This week, the mission of the Wednesday Walkers group was to find the portion of the Hash trail I missed on Monday and hike the bastard. My plan was to start at the finish and walk the trail backward. Ed, who hadn’t missed the turn, advised against this, saying it was a steep and long down that would not be much fun to climb. I didn’t argue the point, and after hiking it myself, I was thankful we had followed his wise advice. We weren’t ready to stop once we’d hit bottom, so I led the group on a path I had recently discovered. We finished the hike with a little over 6K behind us, and then some of the group did a bit of R&R at The Rite Spot. It was a good morning on trail!

When it was time to head into town for some evening entertainment, we kicked things off at It Doesn’t Matter. I was thinking we’d have some liquid refreshments, then head over to Myleen’s for dinner. Oddly enough, when the dinner hour arrived, neither of us felt particularly hungry. So, instead, we paid a visit to Alaska Club. The place was pretty busy with a pool tourney in progress and several other customers. One was a big spender who called all the dancers down from the stage for lady drinks—saved me from my usual fifty peso tip per dancer, so thanks for that! We treated our waitress and the new mamasan (someone Swan knew from years ago) to a lady drink, and I had cookies and lollipops for the other gals. One unique aspect of the Alaska Club experience is they provide a free bowl of freshly popped popcorn at the table. We all snacked on that until it was time to go home, and I was able to successfully skip dinner calories. I did enjoy my pudding dessert, though.

And now for a stroll down memory lane:

These two memories are significant based on something that happened today. But that’s a story for tomorrow!

And seven years ago, back when my life had purpose and meaning, I was doing this:

It was cold that morning, too:

Good times!

Today’s YouTube video is a little different. It talks about why, after three hundred years of Spanish rule, the Spanish language never took root in the way English did after the Americans took over. It’s less than five minutes long, but it explains something I’ve wondered about since moving here. Spanish is my second language (well, I passed the required courses in college), but it is as useless here as my limited Korean vocabulary. Actually, because of the love of K-dramas/K-pop and the influx of Korean tourists, my “kamsamnida” is recognized more often than a “muchas gracias” is. Oh well, I’ve learned to say “salamat” as well.

And now for some humor:

I’m going to take Swan along for a foot spa and a haircut (for me). We’ll have dinner at Myleen’s, and then we’ll see where the beverages are flowing. Come back tomorrow for a report on my solo walk this morning.