Angeles Again

So why do I go? Simple – the Philippines is basically a huge archipelago, meaning that, unless you’re headed for Manila itself, you need a connecting flight, and unless you’re lucky, that means at least one overnight stay. Of course there’s the Airport Hotel, which just a short walk away from the main terminal – but expensive – and if you’re going to fight it out with the Manila traffic, you might as well go the whole hog and stay in Angeles.
On this occasion, the journey to AC took about two hours in the car sent by Swiss Chalet Hotel – this was an Opel Astra Estate with tinted windows. This is the safest way to travel – in an unmarked car (i.e., not a taxi) which is impossible to see inside – because of potential problems when travelling through the shanty-town suburbs of Manila.
I arrived at Swiss Chalet at about 8.00 pm. I like Swiss Chalet because it is right in the middle of the Entertainment Zone, and about 50 paces from the nearest bar (Crystal Palace). Crystal Palace is connected to The Doll House, and that is adjacent to a strip of bars, so your exposure to Angeles street life is just 50 paces – an important consideration these days!
In the event, I went the long way round – about 20 paces down Real Street, then about 50 paces down A Santos Street and into Club Lancelot. It was about 9.00 pm and there were plenty of girls, but only a handful of customers. I ordered a San Mig Light, and settled down to one of my favourite preoccupations when arriving in the PI – comparing Filipinas to their Thai sisters. This was pursued with an unusually strong evidence-base this evening because I had just spent a week in Bangkok. I scanned the 20 or so Filipinas on stage, and compared them to the very similar sights I had seen in Soi Cowboy only 24 hours earlier, and came to the following conclusions:

-         Filipinas have more subcutaneous fat than Thais, and are more likely to have a slight tummy bulge. On the other hand they were better endowed in the breast department. 

-         They are a little shorter than Thai girls – probably due to a poorer diet.

-         Long straight hair is the norm, there were fewer fancy hairdo’s such as pigtails, fans, tapers, etc., the pony tail being the only variant.

-         Far fewer tattoos.

-         Rounder faces.

-         Fewer oldies/uglies, but fewer stunners.

-         Much easier to talk to as their command of English is far better.

-         They have a much better attitude and are much better managed. They were not allowed to pester customers, were grateful to be bought a drink, and were much more respectful generally.

-         On average they seemed younger than their Thai counterparts, the average age being around 20.

-         Many of them are seriously looking for a relationship with a westerner. 

-         They are reputed to make the best wives in the world, and there is no sin sot to pay – but of course, I have only rumour and not personal experience as the basis for that comment. 

It is impossible to watch the girls for long before one catches the eye. Accordingly, I ended up chatting to a girl whose name was, I think, Mercy (or one of the Cardinal Virtues). She was 22, from Samar (the Isaan of the PI) with a finely sculptured face and nose, and a hard body like a Thai girl’s. She was very quiet at first and I thought she was going to be hard work, but she opened up over a Lady Drink and told her tale. She had started in Lancelot a while ago as a Cherry Girl (a virgin), was bought by an Indonesian who supported her for a year while she went to college to train to be a teacher – then pulled the plug – so now she is back in the bar. She seemed (understandably) very sad about this, and as a result was not the best of company. Having said that, it is not uncommon to find ex-teachers among the bar girls of Angeles, as well as many other refugees from middle class jobs, and many who have finished high school or have university degrees – the reason being that even degree-level jobs pay peanuts. Thus, another point should be added to the list above: Filipina bar girls are generally better educated than their Thai sisters.
I went to Carousel next. This is an unrenovated bar with a large central carousel holding about 15 girls. The carousel is a tad slow, so if you spot a girl you like, it seems an age before she comes round again so that you can cop a second look. The waitress obligingly pointed out three newbies, one of whom tickled my fancy. Over a Lady Drink I found out that her name was Joy and that she was 19 and had a daughter who was six months old. We had a very good conversation, but she also seemed rather sad – she was there to earn enough money to provide for her daughter. Such conversations are interesting because they paint a realistic picture of the background of bargirl life – but they are not very erotic. I just end up feeling sorry for the girls rather than excited by them. As a result I gave her a 100 peso tip as I was paying my bill. She seemed quite surprised and was very grateful. This shows another difference from Thai girls. A typical Nana Plaza girl would have accepted it as her due and wished it was more.
After this, I visited two of my favourite ‘Superagogos’, Club Atlantis and Crystal Palace, though I won’t describe them here because I have covered them in a previous article. The bars in Angeles fall into two distinct groups – the Superagogos, which are Korean owned and bigger and glitzier than anything Thailand has to offer, and the rest – which are like Soi Cowboy bars before the recent wave of renovation. I have to say that I prefer this kind of bar. I believe that Soi Cowboy has lost a lot of its atmosphere in its new, shiny reincarnation. For example, I infinitely preferred the old ‘raw’ Rawhide to the bland new version.
An example of this was my next stop - the King of Diamonds, a small, rather tatty bar in Kokomo’s building. The girls seemed average at best, and some were a tad overweight (more than a tad in one case). I got chatting with a mamasan who bought me a drink, so of course I bought one in return. I had an interesting chat with her about the effects of the financial crisis on the PI – where it is not just a question of losing out on share prices, but of starvation. Naturally (she was only doing her job) she introduced me to two girls – one had a huge personality (along with a huge tummy bulge) and the other was slim and good-looking, but quiet. The personality girl ended up sat on my knee, and I bought both of them Lady Drinks. This, of course, is the magic of small bars. It is almost impossible to go in one without something happening, and it is easy to get caught up in the flow. However, it was not the kind of flow that I wanted. If the two girls had been combined in one – a lively personality with a pretty face and a slim body, I might have been interested, but as it was I decided to pay the bill, which seemed unbelievably small at 429 pesos.
So which is best, Thailand or the Philippines?  Well, there’s not even a choice this year. I used to go to the PI via Bangkok as it was the cheapest way to travel. This year I just can’t take a chance on Suvarnabhumi being closed again, so I’ll pay the extra and go direct. I’ll miss those hard-bodied Thai girls with the fancy hairstyles, but I’ll console myself with a big-breasted Filipina, good conversation, and a smaller bill at the end of the evening.