The day started with a Friday group hike and ended with a dance competition. Try putting those bookends on your mantle!
The hike began quite a way from our usual meeting place at 7/11 on Baloy, which is just a few minutes walk from my house. This time we started at Barretto High School on Rizal Extension. I opted to take the most direct route, which means taking a path through the hills behind Alta Vista. That also required hiking it alone, which always makes me nervous because one slip, trip, or fall can have disastrous consequences if no one is around to assist you. I was extra cautious and completed the forty-minute trek without incident. And then the real fun began.
Our group headed up a path to Kalaklan ridge but didn’t go all the way to the top. Instead, we walked a trail midway up that paralleled Rizal Extension. It had been a while since I’d gone this way, and after the initial climb, it was quite pleasant. On the way back down some algae-covered steps, Scott slipped and came down hard. At first, he thought his ankle was broken, but thankfully that proved not to be the case. We took it slow the rest of the way down to the road, and he caught a trike home from there. Again, if that had happened when he was up there alone, he would have been screwed big time.
I’ll share photos from the hike at the end of this post.
Friday means attending the SOB dance competition, and this week the venue was Alaska Club. I left home around 4:00 p.m. to grab a bite to eat and be in line when the doors opened at 5:00.
Everything went according to plan, and I was the first to sign up for the SOB, which allowed me to select a comfortable seat with a nice view. I was doing the gin and soda drinks, so I needed to pace myself. It seems like one drink every 30 minutes is about right.
When things kicked off, the bar was packed. I guess we have a lot of tourists in town this week because several were doing the “two-week millionaire” routine. One guy was throwing cash on stage during the performance, which seemed a little rude to me. I mean, it’s fine when the girls are dancing for customers, but not so much during a competition. In my opinion, at least.
Another customer was throwing buckets of balls. I think I’ve mentioned this before. Some bars (including Alaska) have a small bucket of balls on the table. You can toss them to the girls for a 300 peso charge. The girls then scramble around, trying to pick up as many of the balls as possible. I understand they get 5 pesos for each ball they recover. I’ve never counted the number of balls in the bucket, but the bar obviously makes money on the toss as well. Anyhow, this guy kept throwing the buckets, seven or eight of them at least, so that adds up to a fair amount of money. I have just rarely seen the local expats engage in free spending like that.
That’s not to say that the expat community are all cheapskates, but most of us are more discreet in our giving. For example, I slipped each of the Alaska dancers (the ones not competing) a 50 peso note. Probably a better deal for them than scrambling around on the floor for a fuckin’ ping pong ball.
By the time things wrapped up at 8:00 p.m. (Alaska took first), I was feeling no pain. That didn’t stop me from having a final drink at Queen Victoria before grabbing a trike for home.
That covers the alcoholic portion of my life; let’s do the walkaholic part now:
And that’s the way the day went. Scott says he has some pain and swelling in the ankle, but it looks like nothing time won’t heal.
And now, it is time to shower up and discover what Saturday night has planned for me.
Sorry to hear about Scott’s injury. I’m glad it wasn’t worse. May he get well soon.
I’m more of the Colin Fletcher school of thought: it’s better to walk alone. Your head is clear, and there’s no constant chatter, worrying about how other hikers are doing, or feeling pressure because of other people’s schedules. Sure, if you get seriously injured, that could be a problem, but life is risk, right? Can’t sit inside fearfully. Besides, most injuries happen because (1) we’re not thinking, or (2) we have a lapse of common sense. Just avoid those traps, and you’re golden.
Anyway, please keep us updated on Scott’s condition. The list of health updates is growing: first John, now Scott. Who’s next on the list?
That’s one of the best shots of Easter Mountain I’ve seen on this blog. Pro-level composition. I also liked the “bowsers.”
“But if you judge safety to be the paramount consideration in life you should never, under any circumstances, go on long hikes alone. Don’t take short hikes alone, either – or, for that matter, go anywhere alone. And avoid at all costs such foolhardy activities as driving, falling in love, or inhaling air that is almost certainly riddled with deadly germs. Wear wool next to the skin. Insure every good and chattel you possess against every conceivable contingency the future might bring, even if the premiums half-cripple the present. Never cross an intersection against a red light, even when you can see all roads are clear for miles. And never, of course, explore the guts of an idea that seems as if it might threaten one of your more cherished beliefs. In your wisdom you will probably live to be a ripe old age. But you may discover, just before you die, that you have been dead for a long, long time.” – The Complete Walker
I think you shared that quote (or a paraphrase) with me previously. I do appreciate the sentiment but I also believe common sense and minimizing risk are important considerations. The most dangerous thing I do every day is crossing the national highway, the danger doesn’t deter me. But when I cross, I make sure there is a break in traffic first. We had a guy break his leg last year hiking on the relatively safe My Bitch trail; luckily, he was close enough to town to make it down on his own. We are all going to die of something, of course. But falling down a ravine and laying at the bottom in pain being eaten by mosquitos as I slowly die of thirst, is a nightmare I want to avoid. If that means hiking with a group on the more dangerous mountain trails, so be it.
That said, I do agree there is a different vibe when you are walking alone. I do that on the days we don’t have group hikes and enjoy it, even when I stay on flat ground and backroads. I usually wear my headphones and have background music to accompany me.
I’m pretty sure Scott will make a full recovery and be back on trail soon. Glad you liked the Easter mountain shot. It’s sorta gotten to be my thing to try and capture different vantage points of her highness, Easter, when I’m out walking. And I almost didn’t include the “browsers” shot in the post, but I’m glad I did now.