Manila Report

[Santiagodc]

PART ONE: My work had taken me to Manila for a four week stay last January and again this past December. This is a compilation report of my own personal experiences. 

HOTEL: Makati was certainly the place of choice for straight titty bars and female prostitutes, but it seemed from the gay guides that Malate was the place of choice for gays.  After checking out the various web site gay guides, I decided to stay in a cheap business hotel across from Robinson’s Mall. My gay work colleague decided to stay in an Airbnb but quickly moved out because the place had security guards either registering your guests or not allowing you to have guests unless you provided the guest’s driver’s license 24 hours ahead of the visit. In fact, I am absolutely sure that the Philippines must employ 90% of their citizens to work as security guards… they are in those same white crisply starched shirts as you will see in front of every business. The cheap hotel I stayed in offered breakfast and I chose it precisely because of location and not comfort. It also had no security other than the bell hop. At the Mall across the road was the famous gay meeting place of: Starbucks! I had thought Malate was filled with gay bars, but I was mistaken. However, like Makati it IS filled with karaoke bars and women strippers at the bars and massage parlors.   

GRINDR AND PLANET ROMEO: I was getting over 20 messages an hour from my profile when I opened it on these apps. I laid out what I was clearly looking for in sex, as well as noting that I would be happy to help with donation for a young student’s debt (so as to bypass the app restrictions). I quickly learned how deceiving the profiles of guys can be. You will note that the profiles usually say something like “not a trace” or “manly” to reference being masculine and “tropa” for group action. Two types of guys started messaging me: 

FIRST TYPE--Most of the profiles that contact you will show “masahe” (or some similar way of writing massage) or “not for fun” or “available” or “hagod” to describe the massage they can provide. They will usually just message you with a set price list. This list is for the massage only. The “ES” or “extra service” is something extra you pay for. As was reported on another review, the guys do NOT like to say how much the ES is, if they would offer it, or even what it would be if they offered it. I decided to try a massage for my first afternoon and the guy came to my hotel. The price he quoted was 1,000 pesos ($20.00 USD) for the massage. He also happened to be the one guy that said on messaging that he would offer ES but would only talk about what the ES was when we were in person. I had to meet him outside the hotel and we walked in together to my room. Well, he showed up and he clearly was much older than the Grindr profile photo. In fact, he was wearing so much makeup to make himself look younger that it was just weird. When we got to room, he proceeded to the bathroom and then disrobed to his underwear. He had me lie down on the bed nude with a towel over my ass. He then proceeded to do a fairly decent massage. He then asked me if I wanted ES. I asked what he had to offer. He then said 1,000 more for a hand job, 1,500 for a blow job, or 2,000 to fuck him. I just couldn’t get past the 40 year old in make-up that had used photos of when he was 20. So, I declined and we parted ways. I learned a lot from my first mistake. Thereafter, I always asked to video chat with the guy to see what he looked and acted like before we met. It quickly became clear that a large majority of guys were using photos of themselves when they were much much younger. I also made it clear thereafter on my profile that I did not want a massage, but sex only. Further, I wanted a great kisser with the use of the tongue. Interestingly, I learned a new phrase I had not heard of before: Side Fun! This was their way of saying you can kiss, cuddle, and suck each other, but not engage in anal sex. So, I became very explicit during my first meeting a guy by saying I wanted side fun, a great kisser with the tongue, mutual sucking, and both cumming. If a guy came to my place and would not kiss once I got inside the room, then I asked him to leave and gave him a little money for travel. They never got angry as the culture is not one that likes confrontation. I finally became very clear with them… if you lie about what you offer then I will not pay you at all. I should also mention that HUNQS on Planet Romeo had guys offering sex for 2,000-5,000 pesos, but the very same guys in regular profiles texted to offer their time for 1,000. I finally settled on some regularly guys that came to my hotel every other day for sex. It started as “side fun” but they quickly started offering more for the same price since I was a regular. Because I could trust them for a good experience, I also gave them tips and other items over time. 

SECOND TYPE: You will have tons of messages from 18–25-year-old guys that look very young. Simply put, they are looking for a sugar daddy. They are very very specific (to the point of getting angry) that they are NOT there as “money boys” but are looking for just friendship and relationship with an older man. Make no mistake in your mind, it is not as if the entire young male population of Manila has been genetically bred to like old gay men. As you befriend them, they will start to ask for travel money, then other small “gifts”, and then BIG gifts. Suddenly their mother or grandmother is in the hospital needing care, or their laptop just broke, or etc. The story is the same for many of them. The positive of meeting these guys? I had some of the most passionate and incredible sex of my life with these young sexy men. They were simply amazing and incredibly kind. Most were straight or bi needing money, with the others being gay and needing money (usually for school). The negative? They are ready to marry you after one sexual encounter, they are clingy, they don’t want you to have sex with anyone else, and they expect their daddy to treat them (their son) appropriately. The sad part is that I had heard so many stories from these guys about older western gay men who started a relationship with them and then just dropped and ghosted them after a few weeks. It was heartbreaking to hear them say, “You’re not going to leave me too, are you?”  In turn, this also hardened some of these younger guys (knowing the old men might drop them so quickly) to start asking for things early on in the encounters. So, make clear your expectations up front with them. When you write that you are a white foreigner on your profile you will be inundated with messages of guys wanting you to be their daddy. PART TWO TO FOLLOW…

[Santiagodc]

PART TWO:

BARS: Google “Boy Bars” and “Manila” to see a number of reports about what is one of the most confusing bar situations to me. Most of the strictly gays bars had closed down in Malate, but the remaining ones are scattered across several sections of Manila. That was a bit frustrating as I had thought I was staying in the gay section known as Malate. I visited a few of the gay bars (two remaining in Malate) and they were underwhelming… just your standard gay bar or dance floor with gays… BUT, the Pinoy version MUST MUST have karaoke (their national sport, it seems). Two had dancers, but no nudity and no touching. The “Boy Bars” that you will find are especially strange. These are another type of bar where virtually all the guys are sexy straight pinoys who will dance in front of you. If you like them, then you pay them to come down and sit to talk with you. Mind you, you are not touching or engaging in sex, but you are just paying them to talk with you. One guy said he would come back with me after hours and his price was 8,000 pesos “to have sex with a sexy straight guy”. I tried two nights of this and ditched it because I realized I could have been having wild passionate sex with 3-4 equally gorgeous guys from the apps for the amount I spent on one hour of talking with some partially clothed straight guy at the boy bar. If that is your thing, then good for you. Google and learn.  

MASSAGE PLACES: Manila is simply filled with over 20 massage parlors for men to get massages from other men. About half are legit massages where they will NOT offer sex or extra services, while the others are full blown places for massage and sex. These places open and close regularly. There are two ways that I found to tell the difference: FIRST, go on twitter or facebook and search for Manila and massage. Start to follow the parlors where they usually post photos of their massagers and you will see that 1-some make it very clear they are completely legit, 2-some have sexy boys and are very coy about what they offer, and then 3-some are very explicit that ES is offered. You can come to their place or the boys will come to your hotel. Further, they will text you their price range (usually 1,000-4,000) without the price of the ES which is usually 1,000-2,000 pesos and THAT is decided on by the boy. Secondly, start to follow the Manila Massage review profiles on Twitter and Facebook. There are some great reviewers of these parlors that are found on twitter. These reviewers will write in Filipino, but you can use the translate feature to see what they wrote. They will let you know whether the massager offered the ES. Keep in mind that THESE massage parlors are the upscale kind with social media, websites you can google, uniforms, etc. These “A list” parlors are not the same as the “B list parlors”. These “B list” parlors (where the guys always offer ES) do not advertise other than maybe a sign outside their establishment or on Grindr/Planet Romeo. I found six such places around my hotel by Robinson’s Mall. You find them by looking around for their signs and just walking in to ask what they offer. You can also find them by moving your location feature on Grindr around the city. You will see a profile of a guy offering massages and saying he has his own place (which usually means he is operating out of a B list parlor). He usually has one or two other profiles as well. If you come to their place which is usually quite sparse, the price for the massage is usually around 500-700 pesos. ES will be another 1,000-1,500. Going to these places is like being in a surreal movie. You go in, the guy leads you to a darkened room with music that is divided by curtains with a table in each section for a massage. You disrobe and then lie down naked with a towel over your ass. After the massage the guy will talk about ES. It was quite weird having sex on the table whilst another three guys were getting massages and having sex right next to me in the same room divided only by curtains. After those experiences, I decided to pick the guy from the parlor (or the profile on Grindr) and arrange a later visit at my hotel for privacy. To see an example of these “B List” parlors, use your Grindr explorer and center it around the cross streets of Remedios Street and Leon Guinto Street. There are four parlors there only 30 seconds apart from each other. You can see the profiles of the guys on Grindr, and then you can even see the locations in google maps.  PART THREE TO FOLLOW…

[Santiagodc]

PART THREE:

THEATRES: I could never get a definitive answer from the internet if the sex theatres were still open. Most said they were closed or no longer operating. If you look at them from the outside, you might think the same. I found three that were open and operating with NONE having air conditioning. It was like being back in a Times Square movie theatre from the 1970’s. The first two are located in that place in Manila where you can buy anything illegal that you want… right next to the Recto train stop! The largest place was Dilson Theatre located at 1608 Recto Ave, Quiapo. When you walk in, there will be trash around the entrance and the escalator will be broken. You pay for the 100 pesos ticket there on your right at the entrance. Then you go up the non-working escalator to a reception area where you will see about 15-20 young men standing around. As you go into the theatre, trust me when I say that about 15-20 young men inside there will suddenly start coming towards you. They will ALL say hello and start touching your dick even as you are only in the back section. They will ask you, “Would you like service?” I just say “Maybe later”. Get your bearing and find a seat where you can scope out the place. Guys will continue to come to you to offer their service. Now, this lower section is the section where you usually pay for the young men to give you a blow-job. Some will also engage in some passionate kissing as well if you ask. I actually had a number of my threesomes here with one guy kissing me while the other was giving me a blow-job. They would switch back and forth and it was amazing. Obviously, I had learned to keep my money safe since I was told by a gay older man that the guys would go through your pockets whilst giving the service. You should know that theatre is hot, reeks of smoke, and the guys are insistent. You can then go up one level to the upper section via the stairs in the reception area. From there in that massive section, you will have the free no-pay sex amongst gays with a few young hustlers standing around to offer as well. You need only show an interest in any young man, tell him what you want, and then tell him “500 pesos?” If it is just a blow job or kissing then that price is the norm. If you want something more like anal sex, then you will need to go offsite because there is no place to do it there (including even in the worst bathrooms I have ever seen there). There are many cheap hour hotels around this area. I went to look at one by myself to see what it was like. Let me just say the beds had bed bugs and there were roaches everywhere in the room. Chance it if you want, as the guys will know where an hour hotel is nearby. The second theatre has no name (that I know of) but is further east down Recto about 100 feet past Dilson on the same south side of the road. It has two levels but is much much smaller. I was told it is filled with young men that have been kicked out of Dilson. I ventured in and was quickly grabbed by a very young guy that look to be on drugs. So, I decided to just exit for the day but came back a few more times. Most of these boys are from the Tondo section of Manila which is very poor. Same price, same services. I also tried the Baclaran Cinema as listed on the net, but it was boarded up and closed. There was another theatre further east towards Quezon City that was of a similar size to Dilson, but the name and location escape me at the moment. I went once but it was simply so far out to try again. 

ROBINSON’S MALL AND STARBUCKS: If you enable your Grindr while in Robinson’s Mall, the profiles will all show 5 feet away and every young guy will be messaging you to find a daddy. I met many a young man at the entrance by the escalators. We would chat, I would ask if he would like sex for 1,000 pesos at my hotel 1 minute away, and WHAM… off we went for an hour or more of fun. It was as if I was at Robinson’s “young horny male buffet” instead of a mall. As for Starbucks, well… this place is well known to gays in Manila. It has an outdoor section with tables, an indoor internal section with tables next to the cash register, and another outdoor section that juts out into the interior of Robinson’s Mass. The past time is to get a coffee, sit at that indoor mall section and watch people come and go. Female prostitutes are in front of the two small vendors next to Starbucks so you can watch them. Then, you can also meet your sex prospects here by having them visit you at your table. I would tell the young man, “I am an old man, sitting at Starbucks in blue jeans, a white shirt, tennis shoes, and having a coffee. If you want to chat after you see me and maybe do something more for a little cash, then text me you are interested, tell me how you are dressed so I can see you, then introduce yourself to me”. If he looked like his photo, then we might have action. If he did not or seemed just weird, then I’d hand him 200 pesos for the conversation and simply say I’m too tired for sex right now. Starbucks is also a great public place to meet a guy if you are concerned with first bringing him back to your hotel. 

SEX: I am a 6 foot overweight 61 year old white man. Pinoys are very short and I clearly stand out in the crowd as a giant among the hobbits. Just know that many can even be less than 5 foot tall. It took a little adjustment to having sex with such smaller guys. Likewise, their dicks are also on the small side as you will see from Grindr where guys are considered massive when they advertise their 6 inch tools and tall at 5 ft 10. The young guys that sucked were simply overjoyed at sucking my average size dick and calling it massive. If you are into feet, which is not my thing, these short guys also have the most massively wide feet that I have ever seen. Most seemed to prefer the side fun, but others were the usual of active and passive. I did have to bring my own condoms (and lube) since the pinoy dick sizes (and the condoms at the pharmacy I checked) were usually very small by my western standards. If you are passive or want to try being passive, then a young short pinoy stud with his sexy body and smaller cock may be the perfect choice for you to start with. 

PRICE: 500 pesos ($11 USD) in the theatre (75 pesos ($1.56 USD) for an entrance ticket); 1,000 ($20 USD) plus travel for app/parlor/Robinson guys to your hotel (excluding massage); up to 5,000 pesos ($104 USD) for HUNQS or “A list” masseurs (excluding massage)

LANGUAGE: Filipino (Tagalog) and English. You will do fine with just English as it clearly shows you are a sexy foreigner!!! 

SUMMATION: I typically worked in the early morning, arranged for a B list parlor guy or Robinson guy to come to my hotel at 1:00 pm, then got a young man from one of the apps for 3:00 pm, then visited one of the theatres between 4-6 pm, then had supper and sex with an app guy or Robinson’s Mall guy from 7-9, and then did work for the next day. I usually averaged 5-6 guys a day. I went to the massage parlors on my first trip, but had no desire to go to them again for my last trip since I had so many other options including bringing the guys to me. I also travelled to Cebu and Davao City which offered pretty much the same items with the same prices. In all the cities I used Grindr, Planet Romeo, Twitter, and Facebook.

[tm_nyc]

Another fantastic sets of posts!  Thank you!

[Xclay]

Santiaodc, your most practical, detailed posts with cruising details yet!  Thanks!

When I was in Manila twenty years ago, I hooked up twice with very handsome, young salesmen who were working at Robinson's and came to my room at the Holiday Inn when they got of work.

When I was there for a conference ten years ago, the sexy, mini-bar guy was hungry for white guys, stared at my crouch, and asked if he could help me in any other way. I screwed him every morning from then on.

[bdd33us]

Thank you for that information. Very much appreciated! 

[Montyb555]

Thanks for the info Santiaodc. I have visited Manila a few times for work (pre-covid) and have always been amazed by the number of cute guys willing to meet off Grindr. I tried one of the cinemas first but once I discovered how active Grindr was I didn't go back. 

Wish I knew about the Starbucks - that's a great tip.

[floridarob]

I have a lot of experience with Pinoys in the U.S. and cruise ships, went to Manila one time, no plans on going back. Very good report, agree with everything. 

I'll add that you will see some very ugly circumcisions, as most are not done at birth, but between 8-12 yrs old.

Someone in Thailand once asked me when I asked him how Manila is....."why do gays keep searching for the pot of gold, when they already know where it is?" Thailand, Brasil, Bali and Mexico are my pots of gold, lol

[Lucky]

Great report @Santiagodc I wonder if the straight patrons at Starbucks are at all aware of the Grindr world that surrounds them.

[Yiannos]

Interesting report. Thanks

[Ale4co]

Interesting thank you

[Santiagodc]

18 hours ago, Lucky said:

Great report @Santiagodc I wonder if the straight patrons at Starbucks are at all aware of the Grindr world that surrounds them.

Lucky,

They have to know... or maybe choose not to know! 

There are three sections for seating. Most of the people sitting around in front of the cash registers inside are students from the nearby UP medical programs. On the outside area facing the street you will see overflow seating, but also the old men waiting for their young lady prostitutes. On the table section inside the mall, that is where you see BOTH the old men watching the prostitutes in front of Jamba Juice AND the old men meeting up with their young male dates. I’ll place two google image photos below to show the outside and inside seating areas. 

[Santiagodc]

On 2/14/2021 at 8:16 PM, floridarob said:

I'll add that you will see some very ugly circumcisions, as most are not done at birth, but between 8-12 yrs old.

Someone in Thailand once asked me when I asked him how Manila is....."why do gays keep searching for the pot of gold, when they already know where it is?" Thailand, Brasil, Bali and Mexico are my pots of gold, lol

Floridarob,

There is truth to what you say. I found my pots of gold as well. You raise an interesting note about the circumcisions. I should say something about them for those that might make a first visit to the Philippines.

There are a myriad of medical AND cultural techniques for how circumcisions are done today. The Philippines is an example of where the type of circumcision you have can tell you a great deal about where a person comes from and in what social class he comes from. It used to be the case that most circumcisions were done there when a boy was a bit older (8-14). You can read about it at this wiki article on that Pinoy tradition known as tuli.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuli_(rite)

When I did my first clinical rotation through pediatrics in Boston many moons ago, I remember seeing the after effects of a Pinoy circumcision for the first time. It looked as though that boy’s penis had been placed through a meat grinder and then surgically repaired. I was horrified, but my attending was Pinoy and enlightened me on this tradition for the first time… and, what I was seeing WAS a badly done “tuli”. This was a result of a inexperienced practitioner in some rural area that had cared little for a proper cut of the foreskin or the treatment of the wound afterwards. This young patient would have a badly scarred penis for the rest of his life. Fast forward to ten years ago when I was asked to assist at a Tuli in a rural region north of Cebu City. When I arrived, I noted that there were already 5 tuli practitioners there and none had any medical training. They generally practiced the Albularyo method and used a piece of sharpened wood (thankfully, government clinics now use sterilized equipment and now generally use medical practitioners). After getting over the horror of the event, I talked with one practitioner at the end of the day who lamented that twenty years prior he would have had over 100 tuli’s to perform just by himself in this day-long event. That day, however, he had only 6 boys present for the circumcisions.

It is the case that most urban or the middle/upper class pinoys now choose to have their son’s circumcision done by a medical doctor in hospital after birth. Some still arrange for the circumcision to be done later when a boy is older, but again by medical doctors. These circumcisions generally (although not always) remove the entire foreskin. What forms is what we in the West might call a normal circumcision scar. Thus, if you are with a Pinoy man for sex and his erect penis looks like a normal western scar, then that often tells you something about his family’s income level or the region he came from. For those in Pinoy rural (or “province”) areas and the lower class, they generally wait for the summer tuli events sponsored by the government where the dorsal slit is the normal method. This is where a single cut is made on the foreskin, but the foreskin is not actually removed. As a result, the skin sorta bunches together below the glans. Over the years, this skin can become slightly darker in color. As a result of all this, pinoys traditionally have a penis whose skin looks quite different from most other asians or most other western circumcisions… it is a mark of manhood. This is why pinoys often refer to this as a cultural circumcision rather than a medical circumcision. 

Aside from the ethical issues of circumcision, there is another aspect I had not encountered until a few years ago. I had met a young man via grindr at my hotel. We were kissing and his sucking was exemplary. I then started to pull down his underwear and he stopped me suddenly. He then said, incredibly apologetically, that he was uncut. I was like… OK, I like uncut dicks on sexy boys as well. After the sex, he then proceeds to apologize to me again for being uncut. The shame this boy was expressing was so sad… AND… part of the culture where boys that do NOT have their tuli, are often shammed in school and amongst friends. They are not true Phillipino men unless they have their tuli. In fact, there is a word in Tagalog... “supot” that means “an uncircumcised male and denotes weakness, inferiority and even lack of hygiene”. They will never even list on Grindr or Planetromeo that they are uncut lest it lessen their prospects. 

I participated at that one tuli and will never do so again. Ironically, the program was actually sponsored by a local Protestant Church during what pinoys know as the “Circumcision Season”. Just google “tuli” and look at the pain on those boys faces, but the smiles of their family, friends, and the practitioners. You can also look at pinoy men on Pornhub to see the varying types of pinoy circumcision results.

Edited February 16, 2021 by santiaodc

[Frenchy]

HI Guys, 

Any suggestions for a confort hotel close to Robinson's mall?

Thx

[Santiagodc]

10 hours ago, Frenchy said:

HI Guys, 

Any suggestions for a confort hotel close to Robinson's mall?

Thx

Frenchy,

It depends on what you mean by comfort hotel. There are several hotels right on Pedro Gil Street in front of Robinson’s Mall that you can try. I usually stay in cheaper hotels that do NOT have security and won’t be surprised when I am with a young pinoy guy. On that Pedro Gil Street I have stayed at the higher end New Coast Hotel (when I have to also meet clients for work as well) down to the 3 stars Eurotel and Hotel Kimberly which allow me to walk in with my young man with no problem and no security. These last two are not great rooms and they only clean them when you tell them to do so, but they do not have security guards checking ID’s and offer a buffet breakfast with the room. When I book these cheap rooms, I then use the saved money to spend on my young man!!!!

If by comfort hotel you mean a place just for sex, then the answer is probably yes but I don’t know. There are MANY girl KTV bars around that area and you can see the cheap hotels next to them. I would think one of those must be a sex hotel. I did not try them because I had my own room.

Use google maps street view to take you around the area to get a feel for the place.

[Frenchy]

Thanks santiadoc,

I was thinking about the New Coast and the Diamond.

[Santiagodc]

5 hours ago, Frenchy said:

Thanks santiadoc,

I was thinking about the New Coast and the Diamond.

Frenchy,

I stayed at both and had no problem bringing guys back. I usually met the guys at Starbucks and walked over, or else met them in front of the hotel and walked in with them. New Coast is closer to things, but that also means the noise of Pedro Gil can get annoying. I never just had them direct to my room until I met and checked them out first. 

[Jawjaw84]

Now I want to visit sounds great 

[NIrishGuy]

Not sure how old this thread is but if it helps I've stayed here before    https://tropicanasuites.com.ph

Whilst it's certainly not 5 star I see they're advertising one bedroom suites now for around £50 SGT a night so not to bad, although maybe check reviews as I dont recall it looking quite as nice or as modern as some of the room pics on their website and was starting to showing it's age when I stayed, but that may have been more the cheapskate room that I just happened to book at the time (intentionally so I could run amok without being bothered to much ;-) 

It was very close to Robinsons Mall ( like just across the street ) and also close very to the bars ( which I thought had all now basically closed down in that part of town, but perhaps I'm wrong about that ?).

The hotel seemed to have no problem with joiners - although I think that was more from both just a lack of interest on their part and also my ensuring I used the back stairs to my room a lot  = either way I seem to recall that I'd several or more "good times" when there and I'd probably stay there again if wanting to visit that particular area, mainly for that reason !

[Guest]

3 hours ago, NIrishGuy said:

Not sure how old this thread is but if it helps I've stayed here before    https://tropicanasuites.com.ph

Whilst it's certainly not 5 star I see they're advertising one bedroom suites now for around £50 SGT a night so not to bad, although maybe check reviews as I dont recall it looking quite as nice or as modern as some of the room pics on their website and was starting to showing it's age when I stayed, but that may have been more the cheapskate room that I just happened to book at the time (intentionally so I could run amok without being bothered to much ;-)

I stayed there for my one and only visit to Manila so far.   As a hotel, it was OK & the location was convenient, close to a shopping mall and the Metro.   

Poor value for money compared with Thai hotels, but the same could be said for the other hotels I used in the Philippines.  Actually, Thai hotels seem to offer more quality for a given price point than hotels in other countries including The Philippines, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar. 

[fedssocr]

There's so much competition in Thailand, especially Bangkok which helps keep prices very reasonable. I think Vietnam is probably good competition these days.

I've always been fascinated by the Philippines. I have several Pinoy-American friends. I'd like to visit but haven't ever had the gumption

[NIrishGuy]

If by gumption there you mean the likes of the feeling the effort for going or perhaps lacking in the basic travel knowledge or get up and go to do it etc I would say just get up and DO IT and GO.  

In general the Ph's is an easy trip, everyone speaks english, the food and culture isn't a million miles away from western culture ( dont know if that's a good thing or not), getting around when there is quite easy ( traffic jams in Manilla aside) and the guys are cute and usually very happy to hook up ( albeit whilst putting on a decent catholic boy front that they would never do such a thing of course)

Some beautiful beaches there if that's your thing and whilst it certainly isn't wall to wall gay bars, go go bars or saunas ( by a LONG way) I'm sure there's more than enough action about on the Apps and in the Malls to keep you busy if that's your thing too.

Manila you'll see as you'll probably fly in there well once was enough for me personally there I think just as it's so busy and congested  - and a little dangerous perhaps etc too. The smaller towns ( Cebu, Davao, Boracay- Beach area ) etc were all much more chilled and easier on the stress levels I found.  Davao CITY area is fine, perhaps avoid travelling around the southern Mindanao area outside of the city generally though for the same reasons you wont travel around the south of Thailand too. 

* Edit - just on my thinking that a lot of the bars in Malate had now closed or moved a quick google check on "travelgay" says this ( just  in case anyone was to book hastily and pick the wrong area).....  "Malate district used to be Manila's main gay nightlife. Now the gay bars have spread out to other parts of Metro Manila - particularly on Timog Ave in Quezon City and near Ortigas Home Depot in Pasig."

source for that ; https://www.travelgay.com/manila-gay-bars/

 

[PeterRS]

On 5/6/2021 at 7:03 AM, fedssocr said:

I've always been fascinated by the Philippines. I have several Pinoy-American friends. I'd like to visit but haven't ever had the gumption

I used to visit Manila quite a few times but these were way back in the early 1980s. Those trips made a welcome relaxing break from the more hothouse atmosphere of working in Hong Kong. Besides, gay life in Hong Kong in those days was limited and against the old British colonial sodomy law (not repealed until 1991). Each year 3 or 4 guys would be thrown in jail for a couple of years for some alleged offence or other. It was known the police kept tabs on the handful of gay venues and cruising places. Triad activity involving rent boys was rife.

Manila on the other hand was a haven of beautiful and willing boys. Like many gays I'd stay at Imelda Marcos' lovely Philippine Plaza Hotel on the Bay (her murdering, thieving dictator of a husband owned the posher Manila Hotel not far away). The rooms were large and well-furnished, the view over the bay superb and the pool and garden a superb place to relax over a drink or two - or three. At week-ends the hotel seemed like cruise central. So many expats would be there from Hong Kong, Singapore and elsewhere, each with a different boy du jour every time at breakfast.

Even with martial law in force, gay life seemed not to be curtailed. Coco Banana was the in-place for more up-market gays, a sort-of Studio 54 of Manila with DJs playing the latest disco music from the US, a melange of fashion, society and entertainment - and lots of gorgeous boys. I believe it was Asia's first openly gay club and seemed to stay open all night. I met and brought several guys to the hotel, spending time with the same one on several visits. Gay life in Manila at that time seemed more active and raunchier than Bangkok. The place to go for sleaze was an enormous barn of a place at 690 Retiro Strip in the nearby Quezon City district. When getting a taxi, you never had to utter more than "690" for the driver knew exactly where you wanted to go. Packed to the gunnels at week-ends, this bar/club had long catwalks with beautiful Filipino boys parading wearing little or nothing. Shows with naked boys and soap suds were common before I ever saw one in Bangkok.

The one depressing factor of those trips was the horrendous poverty. At every intersection, tiny waifs would hold out their little hands for a peso or two. Marcos had had placed large boards by the massive rubbish tips where children seemed to be everywhere scavenging for anything they could find that they could sell. Marcos and the dreadful Imelda couldn't bear visitors to see the reality behind the facade of their beautiful city.

As Bangkok's nightlife developed, I switched my allegiance to Thailand. Frankly, I had grown a bit tired of Manila whereas I have never tired of Bangkok. I have since been back for three work visits, the last around 1998. Unsurprisingly the whole scene had changed. One alleged gay bar I attended was not gay at all and the "boys" seemed all in their 40s. I am sure there were several which I just did not bother to visit. For me the glamour of the gay scene had descended to pretty basic levels. Perhaps it was just that Thailand at that time offered vastly more in terms of nighttime entertainment and willing young guys. Perhaps the elected governments had tightened up restrictions. In the mid-1990s Manila's Mayor Alfredo Lim was The Philippines predecessor to Thailand's Interior Minister Purachai. He was unrelenting in his campaign to close down all Filipino prostitute bars - both gay and straight - all of which were raided from time to time. Many ended up just closing. In the mid 2000s, the media - in particular the leading broadsheet The Philippine Enquirer -  started an anti-gay campaign led by a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

Who knows? Times change.