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Day 53 (19 February 2025) = Cockfighting I am woken up early by what sounds like a protest outside on the street outside of the township walls. I open the curtains and I step out onto the balcony and I see a large crowd gathering in front of the below structures (see below photo) and there is a lot of excitement, yelling and screaming. I need my phone to zoom in very closely and it looks like it is the MC (Master of Ceremonies) who is riling up the crowd into a frenzy at 8:30am in the morning. I send the above photo to both Mr. B. and my Thai boyfriend and Mr. B. confirms that this is the occasional barangay (village) cockfighting, which is allowed on certain days of the month. shortened_cockfight_19Feb2025.mp4 Is this the Philippines answer to the Roman Empires, “Panem et Circenses” ?? To keep social order ? https://winedharma.com/en/blog-en/panem-et-circenses-the-role-of-the-colosseum-in-ancient-romes-social-order/ What is amazing is that this cockfighting went on all day late into the night. How many cocks had to die to satisfy the crowd ? Later after my Thai boyfriend wakes up he tells me that these local village cockfights also occur in Thailand. I have never seen them in Thailand and I surely don't want to see one up and close here in the Philippines - just the shrieks of agony (that I can hear) coming from the roosters sends chills down my spine. I work on the BIG trip report update for our trip to Olango. I go to lunch at my usual Mactan Newtown Alfresco open air food court. Today the weather is crappy – windy, chilly, and rain on and off throughout the day. So, I hunker back to my room to finally finish the Olango update and post it to this forum. I also respond to some queries that this trip report has generated. There is a lull in the rain and I run over to the An’Dale Eats food truck and I eat outside but it is quite too chilly with the wind. So, I eat quickly and return to my room. Chat with my Thai boyfriend and he is excited to go to Rayong with his friends to see the below mentioned Mor Lam concert. He sends me pictures and video streams via LINE and I eventually fall asleep knowing that my maximum capacity to enjoy a Mor Lam concert with them is about 2 hours long before they need to organize a car to send gramps (me) home for his warm milk and cookies and then off to bed. No massages or extra-curricular activities or cockfighting in my condo room today. Day 53 (19 February 2025) concluded.

Day 52 (18 February 2025) Eat breakfast with Mr. B. and then he leaves to go back to Cebu city, as he needs to work today. Mr. B. shares with me the details of his journey as an alternative way to get back to Cebu city using the existing transportation system. He takes the 10:30 am Ceres Bus bound for IT Park from the Mactan Newtown transportation station for 26 pesos (~ $0.45 USD) – as he will exit at the Pacific Mall in Mandaue city at 11:15am, where he will transfer to a jeepney (standing room only) bound for SM Cebu City, which only costs 15 pesos (~ $0.26 USD). He exits at the stop before the Mabolo church where he transfers for a jeepney (bahtbus), which costs 13 pesos (~ $0.22 USD), back to his hotel boarding house at 12 noon. Total cost was 26 + 15 + 13 = 54 pesos (~ $0.93 USD) with a the total elapsed time of approximately 90 minutes. I spend a lot of time today writing a long letter to my Thai boyfriend (as I had frozen conversations with him on 15 February) which basically outlined that if he does not modify his financial discipline that I will leave him out of my need for self-preservation. As I want this message to be razor sharp clear – I first use Google translate and then I reverse translate what Google wrote via the OpenAI app. I see that it still needs some modifications in English in order for my message to be more clear and less ambiguous. I then put this revised message into Google translate and then reverse translate using instead the Grok AI tool and I see that it is almost perfect. Again, I tweak my letter some more by trying to use more latin based words and more British words, and in the end I get to a result that I feel comfortable enough to send to him in the LINE app both in the Thai language and in English. In addition to the above laborious work, I attached 2 idiomatic proverbs to my message that took me a very long time to find their Thai equivalents. I share them here in case it would aid any of you when trying to communicate with your Thai loved ones. I go to lunch at the Mactan Newtown Alfresco open air food court. Return to my room to work on some of these trip report updates as I am again once behind. Thai boyfriend wakes up and we have more than 1 intense conversation and things are somewhat better – but as my mother always told me when she was alive, “Watch what people do and NOT what they say – because actions take much more energy than empty words.” He hates when I remind him of what my mother says – as I would imagine that to change away from the carefree habits of being an ex-money boy are not easy. Afterwards, I decide that I need some stress relief and I fire up the Heesay app and I see that Jeff is online. I cautiously write to him in his original Heesay profile (as I am not sure if it is still hijacked) and I understand that it is really him as we exchange phone numbers and we move the conversation over to WhatsApp. We agree to meet at 7pm and I go outside of my OPR condo complex and eventually Jeff arrives, and he looks as sexy as before. We check in with the security guards and they take his ID and issue him a visitor’s badge. We go up to my room and he explains to me about the incident that happened on Saturday 15 February where an imposter appeared at my OPR condo complex instead of Jeff. Apparently, he told me that this was his “friend” who grabbed his phone away from him and decided to present himself to me that night. Hmm, sounds kind of like a lovers quarrel ?? Anyway I had told that other guy to go away as I was pissed off by this unrequested substitution. So, we get naked and Jeff gives me an even better massage than the first time and the after’s were truly even more erotic and sensual than the previous encounter. Each of us gets the other one off in a nice slow way with an intense output at the end. 🤪😜🍆💦 We both take showers and I walk Jeff downstairs to the security team so that he can retrieve his ID and return his guest badge. As I had not yet eaten my dinner, I walk with Jeff down the Newtown Blvd. and we part ways when I arrive at my usual eating place, the An’dale Eats food cart. Nice happy ending to a rather stressful day. Day 52 (18 February 2025) concluded.

I was not around in those peak Sunee Plaza years so what I can offer are the words that I heard directly from the owner of the M Bar - Madam M, which is in the Jomtien Complex. She told me that back in the day she had GREAT success with a popular bar (I do not remember its name) in Sunee Plaza. She told me that she moved for a while to Boyztown - after the demise of Sunee Plaza due to the frequent police raids due to the problem of underage workers employed by some of the Sunee bars (never in her bar). The police were aggressively targeting said bars as this issue had been exposed in the international press and was harming Thailand's reputation. She told me that she eventually left Boyztown and moved to the Jomtien Complex (Supertown) in July 2022 - as she told me that the Jomtien Complex is "protected" by the Thai Army / or Airforce (I do not remember exactly which branch of the Military she stated) - if I understood correctly - as the property of the complex is under their jurisdiction. She said that this helps to survive from the frequent incursions that were occurring by the local Pattaya police - as there is a fiefdom turf war within the greater Pattaya area - in that the Thai Army / Airforce may be the "administrator" of the Jomtien Complex and NOT the local Pattaya police. However, she told me that the Thai immigration still perform their occasional checks for illegal aliens and workers in the Jomtien Complex - as they have a higher mandate over all of the above mentioned entities. Can anyone here substantiate and/or correct what I wrote ? I find all of this fascinating - because these prior turf wars allow us to understand how things work or don't work now in 2025.

Now I do not feel alone - as we also had a BIG green algae seaweed invasion here in Boracay as reported in my Philippines Cebu trip report some days ago.

And I always perform a pre-edit in WORD and then I post and I do another edit within the gayguides.com editor and then after I click on the save button and my article/update is posted - I read it again and I use the within the forum software the edit button to fix anything that may have slipped through in the previous 2 edit screenings. As this specific Cebu Olango post was very long and very special - that 1 mistake slipped through. It is difficult when we use an alias to refer to someone when we are close to them and know very well their real name. Even @macaroni21 has brought to my attention how I swapped the alias of Mr. B. with another alias of Mr. M.. Many thanks for your kind intervention. I have since written to our gayguides.com admin (TotallyOz) to ask for his kind intervention to correct my dufus mistake.

My reply to @Marc in Calif has been deleted.

As I wrote that more than 1 year ago - additional LINE groups have come to the fore. Massage Insider+ was invented as a NEW additional value added group to give more content with more juicy content. You can ask permission to join - for a small fee by contacting Keisha - who is the administrator listed in my January 2024 post. MIMA PARTY This is a new LINE group that was recently born as a way to organize the soon to occur MIMA Party - which is scheduled for 15 March 2025. MIMA PARTY was created as a joint collaboration by the already existing LINE groups = Massage Addicted + Massage Insider. This 15 March 2025 event will be their FIRST attempt at this type of party and is limited to the first 120 people who sign up to join. The MIMA PARTY could be seen as an alternative to the Crete the Party events that are organized in Bangkok --> as the MIMA PARTY's focus is to give exposure to the top massage shops and their staff that are located in Bangkok. Whereas, the Crete the Party is to give exposure to Bangkok male models - who may not have anything to do with the Bangkok massage business. Here is the link to the MIMA PARTY thread in this forum = gayguides.com PlanetWorld Official - This is a private LINE group created by this masseur who gives massages out of his condo in Bangkok. In addition, he also visits other massage shops all over Thailand and also in Japan and then he reports to his LINE subscribers how those experiences were. His group does require a small fee to join. For the below LINE group - I do not have a name for it as it is all in Thai - it is for a freelance masseur who visits Bangkok for 1 or 2 weeks every 6 to 8 weeks. He was being promoted by KEISHA within the existing Massage_Insider LINE groups for a long time, and then he created his own LINE as shown below. He is a HOT muscle guy and I have not yet tried his services. This all I am aware of - but remember that I live in Jomtien and not in Bangkok. Perhaps our forum members who actually live in Bangkok can share with us any additional LINE groups ?? enjoy

Day 51 (17 February 2025) – Adventure to nearby Olango island We wake up early and we eat our breakfast. Not knowing in advance what Mr. B. likes to eat for breakfast, I offer him something from my meagre 7-Eleven breakfast selection: He chooses a mango yogurt and a shrimp type of sushi roll and later on eats some müsli oat biscuits with me Afterwards, each one of us completes the 3 S’s and we dress up (including swimming trunks) for our nature exploring adventure and prepare our backbacks with water and beach towels. Off we go and we decide to walk the 30 minute journey to the Angasil boat pier. Half of that walk is circumnavigating the Mactan Newtown township to get outside of the township and onto Angasil road. Strangely, as I reported 2 days prior when I made this walk by myself – my heart was racing – but this time in Mr. B.’s company, my heart is calm and the walk is much more pleasant. I generally fear what is unknown more than what is known – as this is now my 2nd walk to the Angasil Port. We arrive and pay for our 2 round trip tickets of 80 pesos (~ $1.38 USD) each. We board the ship immediately, as it is soon to depart for Olango island. We easily find seats as the large ship is not packed. All Aboard!! The ride across the Hilutungan Channel only takes like 20 minutes. We disembark and start the long trek on the cement pier to get to the area where the tricycle taxis are parked. The pier is intentionally made to be extremely long because of the changes in the sea tides – thus allowing the mooring of large ships (car vessels) to park at the pier even if the tide is out and the water level is low. There is a busy flurry of ferry passengers and tricycle drivers negotiating rides and I note that there is not much enthusiasm for our relatively nearby destination in the Santa Rosa village – as I would imagine that it is not very profitable and the tricycle driver needs to wait another 30 minutes for the next ship to arrive to gain some income. Eventually, there were some other passengers going to our nearby destination and we are assigned to one of the tricycles. This is my first time in one of these types of Filipino transportation vehicles and the only other similar experience would be when I went to Dhaka, Bangladesh for my job. I was the first person allowed to board this contraption – as I was the biggest and thus the one consuming the biggest space, which then allowed them to assign the many other smaller in bone structure and BMI (Body Mass Index) local people. Amazingly, we were 4 passengers inside and 1 sitting outside (you can see her behind me in the above photo) – plus the motorbike driver. Basically, this tricycle is a motorbike welded to this aluminum type of carriage. These tricycle vehicles can be found all over the Philippines and are used similar in nature like the CNG (auto rickshaws) that are used in Bangladesh. CNG – auto rickshaw in Bangladesh I believe that we paid 30 pesos (~ $0.52 USD) each for our short 5 to 6 minute ride. At the Refluck e-Bike shop we start chatting with the owner (Jeff) about which e-bike we should rent. Together we chose 2 Chinese Ji Su e-bikes and we pay an initial price of 300 pesos (~ $5.16 USD) each, for a 3 hour rental, with the understanding that it can be extended for each 30 minutes additionally for 50 pesos per each 30 minute interval. We had to sign a contract and related damage disclaimer with our names and contact phone numbers – but NO documents or licenses were required to rent these e-bikes. We are given a short demo on how these vehicles operate. One of them has Chinese switches and controls and I ask Mr. B. if he can take that one and I take the other one that has switches and controls in English. Their maximum speed is 45km and as they were already fully charged Jeff told us that we should be able to go all day. They also have manual pedals in case your battery finishes earlier than planned. https://www.instagram.com/cebu_refluck/p/CzX35BovotC/ The shop is easy to find as it is near the first right after the Santa Rosa Wharf pier ends as shown below: As we are all sorted out, we ask Jeff in which direction is the San Vicente Marine Sanctuary and he says head south on the San Vicente Barangay Road until it ends. OK, let’s GO!! Since my motorbike training has been on gas powered motorbikes this e-bike experience is very different in that the torque when starting is immediate and sudden and powerful. So, you need to adjust how much you turn the accelerator on the handlebar. Well the road ended here at the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary. Oopsy, we somehow missed our intended destination. This place is also interesting IF you are into bird watching – which is not of big interest to me. Mr. B asks one of the rangers how to get to our desired destination and it seems easy. Here is an aerial photograph of the Olango Island Wildlife Sanctuary in case any of you would be interested in visiting it. https://forevervacation.com/cebu/olango-island-wildlife-sanctuary So, we backtrack and within 5 minutes we arrive at the San Vicente Marine Sanctuary. We park our e-bikes and Mr. B. talks to 2 guys who are eating how we can pay the entrance fees to enter the sanctuary. https://www.facebook.com/sanvicentemarinesanctuary/ We tell them that we want the “swimming option with chairs and tables”, which includes the 80 pesos environmental fee, so we have to pay 200 pesos (~$3.44 USD) each to enter. What is weird is that these 2 guys never got up to collect our 400 pesos – they just sat their eating and they told us to leave the fee on the table (we will find out hours later when we leave the sanctuary why they acted this way). Consequently, we never get a receipt or any type of paperwork. They tell us that we need to be VERY careful on the 500 meter elevated bamboo walkway – as it is in a state of repair. The walk out to the end of the walkway is very exciting as perhaps the first 200 meters is on a bamboo walkway that meanders through a mangrove forest with very clean and clear water and fish below you. This portion of the walk reminded me of the wooden boardwalks found on Fire Island, in New York, in the gay communities of Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines. https://www.fireislandfinder.com/fire-island-villages/fire-island-pines/ Then the mangroves end and you are now walking for the next 300 meters on the bamboo walkway that reaches a type of elevated wooden bridge structure (that allows small boats to pass underneath) where the walkway transforms into a wooden plank bridge. We arrive to the end of the walkway to this elevated “entertainment” type of center where you can eat, climb into the crystal clear water to swim and/or snorkel, park your party boat and join in the fun, go on a multi-island excursion, go banana boating, and be solicited by local fisherman with a diverse variety of offerings. Below I am eating a sea urchin (first time in my life) and drinking some Buko Juice = natural coconut juice sold to us by the local fisherman lady and her husband. Yummy sea urchins – Bantay in the local language For my entire life I was always fearful of stepping on one of these sea creatures because IF one or more of their spines would break into your foot – which I heard is extremely painful and requires a hospital intervention to have the spines extracted from your foot. So, I never imagined that I would be eating one of these delicious creatures – to soften the sea taste it is served with vinegar. Mr. B. only eats one and lets me eat the other 5. There was one party boat (pump boat) moored, and their guests were being served fresh caught fish that was barbecued on the barbecue. There were 2 AFAMs (farangs) snorkeling in the water, and there was 1 group of about 5 or 6 young Filipinos enjoying swimming in the water, going on the banana boat and eating. So, this place is fun, and exudes a lot of positive energy. When I bought the sea urchins I also bought some fish food so that Mr. B. and I could toss it into the crystal clear water and see the many colorful fish arrive to eat it. Before heading back, the fisherman lady sells me 2 coasters that are made out of sea shells – I have never seen anything like these so I could not refuse to buy them. Later on when we returned back to Santa Rosa, we saw some ladies making these by hand – truly an artisan type of work. We start the trek back over the wooden bridge and then bamboo walkway to retrieve our e-bikes and we now notice why no one “officially” collected our money to enter the sanctuary because now there is a big plastic CDO (Cease & Desist Order) sign draped near the entrance: Because the bamboo walkway is considered to be dangerous and unsafe to walk on. Mr. B. notices a police officer (PO) sitting nearby (I did not see him) and perhaps this PO comes during certain times of the day to enforce the CDO ? Who knows? We were unofficially allowed in with words of caution as the bamboo walkway needs to be repaired. So, this is perhaps why we needed to put the entrance fee on the table and why we did not get an official receipt. Anyway, if there was some form of corruption occurring, I am happy that we were able to see and appreciate this wonderful sanctuary and we hope that the bamboo walkway will be repaired at the soonest. On the way to find a place to eat, we stop to take some selfies in the lush foliage of the Maribagini forest which is full of neem trees. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maribagini_Park.jpg We come across the Casa Blanca by the Sea resort and we decide to have lunch there. As it is a Monday, after the craziness of the Valentine Day weekend, it is extremely quiet and Mr. B. and myself we are the only customers. https://www.facebook.com/casablancabythesea/ While we are eating it starts to rain quite heavily which interrupts our plans – as we wanted to venture over to the east coast of Olango – the coast that faces the famous Bohol island. So, we wait for a pause in the rain and then we start our journey back to the Refluck e-bike shop. About ½ the way back it starts to poor again and we seek refuge underneath the overhang of a local church. Eventually the rain stops and we finally reach the e-bike shop. Jeff calculates that we owe an additional 150 pesos (~$2.58 USD) for the time beyond 3 hours that we initially paid for. Not bad for the total time of 4.5 hours that we rented the e-bikes for. Jeff ever so briefly checks for any damages and lets us go. What a great guy. We decide to walk it back to the ferry and it was then that we did not realize how far the Santa Rosa wharf really is to the point where the ferry is moored. Google states that it is 1.2km = 16 minute walk. As we approach the end of the Santa Rosa wharf, we notice 2 ships – the one on the right is the ship used to transport vehicles to the island and the one on the left is our small passenger ferry. The ferry going back to the Angasil Port is a small boat and it is already super packed and Mr. B. and I, we are the last passengers to board – consequently we could not sit together. I am sitting on a small plastic stool in the extreme back and Mr. B. is in the front row near the boarding area. As it was raining previously, the sea is choppy and since this ferry is much smaller it sways more and the lady in front of me starts to get seasick and we all need to stand up urgently so that she could quickly pass us to enter into the CR (comfort room = bathroom) to do the necessary. When she finally exits, we are almost at the port, but the ferry boat that is bound for Olango island has not yet left its docking slip, so we need to wait in the choppy sea and the lady decides that she needs to sit next to me and requests that the Filipino boy who was sitting in front of the CR entrance move to her seat. I can see that she is sweating profusely, and it is just a matter of minutes that she will need to vomit again, so I decide to stand up and move my way forward holding onto the ceiling of the swaying ship. At that point we finally dock and we could get off the vessel. Mr. B. was lucky as he was one of the first off and I was one of the last. It was truly good to be back on firm ground = Mactan island. Hallelujah!! We decide to walk back to the Mactan Newtown township and about two thirds of the way, we see an ugly sight, a man is laying on the middle of the road – obviously injured from a very fresh road accident – we literally need to walk off of the road into the muddy area to get around the big crowd of onlookers that is now forming waiting for the ambulance to arrive. We return to my condo to relax, take a nap, shower and prepare to go to dinner later on. Before exiting my OPR condo complex, I tell Mr. B. that I want to show him something on the bridge floor = 4 (this is the floor that connects the 4 towers of the complex), which is the outside of the tower that houses the BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) center. From the children’s playground you have a clear view into the hamster tiny cubicles that those poor workers must work in. It is just a giant sea of endless cubicle blocks stacked one after the other with 2 workers crammed side-by-side inside the individual cubicle as shown below: You may remember that on New Year’s Eve, I had dinner with the guy who massaged me who works in one of these BPOs that the Philippines is famous for. He told me that the starting salary is 13,000 pesos (~$223.71 USD), and his partner who works in a BPO in IT Park in Cebu city earns 30,000 pesos (~$516.25 USD), after 8 years of working there. This is why you will find many BPO workers moonlighting in the apps for extra money. Mr. B. told me that within the gay Filipino community, BPOs are popular places for gays to work. I take Mr. B. to my favorite food truck to eat: An’Dale Eats and Mr. B. really likes it. https://www.facebook.com/andaleeats?mibextid=LQQJ4d While we were walking over to the An'Dale Eats food truck we witnessed a minor altercation between 4 very attractive ladyboys and an AFAM (farang) who was yelling at the ladyboys. I heard, "Hey they stole my iphone" and Mr. B. heard, "Hey they stole my food". The later was probably what was really said as the situation seemed to calm down quickly. During these few seconds - I thought that I was back in Pattaya. hahahahaha.... Afterwards we take a walk outside of the Mactan Newtown township to visit the Mactan Shrine – which I have never seen up close at night – only from my previous AirBnB that overlooked the Magellan Sea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mactan_Shrine They made it magical because they put blue lights out on the mangrove trees out in the bay. We then walk the outer perimeter of the township over to the main entrance and along the way Mr. B. spots some “balut” for sale and wants to eat one. It is a baby duck egg that has been incubated for a period of time until the embryo partially develops – and then it is boiled and the purchaser eats it directly from the shell. I was grossed out but Mr. B. said that it was so yummy. Mr. B. trying to entice me to eat a baby duck embryo We walk beyond the LG Garden Walk mall to the nearby 2 story karaoke place to see these large glass walls of people showing off and singing. We discover that it is an upscale 5 star Korean owned restaurant and karaoke club that is open 24 hours. Its name is Pungryu Jeong. https://www.facebook.com/p/Pungryujeong-61553767130954/ The more I stay in the Mactan Newtown township the more I realize the influence of the BIG money Koreans who own many of the condos and businesses within the township and outside of the township. Furthermore, there are 4 to 5 big English language centers here that are almost exclusively enrolled by Korean and/or Japanese students. We return to my OPR condo and call it a night as it has been a long and exciting day. No massages or extra-curricular activities today. Day 51 (17 February 2025) – Adventure to nearby Olango island concluded.

Day 50 (16 February 2025) Boring start to the day, as I get on my hands and knees to clean the floors in my lovely condo – as Mr. B. will arrive later in the day and I want this impressive condo to be spotless for his arrival. Mr. B. tells me that he is on his way, as he has booked his ride on the ever so popular Move IT motorbike taxi app. It is 15:20pm. Before I know it, at 15:50pm Mr. B. is already outside of my OPR condo complex waiting for me. So, the total elapsed time was only 30 minutes – truly amazing for a cost of 245 pesos ( ~ $4.21 USD). I hurried downstairs to check in Mr. B. with the OPR security team and they issue him a guest badge. After Mr. B. puts down his luggage and drinks something – I immediately take him out onto the balcony so that he can see for himself the amazing unobstructed sea-to-sea view from the Hilutungan Channel with Olango island in full view, and then looking the other way to the Mactan Channel with both the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and Cebu city skyline with the mountains in the background. Mr. B. agrees that I have a balcony with a breathtaking view. I give Mr. B. the grand tour of the Mactan Newtown township, as it is his first time here. I walk him past the 2 hotels, Savoy and Belmont, as Mr. B. works for a competing hotel, so it is interesting for him to see the competition. We then continue to the end of the township at the private Newtown beach and I bring him to the wall that separates the township from the Shangri-La resort that Mr. B. and I visited on 4 January 2025 that I reported about in my Day 7 (4 January 2025) update. In this way we can see both sides of that separating wall from a 5-star resort to this MegaWorld planned community. On the way back into the center of the township, we pass by the construction site of the new to-be Mactan Expo Center, whose footprint will consume almost 1 hectare of the 30 hectare for the entire township. The below YouTube video from MegaWorld explains it better, as it provides impressive visuals. I take pride showing Mr. B. our very small mini-mall that is within the main 8 Boulevard building, and while giving him the quick tour, I notice a stairs that I did not notice before and we go up to the 2nd level and we discover 4 to 5 more businesses (in addition to the ones that I already reported on in a previous post update), of which 1 is the Nast Fitness Center https://www.nastfitness.com/ Note that the operating hours are from 5am until 12 midnight 7 days a week. So, in addition to the Anytime Fitness gym (which is open 24 hours every day) that I already reported on in a previous update, which is slightly outside of the township, in the nearby LG Garden Walk mall, whereas this Nast Fitness gym that is located right here within the township. We then venture outside of the township so that I can show Mr. B. all of the different street food venues that are located outside the perimeter wall of the township, in the busy chaotic real streets of Filipino life. I understand that Mr. B., who has been working since 6am, is very tired and hungry, and so we head back into the township to eat dinner at the Mactan Newtown Alfresco outdoor food court, which is all illuminated at night with these beautiful white string lights. I have never eaten here in the evening so I never saw it beautifully illuminated. It is quite full and busy. After dinner, we buy 2 yummy mango popsicles from the famous shop located here in the township, https://www.facebook.com/TMN.OfficialTownshipPage/posts/new-store-alert-pan-de-manila-is-now-baking-and-ready-to-serve-you-the-freshest-/122123240714396557/ and now we head back to the condo room. Soon afterwards, Mr. B. is sound asleep, so we call it a night, as we will wake up early for our adventure over to Olango island. NO extracurricular activities for today. Day 50 (16 February 2025) concluded.

Sounds good. Thanks for sharing this information with us. Are you like me scouting for possible retirement destinations ? If yes, please share with us your findings from your on the ground research - as our gayguides.com forum has hardly any details about successfully retiring in the Philippines. Enjoy your trip to Baguio.

Sure Yes - I indicated tourism and to look at possible retirement locations. None of the immigration officials asked me anything. The local expats here told me that they will only ask you questions after you have been here for a long time on a tourist visa = like in excess of 6 months or 1 year. Theoretically, you can keep extending your tourist visa for up to 3 years. I told the truth = 62 days. I was given a warning at the airport on day 1 when I got my first 30 day stamp at the airport on arrival when the immigration officer asked me why I had not requested a visa in advance since my known stay would be 62 days and the first tourist visa on arrival stamped into your passport is only for 30 days? I apologized and I told her that I was ignorant about this requirement. So, she told me, "I can only give you 30 days in your passport and you will need to go to immigration prior to the expiration of the first 30 days to extend your tourist visa." --> which is what I did as reported in my Day 27 (24 January 2025) trip report update. --> Note that your first tourist visa extension is only for 29 additional days. Consequently, in my specific case, I will need to go back to immigration next week to extend my tourist visa for an additional 3 days, to satisfy the full 62 days that I will be here as a tourist. yes - it is the validity through date (expiration) printed in your passport @garygx, Enjoy your stay in the Philippines. If I may, can I ask where will you visit ?

Yes. You need to leave Jomtien to appreciate what it has to offer: Supertown with its 35 gay bars, 2 cabaret showbars, 12 restaurants, 10 massage shops, and 10 hotels. Here in Cebu - there is no central gay ghetto area with a concentration of gay bars. The closest 3 bars here in Cebu - within walking distance are 1.) the Cave Bar, 2.) ICON mixed disco, 3.) Censored bar. Dongtan beach - and the ability to walk freely on the beach - unfortunately here all of the beaches here in Cebu are for payment and so you are not able to walk from one beach to another like you can in Jomtien. all within an 8 to 10 minute walking distance from my condo Only if the current Thai government follows through with its threat to implement a Global Taxation Regime - then I will leave Thailand - and I could see myself living here - as life here in the Jomtien of Cebu = Mactan Newtown - I truly enjoy. The MegaWorld company that created this new well planned community is truly enjoyable and is near the beach and they have hirise condos like in Jomtien with stunning sea views. Many things are cheaper here because the cost of labor is cheaper here. The average daily salary for a Cebu person is 501 pesos, which is equivalent to 289.72 Thai baht. The average daily salary for a Jomtien person is around 400 Thai baht, which is equivalent to 691.76 pesos. Consequently, there is a 38% premium in wage cost - in that Thais in the Pattaya area earn 38% more on average over their peers from Cebu city. Note: this 38% wage differential does not equate into that things cost 38% less than in Jomtien - I would guess that things are between 15% to 20% cheaper on average. Here in Cebu I pay on average between 2,500 to 3,000 pesos for a massage with light extras - which equates to around 1,700 Thai baht, which is around 15% cheaper than what I pay for the same massage back in Jomtien. However, even though renting a condo can be cheaper here in Cebu - it will be a much smaller space. So, Jomtien gives more value for your money when measured in sqm. Out of the 3 places that I will compare each other to - I am pre-anticipating that Da Nang, Vietnam will come in at the cheapest - as I noted this when I stayed there for 2 weeks during Songkran 2024.

Many thanks for your kind words Peter. I wish that I had the writing style and talent that you have. Your choice of word usage always mesmerizes me as a great piece of music does. I write the best that I can with my limited repertoire of the English language - I am from the USA, with a middle class educational upbringing. Later in life, I was fortunate to land an international job that sent me to many places in the world and thanks to this job, exposed me to South East Asia (SEA) - hence my retirement as an expat in Thailand. I often worry that my posts - especially this new Philippine one is a bore as they are daily updates - but I am trying to capture what the daily life / grind is here for potential retirees who might want to retire in the Philippines. I know that the primary focus of this site, gayguides.com, is to share our hunt for our sexcapades and share some of those details - which I truly enjoy and I do participate in those when I am having one of those adventures. But, I also believe that it is good for our forum to also delve in life choices and how they are or are not made. Variety is the spice of life.

Day 49 (15 February 2025) Today was not a good day, as 2 bad events occurred. First, I have an argument with my Thai boyfriend “former” money boy – about ? Can anyone guess? What is the most favorite topic of “former” money boys ?? Yes, you guessed it correctly --> the Thai Baht We close our argument with my words to him “leave me alone for some days, as I need to cool off….” I know, I know, I know - many of you have warned me publicly and privately to NOT invest in any type of relationship with a "money boy", but after the success stories of our forum members = @Min and @jason1975, I thought that I would try my luck...... As this occurred right after our wonderful Valentine’s Day – it was very disheartening. Secondly, I contact Jeff in the Heesay app – (see Day 45 - 11 February 2025 in this trip report for related information) for a repeat session. We agree to meet at 8pm. I go downstairs outside of the OPR condo complex to wait for him on the street. Eventually, a guy appears and says to me, “massage”. I look at him perplexed, and I reply, “sorry I am waiting for Jeff”. This mysterious guy replies, “I am sorry but Jeff is sick and I was sent to you instead”. I reply, “I am sorry, this is not going to work for me – please go away”. The guy replies, “but but,…..I can massage…”. I reply, “no thanks – this is not correct – I do not want you”. He gets a frown on his face and walks away. Now I am really pissed off. Then in the Heesay app (formerly BLUED), I get another message from a profile that I have never chatted with claiming that this new chat is Jeff. I tell him to prove it to me and he sends me his picture and in fact it is sexy Jeff from the 11th of February. I say to him – what was that all about. He replies, “they took my phone and they were communicating with you”. I reply that this is not correct and that I am annoyed with this type of shenanigan, and he apologizes many times to me. He tells me that he can only meet me tomorrow, 16 February – but I tell him that I am busy on 16 and 17 February (as Mr. B. is coming to stay with me for 2 nights so that we can go to Olango island). Later on in the night, reflecting on what transpired, I can only think that perhaps Jeff is working for a “strici” (the Hungarian word for a pimp boss). When I lived in Budapest, this was a common practice, that the guys that you would find in Planet Romeo / Hunqz, were sometimes being managed by a “strici”. So, you would chat on Romeo / Hunqz thinking that you were actually chatting with the hot sexy macho guy that you see in the profile, but instead you are chatting with his “strici” pimp boss. This was common in Budapest for 2 primary reasons: The hot sexy gypsy guys could not write in English and could only speak a little in English and they needed someone to help them get clients via the apps – hence the use of a “strici”. These hot guys were hard up and in debt with their loan shark = “strici”, who then controlled them to work for them by pimping them out on Romeo / Hunqz so that they could pay off their loans to the loan shark. How do I know this? I got foolishly romantically involved with some of these guys in BOTH of the above 1 and 2 categories and I heard all about what goes on behind the scenes. So, I speculate that my Filipino Jeff is perhaps being controlled by the Philippine version of a “strici” pimp boss manager. I will eventually find out, as I want to meetup with this sexy Jeff guy again before I leave Mactan Newtown to go back to Cebu city. In the idle time today - I made some progress in my backlog of trip report updates. That is all for today – not much of an interesting day and NO extracurricular activities for today – even though I did try. Day 49 (15 February 2025) concluded.

Thank God that you exist - I definitely f*%ked up that post. Yes, those are indeed yummy gyoza and NOT spring rolls. I should send my preposts to you for proofreading and editing 😍🤩 before I attempt to make any posts here.

Yes, I already reported on some of my Grab car trips in this trip thread on 31 January (45 minutes) and again on 1 February (1 hour). The reason for my Day 46 (12 February 2025) update was to simulate a "like for like" comparison of using the public transportation system in Cebu versus its comparator back in Jomtien. To go to the Ayala Mall in CBP from Mactan Newtown there is only the public bus option that takes between 114 to 117 minutes and requires 2 buses - as there is no direct route. This option costs 51 pesos + 15 pesos = 66 pesos = $1.14 USD or 38.55 Thai baht. Meanwhile, the public transportation option from Jomtien to Pattaya city takes between 15 to 20 minutes and costs 10 Thai baht or 17.12 pesos (can cost 20 Thai baht if you are venturing deeper into Pattaya city). So this is very good value for time and money. To reduce the travel time by using the Grab car here in Cebu instead of the public bus, it equates to: a travel time between 45 minutes to 1 hour for a cost of 709.67 pesos = 414.52 Thai baht This afternoon, 16-Feb-2025, Mr. B. joined me here in Mactan Newtown and he took a motorbike taxi from his hotel where he works, which is just north of the CBP Ayala mall, and the total elapsed time was only 25 minutes. So, this could also be another option. I rarely use motorbike taxis back in Pattaya - as I often find the adventure to be too unsafe. I have used motorbike taxis here in Cebu 2 times and I felt safer - as the intense traffic tends to limit the speeds that the Cebu motorbike drivers can go at - whereas in Pattaya - there just doesn't see to be a speed limit - and as such the motorbike ride in Pattaya can be more harrowing.

Day 48 (14 February 2025) – Valentine’s Day I spend all morning on the booking sites and I decide to return to the Cityscape Grand Tower (the first place I stayed where I had my condo room when I arrived in Cebu back on 29 December 2024). It was the only condo building that met my criteria with sea facing balconies. So, now I am booked through 3 March, when I will then return to Thailand. I am relieved that this boring task is completed as it is very time consuming and frustrating. I go to eat lunch at the Mactan Newtown Alfresco open air food court and while I am waiting for my food to be prepared my Thai boyfriend sends me a wonderful photo of him holding the Valentine Day roses that I sent him in his condo room. I can see from the photo that the florist delivery team managed to get them to him while he was still sleeping – as he has that early morning groggy look – but he is truly happy and so am I that I could make him this nice surprise. Afterwards, I try a new adventure – which challenges my nerves. I decide to walk by myself to the nearby Angasil Port – which I can see from my balcony. To get there, I need to exit the Mactan Newtown township and walk a long street towards the sea from the main road that is external to the perimeter wall of the township. I do not know the name of this type of housing, perhaps “shanty houses” ?? Excuse my ignorance. So, I start my walk, which takes about 25 minutes, and my heart is racing, but I try to keep a pleasant smile about me as I pass the many people sitting out alongside the roadside outside their poor metal roofed wood walled homes. Many ignore me and many smile at me. I am obviously the ONLY AFAM (farang) in this neighborhood, which is VERY poor. I even had to walk amongst the roaming around roosters. The diversity from wealth to poverty is truly in your face – as I look back towards my left at the Mactan Newtown luxurious condo room that I am renting versus these shanty homes that I am surrounded by: – it all just seems so unfair and unjust. I eventually arrive at the port and I see both the ticket office and one of the ferry’s loading up with passengers for the journey over to Olango island. https://www.facebook.com/www.sta.rosaferry.com.ph/ I ask the ferry ticket booth person how much does it cost and she replies 40 pesos ( ~ $0.69 USD) per one way. Also, the ferries depart every 30 minutes and the trip across the Hilutangan channel takes 20 minutes. For the trip back to the Mactan Newtown township I take a motorbike taxi for 50 pesos ( ~ $0.87 USD) and the ride takes just 6 minutes. I send all of this information to Mr. B. to solidify our plan to go to visit Olango island on Monday 17 February. While walking back towards my room I see this Valentine Day stand and I ask the security guy if he can take my picture in front of it. After he takes my picture, he asks me to turnaround and to notice the security guard lady behind the glass who has her 2 hands displayed as the heart symbol = I blush and he tells me that she would like to be my valentine, and I blush even more. I tell him that I asked him to take my photo in front of the love sign as I want to send it to my valentine back in Thailand. He tells his female security guard colleague and she then makes a sad face and I do the Thai wai to her (I did not know what else to do as the situation was warm but slightly embarrassing) and I walk away. Later when I was home, while looking at the above photo I notice her watching me through the glass – as if I was photo bombed. I decide to already buy my dinner as take away and to keep it in my room – as I already see that the Mactan Newtown township is already filling up with lovebirds and the 2 hotels next to my condo are already celebrating valentine festivities out on the street. So, I seek cover closed up in my condo room. Later in the evening I chat with my Thai boyfriend and he shares with me via a LINE video that he is furiously cooking up a storm in his friends kitchen a scrumptious seafood dinner for him and his 5 Thai friends. Before I doze off to sleep he sends me a video of them dancing the night away over at the SinLapin Isaan club in Third road in Pattaya city: https://www.facebook.com/SinlapinEsarn/?_rdr No massages or extra-curricular activities today = sorry - I know that some of you are looking for me to report on sexcapade activities - but it is a dry spell at the moment - but I am ok about it. Day 48 (14 February 2025) Valentine’s Day concluded.

Day 47 (13 February 2025) I forgot to mention in yesterday’s trip report update, that after dinner I picked up my Wash n Dry laundry, and I can report that I was VERY satisfied with their work. My laundry was all folded and handed to me in a plastic sealed wrap. Eat breakfast and make some updates to this trip report. I sort out my returned laundry from yesterday by putting them in their places in the wardrobe. They all smelled nice and clean with a good fragrance. Also, I extended my stay by 3 days in my current AirBnB condo – as I truly LOVE it here, consequently, I have decided that on Friday 21 February, I will return back to Cebu city and finish my sojourn here in the Philippines in Cebu city. So, I start the arduous chore to find a condo to rent with a sea facing balcony on all of the apps; Agoda, AirBnB, Booking.com, HomeToGo, and VRBO. I am also chatting with Mr. B., who gives me some ideas of condos with balconies in the city center. I am also trying to convince Mr. B. to come out to Mactan Newtown to come and visit me on his next days off so I can show him around. After many hours of searching with no good unique finds, I give up and I go to lunch. Earlier in the morning, I got into a tense chat on Twitter (X) with a former tour guide that I found on YouTube, that I was going to hire to go on some short trips here on the Cebu island outside of the environs of the city. Unfortunately, he has abandoned his tour guide business, as it was not meeting his income objectives and has since taken a full time job. He wanted to take me on tours but only on Saturday and returning on Sunday. Unfortunately, many of these places are far away and it just did not make sense to only have 1 night in a resort and to not be able to properly enjoy (due to a lack of time) the facilities and local nature. I try to explain this to him in the chat and he just decides to terminate my ability to communicate with him in Twitter. I told him my concerns in a very gentle and friendly way, but he seem to not have liked my reluctance to undertake a big trip for such little value in what we could possibly do in such little time. This made me very sad, as I have been communicating with him for more than 1 month now – and I really liked his YouTube channel and the trips that he undertook when he did have his travel business full time. Simultaneously, I am also searching for a florist in Jomtien that can deliver some roses to my Thai boyfriend tomorrow, on Valentine’s Day. I am conversing in LINE with 2 florists and the florist that I prefer, because they have a bouquet of roses with a small teddy bear, is very slow to reply to my requests. So, I go with the other shop, and I go with a standard bouquet of beautiful roses. I convince the owner that the recipient is unpredictable to locate, so I list all of the places that he could be; his condo room, over at Dongtan beach or over on Jomtien soi 4. She tells me that if they cannot locate him in his condo room that they will call him so that the delivery person and him can meet in a mutually agreed location to complete the delivery. I am elated and she confides in me that many Thai people are like this, “free spirits” and unpredictable and to relax, as they will be able to hunt him down as they know Thai people very well. Hallelujah!! Go to lunch at the Mactan Alfresco to eat a yummy bowl of ramen with some spring rolls that I order from the shop. https://www.facebook.com/RamenSage After lunch I go for a long walk and then back to my room to relax. Later on in the evening I return to my usual place to eat, An’dale and then return home to make some more trip report updates as I am several days behind again. No massages or extra-curricular activities today = sorry --> boring - life as a happy expat retiree. Day 47 (13 February 2025) concluded.

How many kleenex boxes did you consume? For me many - as this was such a heartwarming movie. 'How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies' = "Lahn Mah" หลานม่า

wow yes - I had not yet made that association. Bravo!! The primary problem with the Philippines is the bad infrastructure, such as lack of good roads to handle all of the traffic. Alternative transportation is available, such as jeepneys (bahtbus), buses, motorbikes, taxis, and tricycles - but they all need to travel on the same clogged up roads. Walking is another strategy, but often you need to walk amongst the traffic due to a lack of sidewalks - which can be dangerous when the impatient motorbikes aggressively ride in that tiny space between the cars and the edge of the road and/or wall. The 3 bubble (Jim Carrey Truman Show) communities that I wrote about extensively in this trip report all have excellent sidewalks, and transportation within these planned communities is efficient and comfortable - but these 3 bubble "fake" communities only represent like 1% to 2% of the land mass of the greater CEBU area - so, if you want to live here - you are forced to step out of these bubble communities and deal with the true reality of the chaos, traffic, pollution, noise, etc.

Exactly!! For us retirees who live here in the Pattaya area - we would have little to no clue about what is going on around us if it were not for these publications - and I would add YouTube bloggers like TNT (Time Newton Today), Buzzin Pattaya with Trev, etcetra. Often my Thai friends who live in Pattaya don't have a clue what is going on and I often relay information to them from the above mentioned sites. But, on the other hand, they are obsessed with their Thai focused social media and they often tell me about things that do not hit any of the above mentioned sources - as they don't have a "farang" focus and consequently are not picked up. So, I would say it is good to read / watch all of the above sources and to have a group of Thai friends to fill in the missing pieces. I believe that this lack of real journalism is heavily influenced by the excessive defamation laws that exist in Thailand. Consequently, I believe that the Thai journalists prefer to piggy-back off of a statement written by either the authorities (i.e. police report) or companies who have deep pockets to play it safe. Therefore, these defamation laws help facilitate the Thai desired positive illusion (Land of Smiles and everything is always positive and good). I found this out the hard way after the PFC (Pattaya Flying Club) "suicide" that took place in my building when I tried to make my own investigations after the media dropped the follow up story on this case. There were too many suspicious findings; Italian being naked, blood found in his room, his family not wanting to get involved with the claims made by the owner of the car that was damaged when his body fell on it, and so many more weird facts. Within a couple of days, everything was swept under the carpet and we were encouraged to stop talking about it, as the reputation of the condo building and greater Thailand must be protected. So, as I want to live here in harmony - I just need to look the other way - even though it pains me so much....But I chose this place as my retirement destination and so I need to live with this reality.

See previous day's post = Day 45 (11 February 2025) --> extracurricular activities occured 😛🤪😜🍆💦

Day 46 (12 February 2025) Wake up and have breakfast. I decide that today is a good day to simulate an elderly retiree using the public transportation to get from Mactan Newtown to the Ayala mall in Cebu Business Park (CBP). I walk to the beginning of the Mactan Newtown township where there is the bus transportation center. A Ceres bus for IT Park is starting to leave and I run towards it and they let me on. It is 10:30am. I sit down and the Ceres bus conductor comes to me and issues me a ticket and I pay 51 pesos ( ~ $0.88 USD) for the 1 way trip to IT Park. The bus is kind of empty and very nice inside and has good air-conditioning. The bus makes many stops along the way and perhaps after 30 minutes of traveling it is now full. We arrive at the IT Park bus terminus and it is 11:47am, so the total elapsed time was 1 hour and 17 minutes (77 minutes). Now I need to figure out how to get to the Ayala mall in CBP. --> Note: from what I can tell, there are 3 bus companies sharing this route: Ceres / Sugbo / CIBUS I could not find out the operating hours of this bus - but there was a Reddit post that states that this bus runs 24/7 every 30 minutes - with the caveat - if the bus fills up prior to the 30 minutes it will already depart. source Reddit here (the article is in Tagalog - so you need to translate it): The bus conductor remembers that I asked her about the Ayala mall bus and points it out to me – it was parked perpendicular to our bus. This CIBUS bus is parked next to this sign: with its final destination being the SM Seaside mall. There is also the mybus, doing the same route. I run over to it (as I did not know if it was leaving immediately) and it is now 11:50am – but the bus did not depart until 12:18pm. The conductor issues me a ticket, and I pay 15 pesos ( ~ $0.26 USD). We arrive at the Ayala mall at 12:24pm, in front of the Maybank, on Luzon Avenue, which is opposite of the Alcoves entrance to the Ayala mall. So, the total 1 way elapsed time was 1 hour and 54 minutes (114 minutes). Time for lunch and I head up to the 4th floor Garden Level to eat at the ever so yummy . The waitress remembers me from like 10 days prior and before I could say anything, she says to me: would you like the Eggs Benedict Salmon with an Okinawa iced coffee? I was so impressed. I said can I also have a side of……she finished my sentence with, sausage. I told her that I am very amazed at her memory skills. Lunch is served and I am very happy: https://www.facebook.com/p/Abaca-Baking-Company-4th-Floor-Ayala-Center-Cebu-100090856277197/ And no, that is not a bottle of opened white wine, but instead is a bottle of “free” service water – which I did not drink – after my experience a couple of weeks ago, with a major incident of diarrhea, that was caused by "service water" = tap water --> No way. I only drank my bottled water. I go down to the second floor to the Bench Fix Salon, https://shop.fixsalon.com/ where I had my previous hair color treatment. Unfortunately, the lady who did it before was not there. So, I accept the assigned beauty assistant. I show her the color that was previously done and I could tell from her face that she did not agree. Well, she does my hair and of course it is not as dark as I like. The mistake that I made was that I did not show her the official color box that my hair treatment guy gave me back in Thailand, which has the number A42 assigned to it – as there are millions of colors and gradients of color. Instead, I only showed the beauty assistant what my haircut looked like that was done by her colleague 3 weeks prior. Oh well, lesson learned. My hair looks good – but it is not intense and dark enough. I head over to my favorite coffee shop, Treat Street Café, which is just outside of the Rustan’s department store on floor 2. I order my usual delicious avocado pie and Spanish latte. https://treatstreetcafe.com/ Back on Boracay, I broke my favorite neon green and black sneakers, and I look for a replacement in the shoes store. Prior to going to Boracay, I had seen a pair of sneakers that I liked that were black with a couple of subtle neon green stripes. I must have walked the entire Ayala mall 2 times and then finally I saw the store down on the ground level while I was walking up on the 2nd level. https://dcshoes.com.ph/ The 2 male clerks were very happy to help me and when they found out that I am from the USA, they were like, how could you not already have a pair of DC shoes. So, I had to explain to them that I left the USA in 1999 from Colorado, and I did not believe that DC shoes were popular or known in Colorado. Anyway, I was happy to buy my first pair of USA sneakers in the Philippines – another proof of globalization. Now I go outside of the Ayala mall to wait for the bus back to IT Park at the bus stop opposite of the Maybank. I see a lot of people standing around waiting for various jeepneys (a type of bahtbus) and buses. But none are going to IT Park. As I am the only non-Filipino, many motorbike taxi guys and regular taxi guys keep trying to solicit me and I keep resisting by politely refusing their offers. After 30 minutes of no luck, I start looking in Google and there are 2 conflicting suggested areas for the bus to IT Park. One is where I was standing and the other was over at the Metro store. So, I walk over to the Metro store and start waiting there but no buses appear for IT Park. After now waiting 30 minutes, I decide to walk to IT Park, as it looked nearby on Google maps. Google states that it is a 30 minute walk and is 2km. So, I start walking on the very busy Archbishop Reyes Ave, as it is now rush hour and the problem with walking outside of CBP or IT Park is the lack of or intermittent sidewalks, where you are forced to walk out into the traffic. I do this and it is an ok experience – no worse than some of the walks that I have done in Pattaya city in that chaos. I started walking at 16:55pm and I arrived at 17:22pm at the IT Park Transport Terminal, with an elapsed time of 27 minutes and a cost of ZERO pesos. Luckily, at 17:30pm there was a CIBUS bus departing for Mactan Newtown and it was easy to locate: As it is now rush hour, the bus is super packed with people standing. I was lucky, as I got a seat for the long journey. The return bus is comfortable and very well air-conditioned. The cost was the same = 51 pesos. We arrive at the Mactan Newtown bus terminal at 18:52pm for a total elapsed time of 1 hour and 22 minutes (82 minutes). I also need to factor in the TOTAL transit time of 27 minutes of walking plus 8 minutes of waiting time plus 82 minutes on the bus = 117 minutes. Exiting the bus terminal to re-enter into the Mactan Newtown township I had an elated feeling – similar to the feeling I get when I need to venture into the center of busy Pattaya city for several hours and when I jump off of the bahtbus in Jomtien, I am always happy – as there is that sense of escaping from the urban jungle and intense chaotic traffic, noise, and related pollution. Additionally, out in Jomtien and also out in Mactan Newtown, the air is just so much fresher at the sea. Again, living here as a retiree in Mactan Newtown might get old – in the sense that: The transit time between Mactan Newtown to Cebu city is near to 2 hours versus the 15 to 20 minutes from Jomtien to Pattaya city, The Mactan Newtown township is still not yet completed and it is still missing some essential services. They have yet to finish the 4 additional condo buildings, new shopping mall over at the sea, the convention center, and the big new museum. So, perhaps in another 3 years, Mactan Newtown would be great for a retiree to live in with all of the required amenities – thus negating the need to go into Cebu city on a frequent basis. But, I must say --> the sea views are awesome from here in Mactan Newtown versus Cebu city – and we need to remember that the condos in Cebu city often don’t feature balconies – and if they do, they are not always sea facing (instead they would be mountain facing -or- worse yet, internal facing onto another condo unit or blank wall). Back to my condo to relax and then call it a night. No massages or extra-curricular activities today. Day 46 (12 February 2025) concluded.

Was it on Soi Welcome in Jomtien? Maybe that is how the fire started - from the trash bin? Just joking as I could not resist. I have had a few tries of the stuff during my 63 years of existance - similar to your cannabis experiences.

Day 45 (11 February 2025) with extracurricular activities - finally 😋 Upon waking up in the morning I immediately open the curtains and step out onto the balcony to see if my desired objective to have an unobstructed view onto the Hilutangan Channel and Olango island is realized. View from my balcony when looking left. Not only did I get a view onto Olango island, but I also got a view onto Bohol island off into the distance. Note that in the Hilutangan Channel there are no wrecked and/or dilapidated ships to ruin the view. So, I am really a happy camper now. It took me 3 different distinct stays here in Mactan Newtown to understand in which direction is the best sea view. The way that this new township was constructed, most of the units are facing the Magellan Sea – which in my opinion is not the most majestic view of the sea. Looking straight forward from my balcony I have a view of the southern part of Mactan island. View from my balcony when looking directly forward. Then when looking right from my balcony I have an excellent view of the Mactan–Cebu International Airport (MCIA) and then behind the airport is the Cebu city skyline, with the mountains behind Cebu city. Note the Cebu Pacific aircraft with the yellow tail fin sitting in front of the airport terminal. View from my balcony when looking towards the right All in all, this condo out of the 5 condos that I have rented from AirBnB here in Cebu is my most favorite. This new condo does not have a washing machine, so this gives me a chance to try out the Mactan Newtown Wash n Dry franchise here in the township. After the trip to Boracay, I accumulated a lot of dirty laundry. This franchise shop is directly adjacent to where I stored my luggage prior to departing for Boracay. https://www.facebook.com/p/Wash-N-Dry-Mactan-Newtown-100063930938292/ Pricing is reasonable for my 3.6 kilos of dirty laundry. But, where they get you to pay more is as follows. The above favorable price schedule requires that you wait for 4 days. For an escalated pricing scheme of 89% more, they can give you your laundry next day at the close of business. I chose that option = Rush Laundry, as I did not want to wait 4 days. My total cost was 3.6 kilos * 66/kilo = 237.6 pesos ( ~ $4.12 USD) – which in my opinion at this elevated price is amazingly good value for money and time. Next stop was back to the Mactan Newtown Alfresco open air food court for lunch. Life is good – yes – pork again with pasta and spring rolls. Speaking of pork, the township is busy preparing for the Cebu Lechon Festival – one was being roasted while I was eating my lunch. After lunch I return to the X10 luggage shop to retrieve my 2 bags of stored items – 1 big luggage from Thailand and a Metro shopping bag full of the towels to protect the bed mattress during massages and sheets to block the light. In this new condo, not necessary, as it has excellent sun blocking curtains. https://luggagestoragecebu.com/ When I arrive back to the OPR condo building the security team looks confused – as if I am checking in again (I had already checked in the night prior with my small luggage from Boracay). We laughed and I told them that this was the rest of my crap from my 62 trip in the Philippines. I get back to my condo room and I empty out my additional luggage and I start to feel very horny as it is now more than 1 week since I have had an orgasm. Oh no, what is wrong with me. I enter into Heesay and I find this cute masculine sexy young 23 year old Filipino guy who will come to my condo and give me a nice massage with the ES (extra services) that I requested. We agree that he will come at 18:30pm and I will meet him out on the street in front of the OPR condo complex. In the meantime, I prepare the bed with the towels that I previously retrieved from the X10 luggage storage shop and I alert my Thai boyfriend back in Jomtien that I will have a massage. All is good. I stand outside on the street and every macho guy that passes I keep thinking is it him? Then I see a guy mysteriously look at me and then keep walking – but he was hiding behind the next pillar of the covered walkway. He messages me on the Heesay app that he is here and wants to know where I am. So, I walk over to him, thinking that it must be him and I say my name to him and he smiles and says his name, Jeff. I really like what I see and I am super excited. We go to the OPR security desk and the security guard asks me in which condo do I belong to and I totally forgot my new condo number. I fumble for my condo keys and thank God it was written on the keychain and I show it to the security guard. I try to lighten up the tense moment saying that I just returned to OPR after being away on Boracay and the security guard smiles and registers Jeff in the ID book and off we go up to my room. I ask Jeff if he wants anything to drink and he says no. I ask if he needs a shower and he states that he already had a shower before coming here. I then take him out to the balcony so that he can see the amazing view and he points out to me where he is lodging in Mactan. I find out that he is meandering around the Philippines as a “4Hire” guy, paying his way as he goes. He is originally from Bohol which he says is beautiful but boring as hell and that is why he left. He arrived by boat to Cebu the night before. Then he goes back into the living room and takes off all of his clothes except his boxers and I get naked and I lay down on the bed and he starts to massage my back and shoulders. He is really good at it for only being 23 years old. He takes his time to do my entire back side from my neck down to my feet but after a while (I am super horny from too many days of abstinence) I turn over and I am already rock hard. He massages all around my third leg and finally he gives it a tug and then I remove his boxers and he is completely naked with a perfect tanned tone swimmers body and a nice cut Filipino cock. He gets me close to orgasm already – I told him to do it slowly and he did but I was just too horny. So, I ask him to stop and then I tell him to lay down and I lick his nipples, caress his groin and balls and slowly massage his dick with that Japanese oil that I bought when I was back in IT Park from that gay couple. I also give him a great blowjob. He really likes it and is moaning more and more and so I slow down my cock massage rhythm, as I love to see the guys desire their orgasm more and more. Eventually, he cannot resist the sensual strokes to his cock head that he shoots out a big load all over his chest. WOW!! I clean him up with the Kleenex and then he does the same to me – but I don’t last long as he is just too masculine and sexy and I am too horny that I explode. We clean up taking showers and I dress so that I can bring him down to the security desk as it is very easy to get lost in the OPR complex that has 4 towers – with only 1 main entrance/exit point. We walk together towards the main entrance of the Mactan Newtown township entrance, but I depart from him when I get near my favorite food stall and we say our goodbyes. I eat at my favorite food cart place, An’Dale, totally satisfied – in all senses. Life is good. https://www.facebook.com/andaleeats?mibextid=LQQJ4d I head back to my room after I finish my meal and I clean up the bedroom and then I have a LINE chat with my Thai boyfriend back in Jomtien. Now very sleepy and happy – so off to bed. Day 45 (11 February 2025) concluded.