The Vagrant One

  Third among San Miguel Brewery’s big three flagship brews is San Mig Light. This beer is hugely popular among younger Filipino and expats who prefer a lighter easy to drink brew. It is marketed as a fun, youthful and playful drink as compared to the extra strong Red Horse which has a more macho style in it’s advertisement.

It is in many ways the Filipino equivalent  of an american style light beer. San Mig light not only has a shortened name, it also does away with the brown stubby bottle of the Pilsen, instead going for a sleek transparent bottle.

San Mig light contains 100 calories per 33 cl bottle and has the same alcohol content as regular Pilsen at 5% abv.

Taste and appearance

San Mig Light pours much like San Miguel Brewery’s other brands with a pale golden golden color a fast disappearing  foamy head and lively carbonation.

The smell is fairly reminiscent of its big brother Pale Pilsen. A slight malty note can be smelled but it certainly doesn’t overwhelm the senses.

Flavor is, as to be expected,  very mild. It has a slight mouthfeel of grains but next to no aftertaste. Overall this beer comes and goes without leaving much of a lasting impression which is what you can expect of a light beer.

Availability

San Mig light is just like the two other flagship brews widely available all over the country. When visiting stores or Sari Saris out in more rural areas though they may have opted not to stock this one since it is more popular in an urban environment.

San Mig Light is offered in a more limited choice of sizes

330 ml Bottle

330 ml Can

That’s it, San Mig Light does not come in the big glass liter bottle like Pale Pilsen and Red Horse. I’m assuming that the reason for this is that San Mig light is not meant to appeal to the rural crowd that favors the big bottles for drinking tagay style,

Price

A 330 ml San migbottle will set you back around 30-38 Peso while the can usually is around 40-45. Pricing of San Mig Light can be wildy inconsistent. Sometimes it’s cheaper than Pilsen, sometimes more expensive. It’s hard to discern the reason for this but usually the price difference is not too big, so just go with the one you like.

  The Verdict

San Mig Light is not a beer that caters to the beer drinker that favors a full bodied or flavorful beer. It delivers a mild flavor but when drunk cold it does not have any particularly bad flavors either.

For those that favors drinkability over all other things with a beer San Mig Light is the drink of choice in the Philippines. Personally I prefer a drink with a bit more flavor to it.

Other reviews and resources

San Mig Light(Official Homepage)

Reviews on YouTube

  Ratebeer

Beer Advocate

My other Philippine beer reviews

Pale Pilsen may be the most internationally well known Filipino beer brand. Domestically however the throne belongs to everybody’s favorite steed Red Horse Beer.

Red Horse is San Miguels extra strong beer and is extremely popular in the country. This might be explained in large part because of it’s higher alcohol content while still having the same price as a regular pilsen. Red horse has an ABV of 6.9%.

However there is more to it than that. Many Filipinos seem to enjoy a beer with a stronger and sweeter taste. Red Horse Beer’s marketing is mostly targeted to younger male Filipinos with a macho rock style of marketing.

Red Horse Commercial with one of the nation’s rock heroes: Ely Buendia

Taste and appearance

Red Horse Beer pours a couple of shades darker than Pale Pilsen. Just like pilsen it generates a huge foamy head when poured but the head quickly goes away to reveal a fizzy, deep golden glass of beer.

Smell is sweet with a slight grainy tone, the alcohol is definitely present on the nose.

The taste is pretty much like you emptied out the gas tank of your motorcycle and added generous amounts of sugar. It is sweet and fiery with very little hops or malt present. If drunken cold it is actually not to bad but as it warms this beer becomes less and less palatable to me.

Availability

Red Horse Beer is available pretty much anywhere all over the country and is the beer that no Sari Sari store or videoke bar  ever wants to run out of.

It comes in a wide variety of containers:

330 ml Bottle(Stallion)

330 ml Can

500 ml Bottle

1 liter Bottle

Price

A 330 ml Stallion bottle will set you back around 30-38 Peso. Red Horse thus offer more bang for the buck(or pow for your Peso?) than Pale Pilsen or any other lower alcohol beer. When drinking in restaurants and bars it’s often a good idea to get a full bucket of 5 or 6 bottles if in a group to save some money.

Among beers it is one of the cheaper options beaten only by the province only(and lower alcohol) Golden Eagle and the Asia Brewery direct competitor Colt 45 which is slightly stronger and sometimes also cheaper.

Trivia

If you are drinking Red Horse with Filipinos you will sooner or later be introduced to the legendary smiling horse. The smiling horse is a different label design that is pretty rare to find. Filipinos will tell you that a bottle with this happy horse has a stronger taste and a higher alcoholic kick than the regular bottle.

The truth of the matter is that the happy horse is just an older bottle design. San Miguel wash and reuse old bottles and so some older designs are still in circulation. The beer is the exact same though and San Miguel brewery is in fact not run by Willy Wonka. But don’t stress this too hard. Though I think a lot of Filipinos just share this urban legend as a fun drinking story there seems to be a few that genuinely believe it and challenging people’s beliefs while drinking red horse is a surefire way to spoil a good evening.

The Verdict

Red Horse is not my first choice among Filipino beers since I prefer a cleaner, maltier taste for a lager beer compared to the fiery and sweet flavor of the horse. But you can’t dispute that for an extra strong lager I certainly had worse and if you like American or European extra strong lagers Red Horse stacks up pretty well.

If you want to part ways with your sobriety quickly it’s the obvious choice among beers. However if maximum intoxication for your peso is your only concern Red Horse is still nowhere near as good of a deal as the ridiculously cheap local liquor.

For others Red Horse should at least be tried once as it is really a part of the culture here in the country.

Other reviews and resources

Some of these reviews are of the export version that has 8% abv. My review is for the domestic 6.9% version.

Red Horse(Official Homepage)

Reviews on YouTube

Ratebeer

Beer Advocate

My other Philippine beer reviews

An overview of the Philippine beer market has to start with where it all began. San Miguel Pale Pilsen has been brewed since 1890 making it one of the oldest beer brands in southeast Asia.  It is one of the top 3 best selling beers in the Philippines and is also exported internationally to a wide variety of countries.  Outside of the Philippines it is easily the most well known Philippine beer brand and one of the most famous Philippine brands overall right behind Jollibee.

Among the younger crowd this beer is not as popular as the stronger Red Horse or San Mig Light, the Pilsen is seen as a drink for older folks.

The spanish San Miguel beer was actually originally an offshoot of the Filipino mother company but today the two companies are entirely separate though confusingly enough sharing the same name.

Taste and appearance

San Miguel Pale Pilsen pours a typical golden lager color and has a head that tends to disappear rather quickly. It is a pretty heavily carbonated beer.

The aroma is fairly faint and smells of light malt and bread. The taste is fairly clean with that light maltiness and the aftertaste to me has a slight bitterness.

I Find Pale Pilsen to be a non spectacular but highly drinkable pilsner. In the tropical heat one does not want a heavy tasting lager beer. But Pale Pilsen still has enough flavor to satisfy my taste buds. It is far more flavorful than many other Asian beers that are overall very watery and weak in flavor.

Availability

Pale Pilsen can be found pretty much anywhere all over the country. Supermarkets, convenience stores and little Sari Sari stores will all stock this beer and pretty much wherever you are you can be sure that a cold Pale Pilsen is not far away.

This beer comes in it’s iconic 32 cl short stubby bottle, a 33 cl can and the big 1 liter glass bottle best shared with friends. There is also a standard 33 cl glass bottle that is often referred to as “long”. For some reason these sell for more in some restaurants. Don’t buy them if that’s the case since it is the exact same beer as in the cheaper stubby bottles.

Price

A small bottle of San miguel will usually sell for around 30-35 pesos in a store and anywhere from 40 and up to over a 100 in bars and restaurants. Cans of beer are more expensive in the Philippines and Pale Pilsen in a can will be around 38-45 peso. The big litro bottle wil cost around

Trivia

On the back of a a stubby bottle of pilsen you will find a short promotional text. Since in the Philippines bottles are returned to the brewery and reused there are several different versions in circulation. The newest and most common one reads:

A truly satisfying beer with a refined, well-balanced flavor. Perfected, and brewed following over a century tradition of brewing excellence.

Brewing excellence!

An older less common version (and my favorite) reads:

A truly satisfying beer with a refined, well-balanced flavor. Perfected and brewed for over a century. The only beer that nourishes true Filipino friendships.

The friendly label

Finally there is a very rare version of which I suspect there are only a few bottles left in circulation:

Expertly brewed from the finest malt, hops, and other ingredients found throughout the world,

During 2 years in the Philippines I have only seen this one a couple times. Finding this one is way more exciting to me than the legendary happy horse (more on that one in my upcoming Red Horse review).

The rarest of Pilsens

The Verdict

If you are a fan of standard European style lager beers then San Miguel Pale Pilsen should be the first beer you try in the Philippines. For me it is the standard that I will compare other beers in the country to. Is that imported Heineken really worth the Extra Peso? For me the answer is often no since Pale Pilsen is a pefectly fine representation of the style. If I am going to spend extra on a any lager beer, domestic or import, it has to be significantly better or at least different in flavor from the trusty Pilsen.

Other reviews and resources

Reviews on YouTube

Ratebeer

Beer Advocate

Difford’s Guide

    Living in Angeles City has it’s advantages and disadvantages compared to most other cities in the Philippines.

No matter where you choose to live one of the constant challenges of everyday life here is simply getting around. Traffic can be heavy even in smaller cities and driving your own car is simply not convenient. owning or renting a motorcycle or scooter can be a viable alternative but in bigger cities you had better be a confident driver.

Owning a car is not an option for everyone

For vagrants like me that move around a lot using cheap public transportation is an absolute must

Unlike some expats will tell you for the most part travelling with public transport in the country is not that hard and for the most part foreigners will not be scammed. Jeepneys have a set fare and everyone pays the same. On trikes in many cities a minimum fare has been established and will be listed on the inside of the trike’s sidecar.

That does not apply to Angeles however. As soon as you step off a bus in Dau terminal a sharp staccato call will bombard your ears:

Trike! Trike!! Trike Ride! Ride Trike!

Should you not acknowledge this offer the call will be accompanied with loud clapping of hands. This is a tried and true trick to attract the attention of tourists while not annoying them in the slightest.

While the trike riders of Angeles are a bit more aggressive than in some other place that isn’t really the problem. The problem arise when you decide you actually need a ride…

-“150 Peso for a short trip, really?”

If Angeles is not the first city for you hopping into a trike you will know that this price is far from reasonable. A shorter ride in many cities will often cost you around 20 rather than 150.

So one shrewd driver trying to take advantage of a fresh arrival, right? Unfortunately not…

In Angeles City the trike driver’s association have apparently all agreed that since there are so many foreigners in the city and a lot of them are here for a shorter time they should pay more. This means that no matter how many drivers you inquire with you fare will always be 100-150 Peso.

So what are you alternatives if you are here for the long haul or you’re simply to stingy to pay what amounts to a typical local half days wage for a 10 minute ride on a half broken, modified Rusi Rouser?

  Why not grab a Taxi?

Angeles city does unfortunately not have taxis. There are “taxis” however. These are frequently unmarked and always unmetered. So ride with one of these you will have to negotiate the fare beforehand. I have never taken these myself and would never ride in an taxi without a meter. By what I have found online it seems that a trip to Clark airport will run you in between 300-500 Peso which is about double from what it would cost with a proper metered taxi. The lack of real legit taxis is a major blemish for a city that boasts a growing international airport aiming to provide an alternative to the chaotic  airport in Manila.

The easier to use (but less colorful) jeepney

Well in Angeles the Jeepneys are a better alternative were you can be sure to be charged the same rate as a local. As an added bonus the system for Jeepneys in the city is slightly less confusing than in most other cities thanks to the genius move of color coding the different routes. Also travelling like the locals is part of experiencing the country.

A sad part bout this solution is of course that the Jeepneys in Angeles don’t have quite as much personally as the garishly painted ones that can be found in many other cities but while making them less photogenic their uniform color schemes makes it a loss easier to figure out which one to hop on.

And hey for shorter distances walking is a perfectly reasonable option during cooler times of the day. Getting around on foot also has

For those interested here is a somewhat helpful map of the local jeepney routes.

Zigzagging across this vast archipelago of randomly scattered island know as the republic of the Philippines can be exhausting. Exciting and full of surprises certainly but exhausting.

Thus for the time being I have taken a break from my vagrant ways and settled in perhaps one of the least adventurous places in the country for a tired drifter to rest his sandals: Angeles city.

The former air force base turned airport Clark and the nearby city of Angeles is internationally most well known as the Philippines´sin City while the local tourist promotion prefers to refer to it as a “nightlife capital”. A stretch of neon lit bars along fields avenue and stretching west in clusters along the Don Juico avenue is all most foreigners searching for information about the place will see.

  But Angeles city is much more than a bunch of sleazy bars it is a rapidly growing city with over  300. 000 inhabitants. It is considered one of the better cities to live in on northern Luzon with a lot of future development on the horizon. Just taking a short trek away from the neon of the bar district will take you to a Philippine city much like many others full of markets, small businesses and residential areas.

So why I have I  chosen  to settle here? well to tell you the truth plain laziness and comfort. The large amount of foreigners staying for shorter time periods makes the task of finding a suitable apartment space for staying a couple of months much easier. In many other Philippine cities finding a furnished apartment ready to move in to with internet connection and no 1 year minimum contract can be a monumental task.

Here in Angeles these kinds of apartments are much more readily available and while not the cheapest option for the long term they provide the kind of flexibility I need in case I need to make a rapid escape or my feet simply tells me it´s time to move on.

Apartment hunting involves walking around, finding random “for rent sign” calling numbers only to find out the apartment is no longer available or in need of major repairs and furnishing to be livable. In the area just off the bar district many apartments can be found that are available for direct occupation.

Also the city is surrounded by the best infrastructure in the country with the North Luzon Expressway ready to to take you south to Manila or north to the summer capital Baguio city and the Clark airport is a good alternative to the large and confusing airport in Manila for domestic and international flights.

So for the time being this vagrant has found a temporary home and in upcoming posts and videos I will try to explore what this city has to offer for the foreigner not staying here for the “nightlife”. Stay Tuned.

Let´s continue our quest to interpret the hidden meaning behind signs of the Philippines.

In the Philippines private enterprise is alive and well. Pretty much every other household in certain parts run some sort of business. This can be a vulcanizing store, a bakery, a small eatery or the ubiquitous Sari Sari store. While certainly industrious not all Filipinos are the most stellar of businessmen. Frequently when seeing some of these stores one starts to wonder “how on earth can this be even remotely profitable?” Stores on quiet backstreets with minimal stocks, eateries that seem to be open at fairly random hours when the owners feel like it.

Every now and then you find a store that gets everything right. This store in Irosin, Sorsogon has gotten rid of all unnecessary inventory and only stock the bare everyday essentials that every Filipino citizen need every day!

Nothing but the essentials!

Arriving in Angeles the Cities reputation as a former airforce base and current nightlife hub might be the only thing that you have heard of. But Angeles and the Pampanga region has a lot more to offer for a travelling and thirsty vagrant. By Philippine standards Angeles is actually a very well organized and easily navigable city.

One place worth a visit for those looking for a excellent beer in a calm and relaxed environment away from the neon lit bar district is the Pinatubo Brewing Point. This small brewery and brewpub is run by a German brewer and has been brewing beer according to the German purity laws in Angeles since 2015.

By the time of our visit in July 2017 they offer 9 different beers on tap and a further 2 Special varities only available in bottle. They have a full selection of everything from wheat beers to German style bock beer.

There is a bit of a craft beer revolution going on the Philippines at the moment and new breweries have been popping up all over the country the last few years.

What sets the Pinatubo Brewing Point craft brewery apart from others is it’s unpretentious presentation and affordable prices. Most craft beer sells at 4 times or more the price of the regular San Miguel beer that enjoys a nearly total market dominance. This restricts it’s appeal strictly to foreigners and young Filipino professionals with money to spend.

Meanwhile at Pinatubo one can enjoy a quality small scale beer on tap starting at a mere 50 pesos for a 300 ml draft. This is no more that you pay for a San Miguel Pale Pilsen in most bars and less than you’d pay for a beer in most of the bars in Angeles nightlife district.

Pick your poison

How about the beers?

At our visit we tried the Sunset Wheat and the Dark Angel which is a dark lager.  Which are both fairly mild but delicious beers well suited for a social drinking session in Brewing points relaxed bar. We also bought two bottles for takeaway opting for two of the more heavier options the Magma Bock and the Brainstorm IPA.  Both are warming beers more suited for slow sipping on a cool evening rather than quaffing in the Philippine daytime heat. You can check out my tasting notes on the Brainstorm IPA in the video:

Be aware that for takeaway bottles there is a 15 peso deposit per bottle so to get the price on the menu you have to bring the bottle back.

How to get there?

To get to this wonderland of cheap and delicious beer you must head away from Walking street and travel westwards along Don Juico Ave. towards the are known as Korean Town. You can either take an overpriced trike or simply ride the yellow Jeepney route from frienship terminal. This will save you a hundred peso better spent on beer.

Once you see the Chosun Chicken restaurant you can get off , turn left and walk 50 meters down Mekong road. Second road on the right is Yukon street where Brewing point is located. Enjoy your drink and pub grub and thank me by leaving a comment or subscribing to my budding Youtube Channel!

  Further info on Pinatubo Brewing Point Craft Brewery:

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After a couple of months Living under the shadow of the curse of Mayon in Legazpi I took to the road again. A short hop, skip and non air-con bus ride south east of Legazpi lies Sorsogon; the southernmost province of Luzon.

The capital of Sorsogon city provides all the comforts of a big Philippine city such as heavy traffic, pollution and a lack of sidewalks with a smaller city’s charm and lack of facilities.

Aside from whale shark watching in Donsol which is mostly accessed from Legazpi the rest of the province does not get many tourists. This does not mean that Sorsogon is not worth a visit however. I spent a couple of days travelling around the Sorsogon countryside by hopping on Jeepneys from town to town. I saw some beaches, charming little towns and had a dip in one of the local hot springs.  While I missed some of the more spectacular sights that can be found around the Bulusan Volcano I had good time away from the big cities.

I also tried my hand at some travel video making, grossly underestimating the amount of footage needed to put together a compelling travel video. But I still managed to stitch it together and electroshock it to life through the wonders of video editing.

  At the time of writing I have moved on upwards Luzon to Naga city. The road ahead is long and uncertain but one thing is sure. There will be more misadventures to follow!

Pictures from the road

The sights

English in the Philippines is complicated.

Unlike the “Engrish” of countries like Japan or China, where English is given the Jackson Pollock treatment resulting in truly random yet often hilarious gibberish, Filipino English is often spoken at quite a high level.

However, just because the average level of English comprehension is higher than in most of southeast Asia it in no way means the country is free of extremely dodgy English.

In what will hopefully be a recurring series I will sort through the intestines of some of the more interesting signs I have found and photographed through my travels in an attempt to discover a hidden, deeper meaning.

I have chosen to call this series Isaw: the Sign

1. RACENG Pegeon

This homemade sign with equally homegrown spelling raises many questions.

The first is which order to read it in. Does it read:

“RACENG Pegeon 4 SALE”

Or:

“RACENG 4 Pegeon SALE”?

  To be fair otherwhere on the building “racing” was correctly spelled though “pegeon” remained the same.

Little known fact is that pigeon racing is a fast growing sport in many Asian countries and the worlds biggest competitions are held in Taiwan.  Personally I’d much rather be a raceng pegeon than the Philippine most famous feathered athlete; the fighting cock.

  There is something affecting the city of Legazpi making it’s citizens lose their minds.

My first visit to to the city was over a year ago now it was one of the first destinations i visited. After arriving in Manila in March 2016 I headed south on a non-air con, all stops bus to Naga and after about a week there i headed on to the the capital city of Albay province.

As soon as I stepped of the bus I became aware of a looming presence on the horizon. They call it the most perfect volcano in the world. But Magayon while an iconic and beloved symbol of the region, has also been a cruel and dangerous neighbor. It is the most active volcano in the Philippines and has claimed thousands of lives and caused untold damage.

It’s effects on me are far more subtle as the scars on my body has healed but the mark it left on my psyche remains.

The evil mountain looms above the city at night.

The hike

It was just a one day hike up the volcanoes slopes. Me and a few other brave souls set out one early march morning hoping to experience a hike through the jungle ending with a spectacular view over the province from halfway up the volcano.

However the trip quickly turned nightmarish as the rain began pouring down. Me not being the most experienced of mountain climbers quickly began struggling to keep up with the rest of the expedition. I was forced to use my hands to help pull me up grabbing on to branches, rocks and various vegetation. Quickly I learned that most of the vegetation growing on the slopes have evolved to deter amateur hikers. Soon my hands and arms were covered in cuts and scratches from the evil vegetation’s various spikes and thorns.

After hours of exhausting climbing it all turned out to be for nothing as our guides declared that the heavy rainfall had made a stream in our path unsafe to cross and we had to stop before reaching our intended destination. The reward for our struggles was thus a quick meal of cold rice and adobo as me and my companions huddled among slippery rocks.

As we half walked, half rolled down again we took inventory of our meager belongings and noticed the damages. Shoes wrecked, a drowned cellphone, ink running down a soaked passport. Those were just a few of the horrors bestowed upon us by cruel Mayon.

Ever since I’ve been living in fear of the Volcano.

The return

After drifting around the Philippines for more than a year. I once again find myself back in Legazpi spending a couple of months here before heading northwards. Once again I find myself back underneath the shadow of the Volcano.

This time I’ve been sticking around for a while longer and so I have had a chance to experience firsthand the effects the curse of Mayon has on the citizens of Legazpi since last time I visited.

The Sili(chili) ice cream has grown in intensity. Previously it was graded in heat from 1-3, now a fourth tier has been introduced named “volcano”. Coincidence? I think not…

All over the archipelago the squat is a very popular position for idle Filipinos. In legazpi I have witnessed it being performed in the nude.

The BBQ stalls in the city rarely sells rice. Truly this is a sign that something is horribly wrong.

  Meanwhile the curse has me climbing up on the roof to to record my first videos in front of the camera. So instead of just pointing my camera at random parades or waterfalls I happen to encounter along my travels I have decided to record my experiences in a more personal manner.

And I blame it all on the Volcano.

The vagrant one has been missing in action for quite some time.

Adrift in a foreign country, the day to day minutiae took precedence over adding blurry travel photos to a blog with visitors few and far between.

After some months slaving away as a freelance writer wearing out my fingers writing about fascinating subjects like sun tan lotion and company goodie bags I feel a longing to once again get started on creating something a tad more personal. But as a professional vagrant with two years of experience under my belt I have gained enough self knowledge to know that a new direction and a greater deal of discipline is required for my online chronicles.

So for the vagrant one to succeed in the digital community I have to take a good look at the competition out there and find my own little space in the crowded space of cyberspace.

So where do I feel I can contribute?

The competition

There are many blogs and YouTube channels focusing on the expat lifestyle and the digital nomad moving their ones and zeros throughout the world. These creators will teach you all you need to know to embrace the freedom that a nomadic lifestyle can bring. However besides posting lovely pics of expensive laptops carelessly being exposed to saltwater and sand on some exotic beach they do little to actually show you what makes a nomadic lifestyle worthwhile.

I have of course listened to none of their advice.

In the Philippines where I am currently residing there has been an explosion in the expat community on YouTube and on blogs. For those looking on advice about everything you need to know to successfully settle in the Philippines knowing advice from a sweaty, grizzled expat on everything from visa extensions to motorcycle purchases is just a quick search away. But the typical expat bloggers will usually post one of two types of content:

Practical Advice: How to extend visa or how to find an apartment. Useful if you are planning to settle here, not so thrilling if you are not.

Personal Diaries: Either giving an insight to the daily life of an expat or showing visits to interesting travel destinations. The Philippines has an almost unlimited amount of places to live and explore so this category still has a lot left to offer.

I have of course listened to none of their advice.

  Introducing Digital Vagrancy

So I have been travelling around for the better part of two years and still has yet to learn much of practical use. I have thus decided to instead focus on the more fun part of living the expat lifestyle. Under the umbrella of digital vagrancy i hope to help those interested explore not how to live as an expat but what makes it worth it in the first place.

So the focus will be exploring the quirks and perks of living abroad in the Philippines and beyond. I will share my experiences and thoughts on the places I have visited and the things i have encountered. Hopefully I can entertain those that come across my ramblings.

Mondays: Weekly blog/vlog over at the Vagrant one YouTube Channel, this will be a video combined with a blog post here. This can be on any topic that I find worthy of investigation.

Thursdays: Short image or video post on various random themes. In short I take a lot of photos or videos that might not make any sense. When put together they might make more sense than anticipated.

Eat Well Travel often – perks of a vagrant lifestyle

So if you want to follow my journey be sure to bookmark my page, subscribe to the YouTube channel and follow the Facebook page. There will be a lot more going on in the future!