Beer is back, garden report, bike, pigs & cocks

Last Updated on October 27, 2024 by Ellen

Happy happy; joy joy! The beer is flowing again!

I know Ellen mentioned it in her blog post yesterday, but I am really happy – and celebrating! For the first time in two months, I can legally buy beer here in Malay, Aklan, Panay, Philippines. An alcohol sales ban had been in effect as part of the COVID-19 crisis response.

Beer is back

Here are some more photos of the first beer truck delivery to the Hangout Beach Resort (and the small convenience store across the street), where we are staying to ride out this coronavirus craziness.

The day we arrived here (March 16), and began our series of quarantines, I arranged to purchase all the bottles of beer that was filling the refrigerators at our resort. Thus, I’ve been able to enjoy and nurse the supply of San Miguel, Red Horse, and Gold Eagle (all San Miguel brewery products) for the past eight weeks.

But the inventory has been dwindling down to just a handful of bottles as of this weekend. Thankfully, the delivery truck arrived on the very first day that alcohol restrictions were lifted.

I kicked in 5,000 Philippine pesos ($100) to help resupply the coolers at the Hangout.

Beer party

And perfect timing; the newly acquired brew was enjoyed at last night’s small ‘thank you’ party hosted by our resort for the group of medical workers who ended up staying here while working at the nearby community hospital.

With the lessening of quarantine and local travel restrictions, those folks will be able to once again commute from their homes in the region to their jobs. We will have the resort – and the beer – to ourselves again.

on the left, frontliners in front of the local hospital; on the right, frontliners at the Hangout dinner party

I had a bunch of beers last night at the dinner and karaoke gathering. It was great to NOT be counting and conserving. I’m retired, visiting the Philippines, on a beach, in blazing heat and sun; it’s just not right to be denied cold beer. No more!

Garden report

Indeed, our sunny and sweltering weather is returning after the few days of clouds, wind, and showers caused by Typhoon Ambo. There were still some sprinkles today and some weather instability left behind by the storm. But overall things got calmer as the weekend wore on. In fact, the sea waters were very tranquil this evening – pretty remarkable considering a big storm just moved through.

The other good storm news: our garden suffered no more flooding. We were concerned that the typhoon winds and waves might result in a tidal situation that could again inundate the garden with salt water. That happened last week during the super-moon high tide.

on the left, high tide, on the right, the salvaged garden

Thankfully, our emergency efforts to transplant many of the affected plants seem to have saved at least some of them. The storm rains certainly helped the struggling damaged crops too. Hopefully they will all continue to improve.

Bike news

In other developments, my bicycle has a flat tire. I was hopeful that everything was a-ok with the old, rusty, Chinese, folding bike that I was able to get functioning.

I took it for a couple rides, but noticed the front tire slowly loosing air. No problem. Inner tubes are common fixes at motorcycle shops here. I’ll be on the road again tomorrow.

Pig and cocks

I keep feeding the pig. Every couple days I throw fruit and vegetable peels and rinds from our rooftop into the pig pen in the yard behind our apartment.

Sadly, one of the two pigs that were there was recently butchered! The remaining swine now gets all the food for herself.

on the left, the last pig tedly feeds, on the right, two men and a cock

And another sign of impending ‘normalcy’: I photographed a couple of neighbors fussing with some roosters. I lamented the suspension of beer sales, but no doubt the local Filipinos are eager to get back to the national pastime of cockfighting.

In fact, I’m guessing plans are being made to soon again conduct the popular weekly arena events with face masks, social distancing, and other precautions. Stay tuned.

As always, be thankful and generous, happy trails, & more beer.

Life is NOW!