it played at Queen Vic last night.

Here’s a song for today:

A bump in the road can be a good thing. It reminds you to watch your speed, maintain situational awareness, and accept the reality that there is no such thing as perfect. Then you leave the bump behind and get on with enjoying the life you’ve chosen. And so it goes.

A much quieter than usual Decay Dance, but we didn’t make the children suffer due to tampo.

Anyway, after the candy mission was completed, Swan warmed up the birria tacos I’d brought home for her the night before. She enjoyed them and decided to accept my intended peace offering. We talked through the incident that happened on Friday from both our perspectives — my temper was the trigger, her reaction to my wrongness was overblown, and we both committed to doing better in the future.

So, with that behind us, we were ready to attend the annual VFW Beach Bash at the Outback Resort together. I arrived around 4 pm, and the beauty pageant was scheduled to begin at 6 pm. How to fill the time? Well, with beers, of course. And this:

Beer cards were 500 pesos for six bottles, so that was a fair price. No Zero available, of course. Then I was asked to be a judge for the pageant, which is an honor, but I didn’t want to commit to staying through the end of the contest. See, I know my limitations!

It turns out, I made the right call. I don’t like to be critical of what is the local VFW Chapter’s main fundraising event, but damn, it was a disorganized mess. The singing contest, slated to begin at 5 p.m., was still being sound checked at 5:30. They eventually decided to split the eight competitors into two groups of four, with the first four performing before the beauty pageant and the second group during an intermission while the contestants changed into bathing suits. The performers sounded like the usual karaoke singers to me, and some of the contestants were men, including a bakla (transgender). It was painful to listen to. But hey, maybe that’s just the grumpy old man that I am speaking.

And then, when the beauty pageant was supposed to finally begin, it was announced that the “girls weren’t ready yet.” What the hell, starting late and STILL not ready? Okay, I’ll shut up about it now. When my beer card was full, I’d had enough of both beer and the pageant. I left halfway through the bikini contest.

And that’s all I got photo-wise. Jay, the owner of Hot Zone, posted this photo:

Oh, and I got gifted this shirt:

Sorry I didn’t do a better job covering the event. If I had more patience, I could have been a doctor.

It’s May Day 2017 in the LTG archives, and I’m saying goodbye to my Itaewon life as I prepare for the move to Pyeongtaek.

Today’s YouTube video is from a new (to me) vlogger, Maya Life. She could have titled this one, “don’t be stupid,” but I’m guilty of a couple of these transgressions. I sometimes raise my voice, which is frowned upon in this culture (ironically, other forms of noise are welcomed, like bad singing at high volume). I also haven’t accepted invites to Swan’s family gatherings. I do have some of her relatives working for me, and have had her family over for rooftop fun at The Rite Spot. I’m not saying I’ll never go to a family function, but it’s just not my thing.

And now let me throw these at you:

There you have the current state of my affairs. And now for the Hash run. The Hare, Leech My Nuggets, has prepared a “cripple trail” for us old farts, so I should be good to go. Tell you all about it tomorrow.

Sorry for the lack of a post yesterday. The fact of the matter is that I was in the hospital, although that’s no excuse. Things went south for me on Friday night, and I was in a dark place all day Saturday. Truth be told, I still am hurting from the PTSD, but I’m making progress at accepting the reality of how things are. I’ll leave it at that for now.

For those who like condiments, let’s ketchup:

After the walk, I practiced darts at home using an app on my phone called “DARTCOUNTER”. It helps track your performance and even has a bot you can play against. I played the bot at level 5 out of 10 in cricket, and it kicked my ass and pointed like a motherfucker. If someone threw unneeded points like that in a real game, I’d call them out for being an asshole. Oh, well. It beats just throwing randomly for practice.

At the appointed time, we headed to Alley Cats to play in the Friday night tournament there. I was happy that it was a singles tourney because I’m not comfortable dragging a partner down to my level.

So, I lost my first match in the winner’s bracket, then won once in the loser’s bracket before I was eliminated. For me, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s how you play the game. And I sucked. Oh well, I ain’t giving up yet.

So, I’d had a few beers and no food, and I was hungry. As we made our way up the highway, something triggered the tampo that is still going on. I’m still not sure how it will all play out. Stay tuned.

Which brings us to Saturday. I was an emotional trainwreck all morning, but had an “appointment” for an ultrasound at the local hospital in the afternoon. The way it works is that the doctor is scheduled to be there at 1:30 and sees patients on a “first-come, first-served” basis. I arrived at 1 pm and was number seven in line. Hurry up and wait.

Anyway, it took only an hour for my turn to come, and I paid 2300 pesos for a “full abdomen” ultrasound. Given the size of my belly, that’s a bargain! I’ll share the results with Dr. Jo, but aside from a small cyst on the left kidney, everything appears normal.

Six hours of fasting were required before the ultrasound, and I left the hospital hungry. As I walked up the highway in a light rain, the first restaurant I came to was the seldom-visited Coffee Shop. I climbed the stairs and grabbed a table on the open-air patio.

Since I was right across the street from the Arizona Resort, I headed for the floating bar.

Some other customers came and went during my visit to the floater, including a “two-week millionaire” who bought all the gals a drink. Good for you!

When I’d had my fill of beer on the bay, I headed ashore and hiked up the highway to Cheap Charlies.

As is my custom, I bought some food for the girls in lieu of the overpriced lady drinks at Cheap Charlies. And while I was at it, I ordered a Philly cheesesteak for myself.

There’s a big VFW event in town this weekend, the annual Beach Bash, and quite a few of the folks from out of town popped into Cheap Charlies.

Early to start, early to finish. I bought some take-out birria tacos from Mylene’s and brought them home for Swan. But she was still at a friend’s birthday party at Treasure Island. Put the tacos in the fridge, made me a smoothie, then went to bed before eight o’clock. Yeah, that’s me these days.

From the LTG April 2017 archives, a post about my exploration of the Pyeongtaek bar scene before my move there. I wound up spending a year down there, but it never had that Itaewon vibe I had come to know and love. Of course, looking back now, it was because I was living in the past and dreaming of the future instead of just enjoying the moment for what it was worth.

Today’s YouTube video explores the concepts from the book “Who Moved My Cheese?” When I first read the book way back when, I was really impressed by the ideas expressed. I recall that on my last day at work before I retired the first time, I used the story in my farewell remarks to my staff. And I also had those quotes framed and hung on the wall, where they remain to this day.

Shit, the video can’t be embedded. Here’s the link.

Let’s try some humor, shall we?

So, today is the last day of the Beach Bash I mentioned, and I’ll be attending the beauty pageant this evening at the Outback Resort. I might even take some photos if I manage to get a good seat. We shall see tomorrow.

UPDATE: The tampo is over! Hooray!

No complaints about my Thirstday, but not much occurred that warrants inclusion in a blog post. Well, that’s never stopped me before, but at least this one will be short.

We hadn’t seen the homeless umbrella lady I call “Mama” for over a week, and I was actually worried about her well-being. We did a boring Barretto street walk that included walking the length of the National Highway through town, and we didn’t see her at any of the usual spots where she hangs out. Then we turned down one of the side roads, and lo and behold, there Mama was at a sari-sari store having a soda. It was a relief to know she is still okay. I’ve been tossing her some pesos whenever I see her since I was a tourist here. Someday one of us will be gone forever, and the other will never know what happened. Such is life.

After we got home, Swan showered and headed out to spend some time celebrating a friend’s birthday. I took care of my blogging chore, then got in a little darts practice (I’m still way too inconsistent to be competitive). Then it was time to get ready to head into town on my own.

I parked myself at Sloppy Joe’s and ordered my first beer of the day. San Miguel Zero is no longer available, so I’m back on the Light. Oh, well. I’ll adjust. I messaged Swan to see if she would be joining, and she told me not for another hour. She suggested I eat something because she had already had dinner with her friends.

When Swan arrived, she was on the back of a motor scooter with her niece Jane and Jane’s husband Mike (Jane is also my new housekeeper). We invited them to join us next door at The Green Room for drinks. After a round, Jane and Mike departed for home, and Swan and I went next door to Wet Spot for our nightcap. As is my custom, I bought lady drinks for Irene and Beth. A bit later, a “two-week millionaire” arrived and bought all the girls a drink. Irene and Beth asked to be excused so they could partake, and naturally, I agreed. I’m always happy for someone to buy the drinks so I don’t have to. I do appreciate when the gals ask permission instead of just disappearing.

I’d had my fill by then anyway, so we said our goodnights and triked on home. Even a blah day in the life ain’t so bad.

Still seeing lots of funny memes about that “stolen land” idea the left keeps pushing.

It is now April 2017 in the LTG archives. In this post, I’m still wallowing in self-pity, but I’m moving forward in the process of moving on. I began preparations for my move down south to Pyeongtaek and was still planning to re-retire in September. I also spent some time in Busan and at the DMZ. It’s been said that when one door closes, another door opens. That doesn’t mean the new door leads to a better place, but that’s life.

Today’s YouTube video warns against moving to the Philippines for the wrong reasons or in the wrong mindset. Yeah, I was running away from a painful past and looking for a fresh start. It took a while to find my way, but here I am, almost eight years later, and I have no regrets about my decision.

Are these what you’ve been waiting for?

Now it is on with the rest of my Friday. I’m going to chuck some arrows for practice. Later, I’ll hit Alley Cats and see if tonight’s tourney will be singles or doubles. I still don’t feel that confident in my game to avoid disappointing a partner, but we’ll see how I feel when I get there.

Welp, I walked myself through another Wednesday. Here’s some of what I saw along the way:

But the walkin’ wasn’t over, Christopher. At beer o’clock, we hoofed it out to Baloy Beach for some time on the Kokomo’s floating bar.

After our meal, we called it a day. I was tired, and it wasn’t even 7:30 yet.

Sixteen years ago, I was also steppin’ it up:

Alright, indulge me once again as I cross the political divide:

Still in the March 2017 LTG archives, and in this post, I reflect on my life of solitude in Seoul. Of course, that was nothing compared to what I would experience after the move to Pyeongtaek. Even now, my friend circle is shrinking. That’s okay, I’ll just play it out and see where I wind up, friendless or dead.

Today’s YouTube video is from Reekay. I was honestly surprised when I saw him discussing the concept of what I call a “do-over” life. Yeah, let me go back to being an 18-year-old taking everything with me that I’ve learned over these past fifty-two years. I know, be careful what you wish for. Beyond the impossibility of time travel is the reality that the different roads I’d like to explore would mean missing out on all the good things I’ve experienced on this version of life’s journey. It’s only a dream.

What else have I got? How about these:

And that’s all I’ve got to say about yesterday.

As Tuesdays go, yesterday broke the routine. Or maybe it was the beginning of a new routine. I reckon time will tell.

Did the grocery shopping as usual, but once again paid in cash. Not having a credit card has changed the way I move money around. I used to make two withdrawals of 20,000 pesos each week with my US bank debit card (which charged a 500-peso fee). Now, I move the money to a Philippine account via a wire service (Wise), which costs less and gives me easier (and cheaper) access for ATM withdrawals. I still need the credit card (it’s in the mail) because that’s my health insurance. Private hospitals won’t admit patients if they can’t pay in advance, and public hospitals are where people go to die. My credit card allows me to pay medical expenses should they arise. I have a credit limit of $17,000, and if that’s not enough, I’d probably die anyway.

After returning from the shopping excursion, Swan went out for a tutoring session with a neighbor’s child, and I engaged in some darts practice. My plan was to participate in the Alley Cats tourney after my doctor’s appointment. I wound up spending more time with Dr. Jo than I anticipated, though, and when we arrived at Alley, the place was packed. I’m still not ready to disappoint a partner in a doubles tournament, so I opted out.

Dr. Jo tweaked my daily blood pressure meds a bit and also ordered some tests to check my lungs and bladder. Regarding the bladder, she seemed concerned when I told her how frequently I urinate (every two hours or so when sleeping), and that I’m having some bladder control issues (when I gotta go, I can’t hold it. Even peed my pants once in Vietnam). Anyway, I’ll be back next week when the results are in, and we’ll see where things go from there.

After the doctor’s visit, we hung out in Alley Cats for an hour or so, then crossed the highway for some dinner at Mango’s.

After another satisfying dining experience, we headed out to see what was happening on the side of town we don’t frequently visit. The Hangout bar is now closed, with a “for sale” banner out front. The new Adam’s Bar doesn’t serve wine, so we just kept on walking. Across the highway, Gold Bar beckoned to us, and we heeded the call. I had my darts with me and had a hankering to try out the dartboard there.

We did our nightcap at Queen Victoria, and then we were done with Tuesday.

I try so hard to avoid politics here, but sometimes I can’t resist:

On to March 2017 in the LTG archives, where I recount the confirmation that my lungs were shit, but at least it wasn’t cancer. They are still shit almost nine years later, but the good news is they have not deteriorated to the extent that they might have had I not begun my daily inhaler meds regimen.

Today’s YouTube video is a short telling (four minutes) of what to consider when choosing where in the Philippines to live. It resonated with me because I had just read my posts from February 2017 as I explored Barretto as a potential retirement destination. The vlogger is correct that everyone is different, and knowing what matters to you is key to making the right choice. I wouldn’t be comfortable with a rural provincial life, that’s for sure. Barretto has a small-town vibe, but also a friendly expat community, the Hash, beaches and mountains, and, of course, some nice bars to hang out at. I have to hand it to me, I found my glove. *ahem*

And now for your daily dose of cringe:

I’m planning to visit the Kokomo’s floating bar later today since we missed out on the Baloy experience yesterday. A new Wednesday routine is in the making!

Here we go again, with another episode in the life I’m living now, starting with the Sunday Sweets Stroll:

Then, at the appointed time, we headed out for the rest of our Sunday routine.

And then it was time for Sunday dinner. The new routine is to visit a place we haven’t tried for a while.

I used to visit here more frequently, but the combination of higher prices, reduced quality, and better options keeps me away these days. My San Miguel Light was 140 pesos last night. The average price around town is less than 100 pesos.

Next stop for us was Red Bar. Cliff and Ashley have moved over from It Doesn’t Matter, and from what I’ve seen, they have brought a lot of their regular customers with them. I still enjoy IDM, and it has a kitchen, so I’ll keep both bars in my rotation.

We did our nightcap at Jumpin’ Jacks and enjoyed the vibe and music as usual. And then we called it a night and made our way home. I did make a batch of strawberry-banana smoothies for our bedtime treat. Life is good, enjoy it while you can.

Today my younger brother Gregory celebrates his 69th birthday. Keep ’em coming!

Indulge me while I indulge my fetish of mocking the loony left:

From the February 2017 LTG archives, I share my Valentine’s Day reflections. I include a post I made on a Philippine forum back in 2009, where I struggled with the decision to choose the love of a Korean woman (Jee Yeun) or the life I had dreamed of in the PI. I chose love back then, but in my 2017 post, I swore I would never love again. Well, look at me now. Hopefully, I got it right this time. There is also a YouTube video I made with photos from the years I shared with Jee Yeun. I tried to watch it this morning, but it proved to be too painful. I guess some wounds truly never do heal.

For today’s YouTube video, I’ll share something you never see on TV anymore, but I saw all the time growing up: cigarette commercials. Despite my fleeting memory, I still recall several of the jingles (Winston tastes good like a cigarette should). The stupid thing is, I never smoked as a teen (well, cigarettes, I mean) but started puffing tobacco at around 30. Twenty years later, the damage was done, and I still live with it today. I definitely will not smoke in my do-over life.

Ready for some humor?

Here’s an added bonus for my loyal readers. Since I couldn’t get any sunset shots yesterday, let me share what I saw this morning:

You are welcome. Now, it’s time to prepare for the Hash. Already have my shortcut plotted.

What can I say that hasn’t been said before? Not a lot, but I’ve never let that stop me, so let’s get after it!

First up, let’s talk about the comments section here at LTG. Honestly, interacting with my readers is one of my favorite things about blogging. It doesn’t bother me at all if you don’t agree with something I’ve written, so go on and tell me how you truly feel. But please maintain a modicum of decency and respect. Personal attacks and name-calling don’t win the argument. And if you are going to accuse me of being something I am not, like an antisemite or a racist, at least offer an example in support of your argument. Again, almost everyone who bothers to comment does so appropriately. And this morning I discovered something interesting about the exceptions to that rule.

104.28.31.65 is the IP address of one of the worst offenders who goes by the name “Canadian” in the comments. Here are a couple of his greatest hits:

No mention of the newly-released Epstein files? Let’s just ignore more damning evidence. Keep owning us libs, you pedofilia-endorsing cunt.

When is your next Dr Jo appointment? The diagnosis will be severe bigotry but you already know that.

So, as you can see, he has nothing of value to offer in support of whatever argument he’s trying to make, and he’s addressing topics I’ve never raised on the blog. Both of the above comments went into my rarely used trash bin. And then I noticed something else about that IP address: it belongs to several other commenters in addition to Canadian: Boss Hogg, Trapper, GotoHell!!!, Devin and Pious Pete. I’m not sure how IPs work, but I assume all the commenters with that address are the same person. Whatever, I’ll be taking a firmer stance on what I approve in the comments section from now on. So, there’s no point in wasting your time being an asshole.

Alright, now that we have that out of the way, we can move on to the boring stuff. Like our first Decay Dance (candy walk) since last year:

And we were missed! One woman told Swan (in Tagalog) that she had been worried by our absence, thinking I might be ill. Nope, but thanks for your concern!

My buddy Max from the Netherlands is back in town, and he invited us to his place to help celebrate his birthday. Naturally, we accepted.

I’ve never seen anything quite like Max’s dwelling. A small living quarters (the kitchen is outdoors) nestled right up against the hillside. No vehicle access other than by scooter, as it is at the end of a long, narrow pathway. It would be a bitch to haul the groceries up each week, but it’s a cozy and comfortable homestead. Max is a lucky man!

We did a brief nightcap at It Doesn’t Matter, then called it a night and headed home.

From the February 2017 LTG archives, I finally got an appointment at the Army hospital on Yongsan Garrison. While waiting to see the doctor, I had a breathing attack and was taken to the emergency room. After some nebulization, I was breathing okay, so they took some chest X-rays, which resulted in a diagnosis of COPD. And I’ve been living with it ever since.

Today’s YouTube video is an old one I came across somewhere. Still pretty damn funny and only two minutes long.

Hold on to your hats, here’s some more laughs:

And there you have it. Coming up on my agenda: an afternoon nap, the Arizona Floating Bar experience, and choosing a dinner venue. Tell you about it tomorrow.

So, you are in for a treat today…a short post here at LTG. I’ve got things to do this afternoon, so let’s get on with the down and dirty, shall we?

Yesterday, we finally got the grocery shopping done, and I paid in cash, about 22,000 pesos worth (7000 at YBC, 15,000 at Royal). Talk about a thick wallet! It was kinda sweet that the folks at YBC had noticed our absence these past two weeks.

After grocery shopping, we sent the driver and helper home to unload while Swan and I walked to the Harbor Point Mall. We stopped at the Globe store to pay my cell phone bill, and then I added Swan to my post-paid unlimited data plan. Now I will never have to hear those dreaded words, “Can I use your phone? I’m out of load” again.

Next stop was a sporting goods store in the mall, where I bought a new set of darts and the necessary accessories. Yes, I am considering taking up the game again after a hiatus of more than two years. I’m not going to go back to being a darts maniac playing five nights a week, but once in a while, it might be fun. We’ll see how that works out.

Then we were ready for lunch, and there was a newish restaurant in the mall I’d heard about.

Regular readers can probably guess what we ordered.

They tasted okay, but Swan judged them not as good as John’s place.

Then it was time to grab a taxi for home. SBMA has a taxi mafia, alleged set pricing, no meters, and no outside competition allowed. The cabs were lined up where we exited the mall, and the first one in the queue came to pick us up. I learned early in my Philippine life to always ask for the price prior to departure. How much to Barretto? “400 pesos,” the driver responded. I said the metered taxis outside are only 250. He shrugged and said, “Fixed pricing”. I shrugged and said okay, but before we were out of the parking lot, Swan clarified that we were going to Alta Vista. The driver said, “Alta Vista is 500 pesos.” I called bullshit, told him to stop the cab, and we got out. We walked to the SM Mall across the river (and off SBMA) and caught a cab there. This one didn’t have a meter either, but the quoted price was 300 pesos. I added a 50 peso tip when we arrived safely in Alta Vista. And no, it is not about the money; it’s about being scammed.

At beer o’clock, we headed back into town and made Red Bar our first stop. We’ve always been patio sitters there, and we used to have it mostly to ourselves. These days, Cliff and Ashley, formerly of It Doesn’t Matter, are running the Red Bar show, and it seems all the old regulars from IDM have followed them there.

It’s a new vibe at Red Bar, but we still had our usual good time. Ashley is a fellow Hasher whose company we enjoy, and we wish her and hubby Cliff all the best in their new gig.

At dinner time, we crossed the highway to Jewel Cafe.

Then a nightcap at Green Room before triking home and bringing our Thursday to an end.

From the January 2017 LTG archives, here is a pictorial post about my welcoming the New Year in the Philippines (Puerto Galera and Manila). Two places I wouldn’t want to live, but one of these days I may revisit Puerto Galera so I can experience it when I don’t feel like I’m dying.

Speaking of dying, today’s YouTube video shares six signs that may signal you are in your last year. Well, I haven’t been able to shake the feeling since I turned 70 that the end is near, but most of these signs from the video are not currently present in my daily living experience. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Laugh while you can:

So, I’m going to head out soon to Alley Cats and see how those new arrows of mine fly. I expect I’ll be sloppy bad since I’ve not thrown for so long. They have a tournament on Fridays, but unless I warm up better than I expect, I doubt I’ll be participating. Well, if it is a singles tourney, I might, but I don’t want to crush the dreams of any partner who has the misfortune of drawing me as a teammate in doubles. Anyway, you’ve got to start somewhere.

Getting back in the groove yesterday with the Wednesday Walkers group hike.

I thought we were going to do the standard Philseco loop, but my hike mates had other ideas. We left the road and headed up into the hills on a path I hadn’t visited for at least a couple of years. Oh well, nothing wrong with a little climb-it change.

I do enjoy getting out for these walkabouts and hope I’ll be able to continue doing them well into the future. Having Scott back out with us is quite the inspiration in an “if he can do it, I can do it” kinda way. I also get to steal some of his photographs!

The other side of my pleasure coin is lifting a bottle or ten of beer when the sun is almost done for the day.

Swan took the evening off, so I was on my own. I decided to start things off with a visit to one of my old haunts, Cheap Charlies.

As I’ve mentioned before, Cheap Charlies defies their name by charging a whopping 250 pesos for a single lady drink. That’s a bridge too far for me (the max I pay is 200). I told my waitress they should offer a “Cheap Charlie lady drink” — just soda with no alcohol. She just laughed, but I think they’d make money on that deal.

One of the reasons I chose to start at Cheap Charlies was to get some grub from the excellent restaurant downstairs, Foodies.

And since I wasn’t buying lady drinks, I treated the girls to a bite to eat:

After departing from Cheap Charlies, I paid a visit to the Alaska Club. Owner Jerry is out of town, but the music was good, and I enjoyed my beers there. Bought my waitress a lady drink (150 pesos) and tipped the dancers 50 pesos each.

I did my nightcap next door at Wet Spot and shared drinks with fellow Hasher Beth (BF’s Wet Spot) and my regular waitress, Irene. I ordered a banana split to go from the Sit-n-Bull waitress and was surprised when she returned and advised me that they were out of ice cream. How does that happen? Oh well, I made smoothies instead when I got home.

And that’s how I filled those Wednesday hours.

Meanwhile, things must be really heating up in the USA because what seemed like an almost innocuous post I made on Facebook caused more lefty head explosions than usual.

I was sadly surprised to hear from a dear friend I used to work with, telling me I should post photos of all the school kids murdered by white men with guns. Um, that’s apples and oranges, and what has race got to do with it? Oh well, as I’ve said numerous times, no one’s mind is going to change through arguments on social media.

From Facebook memories today is this photo that was posted eight years ago by a bartender I knew in Pyeongtaek.

It is now January 2017 in the LTG archives, and I had some health issues during my trip to the Philippines that I might have been lucky to survive. When I made it back home, nebulization became a daily feature in my life. I was eventually diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), my reward for smoking cigarettes for twenty-some years. I had quit a couple of years earlier, but the damage was done. I still have occasional flare-ups, but I haven’t needed my nebulizer or oxygen tank for several months now. Fingers crossed!

In today’s YouTube video, the Filipina Pea takes us home to her province (Leyte) to meet the parents. It’s the life I see here all the time, especially on my rural hikes. As I said after my first visit to the Philippines, I’ve never seen a poorer or a happier people.

Hopefully, these won’t piss anybody off:

Yeah, another one of those boring posts. It’s better when you are living it, trust me!

So, my Tuesday didn’t go as planned. Things started to go wrong when my bank back home sent a message about suspicious activity on my credit card. One was a charge to someplace called QVC that I’ve never heard of. The other was to Walmart, which doesn’t have any stores in the Philippines (not to be confused with WalterMart). I went to check my account, and this message was posted there:

I confirmed the cited transactions were fraudulent, and the bank has now cancelled my card and mailed a new one to my USA address, for all the good that does me. Well, Tuesday is grocery shopping day, and we’d been gone for over two weeks, so we needed to restock. Paying the old-fashioned way (cash) was my best option, so on the way to the supermarket, I had our driver stop at an ATM that allowed 20,000-peso withdrawals. Except the machine told me “it could not dispense.” So, we drove on to another BPI branch that has three ATMs. The first one didn’t dispense. Neither did the second one, but when I looked at my receipt, it said that I had received the requested pesos.

It was 8:50, and the bank branch opened at 9:00, so we waited. And waited. They eventually unlocked the door ten minutes late, and we went inside to fill out a report about the robbery. After completing a form, I was told the money should be returned in “one to three days.” Alrighty, then. Well, since I couldn’t access cash and my credit card was voided, the shopping options were nil, so I had my driver take us home empty-handed.

The ATM money has now been returned to my account, and I’ve rescheduled the shopping excursion for tomorrow morning. I’m not permitted to open a local bank account in the PI on a tourist visa, but Swan opened one in her name for me to use. So, I’ll be transferring funds to that account and using my local ATM card in the future. Which is not say I won’t have similar issues with the ATMs here, but at least I’ll be using a local card at a local bank.

That’s how we roll in paradise. The rest of Tuesday went in accordance with routine.

He’s featured early, so go see for yourself.

The usual relaxing vibe at TI, and some food:

Then we rolled on home and finished our Tuesday.

On to December 2016 in the LTG archives. In this post, I reflect on the first anniversary of losing my marriage and all that I had experienced since moving out on my own again. It wasn’t all bad. I decided after a two-month-long bender that drinking myself to death wasn’t the answer. Instead, I adopted a low-carb diet and a walking lifestyle and lost 60 pounds. I even got my heart broken again along the way. It only hurts until the pain goes away.

Another type of memory lane journey for today’s YouTube video. Remember Sears? It was a big deal to get the Sears catalog in the mail, and their stores were the anchors in the local malls. Then poof, they all went away. Malls in the USA are relics of the past now, but here in the PI, they are booming and popular places for social gatherings. One of the more interesting things about the self-inflicted demise of Sears was that they could have been Amazon before there was an Amazon.

And humor me with these:

So, I don’t like moderating comments here. If someone takes the time to share their thoughts on my posts, I’m all for approving them, whether or not I agree. But that’s the key: the comments should at least be vaguely related to something I’ve posted here. This week, I’ve been called antisemitic by one person and a bigot by another. I deny both assertions, and I challenge either of you to provide examples. Otherwise, you are just making shit up, and I won’t give your bullshit the light of day. How do you like them apples?

This is one of the songs that played on the floating bar yesterday. Hadn’t heard it in like forever:

Old routines die, new ones are born. And Sunday is still a fun day. We’ll get back to our candy walks next week after we restock the chocolate supply, but yesterday we did a Barretto street stroll and handed out lollipops to the children we encountered.

At the appointed hour, we headed for the beach…the one in Barretto.

Shortly after we boarded the Arizona floating bar, a motorboat appeared and tied up alongside.

It was nice to share drinks and the floating vibe with people we know.

We said our goodbyes to Frank and Ligaya and made our way to shore. Back in the olden times, our next stop would be John’s place for dinner. Now what will we do? I’ve decided the new Sunday routine will be dining in places we seldom visit. And since we were already at the Arizona Resort, we started there.

Back in my Barretto early days, the Arizona was one of my favorite places to eat. Ownership changed, and things went downhill (I understand it is for sale again), and I pretty much stopped going there for anything other than the floating bar. After perusing the menu, Swan and I both made selections from the Mexican section.

After dinner, we moved up the highway to Jumpin’ Jacks and got a warm welcome back from the staff. I was invited to play pool with one of the girls, but initially declined. Swan kept encouraging me to participate, so I relented. To make things more interesting, I told my opponent we’d play for twenty thousand. And I won, twice! It was actually the best pool I’ve played in a very long time. So yeah, maybe I’ll make playing an occasional game one of my new routines.

Oh, and about that 20,000…even though I won, I reached into my wallet and pulled out this:

Of course, I’m not a total cheap Charlie. I asked if she preferred a tip for playing with me or a lady drink. She chose the lady drink. It is one of those oddities of working as a bar girl. She makes a 70-peso commission on a lady drink, and I was offering her 100 pesos in cash, but since if they miss their LD quota, their pay is reduced, the drink is the better option.

We left Jumpin’ Jacks and caught a trike home to maintain our routine sleep schedule. And so went another Sunday.

Onward to November 2016 in the LTG archives. The first post of the month resolved the Eun Oke mystery. She even left a comment, which surprised me because I didn’t know she read the blog. In a weird twist, I got a message from Eun Oke a few weeks ago asking if she could come for a visit. Of course, that ship sailed long ago, but reading about her reasons for leaving (the age gap) made me smirk. She’s 52, and I’m 70 now. My new love is 40. Go figure. The post also recounts a sad Facebook memory from Jee Yeun. But life goes on. Until it doesn’t.

Today’s YouTube video is an interesting discussion on beggars in the Philippines. I NEVER give money to kids begging because I’d heard that was illegal. It was surprising to learn that giving to anyone who begs violates the law. Yikes! Well, I started giving to Mama, in part because she never asked. I guess maybe that makes it a donation. The other person I give to, I call the “crazy guy.” Rumor has it he is a druggie. I never give more than 50 pesos, so if he is drug-addicted, that ain’t gonna buy much dope. I wish I had never started with him, but now, when he sees me, he looks so desperate, I just want him to leave, so I pay him to go away. In addition to the lack of litter in Vietnam, I never saw one beggar or homeless person. The government there must be doing something right.

I know you’ve been begging to see today’s humor installment, so here it is:

So, it’s back to the Hash after missing the last two runs. The trail starts and finishes at the end of Rizal Extension, my least favorite location because of the inconvenience of getting there and then getting back down (not many trikes can make it that far uphill). So, I’ll be doing my own thing: walking from my house to the On-Home via the My Bitch trail, and then after the Circle starts, I’ll bail out and walk back to town before it gets dark. I’ll let you know how that works out for me tomorrow.

Didn’t do much yesterday other than recover from my travels, but it still feels nice to be home. It’s funny how just fifteen days can make everything seem almost new and different. I like that. I didn’t wake up until 6:30 and wasn’t feeling very energetic. So, I limited myself to the 4K neighborhood walk.

It dawned on me that I hadn’t had a beer for over two weeks. In the Philippines, I mean. When beer o’clock rolled around, I set about rectifying that. I decided to make it an aMAZEing night, starting at Sloppy Joe’s. Alas, the San Miguel Zero crisis continues, as none of the bars (or the Hash) can purchase that product from the distributor. I’m not sure what’s going on with that. Rumor has it the brand is being discontinued, but Google says the brewery has made no such announcement. So, it was San Miguel Light for me and red wine for Swan. We did share an order of crispy chicken wings to cushion our tummies.

Next stop, Green Room. All our old favorites were there for lady drinks to welcome us back. I settled in and had my usual good time watching some fine pool players work the table. Then we moved next door to Wet Spot for our nightcap, and shared some pasalubong (and lady drinks) with our pals Beth and Irene.

Sadly, we learned that one of our neighbors passed away last week.

One of the first things I noticed when we returned home was that it is chillier now than I ever remembered.

Then again, my last winter in Korea eight years ago provides some perspective:

The last post in the LTG archives from October 2016 was a bit of a surprise. It was mostly photos from the weekend, but I wasn’t expecting to see HER again:

For today’s YouTube video, we take a journey back in time to see what life was like growing up as a boomer. It was a nice stroll down memory lane for me. You youngsters can watch and see what you missed.

And now it’s time for your daily dose of lameness:

And now it is time to get on with the last Sunday of the first month of the year. I’ve ended the Hideaway feeding program, and John’s place is now closed, but the Arizona floating bar is operating, so I’ll start there and see what happens.