Sheez, Manila is supposed to be Asia’s “friendliest city” and when we say friendly, it means gay. And what could be gay-er than a visit to a gay bar!! I’ve brought a few foreign friends here and the most memorable part of their visit is not the hanging out in Makati’s ritzy malls nor the sumptuous buffets in Manila’s Chinese restos. No…. not even the calesa rides in Intramuros or roaming the length of Baywalk and Luneta. The highlight always is the trip to the gay bar where (aherrmm) pretty, sexy and independent women like us ogle at well-endowed men in their full naked glory.

” At least I know now why men patronize those girlie bars,” my well-heeled LA-based Chinese friend Charlene told me one night, in between drinking a San Miguel Beer Light and staring at a young man performing on stage. He was no more than 20.

The operation of these bars couldn’t be possibly described as clandestine as they are located in the major thoroughfares of Manila and Quezon City. My favorite (I mean the only one I’ve been to, heheh) is White Bird along Roxas Boulevard. Yay! It would be so naive to think that these establishments do not enjoy the protection of City Hall and the police. In fact, I was able to discover this bar because a police reporter friend of mine gave our group of six free entrance (at P200 per head, it was quite a lot already, but still a lot cheaper than if you patronize similar bars in Asia )

From the last time I visited a year ago, it seems the client mix of WB changed already. For sure, there are now quite a number of Korean women mixing with local matrons and gays. It seems the show too has become “wholesomer,” owing to the fact that there has been a few raids in the place. Howell, Ajay was actually cringing at the fact that the cops would come barging in while she was staring at Mr. Gigolo in tiger-print briefs, lol. I could probably abuse my newspaper and claim journalistic/ tourist guide immunity.

Between us girls (and gays), the guys at WB are really well-built and good-looking. My foreign friends agree so too.

The uninitiated may ask: what happens in this gay bar? I would like to believe that the shows are “artistic” to say the least since the men do not really go all out and if some manage to flash their assets, this is toned down by the lighting effects. At one point, a male dancer entered the stage already fully erect and my ever-curious female friend naturally muttered: “he takes some kind of drug so he can be like that, doesn’t he?” to which the funny gay bouncer Greta replied: “hindi, lotion lang yan (that’s only lotion)” lol.

As we saw that some of the matrons were calling the dancer they liked to their table and buying him drinks, I asked Greta (stupid of me) what happens then and she said: “Puwede mo siyang amuy-amuyin at haplos-haplusin (you can smell and cuddle him.)” Hahaha. It was a funny experience actually, especially as during the intermission, they featured gay impersonators. Somebody was lipsynching Jennifer Lopez and I thought “she” looked the part, until she came up close to us and I could see her pimple holes…aaargh.

But then again, I have the sympathy for the young boys drawn to the trade to support their studies, their family or some other reasons. I wonder what kind of life awaits them, same with their women counterparts, just because life is hard in these islands. What remains is that everything happens in Manila , the city that never sleeps. I bet there are worse shows elsewhere, and we haven’t even seen them yet.

Posted in My Manila |