One Night and 3 Manila Gay Bars (Part 2)

Note: For purposes of this entry, gay bar will refer to a club/bar catering to gay men and straight women and this bar has what most people know as a macho dancer. For an easier reference point, let’s just say that a gay bar is the equivalent of our straight men’s girly bars cum nightclubs.

(Continued from Part 1)

For Mankind

We hopped on to the car and started driving along the neon-lit road, with a recently-taken mental picture of Timog at night. We headed to our next destination: a bar with a name we all were sure was a gay bar. What do you expect a bar named Club Mankind to be?

A straight guy (or at least he looked like he was) in his late twenties and looked like a has-been celebrity welcomed us outside their doorstep. O, our group’s most daring gay guy, recited his script on inquiring about a stripper for a bridal shower. After about a minute or two of them discussing, we were accompanied into the small waiting area cum lobby of the club. We took our spots on the couch and waited for uhm, we didn’t know what we were waiting for. On the walls of that small lobby hung framed photos of their “models” in different shapes and colors of underwear. We all agreed that the models from Maginoo were more good-looking and more decent-looking than most of those glaring and smiling at us from within the frames. After about five minutes, a semi-stocky gay guy in a green outfit (blouse and lorts) with a huge and wide horsetail-type leather necklace pendant (pendant pa lang yun ha!) hanging from his neck to his hips, and carrying something that resembled a clipboard, came out from the door and welcomed us with a wide grin and with a welcoming aura around him.

He introduced himself as the floor manager and gave us a quick rundown of their rates after we explained that we were looking for a stripper to perform at the bridal shower. He gave us a much higher rate, which, like the previous bar, included a bar fine and some more. She said that the rate she gave us was non-negotiable and we still had to give the model extra and we also had to pick the guy up and bring him back to the bar before and after the evnt. The expressions on our faces turned from glee to smug after hearing this, so she offered a lower rate, but only if we held the shower at their VIP room. We were brought inside the VIP room which didn’t really look all that bad, but also didn’t look like a VIP room at all. It was too small and we knew that we were not gonna have fun there. And if the men in picture frames were the men to choose from, then we would be done with the choosing (or the lack thereof) in less than a minute!

We politely declined their offer about the VIP room and told them we would think about the stripper rate. We bid goodbye to the men in picture frames and headed outside, by the car, for another round of discussions. These discussions looked like we were a basketball team forming a huddle during a time-out. And the the team came up with a play for the next round — go to another gay bar and assess the men and the rates. If the offer wasn’t lower than Maginoo’s then we would go back to the latter and negotiate some more. And if they wouldn’t lower their rate, we would have no other choice but to just pay the unusually higher rate and just chip in for the out-of-budget rate.

The Dark Adonis

We sped off and headed to a famous (infamous?) gay bar named Adonis! This time though, only three of us (gay men who were both willing and hesitant and the same time) went in and inquired about their rates. We were welcomed by a dark stocky lady in a blue crew neck shirt and jeans who looked like she didn’t work there. But the moment she smiled and started talking to us, we knew she was the floor manager — and a good one at that. Among the three floor managers we faced that night, she was the one with exceptional customer service. She had answers to all our questions, even the ones we haven’t asked yet.

We followed her inside the pitch-black bar that obviously was only that pitch-black because they were about to introduce another performer onstage. The bar had a quaint smell but we didn’t mind it since we were gonna be there for only a short while. We had difficulty following her since we were guided only by the light coming from our mobile phones. Their flooring was black and white checkers with some areas just plain concrete (the tiles must have already chipped off). I expected to see an aquarium-like set-up but got the surprise of my night when we were led into a room full of men in, well, various states of undress. Some were in their tank tops and shorts. Others only had shorts on, and a couple of them in towels — evidently just got out of the shower as manifested by the wet hair with droplets of water dripping to their muscular shoulders.

Initially, they all were just going about their own businesses but when they noticed that we were in the room, they straightened up — some of them obviously showing off and some of them pretending to be unmindful of our presence. If you’re talking about brusque hot men who look like they’d turn you upside-down and inside out in bed, then these men are it!About half of them were goodlooking and the other half were shrimp-like (hipon). Among all the men in all three gay bars we went to, these were the most straight-looking and the ones who looked the mambabarurot-type.

The three of us muttered under our breaths and described our “finalists,” just in case we were offered a lower rate. We headed out with the floor manager and asked her what their rate was. Sadly, it was the same rate that was offered to us by Maginoo so we stuck with our gameplay and headed out of Adonis.

We delivered the news to the rest of the team who were waiting inside the car and drove back to Maginoo’s. I would have wanted to hire two of the men I saw inside Adonis, but we have already decided as a team, that the next part of the gameplay was getting the Maginoo model.

Back at Maginoo, only two of us went in to talk to Mommy Vanessa. We tried to bargain some more but they didn’t budge. So we asked Mommy V if we could talk to the guy and ask him a few questions about his experience with bridal showers. It turned out that we was barely new in this business (on his second week as a model/dancer) and he hasn’t performed for a bridal shower before. Mommy V assured us that he will be coached on it and will be ready at party time. We told Mommy V that she better be sure about it because we did not want the rest of our friends to get disappointed (but we all know they wouldn’t since this shower is gonna be the first for most of us). We gave the details of the party to our model and bid him goodbye. We handed Mommy V our deposit and waited at the lobby area.

While waiting for the receipt of our deposit, a lot of things ran through my mind. The “team” were talking about it as the night progressed, and I realized how different this night was for all of us. During the course of the night, we realized that this is indeed an industry on its own. We wanted a stripper but we also realized how unfortunate it is for these men to be in this business. It isn’t exactly prostitution, but it kind of resembles it. We were also thinking that maybe, some of these men are really into it. We felt for them but we also knew that they joined this industry on their own volition.

Mommy V came out with our receipt and we were off the car. Giggles, laughter and a crazy recounting of the events that night filled the car as we drove home. This was one hell of a night. After all, you don’t get to experience something as surreal, as exciting and as unbelievable as that night. 3 gay bars in metro manila in one night? What fun!

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