But I didn’t cross the line.
Had a late night yesterday. Well, there is a 10:00 p.m. curfew, so most bars start closing down around 9:30. That’s something I rarely see these days as my normal bedtime is around 9:00. What got into me? Well, quite a few beers. But I also had places to go and people to see.
I started out at Marick’s bar and the place was packed. There were two other guys and me in there. Plus two bar girls and Marick. Did I mention I’ve seen bigger walk-in closets? Anyway, it’s got a good vibe and Marick is looking for something larger. Good luck with that!
I said my goodbyes at Marick’s then headed up the street to It Doesn’t Matter. Hadn’t been there for over a week. My old favorite bargirl “Roberta” came out and joined me. A vendor came by and I wound up buying two dresses for Roberta. I did let her know that I was doing this as a gesture of kindness to the poor woman lugging clothes on hangers up and down the street.
I continued making my way up the highway and stopped at Wet Spot, one of my most frequented bars prior to the pandemic. I was on a mission to find the owner so I could repay an act of kindness he had bestowed upon me last year. The best way I knew how was to buy him a drink. Mission accomplished!
Now, Daddy Dave is more than just a man about town. I think of him as the mayor of the expat community. He also heads the Barrio Barretto Business Association and represents the small business community in dealings with the mayor of Olongapo and the barangay Captain. He has successfully worked with city leadership on pandemic-related issues and unlike the surrounding cities which feature alcohol bans, earlier curfews, and other business-killing and totally ineffective policies, Olongapo is open for business. We are lucky to have Dave on our side for sure!
It had been months since we’ve sat and chatted so I was especially pleased to find him last night. We had a good talk about the issues of the day, enjoyed our drinks, and looked forward to better times.
After Wet Spot, I moved on to The Pub. It was Wingsday after all. That’s when I realized how late it was getting. The only other customers left as I was placing my order and the waitresses were cleaning up and preparing to close while my wings were cooking. I caught a trike around 9:40 and was home well ahead of the witching hour.
The eye doc and I had agreed to an early morning appointment to facilitate his travel to Manila to perform laser surgery. My driver picked me and the helper up at 6:00 and we arrived ten minutes before the agreed-upon 6:30 appointment. The security guard said the doctor hadn’t arrived yet. My driver asked, “now what?” and I said let’s go to McDonald’s! Everyone was in favor of that idea. Had the sausage and egg McMuffin and it hit the spot.
Got back to the hospital at a quarter to seven and the guard still wouldn’t let us in. I was getting pissed but managed to refrain from saying anything I might regret later. Apparently, one of the orderlies went upstairs to check, came back down, and said the doctor was, in fact, in the office. The guard relented and let us pass the threshold into the hospital. Good thing, too. I really had to pee.
Anyway, the doctor seemed to think my eyes were progressing normally and verified my supposition that it takes time for the brain to adapt to the input from a properly functioning eye. So, the blurriness at distance is supposedly nothing to be concerned about at this point. I’m to come back once a week for a month for progress checks. If after a month I’m still not seeing clearly I can opt for either glasses or laser surgery. I’ve got to say, I don’t miss wearing my glasses. I still instinctively reach for them on occasion though.
Once I got back home I set the wheels in motion to get a new passport. Mine expires in December and I got it worked out so that my tourist visa expires on the same day as the passport. I’m using a local travel agency to handle all the details, I’d rather pay them $150. than deal with all hassles of getting everything to the embassy in Manila and back. Was told I should have my new passport in three or four weeks.
Had a wonderful massage from my friend “Merideth”. She was pleasantly surprised when I asked her to come over. I really appreciate the fact that she doesn’t pester me and gives good service when called upon. I’m a lucky guy!
But enough about me. Here are those pictures from Wednesday’s hike I promised:
That’s pretty much it. Tomorrow is going to suck though.
Oh well, I’ll get through it.
What do you expect?
We have another power-outage service notice plastered up in the form of little flyers all over our apartment building—each floor, every elevator. All in Korean. Months ago, I translated the signs and placed my translations next to the Korean signs, but by the next day, all my translations had been taken down. I stewed about this for a while, and then I realized my signs probably got taken down because you can’t put up any announcements without getting a stamp from the building’s admin office. I was still pissed off, but I had to concede that the reasoning was at least rational. So here we are, months later, with another power-outage announcement. The outage is happening tomorrow, and I’ll be on the east coast by the time it happens (just in time for the wispy edge of typhoon Chantu!). Too tired and too harried to do any translating this time, I’ve decided to just let it go. If foreigners who live in our building don’t know what’s going on, well, that’s on them. Good luck, guys!
I’m guessing that “two sides of the Filipino coin” refers to beautiful nature and ugly garbage. Yeah, we’ve got trash problems in Korea, too, especially out in the country, where people still burn their trash.
Thanks, as always, for the nice pics. Continued good luck with your eyes.
Well, I do at least appreciate the heads up on power outages so I can plan accordingly. Usually, things just go black and I’m in the dark about when power will be restored. A lot of people in the neighborhood have backup generators, but really the outages are infrequent enough where I can’t be bothered.
Yes, the trashing of the natural beauty here is exactly what I meant. That pile of trash in the photo is a designated drop-off location. What? Put actually trash containers out? Never considered it. Government is part of the problem for sure.
Good luck on your trip to the East Coast today. Let the journey begin!