HarryTheHorse - Angeles City Expat Newsletter for March 2010

March is upon us and this is the time when the real hot weather arrives. Mar, Apr and May, no rain, lots of hot sun, more brown-outs, water levels in the dams going down, Electric companies blaming brown-outs on lack of water or the need for increased rates. For this reason I am starting this month off with a photo of Beth, a 5'9", 19 year old beauty employed as a receptionist at the Mansion Disco, located at the Enclave. She is a local lass, raised in Dau, a high school graduate who plans to go to college to major in tourism. She loves to play volleyball and at her height no doubt is pretty good at that sport. The picture I took does not do her justice, believe me, in person she is pretty special. I will be writing more about the Mansion Disco later in this column as well as the Enclave Fitness Center. Meanwhile, welcome to March and I hope sweet Beth is a welcome sight for you.

Harry, The gentleman that sent you an article about diamond subdivision and raising the prices holds true in barrio barretto too. The girly bars here are owned from previous Angeles Europeans (and Americans) that have made our little humble Barrio Barretto a small "fields avenue" with high prices, etc. I have been here 16 years now, and never had seen this before. I guess i may be getting older, but most of the retirees that live here don't go to the places and it is our hope that they are not a success and go back where they belong and leave our little berg peaceful (and cheap) as it always has been. You may publish this in your next issue of harry the horse, with my name withheld for obvious reasons - too small a town here. that's why i didn't mention any names or bars. everyone here knows who they are. thanks. (Coincidentally, I just had a Expat visitor from Barrio Barretto stop by my stable for a few minutes and he related how Dave (Mo) Fisher had raised the prices for drinks in his bars. That is OK with me, any owner has the right to charge what he wants for drinks but he then told me that at a meeting for bar owners Dave asked all owners to raise their prices to match his. His proposal was soundly rejected. That is one thing I am against, a form of price fixing. Folks tried that on Fields Ave a few years ago and some of the bigger clubs agreed to it. Dave is a friend and an astute businessman and he goes his own way on pricing of drinks. I would guess he put forth a suggestion for all clubs in the Barrio to standardize their prices but if rejected, it would not bother him as Dave normally tries to price items to assure a reasonable profit, leave room for renovations and not exceed a price range unreasonable for the tourist trade. Regretfully, an increase in prices is not usually favored by the permanent expat community who are year round patrons of the Clubs in the Barrio. No doubt Dave and others would like to transform Barrio Barretto from a "sleepy hollow" community into a more upscale environment. This means bigger clubs and higher prices. Not a very welcome change to many. Regardless of any changes there will always be those smaller independent clubs that will find a niche to cater to those expats and tourists who do not want the AC Fields Ave way of doing business. Regretfully, change is inevitable, maybe good, maybe bad, but for sure, the face of the Barrio and the price of entertainment will rise)

I FORWARDED THIS ITEM TO MO (DAVE) FOR HIS REVIEW AND COMMENTS. HE RETURNED A VERY LONG, BUT INTERESTING REPLY. IN MY COMMENTS ON FIELDS AVE PRICE FIXING A FEW YEARS AGO I NEVER INDICATED THAT DAVE INITIATED THAT ACTION. ADDITIONALLY, GENERALLY SPEAKING, PRICES ON PERIMETER ROAD ARE LESS THAN ON FIELDS AVE THOUGH AS DAVE POINTS OUT, THE PRICES ARE CREEPING UP. I MUST THANK DAVE FOR HIS UP FRONT COMMENTS AND WILLINGNESS TO INVITE DIRECT COMMENTS TO HIS EMAIL ADDRESS. MANY CLUB OWNERS WOULD NOT BOTHER TO DO SO. I RESPECT THIS MAN, WE MIGHT NOT ALWAYS AGREE WITH EACH OTHER BUT THAT DOES NOT INTERFERE WITH A FRIENDSHIP BUILT UP OVER THE YEARS. READ HIS WORDS AND BY ALL MEANS, SUBMIT ANY COMMENTS YOU MIGHT HAVE TO HIM AND HE WILL RESPOND. DAVE'S COMMENTS FOLLOW:

Harry, many thanks for the request for a response. Let me start out by asking the author of the letter; Sir, pray tell, what are ‘the obvious reasons' for your wishing to be anonymous? The ‘small town’ excuse does not cut it. The most obvious reasons, at least to me, is that you either have an agenda and, therefore, are another keyboard coward afraid togive your name or you are just another crybaby using the Internet to complain about businesses whose pricing does not fit into your frugal lifestyle. You think (hope) your pitiful cry for pricing mercy will cause us to take pity and acquiesce or, even better, close down because you can’t afford a beer in a nice air conditioned bar with comfortable seating surrounded by 50 dancers to entertain you. Anyway, take it from an expert; the bars won't go away and won’t change and you will still be crying in your P60 to P70 beer for a long time to come. Now that I have that off my chest, let’s look at your letter:

1. "The girly bars here are owned from previous Angeles Europeans (and Americans)..."

Answer: Bullshit. Of the 46 bars/restaurants/hotels in Barrio Barretto, as far as I know, only Tommo (Blue Rock/Lips Complex) and I are AC transplants. Tommo's an Australian (and I’m an American) and he’s been here 8 years. I've been here 3. You clearly don’t have a demographic clue. Or you’re trying to thinly (and badly) disguise your intent.

2. "... that have made our little humble Barrio Barretto a small "fields avenue" with high prices, etc."

Answer: Bullshit. And, please elaborate what you mean by ‘etc’. Do you mean we’ve brought, street kids, shake downs, extortion, corruption, Cialas and Viagra vendors every 6 feet, flower and peanut vendors and photographers bugging you every 30 seconds, uncontrolled traffic, rip-off trike drivers, multi million peso bars with show girl barfines, unending ladies drink pressure, double ladies drinks and girls who leave early? Or do you mean we’ve brought clean, safe, hassle-free, comfortable, well managed, fun and well staffed bars with good waitresses and tons of dancers? Maybe you don’t remember when the bars in your ‘little berg’ had around 10 dancers who were on the wrong side of 26, had 3 kids and worked in the bars for 10 years. I’ve attached a comprehensive list of the Barretto bars along with their pricing (courtesy of piatnight.com) and ownership nationality.

Prices between the AC and Barretto don’t differ significantly except for customer drinks. In that area we win by a mile. (I’d also note that Barretto went to P1,500 EWRs long before AC). From what I understand, the Perimeter Rd guys finally came to their senses and decided their propaganda about being cheaper and offering a ‘better deal’ than the mainstream Field Ave bars didn’t pay the bills or attract ‘spenders’. In essence, they’ve significantly closed the pricing gap between the two areas. A couple of years ago, I predicted this would happen. I’m only surprised it took them so long to come to the same conclusion. From the attached chart, you can see that prices for local drinks run from P35 to P70, ladies drinks P130 to P150 (in bars with dancers – they are less in the non EWR bars). We recently introduced the EWRWR (Early Work Release With Return). The price is P1,500 and includes use of a R and R spot at Dryden (for downtown customers) and Kokomo's (for the Floating Bar visitors). In the last 3 years, prices on F and B are up between 7% and 22% and 7% for EWRs. To me, that’s well in-line with inflation and well in-line with price increases in rent, electricity, water, wages and COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) and less than the price increase of a Big Mac Meal at McDonalds.

3. "...most of the retirees that live here don’t go to the places and it is our hope that they are not a success and go back where they belong and leave our little berg peaceful (and cheap) as it always has been."

Answer: Bullshit, but with this caveat. We fully understand and sympathize with the plight of fixed income retirees. This is especially true when the U.S. Dollar drops into the mid 40s. But, I didn't hear any clamoring for a price INCREASE when the dollar was 60:1. BTW, we never compare prices to the dollar. And we don’t use the argument that things are cheap compared to the West. Its apples to oranges. I’d also say that we REGULARLY receive complements from the locals (I guess some can afford the prices) telling us that we’ve brought new life to the Barrio. Before our arrival there were, perhaps 6 bars (mostly with the aforementioned talent pool) and the major nightlife center was in Subic City. Now Subic City has 2 or 3 bars catering to foreigners and our ‘little berg’ has 20, I’d say we did a pretty good job of revitalizing the town. In some ways, we made life cheaper for this guy. He saves the P10 jeepney fare to Subic City.
You, in your comments are 100% wrong when you say I consulted with other bar owners when making pricing decisions, but you are 100% correct when you said that I set pricing based upon my desired return on investment. I’d like to add that we have a number of other operating policies that make our costs higher than some of the other Barretto business.

1. We over-staff. Our S/SQM (Staff/Sq. Meter) ratio is 40% higher than the average. I hate walking into a bar with 3 dancers on stage and 5 waitress sitting around, so we over staff. The downside is that we have higher overheads. The upside is that it results in a lot more fun when you're in the bar. If our anonymous friends want cheap drinks, they should go to the places offering a pub atmosphere. Better yet, forget air conditioning, forget clean toilets, forget girls checked for age and hygiene and forget good music with a decent sound system. They can always hang out at the sari-sari stores and drink P20 Red Horse and grab street urchins for P300.

2. As mentioned above, I never 'consulted' or colluded with other businesses regarding my pricing. In AC (like Barretto), we set our prices based upon desired ROI. When costs go up and we cannot recover the profit via savings in operations, we, like every business in the world, raise prices. It puzzles me why profit is such a dirty word to guys who want cheap booze and cheap sex. And even more puzzling is their contempt for the people who provide it for them. Maybe these guys never owned a business and have lived their lives as a salaried worker having no responsibilities other than showing up for work on their assigned shift. Or, as many suggest, they are just jealous. Who knows? Being one of the more visible operations in AC, we got lots if interesting Internet and local resident feedback. (sic) when we had price increases. The boards were full of ‘let’s boycott Dave’s bars’, ‘greedy bar owners’, ‘AC is doomed’, ‘let’s go to Thailand and show them’, ‘vote with your feet’, etc. AC was a small town and most of the owners were cordial, if not friendly to each other. They knew what was going. Still, most would wait for a few weeks and when the flack settled would follow any pricing changes – no matter the source. As you and your readers know, we were one of the more successful operations in AC, so, I guess our strategy wasn’t all wrong. My mistake in AC was not reviewing pricing every few months. Instead, I'd wait too long, and correcting prices to the proper level was 'sticker shock'. At Kokomo's it was 3 years between pricing adjustments! When we finally did it, we ended up close to our competition. They are a lot smarter than me, so they changed their pricing every couple of months. Just a couple of percent, but it served the proper purpose.

3. I am not in favor of Barretto becoming ANYTHING like AC. I left AC because of the things mentioned above. Why would I want a repeat here? I feel the chances of us having a metamorphosis to AC atmosphere are slim. Why? First of all, City Hall doesn't want it. They have made it clear that the community has to serve all types of tourism. They don’t want and won’t permit the negative things that have happened in AC to happen here. I'd guess they will grant a few more bar licenses, but nothing like the rampant uncontrolled growth of AC. AC’s predominate attraction is the services it provides for single (however temporary) males looking for cheap companionship and cheap booze (in either order). Other P4P (play for pay) destinations have successfully mingled 'family’ activities and the sex trade. The purpose of this letter is not to discuss Thailand, but someday, I’d like to offer some thoughts on the differences between here and there. Back to the discussion at hand, it is my opinion that until Barretto gets another 100 to 200 rooms, not much will change. And even then, I don’t see the P4P market percentage increasing. When asked to compare, Barretto to AC, my usual rejoinder is that the nightlife is dominated by small bars, good service, friendly atmosphere and, even on slow nights, fun. Yes, it is like AC was 10 years ago.

4. I'm not sure who your 'expat visitor' was, but he’s as equally uninformed as your anonymous letter writer. When we started in Barretto, we consciously priced ourselves UNDER the going rates. At least 5 bar owners asked us to raise our prices to match theirs. If I’m comfortable with our return, I’ll keep prices low. This policy lasted 2+ years. In October, we raised SOME of our prices to fit costs. It might be well to note that we also offer a number of marketing programs. On Tuesdays, we have 2 for 1 pricing on all customer drinks from 6 PM to midnight. From midnight onwards there’s 20% discounts on all drinks, all ladies drinks and all EWRs. With every EWR, we give a certificate good for discounts on all purchases in all of our bars (including EWRs) until noon the following day. This includes food at Dryden and Treasure Island. On Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, we have prize balloons in Angelwitch, Fox Hole (formerly Mosquito) and Rum Jungle respectively. Buy a lady’s drink, and get a prize balloon. Prizes include customer drinks, ladies drinks, 2 for 1 nights, food discounts at Dryden and Treasure Island and, of course a 1/2 EWR in each outlet (the 3 above plus Wet Spot and Voodoo Floating Bar). That’s 15 half EWRs every week! Every Friday we have a rotating birthday party for the girls. We have drink specials and give away food. This Sunday (way past your publication date) we're having a bar hop to 7 bars (4 mine and 3 others). Customer and ladies drinks will be discounted 30% in ALL the places all night. We have special party nights. This month we’ve already scheduled a Toga Party (underwear optional), St. Patrick’s Day festivities and are looking at a Tequila night towards the end of the month. All have drink specials, raffles and free food. In April we’ll be doing a pool party at TI and a bargirl Olympics with events like hula hoops, beer chugging, limbo, etc. So, the legitimate question might be; are these promotions driving our prices up? Since our competitors pricing is on a par with ours and they don’t do these things, I’d have to say no. We enjoy a smaller margin, but make much of it back in volume. But, in the end, our ROI criteria are intact and we enjoy passing the savings and the fun these events generate onto our customers.

Lastly, and to end this epic, there's an old adage about price vs. cost. Price is what you pay when you purchase something. Cost is long term. If our frugal friends don't want to take advantage of opportunities to save significant money at our places, that's up to them. It's the same as the Friday Night Specials or 12 hour sales in a department store. You miss it and you’ve missed it. If you want to take advantage of it, be there when the opportunity presents itself. Moreover, I believe we offer things like good air conditioning, clean restrooms, lots of waitresses (great service), honest staff, etc. If a customer has a problem, we want to know. WE LISTEN. Customer satisfaction and customer safety are our top priorities. Get a bad EWR? Bring her back. Get a bad beer, return it. Get a bad meal, let us know. Your room’s not right, we fix it. Get shafted by the local officials, come and see us.

In the end, we appreciate feedback. If the problem has to do with any facet of our operation, every member of our management team wants to know about it. With that said, I’m not inclined to listen to price complaints. My usual retort is to offer to sell the person the business and tell the new buyer that after he/she buys he/she can charge whatever he/she wants. The interesting part of this scenario is that most of the bar pricing feedback is offered when the bar’s full of customers. If the opposite were true, I’d get the message, but so far, the message has been more than positive. If any of your readers want to contact me with any thoughts (including the ‘you’re a prick’ variety), my email is drydensubic@gmail.com.

Oh dear, I hate to do this but a tourist from England, Keith Bland, sent me an Email after I had written about the pricing in the Barrio, along with Dave's comments. No doubt he will be able to read what Dave has submitted but his additional comments, other than about the pricing are worth passing on. You will note that a few of the bars he mentioned as "worth a look" are run by Dave Fisher.

Hi Harry, firstly can I say what a pleasure it was to meet, and put a face to the columnist, and while we're praising, can you compliment the girls at the Blue Boar who made my afternoon very enjoyable. On now with the original intent of my email prior to our encounter. For many moons you have been a critic of the increasing prices in the entertainment district, and I think that lots of folks agree with you, unfortunately this procedure seems to have moved to Bario in Subic. A well known businessman of A/C, Dave Fisher, has invested in properties in Barrio, and his first move was to increase the prices of beers in his bars and clubs. I have no problems with this as everyone in business is there to make a profit, but sources in the area have informed me that Dave has approached other establishments with an idea that they should all follow his lead and charge a minimum price of 70p a beer. This suddenly starts to ring bells of price fixing. I hope that my sources are wrong, but if they are right, then I would hope that they continue to run their bars and hotels to their own criteria rather than someone else's. Most of my vacations in the Philippines are based in Bario, and I regularly stay at The Palm Tree resort, not the cheapest hotel, but the service is excellent. As a family run establishment there is nearly always a member of this group around to help out. The two brothers have built this business up from just a small bar to the resort it is now, with a marvelous view over the south China sea from the recently extended castaways bar upstairs. This has been developed to withstand the typhoon season and is enclosed by heavy permanent doors, not the normal plastic sheeting. Other places on the strip worth readers checking out are Generals bar, Alley Cats, Heaven booze and food, and Docs Hooyah bar which has changed hands and is now run by Brian and Tess. All of these are drinking bars where the beer is cheap and the conversation flows incessantly. Night life is not on a par with A/C but here are a few clubs worth a look, Escape, Club 1, Lips (3 clubs in one), Sandcastle, Voodoo, Rum Jungle, Wet Spot, and of course Oriental Rose. I have not mentioned all of the clubs, but there are some good times to be had in the area, and lastly if your readers wish to relax in the sun during the day, what better than one of the two floating bars on Baloy beach. Hope to see you again when I'm next out there. Keith Blan

Harry the Horse, After reading your e-mail about the confusion you had in getting around my website, I have made a few changes. Firstly, I got rid of my blog. I was not doing what I wanted with it as I lost interest so it has gone away. On my web pages where ever I have music playing, I have used a different program to play the music. That should prevent any warnings from popping up. And you had said you were going to write about my Memoir so just to help out here is the correct url: http://www.jeprox.us/god.html. (Please go to this website.)

Harry, I love your news letter. Just so you know the train will be finished in 2 years and it is so pose to be an ELEVATED train station at check point. I think this is why SM has the elevated cross walk going to the mall. Right behind SM they are building some state of the art huge new tech center employing tens of thousands of people. If you take the new road on Clark base from SCTEX to NLEX you will see the building has begun. The railroad has been a long long, long time in the making.. AC - #1 harry the Horse Fan! Brian Quigly. (Thanks Brian. I hope the ECD of two years comes to pass. I believe I might survive until then. I have been watching the construction of the new monster project on the way to the SCTEX. I plan to take some pictures this month for Mar. Thanks for the input, I was not aware of the elevated station at the checkpoint).

Harry, As always, appreciate your News Letter . Have to respond to your article about the young American ( 31 ) living in the PI with 2 kids and no money. And looking for " work " as a foreigner in a country that has grinding poverty and not enough work for their own people . What the fuck is this guy thinking ? When I lived there , I ran into others like him . Not a pot to piss in. All had stories . Like " used " to be a bar owner. Always trying to " borrow " money , etc. Go home . Get some dignity . A man doesn't live in the PI unless he has money salted away or some sort of pension . Military, social security, etc. I did not even consider living in the PI until I had adequate ( not rich ) income. Ret. E7 plus Social Security . Lived fine. And what kind of Visas could these guys be on? Legally, in order to get a resident Visa you have to show a source of income. I was "balik bayon", one year at a time. I advise this young guy to go home. Get real . Joe Walker E7 Ret. Jersey near Queens originally. (I agree with you 1000% Joe, exact advice I have given many)

Hi Harry,its Dave from England only been home one week and I'm missing the warm weather and cold beer and the so hot women. So the only thing to do was book a flight back to paradise Will be back in AC on Feb 12th. Will bring Yorkshire mix for you. See you soon. Dave (Luv ya baby, my mouth is watering already. Just don't freeze to death before you have a chance to return to paradise)

Greatly enjoy reading your informative newsletter. My father was an officer in the U.S.A.F. And I am proud to say I grew up as a military brat. I will be taking my "cherry trip" to AC in mid-March and would enjoy sitting down and having a chat with you! I wish you the best, take care! John C. Whitener (John, looking forward to meeting you as will many ladies looking forward to chatting it up with an AC "cherry boy" - check the new map at the end of my column to find my "stable".)

Hello Harry! Enjoyed , as always , reading your February post, which nicely updated me on the goings on in Fun City. I am lucky to be here this week, and, if I do nothing else constructive, will get by Niagra and hopefully make a contribution to Thomas' cause (aka DH victim). That event represents a new low for this place , and am glad to see that the good guys here have his back. Quick question if I may...Have you been making a conscious effort the past few months to lay off that collective group that has parked themselves down in the far end of Perimeter? Your unloading was one of my favorite parts of previous columns. Don't be shy Harry! The Feb. 3 issue of Phil. Inquirer reports a Korean was shot dead in front of Arirang Hotel, while talking with a CDC policeman. The only thing (and I mean only) that gets me down bar hopping here is seeing two or three of those dudes seated at a table, usually without a drink order, bringing the place down with that sour, goofy look while they blow smoke all over the place. Grim! Keep telling it like it is HTH!! Lawrencio. (I have not made any conscious effort to leave the Korean presence out of my column. Unless something positive or negative occurs that I am aware of I will not write anything just for the sake of writing. I have read about the shooting and the killing of the Korean. I will not speculate on the motive and could care less as long as it was only a Korean. You see, I do not like the idea of anyone being shot in the entertainment area, it is bad for business. But, I have heard from various sources that there are a great many bent Koreans living and doing business within that fine Korean community in Friendship and other locations of AC. It is no surprise to me that there might be a bit of violence once in a while. The Filipinos here are catering to the Koreans, like they once did with the Americans when the bases were here. They smell money. I watched a TV interview tonight where a manager from the Marquee Mall was happy to report that they had a Korean hair dressing salon, for Koreans at the Mall and a Korean bakery for Korean specialties. I do not think the Filipinos love the Koreans any more than they do the Americans but they do love to follow the money trail. Right now all local politicians and Filipino businessmen will jump through hoops to get that business. The Americans were less discriminating as to where they spent their greenbacks, not so with the Koreans. They hate to spend out of their Korean “family”. I have had reports of a hotel in the Friendship area that blatantly tells non-Koreans that only Koreans are welcome to that hotel, and they are not polite about it. So be it, I do not want them in my little stable either.)

Harry, With all the crap going on at bars like the Dollhouse its makes me think back to the good old days. Remember when instead of Nero's with its freaking slot machines there was a nice litle bar with a pool table, Top Hat, and alot of quality girls could be found next door at Valentines. Do you happen to have a photo of the old Jungle Bar you can share, some of my best barfines came from that bar. Balibago is still the best place to live and play but for me it was better in the "good old" 1990's. Keep em honest Harry, Don (Of course I agree with you Don. The old days are gone, never to come back. Sorry to say I was not taking many pictures back then and do not have one of the "Jungle Bar". In some ways the entertainment area is better today, more "sanitized" but for us old farts, damn, the memories are fantastic. Bring back the Hard Rock, the Fire Empire, Fook and Sook, Mega head, Maverick City, and so many more. It will never happen but oh, how sweet the memories. This new time of big "Corporations" gobbling up the smaller bars and putting up big glitzy places specializing in price gouging, hustling, man-handling customers, less friendly practices and monopolistic business practices just can't compare with the more friendly "small town" atmosphere of the past. Don't get me wrong, the "street" still offers what so many come here to find and the fun and games are bountiful but, ah hell, I guess I am just getting old and can't quite keep up the the younger generation. I hit 72 last month so let me go out and take a few pictures and then find that old park bench to sit on and feed a few pigeons. If you see me napping somewhere, don't wake me up as I will be dreaming about the "old days", hell I might even have a hard on)

G’day Mr Harry, Dale Byrne here great to read this month’s column good stuff. A bit of a mix up, the bar was The Barbary Coast, it was my Father’s partner that was killed, Roland Sims and it was his wife Gloria that was stabbed and survived,1986 I think it was. Keep up the good work, see you in April. Dale.

Last month James Winterbottom departed the Philippines with his fiancé, Ling to take up residency in Las Vegas. They were married in Las Vegas on 28 Feb and the ceremony was viewed by many via webcam. His party was held at the Garden Dine restaurant on MacArthur Highway and many of his friends were in attendance. He dropped me a message and it was fun to hear how a lady experiencing the States for the first time reacts. She was amazed at the simplest things that we Americans take for granted in our everyday lives when living in the USA. I suspect that it will not take Ling long to adapt to Stateside living. Hopefully I will see them when I take the family to Vegas in Sept this year.

"Hi Harry, Well, Ling and I made it here safe and sound and we are both elated and excited to be here. She is amazed at how clean it is and one of her first comments was about the high tension wires and how neat and orderly they are placed on the telephone polls and not all bundled up and jumbled up like they are in the PI. Another comment was regarding the highways and all the lanes and how fast the cars go but then again how well they all drive and the courtesy drivers have for each other when there is a traffic jam or construction tie up. She is also amazed that drivers here know how to handle and negotiate a 4 way stop! Unlike the 4 way stop on Clark where no one seems to want to stop to let traffic from the either side take their turn. She is also amazed at all the stores and how friendly people are, especially in the casinos. Oh, and Ling commented on just how fast and hassle free it is to get money at the bank. We got money out the other day and she was amazed that we just walked up to the teller and she did everything on the computer after I showed her my ID. No hassle and we didn't have to go and sit down and wait and the teller didn't even record the $100.00 bill serial numbers. Imagine that!

We are already beginning to get settled in. We already bought a vehicle a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 Pick Up Truck. and later today when the electric is turned on we will move into our new residence, an apartment at Summer Hill Point on West Sahara Avenue. This is a really nice complex that allows all pets including my two Pitbulls and for that we are thankful. This morning we will go and get our "babies" out of the kennel at last!

Ling has already said at this point she doesn't even want to go back to the Philippines! Well, we will see as time goes on if she still feels that way and whether or not she will begin to get homesick. We went to Jollibee's on Maryland Parkway. They also have a Red Ribbon Bakery and a ChowKing and a large Philippine Market, a bank for PNP Bank for sending money, an Atlas shipping company for shipping Balakbyan Boxes and even a Pharmacy. While there she said she felt as if she was already back in the PI again!

I don't know if you will have a chance to put this in your up coming column but if so I want to thank all those that attended our Bon Voyage party at the Garden and Dine on 7 February. It was great to have so many of our friends and family come to wish us well and a happy and safe trip. We appreciate each and everyone of you from the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much and God bless each and everyone of you and your families. As for those that were unable to attend, well, you missed a great time, however, we appreciate your friendship just the same and thank you for allowing us to be a part of your lives during our time and stay in the Philippines. We hope to see many of you down the road a ways in the not too distant future and no matter where any of us might be in the world. It really is a small world after all. To all please be safe, and stay safe, and keep in touch till we meet again. From The Best City Of Them All, James and Ling Winterbottom."

Harry, Greetings from the deep south. I read your column every month and enjoy the shared view points and stories that make the Philippines such a special place. Mindanao is often described as a no go zone and is off radar for many. For those who do not believe everything they read in the papers, the net, or warden embassy notices, you may find much of Mindanao a very nice warm and peaceful place, certainly beautiful. Should any intrepid travelers feel that they would like to learn more about the area of north Mindanao that has a very active expat population then feel free to contact me. The largest of the expat populations live, some work,in Cagayan De Oro city where my bar is. We are well know for cold beers and great food, both local and international. A warm friendly welcome awaits anyone who visits us. The bar details are www.spookscdo.com. So do not be shy, leave the Kevlar at home:)) and get out and see some of the most beautiful parts of the Philippines. Mike (Mike, I am one of those that have never been to Mindanao, in fact I seldom get out of Angeles City. I have heard that there are places in Mindanao that are safe to go to and enjoy a bit of a holiday. I checked out your website and your establishment looks great. I especially enjoyed the picture of the ball racker! Who knows, maybe some year the Mrs and I will make it to Cagayan De Oro and for sure, I will want to check out Spooks Bar. Glad to see you have a dart board available. Thanks for the info and thanks for reading this column each month)

Harry, I heard or read somewhere that the Xtremely Xpresso had really good pizza. I normally eat yours or Cold Drop when the male cook is on duty. At any rate this place is in the back of the SM food court next to Hot Shots. I ordered the 14" (small) double pepperoni at PhP499 and sat back to enjoy some good pizza. I also ordered Macchiato caramel coffee at 80p while I waited for the pizza. The coffee arrived promptly and was very good but the cup was a bit on the small size for $1.75. I turned on my Wi-fi scanner on my phone and noticed they had a connection but needed a key. I asked waitress for the key but she stated it was only for the use of the employees. I told her this was the first time I have heard of something like this. You would think with these prices they could afford to let you use their connection. According to the write up on the Clark/Subic/Marketing site the Wi-fi is free, go figure why she would not let me use it. So, about halfway through my coffee the Pizza arrives all wrapped up to go since I had ordered it to go. I should have checked it before I left. When I got back to work and opened the box about 10 minutes later I was not too happy as the cheese looked like a gooey oily mess with so much grease swimming on the top and it was very yellow almost orange. The crust was very soft and not conducive to holding in your hand and eating. The first bite confirmed that the crust was not fully cooked long enough or the heat was not high enough in their pizza oven if they have one. It was still very doughy and was like chewing gum almost. The cheese was not mozzarella or any thing close to it, it tasted like cheddar cheese or something like that. The pepperoni was not really tasty and was paper thin. It just did not taste like a pepperoni pizza, maybe the flavor of the cheese masked the taste of everything else. I will not be ordering any more pizza there, just stick with the ones I know. Regards, Chuck. (Chuck, I will have to visit this restaurant and see what is up. The website for the one at Subic paints a rosy picture and does mention free WiFi access. Seems strange to me that they would not make it accessible here at Clark).

Attention! A Lewis Grand Hotel special rate is presented. This is hot off the press from GM James. This is "crazy" - Wow Listen to this! We will have a very special and unique PRE-BOOKING *SPECIAL* DISCOUNT CRAZE AT THE LGH. You can get 25 (twenty five) % DISCOUNT on ALL room types, for a total of 4 months at a top rated hotel in Angeles City! This is how it works: You should / have to book your room(s) night(s) from now until latest March 31st and guarantee your reservation with a Credit Card. We will charge a 1 night non refundable deposit. The other payments can be made any time before or during your stay, in Cash or with Credit Card. The dates of your stay / validity of this * SPECIAL DISCOUNT * have to be between June 1st and September 30th, 2010. Only bookings done and guaranteed for (with a 1 night non-refundable deposit) before March 31st... and for dates that are between June 1st and September 30th, 2010, are covered. Why are we doing this? Normally summer seasons are a bit slower here in the PI then our winter months (= high season). So since we know this / we can already anticipate this, we can offer you a * SPECIAL DISCOUNT *, that way we can better plan the room bookings in advance - and beat the trend that always everything get's more expensive...So, contrary to the normal "SOP" that when the occupancy rate is (foreseen) to go down, "rise the price", to "compensate" for "lost revenue" (...) - WE actually "beat that trend", by LOWERING our room rates AHEAD of time and therefore give YOU guys plenty of time to be able to schedule your trip(s), so that you can fully BENEFIT from our LOW-LOW rates! So... let us know, alright... Thank YOU ! Reservations@LewisGrand.com. Disclaimer: we reserve the right to discontinue this offer at any time.

MOVIES AT THE LEWIS GRAND HOTEL - Every evening, around 6.30 to 6.45 pm, they are showing movies on a giant screen, in garden area, above the pool. They have a movie listing that you can look at and give suggestions for additions. The movie nights are free but of course management hopes you will splurge on a few drinks and even, maybe, a bit to eat. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, from 6 to 10 PM, they have a happy hour with local drinks at 50 pesos. What a deal, watch a movie and enjoy bargain priced drinks.

I love getting visitors from different countries who come by to meet me and tell me that they enjoy my column. I am so grateful to have met so many people from the US, Canada, Australia, Sweden and Norway but it is rare that someone from Holland drops by. Imagine my surprise then to have met Rene and Frans from Hilversum, Holland one evening and to learn that they keep up with what is happening in AC through my column. When I was stationed in Germany I had the opportunity to visit Holland a couple of times and loved it, especially the window shopping. But wait, I did do some regular sightseeing as well and I fell in love with the country. Can you imagine an old New Yorker from 32nd St., Astoria, Queens standing in front of the house where Anne Frank was in hiding. I loved the canals, the wooden shoe factory, and so many other sights. I never forgot the window shopping though. Did I mention that they were staying at the Wild Orchid Hotel? No? OK, consider it mentioned. Thanks for stopping by guys.

Philippines stops authorizing women to work at ‘juicy bars’ near U.S. bases By Jon Rabiroff, Franklin Fisher and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes, Pacific edition, Friday, February 5, 2010.

In the Songtan entertainment district outside Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Wednesday, people walk past Club Sting. Base officials have told the owner of the Sting and three other local clubs that they could be declared off limits to U.S. service members over allegations that they'd been venues for bar-fining.

SEOUL — The Philippine government has stopped approving requests from promoters seeking authorization for Filipinas to work in the “juicy bars” that cluster around U.S. military bases in South Korea and where prostitution is a continuing problem. “If the venue is located near a U.S. base or the so-called seamen’s clubs near the shipyards ... we have not been approving or verifying the employment documents,” Philippine Embassy labor attaché Delmer Cruz said Tuesday. A Stars and Stripes investigation in September highlighted the ease with which a U.S. service member could arrange to pay for sex with the bar workers. The Philippines crackdown started last year and has been stepped up gradually, Cruz said, pointing out that promoters now submit proposed contracts for work only at venues away from bases and shipyards.

(Oh dear, does that mean so many less "dancers" and "female vocalists" will be heading to Korea thereby affecting the much needed money finding its way back to the Philippines? Look on the bright side, that now leaves more sweet ladies to apply for employment on Fields Ave and beyond. We can definitely find many spots for those talented "vocalists".)

The same old shit - On Saturday, 6 Feb, around 5 PM, a local Club on Perimeter Road had visitors from one of the local Gestapo law enforcement agencies. They found a violation after setting up a bit of a sting. The normal routine was put into effect. Agents flowed into the establishment, money cleaned out from the cashiers cage and they even tried to take the personal money of the female cashier but she fought to keep that. Ladies and managers hustled outside and loaded into vehicles and taken to a certain location. P300,000 later all is forgiven and now all we have to do is wait for the monetarily deprived men with badges to decide their next target. One must admire the Filipino law enforcement folks as they so easily adapt to new trends. No doubt they have been listening to President Obama's plans for income redistribution and decided to set an example of how this can be accomplished. Find a Club that is fairly successful, set up a sting, collect all that nasty dirty money and distribute it, I suspect not so evenly, to those low income cops that want to improve their life styles. Does this have anything to do with the upcoming elections? Is it, once again, time for bent cops to start harvesting those golden eggs? Oh well, so goes the price of doing business in Angeles City. Once in a while you have to pay the piper. Now you know why the "old days" will never return, it is too damn expensive and it is cheaper to try and follow the rules and avoid any policies that might open the door for visits by the "Gestapo".

GOOD NEWS! - SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Kalaklan Lighthouse Bridge, which connects the Subic Bay Freeport to Olongapo City and the rest of Zambales, will remain open until June 2010 while a new bridge is being constructed to replace it.
Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Administrator Armand Arreza said the bridge will not be closed as originally planned, but will continue to be open to light vehicles and pedestrians in response to appeals made by the city government and business groups in Olongapo City. Arreza has directed the agency’s Engineering Department to ask the project contractor to install additional safety mechanisms and regularly conduct maintenance work on the existing bridge to ensure public safety. “We do not mind spending more for this project if it means ensuring that public interest is served adequately,” Arreza said. SBMA’s move is expected to avert a potential traffic disaster in Olongapo, which would absorb all vehicular traffic from the Freeport to Zambales and vice versa once the existing bridge is closed. Olongapo City officials and businessmen led by Mayor James Gordon Jr. have made representations with the SBMA to consider other options, citing the huge traffic volume that the city will have to take during the year-long construction period and the adverse impact on the tourism industry in Olongapo and Zambales during peak season in the summer months.

The Thai Baht Restaurant - When I wrote about this restaurant I indicated that I was less than happy with the meal I consumed there. In my opinion, at that time, I felt that the quality was not up to the standard of taste that I had become accustomed to during the five years I spent in Thailand and also became used to in Thai restaurants located in other countries. But, since that time I have listened to other people who voiced the same opinion. But, fair is fair. Recently my friend Ian indicated that he and seven of his friends ate there and they were extremely happy with the meal. He also told his fellow drinking mates at Garfields are all happy with the food served there. Well, that is good to hear. He told me that their only complaint in the beginning was that the portions were too small, and that this has been corrected. I still feel that the location is convenient and the owners are nice folks. Possibly my taste buds perform differently from those who drink at Garfields. No doubt, the solution would be for me to start drinking at Garfields which is not a bad idea since it is a great place to pursue that type of entertainment. But, I may not be welcome there so I will close my comments by admitting that I am easily, not a great judge of what is good or not good in the food preparation business. By all means, check out the Thai-Baht restaurant and form your own opinion. One day I may take Priscilla there and give it another try. After all, seven dedicated tasters from Garfields can't be all that wrong. By the way, Ian had his Valentines dinner with his Mrs at Asti's, in Hensonville. That is one restaurant that we both agree is an excellent choice for dining pleasure.

I suspect the owners of the Champagne Group could care less about your complaint or it appearing in this column. I made this comment last month in answer to a complaint by Peter, from Australia about the pricing of wine in that he felt he had been taken advantage of. I stand corrected! Rolf, one of the partners of the Champagne Group did feel strongly enough about this complaint that he did visit me on 13 Feb at my Stable and also brought along his Mamasan, Mommie Marlyn. It was admitted that the waitress did make a mistake in quoting a price of P95 for a glass of wine when in fact, the price was P125 rather than the P150 quoted by Peter. This error was corrected immediately by the cashier and Mommie Marlyn. Yes, the waitress should have been aware of the correct price, especially since that price had been put in effect at least a month before Peter's order. The waitress was reprimanded by management and Rolf emphasized that there was absolutely no intent of overcharging the customer. He was adamant in insisting that he would not tolerate any abuse of customers in his establishments and would fire out anyone doing so. His concern was that people would have the perception that there were pricing anomalies in the Champagne Group and that this is not so. I was impressed that Rolf would take the time to come to me personally to set the record straight and he most definitely does care about customer care and running an honest shop. Sometime this month Rolf will be out of the Club business as someone has made a cash deposit to purchase his shares in the Champagne Group. He is tired of being in the bar business and has plans to get into the Hotel business in a year or so. Beth and Tony will remain with the Group but right now even Rolf does not know who the new investors are. Yes, I know, that is unusual but Rolf insists it is true. Supposedly they are friends of Tony. Rolf and his sister have been a part of the Champagne Group for many years and he has worked hard to make it a successful Corporation. I am more than pleased to learn that Beth Leidheuser will remain as a key partner in this operation.

Ron Chesley, Barrio Barrio, has reported on a new Rib House located at the SBMA: A friend of mine went to the new rib house on SBMA. It is on boardwalk across the street from scuba shack. He said the ribs are excellent there. Only cost P1,800 for four persons (that's only about P450 each for a rib dinner - not bad at all.

ANGELES CITY – A retired member of the United States Navy was shot dead in front of his residence in Barangay Pulung Maragul on Wednesday. In his report, Chief Inspector Roger Tomen, commander of Police Station 3, identified the victim as Raymond Buenaflor, 72, resident of 43-19A Eleuterio Street, Pulung Maragul village. Initial investigation showed that the victim was in front of his residence when an unidentified suspect shot him in the chest. The victim’s stay-in housemaid told police investigators that she was resting inside her room around 10:30 p.m. when she heard a gunshot coming from outside the house. When the housemaid went to see the incident, she found the victim holding his chest, trying to control the blood flow from the shot. She immediately called Buenaflor’s live-in partner. The victim received a single bullet wound on the left lower part of his chest, causing his death. The body of the victim was brought to a funeral parlor for autopsy. Investigators said a caliber .38 slug was found at the crime scene. As of this posting, police are still unable to establish the possible motive and the identity of the suspect. (anyone want to take any bets on this crime being solved? Pulung Maragul is located in the area heading towards the Marquee Mall, Don Bonafacio, City Hall)

The newly formed Angeles Sports and Country Club (ASCC) Golf Club can now boast of having 61 members. Each month the Club has a medal golf tournament in which the winner and placing's receive points and these points will accumulate throughout the year. At the end of the year the person having the most points will be the ASCC Golf Club Champion, obviously. Sounds like a great challenge for our local golfers. For further details contact General Manager, Mark Lord at 0918-556-0322 or Email at marklord@golfasia.org.

One night, while enjoying a drink or two at the Thi-Hi I met a gentleman named "Shadrock Donney Brenton" from the Gold Coast, Australia. He told me to mention his name here and that "everyone in Australia knows him". That is a hell of a big claim as Australia is pretty well populated. Can all those folks in Australia who know Shadrock drop me a short note so I can count up how many folks really know this lad. Whatever the result, I am very pleased to have met him because I like everybody who reads this column and enjoys it. OK, I even like those folks who hate it as well.

That portion of the Perimeter Road (Don Juico) leading to the Friendship Freeport (Clark) gate is undergoing a major facelift. Work on tearing down the existing street and repaving it began in Feb and should be completed sometime this month. Motorists taking this route to enter the base have to deal with the inconvenience entering and more so, exiting. The detour encountered when exiting, leading to the Friendship Hi-way can experience major congestion at certain times of the day, especially, around 5 PM. Like most major road projects, the end product will have been worth the temporary inconvenience when a much improved road is opened to the public. Now, I would like to be able to point out a hell of a lot more roads that need paving, but regretfully, are not located near "Korean Town".

WHERE ARE THOSE BEANS? My friend Larry S. is upset! He loves the Navy Bean special offered at the VFW every Thursday. This guy is a dedicated, fanatical bean lover from Las Vegas who must have a bit of Boston in him somehow. Anyway, for three weeks in a row he could not get his bean meal because the VFW kitchen ran out early. Now, this might have made the folks living in his house happy because the air quality would not be damaged, but poor Larry is going through withdrawal pains. Common sense would dictate that the Filipino manager of the VFW Kitchen would increase the number of Navy Bean meals available each Thursday. My recommendation was that he call the VFW early and reserve a meal so one would be available. Remember, bean eaters must not be denied their pleasure, it is dangerous to their health. So, VFW, get your act together, increase your supply of beans and make Larry happy!

Wee George, previously with the Blue Nile Group and then with the Wee George Club can be found at the new Forbidden City Club (It should be open for business sometime this month). Meanwhile the Wee George Club has closed its doors. I have heard that the lease was expiring and that the owner, Mr. Morales wanted to raise the rent from P35,000 a month to P40,000. This is a bit expensive for a Perimeter Road Bar but still, maybe the owners of the place could have come up with that monthly fee. The killer was that, Morales was asking for one year's rent in advance and an additional 4 month deposit. That would be P560,000 up front and man, that is heavy money up front.

Where is Dennis Mitchell these days? He has moved over to take day time managerial duties at the Bada Bing along with his buddy Graham who has the night shift. This is a dynamic duo team with the ability to make this Club into something "Harro the Great" never came close to doing. Now when I enter this Club it has plenty of customers and the dancers look pretty darn good. In fact my special lady pick for this month is a dancer there. Dennis is experienced, friendly, respected and has a loyal following of friends. Hopefully, I am one of them. Where Dennis has a quiet demeanor, Graham is more outgoing and has a great outgoing personality. Put them both together and you have one hell of a management team. What a difference new ownership of a Club can mean to a once dying on its feet Club.

Speaking of ownership -- I mentioned last month that the Peanuts Club was sold and indeed it has been. But, the new owners have not come up with all the money yet due to red tape. Three quarters of the money has been paid to the present owner but the last payment has been delayed as there has been difficulty in getting the money out of Valenzuela. So this has delayed the turnover of the club and lately business has been so good that the owner is more than pleased to with the delay.

A medical tip from John Cummings, Margarita Station. For anyone considering going to Thailand for medical treatment check out the Bangkok Hospital on New Petchburi Road for pricing comparison. His medical treatment there was P16,000 for a procedure that would have cost P55,000 in another popular hospital used by many foreigners. He was extremely happy with the treatment he received at this hospital.

Joe (The big banana) from Oregon, told me about the big birthday blast for Dave (Mo) at the Barrio last month. It seems that Joe organized a roasting of Dave that went real well and he also had some special panties made for a few of the ladies on hand. Needless to say some of the panties ended up on Dave's head and he also used a special technique to remove some of the panties from selected females. In addition to all this included in the birthday celebrations was Thomo and of course, by the time all festivities ended there were one hell of a lot of bell rings. The big banana has assured me that he is already working on next years celebrations and that they will be bigger and better. Maybe I will be able to make the next one and get a few pictures. Joe was telling me that he once had a bar featuring 100 naked dancers in Oregon but made a pretty bundle when he sold it. He now has one of the biggest existing pear farms in the US. I last saw Joe at Daddy Steve's bachelor party a year ago and it was good to see him again. Belated birthday greetings to Dave and Tommo.

I was happy to greet Ed Limberger, from Iowa again. This has to be one of the happiest guy living in Iowa because he gets so many opportunities to get the hell out of Iowa. Only kidding, he loves it there and is getting ready to plant so blackberry and raspberry vines and watch them grow. He visits here a few times a year and is always traveling to different locations to help people. He always stays at the America Hotel. He asked me what I wanted him to bring me and I asked for the smoked salami. Once in a while when I go to Vegas I find a salami roll hanging from a display and bring it back with me. I love salami and Ed looked all over and all he could find was a roll of beer stick but a damn big one. Now, once I figure out how to open it I will eat it up over a period of time. I don't know what Iowa is famous for but it sure is not salami. Ed lives there and doesn't know what it is famous for. I figure that their claim to fame would be having a great guy like Ed living there. That is good enough for me.

When I was checking out the "One Eyed Wench Club" next to Treasure Island on Fields Ave I met Mommie Myrna and she asked me for a favor. She told me about a nice guy that she lost touch with and has been trying to make contact with him for 11 years. It has nothing to do with romance, he was just a nice guy she met in the "Chicago Club" many years ago and he was a nice guy who laughed a lot, treated everyone well and always bought a lot of flowers to give to Myrna and the ladies working in the Club. He was a Navy guy from Hawaii, John (Jhun) Housic. She lost his calling card and for 11 years has been wondering what happened to him. I told her I would mention her search in my column and who knows, maybe two old friends could communicate with each other again. If John should happen to read this or anyone knowing him could clue him in, have him drop me a line and I could deliver any message to Myrna. It's a long shot, but what the hell, it's worth a try.

WOW WEDNESDAYS - 3 Mar - Dirty Duck; 10 Mar - Lollipop; 17 Mar - Golden Nile St. Patrick's day party; 24 Mar - Rhapsody; 31 - Neros

DOGHOUSE - 6 Mar - Forbidden City; 13 Mar - Tropix; 20 Mar - Labamba; 27 Mar

March events at the Lewis Grand Hotel...Thursday, March 4 - Mongolian Barbeque - 6 to 10 pm

Sunday, March 14 – Boxing - Pacquiao -vs- Mayweather from 9 am... (till fight end) (see also: http://pacquiao-vs-mayweather.cebuspace.com/) - Breakfast available for Pesos 350... or just "go as you please / order"... full menu available... !

Sunday, April 4 - "Easter Egg Hunt" at the Lewis Grand Hotel
12 noon to 4 pm (more information will be available soon... please contact James@LewisGrand.com)

ABC HOTEL - 12 Mar - The hottest boxing event is coming to ABC Hotel this March! The WET & WILD BOXING: Round 4 is happening on March 12, 2010 at the ABC Hotel pool from 12:00 NOON ONWARDS. This year’s WWB party is sure to be the talk of the town. Watch hot girls clash on the ring in sizzling five-on-five boxing fights! Get wet and wild with over a hundred beautiful ladies in this mega-monster pool party! Have the time of your life from noon to the break of dawn as the WWB girls celebrate hard in the after-party! This year’s WWB party is a charity event for the Duyan ni Maria (Mary’s Cradle) Orphanage at Hensonville, Angeles City. Purchase your donation stubs from the ABC Hotel front desk: P1000 (for guests) and P500 (for ladies). Doors will close once the venue reaches full capacity, so purchase your stubs asap! Don’t miss out on the biggest party yet of 2010! For more information about the event,go to www.angelesbeachclubhotel.com

Hi Harry, I just thought that I would let you all know that last Sunday's OZ day @ the Angeles Sports and Country Club (ASCC) was a fantastic success. We had around 250 people throughout the day, either in one of the International golf, lawn bowls, pool and darts tournaments or just lazing around dating some snags on a roll with onions or a meat pie and listening to the music of Angeles City's very own "Cherry Boys" as well as Greg Morris lead singer from the World famous Western Australian group "The Rileys". These two music icons along with the seeet tones of Elsie Gibbs singing "Advance Australia Fair" made for a great day had by all. No doubt, one of the highlights of the day was Mr. Dave Donney easily defending his Angeles City wood chopping title that he previously won in 1975. He was so good at it that he did not have to change his white pants and was so fast that no one actually saw the event. Anyway friends, this particular event is over but by no means will be the last. Regards, Mark Anthony Lord. (I did not catch all the events that day but got there around 2 PM for the darts and pool competitions. I was very impressed with the venue, the band, the food, the people in attendance and it was one hell of a fun day for young and old. It was non-stop action and the beer was flowing freely. It was a family day to go down in the memory banks and by golly, one hell of a climax to a week of activities celebrating Australia Day. Besides that old guy Dave Donney coming back after 35 years to show that age does not matter the Angeles City Dart Team defeated the Subic challengers (Down Under team and the International Pool team whupped up on the Aussie team. Golf; January Monthly Medal, teams event won by Jon Rimmer & Tony Bond)

As promised last month I will put a few pictures of some of the beauties that were in the contest that I was lucky enough to be a judge of. Folks, these were were fine looking ladies and they and there are plenty more scattered all over the Philippines. By the way, none of these contestants worked in the bars. They ranged in age from 18 to 23. Dream on folks, dream on. I forgot to mention that one of the judges was Alex C. Paita. I realize that name does not mean anything to anyone, including me, but this guy is the photographer for the Philippine magazine, FHM. I really like that magazine and you guys that are here in AC, if you remember to do so, buy a copy. This guy gets to photograph some damn beautiful women in minimal clothes and provocative poses. Check out the magazine and you will see why I think Alex has a great job.

This is a case of a "on again, off again" story with me. I first wrote about this new Hotel when Roger Wheeler was hired as the manager and he visited with me to brief me on the merits of the Hotel. OK fine, I passed on his accolades but then within a week after publication, I found that Roger had resigned and passed on to me the many negative aspects of that Hotel. So, I wrote that up as well. Then, I happened to meet the new manager, a Filipino gentleman, in late January at a meeting we were both attending. He invited me to visit the Hotel. I accepted the invitation and joined him for lunch, conversation and a walk through of the Hotel. He admitted that Roger's comments had a mix of truth and not not so truthful. He indicated that the faults mentioned by Roger had been addressed by him and corrected. Eric Cruz is the new GM at this Hotel and he is well qualified to bring it up to a very high standard. I have know this man for a few years, a past member of the Hotels and Restaurants Association in Pampanga (HARP) and an educator at various colleges within Angeles City. During my walk through of Hotel A I saw clean, large rooms that were surprisingly larger than one would expect. The standard rooms at P1,500 a night were larger than one would expect. The other category of rooms and pricing are: Twin - P1,800, Deluxe - P2,000, Suite - P4,700. Perks are a laundry service, driving service (drop off and pick-up, 24 hours), drop-off or pick-up at the Manila Airport, P2,500 but free at the Clark Airport (DMIA). Wi-Fi internet connectivity and also a free cell phone service to anywhere in the world available at the front desk. A daily buffet is available in the restaurant and at this time construction is on-going on a 60 room wing. A small swimming pool is available as well. This is a Korean owned hotel and most of you know how I feel about Korean owned establishments but in this case, with Eric at the helm, ALL Nationalities are welcome at the Hotel A and this allows me to easily add this Hotel to my list of recommended places to rest your bodies at when visiting Angeles City.

The question is, was Joe McIntosh a distinguished visitor? Was he a well known actor? Not quite! But he was fun to meet and did look a like like the character in Seinfield, "George". Joe is from Media, Pennsylvania, USA and is a practicing lawyer. He owns the law office of Joe McInTosh in Media and I have no idea if he is a good lawyer or now but I do know that he has a hell of a great personality. This was his first visit to Angeles City and he was staying at the Orchid Inn. Thailand is still number one in his book because of safety, great shopping, food is better, transportation is better and it is a cheap place to fly out of. That is not to say he did not enjoy himself in our interesting City but I am not sure if he will be stopping by our way anytime too soon. He travels for three months every year, spends two months in Thailand and one month checking out other countries. By the way, he is still single and he appears to be very happy with his present life style. Hell, who wouldn't be!

Sometimes it takes me a long time to get around to visiting an establishment even though I keep reminding myself each month to get off my ass and just go. Such is the case with the Enclave Fitness Center. Ever since it opened last year I have been wanting to check it out and take a few pictures. Finally, one day last month I drove over and was glad I did. I was surprised to meet someone there who brought back memories of someone I wrote about way back in 2002. I ran into Art Galera, one of the personal trainers at the Center. Way back in 2002 or 2003, not sure of the dates, I met Joseph Chanco, his wife Lisa and their new born child. Joe was the owner of the Divine Bodies gym on 7th Street. It was not a fancy place but it had the basics and Joseph and his wife were two hard working people trying to earn a decent living with the gym. Joe was a body builder who was the picture of health and won many contests in Manila and throughout the Philippines. Art was Joseph's uncle and is a body builder as well. When I saw Art at the Enclave I was flooded with many memories of a family I had lost touch with when they left the Philippines to live in Canada. I was shocked and saddened when Art informed me that Joseph had died suddenly on 24 Dec, 2003, he was 32 years old. Lisa and the children continue to live in Canada. But, let me get back to the Fitness Center. This is a very modern, clean, streamlined Center with all the appropriate exercising equipment. In addition to Art I met with Joe Ega, the manager who came to Angeles from Singapore. These two men are well qualified in their chosen fields of physical fitness. Membership in the Enclave Fitness Center gives you access to two floors of exercise equipment, the swimming pool and a sauna. I must mention that the sauna is the smallest I have ever seen. I would not want to share the limited space with anyone. The normal monthly fee for membership is P1,950 but senior citizens (63 years +) is P1,300 but one can avail of the frequent promotions that are offered throughout the year. I was impressed with the Center for its streamlined look and personnel assigned to assist customers. I would suggest that anyone interested in physical fitness make a personal visit to the Enclave Fitness Center to check it out. When there, when asking questions, be sure to get details about their in-house rules for attire, etc. I forgot to do that but have heard about them from others since my visit. It is nice to have two fitness centers to choose from, the Enclave and the AC1Gym. Both are excellent facilities but I am a simple guy with simple tastes and I am not into the "Yuppie World" therefore I am more comfortable with the AC1 Gym, and I love their very large steam room. At the Enclave I like the access to their swimming pool which is a great way to get that cardiovascular exercise for the old ticker. The Enclave is too high class for me, I like the good old boy/girl atmosphere of the AC1 Gym but check out both establishments and make your own choice. Joining any Fitness Center is your first step to a healthier, more rewarding life style and both the Enclave Fitness Center and AC1 Gym can meet your needs. Meanwhile this old horse will continue to sweat it out in the AC1 gym steam room.

A bit of a flash back to the old days. How many folks remember the Top Hat and Valentines Bars? So many people ask me about what it was like back when. All I can say is that you think this town is great now, well, for entertainment value, nothing compares to what it was like when these two clubs and many more were enjoying their "Hey Days". Things are more upscale now, clubs are fancier, the entertainment is more subdued, it is a bit more expensive but not all that much when you take into consideration the peso to dollar rate back then. I regret that I was not taking many pictures back then but even now, the face of the entertainment area changes frequently and new clubs are built and old ones are taken over, renamed, and renovations made. The next thing you know, today, becomes the "old days" in a year or so. But how many people will remember these new bars as well as they might remember the "Fire Empire" and the "Hard Rock Cafe"? Just mentioning those names brings back some wonderful memories and a great big smile to my face. But, sadly, back then they did not have the "Bunny Burger" place to sit and enjoy some great burgers, so it ain't all that bad today.

One thing that has not changed over the years is the opportunity to meet wonderful, sweet, very pretty women here. My pick for this month is definitely one fantastic lady. She has just the right amount of shyness, personality, and sweetness to make any guy happy to know her. There were a bunch of good looking women on the Bada Bing stage when I visited but somehow, 23 year old Regina stood out from the crowd. She was not the prettiest, not the best figure, not the biggest chest or any of those stand-out characteristics, but she had a "look", a sweetness that reached out to anyone looking at her. It is hard to explain, but this lady HAD to be my choice for this month. Someone else thought she was sweet and she has a 10 month old boy to prove it. Of course, the guy is no longer around, your typical story and of course he was a Filipino that moved on. She hails from Valenzuela, Manila and has 2 brothers and 8 sisters so comes from a hell of a large family. She told me she only wants two kids and since she already has one, whoever marries her only has one to go. Before embarking on a, hopefully, short career in the entertainment business, she was a saleslady in Manila. Regina is a high school graduate who enjoys reading and watching TV. She has been in AC for three months and is interested in meeting a nice guy with serious intentions between 25 to 35 years of age. Sorry guys, she does not have an Email address so you have to meet her at the Bada Bing. On the plus side, without an Email address you know she is not communicating with 5 or 6 guys at the same time, also, she is not worked long enough to be "hardened" by the bar experience. If you are interested, hurry because I do not think she will be working all that long. I hope you like her photo but believe me, this is the type of lady you have to meet in person. Take it from the horse!

One day last month I was surprised all to hell to find so many customers in my bar on a non-pool day. The surprised grew even larger as I found out that all these lads came from Magnetic Island in North Queensland and that they all read this column each month. From L to R are: Barry Salisbury, Alan Parker, Daryl Castles, Nick Bain, Ron Worlley, Alan Metcalee, Roscoe, Kjell Johansson and Pascal Johansson. I had never heard of a place called Magnetic Island but I am pleased to say that I pulled out my map of Queensland and found its location and marked in on my map. It is real close to the Barrier Reef and well represented by this group of guys I now call "The Magnetic Island Gang". Two of the gang, Kjell and Pascal live in La Union but the rest and a couple more who did not make it to my stable are back on the Island by now, planning their next trip. They are a mix of divorced and single guys who know where to go to have a grand old time. I liked the shirt worn by Daryl that stated he was a "genuine beer drinker, made in Australia". I suspect that he is not alone in that department. A GREAT bunch of guys who "made my day" and I hope will do so again some day.

After the very busy time of all our charity and family activities in Dec Priscilla announced that she needed a break. There was no discussion allowed, she wanted a weekend away just to chill out and that was it. During one's married life wise men know when to smile, say ok and just shut up. Down deep I know she deserved a few days to relax but of course, being stuck in my ways, I had no desire to travel out of Angeles City. I figured she would forget about it or at the very least, not push it too hard. Wrong!! I managed to delay it until Feb and then realized she was dead serious when she started packing our bags and telling me she already booked a weekend at the Southern Cross Hotel in Manila to coincide with my VA Clinic appointment in Manila on a Monday. Ah Hah, moment of truth, time for me, again, to smile, bite my tongue and go with the flow. I made the reservation for two on the Southern Cross bus that leaves from the Brass Knob every day at one PM and on 20 Feb we were picked up at the Hotel and delivered to the Brass Knob. One minor problem, I did not know our 11 year old son was going with us until the van picked us up. I was surprised and Priscilla told me that she told me that since Monday was a holiday he would not be in school so could go with us. Naturally, if she did indeed tell me then, of course, I forgot. Another time to smile and shut up. The bus was fully booked but thanks to a cancellation Jason, our son, managed to get a seat. We enjoyed the bus, it arrived and left on time going and returning and the seats were quite comfortable, bus staff terrific and it was nice to see Richard Giles on hand to make sure all was well. Naturally, with camera, notebook and pen in hand I was ready to check out the Southern Cross Hotel, an objective long delayed as I do not get to Manila all that often. Priscilla had reserved the family room at the reasonable cost of P2,200 a night, on the 5th floor. Now, this is where things started to go a bit wrong. We were told that the elevator was out of order, only just happened that morning. Oh dear, that did not make me a happy camper but I slowly, with my bum knees and bad back, made it up to the room. I will not say how long it took me but Priscilla finished a sandwich and drink waiting for me. After unpacking and giving my knees and back a chance to recover we decided to it was time to head out. By that time, I was thrilled to find out that the elevator was operational. Oh happy days!! I must mention that for the first time ever, I took my computer notebook with me so that I could pull up the surveillance cameras at my stable and keep track of what was going on and also to keep my Emails at a reasonable level. When we got downstairs I enquired about WiFi availability in the room. I was told that the fifth floor did not have access or the third floor but that the fourth floor and second floor, plus the bar had access. The technician who could work on that would not be available until Monday. I guess they have a router problem there but OK, no problem, I could experiment in the bar later on.

Where to go? We thought of Mall of Asia but I was not keen on getting there and doing all that walking. On past visits I never did figure out where everything was. So we opted for "Robinson's Place" a great mall only a P55 taxi ride from the Southern Cross. Personally, I like Mall's, in fact I can spend a whole day shopping, girl watching and eating. It was a great mall. Priscilla and Jason went their way and I went mine and we met later for dinner at the "Gumbo" restaurant specializing in New Orleans style food. It was pleasing to find a restaurant that was not available in the Malls here in Angeles City. We had a nice, tasty, relaxing meal that was not overly expensive. Growing a bit weary we made it back to the hotel and made it an early night.

Sunday, we headed out to walk along Roxas to take some pictures and then headed back to Robinson's Place to eat an early lunch. I then went to a movie, a good one with Mel Gibson, "Edge of Darkness" while Priscilla and Jason did their own thing. Afterwards, more shopping, window shopping and then headed back to the Hotel. Guess what, the elevator was out of order again. I wanted to use my laptop and was not going up and down five flights of stairs again so I sent the Mrs and son up with our packages and to get my laptop to bring down to the bar. I must say that I enjoyed the bar and the head man Jerry Kilminster was on hand to be a great host. I enjoyed his company and he was very apologetic about the elevator and the WiFi glitches. Actually, I realized that I happened to have arrive at a time when "shit happens" and management can do nothing except wait for Monday when technicians can be reached. I was happy, my laptop worked and I could sort out my Emails and check on the hotel/bar at home. The live music was entertaining and the food was good. Priscilla and Jason joined me and later in the evening they headed back upstairs while I stayed in the bar to gather my energy for the climb and to take a few pictures. Eventually, I made it upstairs and enjoyed a bit of TV and reading before hitting the sack (Suggestion, need a brighter light for reading in bed).

Monday, up early, took a picture through the window of the kids and adults sleeping on the sidewalk five floors below. Just a reminder to me and the family of how lucky we were to be able to enjoy our outing, eat well, shop and have a decent home to go back to. The problems with the elevator and the WiFi did not seem all that important and I was able to point out to my son how lucky we were. Guess what, when we got back from my VA appointment to get ready for the 3:30 bus back to AC, the elevator was working again. Fantastic!

Was it a good weekend? You bet! Would I return to the Southern Cross Hotel? Yep, as long as I knew the elevator was working and maybe even the WiFi on the fifth floor. The location is convenient, the price is reasonable, food good, great little bar, people friendly and I liked Terry and Josephine. They had a frustrating weekend with the elevator but maintained their sense of humor and went out of their way to be helpful. Could I recommend it to others? Easily! For sure, I think highly of Richard Giles and his super bus service and I know I will be using that again.

You're sitting home on Sunday afternoon and you start to think about dinner. Your favorite lady doesn't want to cook and insists that you should take her out to eat. Question, where to go that is easy to get to and has a bit of a unique offering? For me, the answer is the Sunday buffet at the Niagara on A. Santos Street, just pass the Wild Orchid Inn. What I liked about this buffet is that the mix of available selections each Sunday offers something for everyone's taste. Additionally, it is not expensive and the setting is very informal. I'd love to tell you how much it cost but, yep, once again, lost the notes on that one. I keep grabbing a different pad when I run out of the stable and then go crazy trying to find the right one. Oh well, I do remember it is a decent buffet and it certainly is easy on the pocketbook. So, what the hell, get on over there one Sunday and give it a try. I'm sitting here typing away with my deadline fast approaching and I forgot my birthday is tomorrow so you can understand, my short term memory, or is it long term, or a combination of both, is beginning to fade on me. At least I did remember to write about this particular buffet and I did remember that it was good, not the greatest in town, but by golly, well worth a visit. I like the people there as well.

I better mention Marcus and Gina Aytch before they think that I have forgotten them. They were very special visitors who are living together in Saudi Arabia while Marcus is working as a contractor on F-15's maintaining the avionics. They have been together on for four years and have two children. Marcus is a retired Air Force E-7 and he met Gina four years ago while he was stationed in Okinawa. While visiting Angeles City they stayed in the Hotel Royal Amsterdam. I believe this was the first couple I have met that were living as a family in Saudi Arabia. Usually it is the guy living there on his own working for a contractor while the Mrs stays here in the Philippines. Marcus has a great personality and he has a pretty solid plan for his future as he works hard to build up a decent bank account and to make sure when his contract days are over that he has a good nest egg for a decent home as well as a decent retirement portfolio. This couple are definitely deep in love and are happy together. I kept teasing Gina about her lovely soft hands in that she does not have to work hard with Marcus taking such good care of her. Thanks for stopping by and I sure do look forward to seeing you both again.

The front lobby of the Hotel EuroAsia has undergone a complete makeover by Robert Barrigan, an executive chef of Las Vegas fame. He has brought a first class Steak House to Angeles City and it is already getting high marks after only being open for a few weeks. It is the Ruth's Chris Steak House and Robert is the owner of the one in Las Vegas. I must admit that I never heard of this chain of restaurants but so many other people I have talked to tell me that they are famous in the States. It has been so long since I lived in the States that I was not familiar with them at all and even with my visits to Las Vegas I was not introduced to the Ruth Chris franchise. Even at 72 I am not too old to learn something new and I am certainly impressed with the new look at the EuroAsia. The eating area created by Robert is called the Olive Garden and besides steaks features Italian meals as well. Why the use of two names? For many years Robert was the chef of the Olive Garden Italian dining restaurant in Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. This was a top name in Italian dining. Here, at EuroAsia, Robert wanted to blend the two names so you now have a top of the line steak name and also Italian dining. Sounds like a winner to me. When you enter the EuroAsia Hotel you are immediately impressed by the set up of the dining area. Additionally, the waiters are well trained and eager to please all who enter. When making your steak selection you are helped by a waiter who will bring out a tray of those cuts available and assist you in your decision. Their prices are in the P800 to P995 range but Robert offers what he calls a 2 for 1 selection. In other words the steaks are big enough for two and you can decide to go this way when ordering. They also offer a nicely stocked wine selection. I have already been told that a visitor from Omaha enjoyed a meal there and indicated that the steaks were as good as any he ate in Omaha and he has eaten many. In March Robert will be joined by his son, Brandon who is an Executive Chef in New York. He will be here for a while to help out his "old man" and add his culinary expertise to the menu. Why the use of two names here Olive Garden At this time not many folks have heard of this new restaurant but I suspect that in no time at all it will develop into a very popular "must eat at" restaurant. By the way, Robert is also in the process of opening up his "Playboy Club" at the rear of EuroAsia's garden area. It should be open by the time you read this column.

It was something I had never done before, treating Priscilla to a very special, and a bit expensive, Valentine's dinner at the Holiday Inn. Naturally, I must admit she deserves a bit of a special treatment, at least once a year and I could not have picked a better venue to bring our hearts together on this special day. The decor was perfect, the various items available at the buffet were plentiful and absolutely delicious as were the deserts. The entertainment by the musical group "Company Y" was loudly applauded during their entire performance and no one wanted to see the show end. One expects the best from the Holiday Inn and on this occasion no one was disappointed. Compliments to the Chef and GM Symon as well as the wonderful waiters and waitresses who did a magnificent job.

Priscilla and I love digging into a meal of Mongolian-Bar-B-Q! Many years ago when I was courting this beautiful lady I used to take Priscilla and her sister to the NCO Club on base for great Mongolian feasts. It was great. Since then we jump at the chance to catch that experience whenever we can. The Holiday Inn had a great Mongolian, then they stopped it, and now it is on again. But, that is a bit of an expense and one has to travel to the Clark Freeport to enjoy it. Now, rejoice, Mongolian has come to Perimeter Road (Don Juico) at a reasonable price (P225) and a convenient location. There is nothing fancy about this eatery, it is clean, simple, nice large round tables, and the food is darn good. We loved it, not because it was the best Mongolian Bar-B-Q we have eaten, but because it was plain good and readily accessible. It is a great addition for Perimeter Road as that area of town sees more and more Clubs and restaurants popping up every month or so. It was nice to see something other than Japanese or Korean restaurants as we have enough of those already. Besides the food, you have to pop in and meet 85 year old Don Shoney and his wife Arlene. Don has the energy of someone half his age and he has an interesting history. Prior to coming to Angeles City Don owned a furniture store in the States and after 15 years of operation sold it for a hefty profit. He told me that, for sure, he does not have any money problems, and his Mongolian eatery is something that he opened because of his love for this particular food item and he loves people. Would you believe he is on hand early in the morning to greet customers for breakfast. Fussy about breakfast? Don gives you the opportunity to build your own breakfast to satisfy your tastes. He has a selection of 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon and 2 free pancakes for only P80. How about coffee made from mushrooms, or a strawberry milkshake made with 2 bananas and soy milk for P45. Don opens up at 0700 and closes at 2100 hrs and he is on hand for most of those hours. You gotta check this place out and enjoy a sit-down with Don, for sure he is not shy and he loves to talk. Have him show you his physical therapy machine that he has put together and donated to some hospitals. At 85 Don is still in the fast lane and at 72 I don't have the energy to keep up with him. See you for breakfast one of these mornings Don.

This yearly great event was pulled off once again. It was four days of traffic, dusty parking, expensive entry fee (P250),long walk to the beginning of the display areas and horrendous traffic jam if you decide to leave when they close down each day at 6 PM. But, despite all that it is an exciting atmosphere, fun for the family, interesting displays, plenty of food choices, kite flying, airplane displays and fun flying events to see. Of course, if you want to see the balloons you have to be there very early each morning and be on hand around 5 PM when they start to return to the fairground. This year, I did not get up early enough and did not stay late enough. After so many years of seeing them the thought of getting up early and the thought of the traffic later in the day did not appeal to me. Instead, I went out around lunch time and left around three PM. That was good enough for me. I enjoyed the Philippine military displays and I really got a kick out of seeing the all ladies military drill team. They were terrific and some of them were pretty good looking and quite a few seemed to be on the heavy side. I could appreciate the hours of practice they had to have put in to pull of their spectacular routine. There was a lot to see and it is great for children of all ages. But, I kind of miss the old days when it was held at the OMNI area and it lasted into the night with live band entertainment. I do not know why they decided to close down at 6 PM every evening and not have some entertainment until around 9 PM. I know the food concessionaires would appreciate longer hours. Anyway, here are a few photos of the event. I did not take many but you might want to consider attending this event next year if you have never been before.

Balibago Barangay Tony Mamac, who is running for the Angeles City Mayor's Mayor's position kindly agreed to be the guest speaker at last months Hotels and Restaurants Association in Pampanga (HARP). Capt Mamac had the 100% attention of each member as he outlined his plans for the future of Angeles City. His agreement to speak at the HARP luncheon was appreciated and indicated his desire to reach out to all elements of the Angeles City society. The next meeting of the HARP is scheduled for 17 Mar at the EuroAsia Hotel, 12 noon and the invited guest speaker is Mayoral candidate Secretary Edgardo Pamintuan, presently with the Subic-Clark Alliance for Development Council (SCADC). As of 1 Mar HARP has not received confirmation of this invitation but they expect a positive reply. Anyone interested in joining with the HARP members for this luncheon meeting can contact the HARP secretary, Jun Caasi at 0918-451-4213. HARP is an SEC registered organization representing Hotels and Restaurants in Pampanga and would like to invite all businessmen associated in the Hotel and Restaurant business to join their organization. You can also contact Remy DeJesus, General Manager at the Swagman Hotel and Resort at 322-5133/5231.

I wasn't going to do this, make any fuss over my birthday other than to say I was happy to make it another year. But, on the day of my birthday it was also dart league night and for me, that had to come first. So, no celebration planned but lovely Priscilla did make some snacks and had a cake made up for that evening. Naturally before dart play commenced we had to have a brief ceremony and a few pictures were taken. I won't name the folks in the pictures but want to acknowledge not only my team members but the members of the London Pub Team, along with guest players Symon and TJ from Barrio Barretto and of course the devil himself, Ron C. and his lovely Mrs, Elsa. It is too bad that "monkey feet" did not come on down with Ron. It was a fun night, great darts and my present came about with my team winning the match. What more could one ask for? Well, OK, that waited until much later in the evening.

That is a hell of an unusual name for a bar but it catches your attention. This Club is the latest in a long history of different owners and different names for this location. I made the trip down the long hallway and was pleasantly surprised by the latest transformation. It is really a nice place to stop in and have a few drinks. I already mentioned Mommy Myrna earlier in this column and her search for an old friend and I enjoyed her friendliness as well as the other staff. The layout has never really changed all that much over the years but now a pool table has been added and the place is clean and bright with comfortable seating. I think it is a Club worth mentioning and worth a visit or two. I did not get to spend as much time there as I wanted to so I will have to return. I thought the pool racker Maricel looked pretty good for my old eyes. She is 28 years old, no children and hails from Leyte. You might want to drop her an Email at maricel.macabansag@yahoo.com. I think I have that right. She is a high school graduate and is looking for Mr. Right who will sweep her off her feet, age preference - between 30 to 50. That is my bonus recommendation for this month. Eh, one problem. Somehow I lost her picture so you can Email her and tell her to send a picture or just go into the One Eyed Wench and ask for Maricel, hell you can enjoy a few drinks while there. Mommy Myrna will love you if you buy some flowers to give out.

So ends my wandering words for this month. Man, I am a bit tired. Priscilla has headed out for the farm this weekend and may I can join her for a few hours tomorrow, Sunday. I get so busy, especially towards the end of the month that I don't get a chance to relax. Feb was a good month, weather wise, business wise and enjoyed meeting some new people. I get such a kick out of meeting folks that read this column and take the time to come by to say hello. I can't wait to have have Priscilla make me up a bunch of Yorkshire pudding, with a good steak and corn on the cob. I'm looking forward to March even if it means it will be getting a bit hot weather wise but school will be out soon and I can enjoy some quality time with my son. I think I may go in a bit of a check-up to see how the old heart is getting along. There is nothing I can add about the Thomas/Doll House episode because it is in the legal system now and each side has their sides to present. That should take some time and will just have to wait to see what solutions come about. This month I have put my "political rantings" after my closing so you don't have to go any further if you don't want to. One thing you have to remember though, be kind to horses, especially as we get closer to being put out to pasture.

POLITICAL RANTINGS BY THE HORSE - BEWARE - YOU ARE INVITED TO SKIP THIS PART:

Last week, by a 53-46 vote (where 60 votes were needed for passage), the U.S. Senate refused to establish a Bipartisan Task Force to develop a balanced Federal Budget. The Balanced Budget Task Force was supported by 60 percent of Senate Democrats, but by only 40 percent of the Republicans. President Obama, in his State of the Union address, announced that he would establish a task force by executive order, but his task force won't have the same authority that a Congressionally established task force would have had. (This was the first paragraph of an article written by Kevin McGee, www.northwestern.com. If you can, please try to read the entire article. You see, it saddened me because it points out how my hopes that the Democrats and Republicans will eventually realize that it is time to work together for the common cause of bringing America back from the brink of disaster. Regretfully, the Republicans and Democrats managed to show that they remain fixated on their own agendas and to hell with the will of the people. Makes you wonder who the heck to vote for in the November elections.)

Who not to vote for!!! For sure, Senator Harry Reid! There are others, but this guy is first on my list. I am hoping that the citizens of Nevada wake up to the fact that this guy is ready for retirement.

THE STUFF THAT IS NOT REPORTED - Harry, I am only forwarding this and could find nothing about this in SNOPES.

"I served in the SOG (Special Operations Group) in Viet Nam with Brockhausen and Hebler, they have both been involved with various disaster relief programs for the last several years to include Hurricane Katrina. They have both always been straight shooters and known to call a spade a spade, as well as sometimes using very "colorful" language. So I have no doubts as to the truthfulness of what he's saying."

News back from Nic Brockhausen. He and Dennis Hebler made it back somewhat safe and sound.

To All, I just returned from Haiti with Hebler. We flew in at 3 AM Sunday to the scene of such incredible destruction on one side, and enormous ineptitude and criminal neglect on the other. Port o Prince is in ruins. The rest of the country is fairly intact.Our team was a rescue team and we carried special equipment that locates people buried under the rubble. There are easily 200,000 dead, the city smells like a charnal house. The bloody UN was there for 5 years doing apparently nothing but wasting US Taxpayers money. The ones I ran into were either incompetent or outright anti american. Most are French or french speakers, worthless every damn one of them. While 1800 rescuers were ready willing and able to leave the airport and go do our jobs, the UN and USAID ( another organization full of little OBamites and communisrts that openly speak against America) These two organizations exemplared their parochialism by:

USAID, when in control of all inbound flights, had food and water flights stacked up all the way to Miami , yet allowed Geraldo Rivera, Anderson Cooper and a host of other left wing news puppies to land. Pulled all the security off the rescue teams so that Bill Clinton and his wife could have the grand tour, whilst we sat unable to get to people trapped in the rubble. Stacked enough food and water for the relief over at the side of the airfield then put a guard on it while we dehydrated and wouldn't release a drop of it to the rescuers. No shower facilities to decontaminate after digging or moving corpses all day, except for the FEMA teams who brought their own shower and decon equipment, as well as air conditioned tents. No latrine facilities, less digging a hole if you set up a shitter everyone was trying to use it. I watched a 25 year old Obamite with the USAID shrieking hysterically, berate a full bird colonel in the air force, because he countermanded her orders, whilst trying to unscrew the air pattern. " You don't know what your president wants! The military isn't in charge here we are!" If any of you are thinking of giving money to the Haitian relief, or to the UN don't waste your money. It will only go to further the goals of the French and the Liberal left. If we are a fair and even society, why is it that only white couples are adopting Haitian orphans. Where the hell is that vocal minority that is always screaming about the injustice of American society.

Bad place, bad situation, but a perfect look at the new world order in action. New Orleans magnified a thousand times. Haiti doesn't need democracy, what Haiti needs is Papa Doc. That's not just my opinion , that is what virtually every Haitian we talked with said. the French run the UN and treat us the same as when we were a colony, at least Papa Doc ran the country. Oh, and as a last slap in the face the last four of us had to take US AIRWAYs home from Phoenix . They slapped me with a 590 dollar baggage charge for the four of us. The girl at the counter was almost in tears because she couldn't give us a discount or she would lose her job. Pass that on to the flying public. (Meanwhile Geraldo spends time defending 10 Baptist church members who were obviously trying to sneak orphans out of the country illegally, were caught, arrested and are now in jail in Haiti waiting for trial. Of course they are moaning about the injustice of it all but I have no sympathy for them. First off, they should not have been there. Secondly, if they had to be there then they should have been busy trying to work with the Government to set up proper procedures to improve the system of adoption. They tried to do it the easy way and were caught. I am sure that by the time this column is on line they will have been released and returned home to America with great fanfare and tears. My advice, next time keep your asses home!)

The following indicates that some folks in England are not all that happy either. I love this one.

The government has today announced that it is changing its official emblem from a Union Jack to a red, white and blue condom because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. The condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects pricks, and most importantly from their point of view, gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed