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This is not a trip report. Others have already done that better and more graphically than I could. I just wanted to share my impressions of the Philippines on my first visit.
If you thought Thailand was a third world country, think again. Compared to the PI it is definitely a part of the second world. Although the reasons for this are surely debatable and contradictory; the Catholic hegemony, the Spanish and later American colonization, a culture of corruption, the PI 'feels' in many ways to be more a part of Central/South America than Asia.
Manilla seems to have 2 very different 'entertainment' areas, Makati and Malate.
Makati is pretty much all modern buildings, broad and clean streets and a price tag to match. The main attraction is the famous Burgos St, with the 'only' LB bar now apparently Mixed Nuts, but to be honest the thought of paying a barfine of 3500 pesos where the girl only gets 1000, did not motivate me to investigate. Like most other places in the PI, there is plenty of LB talent to be found hanging out at the malls. In Makati the evening hang-out is Greenbelt 3, a collection of bars and restaurants. Unaccompanied LBs are not welcome at the bars, so they tend to congregate at the Starbucks and other coffee-bars.
Malate in contrast to Makati is a busy, dirty and at times dangerous mix of old and new buildings. The hotels seem on the whole to be a little cheaper here, being close to the Manilla Bay means there is at least a chance of a cooling breeze but Malate's saving grace is that it has what passes as Manilla's version of Sunee Plaza. The weekends especially see the bars and clubs on Julio Nakpil, at the corners with Maria Y Orosa and Luis Maria Guerero Street, packed with gay guys and unsurprisingly in a country that equates transgender with gay, quite a few LBs. The local mall in this area is Robinsons Malate and, like almost everywhere else in the PI, late afternoon and evening brings prides of prowling LBs shopping, browsing or sniffing out their prey.
Malate: scruffy by day and downright scary by night
If you thought Thailand was a third world country, think again. Compared to the PI it is definitely a part of the second world. Although the reasons for this are surely debatable and contradictory; the Catholic hegemony, the Spanish and later American colonization, a culture of corruption, the PI 'feels' in many ways to be more a part of Central/South America than Asia.
Manilla seems to have 2 very different 'entertainment' areas, Makati and Malate.
Makati is pretty much all modern buildings, broad and clean streets and a price tag to match. The main attraction is the famous Burgos St, with the 'only' LB bar now apparently Mixed Nuts, but to be honest the thought of paying a barfine of 3500 pesos where the girl only gets 1000, did not motivate me to investigate. Like most other places in the PI, there is plenty of LB talent to be found hanging out at the malls. In Makati the evening hang-out is Greenbelt 3, a collection of bars and restaurants. Unaccompanied LBs are not welcome at the bars, so they tend to congregate at the Starbucks and other coffee-bars.
Malate in contrast to Makati is a busy, dirty and at times dangerous mix of old and new buildings. The hotels seem on the whole to be a little cheaper here, being close to the Manilla Bay means there is at least a chance of a cooling breeze but Malate's saving grace is that it has what passes as Manilla's version of Sunee Plaza. The weekends especially see the bars and clubs on Julio Nakpil, at the corners with Maria Y Orosa and Luis Maria Guerero Street, packed with gay guys and unsurprisingly in a country that equates transgender with gay, quite a few LBs. The local mall in this area is Robinsons Malate and, like almost everywhere else in the PI, late afternoon and evening brings prides of prowling LBs shopping, browsing or sniffing out their prey.
Malate: scruffy by day and downright scary by night
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