Early over

When you are retired for going on seven years, weekends lose the charm that they once held. Even Saturday night is not worth staying up late for. Or maybe I’m just an old geezer shouting at the clouds. Whatever the case may be, my window for adventure doesn’t stay open long these days. A sweet Saturday stroll with Swan in the morning, some beach time in the afternoon, food and live music in the early evening, and back home by 7:30 p.m. That’s pretty much how I’m rolling through life lately.

Leaving my neighborhood to deliver some sweetness in the surrounding neighborhoods.
The kids come running when they spot us in the first neighborhood visit of the morning. That kid in front appears to be defying gravity.
The second ‘hood
Over the river
And passing through neighborhood #3
Ernesto had five years on me. RIP.
The fourth neighborhood
And the fifth and final of the day
The route of our stroll

I fill the hours between the morning walk and late afternoon imbibing wasting my time on the internet and wasting your time with boring blog posts like this one. As beer o’clock nears, I try to decide where I’m going to plop my sorry ass to down some brews.

Yeah, there’s that

Anyway, I thought we’d do a Baloy Beach Saturday evening, starting with that new bar, Drunken Sailor, at the Baywatch Resort. I was curious if business had picked up any since my last visit. I guess it hadn’t, because it was closed. That’s a shame; it could be a nice venue with a little effort. Oh well, not my problem.

A barefoot walk in the sand for Swan was next

Then we popped into another newish venue, Kim’s Place, ordered some beers, and pulled up a seat on the beach. I chatted with Kim, and he is ready to host the March 31 Hash On-Home.

It will be nice to have our Circle on a sandy beach again.
The sun didn’t show its shiny face before disappearing yesterday

Then we moseyed up the beach to Treasure Island and enjoyed the live music.

And shared a plate of chicken wings. I had the leftovers for breakfast this morning.

Over the course of three hours, I had three beers at Kim’s and four at Treasure Island. If my math is correct, that’s only one beer every twenty-five minutes. I guess I really am learning to slow down. And despite it only being half past seven, I was ready to call it a night. I’m not complaining; that’s just the way it is these days.

Back on track. Let’s see how long I can keep it up.

I’m no expert on CICO diets, but if my total intake for the week is in line with the sum of my daily goal, does that work? In other words, if I’m over by 300 calories total for We, Th, Fr, but under by 300 on Sa, am I still on track to lose weight? Yeah, I’d best just stick with trying not to exceed my daily target.

I don’t know, maybe I was getting a little homesick four months into my Korea life almost twenty years ago, but I posted some pics of American gals at the Mardi Gras. Meow! In the comments, my dad advised me not to take my gun to town. I miss those days when I had family that gave a shit about my life.

Facebook reminded me that six years ago, I was enjoying views like this while Hashing in Palawan.

Were were a few miles outside Puerto Princesa
It got a little rocky in places
Life’s a beach

I really need to go back there again one day soon.

Today’s YouTube video talks about weird aspects of Filipino culture. I don’t know, I’ve been here long enough that everything is getting normalized. Except the driving. Damn, still amazes me how bad they drive with no common sense or skills. Choosing not to drive here was the right call.

How about these:

I can dig it
I’ll drink to that!
It could result in a chain reaction

Time to get back to those Sunday routines. Feeding, floating, eating, and drinking. What a life, eh?

Getting high again

Just a couple showed up for the Friday group hike.

That would be us

I asked Swan where she’d like to go, and she responded, “Kalaklan.” Sometimes I wonder if she’s trying to kill me! Well, I didn’t want to disappoint her, so we caught a Jeepney out of town to the easiest way up the ridge I know of. Spoiler alert: I survived! But since you’re reading this post, I guess you know that already.

Up we go!
Half way up and I was feeling wired
The Gordon Heights part of Olongapo City
The other side of town, including SBMA (the old Navy base)

Here’s a two-minute video Swan made when we reached the ridgeline road.

Everything up here is shacks and shanties, except this place. I’m not sure how or why it was built, but it would be an interesting place to live. They’ve recently improved the dirt road enough that you could probably access the house with a 4×4 vehicle
We came across this gent having lunch beside the trail. Swan chatted with him a bit, and he was there to work on clearing a lot he had obtained. We gave him some cookies for dessert.
My little town of Barretto.
It turns out that a good portion of our hike followed the Hash trail we missed last week. I love it when that happens!
Heading on down
The view of Easter Mountain from here
I’m such a poser
And I was happy to see my cookie kids again. Whenever I miss this trail, the other Hashers tell me the kids were looking for me.
Hope to see you again next time!
Steppin’ down.
We only did about 5K
But gained some elevation

The SOB was being held at Whiskey Girl bar, and I elected not to attend. The last time I was there, they had no wine available for Swan. It’s not my favorite venue anyway, so we spent our Friday evening going to other seldom-visited bars.

Two beers at Cheap Charlies, taking in the view of the ridge we climbed earlier in the day

Then we went to Jewel Cafe for dinner. We had both been craving the filet mignon steaks they serve there. We were a little disappointed to discover that the price had gone up from 499 pesos to 599. If my math is correct, that’s a 20% increase.

The steaks had always been small, but damn, raise the price and lower the volume? They were still tasty, what little there was of them.

We hadn’t been to Mugshots bar since it reopened after being remodeled. The pool table is gone now, replaced with a stage for dancing girls. It was just what Barretto needed—another go-go bar. Not! They still had the signage up for their pool tourneys, which was a sad reminder of what was and now will not be. I’m not even a pool player, but I’d heard people talk about Mugshots being a great venue for playing. I didn’t much care for the new vibe, and I doubt I’ll be returning any time soon.

We did our nightcap at Alaska Club. As soon as I walked in, I knew something was a little off. Oh yeah, most of the dancers were at Whiskey Girl for the SOB competition. Duh. No big deal; only one dancer to tip, so I saved some coin. We pulled the plug on our evening out a little earlier than usual and headed for home.

I made smoothies for our bedtime treat but then made the mistake of going back for seconds.

Shame on me!

Nearly twenty years ago, I first became a fan of the Big Hominid blog by Kevin Kim. I was so impressed with his Arbor Day post from 2005 that I quoted it in its entirety here at LTG. It was and is some impressive writing and remains one of my favorites.

Twelve years ago, I was celebrating with my old friend Duke Gates at the newly opened Hooters in Seoul. Duke is one of those friends who has vanished from social media and doesn’t respond to emails. I hope he is doing okay.

You don’t see many hooters in Korea, and these Hooters girls were no exception. I understand that the franchise in Seoul is now closed.

Time for another Q&A session with The Filipina Pea. I have almost zero tolerance for drama in a relationship; more often than not, drama derives from jealousy. Back in my dating days, I didn’t come back for seconds when a jealous nature was revealed. I’m delighted that Swan is secure enough in her self-esteem and our relationship that she doesn’t feel threatened by other females we encounter.

Let’s see if I can put a smile on your face:

The first cut is the deepest
Stop, you’re killing me!
Damn, talk about getting fucked in the ass!

Another day of blogging is in the books. Now to get on with the rest of my life. I’ll be back.

Horsin’ around with the neighbors

Another day, another walk. Later on, I got a chelation injection. And in a refreshing change of pace, I visited zero bars yesterday. Not to worry, I had Zeros at home and took them with me to a gathering with the next-door neighbors. Here’s some of what I saw as I made my way through another Thursday in paradise.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave…
Two of nature’s treats
That mountain we call Easter
Candy for the kids, pellets for the puppies. That’s just the way Swan rolls. I hope she never mixes up the two.
This section of the My Bitch trail is now a dirt road. I’m not sure what the future will bring next.
Feeding another stray
Burn, baby, burn!
The route of our 7K journey

No issues with the needle Dr. Jo stuck in my vein. She commented on my recently lowered blood pressure (110/70 yesterday) and that my reduced dosage of bp meds will relieve strain on my kidneys. Next week is the final round in this chelation session (two injections, one IV). After that, I’ll have my blood work done again to see if I’m getting results like lowered blood sugar. Here’s hoping!

The neighborhood gathering at Jeff and Devina’s was a day at the races theme. That horse racing board game is their second favorite social activity after karaoke.

I contributed brownies, as usual
This dip for the tortilla chips was quite a treat
There was also this platter of tasty meats, cheese, and snacks
The sun at five p.m. when we started
And an hour later when we kicked off the horse races
The winner is decided by a roll of the dice. Multiple rolls, until a numbered steed crosses the finish line.

We played three rounds, and I was lucky enough to win once.

The best part of the evening was hanging out with the group and enjoying our favorite beverages.

I went a little crazy when we got back home…

…and lost my ability to say no to a slice of apple pie a la mode.
Close, but no cigar. At least I don’t smoke.

Today’s weigh-in has me at 231.7, up from 231.6. Not too bad, considering my recent lack of discipline. Hopefully, the downward journey will resume this week.

Back in April 2005, I wrote about having The Rainy Day Blues after a night of overindulgence while playing pool in Itaewon. It does have a familiar ring to it. One of the things I’m enjoying about these long-ago posts is the comments, like this one from my then-wife:

Here is a better idea. Don’t go to bars except on odd occasions. You never use to go to bars. You sat at home and played Civ III or blogged. You filled up your entire evenings and weekends. Maybe we could play virtual scrabble or cards. Look in to it before you develop a habit that I simply will not tolerate when you return home. Sorry to sound so much like a wife, but I am the wife.

She’d hate my life in the Philippines.

Six years ago, I participated in a Hash Bash in beautiful Palawan. That’s different than a Nash Hash, but it was a great time I’d almost forgotten about until Facebook reminded me today.

Here’s a headline from five years ago that would lead to a scamdemic overreaction by the local authorities here in the Philippines.

Curfews, lockdowns, face masks, face shields, social distancing, alcohol bans, and quarantine passes were all right around the corner. Never forget! Never be fooled again!

I’ll be turning seventy years old in August (assuming nothing goes wrong before then), so today’s YouTube video about seven signs predicting how long you’ll live after that milestone caught my eye. I’m happy to report that I’m doing just fine in six of those categories. Standing on one leg for ten seconds is something I need to work on. Of course, getting squashed trying to cross the National highway or falling off a cliff while hiking would negate all those positive signs. My plan remains to keep living until I die. Wish me luck with that!

Maybe you’ll find these funny:

She got the breast deal she could
I’ll stick with the brown bread here in the PI
A simple misunderstanding. I’m sure you’ll be forgiven.

And that’s all he wrote. For today, anyway. Who knows what the future holds?

Simply irresistible

Sometimes, it is just hard to say no regardless of the consequences. C’est la vie.

The Wednesday Walkers took a Jeepney ride out to Calapandayan and commenced hiking from there. We began with a climb up a trail we hadn’t been on for years, and from the look of things, no one else had either—a leafy mess with low overhanging branches to maneuver around. We wandered around up top for a bit before making our way back down to the familiar streets of Calapacuan.

Out of the Jeepney and ready to roll
This week’s iteration of the Wednesday Walkers
Up we go
Steep and buried in leaves makes for a hard trail up
But we got there
The bay view
Options galore
The village route
Cookie delivery
What goes up, must come down
Easter Mountain from here
Almost bottomed out
What’s a hike without a rickety bridge crossing?
The rare older than me passing
The have Nazi politicians in the Philippines, too? Who knew?
Finishing our journey with a highway walk
Here to there

The usual shit at home, then back to Barretto. The first stop was an overdue haircut; then we grabbed some dinner at Sit-n-Bull.

A steak from Salisbury for me

It had been a week since we last visited our regular haunts, Green Room and Wet Spot. I had a bag of treats to share with our bargirl friends. In addition to the usual cookies and lollipops, I brought along two of these:

Buko (coconut) pie.

I’d never had this Filipino delicacy before, but an acquaintance kept sending me begging messages to purchase some for her church fundraiser. I finally relented and bought five.

That’s what it looks like on the inside

Naturally, when I got home I had a slice. Smothered in vanilla ice cream, of course.

I went off the charts yesterday.
Me and that voice in my head

Fifteen years ago, I was darting and drinking at my old hangout, Dolce Vita, there in the heart of Itaewon.

Another life in another world.

My lefty pals seem to have fallen in love with that Ukrainian comedian. None of them seem to want to join the fight, though.

Other than that, he seems like a nice guy

Today’s YouTube vlogger suggests that pussified men of the West are fleeing to places like the Philippines. I don’t know; I haven’t seen what he describes in my retirement community. I did witness several young men in the bars last night (probably civilian seamen from merchant ships in port) surrounded by bargirls and spending big on lady drinks. That’s a win for the girls and a profit for the bars, so no complaints from me about that. Have fun!

Funny or not, here they come:

Welp, I trying to do better, but I’m making no promises
Why didn’t I think of that? That’s also how old I am.
It will heal, Captain

Chelation is on tap for this afternoon, then a gathering at the neighbor’s house. Better get those brownies in the oven!

Back to it

Hey, they wouldn’t be routines if you didn’t do them routinely. So, yesterday, I did what I did on Tuesday.

Mama has her routines as well, like waiting for me on Tuesday morning when I’m on my way to the grocery store.

When the shopping was done, I took a walk to get reacquainted with the neighborhood.

Easter Mountain is still there
And so is the biggest house in Alta Vista
I hit a portion of most of the streets in the ‘hood.

When beer o’clock rolled around, we headed for Baloy Beach. If you’ve got ten minutes to waste, you can join us on our walk through Alta Vista as we made our way.

It had been a while since our last visit, but not much had changed on Baloy.

Some new signage at Baywatch Resort. This place has potential, we’ll see if the new owner can pull it off.
Swan got her toes in the sand fix, so she was happy
Still floating
Not very busy during our visit
The cutest girl there
Not much of a sunset, especially compared to the ones we saw in La Union
As good as it got
This is the dicey-looking entrance to Kim’s Place, a newish hangout on the beach
Not a large-scale operation
But Swan could sit there barefoot
And this is the view

Kim’s Place is penciled in for our Hash On-Home venue on March 31. I’ve discussed it with owner Kim, and his only concern is adequate seating for 40+ Hashers.

Not enough of those benches, and they might not hold up under the weight of several well-endowed Hashers.

Kim will see if the neighbor will let us use some of the adjoining beach huts. Hopefully, it will work out, and we’ll have an occasional beach venue to enjoy.

We finished our evening out with some dinner at Treasure Island (we shared enchiladas and tacos).

TI had Fox News on the TV. I prefer the music these days
Back on track

I didn’t lose any weight last week, but it doesn’t look like I gained any, either.

That’s how I’ll know I’ve achieved my goal

Almost twenty years ago, I ventured up “Hooker Hill” in Itaewon and discovered a dive bar called Grand Ole Opry. I wrote about the experience here.

Back in 1973, I was practicing gun control at “The Filthy Five” (some land my parents owned in Perris, California):

Rifle in my hands, pistol on my waist

I joined the Facebook political chorus with these submissions:

Sometimes petulant children need some tough love
Don’t be told what to believe; decide for yourself

Yesterday’s YouTube video sucked, sorry about that! I’ll make up for it today with some good stuff from the Filipina Pea. I always enjoy it when she opens the mailbag and answers questions from her viewers:

And the funny business:

Like mother, like daughter. Run, Forrest, run!
Crash, burn, and throw it away
There are worse things than her looking down in the mouth

Okay, well, at least I tried. Thanks for your indulgence.

A Hashless Monday

Now what am I gonna talk about?

My final complimentary breakfast at Go Resort. Yesterday was also the last day of my “I don’t give a fuck” diet. Today, I’m back to being responsible. More or less.
A final glimpse of the ocean before checkout time
A tree I saw on the drive home
A view out the car window on the expressway

Got home and did some blogging, and then it was back to Barretto to join in the Hash aftermath fun.

It Doesn’t Matter where I was; it’s good to be home again!

And that was that.

Some things I am remembering today.

In April 2017, I wrote a readers’ submission for the Stickman Bangkok website, telling the story of my broken heart and how I had developed A Brand New Plan. Needless to say, things didn’t go according to that plan. I hope love is worth the potential pain.

Then, in August 2020, I wrote a post here at LTG called, Keep The Change, which proved to be a milestone on the road that led me to where I am today. Let’s hope I never forget those lessons!

I’ll be visiting Angeles City the weekend after next, so today’s YouTube video presented information on areas I might best avoid during my stay. Well, I’m not big on the Walking Street (now called Red Street) go-go bar scene, and there are plenty of bars and restaurants closer to my hotel (The Boomerang) anyway.

Things that appeal to my low standards of humor:

I see what you did there
Dig deeper, Mr. Jones
Yep, getting old stinks, but it sounds good to be alive

Time to get on with today. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

Done with the weekend

A bloody start to the day

I don’t recall the last time I drank the traditional morning alcoholic beverage known as a Bloody Mary. Not my favorite blend of flavors, but it was offered for free prior to starting our Sunday morning Hash trail. I only had the one because I prefer keeping my walkoholism separate from my alcoholism. The hike commenced at the Blue Cat and was short and flat.

I reckon this would be one of my hangouts if I lived in Bauang
Art on the wall
The view out the back
Hashers gathered for the final day of the Nash Hash
As seen from my table
My fellow Subic Hashers
An we are On-On for the third and final day of Hashing
A brief jaunt on the highway
A tree I like along the way
I have to hand it to the Hare for a unique method of marking the trail
A pleasant beach stroll
And for once, I wasn’t bringing up the rear
There was something a little ghostly about this place
Sunny beaches
I think I would enjoy living in La Union, especially if I had a house like this one on the beach
Leaving the sand behind
A rickety bridge we DIDN’T cross
The rare signage telling folks not to throw trash in the creek
Creekside walking
I’ve seen dirtier water
Another shady carabao
Some time amongst the peanuts, but no sign of Lucy or Charlie Brown
Through the fields we go
Nearing the end of our trek
Our On-Home was at this nice resort a few kilometers out of town
The route of our very pleasant 4K journey
Enjoying some post-hike beverages with Cums Alone
And a free buffet lunch for all the Hashers
I managed to overcome my temptation to ride the slide
Well, the spelling ain’t right
After the closing ceremony at the Hash, we loaded into Jeepneys for the ride back into town

Want to spend a minute riding along?

But the after-Hash fun was just beginning. We were invited to join our Hash host, Booked Up, for some pizza and liquid refreshments at his house.

Thanks for having us!

And then, it was back to the Go Resort for our final night in La Union.

You knew this was going to happen, right?
Back home it’s the sun behind the mountains
So an ocean sunset is a rare treat
Nicely done!
Hanging out with some other Hashers staying at the Go Resort
Some tasty sweet and sour pork for dinner
I was just talkin’ to the moon

And then it was back to the room for me. Before I went to bed, I posted my usual bullshit on Facebook.

Like this, which is funny whatever your politics. At least I think so.

But there is more to life than politics, so I also posted this:

I thought it was funny

But Facebook didn’t. I woke up this morning to this:

Did you see any nudity or sexual activity in that photo above? Neither did I.
I filed an appeal and requested a review

Lo and behold, I just got this message:

Photo back up…
…and account restrictions removed. Geez.

Anyhoo, I am safely back home in my humble abode here in Barretto. It was a great four days in La Union!

The YouTube video for today talks about the pitfalls of helping out so-called “friends.” I guess I’ve been lucky in that regard, at least so far. I have a few hundred dollar bills that are the old style, and none of the exchange places will accept them. I don’t have any reason to believe they might be counterfeit (I got them from a US bank the last time I was there), but I’ll just hold onto them for now.

The funny stuff:

He’s noun the wiser!
Turn it on, turn it up, turn me loose
Sounds like tit-for-tat

No Hash for me today, but it’s a Vienna Sausage trail, so I’m not missing much. I’ll still visit It Doesn’t Matter this evening to see my fellow Subic Hashers again. I’ll get back to “normal” tomorrow!

Wasting away again…

…in Margaritaville.

I’ve got another Hash run to attend this morning, so I’m just going to slap up some photos of yesterday’s events for your viewing pleasure. The medium trail (6K) on a hot day with a climb near the end was more challenging than I imagined it would be. But getting passed near the end by a couple of the “ball buster trail” (19K) runners put things in perspective. The first Hasher to finish overall was a ballbuster and his time was three hours and nineteen minutes. It took me two hours to do 6K. I’m just glad I made it back still breathing.

After the Hash, we had the long forty-minute Jeepney ride back to Bauang. A shower at the hotel, then a stroll to the Blue Cat bar featuring free Margaritas for all the Hashers. I don’t usually drink cocktails, but it seemed impolite to decline such a generous offer. A couple of drinks later, it was time to board the Jeepneys again for the ride to our dinner venue. Some good food, music and cultural dancing filled the hours until it was time to head to bed.

The view from my room
One of the Jeepneys for the forty-minute ride to the start of the trail
Out of the Jeepneys
The Hares weren’t there but left a greeting
On-On!
An easy beginning
Pleasant countryside
There were some gentle ups and downs along the way, but easy enough
Dam, get over it!
Lots of farmland out this way
Nature’s beauty
The day’s only cookie delivery
Things got a little woodsy
The first real uphill began here
A good sign at the top, but we were only halfway there
The view from here
Ramshackle hut
A shady place to rest
The path ahead
Yeah, I’ve seen that before…
The big hill awaits
A rest stop along the way up
Onward and upward
That’s not the top
That gal is one of the ballbuster trail Hashers who passed me. Impressive!
Getting down at last
Glad that horny boy was friendly!
Farm life
A not-so-rickety bridge, made of rebar instead of bamboo
Swan says that’s tobacco
Now there’s a good sign!
And I get a peaceful, easy feeling
Ah, this is the definition of rickety
Don’t worry, the fat guy made it across
The On-Home was in an empty field in the middle of nowhere
The writing on the wall
The route we walked
The MapMyWalk app stats
My Fitbit said I done good

The long Jeepney ride back to town, a brief rest, then it was time party some more.

Margarita time!

I got a tingly feeling after two of those puppies, so I went outside to wait for the Jeepneys to take us to dinner.

I never knew this hotel existed, about ten minutes out of town at the end of long road off the highway
On a nice beach
Swan got to enjoy her sundown
Some nice music was provided
My dinner plate from the buffet line. The main course was lechon baboy (roast pig)
And a cultural dance performance

I got drafted by one of the dancers to join in a routine. I wasn’t drunk, I swear!

So, the night ended on a high note.

The fun is not done yet. Here’s today’s agenda:

I’m up for one last trail this morning

In the memories department, three years ago, John’s place moved to a new location.

The upstairs open air bar never took off like the old location
And now, John is gone. RIP!

Today’s YouTube video is all about my hometown that I haven’t seen for days now!

Some quick humor:

Sorry!
I’m funny when you’re drunk
It’s fun to be nuts!

Running late, gotta go. Heading back home tomorrow, so things will be normal again. Sorry about that!

Sex on the beach

A long but pleasant Hashful day. And to end any suspense, I was still upright when the day was done. Yesterday’s kick-off event began with a morning Hash run. Three trails were on offer: long, medium, and short. My intent was to go medium, but when we reached the junction with the long trail, I was up for a hill climb and took the long route. Compared to my recent trek to Tralala, getting up and over wasn’t too difficult, and I did not regret my choice.

Leaving “home” for the walk to the Hash start location.
The gathering crowd at Tropical Garden Resort
And we are On-On!
It always feels nice to walk through an area for the first time.
A peaceful pond
Abandoned buildings along the way
Feeling a little corny!
The hill portion of the hike begins
Making it under the wire
A few steep spots, but an otherwise gentle up and down
Then we were back on the flat
Easter Mountain’s little brother?
Through the fields we go
The final push to the finish
The Hare said the long trail was 6K, but my tracker showed a tad under 5K

La Union Hash doesn’t sit on the ice, they drench you with water instead.

And the bucket brigade was out in force to ensure everyone got to experience a soaking
My turn
Splish splash
Soaked to the skin

After the Hash circle was done, we were served a lunch. The upcoming event was two hours later, so I went back to my hotel for a nap. Waking up somewhat refreshed, it was time to head to the Blue Cat for some sex on the beach.

Hashers enjoying their free sex on the beach
I don’t recall ever having a sex on the beach cocktail before. It wasn’t bad, and best of all, it was free for all the Hashers!
The view from Blue Cat
The sun went down, but I was still going

The Full Moon Hash was up next. This event was held at the Footlights Bar, about a kilometer up the highway. I walked, which demonstrates how much self-discipline I was maintaining.

Hanging out at Footlights

The Full Moon Hash was for men only (the ladies did a Half Moon at another bar), and only Hashers could attend. There were some games that we were expected to participate in and some topless dancing to keep us entertained. The Hash code of honor precludes me revealing more about the night’s events.

Keeping my wits about me and feeling the pangs that come from skipping dinner, I departed Footlights around eight and took a trike back to the hotel.

Since I’m still in my “fuck it” diet mode, I had my first hamburger on a bun sine November.

That was the extent of the damage done last night. I didn’t fall down, throw up, or make an ass of myself. Let’s hope I can keep it that way today.

The planets all came out to watch last night!
Today’s agenda

I’ll be doing the medium trail, which is purported to be 6K in length. The “ball breaker” trail is nineteen kilometers long, and anyone doing that one had to sign a waiver relieving the Hash from any responsibility for an unfavorable outcome.

It’s going to be a long day again. Hopefully, I’ll still be standing at the end of it.

Today’s YouTube video is shocking in the sense that people wouldn’t have figured this shit out before moving here. This is not to say I didn’t have to learn some things the hard way myself after making the move.

Here’s your dose of daily humor:

This hits a little too close to home.
I’ve lost my sense of smell and fart with impunity these days
Stick with it!

Time to head for Tropical Garden for the start of today’s trail. We’ll be taking a 45 minute Jeepney ride to wherever it is we are hiking today. I’ve been assured it will be nothing like that mountain trek we did here last month. Only one way to find out for sure! Wish me luck.

Tranny trouble

No, not THAT kind! Buddy Fucker, the Hasher I rode with to La Union, had transmission issues with his vehicle, and the repair took longer than anticipated. So, our noon departure from Barretto was delayed until 3 p.m. We arrived at the Hash registration desk to sign in and pick up our goodie bags just a few minutes before they shut down at 7 p.m. With our Thursday mission accomplished, we retired to our hotel, the Go Resort, checked in (I have the same room as my last time here), had dinner and beer (only two, believe it or not), and called it a night.

The sky on the drive
On the two-lane blacktop
Still on the road when the sun went down

The items in the goodie bag that comes with Hash registration included TWO shirts:

The front of the green one…
And the back of the shirt with the typical list of sponsors
The blue one has a collar, a rare thing on a Hash shirt. We’ve been advised to wear it to the Saturday dinner party. I will do so proudly.

The other items in the gift bag:

The blue bag everything came in, a water bottle, a necklace with a whistle and bottle opener attached, a commemorative patch, hydration powder, and a scarf.

For dinner, I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered off the Filipino menu.

Swan recommended I give the beef Kare-Kare a try.

And so I did:

It was served with a side of rice, of course.

It wasn’t bad, although some of the meat pieces had bone fragments which was a tad disconcerting. It’s all part of the adventure, I suppose.

I’m taking vacation this weekend. From the diet, I mean. Not going to bother counting calories. And I kicked things off with a dessert I’ve been missing:

Nice to see you again, Mr. Split!

Yeah, yeah, I’m a bad boy. But at least I didn’t get drunk. Yet. Today’s Nash Hash itinerary may make maintaining sobriety difficult.

That “Full Moon Hash” should be interesting

Today’s Hash run begins at 10:30 and the beer flows at 11:30. That’s early for me. My plan is to return to my room for a nap after lunch. And to slow down my beer consumption rate in the absence of my preferred low-alcohol brew. We’ll see how that works out for me.

And that’s where things stand. It’s weird blogging so early in the morning, but it’s pretty much a now or never situation. I didn’t bring my new keyboard along (it wouldn’t fit in my computer bag) so I am having to deal with no “c v x z” letters (I had the foresight to send myself a message with those letters so I could paste them in as needed). The things I do for my loyal reader(s)!

Today’s YouTube video is from the Filipina Pea; she is always a good watch. Say what you will about Filipinos, but from my observations, they are anything but lazy.

Some humor before I go:

Buy her a razor
I’ll drink to that!
A joke like that on my blog got me in trouble when I was working for my Uncle Sam. They can’t fire me now!

It should be an interesting first day here at the Nash Hash. I’ll tell you all about it when time permits. Stay tuned!

Tra-la-la-la-la-la, live for today

Enjoyed an amazing hike up to Tralala at the top of Kalaklan Ridge with the Wednesday Walkers group. We started at the Gordon Heights barangay in Olongapo City and did the 200+ meter climb from there. It’s been four years since we last took this route, and it’s an ass-kicker. But that effort pays off in some fantastic views. I don’t know what it is about Tralala that impresses me so much. Still, there’s just something about a community without motor vehicle access that makes me respect the harsh life the locals live.

Our jaunt also included a visit to the “Golden Girls,” a mountaintop residence inhabited by an elderly couple. The years of harsh living have taken a toll. The old man told us they could no longer endure the hike down the mountain, and their offspring brought them a monthly food supply. That left me shaking my head in sadness. A lonely life in isolation inevitably drawing to its conclusion. I don’t expect they’ll be around if we should ever find our way up here again.

Where it started
Four hardy souls (plus me) ready for adventure
And so the climbing begins
Will the steps ever end?
They steps ended but that didn’t make things any easier
Still a ways to go
Still climbing
Looking back down on Olongapo
Swan adding perspective
Waiting for the slowpokes
I thought the writing on the rock was funny
Leaving the steepness behind
That solar farm is like a blister on a beautiful face
It’s massive and ugly
These guys passed us on their way down. They are teachers at the school in Tralala. So, what we do every four years they hike M-F as a work commute
The tower of power
Some Aeta children
A Tralala family shot
They asked us to buy some bananas so they could purchase rice. We did.
Coming into downtown Tralala
How in the fuck this now-deserted church was built up here with no road access is a mystery to me, but an impressive feat nevertheless.
A portion of the church downstairs is used as classrooms
The view from Tralala
Let’s go visit the “Golden Girls”
A view along the way. Yep, that’s Easter Mountain in the middle.
A life of isolation on the mountain top
The old man stayed in his hammock, and the wife stayed indoors during our brief visit
Scott took this picture of the couple fourteen years ago
Swan shared the bananas and some cookies for the couple to enjoy
It must be an unimaginably difficult life
But at least they can enjoy their view
Time to head back
Taz loved the journey
What’s not to love?
We took a different path down
Resting after a steep descent
The requisite rickety bridge crossing
And then back to where we started
The way we went
The stats of our trek according to the MapMyWalk app

I hope I live to make that journey again one day.

Not much to say about the Wednesday evening events. Our “seldom-visited bar” for the night was Sloppy Joe’s. The big news there is that they’ve put up a wall in the back of the bar and are building a stage to add dancing girls to the mix. Good luck with that, but I’ll still sit up front and watch the passersby on the street when I’m here. We visited Green Room next, then finished the night at Wet Spot. We are done with Barretto now until next week.

I’m starting to see a trend. And now I’m going into vacation mode for the weekend.

A couple of Facebook memories from this day in the past:

The way I looked after climbing Namsan to the Seoul Tower nine years ago. Yesterday’s climb was much harder. The mustache, glasses, skintags, and nose boogers are gone now.

Six years ago, I was visiting Manila and found this disconcerting signage in the men’s room:

Sadly, I did bring a girl (a REAL one) from the street to my room. I had hidden all my valuables, but she did manage to steal my vape pen.

Speaking of which, Musk has overreached with this one:

It’s a joke I stole from Facebook, so don’t blame me for all the grammatical/punctuation mistakes in this.

In today’s YouTube video, Reekay tells the story of a dumbass causing drama.

Shall we share a laugh or two?

At least you didn’t take take the backdoor route!
That’s why I can’t be a doctor–no patients.
She’s out there, just don’t settle for less

Okay then, I’m all packed up and ready to go on my journey to Bauang, La Union. It’s going to be a long weekend at the Nash Hash (a gathering of Hash Kennels from throughout the Philippines), with trails on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They are all morning runs with Circle events taking place afterward. I’ll do my best to blog as I go, but given the starting time and lack of San Mig Zero, I’m making no promises. Anyway, you’ll get the full lowdown when I return.

We were never meant to worry
The way that people do
And I don't need to hurry
As long as I'm with you
We'll take it nice and easy
And use my simple plan
You'll be my lovin' woman
I'll be your lovin' man
We'll take the most from living
Have pleasure while we can

A Royal beauty

That would be me. Just another poser at the grocery store.

Other than shopping, all I did yesterday was entertain some guests at The Rite Spot.

Open for business
The Rite Spot for this view
Chili con carne y frijoles on the menu
Swan’s kimbap
My satanic neighbor brought these deviled eggs
Brownies for dessert
Our guests. That’s Matt in the black T-shirt. The gathering was to welcome him back from a visit to the USA.
The sun went down and the lights came on
Then, that horse-racing game Jeff loves so much took over the entertainment

A good night filled with too many beers and too little discretion on food intake.

I call my cheat days “I don’t give a shit”

Some photos from long ago in my Facebook memories today:

Walking my grandmother Pernie down the aisle at my older brother Keith’s wedding in Westminster, California, circa 1972
A family man in Prescott, Arizona, in 1978. With wife #1, Bridget, younger brother Greg, my mom, and my two kids.
Life on the farm in Monroe, Oklahoma, in 1982
My first gig as a Human Resources Director in Roanoke, Virginia, in 1988

And now I’ve become this guy:

The proverbial grumpy old man

Today’s YouTube talks about a scammer in the Philippines. I learned about most of these the hard way. It all seems so obvious now.

Humor time:

I’m gwapo
You gotta do what you gotta do!
Lifting those beer bottles is good exercise!

That’s all I’ve got for today. I’ll be spending the next four days in La Union for the Nash Hash event. I’m looking forward to the change of scenery.

Just Keep The Change

So, about that Hash run yesterday. The Hare was Keep The Change, and I’d never done one of his trails before. I’d seen his posts on Facebook about Hash trails he’s done in Angeles City, so when I discovered he would be our Hare, I figured I would be in trouble. He makes Vienna Sausage, the most notorious Hare in Subic, look like a lightweight. I only did a portion of the ass-kicker, and then our “sane” group made our own way. So, it was a steep climb halfway up Kalaklan Ridge, and then we bailed and took a different path back down. I hiked the 2K to the start, so I managed a healthy six kilometers for the day.

Gathering at trailhead at Barretto High School
And we are On-On and on up
A long steep road to start things off. You can see BF’s Wet Spot is already struggling behind me.
The road ended and things got worse
At least this obstacle was easily overcome
Shit like this was more challenging. I was glad for the branches to hold on to so I wouldn’t fall
Steep it was
Plugging away
We waited quite a while for BF’s Wet Spot to catch up. She said she was dizzy and needed to stop and rest frequently. We were worried for her and decided not to continue the climb.
A view on the way down
Another abandoned dream
Back to civilization
It was a steep descent as well
Shoes on a wire. Haven’t seen that in a while.
On Home at Red Bar. Over fifty Hashers in attendance

We initiated a virgin Hasher. I don’t think she understood what was going on, but I made a video of the cringe anyway.

Damn, that was painful to watch. Sorry!

Always Wet got the Hashit this week.
Part of the after-Hash crowd at It Doesn’t Matter
The change I kept

After consuming my fill of Zeros, I grabbed Swan and we headed for home. My resistance was weak and I couldn’t say no to the dessert I was offered.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

My Facebook memories took me on an interesting journey through the past today.

A high school graduate in 1973

I hired on as a letter carrier with the Postal Service in 1976.

And in 1985, I received my first promotion to management as a safety specialist

My next promotion as a labor relations representative took me to Columbia, SC.

I enrolled in the University of South Carolina and made the honor roll. Apparently, grammar didn’t count.
Two years later, it was the Dean’s List

Despite those accomplishments, I did not graduate from USC.

Instead, I finished my studies at Central Wesleyan College (now Southern Wesleyan University) and earned my degree in 1991, eighteen years after graduating high school.

This life of mine has been quite a ride. In February 2017, I wrote a post about resolving a dilemma and its painful results. It is a sad but worthy entry in The Story of My Life. All these years later, I still can’t bear to watch the video I included in that post.

Today’s YouTube video discusses plans to upgrade the former American Navy base in Subic to serve as a deterrent to Chinese aggression. Good luck with that. I’ve long felt that China is the biggest threat to freedom in the world today. Whether Trump can convince China to back off remains to be seen. Being killed during a Chinese invasion of the Philippines remains in the top ten ways I might die here.

Your daily dose of humor:

You might have better luck just looking in the window and watching what brand they use.
Just tell them to stick it up their ass, Anus.
At least she doesn’t have to go to her knees to please

That’s just about enough for one day, doncha think? Heading up to The Rite Spot later for a gathering with some of the neighbors. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it tomorrow. Y’all come back now.

The way it were

Or should I say “was”? I can’t, because I’ve already used that as a post title, and I don’t want to repeat myself. Regardless, this post is just a quick recap of what went down around here yesterday. I’ll make it as quick and painless as possible, I promise.

Regular readers know my Sundays begin with Swan’s weekly Candy Walk.

Finding a new angle on an old target is always challenging, but here you go, Easter Mountain.
Taking care of the sweet tooth of both young and old.
What the duck?

So, I’ve been doing a video of different streets we visit during the Candy Walk. Here’s this week’s episode:

Come and get it!
Life at the foot of the mountain
Another week’s work is done
The same 5K we always do

So, there’s a ship in port this weekend. A big one. The French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle.

And the sailors had weekend liberty in Barretto
Youngish men packing the bars is not the norm these days

I asked Joy at Hideaway if any Frenchies had shown up there this weekend, but apparently, the bar is too hidden away. Also, it closes at 7:00, which isn’t much of a nightlife. During my feeding visit yesterday, two Korean gents were at the bar. I taught one of the girls how to say “handsome man” to them (pajee boseyo). The guys took the compliment well and bought her a lady drink. Oh, the literal translation is, “Take off your pants.”

Miel (the one I taught to speak a little Korean) and bartender Ace ready to dive into dinner.
Joyful Joy

And then, it was time for me to hit the beach.

Another busy day on the beach
And there was a group of young white guys renting jet skis; you don’t see that every day.
The floating bar was packed with French sailors

What was really strange was seeing several white women among them. You almost never see a Western woman in Barretto. I assume they were also part of the carrier crew.

No, thank you…
…I’ll stick with my Filipina
Busy with beachgoers and boats
I’ve never seen this happen before. A Banka boat crossed over the lines used to pull the transport raft to the floating bar. I was worried the lines would be cut and we’d be trapped. Luckily, the boat eventually moved out of the way, and the lines were intact.
What we came to see
Going…
…going…
…gone! The sunsets are usually better on the Arizona floater than the Kokomo’s because the position on the bay gives a better line of sight.
Swan created this as a Facebook post

UPDATE: I just spoke with my Hasher friend who works at Wet Spot, and she told me the French sailors don’t buy lady drinks, at least not like the American seamen who occasionally come to town. Cheap Charlies or smarter, you decide.

Next on our agenda was dinner at John’s place. Those newly hired waitresses from our previous visit are all gone now. Swan says it is because the pay is only 250 pesos for a twelve-hour shift. That’s insanely low. They’d do better to hire one good one at 500 pesos. Anyway, rather than go upstairs to the third floor we prefer, we stayed on the second floorto ensure prompt service.

Where we sat
The view wasn’t up to par
But the deliciousness of the bulgogi made up for it
It’s official, Swan is addicted to birria

We did a brief nightcap at Green Room, then called it a night. Swan revealed that she had a stash of ice cream in the freezer and made me a dish with fresh strawberries on top. It was so good I snuck a second scoop.

Close enough for (retired) government work

Another trip to those high school daze via Facebook memories:

My high school sweetheart, Karen
And a poem I wrote for her. Pardon the punctuation.

And then, from ten years ago, was a treat I only ever had in Korea:

Jee Yeun’s “egga burger”
Eight years ago, I was still on vacation in Barretto and was a judge at the SOB competition for the first time. What is so strange to see now is that of those nine bars, only three remain open (Alaska, Hot Zone, and Wet Spot). Hot Zone stopped competing in the SOB a couple of years ago.

For today’s YouTube video, the Filipina Pea interviews a lawyer and talks about laws that foreigners might violate through ignorance, which of course, is no excuse. Especially now that I’ve posted her video.

Things I found funny enough to post:

Yeah, it’s just like finding an interesting post here at LTG–better luck tomorrow!
Yeah, I named my bathroom “Jim” and I go there everyday
I remember seeing those guys on TV as a kid, and even then, I knew it was bullshit. My grandma was a true believer, though, and made us watch.

And now it is time for Hash Monday prep. I’ve been advised that a climb up Kalaklan Ridge is in my immediate future. I’ll share a survivor’s tale tomorrow. Hopefully.

Call it what you will

I call it what passes for adventure around here. Another day filled with the ordinary, but with some small tweaks to the routines that serve to pass the hours.

We kicked off our Saturday with the usual stroll, which has now devolved into a variant of the Candy Walk, just in different neighborhoods. But that’s okay; I get my steps in, and Swan loves dispensing her sweetness to the children we encounter. Here’s a taste:

A new addition to the neighborhood. Who sits there and why, I cannot say.
Hey! Wait for me!
Taking care of business
Finished with business. Missed her 54th birthday by six days.
A busy morning
The simple life

I made a five-minute video of the uphill portion of our hike.

This time, I held the phone vertically to facilitate my ability to climb the steps. I still need to work on improving the angle I capture. Part of the problem is that I’m always looking down when I walk.

I’m coming!
What the Hail, Mary?

So, what goes up must come down. And I did a video of that, too.

That was excruciating. I’ll try to do better in the future.

Our Saturday Stroll route

I still wasn’t feeling like doing the same old Saturday night in Barretto thing, so we did it on Baloy instead. And we changed things up there by visiting two new venues.

A place called Drunken Sailor was our first stop.

It is located at the Baywatch Resort on the second floor. It was empty when we arrived, and no one else came in during our brief visit. This has the potential to be a nice place to hang out, but the owner will have to work harder to find a way to attract customers. I understand they joined the dart league but wound up dropping out because they didn’t have enough players to field a team. They played good music, even some country songs I like, but otherwise, the vibe was non-existent.

A Drunken Sailor’s view

While we were there, I caught this guy checking out Swan, so I confronted him:

I’m your Kryptonite, mother fucker!
One last look before we departed

Swan was ready for her toes in the sand time.

A busy Saturday on Baloy Beach
I was impressed with the table and seats this group carved out of the sand.
Volleyball on the beach is more fun to watch when bikini-clad girls are playing

So, the beach bar Laharnyz, which used to be a popular expat hangout, is no more. It is now called Cherryz, but it was not open when we stopped to check it out. The story I heard is that the expat owner of Laharnyz and his girl split up, the girl took over the bar, and now no one goes there anymore.

As we walked the beach, we saw a new place had opened, and some of those former Laharnyz customers were drinking there. We decided to drop in and check it out.

The place is a bit rustic but nice
The beach view from our table

The owner came to our table and introduced himself. He calls the venue “Kim’s Place,” and it is pretty much a one-man operation. In an odd twist, he’s a Filipino, and his name is John Kim. If I understood him correctly, he said his father was Dutch. Anyway, a nice guy and we will definitely be back to enjoy the beach vibe and sample some of the food snacks he serves.

Those prices are amazingly low.

As we chatted, I asked if he might be interested in hosting a Hash On-Home. He was familiar with the Hash from other venues he’s worked at and was willing to have us come for a beach Hash in the future. I’ll discuss that possibility with the Hash powers that be tomorrow.

While we were at Kim’s Place, I got a message from Michael and Taz asking where we’d be later. Our next stop was Treasure Island, so they met up with us there.

The view from our table at Treasure Island

Saturday is live music night at TI, so we had a rockin’ good time. The place was as crowded as I’ve ever seen it.

Good times!

Taz has her own YouTube channel and is a much better videographer than I’ll ever be. She showed me the video short she made of the goat rescue on our Friday hike.

Damn, music and captions, too! I may have to hire her to tutor me!

My lemon chicken dinner

Michael and Taz live in the Club Morocco subdivision out near Cawag, a pretty good drive from Barretto. I’d looked there during one of my house-hunting trips prior to the move. Loved it, but just too isolated, especially for a non-driver. They dropped us off at our house on their way home. And so ended another day in the life.

Two days in a row! Can I make it a trend?

When I imagine my “do-over” life, I think I’d elect to start again in high school and take it from there. Today, I was reminded of those long-ago times in an old Facebook post sharing memories of my high school journalism exploits.

We changed the name of our high school paper from the boring “Westminster Scroll” to “Harvest.” I was a big Neil Young fan back then.
My first experience as the leader of a team. Looking at those names now brings back other memories. Tina Loo, you were such a hottie!
My tenure was not without controversy. I wrote an editorial calling for the legalization of marijuana, and the letters to the editor in response were brutal. Forty years later, the California government came around to my way of thinking.

My dream was to become a journalist, but as a poor boy, I couldn’t afford the required college degree. In my do-over life, I’m going to enlist in the Army and get my education paid for.

So, what do you think about this?

I had to think about it, but I think it’s okay. Unless you stutter.
Hobbits is a proper noun and should be capitalized. I’ve read the LOTR books several times but remember nothing about the food.

TRIGGER WARNING!

Yes, indeed!
I’m sure it was smack dab in the middle of their empty head

I should learn to be nicer; I honestly don’t care what people who disagree with me think. I take comfort in knowing I am right and they are wrong.

Alright, enough of the political nonsense. Let’s move on to something that we can all enjoy. Like Jambo’s video from the swimsuit competition at the Beach Bash:

And now for the smiles:

Hmm, how about a hybrid called “Alice in Oz”
Hey, they’re playing my song!
Squeeze it out, Spongebob!

It’s been nice changing things up a tad, but today I’m back to the Sunday routines. Nothing wrong with that: a Candy Walk, the Hideaway feeding, sunset on the Arizona floating bar, dinner at John’s place, and a nightcap at Green Room. Life is good.

Out of the comfort zone

I was greeted with this view out the window to start my morning. That’s the Black Rock Ridge.

Changed things up some yesterday, or at least tweaked the normal routines a tad. Here’s how that went down:

We did the usual Friday group hike but made an unusual journey to San Marcelino to do it. Once there, we proceeded with a dike walk in the shadow of Mount Pinatubo along a lahar-filled Santo Tomas River. We made this hike several years ago, which is long enough to make it almost feel brand new to me. It was a mostly flat journey, but a longish (for us) ten kilometers. This is some of what we saw along the way:

Our merry band of hikers
Off we go
The river quest begins with a long and straight passage
Thirty-four years after Pinatubo’s eruption, the lahar it blasted is still being harvested
There appears to be an endless lahar supply in the riverbed.
The worst aspect of the hike was the constant procession of dump trucks passing by on the dike road with their loads of lahar, leaving a cloud of dust in their wake.
The dust was worse than COVID, so I willingly masked up.
And yes, I made some jokes about putting a finger in the dike. Boy, I’m a Dutch treat!
And then, almost in answer to a prayer, a water truck passed, wetting down the road and reducing the dust.
That’s some of those big-ass trucks making their way across the riverbed, which provides some scale to appreciate the massive size of the lahar field.
A pitstop for the locals and truck drivers
A cookie offering for the kids present
The apex of our journey. We’ll do Mapanuepe Lake another time.
Nope, we are going to turn around and head back from here.
On an alternative route than the dusty river road
We passed through the sleepy village of San Rafael on our return trip
Kids there like cookies, too.
Others die young
The trees live on
And the flowers blossom
A goat rescue. This one was helplessly tangled in his rope, and Gary freed him.
Onward we go
Surrounded by agriculture
Decorated crops
Color us done
The way we were

So, a longer-than-usual hike plus the long drive back got me home a couple of hours later than usual. By the time I’d finished my shower and blogging chore, it was already five p.m. And just like on Thursday, I wasn’t feeling like doing the same old, same old, so we changed it up by having dinner at the rarely visited Harley’s Pub and Hotel.

Here’s a quick video look around Harley’s.

We enjoy the view from Harley’s, and the food ain’t bad either. Saw several folks we knew there during our dinner time.

Side one of the Harley’s menu
And side two
Sadly, this delicious looking dish wasn’t among the offerings
This view from our stools shows the Mangrove pier in the foreground, the Central Park Reef Hotel in the middle, and the high side of the Kalaklan Ridge in the background
Off to our right is the lower end of Kalaklan. That’s the part we climbed on Thursday.

Dinner is served:

The grilled meat platter for me
And surf and turf for Swan

Two of the most expensive menu offerings, but still less than we’d have spent at the SOB. That event was held at Queen Victoria last night, a venue I’ve been boycotting because they didn’t honor the “free drinks” deal at the previous SOB I attended there. (They said Swan’s wine wasn’t a local drink, so it wasn’t included. I countered, fine, I’ll pay the price difference. They said no, and I said we won’t be back.)

Our after-dinner view from Harley’s

Now what do we do? Well, I haven’t been to Whiskey Girl in a while, so let’s start there. Wow! What a difference a few months make. The music was BLASTING (good songs, but damn, it was almost painful). Since there were dancers on stage, I didn’t ask them to reduce the volume, but I wasn’t pleased. We shouted out our order, and when the waitress returned and reported that wine wasn’t available, I was relieved to have a good excuse to pick up and leave. And that’s just what we did.

Since we rarely visit this side of town, all the remaining options were unfamiliar. Let’s see what’s up in Lux. My, everything here has changed since my previous visit as well. The stage has been moved from the center of the room to the front, and while dancers were performing standing around on it, there was also a drum set in the back. Turns out they are doing live music at Lux, but it doesn’t begin until my bedtime (9 p.m.). Another surprise was the drink pricing. A good surprise, wine at 120 pesos a glass and my beer was only 80 pesos. That’s the cheapest I’ve seen for a dancing bar anywhere in town. Then there was the music. It was being played at a pleasant volume, and two large-screen TVs were showing music videos. I like that! What I didn’t like was that all they played during my entire visit was rap crap. Yeah, that doesn’t appeal to this old fucker. I had two beers while Swan finished her glass of wine, and we were out of there.

And now for a nightcap destination. I hadn’t been in Nipsey’s since they first opened (in Alaska Club’s former location) over a year ago. It was just across the highway (which ain’t easy to cross on a Friday evening) but we made it alive.

Nipsey’s is another dancing girl bar, but it is well-lighted and comfortable. They played classic rock at the right volume, and the staff was attentive and friendly. We enjoyed our brief visit, then caught a trike right out front for the ride home and the end of a differently pleasant day.

I even managed to make up for a little lost ground

Found this proof of what I always believed to be the case on Facebook today:

Manila sucks

It was almost twenty years ago that I hiked up Namsan to the Seoul Tower for the first time. That event is worthy of mention in The Story of My Life. And the photos are nice, too!

Some Facebook memories from this day in the past to share as well:

Eight years ago, while on vacation, I played in my first dart tournament in Barretto
And I discovered a Monte Cristo sandwich at the Arizona Resort. Alas, the hotel changed ownership shortly after I moved here and the place (and food) have gone to shit.
Part of the purpose of that trip was to scout out some housing options for my move the following year. The construction of this place right on Baloy Beach was almost done. I was very interested to see if it would be up for rent, but no one knew who or where the owner was. And that remains the case today. Two great houses on the beach have been vacant for eight years now.
It was four years ago that I treated “Mama” to dinner and told her about the room I had rented for her. She enjoyed the meal but declined to give up her life of homelessness. And she remains living on the street to this day.

Here’s the explosive I used on Facebook yesterday:

It worked.

Today’s YouTube video comes from a friend of mine named Jambo. He covered last weekend’s Beach Bash beauty pageant. This is the talent portion of the contest:

To the humor then:

I just hold up three and say read between the lines
That was true for me fifty years ago
Sounds like whore story in the making

I don’t know how long I can keep this up, but I’m glad to still be in the game. Thanks for joining me here.

My side of town

Swan’s developing love of hiking is getting a little scary. Will I be able to keep up with her? It seems like the more challenging the trail, the better she likes it. Yesterday, we took a climb up to the Kalaklan Ridge, then down into the Bantay Bayan village, and a long beach walk back to Barretto. There is no easy up to Kalaklan, but the path we took was one I’d taken a couple of years ago, and I remembered it being not so bad. I remembered wrong. It didn’t help that I missed the correct trail to the top, which made things even steeper and more challenging than they should have been. Swan’s response? “I love this hike!”

We started from here. I commented on that big brown house, and Swan told me a friend of hers lives there.
Steppin’ on up!
The way ahead
Into the woods
The wrong way to go
A home in the hills
Getting to the top was a sweet success
Easy going on the ridgeline
The view from here
Cookie kids
A trashy trail on the way down
The new road to Bantay Bayan is almost done
On the beach at last
That’s Barretto on the opposite shore
A lovely day on the bay
This way is not always passable when the tide is high
A deserted island. Maybe because of inflation?
The hardest part of the beach walk is overcoming some rock obstacles
She came, she saw, she conquered
Not so long (about 6K) but not so easy

On the way back home, I suggested to Swan that we stay in last night. Alas, I had forgotten my chelation appointment with Dr. Jo. So we headed back into town at the appointed hour. The injection went fine, and I discussed my downward blood pressure trend with the doctor. I’m not at a worrisome level, nor am I experiencing symptoms like dizziness or light-headedness. Dr. Jo suggested I reduce my blood pressure meds dosage by half, and we will see what impact that has. Lower BP is one positive aspect of chelation therapy. After this round is completed, I’ll get updated blood work to see if I’m improving in other areas, like blood sugar.

After leaving Dr. Jo, we decided to visit one of the newer places in town. I’d gone once when they first opened, but Swan had never been. We just don’t spend much time on this side of town when we are out, so we took advantage of being there.

A place we don’t normally hang out.

When we arrived, it was four o’clock, and they had literally just opened the door. We were the first and only customers. The inside hadn’t cooled off yet, so we sat on the outdoor balcony as we imbibed.

A nice enough highway view on the side of town that is closest to home but that we seldom see.

Once Swan had finished her wine, we moved down the highway to the Outback Resort pool bar, where Swan could enjoy some beach views.

As seen from our perch

And for your viewing enjoyment, here’s a three-minute video capturing the Outback vibe.

The dinner hour was fast approaching, so I asked Swan if she was up to cooking a batch of her spaghetti and meatballs at home. She agreed, and off we went. While Swan busied herself in the kitchen, I headed upstairs to The Rite Spot.

I arrived just in time to witness this
I liked what I was seeing
Nicely done, Mr. Sun
A sweet finish to the day

After a great plate of pasta and sauce, my sweet tooth cried out, “What about me?” So, I satiated its hunger with some ice cream. It was good—so good that I went back for seconds.

The good news is I’m out of ice cream now.

Facebook took me back in time to this day in history:

Fifteen years ago, I welcomed my nephew Justin on his first visit to Korea. He is still there.
Eight years ago, I was a tourist in Barretto, enjoying myself on the double-decked Blue Rock floating bar. It became my favorite after the move, but alas, it got washed ashore and destroyed during a freak storm a couple of years later.
One year ago, I was experiencing some severe breathing issues. Thankfully, I have now recovered.

Speaking of breathing, this meme I posted on Facebook yesterday caused some heavy sighs from friends who don’t have clear enough vision to see the world as I do, including the aforementioned nephew.

A bit harsher than I would have said it, but still true.
That’s pretty much how I roll

Today’s YouTube video comes from a vlogger I’ve never watched previously. He makes some valid points about living life on your terms and not listening to the naysayers. Yeah, I got a lot of my buckets out of order along the way, and I’d do some things differently if God grants me a do-over, but still, here and now, I am not unhappy with my life. And it ain’t over yet!

(is that ice cream in the background there to tempt me?)

Today’s lame humor attempt:

That’s what I’m talking about: rearranging those buckets!
Sometimes the truth hurts, Captain Prickhard
And what a way to go! (sorry about that “you’de,” which even I found irritating)

And so it goes on and on, and that’s just fine with me. I’ll be back!

The day that was and is no more

The day that was yesterday began for me looking like this. I’ll never grow tired of the view outside my bedroom window.

It being Wednesday, the first order of business was the group hike.

It was a small group, but that didn’t stop us

We took a Jeepney ride to the far side of Subic town and began our trek on Philseco Road.

And so it begins
Someday, this bypass road will open to make the trip to Cawag and the shipyard easier
The day the music died
A rose among the thorns. Great house, crappy location
The straight and narrow path ahead
I get knocked down, but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down
Where there’s a pond…
…you’re likely to see a crane
A shady spot somewhere
Country life
A view along the way

A four-minute video of the next portion of the hike:

Another pond
Feeling grave
The day’s rickety bridge crossing
A respite from the pavement
A cookie delivery on laundry day
The subdivision that never was. Paved streets, but no houses. I wonder what happened.
A peaceful enclave
Watchdogs
Another day, another 7K

I mentioned in my previous post that yesterday was the eight-year anniversary of my discovery of Barretto’s top darts bar, Alley Hideout. Since I’ve retired from darts, I seldom visit this venue these days. But going places I haven’t been for a while is what Wednesdays are for.

Hello again
The bar view
And the rest of the bar. It is a tiny place.
Thanks to the crew for a very warm welcome back

We had a very nice time during our visit. Swan really enjoyed the vibe and said we ought to visit more often. I rang the bell, which provided all the girls a lady drink. It felt a bit like a homecoming. Maybe I ought to break out the darts the next time I come.

After leaving Alley Hideout, we crossed the highway for dinner at Mango’s.

The view from our table
The view at our table
And the pork chop dinner on our table

We finished the evening with a nightcap at Green Room. The usual joking around with Chu and Sally (lady drinks included, of course), watching some of the other girls play lousy pool (like I’m one to talk), and chillin’ with our beverages.

Barbie stopped by our table to say hello

When the waitress from Sit-n-Bull came around, I was feeling nostalgic and asked if she had any pecan pie available. She did, so I brought a slice home with me. And what’s the point of eating pecan pie without a scoop or two of ice cream on top?

When will I ever learn?
Maybe I should listen to Hemingway

I had a thirty-five-year career with the Federal government, and one of the highlights from those years was working with Mr. Kim Yong-tae. The most impressive man I ever had the honor of supervising. I blogged about the occasion when he was recognized for fifty years of service with United States Forces Korea here. Mr. Kim died shortly after I returned to work after my first retirement. Before he passed, he told me he regretted not spending his final healthy years with his family. I thought of him when my team tried to get me to stay on for “just one more year.” Nope, I didn’t want to die at my desk.

You heard of this guy, Kevin Kim?

In today’s YouTube video, Reekay tells the story of the man who found the perfect Filipina and then let her get away. Turns out, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the hill.

Time for a smile:

And now I don’t even eat toast
That sounds a little off, Jack
Um, do you accept all genders as clients?

Okay, that’s all for now. I was planning to stay home today, but was reminded that I have my weekly chelation treatment this afternoon. And since I’ll be in town anyway, I might as well have a beer or two while I’m there. My blood pressure this month has been lower than I ever remember- in the one-teens over sixties. I’m going to ask Dr. Jo if I can stop taking my blood pressure meds now.

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

It’s odd the things in life you remember. I took a typing class in high school, and the sentence in today’s post title contains every letter in the English alphabet. We used it to practice our keyboarding skills (it wasn’t called that back then, though).

Remember those? I’ve certainly used those typing skills I learned more than I ever used the algebra.

I won’t say that things were completely off-key, but yesterday was not as rhythmic as most of my Tuesdays. There was a rainbow at the end of the day, so you take the bad with the good and count your blessings.

Bumper-to-bumper traffic on the way to Olongapo City was explained when we came upon this broken-down truck. It was still there a couple of hours later on our way home.

Shopping as usual was the first order of business, but on the way to YBC supermarket, we stopped by the computer repair shop. The parts to repair my computer keyboard have STILL not arrived. I sarcastically asked if they were being shipped from Mars, and the repair guy responded, “China.” I’m starting to wonder if I’m being scammed (I’ve already paid 2000 pesos for the parts), but I’ll give it another week before demanding a refund.

No surprises or issues at YBC or Royal, so the cupboards are stocked for another week.

Loading the bounty at Royal

With the grocery shopping completed, I asked my driver to take me to the nearby Harbor Point Mall. I just couldn’t bear another week trying to blog without the letters z, x, c, and v. I never realized how frequently those letters appear in words I routinely use. So, I headed upstairs to an electronics shop in search of a portable keyboard.

This wireless version was 1100 pesos, but I liked the convenience of not having to plug it into a USB port.
All set up and ready to roll, er, type.

I still want my laptop fixed. This new keyboard is a temporary solution and is far from ideal. The layout is different; the keys are smaller and not lighted, making it hard to use in the dark mornings while Swan sleeps. Still, it is Very niCe Having Zero holes left in the words I use.

Exciting shit, eh? But wait, there’s more! When beer o’clock rolled around, it was time for Swan to enjoy some toes in the sand on Baloy Beach.

She’s easy to please
A lovely afternoon so far
Waiting for the raft ride to the Kokomo’s floating bar

And shortly after boarding the floater, we saw this on the horizon:

Looks like the pot of gold is somewhere in Kalaklan
Make that two pots of gold

And then we got hit by a rain squall like I’ve never experienced when visiting a floating bar.

Everyone had to retreat to the far side of the floater to avoid being drenched.

Into each life, some rain must fall!

The rain is heading your way, Mr. Sun

The storm passed soon enough, but the clouds dashed our plans to watch the sunset.

That’s as good as it got
Next stop, dinner at Treasure Island
The hamburger steak hit the spot.

Home a little earlier than usual, but that’s okay. Some internet time, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, then off to bed for this old-timer.

Life can be hard sometimes
So, fewer beers meant that the ice cream didn’t put me over the top. Funny how that works.

Sometimes, a walk down memory lane can be a walk in the park. Like that time almost twenty years ago when I discovered Yeouido for the first time.

Ten years later, I watched this traffic jam from my apartment window.
Eight years ago, I was vacationing in Barretto. They took that sign down now. I guess too many of the gals were looking like the one in the foreground.
Also, during that vacation trip eight years past, I discovered Alley Hideout, the bar that was destined to become my home bar after the move the following year. I’d spend Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday playing in tournaments there. These days, since retiring from darts, I almost never go back.

Hmm, I think I know what tonight’s “seldom visited bar” will be.

Here’s more of what makes heads explode on Facebook:

Every problem has a solution
Damn, that’s a shame!
Sorry, Justin, but this made me think of you.

Alright, onward to today’s YouTube video. I don’t view this vlogger often, but the gal he interviews is articulate and full of good advice. It was an enjoyable watch. And by the way, I’m not the “John” that gets mentioned.

To the humor, we shall go:

Fixing it is easier said than done
That reminds me of those old transactional relationships I couldn’t seem to avoid. I guess it made for more interesting blog posts, though.
Ha-ha! That’s the flip side. So far, Swan and I just agree to disagree.

Life is good, and I’m not bored or feeling the need to change the way things are. Perhaps that’s a vestige of old age, but I’ve come a long way to reach this stage of my life, and I want to enjoy it. One aspect I want to incorporate more of is travel. Swan is big time into that, and we will do a get-out-of-town once-a-month routine to ensure a periodic change of scenery. And something new to blog about!

A Gash Hash

Yesterday’s Hash outing was an enjoyable, albeit mostly familiar, trail. The Hares were all female Hashers (Gash), but they still managed to chart a course I found worthy of shortcutting (I didn’t do the Black Rock climb at the end). Even so, it was a good 6.5K journey for me. That’s plenty on a hot day.

The trail began at the Alta Vista clubhouse, a mere two blocks from my house. That’s a nice start!
The clubhouse with the ever-watchful Easter Mountain in the background
And we are On-On!
Kicking things off we an Alta Vista hill climb
Making our way through the ‘hood
Heading for the junction with the My Bitch trail
On the Bitch
Easter Mountain from afar
A quick hello and cookies to Mountain Mama Onelia
Making it under the wire
Doing what we do
That cabin in the woods I’m fond of
Heading back down
Back on flat ground again
Streetwalkers and a goat
Easter Mountain from anear
Heading down the road to On-Home
Our venue this week was Smokes and Bottles

I tried my hand at a video of the Hash Circle opening: Introductions and the Hares on ice. (Don’t worry; it is less than four minutes long).

There was a big turnout (55), with Hashers joining from Angeles, La Union, and Puerto Galera yesterday
The way we went (green is the shortcuts)

And as usual, we did an after-Hash gathering at It Doesn’t Matter.

Let the good times roll

I tried my best, but sometimes your best just isn’t good enough.

Close, but no cigar

Some Facebook memories from this day in history:

Eight years ago, I was here on vacation and looking for a place to live. I saw this one in Alta Vista, and as fate would have it, I rented it eighteen months later.

Three years ago, a new bar opened in town, and the customers were invited to decorate the walls.

My contribution. The bar (can’t even remember the name) didn’t last six months
One year ago, I was at the Beach Bash, and so was Barbie from Green Room.

Anyone up for some political bullshit in the form of memes?

Yep, I’ll let AOC do my thinking for me. Not!
As we used to say in Arkansas, “That dog won’t hunt!”
Based on my Facebook feed, this seems to be the standard position of lefties.

Enough of that nonsense; let’s hear what Reekay has to say about the advantages of dating an older Filipina. I had to smile thinking about that scenario. The youngest woman I’ve dated here was eighteen years old. These days, I’m with one of those “older” gals, Swan, who is forty. Of course, “old” is a relative term, especially in light of the fact that I’m thirty years her senior. But Reekay’s points are all valid, and in my experience, older is definitely better.

Maybe these will make you smile:

Sounds like a stinky proposition
My dad found a gay porn magazine in my brother’s room, and woo boy, he went ballistic. I don’t recall the circumstances of how the magazine came to be there, but my bro is as straight as they come. Not that there’s anything wrong with it.
I think that requires further examination, Doc.

I reckon that’s enough of my nonsense for one day. Come back for another fix if you dare tomorrow.