Well, I’ve never been to Spain…

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…but I’ve been to Bar Celona.

Yep, last night I attended the grand opening of the newest bar in Barretto–Bar Celona. It’s a rooftop bar, similar to Cheap Charlies. Beers were a bargain at P50 ($1.00) each. They have a pool table, big-screen TVs, good music at a reasonable volume, and friendly staff. That’s a good combination for success! Speaking of staff, I recognized several employees who had previously worked at Cheap Charlies. Familiar faces on the first day of operation, can’t beat that!

Truth be told, I don’t actually like the name. When I open my bar I’m going to name it “The Rite Spot”. Of course, I’m never going to actually open a bar.
The pool table area. There’s actually a dartboard back there too. Essentially unplayable when the pool table is in use. Ah well, no bar is perfect.
The bar area. The bartender and my waitress had both previously worked at Cheap Charlies.
And there across the highway is my old favorite, Cheap Charlies. It appeared they had some customers last night too, so it will be interesting to see how this competition plays out. It felt a little bit like I was cheating on a girlfriend. Ah well, I’ve not made up my mind about which is my favorite yet. I’ll probably patronize both. Everybody wins!

Speaking of Cheap Charlies, the news isn’t good. As seen on one of the forums I frequent:


Popped into Foodies ( cottage pie historic!) and spoke to Tim. Graham’s massive stroke has killed 50% of his brain, so he is robbed of speech functions, memory and does not recognize anyone! He has no chance of recovery and the hope is he can be repatriated within the next 3 weeks, it will cost approximately £28k to get him back to Scotland, so his sister can take care of him. It’s a shame as he wouldn’t want to live in this state and I am sure you would agree that you wouldn’t let a dog suffer like this! 

A good reminder to us all to live each day for today, tomorrow may not come and we may not know it if it does. Sad for Graham.

Anyway, came home from the bar via trike, so I wasn’t feeling any pain. And waiting for me in the crockpot was some hot chili:

I’d also baked up some cornbread before I went out. Good eating!

And finally, from my walk this morning:

Damn, I wish I’d gone to a “child friendly” school. Those mean bastards at mine were quick with the paddle and had a hatred for smart asses like me.

Luckily I survived. In fact, it’s probably fair to say I’ve outlived them all now. What goes around comes around and I reckon my time is coming. But not yet!


Well, I’ve never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it

They don’t abuse it
Never gonna lose it
I can’t refuse it

3 thoughts on “Well, I’ve never been to Spain…”

  1. “We’ve all got it comin’.”
    – Clint Eastwood, Unforgiven

    Great-looking chili and cornbread!

    And here’s hoping the new venue is successful. And that it improves the dart situation.

  2. Once again, poor Graham’s dire fate buried amidst news of two competing bars’ relative merits. I hope he had a long innings. But if he was in the business of running a bar in east Asia, he probably hadn’t. The author says tomorrow may not come. Problem is, it may very well. But you won’t recognise your surroundings or anyone in them.

  3. Dan, yeah I agree. There are fates worse than death, and I think being paralyzed with little cognitive functioning is one of them. I suppose miracles can happen, but I doubt the outcome of the Bar Celona/Cheap Charlies competition will matter at all to Graham.

    I was in Cheap Charlies tonight and asked if Graham’s girlfriend Heidi was still with him in the hospital. Was happy to hear she is indeed. So there is that at least…

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