MAY 2001

It is 28 Apr as I start this article and I must say that within the last week my belief that living in the Philippines is definitely not boring has been reinforced by events. As we head into May the peso rate has exceeded P50 to the dollar and we are enjoying a bit of drama with a feeble "EDSA III" brought about by the long awaited jailing of deposed President Estrada and his son. Everyone is glued to the television watching the antics of so called pro-Estrada elements of the population demonstrating in Manila and causing more property damage than any real political clout. Today Estrada is being moved to the hospital to look after his "blood pressure" and then will be moved to a rather luxurious "prison" in Laguna where he will be far more comfortable than any prisoner in Philippine history. No doubt his antics will be big news in May and for many months thereafter along with the uttering of Juan Ponce Enrile and Miriam Defensor-Santiago. Santiago disappointed many who were waiting for her promised demise if Estrada was jailed. When questioned about this, Miriam simply said, "she lied". As of 30 Apr the local newspapers are talking about pro Estrada and anti Estrada elements clashing, the followers of Mike Velarde's El Shaddai and of Iglesia ni Cristo being deployed to swell the size of the Edsa pro Estrada demonstrations. It is regrettable that so many members of these two groups follow their leaders like sheep and cannot think for themselves. Headlines mentioning "civil war" and "military takeover possible" greet readers on Monday. And so the drama continues and along with the forthcoming May elections you can be sure that no better live entertainment can be provided. I guess that once the so called "EDSA III" fizzles out we can hope that the government will finally get around to putting Imelda Marcos in jail so we can witness "EDSA IV". I wonder, if the U.S. government had been able to put Bill and Hillary Clinton in jail, could we have had "Fifth Avenue One" in the States. That would no doubt have knocked "The Soprano's" out of their number one TV slot. Angeles City remains a safe location for tourists as life goes on and Fields Ave continues to provide weary travelers with exciting creature comforts. 

GI'S GET A BREAK

The American servicemen here for the Balikatan Exercise were allowed to go off base for a bit of relaxation starting on Sunday, 29 Apr and for the duration of the exercise which is to terminate on 10 May. Naturally, since a Marine General is running things, there are restrictions and it is reported that the rules of what they can and cannot do take up 8 pages of instructions. They must travel in groups of four and at least an E-6 or above must be included in each group and must carry a cell phone. Some of the senior NCOs are saying that if they have to play nursemaid then they get their drinks for free. That sounds fair to me. There are boundaries restricting how far they can go and specific locations that they must stay away from. The big brass are doing their best to give a little freedom to the troops but at the same time avoid any negative publicity that could be caused by some GI's with a little too much booze in them. One good thing for the regular tourists in town and those ex-pats that live here, it sure feels safe on Fields Ave. I have never seen so many police patrolling the area on foot and in patrol cars carrying M-16s and side arms. Let us hope that this exercise remains incident free for the local media are eager to jump on any incident, no matter how minor, and blow it all out of proportion. These exercises are very important and contribute to readiness in defending the Philippines from aggression against their borders. Regretfully, there are many organizations in the Philippines that do not want to admit this necessity and only want to disrupt cooperation between the United States and the Philippine Government in any way they can. For this reason, the U.S. military participants must continue to "toe the line" when enjoying the entertainment off base. At the termination of the exercise those of us who live here can sigh a breath of relief and say "thanks troops, for a job WELL DONE"!

FILLY OF THE MONTH

While dining at Roy's Pub and Restaurant I had the pleasure of meeting a very charming waitress that I thought fulfilled the requirements of being "Filly of the Month". Her name is Rowena Dotor, from Dau, Pampanga, 22 years of age and of course, single. She is a high school graduate who likes to play pool and watch movies. She would like to meet a decent man around 30-40 years of age that is honest, hardworking and would take care and love her and their future family. Rowena has a wonderful personality and for any single reader interested in meeting a decent lady, drop her an e-mail through Roy's Pub (e-mail: cpee@mozcom.com or roysbar@hotmail.com). You better believe that Clive's wife will be very particular in who she will allow to court this young lady. Just meeting and talking to Rowena will be worth a trip to Roy's Pub and the atmosphere, plus the fine food offered at this establishment will add to the pleasure. 

CATCH THE SUBWAY

It must be at least three or four years ago when I saw a sign on Clark that the "Subway" would be coming to the Duty Free Zone at Clark. Baskin Robins ice cream and Mrs. Fields's Cookies opened but no Subway Sandwiches. At long last I am happy to report that the Subway has finally opened and sandwich lovers can rejoice as their favorite creations are prepared and served. It would be difficult for the diet conscious to restrain themselves in the calorie department as the Subway is "sandwiched" between Baskin Robins and Mrs. Fields cookies in the same building. What a feast, order up a great sandwich, eat ice cream for dessert and take a few cookies home. What a perfect way to end or start a day of duty free shopping at Clark. Oh yes, don't forget your laser card so you can gas up for a few pesos less than the prevailing gas rate at the gas station on base. 

AUREVOIR JEAN PIERRE

After trying to bring a bit of French class to Angeles City for a couple of years the owner, Kel, has found that the peasants and horses like me, would rather eat rice and spaghetti at a much lower price. There just weren't enough thoroughbreds around to sustain a profit even though the food quality was excellent (if Kel was on hand to do the cooking/supervising) and the portions plentiful. There is still time to visit the restaurant but do so quickly as Kel is selling the rights to both the restaurant and store at a price that will be attractive to prospective investors that wish to take advantage of a good location near the Oasis compound and the Clarkton Hotel. This is a walk-in take all equipment deal for $50,000 with a few other incentives thrown in. I've heard that Woody's is available for $165,000, which makes Kel's asking price look attractive. OK, OK, I know, location, location, and location! What the hell, I have to make this sound good! For further information contact Kel at Kippers@hotmail.com or call him at 0919-570-3181. 

HAVE A "ROOT"

Ray Souvala has his One Stop Super Shop fully operational now and this horse likes to stop by for a quick root a few times a week! Don't get me wrong, that is a nice cold root beer drink and soon, a root beer float will be offered for only 25 pesos. The "One Stop" is a bit off the beaten track for the tourist trade but anyone heading to the Villa Modesto, Hensonville, Greenlands or Josephville Presidential Row homes will pass Ray's place. As soon as they open the Hensonville bridge traffic will increase in that direction and the One Stop will be a convenient place to stop for a "cold one". A grizzled old Navy retiree, Wayne, is on hand all day long to run the place and provide some conversation. Wayne (from Claypool, Arizona) has been around for quite a few years and at one time owned six bars in Olongapo. The One Stop features food and drinks at VERY reasonable prices. I enjoyed a fine breakfast for just 65 pesos (eggs, hash browns, bacon, sausage and toast) and would have enjoyed it more if Ray had done the shopping and purchased some strawberry jam for the toast. Operating hours are from 8 AM to 8 PM with Ray popping in at various times of the day. This store should please those ex-pats living here that are on a budget and want to get the most for their money in food and drink. Stop by and have a "root".

A GOOD DEAL

Kokomos Business Center has a good deal. Unlimited Internet access is available for P850 a month using their high-speed connections. The objective was to sell 18 subscriptions a month but within two weeks 25 had been sold and to date many renewals have been accomplished. This is a service that is very attractive to active Internet users. 

GREENLAND RECREATIONAL PARK 

That is the new name for what used to be called Greenlands Sports Club. Extensive construction at Greenland is ongoing with the building of a wall and the new kiddies pool nearly complete. Details on the new pricing structure are still not available but rumors are rampant and so far, nothing that would please the "founding members" has come up. It is pretty evident that monthly dues will be higher which is to be expected. The hard pill to swallow is that membership will be much higher which is not surprising but one member of the management staff was overheard telling a member to be prepared to be required to pay an additional amount on top of the membership that he already paid if he wants to remain a member. A possible scenario would be if memberships went up to 100,000 pesos then a member who paid 20,000 pesos for membership years ago would be required to come up with another 80,000 pesos to remain a member or maybe a slightly lesser amount. Nothing is definite at this time but it does appear that a "weeding out" process may be in the works. Greg had indicated that definite price structures should be out in another month. Meanwhile, while structural changes continue with the golf course to bring it under USGA standards golf goes on and management is happy to announce the formation of a golf committee under chairman Alex Dayrit. Thanks go out to Pat Heron, Rey Dizon, Y.S Lee and Dick Umbarger who were elected and agreed to take up the task of helping to make this golf venue an exciting place to play. Estimated completion of all construction on the course will be about 1-1/2 years from now necessitating 2-3 months for each hole. The course will remain at 9 holes, as the new property will be for the building of accommodations. An automated irrigation system will be installed. Caddies will be hired and uniforms provided. Visitors will be required to have one caddy per flight with a maximum of 4 players. Caddy fees will be 100 pesos for 9 holes and 150 for 18. 

FEELING KINKY?

It has come to my attention that Kokomos has added another bar to their line-up, only this time they went out of town. Kinky's Bar in Subic City is advertising itself as "Subic City's Most Popular Club". This will take some investigation by "the Horse" to verify but any bar offering happy hour prices all the time can't be too bad. 

MAKE ROOM FOR THE DANCERS

The Olongapo City Council has approved dancing girls in Beach. Blvd. Bars and nightclubs. This won't happen overnight but it appears that some time this year some gyrating ladies will start to show their "rhythm" on stages in Barrio Barretto and Subic City. Will all those dart players still be able to concentrate on the bulls eye or will those "hard darts" be pointed in another direction?

GOOD TASTE

Seven young Army Special Forces troops were observed enjoying the swimming pool at the Phoenix Hotel in April in the company of a few ladies. Would you believe that out of the five ladies present not one of them was ugly? Using Harry the Horse's scale of 1-10 I would say they all hit a strong 8. Who said that Army troops had no taste?


BELIEVING IN DREAMS

This is a true story. A charming local lady by the name of Virgie won't eat at Salvatore's anymore, not because the food is bad but because she had a dream that the cook spit in the food. She eats pizza at Shakey's now, which if I ever ate there again would probably give me not only a bad dream but indigestion as well. 

KEEP CHRIS HAPPY

It is always nice to meet new people and while I was in the Bonanza's Crystal Lady bar a few weeks ago I ran into Brown Sugar's day manager, Chris. Never met the bloke before and he had a go at me for not mentioning his name when I covered the opening a few months ago. No bodily harm came to me when it was pointed out that he did not start work there until 3 days after the opening. Of course we were just teasing each other but the word on the street is that Chris has done a bang up job in making the Brown Sugar a great daytime bar as he covers the afternoon shift. It really does not matter what time you go to the Brown Sugar, it is doing well but with this heat boiling your skin away, it is nice to pop in for a few cool ones during the day. Chris is friendly enough so if you do drop in, be sure to look for him and tell him Harry the Horse sent you. It won't get you anything, but it might get me a free drink. 

OFFICIAL BAD BEER TASTER

Speaking of free drinks, Ron Stoker, from Sydney, Australia has volunteered to be the official beer taster for Angeles City. Now that it is so hot, the usual increase in bad San Miguel beer has come about. To avoid arguments with customers that sniff a beer and claim it is bad, Ron willingly pours a couple of ounces in a glass, tastes it, and renders his professional opinion as to whether it is bad or not. He performs this valuable service at the Bonanza but is willing to be on call to any bar requiring his services. This service is free as Ron is satisfied just to be able to bring order to a hotly contested area of beer drinking. Lives could be saved here, what a great humanitarian this lad is.

CAN'T MAKE IT HOT ENOUGH

How many times have you seen someone eating a meal requiring a bit of hot sauce bragging that it can never be made hot enough? Well, anyone looking for that very special hot sauce which burns the gullet, brings tears to the eyes and burns like hell on the way out, look no more. Check out Bone's special home made creation at the Bonanza Hotel. I think that this sauce might just be hot enough for anyone. I'd like to see a taco-eating contest at the Bonanza with each taco smothered in this, yet to be named, hot sauce. We need a name for this sauce and reader submissions are most welcome. My suggestion is "Bone Crusher Hot Sauce". I'm sure that I can talk Bones into giving the author of the name chosen a jar of his sauce to take home. 

UPS ASIA HUB IN CLARK

It's a done deal. UPS and Philippine officials signed on the doted line and UPS will be putting a regional hub in Clark. Haven't learned when this facility will be operational but it is a step in the right direction for increased usage of the sprawling 2,200 hectare Clark Airport. 

IT'S A HARD JOB

I keep telling my wife, Priscilla the Horse, what a hard task it is for me to research the material for this article and that it requires me to spend time in the hot sun, smoke filled bars, restaurants, more bars, hotels, various houses and more bars. Naturally this takes me out of the house for hours at a time, day and night but then I am rather dedicated to my readers. A case in point is how I had to suffer in the hot sun taking pictures of the wet T-shirt contest at Kokomo's. I did not enjoy this at all, spending all that time talking to those beautiful bodies, finding out where they worked, getting as much intimate details as I could, all the while, suffering under the hot sun. Despite the sweat, the heat, my desire to immediately return home to Priscilla, I stayed with it to the end. I even found myself cheering for number nine and was rather disappointed when she came in second. By the way, she works in the King of Diamonds. Enough words, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. 

WHO'S GOT THE JUICE?

In Las Vegas we say someone with "juice" knows people and can get favors. Someone with "juice" must have influenced Congressman "Blue Boy" Nepomuceno into approving the paving of the road running beside the U&I massage parlor on 1st Street, Balibago. This is not a very well traveled road but maybe some important folks wanted a nicer place to park while enjoying a massage. If you are not familiar with the U&I massage drop by and check them out. Some very nice folks run the place (see Mina) and the prices are quite reasonable. Their employees are attractive and do provide a very satisfying massage. 

SWAGMAN PRESENTS

The Swagman Narra Hotel is presenting Australian funny man and magician Ray Martin on Sunday evening, 6 May. Price of tickets is P650 single and P950 double with P50 for children. A 3 course dinner is included starting at 7 PM with show time at 9 PM; the event is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Club Centennial with the proceeds going to their Angeles Street Children project.

BASH THE HASH

April was a bit of a rough month for two Angeles City Hash House Harriers. Bob Smith (Single Malt) was a victim of an attempted robbery around 2 AM in the morning as he was walking pass the Powder Keg bar on his way home. A couple of local lads came up behind him and whacked him with club inflicting some damage to his jaw. Thankfully, a Filipino came to his aid and the robbers were chased off. The Good Samaritan has not been identified but Bob would like to meet him and say thanks. Hasher Peter O'Donnell was involved in a bit of an altercation in the Stinger Bar which led to "Robber" spending a day in the hospital with no serious injuries but he has been walking around with a sore mouth and a very strange looking eye. The Hashers are a tough breed though and both men are recovering nicely. 

MEMORIAL DAY

The American Legion PHIL-AM Post 123 will host the Memorial Day celebrations on May 30th. They are selling raffle books for P200 each, which you can pick up at the Post, located next to the RAO on McArthur Hi-way. A total of 20,000 pesos will be given out during the drawing. For 175 pesos (P95 for children) a great dinner will be served starting at 11 AM until 5:00 PM. For more details call the American Legion at 331-2761.

Did you know that Louis XIV owned 413 beds and this was before Viagara! This Horse owns only one bed and since it is 2:30 AM I am ready to close for this month and jump into that bed. Have a happy May and remember, be kind to horses.