Or should I say, the best day so far this year? Honestly speaking, it wasn’t that great. The lingering effects from the late-night celebration to welcome the new year kept me housebound for most of the day. But when the clock struck beer o’clock, I dragged my sorry ass into town for the first time all year. I had initially thought I’d grab a stool at Cheap Charlies, but they were closed, as were several other drinking establishments. Sloppy Joe’s, a 24/7 operation, was open and waiting for me, thereby earning my patronage.

Swan had spent the day at the family compound in Subic, so I was drinking alone. Swan messaged that she would join me at Sloppy Joe’s around 6 pm. I was surprised when a trike pulled up out front and dropped Swan and three of her Hashmates off. Swan had joined them for some New Year’s Day revelry and invited them along so they could play pool. I’d had about enough of Sloppy by then, so we moved the party next door to Green Room.

I enjoyed watching Honey and Grace play pool; they are both excellent players. The gals were in party mode, and I didn’t want to be that old guy who spoils the fun, so I sat at my own table and sipped some San Miguel Light beers (yep, the bars are running out of Zero again). Still, all good things must end, and I pulled the plug around 8:30.

And that’s how the first day of the new year went down. I’m sure they’ll get better.

Some good chatter in the comments section about why tourism is down in the Philippines. This post from the June 2016 LTG archives shares my tourist experience in Manila when taking a taxi to the airport. These days, most folks use the Grab app to arrange transport, which is a good way to beat the taxi scammers.

On one of the internet forums I frequent, I came across this thorough post describing what’s wrong with tourism in the Philippines. It’s worth a read if you are interested in this subject.

Today’s YouTube video provides an update on Vitaly, that asshole vlogger who got arrested last year for harassing Filipinos to make content for his asshole vlog. It seems he’s not doing well in jail and the prospects of him getting out any time soon are slim to none. Being locked up in a Filipino jail is my worst nightmare and would be tantamount to a death sentence for me (you have to wait years for a trial date). It’s hard to feel sorry for a dick like Vitaly, but I do have empathy for what he is going through, even it is well-deserved.

Let’s clean the palate with some alleged humor:

Time to get on with whatever the future has in store for me. Thanks for coming by.