Sometimes life in the Philippines is just as simple as this. At 0400 I was on Face Book joking and chatting with a group from Dorchester Massachusetts, which is within the city limits of Boston. Now for those of you whom have met people from Boston, I’ll explain to you that they really weren’t from Boston, but from other parts of the Commonwealth that no one has ever heard about or would have a hard time pronouncing. We true “Bostonians” understand why they do it and don’t blame them. Sitting in a Bar in San Diego and someone will say; “Hey where are you from?” Answering Boston makes more sense than trying to explain Newburyport or Worchester to a stranger.
Boston’s population is only around 645,966 but the population swells with every “Masshole” you meet. BTW we can refer to ourselves as that, but not others.
But as my brothers and friends are suffering the Blizzard of 2015, I’m sitting in the tropical Philippines posting snow jokes at them. Now at 0600 hours my bride brings me a coffee and bagel smeared with Philly Cream Cheese. Bless her.
Coco the Flying Labrador and I have plans to walk up the road to the Barber Shop and lower my ears. As January is ending within a day and I get it cut every month. For some reason the dog enjoys this outing above all others. We go early in the morning as it’s an open air shop and the hair sticks to old sweaty Americans in the heat of the day. It’s a cultural thing. But at 50 pesos (Or $1.12) I’ll shower again when I get home. Mon-Gil has been cutting my hair for 10 years now and we never say a word to each other, but he seems to like my dog Coco. His wife thinks I should die my hair black, which is surprising since my hair has never been black. I’ll leave my eyes blue too.
My friend Don and his bride Teody flew into town from San Diego this week, and today we are going to step out for lunch and cocktails under the warm tropical Philippine sky. We are going to meet them in town as they have to visit family first thing in the morning and then have a lunch date so they can sneak away. We are having lunch at a place called “Meat Plus” which used to be a meat market, but is now a restaurant, and why change a perfectly good sign. But I do wonder how many tourists walk right by while looking for a good place to eat? I promised myself I’ve never point that out to the owner.
Texas Joe’s has the best burger on the Free Port? I promise you the double meat hamburger at “Meat Plus” will give them a run for the money, but to be fair they both are excellent. Meat Plus also has great Filipino food and is chock-a-block full of people at lunch every day. See the sign does work. So as Don and I destroy hamburgers, the ladies will have something wonderful to eat too. The care and feeding of your bride is important to your enjoyment of the day.
A new hotel was built on the water front but an old Navy tradition had to be torn down for that to happen, tucked under some coconut trees was a small Quonset hut called the Scuba Shack. This was a non-official Navy watering hole manned mostly by Navy Divers and members of “The Teams” but open to all. When the base closed it faded away or into the background but if you knew where to look you could find it. Someone carved out a small section of the hotel and built a beach bar and called it the “Scuba Shack” Being a born sceptic I was thinking that some Philistine had stolen the name and was trying to cash in. But the murals and life rings and Navy plaques were right out of the original building. It’s back. Here is a picture of some friends and I having an afternoon cocktail, just like we would have 30 years ago.
My Dream System of course wasn’t showing the Super Bowl, so it was off to Vasco’s on Subic Bay to see the game at 0730 Monday morning. Breakfast and football is not something to miss. Brian (The owner) could only find one satellite feed for the game but it was out of Taiwan and fully announced in Chinese. Mute the TV, turn up the music and watch the Seahawks snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. We the loyal fans of New England can never thank Seattle enough for that decision to pass the ball.
Not a bad weekend at all here in the Philippines.
I froze my ass off !!
Anthony;
It’s 630 AM Monday morning I just checked the thermometer outside my open window it is a chilly 68 degrees, it will warm up later. BTW I checked and the airport in both Manila and Clark are accepting inbound flights all day. (I had to say that)
I participated in 2 domain auctions and lost both miserably, I partially rebuilt a website, I designed a few dozen ad banners for future use, I spent time with my favorite aunt, I watched 2 movies while working, all my password files on rtf turned up corrupted so I have been trying to reclaim those, I bought 7 domains, I renewed 7 more, always something happening.
Sounds like you were busy, Mike.
Bob;
After reading what Mike did last weekend, I went and took a nap .
Since all of my passwords are gone, I had to try and recover those. Luckily I remember the ones I usually use, but many are gone and I am trying to get them back. Still a few dozen to go! All my other rtf files are ok but the passwords folder is completely corrupt. Looks like I should burn a CD of the finished files…
Paul,
The Meat Plus sounds like a great place if its as good as TJ, s. They had the Super Bowl on Cignal PPV for I believe 240p.
Randy;
After 15 years with Dream Satellite I’m ready to switch to Cignal System 15 plus food channels is too many for me. And yes it’s a great flame broiled burger
Mike Mull – I would never be able to remember my passwords. They are all random, usually about 30 characters long. If I can’t remember them myself, no hacker can either! Check out a website called “LastPass” it is an excellent password storage tool that integrates with major browsers. https://lastpass.com
Mike Mull – I would never be able to remember my passwords. They are all random, usually about 30 characters long. If I can’t remember them myself, no hacker can either! Check out a website called “LastPass” it is an excellent password storage tool that integrates with major browsers. https://lastpass.com
I keep mine on old fashioned recepie cards in a recepie card index box. For me, I would be reluctant to have them stored on another website.
Thanks!
Thanks!
One other suggestion, Mike Mull. I also use a program called KeePass, which is a password vault that is on my local PC. It is a great way to store and retrieve your passwords. It will even generate strong passwords for you. You can download it free at http://keepass.info/download.html
One other suggestion, Mike Mull. I also use a program called KeePass, which is a password vault that is on my local PC. It is a great way to store and retrieve your passwords. It will even generate strong passwords for you. You can download it free at http://keepass.info/download.html
That may be even better for me! Thanks!
That may be even better for me! Thanks!
One of my favorite memories of my last visit to the Philippines was sitting on the patio at RA7 resort overlooking Illegan Bay & watching the Cowboys game on my laptop. Something about being able to watch your favorite team on the other side of the world in a tropical setting makes it special. How excited you must all have been when Seattle beyond all sound reason decided to pass it & New England obliged with the INT. Wow. The Filipinos within earshot, must have thought you just won the lottery!
Mike;
That was a game of highs and lows, I almost was ready to concede New England’s defeat. And then the displaced Bostonian went wild!!! It is a game I’ll remember forever.
Hi Paul.
You’re very welcome that the Seahawks let you New Englanders win, maybe you can reciprocate next year when we’ll meet again, LOL!
Great article as usual Paul. I’m sitting here in Vancouver WA watching the rain come down and the wind blowing. Not very cold though, 57F, can handle that! So far no snow, knock on my head and bite your tounge Heinz.
Sunday here and NO FOOTBALL, boohoohoo, not into basketball, so I’m just sitting here wishing I was with my family in Mactan and writing my Cook Book, “The Bachelor/Ette Gourmet” How to win Favors with Flavors!
Anyway Paul, thanks again for a great blog, keep ’em coming!
OK, OK..not too many people knew about “Foh Rivah” (Fall River) and “Leeminstah” (Leominster), so we say :”we live just outside Boston”. Thanks for another good article, Mr. Paul T.
Jose;
As I said it is understandable when people say they’re from Boston when they live outside the city. We all talk the same anyway. But the folks I feel sorry for are those from Connecticut the best they can say is: “I’m from Baja New York.”
Heinz;
I’ll be the first to admit the Seahawks had the game in their back pocket until they decided to pass the ball, but as any die hard Red Sox fan will tell you, we’ll take a win if you want to give it away. And with humility we’ll turn to our friends in Washington State and say “Thank you very much.” Basketball does nothing for me even though it was invented in Massachusetts But Baseball is my sport. just a couple of moths away. Is it true that in Washington, people don’t tan, but they do rust?
Watched the Super Bowl on my laptop using “NFL Gamepass”. It is pricey but I’m a die-hard K.C. Chiefs fan and it is hard to get anyone to watch their games! Really happy for Brady and Belichick. I’m an AFC fan, so I’m always pulling for the AFC in the SB. Hope to pull for my Chiefs some day. Thanks for the blog…I spent last weekend in Vasco’s myself.
While there, I picked up 3 books by Spike Naysmith. He was a POW for 2355 days. Great reading. I read his first book this weekend.
Rod;
Were you in the bar with us for the game? We were cracking up about it being broadcast in Chinese.
Rod,
Theres a website where you can watch all sports for free.
Randy;
And the link to it is……………………………………………………
You’re welcome on the decision to pass, instead of running! lol
Great article!
Kevin;
And we New Englanders with continue to appreciate all the help that the Seahawks gave to our winning of the Super Bowl. Tom Brady was overinflated with joy as were we all. A tip of our cap to all are supports in Washington State, true sports fan everyone. It was one hell of a game that will be talked about for years to come. All kidding aside I thought we were toast…
hmmm…the SUPER bowl.. while I really had no dog in that fight?.. I am a northeasterner. and to tell truth?…I like to see Brady pout…I hear he likes soft balls?…not sure if that is true tho. I will say that might verge on the dumbest play call I have ever seen in a super bowl.. when you have that kind of running back.
Paul…I will be on Cebu northwest coast in a few months…we maybe should get together? keep in touch dude and be well..:)…~~Ric
Richard;
The Seahawks had the win, Tom Brady will gladly take the “RING” the gods will sometimes joke with us mere mortals. I never question it because in 1986 I saw the Mets take the Worlds Series from Boston by one bad play by Boston on 1st base. Oh that Bucky never set foot in Boston again.
I use LastPass. It has made life much easier with regard to passwords. If someone can guess mine now, they are more than welcome to whatever they can find. 🙂
Tom, if I remember correctly, it was you that recommended last pass to me. Thanks for that.
good article but you failed to mention that Belichek is now under Federal investigation for the crime of deflation of egos, it seems the entirety of the Sea hawks organization have signed complaints against him.
William;
On face book it all seems to be New England’s fault, we’ll assume that the Seahawks were not in Arizona that Sunday.
One of the best, if not the best, football game ever. Last play Sea Hawk play was just one of many to remember in that game.
Loren;
Could it be that last year the Seahawks somehow offended you there in Colorado? But I agree that game will be talked about forever. We (Don Cook and I) were thinking it would have been a better game with both you and Tommy at Vasco’s with us.
Last years game between the SeeHawks and the Denver Donkeys had no memorable plays as one of the teams was not playing, football anyway.
Loren;
No more football talk, little Joy from the Sit-N’-Bull married a young Kano, can you believe that?
hi paul another good post , good friends cold beer nice food in a nice tropical climate what more could you ask for leave the snow to them back home we dont need it . derek in sunny pasig.
Derek;
I often ask my brothers why they put up with cold weather; I really think they don’t even know the reason. I hated the cold when I was a kid, and always will.
Last weekend it was gas up the snow blower again, wax up the snow shovel. It was another Sunday into Monday snow storm adding about another foot of snow to my yard. Now it is all happening again for the third week in a row !
NY Bob;
My Brother Dan in Massachusetts is damn well sick of the snow too.
Hi Paul,
Congratulations to the New England Patriots on a great season and yet another Super Bowl! I started to gloat when my Dolphins beat the Patriots in week 1, just after my NFL article came out, but I thought better of it. In the first game of the season the Miami defense made Tom Brady look like Geno Smith: in the last game of the season the Miami defense made Geno Smith look like Tom Brady!
I enjoyed reading your article and looking at the pictures!
Jay;(Thank you)
Where I was sitting watching the game is more important to me than the results, but as a boy born and raised in Boston it was the icing on the cake.
I’ll be the odd duck. 🙂 I woke up Monday morning blissfully unaware of the final score. That lasted until I got to work and the cacophony of gloating on the one hand and the wailing and gnashing of teeth on the other,
But to answer the title question: In Virginia, we are unaffected by the “winter weather event”, so things are pretty much business as usual. On Saturday, I worked with a new horse down at the stable. Then my wife, Marlyn and I went out to eat. On Sunday, we took a nice little hike through the woods in the nearby state park. We had supper with Marlyns’ sister and brother-in-law. That always begins with “happy hour”, beer and wine served with pulotan, usually Hawaiian style sashimi. Then, we had a leisurely meal followed by dessert and coffee. The pre game show was on the TV, but we left just after the opening kickoff. So that’s what I did last weekend! 🙂
Take care,
Pete
Hi Pete;
Now that sounds like a weekend one could enjoy, I’ve been listening to my brothers moaning for two weeks about the weather event in Boston.I gave them the answer 30 years ago they failed to heed my advice. The game to me was not as important as to where and who I was with.
” The game to me was not as important as to where and who I was with.”. Amen to that. I’m the odd duck in a family full of sports fanatics. My Mom prefers NASCAR, but if she’s bored, she’ll turn on ESPN and watch ANYTHING competitive. A room full of family and friends with the game on and the volume off is a pretty good weekend. 🙂
Take care,
Pete
Pete;
If New England had not been in the super bowl it would have been a regular Monday morning for me. Now Baseball I will drive for hours to see a game, watching it on TV out of the corner of my eye while doing something else is just fine with me. But sitting in the park with the noise and the sun watching a game is nirvana. I’ll watch golf while waiting for paint to dry. But I do wonder if any NASCAR auto has ever made a right turn?
” But I do wonder if any NASCAR auto has ever made a right turn?”
No. That’s why they haul them around on trailers.
Take care
Pete