Or saw it, anyway. Here’s how my Sunday in paradise went down.
When the hour arrived to switch into my nighttime mode, I headed into town. The first stop was Jewel Café to order food for the hungry girls at Hideaway.
I had a bit of a surprise when I saw this as I headed back up the highway:
I made It Doesn’t Matter my next stop, and was on my second beer (and first lady drink for Agnes) when I got a message from Lydell asking me to join her at Snackbar. Hmm, well, lots of places are closed on Sunday and it is on the way home, so why not? I told her I’d stop by later and she thanked me.
I was a little surprised that the ex was there, but she was her old sweet self, so I indulged her and Lydell in quenching their thirst for lady drinks. Later on, I got invited to the VIP room and played some of my favorite tunes as a DJ. I kept my emotions in check and was pleased that I didn’t let those old feelings invade my space or disrupt my new attitude. The past is the past and has no power over my present unless I allow it. So far, so good.
Logging in the money I’m spending has been an eye-opener already. It’s still early in the data-gathering phase, but I might be going a tad overboard. Granted the 2000 pesos ($40.) I paid to feed ten at Hideaway is as much an act of charity as anything, plus I get the added benefit of feeling good about myself. And in many ways, I look at lady drinks in a similar fashion. The trick for me to learn is going to be when is enough enough.
Last night’s damages:
- Lady drinks: 2,780
- Food: 2000
- Tips: 950 (that includes 500 for Joy)
- Beer: 914
- Transportation: 100
Well, I have my work cut out for me, but on the other hand, it is obvious where I’m overspending.
I woke up at three this morning and when I looked outside this is what I saw:
Later on, Swan sent me a photo of her morning coffee on what will one day soon be my living room patio:
And now it’s time to gear up for another Hash Monday. I’ve been breathing better and feeling better physically, so hopefully, I’ll enjoy today’s trail. I’m feeling optimistic, and the way I see things, life is good. Shit, I hope I didn’t just jinx myself.
First intersection
Shenandoah and Mt. Rainier? So a meeting of east and west, then.
It has a pool and is bigger than I need, though.
You’re probably better off not moving into that house because pools require a lot of maintenance. It’d be a pain in the ass for you to have to constantly maintain the pool, or it’d be a pain in the ass to pay someone to come over routinely.
I’ll be happy with the upsize in my affordable 38,000 pesos soon-to-be home.
I do hope you can live in the new place for at least a decade. Moving is a stressful experience at the best of times, and you’ve already moved, what, at least twice in the space of a few years?
But the view from the back is why I want to live there.
Is that a view from the back of the new house, up the hill to another house? Or is that a view up the hill to your new house?
Chicken fingers for me, although I shared them
All the food looks good.
Down Joy’s hatch
Flashin’ those teeth again.
…and she was also surprised to learn that she was now unemployed.
So it’s a bit like in Korea, where important things are left uncommunicated. I didn’t find out an uncle of mine was dying of liver cancer until he was in the last stages of the disease. No one bothered to tell me. When I worked at Sookmyung Women’s University, a coworker of mine suddenly announced she was getting married—a week before the wedding. She’d given no hint, before that, that she was even dating anyone. Or maybe the problem is that we Americans overshare, and we expect others to do the same.
I’ve been breathing better and feeling better physically, so hopefully, I’ll enjoy today’s trail.
Well, that’s good. May the road rise to meet you. And not because you’re pitching forward and falling face-first into it.
Yes, and the fact is I’m not big on swimming pools and would probably rarely use it…so, a lot of work for nothing!
I told the landlord I hoped her house would be the last one in this lifetime (and I’m counting on another fifteen years at least). Moving is a pain in the ass and disruptive to norms and routines–who needs it? Luckily, I don’t own much stuff to lug around, so it should go smoothly. This will be my third move in less than six years, so it is high time to break that cycle.
That photo is the view of the backside of the new house, looking up from the street below. It gives a better indication of the size and design than you can see from the front.
As for the workplace surprise at Bar Barretto–it was surprising to me as well to be enjoying some time there on what turned out to be the last night (at least in this iteration), and it appeared NO ONE other than the new owner knew what was in store. The story I’m hearing is that there are some paperwork/licensing issues that have to be resolved, and rather than risk operating illegally, the new prefers closing while things get worked out.
Yep, feeling good on the hike is like a breath of fresh air! I’ll save my faceplants for those drunken nights in town!
Wait a minute McCrarey! You sir, are making a big mistake. A pool is a chick magnet. Hugh Hefner had one at his Playboy Mansion in Chicago. Look how many bunnies he had at his place. You could be the Hugh Hefner of the PI. I can see you sporting a robe and smoking a pipe while the LBFM’s frolic in the water. Pool maintenance you say. That’s crazy talk. I’m sure in the PI you can hire a pool boy on the cheap. Better yet, a pool girl. Peace Out!
Soju, you are forgetting that this is the Philippines. All I need to enact the scenario you describe is one of those inflatable kiddie-wading pools…