Such a lovely place…

I started a little earlier yesterday afternoon, as much out of boredom as anything. I thought having a beer and watching the beach action would be more entertaining than YouTube videos at home. So I headed out to Mango’s.

The problem with Mango’s at this time of day is the sun. It was at an angle where the roof did not provide any shade at all. And it got real hot, real quick. I finally had to move to the inside bar to finish my beer.

It was a little after four now, and that meant the rooftop area of the Central Park Reef hotel was open for business. I hadn’t been there since before the pandemic so I decided it was a good time to go and check it out again.

I have a friend who is a waitress there (one of the Treasure Island gals I partied with last week).

Anyway, as you might imagine, the best part of the Central Park rooftop bar/restaurant/pool is the views. The menu looked good, although it was too early for me to eat. Beer was cold and at 100 pesos wasn’t even the most expensive in town. I was the only foreigner there–it was a Filipino family crowd enjoying a beachy weekend.

Anyway, it was good to see Kat and also enjoy some different vistas. I promised to sponsor the next get-together with the TI girls up here on the roof.

Since Cheap Charlies is practically next door and I hadn’t been there since last year, I figured a visit was in order. As usual, I enjoyed Alma’s company. I also wound up spending over thirty bucks buying food for all the girls. Chicken wings, chicken fingers, chicken quesadillas, and a large meat lovers pizza, if you are keeping score. Also, my recounting the menu here proves I made a sober decision (but not necessarily a smart one) when I purchased the meal.

Once the food was done, so was I. Except after I was downstairs on the street I decided I should check in on Roan at It Doesn’t Matter. She’s doing fine. Sat at the owner’s table and had a nice chat with the boss men, Cliff and Bob. Even shared my bar rankings. They were of course pleased to be currently at the top of the heap. Martin (18 Kilo Ass) and his gal were there too and it was nice to socialize with the group for a bit.

I made it an early night. Need to get back into my rhythm of early to bed, early to rise.

Have a Hash run to complete in a couple of hours. I expect it will be challenging because Leech My Nuggets is the Hare and the start point indicates a climb to the top of Kalaklan ridge. That’s never easy.

I’m doing better every day, but I still have “those” thoughts. For whatever reason, I remembered this poem last night and actually looked it up on the internet while I was at the bar. I refrained from sending it to you know who though. I’d call that progress.

“Where are you hiding my love?
Each day without you will never come again.
Even today you missed a sunset on the ocean,
A silver shadow on yellow rocks I saved for you,
A squirrel that ran across the road,
A duck diving for dinner.
My God! There may be nothing left to show you
Save wounds and weariness
And hopes grown dead,
And wilted flowers I picked for you a lifetime ago,
Or feeble steps that cannot run to hold you,
Arms too tired to offer you to a roaring wind,
A face too wrinkled to feel the ocean's spray.”
― James Kavanaugh

Ah, well. Life’s a beach sometimes.

And here’s my Lucky boy just now:

Alright, time for my pre-Hash nap. Let me leave you with my new favorite t-shirt:

Oh, and it seems that things are back to normal around here at LTG: