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Subic Bay weather is absolutely
fantastic. Except for the political turbulence in Manila that is. We were wrong
last month. We said that, "Estrada clearly has the votes in the House to
avoid impeachment." Wrong. They did impeach last week and sent it to the
Senate for trial. If you are familiar with the PI you can imagine how long that
may drag out. Demonstrations galore in the capital. The peso has stabilized for
the time being at a 49-50 to the dollar. For more about this check our National
News section. Several updated articles have also been posted at our Local
News page, much of the national turmoil you hear about is reflected in Subic
happenings.
Politics aside. (If you are in the
U.S., you've had a bellyful with the Florida count/recount/recount/recount)
Local columnists are laughing that the U.S. has decided to do it like the Philippines......by hand. The ever expanding Mango's
Humor page has some funny Election 2000 stuff.
Here we're back into beach
volleyball and water sports. Some of the Europeans are playing weekly futball
(soccer) matches at Remy field. A group has started playing Thursday basketball
games on the courts in Santa Monica. There is the Wednesday dart league, the
Thursday and Sunday pool leagues and the Saturday horseshoe league. Barrio
Jocks. And there is always ice cold San Miguel for spectators.
The San Miguel golf course is
being renovated and they are adding 9 holes. So it is currently closed. We did
play Binictican recently and got 18 holes, a cart, caddies and lunch for about
P1800.
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For all you Subic
history buffs we had a sensational fire on the night of November 12th. A
Subic landmark bar called Marilyn's in Subic City burned to the ground. We
tracked down this little piece of paper which was usually a sign that you
were in for a fun evening. Oh, the stories........ |
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Heath Visions who handle CHAMPUS for retirees is opening their own
hospital. It will be called Total Life Care Medical Center. They have
completely renovated an old Hotel located across the river near Victory Liner
Circle. It will have 25 beds, skilled nursing, physical therapy, pediatrics,
counseling and a complete pharmacy. This is good news for people who have had
to deal with local hospitals. For more information check out www.hvisions.com/hvc
and then go to TLCMC at the bottom.
We caught the musical Miss Saigon in Manila last month. It's playing at the
Cultural Center on Roxas Boulevard to packed houses. It is the original London show with the original cast led by Lea Salonga. It's probably the
first legitimate 5 star cultural event to have taken place in the Philippines in the last couple decades or perhaps ever. Tickets are not
cheap at $80 but the show is more than worth it.
We had our Thanksgiving Dinner at Mango's 11 days early this year. We chose
a Sunday following the pool league. Our thinking was that no one works around here anyhow so the day didn't matter and turkey in the PI is always
a treat. Also we wouldn't be competing with the VFW or Dryden's or By The Sea restaurants on the actual holiday. It worked well. We served and sold
out 8 turkeys totaling 141 dinners. Thanks goes to the H-visions Internet Provider who donated the turkeys which allowed up to keep the complete
dinner to $3.
The Retired Affairs Office (RAO) is moving to Barrio Barretto. The new
location will be in the old Blue Jeans Bar across from the Mirage Hotel. Construction is under way and the move may not be complete until Jan-Feb.
The January 9, 2001 quarterly meeting will be held at Mango's. For more information contact Chester Gross at
rao@hvisions.com
A question we received last month was: "We're planning to move to the
Philippines. Should we bring a computer with us or can we find them
there?" There are many computer stores here and you can find what you want at
competitive prices. Also you get a guarantee so it can be replaced or repaired on warranty.
On the other hand if you are stateside or military stationed overseas, our Web
Master works for Dell and can custom configure a Dell PC to fit any
budget. You deal directly with Dell, he'll just help you get started
building the machine you need.
We also received the following mail. I've changed the names because if it's
not a joke it should be: "I am looking for a girl in Olongapo city. Her name is Ema De La Cruz, at
least that was her name the last time I saw her, back in 1979. I don't know how to find anyone there in
Olongapo, and am asking your help. I am presently residing in Butte, Montana. If you be so kind to ask around there
in Olongapo if anybody know her. she used to go to St.. Joseph High School. I need to find her, pls help. Bobby"
Anyone out there got any smart answers for Bobby?
New business's in the area include Magellan's Bar & Grill on SBMA (old
base) run by the Captain Greg's crew. It's near the fuel pier on the way to Cubi. A new bar in Subic City called Crow Bar is now open and features
dancers. It's on the left entering town. The new Sheavens on the road into Baloy Beach is up and operating. It's a beauty of a hotel/bar/restaurant
right on the water.
Need to spice up your web page or animated greeting cards?
Check out our
Holiday Graphics, Humor and Music page. The first page loads in about
45 seconds at 56K and the second page is loaded with lots of animations so it
takes about 100 seconds at 56K on the first load. After that it should
open much quicker since your browser should have cached the files.
We finally got the long promised AC/DC tunes posted to the Greatest Hits
page. As an added bonus you'll find three classic Black Sabbath tunes
which bring back the Olongapo memories for many.
There's a new website which has Angeles City covered at http://www.ac4you.com/.
We've also placed their logo and link on our Links You'll
Like page.
At http://www.egroups.com/group/pi_liberty
you can find a free email group service that offers a
convenient way to connect with others who share the same interests and ideas -
in this case liberty in the PI!
For you Subic Veterans who logged over 100 missions crossing shit river
bridge, click here for
your badge of honor.
Interesting
times in Barrio Barretto, National
news has been so abundant we've opened up a second
news page. To date we've got the following new articles posted with
more to follow. There
are three new humorous pics on the Humor Page including
the best remote control we've ever seen. Several
new articles on our Only in the
Philippines page including the Olongapo shortage of "sex workers". Our
Local News page includes the following two new
articles: Mabuhay
from Barrio Barretto,
We
had more fleet traffic this past month. USNS Spica was in port from 15 September
to 20 September. It was the first USNS vessel in here since the ratification of
the Visiting Forces Agreement and good news for all the merchant seamen.
The
Retired Affairs Office is holding an RAO seminar in Kong's restaurant at
9 AM on 17 October. Olongapo Mayor Kate Gordon will be the featured
speaker.
There will be a 2 or 3 person team on hand from RAO headquarters in
Millington, Tennessee.
We
finally got some of the pics from Dutch Myers 80th Birthday Bash. You can
see them on Dutch's Page.
Check out our newest page; Mango's Greatest Hits.
Lots of great music and helpful information on various media players.
Here's
a couple updated news articles we posted on our local and national news pages:
Former U.S. Base, Is Hit By Cronyism and Closings
No More Talk: It's War; The Philippine hostage saga
takes a deadly turn
That's
it for September. The month essentially sucks. But hey, we got Halloween
coming up. And soon it's tourist season. The place is gonna rock. The
peso keeps falling. A bloody beer is 54 US pennies. Happy hour is cheaper. Adios! Greetings
from Barrio Barretto,
August is always our slowest month in terms
of tourism. Throw in a bunch of whackos kidnapping foreigners and making
millions at it and it slows down even further. The Muslim militant organization
Abu Sayaf just released about half their European hostages thanks to one million
dollars ransom for each of them. The ransom was provided by Khadaffi of Libya.
These hostages had been held for four months. Then yesterday a more radical
faction of the same group grabbed an American they claim is a CIA agent and are
threatening to behead him. Remember this is all happening in Sulu and Zamboanga,
far away, in the Southern Philippines. If this story interests you try following
it at The Philippine Star's website at www.philstar.com
Slow or not, a
couple new business opened their doors this month. A bar called the Lions Den
opened before the turn-off to the Marmont. Right near the Dixie bar. Nice
interior and friendly employees. Night Rider too is going through it's 3rd or
4th renovation in as many years. It just re-opened and the two German blokes who
run it did a good job on both the inside and outside of the building.
The social event of the month was Dutch
Myers' 80th birthday held in Mango's. Long
considered the elder statesman of the area Myers still has energy enough to
manage Gringo's Bar next to Midnight Rambler. Most of the Barrio characters were
on hand to help him celebrate. His youngest son Dennis made his first trip to
the Philippines and gave a touching speech. Dutch has lived in Barretto
since 1984.
Did I mention
it's raining? Typical August. But no flooding which is the important part. Typhoons
have been going on all sides of us miraculously missing and then slamming
Taiwan or China. You know it's been boring when we dwell on the weather. I was
in Angeles City once this month and it was very quiet there too.
If you are planning on retiring in the
Philippines and want information on health needs such as CHAMPUS coverage or
availability of medicines go to www.hvisions.com
They have the answers as well as clinics all over the islands.
As
promised, click here are a few more pictures of
the area as it is today. Let us know if you like this new feature and
please make suggestions as to what information you would like from this
site. I had e-mail today asking if there are people still making wooden
plaques in the area. Yes - The craftsmen are in and around the Gordon
Avenue market. If you've got pictures of the
Barrio in it's heyday scan them and send them to Tim.
We'll put together a then and now web page.
Updated Pages / Links Starlet
offers week of pleasure Philippine
Golden Links ... the Philippines' Most Comprehensive Web Directory since 1994 Welcome
to Philippines Travel Center See you next month
- Tom, Wilma & The Mango's Crew Well
we've dried out (the rain not the beer!), well enough here to drop you all a
line.
As we mentioned last update we had a good parade, arm wrestling and Little Miss Beach Bash contest
to kick off the annual FIL-AM Friendship Day Festivities. The first
day of the July 4th party sponsored by the VFW was great. The parade, the
arm wrestling competition and the Beach Bash were well run and well attended.
But that July 2nd was the last decent day. Rain began that night and not only
drenched the festivities but did not stop for 16 days. In the last 8 years it
was the first Beach Bash rained out. As promised however we've got the
pictures and you can find'em here.
There's
a new place in Angeles City we've dubbed the ultimate Internet cafe right next
door to Roadhouse on the corner of Fields Ave and Raymond St. It
is called Jade Cool and is run by the Roadhouse Club. This place looks like
a hospital operating room. 20 state-of-art Internet stations, half of them in
their own private rooms. All the rooms are video enabled. Two way T1 data lines
(that's about 300 times faster than your lame AOL service). They are fast. You don't see a cable, wire or plug. Designer coffee, deli and
liquor bar. Definitely a top-notch production. But the kicker is upstairs. Lots
of hot looking dancers and they have their own booths. There are no customers.
They dance on the Internet 24 hours a day. If you are anywhere in the world and
want to talk to them face to face you just pull out your credit card. This site
is definitely worth a look at www.jadecool.com
Subic Bay has had two fleet visits
this past month. The submarine USS Houston was in for 4 days and we just had a
British ship HMS Fort Victoria drop anchor in the bay. They had a 700 man crew
and stayed through Queen Elizabeth's 100th birthday.
Lots
of folks had a hard time running the video files we posted last month. Well
we fixed that. If you're running Windows they should work. If they
don't there's plenty of help on the Rock
Lobster Page.
If you have not been here in several years one of the
changes is that nearly all women and girls carry cell phones. For some
reason while not an exclusive female phenomena many more females carry
them. Guys have been referring to them as STD's. (Spousal Tracking Devices - not
to be confused with Sexually Transmitted Diseases)!
Another change is that all the ladies have e-mail
addresses. The Internet Cafe's stay open late to cater to late night
communication. We've put pictures of most of the girls on the main
page. If you see one you'd like to write let us know.
If you've never checked out our Guest Log - lot's of nice comments. Here's
what a few of the folks are saying:
This is our slow time of the year. So we'll treat you
to some pictures of the Barrio Barretto as it is today. We'll continue
these over the next few months. Click
here for pictures of Barrio 2000.
Lookin' for pictures that use to be on the Mango's Home Page - click
here.
And
in case you missed it, all new pictures on the main page.
Interesting
article here: Subic
/ Clark Merger Until
the next time - Tom, Wilma & The Mango's Crew
Greetings
& Happy 4th of July, Sorry
this month's letter is a bit late. Preparations for the annual FILL-AM
festivities is our excuse this time.
We
had a good parade, arm wrestling and Little Miss Beach Bash contest on the 2nd.
Big thanks to Commissary John for the loan of his truck. The
3rd we got seriously rained out with a nasty high tide that came right up to
back of Mango's. We'll have pictures from the 4th of July Beach Bash on
this site as soon after the event as possible. We don't like to spam our
readers but we may send out an update notification once the pictures are all
posted.
Beginning
next month we will also use this space to show you some shots of how places look
in the Barrio now. If this proves popular we'll proceed to other areas
including Subic City and Olongapo.
The
Philippines has just passed a seat belt law which they will start enforcing in
August. It is a 1500 peso ($35) fine for not using your belt. Drunk
driving is still a 500 peso ($12) fine. In the PI they arrested 7 people
for drunk driving last year. Go figure!
In
Angeles City they just passed a law making it illegal to give money to beggars.
The fine is P500 pesos and/or two years in jail.
We
just had a monster port visit by US ships in Subic Bay. The Germantown,
Reuben James, Mount Vernon, Sites and Safeguard were here from 13 June through
18 June. They then returned June 24 and 25. It was the most ships in
Subic since the base departure in 1992. Liberty was from 3 PM until
midnight or 1 AM depending on rank. They were originally scheduled to be
in Manila but it was changed to Subic when a bomb went off in the bathroom of
the visitors outside arrival area of the International airport.
The
US ship visit was a 'blast from the past' complete with mojo, bullfrog and
hickeys. Eight Marines sat at Mango's one night and consumed 86 San Miguel
Lights. The price of beer here is P30 or 70 US cents a bottle. A
good deal is being able to drink 86 brews for US$59.
The
PI has more beer choices than it used to. Besides San Miguel and San
Miguel Light there is also Budweiser, Miller Genuine Draft, Beer Na Beer, Colt
45, Lone Star and Tiger. Most of the sales are still San Miguel and
Bud.
As
you may know, cock fighting is a very big sport and past time here in the
Philippines. You may not have known how big an industry it is in the
United States! Read all about it here.
The
Subic Bay Hash House Harriers will be celebrating their 7th anniversary on July
24th. This special run will leave from Beachside Cafe at 3:30. For
more information contact cpick@hvisions.com.
The
Retired Affairs office (RAO) meeting will be held on 11 July at 0900 at the
American Legion on Magsaysay Drive.
For
a truly remarkable photo of Philippine president Joseph Estrada check out www.geocities.com/floydwhaley.
The
Rock Lobster page now has videos! We clipped some short videos in .avi
format and posted them near the bottom of the page. Click on the Rock
Lobster link to the left and scroll down, you'll see them. There's
complete instructions if your not familiar with this type of media.
We
also found a pretty interesting site run by a girl from Whisky River Barrio
Barretto days. To see more of Rose try out www.honeyko.com.
And
Catch
you next month. Adios - Your Mango's Staff
Greetings, Here's
the latest Subic / Barrio scoop from Mango's.
Mango's News a new feature recently
added to our site. We'll update the section the first of every month. If there
is something you would like to see included write
and tell us about it. Please don't expect us to find Tessie De La Cruz who once
worked at the Such and Such saloon back in 1972. Trust us. She's not there
and neither is the bar.
We have developed this section for
people who want to know about the SBMA / Olongapo / Barretto / Subic area and
changes that have been made. We'll continue to advise on the weather as we're
prone to catastrophe and in particular floods due to typhoons. We had an early
wake up call with heavy rains for 2 weeks in mid-May. That combined with high
tides make the Matain River and valley susceptible to flooding. This year all
high tides during rainy season occur during daylight hours. The Matain river
next to Santa Monica came close to overflowing during the recent monsoons but
fortunately did not.
We're
getting a lot of requests about real
estate in the area. We know of no one on-line with this info. If someone out
there does than please advise us and we'll pass it on. Real estate has become a
hot business around here and we've even seen Century 21 signs. There is a paper
just out called Realty Reporter with all kinds of residential and commercial
listings in the Olongapo area. They dropped off Volume 1 No.1 at Mango's. It
appears to be promoted by a company called AJX Realty. We called them and they
are located at 177 Lower Kalaklan, National Hwy, Olongapo City. Their phone is
63-47-224-8303. They currently have no e-mail address.
The VFW 4th of July Beach Bash is going to
be BIg. The dates are July 2, 3 and 4. Shorty Philipps is in charge this year
and coordinating all events. Parades, food booths, games, dunk tanks, beauty
contests and various competitions make for fun filled days. You see people from
all over the archipelago that only come out once a year for this event. For more information
visit the VFW
site. We'll have photos from the event
posted on our site but being here is much more fun.
The Retired Affairs Office (RAO) will hold
their quarterly meeting on July 11 at 0900. Mayor Katherine H. Gordon is
tentatively scheduled as the guest speaker. The American Citizens Service,
Veteran Affairs and Social Security will be here from the US embassy. It is a
good time to register a child or renew a passport without making the trip to
Manila. The venue for the meeting has not been decided on. For more information
visit the RAO site.
There is a frenzy of construction going on
in Barrio Barretto. Sibal's furniture is remodeling. A new 2 story structure is
going up next to where Heaven Bar used to be. A large 3 story Hotel is going up
where Island Girls Bar was during the American base years. Once this
construction is completed we'll use this section to give you some pictures of
these new buildings as well as some of the more familiar haunts.
If you're in the area and need laundry done
check out Queen Of The Laundry near Dixie Bar. It's operated by Rick & Celia
Goundry.
It would be irresponsible not to mention
current lawlessness in the Philippines. We've had almost two months of fighting
between government troops and Muslim rebels in Mindanao. The conflict gained
world attention when a Muslim bandit group (Abu Sayyaf) snatched 21 people from
a Malaysian diving resort on April 23 and took them to the Philippine island of
Sulu about an hours boat ride away. The Philippine government has so far failed
to secure release of the hostages. A series of bombings in Manila in recent
weeks has further added to this perception of chaos. A bomb exploded in Manila's
largest shopping mall on Sunday May 21 killing one person and injuring 17
others. This was the second bombing attack on a shopping center in the
metropolis in 4 days. The US embassy in Manila has issued a travelers advisory.
You can read it on the Embassy site. Subic Bay
is far removed from all this turmoil. We watch TV and follow it in the news as
if it were the New Mexico fire. However this along with our infamous Love Bug
Virus will not help promote tourism or encourage visitors.
If you're coming and want information on
current conditions just write to wmyers@smartbro.net Cheers
and Be Safe! - Your Mango's Staff
Greetings, Here's
the May 2000 update from Mango's.
Tourist visa extensions have doubled over the past few months. Look to be
paying about US$50 for each month extension.
The
Retired Affairs Office
held their quarterly meeting in the restaurant a couple
weeks back. Upwards of 100 people
here. The US
Embassy sent 3
sections of American services. Births Abroad, Social Security and Veteran
Affairs. We had a special breakfast and had a full staff working.
Usually these are held at the American Legion so we were glad to host it.
On
Sunday April 9th Mike Trimble held his 65th birthday party here at Mango's. Started
at 3 PM. Live band and lots of food and people. Meeting of the
tribes, people you never see came out of the woodwork. The Mango's
Staff were on their feet from 10 AM 'till midnight making sure everything
was just right.
Another event that lures folks out is the 4th of July party hosted by our
local VFW. Plans are already moving forward for this years celebration and
it promises to be big. It will be held on the beach behind
Mangos/Islanders/Little Wheel. The 4th falls on a Tuesday so it will be a
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday affair. It will begin with the parade. Horseshoe,
pool, dart and arm wrestling tournaments follow. There will be a
Little Miss Beach Bash contest as well as the Big Girl contest. It's a good
party where you can meet ex-pats from all over the PI. The food booths and
the dunk tank make the days worthwhile. For more info contact the VFW at
vfw11447@bigfoot.com.
Easter
weekend went real well. The
roads were crowded, hotels all filled, beaches crammed. We closed Good Friday and had a family and friends
barbecue on the beach. Sunday we had a fun Easter egg hunt on the beach for Mango Kids.
Many thanks to those of you who provided egg coloring kits for the kids this past year.
Some
of you know Steve Hickman. He's always been considered England's # 1 soccer
hooligan. Years ago he was imprisoned for riots he engineered but later released
because the video they used at his trial was of another bloke.
They had to give him a couple hundred grand for false imprisonment.
He immediately retired to Subic and Pattaya. He's in his 40's now. This
week his book ARMED FOR THE MATCH sold out in the UK and is currently # 81 on
the US best seller list. We're doing a book signing party in Mango's next week.
We have two new restaurants in the Barrio Barretto area. One is Siam Angel
where the old Proud Mary used to be by the turnoff to the Marmont
hotel. Commissary John and Dave Lessard have been managing it and they
are turning out some authentic Thai fare. The other is a Mexican restaurant
in Nina Papagayos near where the old Casablanca once was.
Don West has opened THE GENERAL'S GYM. He purchased all the Marmont's weight
and exercise machines and added a whole lot more. He's located in the heart
of the barrio on the right hand side.
For those of you who have contacted us worrying about the war in Mindanao
you don't have to worry about us. It's a long way off. True, it's a mess and
the radical factions have begun kidnapping foreigners but we just follow it
in the paper like you. The one effect we've noticed in this area is that
there is an influx of Muslim vendors apparently fleeing the war torn zones.
The streets are full of them each carrying one seashell.
Mango's
has been open 6 years as of this week!
If
you have pictures you'd like to see included on our website please send them to
our Web Master at a135246@austin.rr.com.
We've got plenty more pictures ready to scan. In the future look
for a Whiskey River/Rock Lobster/Mango's "Alumni" page and a
"Kid's Korner".
It's summer in the PI. It is hot and muggy. School is out. The area is
packed with people from Manila on the weekends. Busses line the shoulders
and National Highway is bumper to bumper with vehicles. It's a great
place to live. Cheers and come visit us on the 4th of July or drop by Funtastic Subic Bay first chance you get.
This is for all of you who have spent NY Eve in the PI and wish you were
here this year. We'll have the traditional Americans vs the Commonwealth pool
tournamnet as usual. This past week there was a volleyball tournament at Mango's
and a cricket match using the SBMA fields. Parties abound with the two big ones
at the Rambler and T Rose.
The Duty Free Shops on Subic and Clark were to close today as Estrada has
ordered them shut. But both areas have temporary restraining orders so it will
be awhile. But close they will. Their inventories are already depleted and more
local products are in them than imported. The currency crisis already crippled
them for Balikbayans. A Filipino once needed 25 pesos to make a dollar purchase
and now needs 39. Another illustration is that Whisky River sold t-shirts for
P95 in 1983. That was $7.60. 15 years later the t-shirt is P225 but only worth
$5.76.
Subic has never really recovered from the Gordon-Payumo wars. Family hotel rooms
at Cubi are P1000 or $25. Estrada did come here and open the Bataan (Morong)
gate which Gordon always kept locked due to his feud with that province. One of
the most pleasant drives now is to cruise slowly through the jungles of Nav Mag.
Construction is everywhere in Olongapo. The old area where Sanitary Bazaar and
Cal-Jam were located had a spectacular fire a few weeks back. Already a new
Max's restaurant is going up there. Jollibee built a very big restaurant on the
corner of Victory Liner Circle where the bombed out church once was. There
is now a Domino's Pizza on Magsaysay. Two new bridges were completed going from
Olongapo onto Subic Base. One is at the end of Rizal/Jungle by old Summer Place.
The other is at the end of Gordon Ave Market on 14th St. Payumo however will not
allow them open because Dick built them.
Barrio humming along. Midnight Rambler, Little Wheel & Crazy Horse (both
being run by Shorty Philips) Main Attraction, Night Riders, Islanders & T
Rose. The hot ones in Subic are Fox Hole, Tahiti, Blue Note, MOP, Muff Divers
(just opened) & Kinkys. There are another dozen Filipino style bars.
Angeles
City really on track at the moment. Most of the empty lots or dipalidated
buildings now have bars or hotels or restaurants. Upscare bars from Makiti like
Papallin have moved in. A group from Thailand bought 5 bars and built a replica
of Margaritaville and called it Kokomos. Even Tic at DMZ has remodeled using
marble inside and out of the marine icon is more like Roadhouse than the DMZ.
Bar Fines are P1000 and beers about P60 all over town.
You Angeles City rollers will recall that bikinis have not been allowed on
dancers for several years. In an astounding turnabout the city council voted
to let bikini's return a couple months back. Bars like Roadhouse, Champagne,
Night Out, Why Not made some outrageously good ones. It makes a tremendous
difference when you're on a pub crawl.
Remember Sandy's outdoor restaurant on the road from Pampanga to Subic? Some
people had their first San Miguels there before the Plow & Harrow
existed. Sandy's has fallen apart through the years. I passed it the
other day and someone really fixed it up. Looks better than it did in the
old days.
There are a lot of MIA's this Christmas. There are many Brits and Aussies,
Europeans and even Canadians in town. But few Americans. That's why we're
playing bloody cricket instead of baseball. I called it the Gay Games but
some of em were not amused. Captain Wayne is here from Diego. Bryan Clark is
here and Dave Burges and Chris Sheeves and Frank Plumbley. Alan Bronfein is
here after an absense of 8 years.
The Visiting Forces Agreement remains in limbo. The Senate has yet to take
it up and they will need a 2/3 majority then. There is a lot of graffiti
around the country that reads "NO TO VFA." Especially around
Clark.
Gotta roll. Happy New Year from the Philippines. We're hoping to see
some of you in 1999. Remember everyone has to be somewhere for the start of
the new century. Right here will be good. See ya. Thank You
Visitor
Those of you who were here during the Marcos
years or Coup years or Pinatubo years would love it here today. Power
outages spark outrageous rumors. People clustered around radios and TV's
listening or watching news. People speaking intently in restaurants and
when the name of the President is said loudly everyone gets real quiet and looks
around. The peso falling daily in value (which is why you should come
visit now!). We have been told that both the local and national government
are monitoring our web site so we'll just stick to the facts. On October 9
President Estrada was accused by Ilocos Sur Governor Luis 'Chivit' Singson of
having received $8.2 million in jueteng payment kickbacks. Singson admits
having run the game in his province for years. Jueteng (pronounced
wetting) is an illegal numbers game played nationwide and run by gambling lords.
Singson claims Estrada is the # 1 chieftain of the game. Singson made the
allegations after being passed over to run a new legal game called Bingo 2 ball
in his province and after an alleged assassination attempt on his life.
Since
that revelation all hell has broken loose. The Senate began an
investigation into the charges. The church has people back in the
streets. The House of Representatives is conducting impeachment hearings.
(Estrada clearly has the numbers in the house to thwart this). The peso
has hit 51 to the greenback. (It was 41 six weeks ago). The stock market
is at an all time low. The foreign media is pouring into the capital for
the deathwatch of Erap or an EDSA Revolt Part 2. There are lots of juicy
tidbits and stories which we won't go into here. For more information (and
the story nuggets) go to our National News
section for articles from around the on the subject. One thing for sure.
This really beats the Gore
- Bush show for entertainment value.
If you have not visited the Mango's website lately check out the Greatest Hits
section. Somehow our Webmaster Tim found Ernest Tubb's classic song
"Filipino Baby". That's not all. He also got "Rodeo Song (Piss Me
Off-****ing Jerk)". You can download these and other memorable Subic
era tunes from our Greatest Hits page. Ain't
technology grand?
Barrio Barretto will again be dressed up for Halloween. But the truth is
that all the bad news about the country has affected tourism. We have the
usual people who arrive this time of year but we're short of new
faces. Between the Abu Sayaff kidnapping scare earlier this year and
the recent government instability travelers are choosing other
destinations. Still we'll have some new Halloween photos on the site
soon.
We are being buffeted by a serious typhoon which passed over Subic on the night
of Oct 28. Downed trees and other property damage and tons of rain but no
deaths. Power and phones are off and on. Oct-Dec is the danger period for Asian
typhoons. We're writing on the morning of Oct 30 and happen to have power and
phones but it's raging outside. We'll get this off while we can. What an
intoxicating place to live!!
Site updates include:
If
you're looking for the pictures of Barrio 2000 that use to be on this
page, click
here.
One
last note, the World's Greatest Navy has been a
cornerstone of
Subic Bay history for over 100 years. They have also been a big part of
our own little history dating back to Whiskey River, Rock Lobster and Love Shack
days. We wouldn't be here without them. Our thoughts are with the USS
Cole Family.
Rain
has lessened and people are out on the golf courses again. The old Binictican
course is available weekdays for just P1000. At this morning's peso rate that is
about $22. It's is a difficult and challenging course and does not even resemble
what it was under the American military. Tel: 63-47-252-1588 to 89.
Another
golf venue locals have been using is the one at the old San Miguel
Communications Station. The base itself is now a training facility for the
Philippine Navy. It is still just 9 holes but at $3.20 for the round and $4.25
for your caddy it is a real deal. The FRA is located outside the gates and is a
pleasant beer stop on the 40 minute ride back to Subic.
I
was asked for a brief on Subic City. There are a bunch of bars there but many
of them cater to locals and usually late at night until early morning. The
primary expat bars are Foxhole, Tahiti Club and Muff Divers all of which
have dancers. Foxhole opens around 11 AM and does good daytime business.
Muff Divers starts around 7 PM and goes later. There have been some
pretty impressive ladies up on Muff Diver's stage lately. (Better not tell
your mom you're going to MUFF DIVER'S). Tahiti Club was recently purchased
by some Swedish guys and is going through some changes. Other
expat watering holes worth noting are Kinky's, Eagles and Bow Belles. This
last one has an British connotation I can't remember. The important thing
is that you can have fun in there. Kinky's is definitely a fun stop.
Useful links we've come across:
Sure
enjoy your web page, to see pictures of my best friend Dutch, we did a lot
of drinking at the old Holiday Hotel after Dutch closed up the barber
shop. I sure do miss him. - American girl Marge
After
being in and out of the PI for 10 years I have many a good story. I
don't tell many of them anymore. No one believes them except the lucky
few that were there during the crazy years. Munch one of those
great PI mangoes and squeeze one of those cute women for me. - Pat
To:
Tom, Wilma, Ems, Bheng, Solie, Cecil, Rain, Amor, Vilma, Margie, Lhea,
Susan, and everyone I might have forgotten, Mango's/Rock Lobster is the
ABSOLUTE BEST place to have a great time! You guys are the best! The
food, drinks, people, atmosphere are second to none! I will always remember the great times I had there!! Even when I slept on the bar!!
HA, HA!! Everyone on the Reuben James (especially Doug, Rich, and
Myself) misses you! THANKS AGAIN!! - Steve
