Manila v Bkk

[gregchambers]

Five nights in Manila - about the right time to spend there. Hotels - head for Burgos, Makati Avenue. Plenty of hotels and condos (that rent out daily/weekly/monthly). Prices range from 700-1500 peso but bargain and make sure the price is all-in (clusive). Security guards will sometimes try it on when you return the worse for wear, say they made a mistake on the price and demand another 100/200 peso. Tell them it is not your problem and stand your ground, they give in eventually. Check out the next day and change hotel. Very few cops around compared to Thailand but their reputation is even worse - never talked to one or had anything to do with them so can't comment further.

Ermita has many more cheaper hotels but is not convenient for the Burgos nightlife and somewhat frightening in the day to walk around, let alone the night. It used to be a famous entertainement strip (12 years ago?), a bit like Beach road in Pattaya with an excess of go-go bars (without the sea!). Same kind as nutter closed them down (the mad Mayor of Manila - Lim) as the Thai interior minister so expect the worst in Thailand, though the bars in Ermita were mostly foreign owned and therefore an easy target. Luckily, the mayor's ire was limited to central Manila rather than the whole city.

The Burgos strip (in Makati) is a meandering road with mostly small go-go bars on both sides, packed in between hotels and condo's, with yet more bars hidden down dark side alleys. The gals are kept firmly inside so no chance of previous adventures catching up with you as you wander around. Always give a false hotel (and refuse to give a surname) otherwise some totally unsuitable gal will end up hammering on your door at four o'clock in the morning (gasp, that is when the bars close!). The vast majority of the bars are owned by the same people, hence prices are uniform - a lot of the excess no doubt going to pay massive bribes.

Beer is cheaper than Bangkok (1 dollar equals 52 peso but the only currency that gets a good exchange rate is the US dollar), 100 -110 peso but lady drinks are 300 peso. Yes, sit down. I only bought one the whole time I was there and that was in the second bar I hit - some sublime sixteen year old who was all over me. You can have fun without buying any ladies drinks and just laugh at the demand for ten drinks as bar fine (3000 peso, the gal gets a third of that) as the gal will readily agree to meet you after work and if all goes well ring in sick for work the next day to stay with you for as long as you want. The gals are paid daily not monthly and can come and go as they like. Free sex is not unheard of if you know what you are doing and look reasonable... the ancient gorillas in suits pay as much as 5000 peso, though half that is more normal. In the past I never offered more than 1000 peso in the morning and only had one problem, ended up paying an extra 500 peso. Offer the gal some kinda future, money (generally!) doesn't matter - these women are desperate to get out of the PI and most don't want to come back for more than a short holiday (total contrast with Thailand).

The first time you wander into a Burgos bar, half a dozen women will hurl themselves at you before you have even sat down. Mostly, these are the old dears - fat and ugly, and very crude (by Thai standards but arguably attractive by Western standards)! - they sort of tried to edge the young gals out, for instance I I had to grab the sixteen year-old's hand and pull her through the throng. You don't get the sheer density of beautiful babes that are available in Thailand but the weird mixture of Spanish and Oriental blood does turn up a total stunner with wild, wild cheekbones, etc. The stunners, unless they are hardcore hookers, don't last long in the bars, too many rich ex-pat's around.

Five minutes into the scene the waitresses then pester you to buy ladies drinks. Refuse, unless the gal is a stunner and worth the effort/money. The gals will make all kinds of offers, disturbingly obsessed with blow-jobs, BTW, and point to dark corners or mutter about VIP rooms. Not my kinda scene so I can't really comment but I imagine you can have sex on the scene for loose change. The women will stay until you finish your drink, lots of waitresses buzzing around demanding ladies drinks for them until they finally get the message and slink off. Then there's talk about lucky tips from the gals and I always tell them to pay for my beer, they will be lucky for the rest of the night. By about then you have gone from being described as very handsome, sexy, etc to having the odd insult thrown in your direction! English, of course, is widely spoken.

With the sixteen year-old I managed to make my beer last an hour and she ran out of her drink in about half that but stayed around, all over me, probing tongue, etc. The waitresses kept buzzing away, telling her to move on to a new customer, but she stayed with me even when the mamasan siddled over and started in at her. The waitresses and mamasan almost had fumes coming out of their ears! Seemed like a nice lass but I didn't want to get into anything as I wasn't staying around long term and had no idea of the current age of consent! I am 45 (30(ish) according to the gals), BTW - yes, I know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She was the most attractive gal I saw that visit but there were plenty of other attractive women around, 18-23 mostly, willing to do any kind of sex. You can get the mamasan to send over the gal of your dreams (she will siddle up to you anyway to demand to know who you like) but the mildest amount of eye contact usually suffices (I think the mamasan cops some money from the gal if she sets you up!). I deliberately missed Friday and Saturday when the local expats come out to play, evident that the Muslim threat had ruined the (sex) tourist industry - I mean, it was often like thirty gals to a guy with only two or three customers in a bar. Which more than made up for the lack of density of stunners. Six months ago, I was there for a couple of days and the scene was quite dire - good timing and a bit of luck necessary.

BTW, you often get the cold shoulder treatment if you go back into a bar where you have refused to buy any ladies drinks but doing five, six, bars a night there are enough bars for four or five nights of fun. Also, San Miguel doesn't seem strong but five or six bottles begins to catch up with you!

The EDSA complex on, er, EDSA (a long road/highway that is often one long traffic jam) is opposite the Heritage Hotel. 20-30 minutes and 70 peso from Burgos by taxi. It's a sort of mini Nana with about eight bars on a single floor. Bigger bars than on Burgos, ladies drinks are only(!) 180 peso and the bar fine 1000 peso. Only saw two girls with skin lessions in Burgos (and I did all the bars!) but lots of potential AIDS victims in the EDSA complex which rather put me off. Tricky blighters, too, the lighting is very clever as it takes ten years off the gals when they are dancing - they look a lot older close up. The waitresses don't hassle too much here so it's a bit more relaxed.

Getting a taxi back is bit nasty as the ones outside charge silly money and you have to shoot across six lanes (it might've been eight!) of traffic to get one going in the right direction, the opposite pavement in another (much poorer) world - the average income is a half, third, that of Thailand, poverty much more desperate. I left my gold chain and expensive watch in Bangkok! Some more bars along the (nearby) bay (Chaos, Vixens, Visions - they keep changing their names!) but no fun as the dark stretches between them are mugging grounds and it is a major hassle to get a taxi to use its meter. Many reckon Chaos (next to Trader's Hotel, unless the hotel has also changed its name again) the best bar in Manila, BTW, but I didn't bother.

Shopping is pathetic by Bangkok standards, except for a couple of cheap paperbacks I didn't buy anything (the clothes tend to fall apart!). Bloody awful food, even the fast food joints don't come up to scratch! Much cooler in the night, the humidity in the afternoon was a bit of a killer even by Bangkok standards. The pollution was slightly less than Bangkok but the diesel fumes on old cars more in evidence (ice cold mango juice helps the throat!). Taxi's are metered but you have to demand their use but I got from the airport to Burgos for 100 peso (use the taxis delivering passengers to the terminal, upstairs). Makati isn't a dangerous place to stay or wander around at night, so a viable visa run option (300 peso for a 60 day tourist visa, next day pick-up) if you want some relatively safe nightlife thrown into the equation.

Finally, just to get a dig in at Thailand, all the people I know who have married Filipinas (bar gals or not!) are relatively happy whilst those married to Thai gals rate it as the biggest mistake of their lives. Having said that. I am always happy to be back in Bkk, it's about thirty years ahead of Manila with a much, much nicer ambience. Put it this way, if I'd come to Manila from the West without visiting Thailand, I would've been bowled over by the women and sex on offer and not that surprised by the general horribleness of the city, but coming from Bangkok to Manila, most people want to get the first plane back, but it does have some lovely women who seem to have a lot more heart than Thai girls.

[Guest]

Great post. I've lived in Manila for a few years and I don't think I could have written a better summary of the situation here.

Did you ever get to LA Cafe in Ermita, which I mentioned in the other thread? It really should be top of any sanuker's list of places to go in Manila. Lots of freelance girls, no bar fines, and reasonable prices.

[Straycat]

Nice post Greg! Thanks for the information!

Straycat

[Old Hippie]

I hanen't been to the PI for quite awhile, it was on the down slide the last time I was there. On the whoile, I find Thailand a lot easier to deal with. Less hassle all the way around. I remember a few clubs in Ermita, Love Birds and The firehouse! great places. I hear everything has more or less moved out towards Angeles city now. Any reports?

[gregchambers]

Don't know LA cafe, may have a look next time. I give Bkk about two years before go-go is finished... maybe Ermita will take up the slack as the economy in the PI will prob be totally desperate by then (if it isn't already). Think we all have to be on the lookout for an alternative to Thailand!

[smittyjp]

Really brought back the memories. I felt safe (stayed at the Pen in Makati) and really liked P. Burgos. Walking distance from the hotel but I heard they bombed the Shoemart Mall there though. Was Hollywood, Jools, Dimples, Papillon still around? Loved those bars...spot on report!

Smitty

[Guest]

That was a very well-written, interesting,

amusing report (I've never been to PI).

[ December 18, 2001: Message edited by: Hello Welcom ]

[gregchambers]

Yeah all those bars are still there in Burgos, and yet more - always a couple more open every time I go!

They did bomb somewhere between Burgos and Landmark shopping centre, I recall because I always used to walk along there (but was in Bkk at the time)! Didn't hear about the SM store, it didn't look damaged or anything.

The ambience in Makati is still safe, though more beggars than before.

[gregchambers]

Some links for those interested in PI:

http://www.filipinawives.com - message board with interesting penpals section, almost nothing on the bar scene, though. Totally different attitude from the women.

http://go2phil.com - Harry the horse column on Angeles City, infamous bar area