Memoirs of a Philippine Mongerer

Well wild is what I wanted and wild is what I got, this Carol was a not so little firecracker in the bed. When we got back to the hotel she immediately pushed me down onto the bed and said, “I dance you look”. With that she turned off the lights to the bedroom but left the bathroom light on, with the bathroom door slightly ajar. With the light gently framing her silhouette she started to sing to herself and sway in an amazingly provocative way whilst clicking her fingers. As she started to get into the swing of things, Carol slowly removed her top, so her pert breasts were swinging with every gyration of her hips. Still clad in skin tight jeans Carol then assumed the splits position and promptly sat on top of my now throbbing member. Slowly but surely she rubbed her denim clad crotch over my dick then delicately placed her lavishly painted fingernails on my zip and proceeded to undo my pants. Within seconds she was stroking my male member, encouraging him to rise to the occasion. My erection was of course instantaneous but this didn’t impress Carol who just smiled at me when she saw it and said, “don’t be too much hurry honey I make you happy for long time”. With that said she gave me a mischievous smile, slowly wrapped her luscious pink lips around me and proceeded to give me the best blow job I had ever had the pleasure of receiving.

Carol was one of those rare girls who was not only very good at her job but actually enjoyed it. Carol had the blow job down to a fine art, just as I was about to blow my load she seemed to sense it and withdrew her lips. She kept me teetering on the edge without ever going over the precipice and was always in total control.

After about ten minutes of this Carol said “come on honey we go shower”. At this stage a shower was the last thing I wanted but I was putty in her hands and submissively followed her into the bathroom. Carol smiled at me as she pulled off her skin tight jeans and adeptly slipped out of her slinky panties. Next it was my turn and before I knew it we were both naked standing under an invigorating cold shower. Carol got hold of the solitary piece of soap and proceeded to rub my back with it then turned me around and washed my front from head to toe, paying special attention to the major orifices. When she had finished making sure I was spotlessly clean she grabbed a minute towel, obviously made for the smaller Filipino male members, and proceeded to rub me down. When I was dry she kissed me again and boldly announced “you go bed, wait me”.

Five minutes later I was lying on the bed eagerly anticipating an exciting night when out of the bathroom stepped Carol, clad only in her high heeled boots. Slowly she slunk across the room towards the bed then pushing her long hair aside she looked me straight in the eyes and said, “honey you ready for Carol”, while her hand sought out my already throbbing male member. As soon as she made contact with my rigid cock she grabbed it and straddled me, like a gymnast on the pommel horse. Once I was fully inside Carol was like a thrashing machine, she was up and down round and round, all at the same time. The woman must have had pelvic muscles on her pelvic muscles and there was no satiating her. This was my first experience with an LBFM (Little Brown Fucking Machine)and I will never forget her. To this day I can remember her nonstop movement and her first orgasm as her eyes rolled back, her breathing quickened and she let out a piercing wail, all the time digging her nails into my chest.

Personally I have never had a problem holding back my orgasm and I was sure as hell trying to, because I never wanted this experience to end. After semi passing out but still on top, Carol looked at me and without hesitation said, “you be the one to drive”. At this stage I had no idea what she was referring to but it became pretty obvious when she dismounted me and lay on the bed next to me fingering her vaginal area. Now I am not one to let an opportunity such as this slip away and normally I would have mounted her instantaneously but when I saw her lying there with those long legs slightly parted lips and a look of pure unadulterated lust in her eyes, I just had to take a little time to savor the moment.

Within seconds the moment was over but that fantastic sight is forever etched in my memory. Quickly getting into the swing of things I threw a proverbial leg over and before I knew it, was humping away like there was no tomorrow. I am not the world’s most well endowed man and I am not exactly small but with Carol I got the impression it didn’t really matter what size you were, she was just totally into sex and once penetrated would go off. Personally I like a woman who enjoys sex but with Carol it was almost like her partner was secondary. Once into the swing of things it was all about Carol and the man was like an object to be used purely for her satisfaction.

I gave Carol a good hard core humping, at times lying on top at other times grabbing her thighs and pumping her while I balanced on my knees. After a frenetic half hour of sexual activity I was getting a little tired but Carol wasn’t going to cut me a break and quickly she pushed me off and then turned around balancing on her knees and elbows in the classic doggy style. This was all too much for me as doggy style has always been my personal favorite, so within seconds I was mounting her from behind and ramming it into her like an enraged stallion.

Once I started Carol was in heaven and with her face buried in the pillow she began to moan and cry out, the more she moaned and cried out the more turned on I got and gave it to her faster and harder. I felt like I was some kind of jack hammer trying to split asunder an unyielding concrete block. This was not just ordinary sex this was a sexual marathon and I, as it turned out, was in for a grueling session.

After about ten minutes of frantic sexual activity I could feel my crescendo approaching and strangely enough so could Carol and just before I was about to cum she turned around and said, “honey put your milk on my brown skin”. Well this was all too much for me and no sooner had she uttered these words than I had one of the most earth shattering orgasms ever. After the paroxysms of joyous orgasm had finished coursing through my brain and body Carol looked at me and said, “honey I ask you to come outside on my brown skin, next time you do that huh”.

Carol was one hell of a woman and throughout the night well into the early hours of the morning we were engaged in sexual activities reminiscent of Olympic athletes. By the end of the fourth round I was absolutely buggered and Carol looked at me with a smile and said “you finish now honey, Carol go home”. With that she gracefully alighted from the bed and wiggling her perfectly rounded ass sauntered to the bathroom. After ten minutes Carol was out of the bathroom completely changed and looking a million dollars. Carol looked at me and asked “you give Carol money for taxi honey”, to which I replied “sure baby” and reached for my wallet to give her 500 piso.Once Carol left I made a mental note to thank David and Kevin for an awesome recommendation and then quietly sunk into the comatose sleep of a sexually satiated man.

The next afternoon after I woke up with aching muscles and a strangely satisfied feeling which was clearly evidenced by the smile engraved on my face. I walked down the stairs slowly and there in the outside dining area were David and Ken who greeted me with beaming smiles and a rousing clap. I looked at them somewhat bemused and asked “what’s up guys” and that’s when David drew my attention to another man sitting at their table. With a huge smile David said “Martin I want you to meet Gary”. Gary rose and proffered his hand which I firmly shook and then Gary said, “have a good night last night mate” and I guardedly replied “yeah awesome” then Gary looked at me and said “yeah I know, I am in the room next to you and I have to thank you. I think listening to you turned my wife on and we had the best sex we have had in five years. So Marty my man, any time you get a wild one do me a favor mate and make as much noise as you like. I loved it mate thanks”.

Upon hearing this I was both embarrassed, complimented and a little amused. I had not realized how loud we were and I certainly never thought anybody else would be listening, let alone getting turned on. The mixture of feelings resulted in me giving Gary a dumb smile as I really had no idea how to respond and it was then that David came to the rescue and said, “well mate it’s time for some breakfast and then I think a little celebratory bar hop is in order”.

Memoirs of a Philippine Mongerer

My night with Hilda was really quite something, this girl whist being kind of sweet and shy also had plenty of experience and once she knew her customer, was very eager to please. Even though at this stage I had only been in the Philippines a matter of days I realized how easy it would be to fall for one of these girls. I used to often sit around with David and his long term friends just listening to their conversations and absorbing their wisdom like a sponge absorbs water. So many times little gems of wisdom would come to the fore front like, “so you think your girl is different, why does she have three tits” or “Marty trust me don’t be in a hurry to fall in love with these girls. Just have sex with them, pay the money and move on” or “always remember there’s plenty more where she came from”. Even at the comparatively young age of 31, with a healthy dose of naivety and little perception of how the world worked, it felt wrong for me to dehumanize the Filipina bar girl and yet at the same time I couldn’t help but ask myself why are these guys telling me stuff like this, what experiences had led them to think like this.? 18 years later sitting at my computer writing this story I can only say experience has taught me that these seemingly contradictory elements of the Filipina bar girl (ie, the ability to be a sweet and innocent girl and yet at the same time a sexually experienced woman) are in fact part of what makes them so appealing. For want of a better word there is a sort of duality in every Filipina bar girl that makes them both very attractive and very dangerous at the same time.

The point here is that Hilda had this duality. When I met her she had been in the bar scene for about eight months which was certainly long enough for her to learn the ropes and yet not so long that she had become the hardened cynical bar girl. Add to this a sort of simplistic sweetness that is so common amongst the Filipinas and you have for people like me, a very attractive woman.

Physically Hilda was quite outstanding as well. I have very fond memories of her firm shapely legs, nice firm bottom, papaya like breasts, slanted Chinese eyes, what looked like little thumb imprints on her back just above her coccyx and what can only be described as the classic Hollywood rendition, Cleopatra hairstyle. Hilda was from Negros and had a very easy going simplistic nature, she seemed on the surface to just float through life without a care but later on in the relationship I was to find out this was far from the case. In fact the old maxim ‘still waters run deep’ was all to applicable when it came to Hilda. Far from operating on the surface as her appearance would suggest the ladies emotions were intense and extremely deep but more on that later as the story develops.

My first night in the bed with Hilda was pretty good but nothing absolutely mind blowing and when David asked me did you have a good time I replied “yeah she was good and a really nice girl but David I am looking for someone really wild for tonight. I need a typhoon in the bed, a girl who will rock my world”. When I said this David replied “I have just the girl for you in Visions, I will introduce her tonight but before I do that just remember you can’t get anything like this back in Australia so be bloody grateful for every girl you get here”. I thought about this and decided he was absolutely right I had come here to have sex with little brown women because this was exactly what I couldn’t get at home. With this thought firmly in mind I excused myself from my conversation with Dave and headed back upstairs with renewed vigor to give Hilda another tumble.

After having a rather pleasant afternoon session with Hilda I gave her some money and said “honey I have to sleep now but hey, maybe I will come visit you tonight”, to which she replied, ”you promise huh”? I was just about to say no hang on a minute get a grip I didn’t promise you anything when all of a sudden I looked into her strangely intense Chinese eyes and melted. As a result I simply said “ok babe I promise you I will visit your bar tonight”. At the time I knew instinctively I had just failed my first test of will power and a niggling feeling told me this may be the first time but it certainly wouldn’t be the last time I would be manipulated by a supposedly, under educated semi illiterate, Filipina.

At about six PM I was woken by the annoying ringing of my bedside phone, groggily I turned away from it and put a pillow over my head hoping it would stop ringing. Eventually it stopped ringing so I took the phone of the hook and settled down for a nice long snooze. I was just nodding off into a blissful slumber when suddenly I was rudely jarred back into waking by a consistent loud knocking on my hotel room door. Donning my jeans from the end of the bed I groggily opened the door to be confronted by the hotel security guard who looked me up and down and then said “sir David he wait you”, then he pushed a note into my hand and walked away with the air of a man who had completed his mission and wanted nothing more to do with it.

I closed the door and somewhat bemused looked at the hand written note the guard has shoved into my hand. It read “hey mate no time for sleeping you said you wanted a wild one and a wild one is exactly what I have for you. So hurry up get your strides on and let’s hit the bars”. When I read the note I was a little angry at being so abruptly woken up but then again I realized Dave is probably right, life is too short to be spent sleeping especially when one is surrounded by nubile young females dying to make your acquaintance.

After a quick shower I headed down stairs only to be accosted by David who said “give your keys to the receptionist and let’s get out of here, I can feel the pussy calling me”.

As always the walk from the hotel up Del Pilar was an interesting experience but this time David didn’t bother with the formalities and basically ignored the assortment of people who tried to gain a moment of his time. He either looked the other way, ignored them or when cornered by a beggar said “hindi salamat” (no thank you) or “walang pera” (no money) when the vendors would approach him. The man was obviously on a mission and I wasn’t about to stand in his way.

It took us about ten minutes of hectic pace walking to get to Visions and by the time we reached the front door I had worked up a healthy sweat. Rodger and David said hi to David and then said Sir David “tell the waitress to get cold towel for your friend he look to much hot”. David smiled and said “thanks guys I’ll do that, now come on Martin get your ass in inside and let’s find us some pussy”.

When we entered through the front door of Visions I was literally assaulted by a barrage of sound and a plethora of brown skin gyrating before my eyes. When Visions was happening there was a palatable pulse that seemed to throb throughout the club. Anyone who walked in there could literally feel it in the air and couldn’t help but be caught up in the excitement. In Visions the girls on stage were 3 lines deep with another line of the more hard core performers engaging in acrobatic stunts and gyrating their trim brown bodies right on the counter top amongst the customers drinks. These girls were so professional they could strut their stuff up and down the counter top and never spill a customer’s drink. This was long before Coyote Ugly and to be honest they were probably the predecessors of such performances in America.

Another good thing about their performances was that they were totally spontaneous. In today’s clubs you will see similar shows but on the whole they are rehearsed and staged. Back then the DJ’s were totally wired into the scene. For example Alvin and Puncho two of the best DJ’s in Visions could literally control the ambience of that club with the flick of a switch. These DJ’s would watch the ebb and flow of the bar and at certain moments if the right group of girls was on they would put on a romantic song then at other times they would put on hard core rock and roll or upbeat techno. There was something for everyone in Visions which had the best atmosphere of any club in town.

Certain songs were guaranteed to get the girls or the customers or both into the party mood but for me it was always better when the DJ’s concentrated on making the atmosphere through the girls. Whenever their songs would come on the unofficial show girls would jump up on the counter top and artfully avoiding the customers drinks would turn on a dazzling acrobatic display literally doing the splits around any obstacles that were in their way. When the girls were in the mood there was no other club with an electric atmosphere like that of Visions. In the Ermita clubs the girls never had to be asked to dance they just did it and they enjoyed every minute of it. Clubs like Visions had a stable core of tried and true performers, girls who could entertain you like none other and even though you knew it was all a show and that your wallet was being worked, as a customer you enjoyed every second of it.

I followed Dave who once again strolled through the club gently easing his way through the crowd acknowledging customers and girls alike until he came to the managers table at the end of the club. Once there he shook hands with the manager and then turned around to introduce me. “Hey Martin this is Kevin Beck the night time manager here, Kevin this is Martin a mate of mine who is staying at the Mayfair and he is looking for a wild girl, I think he needs to meet Carolina”. Kevin was a young punk who looked a bit like Kevin Cosner in his prime and he smiled at me, shook my hand and said “so Dave do really think he can handle Carolina”? Dave smiled back at him and said “yeah I reckon he is ready and if he’s not by the time Carol has finished with him he will be able to take on just about anything”.

I smiled at this thinking to myself bring her on, at this stage in my life I was yet to meet a woman I couldn’t keep up with. No sooner had I finished this thought than Kevin said “hey man look at the stage”. I looked up and there center stage was this long legged Amazonian type woman with a headband and a type of beauty spot in the middle of her forehead. Straight away I knew this was Carolina and I felt that all too familiar stirring in my groin as I watched this beauty go through her paces. I looked at Kevin and said “ok smart ass you got me now how do I get her down here”. Kevin gave me a sideways look and said “oh that’s the easy part” and promptly whipped out a laser pen and pointed it at Carol. Carol saw the laser dot on her but chose to ignore it as she seemed totally engrossed in her performance. I asked Kevin “is she coming down” to which he answered, “yea she will come just wait until she finishes her trip to this song”. I patiently waited as she gyrated her athletic body in front of two slobbering customers and then when the song was finished she strolled off stage and around to the managers table where Kevin said “hey babe this is Martin, Martin this Carol”.

Carol in boots was about 5 foot 10 with long athletic legs and a lascivious smile that promised a bounty of forbidden pleasures. She was a stunning woman with totally unabashed, blatant sexuality, oozing from every pore. I looked at Carol and proffered my hand, she took it in a rather lady like grasp and simply winked at me while her other hand went straight to my crotch and started stroking my manhood. I looked at Kevin for some hint of instruction but by this time he had turned away and was talking to someone else so I desperately looked around for Dave only to see him standing 6 feet away watching the whole scene with a wry grin on his face. I looked at David imploringly and he then he came over and said “hi Carol hey darling can you do me a favor, let go of this young man’s dick, you are scaring him and he cannot order you a drink while you have hold of him like that”. Then he turned to me and said “you want to buy her a drink don’t you Martin” to which I kind of mumbled “yeah sure” and with these words I felt her grip on my manhood gently subside.

Quickly I ordered a drink for myself Carol and David then as the Jim Beam and coke came I quickly gulped it down for some Dutch courage and ordered another. Several Jim Beam and cokes later I looked at Carol and realized not only was she an incredibly sexual woman but she was actually quite intelligent and that I had been having a fluid conversation with her in English for at least twenty minutes. As I reflected on how to ask this exciting woman out and get her into my bed she looked at me said “so do want to have sex with me”? At this stage in my life I was used to doing the chasing and her unabashed straightforward honesty knocked me back to the extent where I found myself mumbling “err yes please” to which she replied “I will get mommy then you pay her the money while I make change”. With that she alighted from my lap and disappeared into the crowd.

Three minutes later a slightly older lady sidled up to me and stroking the hairs on my arm introduced herself as Mummy Myrna and then held out her hand. I looked at her enquiringly when suddenly I found David standing next to me and he said “give mummy the money mate that’s for Carols bar-fine”. Without the slightest hesitation I handed over the 3 hundred peso paid the drink bill and eagerly awaited my wild ladies return.
In about five minutes Carol was back wearing hip hugging skin tight jeans and a sort of flowery see through top that did very little to conceal her pert and braless breasts. Dave looked at me then looked at Carol and said “you wanted wild mate and wild is what you are about to get”.

Memoirs of a Philippine Mongerer

After I had completed my mission baby jumped off the bed and ran into the shower whilst I reclined on the bed with a well earned cigarette. After about ten minutes baby came out freshly showered and dressed ready to head back to the bar. I asked her “where are you going honey wouldn’t you like to go get something to eat or drink”, to which she looked at me and said “I tell mommy I only go short time so now you give money baby go back bar”. Now this was a little unromantic and not quite what I was expecting but I wasn’t about to argue with her so I slipped her 500 peso and sent her on her way. I remember thinking so now I know what they mean by a short time and I wasn’t particularly impressed. Ironically after I had been in the country a few months I would be actively looking for girls who specialized in short time because it was easy sex with no drama or emotional attachment but for now this just seemed a bit callous and I couldn’t help but feel slightly used.

After baby had left I headed for the shower then watched some TV and reflected on what had just happened. It was a somewhat harsh reality that I had just paid for sex and yet it was not exactly a mind blowing experience, in fact, I had experienced considerably better sex in Australia and never had to pay for it. This was not exactly an auspicious start but I thought to myself no use crying over spilt milk and I will just have to keep on looking until I find someone who will rock my world. You would have thought I would have learnt from this experience but in the coming months and years I was to often bar-fine a girl who was wild on stage but turned out to be very mediocre in the sack. Why did I keep on falling for this same old trap, I think it had something to do with being naturally attracted to a woman that had the slut appeal and at the time I was comparatively young so I figured if I am going to pay for it I will get a girl who has had the experience and knows what she is doing.

The gap between appearance and reality was just one of the seeming contradictions that make the Philippines so unique. Over here things are rarely as they seem and as David liked to say “still waters run deep mate, the ones that act wild are often just show, whereas the quiet shy ones they love it and will often be the best performers”.

With my spirits still a little low I decided to head out and hit the bars again. On my way through the foyer I saw David who asked “how was that one my boy” to which I replied “to be honest mate I got my rocks off but nothing special and I would have liked a second round but she seemed only interested in doing short time”. David gave me his lopsided smile and said “trust me I know you feel a little disappointed now but one day you will be grateful for short time”. Hearing his thoughts was a small consolation and but in a strange way it did make me feel slightly better about my first sexual experiences in the Philippines. “So where are you heading now”, asked Dave. “I thought I might just go for a bit of a walk and hit a few bars”, I replied. “Well if you hang on a minute I will come with you I have to have my Visions fix anyway and that is the bar with the best girls in town”.

David and I strolled out of the Mayfair along Mabini street then left hand turn onto M.H.Del Pilar. We walked past the blow job bars with their shady painted ladies lounging in dimly lit doorways. I remember looking at the names of the bars such as China Coast, Josies Pride the Gold Mine(where the neon sign was constantly broken and read old mine) Delcima and the Bee club just to name a few. I remember wondering how they came up for names for the bars and what were the stories behind the names of these bars.

Walking down M.H.Del Pilar with David was always an interesting experience because he really did know so many people from so many different walks of life and seemingly he knew the vast majority of girls as well. When with David you could never walk down the street without having to stop every twenty yards while he said good-day to someone or arranged a short time at some point in the near future.

We had negotiated our way through the maze of bars, beggars, partiers, bar hoppers, drunken bums, hustlers and touts and were just about at the door to Visions when David stopped by the doorway of a little bar named Punchline and said “hang on mate I just want to pop in here for one”. I told him hey “I’m easy no problem for me”. We walked into Punchline and there was a grand total of three girls dancing on a little stage to some long forgotten seventies song blaring from a juke box situated in the corner. We each pulled up a stool at the bar when suddenly a dark skinned vision of beauty sidled next to David and started chatting with him. I was absolutely dumbstruck, here we were in a little dump of a bar and from out of nowhere steps this ravishing sex goddess.

David saw the look on my face and said “you have to wait your turn my boy but hey she will be here tomorrow and in the meantime you need to meet Hilda”. “Hilda” I asked, “who is Hilda” and then as if on cue a beautiful Filipina with Chinese eyes, shiny black hair cut in a page boy style, stepped out on stage and David pointing at her said “that’s Hilda”. Well you could have knocked me down with a feather beautiful girls like this were the last thing I was expecting in a little dive like Punchline.

Here was another classic Filipino contradiction more often than not little bars like Punchline would be overlooked by the majority of customers as they gravitated towards the big bars with bright lights, loud music, and numerous girls. Just as I did most people would think, why go into the little bars when searching for a companion, after all, the bigger bars have more girls and a much better range for the customer to chose from. Whilst it is true the big bars have a greater volume of girls I have learnt that the little bars should never be overlooked as more often than not there are one or two gems inside. The little bars tend to attract the quieter more basic sort of girl and at the same time in a small bar the girls learn their trade at a rapid pace right from the word go the pressure is on to be productive and make money for everyone concerned.

I sat at the bar there watching David fondle his girls budding breasts which were barely covered by her scanty bikini along with the occasional sideways glance at the beautiful Hilda. After a preliminary fondle David bought his girl a drink and then made eye contact with Hilda motioning for her to come on down and say hello to me. Hilda came slowly down, shyly shook David’s hand and then David introduced her to me. “Hilda sweetheart I would like you to meet my friend Martin”. Hilda proffered a delicate hand which I gently shook and invited her to sit beside me and have a drink. David’s little one was a little energizer bunny whose name was Marvie and she insisted on doing a sort of private dance show where she would bend her knees and gyrate slowly up and down all the time holding her hands above her head and swaying her buttocks in a highly provocative manner. I was to see this dance a million times in the coming years but for now I was absolutely captivated as I had never seen anything like it before. I asked Hilda “can you dance like that”, to which she replied “of course” and then proceeded to do a dual show together with Marvie right there on the floor in front of us. Well that was enough for me and I said to David “mate I think I want to bar-fine this girl she is a stunner”. David looked at me shook his head and said “ok you can bar-fine her but remember the night is only young and we still have to go to Visions where there are hundreds more”. “Yes but mate this Hilda is hot so I will bar-fine her and take her with me”. Once again David shook his head and said “no way my boy. If you want her you pay the bar fine now and then we will leave her here and go to Visions, you can pick her up on the way back after we have finished bar hopping”.

After paying our bill I gave Hilda a little kiss and promised I would come back after bar hoping she looked at my earnest face and said “no problem I wait for you”. David then whispered something to Marvie and it was out the door, a short stroll down the street and into Visions the bar that was to change my life forever.

The bars in M.H.Del Pilar were like anything in the entertainment industry fickle and subject to change. What would be one year’s hot bar could the very next year be a boring dive whilst some new bar had sprung up and was now the ‘in’ place to visit. Back then in July of 1991 there were definitely three major bars all competing for the customers peso. These were Superstar, Firehouse and Visions. Of these Visions was the smallest, the newest and for me certainly the most fun. Visions was the old Pit Stop bar but it had been thoroughly renovated and a new bar with over 200 girls was created. The owners had invested in a little Australian guy named John Reed to run the place and he had turned what was a very mediocre bar into a bar full of fun and energy. There were just so many beautiful girls here and a chaotic party atmosphere unparalleled by any other bars on the strip.

Visions was in many ways the quintessential Philippines girlie bar. This bar had everything. The stage ran along the front of the bar and was always jam packed 3 deep with beautiful girls of various shapes, sizes and ages. At the front of the stage was a small serving area where the bar staff would stand and serve the drinks. Next to the serving area was a narrow wooden counter top with stools behind it where the customers could sit enjoy a drink or three and still be within touching distance of at least 20 girls. In fact in those days customers would often gravitate towards the front of the bar and the girls would nearly always dance on the wooden counter top. There was just something about the mixture of ice cold San Miguel beer and beautiful brown girls gyrating their scantily clad superbly shaped bodies, just3 feet away from you that kept people like me coming back without a moment’s hesitation. Progressing back from the stage there were a series of couches and tables which people could sit at and then at the very back of the room a dimly lit couch area where people could go about their own business, hold a private party, fondle their chosen girl or just sit back and absorb the party atmosphere that was the hallmark of Visions.

As we entered into Visions I remember thinking wow this place is rocking. There were about 50 girls on stage and every one of them looked absolutely stunning. In Visions there was always a very nice mixture of shy little provincial types some young fresh ones and the hardcore dancers who would do just about anything to get your attention and a few extra pesos.

David led me through the milling crowd of customers and girls to a small table at the end of the bar where I was introduced to John. At this stage in his life John Reed was still quite partial to a tequila or three and no sooner had we been seated than a free shot of Tequila came over. If I am honest I have to admit a severe aversion to the taste of tequila but I didn’t want to offend John so it was time to chug it down and worry about the taste and effect later.

After about ten minutes I decided it was my turn to buy back so I just ordered a round of normal drinks not being very impressed with the tequila. John thanked me and then we had a great conversation where I would ask questions about a particular girl and he would give me a blow by blow description of each girl’s particular name and talents. One of John’s particular strengths was that he knew his girls well and was eager to share the information if you asked.

Another great thing about Visions was the music quality and selection. Whilst Firehouse had the Bose cannons Visions went with the JBL power speakers and in my opinion the sound reproduction was even better than Firehouse. One particular strength of Visions was the atmosphere and the music played was a key factor in generating this. Later I was to get a job managing Visions and one of the very first things John would teach me was “play music for the girls get them partying and having fun, the rest will take care of itself”.

David and I spent about two hours in Visions just drinking, chatting to John and watching the seemingly endless parade of girls that passed by our table. After a fairly heavy nudge on the beer, shots and ladies drinks we ambled out of there and straight back into Punchline where our girls were nowhere to be seen. David asked the mamasan “where are our girls” and was greeted with the reply “for a while Sir David”. We sat down at the bar again ordered a drink and in came our girls happily munching on a green mango with fish paste. “Where have you been you little monkey” David asked Marvie and in between giggles she replied “we get food because we hungry”. “I reckon that’s bullshit” David said under his breath, “little bitch has probably been doing a short time while we were away”. Then with his moment of harsh reality over with he turned to Marvie and said “Well darling you can get food at the hotel after we finish our business” replied David. He then reached for both our bills paid them, turned to Marvie and said, “come on you little monkey daddy is feeling horny and you’re going to help me”. Obviously Marvie had been through this before as rather than being upset by being called a monkey she seemed delighted and said “me LBFM, me not monkey, me give you satisfaction you give Marvie money honey”.

Memoirs of a Philippine Mongerer

I looked at David and said “what do you reckon mate, how about we try out this blow job with ice, I have never heard of that before”. He looked at me and said “not yet mate there’s plenty of time for that later, first I want to introduce you to some friends of mine”. With that said we carried on walking past the dingy little blow job bars with their enticing door girls promising everything under the sun and into a bar called Firehouse.

At this stage Firehouse at least by reputation was still the number 1 bar in the Philippines and as we walked through the big wooden doors held open by the smiling door men, a feeling of coming home suddenly hit me. I remember walking in through the small corridor with the Firehouse memorabilia displayed behind locked glass cabinets, pushing aside the red curtains which shield the goings on inside the bar from the streets outside and bang it hit me. Once through the curtains I just stood stock still and looked around in awe. There in front of me dancing on the stainless steel stage were about thirty luscious girls all wearing red bikinis and white or red high heeled shoes. The song playing was touch by touch and the girls were doing a semi choreographed dance routine the likes of which I had never seen before.

As I stood there mesmerized I felt a gentle tugging on my shirt sleeve and turned around to see an absolutely stunning girl standing beside me. “Have a seat sir” she said and I responded by saying something lame like “where do you want me to sit” (I was putty in her hands already) to which she replied by opening her hand and waving it in the general direction of the stage whilst pursing her lips and pointing towards a stool in front of the stage.

This was the first time I had seen a Filipina point with her lips and at the time I thought to myself, I wonder why she is blowing kisses at the girls on stage. I must have stood there like an innocent newbie because the next thing I knew she had her hand around my arm and was guiding me to a seat. She guided me to a seat in the middle of the bar right in front of the stage where a smiling Filipino bar tender in a checkered waist coat approached me and asked “something to drink sir”? I kind of looked at him looked at the beauty hanging on my arm, looked at the thirty girls on stage, smiled and said “sure thing buddy, think I’ll go a Jack Daniels and coke”.

The Jack Daniels came within what seemed like a microsecond and as I sat back on the high back stool I just took my time to survey the scene. In front of me was a stainless steel stage slightly elevated so my eyes were almost directly crotch level with the girls. Behind the girls was an old fire truck which the girls would take it in turns to frolic upon. I kind of looked around in confusion not really knowing which girl to make eye contact with when suddenly I felt a hand rubbing against my crotch. I must have jumped a bit because when I looked at my ravishing hostess she had actually reeled back in surprise. Then it dawned on me she had been playing with my dick so I just smiled and said “Im sorry honey I didn’t mean to scare you but you shocked me so I jumped”. She looked at me with what can only be described as a lascivious look of cunning and asked in her sweetest voice “this your first time”? Eagerly I responded “yes my first time and I came here because my friends in Australia they tell me this is a great country with so many beautiful girls like you”. When she heard this, the young lady smiled and said “you give me bula bula”.

Now at this stage I had no idea what bula bula meant but judging from her reaction I assumed it must be something good and I was semi pleased that my impromptu pick up line had worked so well.

I sat next to my new found friend for about ten minutes enjoying her company and thought to myself geez I wish it was this easy in my own country. In fact now I think back on it I realize it would have been 2 years since I had actually had a decent conversation with a woman whom I had just met. Now I hear you saying, two years, what is this guy, a social retard or something but if the truth be known, I am a normal, heterosexual, average looking male and by no means a social retard. So why the 2 year hiatus, well the simple fact is that opportunities like this rarely presented themselves back in my own country and if they did the conversation always seemed stilted and contrived. Perhaps one of my favorite aspects of living in the Philippines is that even though there is a massive population here the social interaction between individuals is so much easier than in Western countries. This is especially the case between foreigners and Filipinas and even foreigner to foreigner. In the case of foreigners and Filipinas I think this ease of social interaction occurs because the girls actually want to know you because you represent something different and in the case of the bar girls, because they see you as an opportunity to improve their life. As for foreigner to foreigner the interaction occurs because the Philippines is an amazing melting pot of people from all over the world and most of us are here for exactly the same reason ……… pussy.

After about 15 minutes of my new found friend rubbing my crotch and none to subtly proffering her ample attributes I suddenly remembered Dave and upon looking around saw him in the far corner at the end of the bar talking with some other guy and both were looking at me and laughing. I couldn’t for the life of me see what was so funny so I excused myself from the girl and saying I will be back in a minute strolled over to see why I was the brunt of their humor.

As I approached them Dave said “hey Marty this is Howard the daytime manager of Firehouse”. I offered my hand and as he shook it I said “pleased to meet you sir”. He looked at me and responded “are you pleased to meet me or your new found friend Maryanne”. Just then David started laughing so somewhat indignantly I asked him “what’s so funny”, to which he replied I think you might have gotten a little excited son and then it dawned on me here I was shaking some guys hand whom I had only just met with a massive hard-on.

I quickly released Howards hand and said “shit sorry about that man it’s just that the girl over there has been getting me all revved up”. Howard keeping a totally straight face said “no problem it happens to us all first time here”. Well this was a small consolation and to be truthful I was very impressed with his ability to keep a straight face and not take the piss out of me so straight away I called the bar tender in the checkered waist coat and ordered a round of drinks. Howard said “thanks very much but mate you better get your lady friend over here to join us because at the end of the day she is a hell of a lot better looking than we are”. I called Maryanne over to join us and we proceeded to settle into a nice little afternoon session.

I have very fond memories of the Firehouse apart from all the marketing hype, this was truly an institution in the Philippine bar scene. I remember the good old days of the barber’s chair where willing and unwilling victims would have copious amounts of shooters thrown down their throats and I will never forget the massive Bose cannon speakers that when cranked produced a massive sound which would reverberate throughout the entire bar. This bar also featured functional stained wooden tables, comfortable lounges, a raging drinking and partying scene and best of all 150 plus girls some of which really were absolute stunners.

After a nice wetting of our whistles Dave looked at me and said “well mate it’s time to hit the street”. I asked him “can I take Maryanne with me” to which he replied if you want but I wouldn’t advise it. I looked at him perplexed and he said “mate there are plenty of other options we have only done one bar and trust me there is a lot more for you to see”. I gave Maryanne a longing glance then realized Dave had been around more than me and he’s probably right, so I gave her a little kiss and promised to return in the near future.

As we walked out of Firehouse the humidity, alcohol and pollution hit me, so much so, that we had to stop for a minute and take a breather. I remember standing outside the entrance to an upstairs bar, I think it was called the Delcima club, just watching the street and taking it all in. No matter what time of day or night Ermita was always a hive of activity. During the day especially between 3 to 6pm it was always inundated with traffic. Endless lines of Jeepneys spewing exhaust fumes into the narrow confines of M.H.Del.Pilar street and taxis cruising down the road at a snail’s pace eagerly searching for foreigner fares. There was always the constant pressure to hand over money from the grime covered street children who hadn’t showered for a month, and alongside them were the street vendors selling green mango, balut and barbequed chicken intestines. This montage of images is still as clear in my mind 17 years later as if it was yesterday but out of the mass of images that assaulted my senses in the first few days the one that really stands out is that of the beautiful girls.

I remember in particular the mass of beautiful girls working the clubs throughout Ermita. During the day they were invariably dressed in hip hugging skin tight jeans and skimpy tops. Riding on top of their hips extending half way down their ass would be extra large belts which had nothing to do with holding their jeans up but rather seemed to accentuate that swinging sensuous gate which so many Filipinas have perfected. A second look more predominant in the evening was the skimpy thigh length dress which hugged the entire body and emphasized the so called ‘coca cola body shape’. These dresses always reminded me of scenes from sixties movies and like their predecessors they would emphasize all the right places of a woman’s body. The hips, buttocks, flat tummies and pert little breasts were all accentuated whilst any flaws would remain discreetly hidden only to be found out later by the unwitting customer.

This display of sexually charged womanhood was in my opinion unparalleled by any other red light district in the world. Ermita was a dizzying display of flesh and fantasy. Rose red lipstick, cheap perfume, clicking high heels, hair spray, swaying buttocks, petite facial features, flawless brown skin, copious amounts of cheap alcohol and even cheaper drugs, all combined to make Ermita a totally unforgettable experience enjoyed by people from all corners of the globe.

After about two minutes I had recuperated somewhat and we proceeded up M.H. Del Pilar to a bar named Bubbles. As we walked into bubbles I remember thinking this bar has seen better days and I was just about to ask Dave if we could go and have a look at another bar when suddenly I caught a glimpse of this long legged lovely who like a contortionist was doing the splits then touching the back of her head with her foot whilst maintaining the split position.

Dave ambled over to talk with some Jabba The Hut look alike who was sitting at a table by the doorway whilst I stood transfixed by the flexible nymph. After watching the impromptu show for about three minutes I caught Daves eye and he motioned for me to come and join him at the table. I strolled over and was introduced to the Jabba The Hut look alike, a man called Ryan. Ryan was a crusty, rough around the edges Australian- Yugoslavian who was the owner of bubbles and had literally been there done that. Whilst we were sitting there I saw Ryan put away at least four beers in the time I had done one. I noticed also the waitresses always bought his wrapped in a beer cooler along with a cold glass, they would then poor his drink and take the bottle away. At the time I thought this was just privilege of rank being the owner and all but later on I found out he was served this way to hide the fact that he was drinking NAB a brand of non alcoholic beer. Many months later I asked him why he bothered disguising what he drank and he replied “Martin these bars make a lot of money through selling drinks. If I have some guys who are drinking with me they wouldn’t buy a round knowing I was a cheating bastard drinking NAB.”

After a while Dave and Ryan were deeply involved in a knowing conversation about certain individuals around town which of course meant nothing to me so I excused myself and made a beeline towards the front of the bar where my intriguing contortionist was now rubbing her female parts against a big black pole.

At this stage I had only been in the Philippines for 3 days so I had virtually no idea about ladies drinks or any other form of social communication with the Filipina bar girl but luckily for me this was the Philippines and over here social interaction between foreigners and Filipinas always seems to follow a natural course, no matter how inexperienced or naive you may be.

I sat and watched her perform her acrobatic dances for about 5 minutes then finally managed to catch her eye and received a dazzling smile which decided me then and there, this was the girl for me. After her dance shift was finished she literally jumped on my lap, planted her luscious ruby red lips on mine and with a cheeky impish grin said “Hi handsome what’s your name”? Mmmm-martin I nervously stammered to which she said “you Martin Rivera” and then proceeded to giggle. I of course had no idea who Martin Rivera was but figured it was obviously someone famous so I just said sure “that’s me Martin whatever” and gave her another kiss on those inviting lips”. With that she started rubbing her crotch against mine whilst instructing me to hold her tight little ass and gently push. After about two minutes of this the waitress magically appeared and said “hello sir would you like to buy her a drink”? I replied “yeah sure” and received yet another longing kiss and a round of crotch rubbing.

We must have stayed like this for about 16 minutes when I felt a presence behind me and turned round to see David who smiled at me and said “how you going there son”, I replied “pretty good thanks mate really can’t complain”, “well pay your bill and finish up mate because I gotta get back to the hotel, I’m expecting one of my regulars to drop by for a short time”. I was just about to respond when baby said “I like short time to I go with you”. Of course I had no idea what a short time was but it sounded good so I stammered something like ok with me and looked at David imploringly. David smiled once again and said to the girl, “darling go get mummy he pay barfine”. With this baby literally squealed in delight jumped of my lap and disappeared into a room of to the side of the stage. Next thing I know there was a rather plump masculine looking Filipina by my side who introduces herself as Mummy Josie and whilst rubbing my arm with one hand proffered the other hand in the universally accepted gesture of give me money.

Once again I turned to David with a perplexed look on my face to which he replied just give mummy 3 hundred piso and the girl goes with you. Excitedly I reached down into my pockets, pulled out my wallet and counted out three one hundred piso notes. I then placed them in mummies sweaty palms and next thing I knew the lovely baby was back and with a lascivious smile for one so young, looked at me and said “lets go honey it’s time for a short time.” With this said she grabbed my hand and proceeded to walk me out of the bar with a grinning David following closely behind.

Memoirs of a Philippine Mongerer

At the risk of becoming introspective and boring everybody to death with stories of excessive indulgence, I thought the life and times of a Philippine expat would make an interesting column for AE members to read. I envision that this article will be somewhat of a work in progress divided into chapters. By definition it will largely be about my own experiences but wherever possible I will try to extrapolate the lessons learned and give my personal feelings and reactions to the situations as they occurred. It is my hope that this article will work on three separate levels. Firstly it will provide an easy reading narrative, detailing some of my experiences over the last eighteen years of living and working here. Secondly, it will provide an enlightening insight into the world of managing bars and day to day survival in the Philippines. Thirdly it will be simple light hearted entertainment for all to enjoy.

As a wise man once said the best place to start any story is at the beginning and the beginning for me was at my best friends flat in Australia, September 15, 1990. We were sitting around his dining room table quaffing down copious amounts of Jack Daniels and coke whilst playing black jack, when suddenly from out of nowhere my mate Tim piped up “ guess what guys, just came back from a great trip to the PI”. I asked him “from where” and he replied “the Philippines mate, you wouldn’t believe it”.

I looked at him somewhat aghast and said, “why would you want to go there? I mean what is there to do in the Philippines?” Tim had thrown out his line and like a big fish I had taken the bait. To answer my question Tim simply smiled, looked around to make sure his live in girlfriend was nowhere in ear shot and replied “mate they have little brown girls there who dance on the pole, speak English and love to fuck.” At this point you could have knocked me down with a feather. In the past I had heard of General MaCarthurs "I shall return" and I had heard about Filipina mail order brides but that was about as far as my knowledge of the Philippines went.

At this stage in my life I had been to Thailand several times before so I wasn’t totally green and I felt compelled to ask,“so you mean it has a bar scene like Thailand” and he replied “exactly, except the Philippine girls speak English and they fall in love with you”. After hearing this, my curiosity was now tweaked and I made a mental note to myself to secretly learn more about this mysterious country Philippines and its girlie bar scene.

Time slowly trundled on and in May of 1991 I found myself retrenched from my job as the advertising manager for a major Japanese computer company along with a healthy redundancy check and thoughts of the Philippines revolving in my head.

I now had plenty of time on my hands plus the necessary funds so it was fairly obvious that this was the perfect time to travel. Thanks to the Lonely Planet’s ‘guide book to the Philippines’ I now had a basic idea of where this country was and what it was like so I decided a two week stopover in the PI would fit the bill and from there over to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and then over to England to try and find some gainful employment.

On July 1, 1991 I said goodbye to Australia at the grand old age of 31 and headed towards what would become my new home, the Philippines. I was sitting on the plane just minding my own business when all of a sudden the guy in the seat across the isle from me said “gooday mate, your first trip to the Philippines?” I answered “yeah is it that obvious” and he said “yes mate but don’t worry about it, it’s me and me mates first trip as well.” "But you guys look like you do this shit all the time" I said to which he replied “nope this is our first trip”. “Me mate Terry over here his brother has shares in a bar in Manila so we thought we would get over there and check it out”. I asked my new found friend "what bar is that" and he said “it’s called superstar mate, see you there about 9pm.”

Later that night I hailed a cab from my hotel and asked the driver do you know Superstar Bar he replied “sure Joe, Superstar I know” and 200 peso later for what must have been approximately a 2 mile journey I was at the doorstep of the biggest club in Ermita.

For those of you who were here back then or at least visiting you will remember Superstar as being a big bar with a raised circular stage in the front and various stages of elevated seating slightly resembling an ancient roman amphitheater. The night I walked in through the stainless steel doors my senses were literally assaulted by a barrage of sound, a plethora of gorgeous girls and drunken revelers as far as the eye could see. I stood in the doorway for about twenty seconds when all of a sudden I made eye contact with a long legged brown skinned beauty who winked at me and I remember thinking ‘thank you Tim, I have died and gone to heaven’.

I made my way through the crowd of partiers to the upper section of Superstar only to find my buddies from the plane engaging in copious rounds of shooters with the manager, a Corsican gent named Claude. Now I am not one to say no to a drink and next think I knew the shooters were coming by the tray full. In those days it was common practice for the group of guys to raise their glasses in the air shout in unison at the top of their voices and then drink the shot in one gulp. We did this about eight times within the space of one hour when suddenly Claude ambles over to me and says “hey buddy it’s your round”. I tried to explain to him that buying a round is not a problem I just didn’t realize that it was expected of me. With that he calls a waitress over and says "just tell her what drinks you want to order and let’s get this party rolling".

Lesson number one; when involved in rounds of shooters with a bar manager make sure you reciprocate by buying a round back. If you don’t want to play the game simply do not drink the first shooter when it is offered to you and this way you are never obligated to buy back.

Well as you can imagine the night went downhill from there on but I did manage to eventually pick up a girl (or did she pick me up) get back to my hotel and get the deed done. Her performance was not exactly mind blowing but then again I am sure mine wasn’t either.

The next day I moved to the APP, Manila, Mayfair Hotel which had been recommended by my friend Tim and another long term Philippine visitor Graham. The Mayfair was not exactly plush but the air-cons worked albeit loudly, the bed sheets were cleaned regularly, the beds were comfortable and big enough to fit one foreigner and two Filipinas, the food was always decent, it was priced correctly and every afternoon the management would offer guided tours of their favorite bars.

When I first checked into the Mayfair I decided well there’s no point coming all this way just to sit in my room so I decided to grab something to eat and maybe a quiet little drink in the hotel restaurant. The hotel restaurant was in fact a far cry from what in a normal country would be called a restaurant. Basically it was composed of a small open air courtyard with four plastic tables, some plastic seats and a small bar area which specialized in SMB, Red Horse, Tanduay Rum and Ginebra Gin all for a massive 30 peso. Behind the bar was a smallish kitchen featuring a nippa hut roof, sheets of plastic to protect one from the elements when it rained and the distinctive aroma of vinegar laden chicken adobo.

I wandered downstairs through the reception area where the receptionist was busy self administering a manicure whilst jabbering away in Taglog on the phone and into the hotels courtyard / restaurant. I asked for a menu then ordered a coffee to drink and chicken adobo to eat.

As I was sitting there enjoying my second cup of coffee I happened to catch snippets of the conversation going on at the table next to me. Now I am not one to eavesdrop but this conversation was just too good to be true. Here were two Australian guys discussing the merits of having sex with a young woman versus having sex with a slightly older, more experienced woman. I tried to tune off but the subject matter had me hooked and it was very obvious these two veterans had been around and were speaking from personal experience. I turned around and said “sorry to interrupt guys but I just couldn’t help overhearing your conversation and I was wondering if I could join in. My name is Martin, it’s my first trip and I reckon I can learn a lot from guys like you”. They both stopped talking looked at me, then the taller one of the two said “sure thing mate pull up a chair and let’s hear your point of view”.

Pretty soon we were all comfortably sitting around the plastic tables throwing back a few cold smb’s and thoroughly enjoying the easy going banter that is so common amongst expats in the Philippines.

Prior to arriving I had asked Tim and Graham for some contacts in Manila and they had given me the names of Ken Carbry and David Goldshaft. After about half an hour of a serious discussion on the subject of sex I asked the guys “by the way guys I don’t even know your names” to which they replied Ken and David. At this point I broke out in a big laugh and said “that would be right I was told to ask for you two by my mates in Aus”. We discussed mutual acquaintances and common friends for a while then David looked at his watch and said “geez it’s almost 2, time for a bar hop son”.

I had no way of knowing it at the time but throughout my first few years in the Philippines, David Goldshaft and Ken Carbry were to be major influences in my life. David was a 50 year old accountant bought up in Australia but had been residing in Manila for the last ten years. He was a tall skinny man whose trade mark was his horn rimmed bi-focal glasses through which he would scrutinize any and every girl that came into his field of vision. When it came to girls David always reminded me of a horse breeder at a yearling sale. Ken was a small, diminutive, 60 year old Aussie who was in many ways totally the opposite too David. When it came to the women Ken was a quiet achiever and he could most often be found in the steam rooms, saunas and massage parlors sampling an afternoon delight from one or more willing Filipinas.Both these guys were fountains of knowledge and like a sponge I absorbed their wisdom so readily given.

No sooner had David uttered the words bar hopping and I was ready to go. My eagerness must have been clearly apparent to both of them because David looked at me through his thick bi-focal glasses and said “hey Ken look at the youngster he’s like a bull in a china shop, just can’t wait to get stuck into it”. Ken then smiled at me saying “hey boy you’re eager, slow down a bit the pussy isn’t going anywhere. I asked him "where are we going" and he replied “don’t worry about that son you’re in good hands now”.

We walked out of the hotel turned left and headed up Mabini street towards the bar area of M.H.Del Pilar. To this day I can remember clear as a bell the oppressive humidity, the pot holed pavements with seedy looking Filipinos and hawkers eyeing me from dingy street corners. I remember the numerous electricity lines all dangling down in a gigantic bunch from termite ridden poles. I remember the yellow Toyota cabs with their little non effective fans placed on the dash board. I remember how the cabs would follow you up the street with the driver hailing you through his window “I give you good price joe” “where you go joe” “hey Americano me number one driver you want girl”. Most of all I remember the poor sleeping on filthy sheets of cardboard with a mass of grimy kids all holding out their hands saying “hey Joe you give me money”. Imediately my heart went out to them and I found my wallet rapidly becoming considerably lighter. To this day these images are as fresh in my mind as if it was yesterday.

Within 5 minutes of walking and having my senses bombarded I was at a loss about what to think and the ashen look on my face must have said it all because David turned to me and said “yeah I know what you’re feeling mate I was exactly the same on my first trip”. Whilst this was not really a consolation it did make me feel a little bit better if only because I realized we all go through this ‘culture shock’ when we first arrive in the Philippines.

Once we hit M.H.Del Pilar street I looked over at Dave and as the door girls tried to entice us into the individual bars with promises of free blow jobs and cryptic lines like “I give you best honey ko”, “it’s nice with ice” and “come inside sir, to many sexy ladies”, I saw a wry smile on Dave’s face then he turned to me and said “now that’s what I’m talking about and that’s why I call this place home”.

Before getting involved with a Filipina I think it is important to realize the obligation she feels towards her family. The simple truth is if you get involved with a Filipina then 99.9 % of the time you will also inherit her obligations to her family and trust me when I say these obligations normally take the form of financial support and they are never ending. From day one the Filipina has it drummed into her that it is her obligation to support her family and this is a stigma that will generally last most of her lifetime and she will instill the same beliefs in her offspring.

As the old saying goes the best place to start is the beginning and the beginning in this case is why the Filipina feels the need to support her family in the first place. Like in India the concept of the extended family is alive and well in the Philippines and the logic is have as many kids as you can which increases the chances of one of your kids growing up to become affluent and therefore able to support the family. As has been shown in both India and the Philippines this logic is severely flawed as it results in rapid population growth without the ability to sustain it however far from seeing it as worsening the situation the average Filipinos simply look at it as their lot in life and carry on striving to have big families. Another reason for the large families is the Catholic belief that abortion and contraception are bad and thirdly because of simple boredom. As my Filipina wife once said to me hey martin do you know why they have so many kids in the province and when I answered no she replied it’s because there is nothing else to do.

As I stated in my opening premise the pressure on the supposedly affluent child to support the family is non relenting and it is passed down from generation to generation. From a very early age it is instilled into the children especially the females that when they grow up they will support the family financially. This belief is effectively instilled into the girls in a multitude of different ways throughout their developing years. The end result of this is that the girls learn the economic realities of life, they will go to extreme measures to get money and they will even feel a strong sense of guilt when they cannot supply money for the family. This is part and parcel of the Filipinas psychological makeup and when she cannot supply the financial support she will feel guilty because she is not meeting her cultural obligations.

For most foreigners this way of thinking is exactly the opposite to the way they are bought up and as such they will have trouble understanding it but for the Filipina it is totally natural and this is how the world is. I remember when I took my wife to Australia and she could not come to terms with the fact that I never sent money back to them in Australia. I explained to her that my culture was the opposite to hers and that they did not need money from their offspring and certainly did not expect it. I went on to explain that the parents support their children for most of their lives. This was a totally alien concept to her and it took her three days to come to terms with it, at which time she said, “mahal you are so lucky to have family like this, in Philippines we don‘t have. In Philippines it is our job to look after the family not family look after you.”

I also remember my first long term girl friend in the Philippines named Lisa whom I met in Rosies Diner in M.H.DelPilar Manila. At the time I had been schooled by veterans who had impressed upon me the fact that if you got involved with a Filipina you would inadvertently inherit the responsibility for her family as well and as such I was weary and determined not to get trapped. I started off with resolute promises to myself but within 1 month I had Lisa living with me then 1 month later I had her mother as a maid then 2 months after that I had her two sisters living in the house as well and Lisa was sending money down to Samar for her father and two brothers on a monthly basis. When I asked Lisa “how come your brothers or father cannot get a job I was curtly told “don’t be stupid there are no job in Samar”. In response I grimaced and thought to myself , welcome to the Philippines Martin”.

Throughout my years of living in the Philippines I have heard Lisa’s statement expressed in thousands of different ways and coming from girls with totally different social backgrounds and the sad truth of the matter is that she is absolutely correct there are very few decently paid jobs in the Philippines and this is especially the case in the province. I have often heard foreigners complaining about the lazy brothers or idle father who just sit back and wait for the money to come in while playing cards and drinking alcohol. Many foreigners grow up with the so called “protestant work ethic” so for them they see the non working, support dependant family members as lazy unmotivated bums and to an extent they are correct however the sad fact is throughout the Philippines there are very few decent paying jobs and in the remoter provincial areas there is often no job at all. As a result of the lack of opportunity to work and earn a decent wage the Filipinos have developed a sort of support dependant culture where the more affluent members support the remainder of the family.

I have often heard people say it is human nature to take the easy way and this is certainly true when it comes to Filipinos and this is a very influential aspect of the support mentality. Filipinos can very easily become dependant on the support and after a period of time they begin to expect it, they see it as their money and regard it as their right to receive it.

When it comes to support it is important to remember an old truism, “the more money you have the more ways you find to spend it“. This logic is certainly true when it comes to money and just as applicable in terms of support. What is seen as a decent amount initially will in a short period of time become inadequate and the demands for more money and pressure on the girl to provide it will increase exponentially. When it comes to support there is no such thing as enough, as the old saying goes “enough is never enough” and the more money you send the more the dependant family expect it and find ways to spend it.

Support can take many forms and it isn’t always a direct infusion of cash. For example when you live in the Philippines you can bet your bottom dollar your girls family will try to move in with you. Most Filipinos believe that foreigners are rich and therefore must have a better lifestyle with many benefits that they would not normally have. Secondly the Filipino family is a close knit unit so for them it is totally natural that they should all live together since this is what they have always done and it may as well be in as good as conditions as possible.

There are many downsides to letting the family move in with you but the two most prominent are the lack of privacy and the fact that you as the foreigner will be expected to pay for just about everything. You will become the support mechanism or the proverbial “cash cow” for the entire family. Having said that, there are also definite advantages to becoming part of the Filipino family and I have met many foreigners who regard themselves as a member of the extended Filipino family and they can often be heard extolling the benefits of this situation.

When it comes to the girls working the bar the support mentality actually becomes a justification for what they are doing. They can often be heard saying they are sacrificing themselves for their family which in turn makes their chosen occupation of working the bar morally acceptable. This is a classic case of the ends justifying the means.

Many people will claim they are supporting the girl but not the girls family however the simple fact is 99% of the time the girl you are giving money too will in turn use that money to support her family so indirectly you are indeed supporting the family. When it comes to support it will always be a balancing act with you on the one hand trying to minimize the amounts sent and them on the other hand trying to maximize the amount sent.

In summation the bottom line is that the Filipina will nearly always be tied to her family and will see it as her duty to support them. This is instilled in her from a very early age and handed down from generation to generation and has become so entrenched in Philippine society that a whole culture of support has developed. Secondly Filipinos see all foreigners as being rich and as an extension to that they see it as the foreigners duty to share some of his wealth with the Filipinos who are less fortunate than him. Thirdly there are several psychological aspects to the support culture including the fact that those receiving it often come to expect it and see it as their money. The Filipino family will often see it as their right to receive the money and your obligation to provide it. In their world this is the way things have always been and they can see nothing wrong with it. Fourthly, there is no such thing as enough, the more money you send the more ways they will find to spend it. Lastly support can take many different forms but in the end it is to some extent inevitable and no foreigner who becomes involved with a Filipina can avoid it.

For as long as I can remember there have been door girls proliferating throughout the Angeles bars and from the few people whom I have talked with who are familiar with the early days, this was even the case back in the late sixties and early seventies when the bar scene first begun to flourish in AC. In comparison to today’s glitzy high tech bar scene the bars back then the bars were a lot simpler being composed mainly of hollow blocks a ‘nipa’ roof or corrugated iron, a juke box in the corner, very basic seating, 5 to ten girls maximum, very limited stocks and 99% of their business was from enlisted personnel residing on Clark Airbase. Most importantly there was very little to distinguish one bar from the other as all were similar in appearance and the only difference was in the signage and sometimes the bars size.

As the number of personnel living on and visiting Clark began to expand so to did the number of bars and with this expansion came competition for the customers pesos. All of a sudden bar owner/managers were scratching their heads trying to figure out how to draw the customers into their bar as opposed to a competing bar and this is when the door girls gained a whole new level of importance. Basically the belief was put your best looking girls outside to catch the customers attention and entice them inside. Of course once one or two bars were successful at this so very soon all the bars placed an emphasis on door girls.
Once the door girls had become commonplace their effectiveness at drawing customers to one bar rather than another was diminished so the door girls had to then develop new tricks to draw the customers. This is when the standard lines which have now become part of the door girl lexicon came into being. For example the ‘hey Joe come inside’ line, is a direct left over from these days.

The verbal virtuosity of door girls was soon not enough to draw customers to one bar rather than another so bar owners and managers then progressed to dressing them up in provocatively sexy clothing or anything that would get the customers attention. In the old days the emphasis was on overt sexuality therefore the door girls were always dressed in provocative clothing. In recent times the emphasis has changed somewhat to simply attracting attention which is why bars such as the DollHouse group have a number of girls standing outside the bars on both sides of the street dressed in uniforms or fancy costumes and wearing colored wigs. Again the logic here is draw the customers attention to your bar but do it by utilizing means other than overt sexuality.

The Atlantis door girls where the emphasis is placed on getting the customers attention through use of large numbers of girls and gimmicks such as colored wigs rather than overt sexuality.

In a recent conversation with DollHouse upper management we discussed the image of the DHG of bars and I was informed that they strive to present an “entertainment package with an emphasis on shows” rather than just blatantly selling sex. This approach is shown by their door girls who try to get customers attention by wearing fancy costumes and colored wigs whereas in other bars they are still selling the promise of sexual fulfillment and as such the door girls who work here try to attract the customers with overt displays of sexuality. The door girls in many ways reflect the attitude of management. In days gone by it was all about attracting customers via the promise of sex but with relatively recent pressure from the city administration and new directives regarding door girls the emphasis is now slowly shifting to means other than displays of sexuality.

The La Pasha door girls are excellent and combine many of the required attributes that make up a good door girl who is proficient at her job.

There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to having door girls. As always I prefer to start with the positive so first of all I will outline the advantages. The first advantage is purely an economic one. A good door girl can be a real draw card when it comes to getting customers through the door. Normally the best door girls will be the ones with good looks, a slightly better than average grasp of English and an outgoing personality. Best of all her salary is minimal and if she is any good she can produce far more money for the bar that what she costs.

When it comes to the number of customers in the bar the door girls often have a direct influence. For example in the bars which are upstairs or slightly hidden the door girls play a pivotal role in enticing customers inside the bar. A classic example of this is Golden Nile which is upstairs on the third floor and only accessible by an elevator or by walking up two flights of stairs. If the customers do not have prior knowledge of the bars existence then the door girls are the only way in which they would ever know there is a girlie bar there.

Another advantage to door girls is that they provide a sort of regular contact with the customer. Many of these door girls will get to know the regular customers which in turn encourages the customer to adopt a particular bar as one of his regular stops partly because he is friends with the door girl. When this happens the door girl in question will remember the customers name which equals instant recognition and a feeling of being welcome in the customers mind. For want of a better term this is what I call the “Cheers” effect.

The voodoo door girls literally have the street wired and know many customers by name.

Every girl has what is loosely referred to as her “shelf life “ in the bar. In other words she can only be a dancer for so long and then she becomes past her prime so to speak. Many of these girls who have been working the bar for an extended period of time still retain their good looks, they generally have a good grasp of English and they are not shy to flaunt their sexuality as such they often end up as door girls. The position of door girl in this respect helps the girls extend her tenure in the bar.

The ability to converse in English is a definite advantage both for the door girl and the customers. Many times I have seen customers bring the door girls inside buy them drinks and just engage in conversation. The door girls provide good companionship as well as acting as a sort of host. Often they will give the customer valuable information about the bar and the individual girls working there and on occasions they can even help should a problem occur as a result of miscommunication.

The AC bars for many people represent a social occasion as much as they do a mongering opportunity and here the door girls play an important role. Generally speaking the door girls have the street ‘wired’ and they will know people by name and know where they are. Many times if I am looking for a group of friends and they are not answering their phones I have asked the door girls of their whereabouts and most of the time they have told me exactly where my friends are.

Last but not least for people who are in a hurry the door girls represent a quick and easy bar fine. I have often seen customers pay a bar fine only to be left sitting in the bar for another half an hour while the girl goes to get changed, put on her makeup etc. With the door girls there is really no need to get changed as they come ready to take out.

Of course there are two sides to every story and so it is with door girls. Just as there are many advantages to having door girls there are also several disadvantages and primary amongst these is that sometimes the door girls become possessive and will actually ‘cock block’ you. It is not uncommon for the door girls to form a sort attachment to their customers and once this happens they will often give you a hard time if they see you with another girl, in fact sometimes they will even give the girl you are with a hard time.

Generally speaking there are minimal social barriers between Filipinas and they can form friendships very easily. In some ways this is an attractive feature but in others it is a distinct disadvantage. For example if a door girl befriends your girlfriend she will not hesitate to report your activities to her. There is an old saying which says, “there are no secrets in Angeles and this is certainly the case when it comes to door girls. Whilst a door girl may be your friend if she is also friends with your regular girl be aware that her priority will be to her fellow female and she report on your activities in a heartbeat. To be on the safe side I tend to categorize all door girls in the same boat. Generally speaking everyone of them is a blabber mouth and incapable of keeping a secret.

In terms of the bar there are several disadvantages to having door girls. As stated previously the door girls easily form friendships and this includes with Filipino men. It is not uncommon for the door girls to spend a large percentage of their time talking with the Filipino guys rather than calling the customers. Often the door girls will block the entrance to a bar without even realizing they are doing it and I am yet to see a reliable door girl who doesn’t spend a lot of time eating smoking or chatting in an internet café when she is supposed to be calling customers.

There are several elements that combine to make a good door-girl but the primary one is her ability to flaunt her sexuality and entice customers to enter the bar. Other attributes which are essential for a good door girl are an outgoing personality, the ability to approach customers, the ability to converse in English and of course a curvaceous body. Love them or hate them the door girls are very much part of the Angeles bar scene and will no doubt be so for many years to come.

I gave the matter much thought drawing on my years of experience and decided since we are all primarily interested in the fair sex (even gay BamBam) the subject of recruitment and general information as to how the girls come to work in the bar would indeed make for an interesting article, what’s more, since there are so many new bars opening the ability to recruit good looking girls is becoming of paramount importance and is a bigger factor in determining the success of a bar than ever before.

“Recruitment refers to the process of screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an organization or firm, or for a vacancy in a volunteer-based some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations and companies often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies. External recruitment is the process of attracting and selecting employees from outside the organization”. Definition from Wikipedia.

Prior to examining the actual methods of recruitment I think it is important to note that the word recruitment in the Philippines tends to conjure negative connotations and is often associated with human trafficking. In Act R.A.9208 “Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003″ the word recruitment is contained within the definition of Human Trafficking. Because of the link between recruitment and human trafficking and the harsh penalties associated with these activities recruitment for many people, especially those involved in the go-go bar business, is a taboo subject and one they are very wary about discussing.

Human trafficking in the Philippines is defined as follows “Trafficking in Persons – refers to the recruitment, transportation, transfer or harboring, or receipt of persons with or without the victim’s consent or knowledge, within or across national borders by means of threat or use of force, or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, abuse of power or of position, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the person, or, the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person for the purpose of exploitation which includes at a minimum, the exploitation or the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery, servitude or the removal or sale of organs”.

Personally I see the definition as being fairly general and I can easily see how this could be twisted to suit an individual’s separate agenda especially when it applies to the recruitment of girls to work in the go-go bar environment.

There are several ways the girls come to find out about the bar but by far the most common means is by word of mouth and actual recruitment. For the girls in the province they mostly hear about the bar and life in Angeles through a friend who has experienced it and returns to the province to encourage her friends to join her living in AC and working the bar. Often these friends are sent to the province by the mamasans with funds and specific instructions to recruit girls. This method of recruitment makes perfect sense because the girl has family and friends in her provincial area, she knows the lay of the land and is in a better position to avoid the pitfalls associated with recruitment, she knows the type of girls that will be successful in the bar environment and she knows the families that are in need of money. Lastly but by no means because the girl is seen as a province member she has instant access to certain social circles that would normally be closed to an outsider.

When recruiting there is an instinctive understanding for both parties that this is all about the money. The girl doing the recruiting will often wear jewelry or other ostentatious displays of wealth designed to draw attention to the fact that she now has money. Of course her jewelry is noted by those who have nothing and their first question is invariably how did you get the money to buy the jewelry followed by how can I get the money to buy myself some jewelry. This of course is the perfect opening for the recruiter to sell the concept of working in the bar. It is interesting to note here that very few recruiters will actually spell it out that the girl is supposed to have sex with foreigners rather it is always couched in phrases like you will be a dancer with a nice salary or it’s a nightclub where you will dance and get ladies drinks or you will be a waitress. The fact of having sex which is where the real money is made is in most cases not mentioned until the girl is actually working in the bar and then it is up to her to decide her course of action. This whole process is done through word of mouth and at times as a monetary transaction but there is never anything in writing due to the obvious ramifications from the various local authorities. People involved in recruitment for the go-go bars run the risk of having their activities misconstrued, misinterpreted and misrepresented to the extent where they are at risk of being charged with illegal recruitment and at worse human trafficking.

Some mamasans when recruiting clearly define the jobs parameters making it clear that the girls will only make the real money by having sex however these mamasans are few and far between and in most cases the more realistic aspects of the job are glossed over with the promises of easy money. Another key factor that recruiters utilize is the promise of security. Many of the girls growing up in the provinces automatically equate foreigners with money and they see foreigners as a means to earn money for themselves and their family as well as offering them security through giving them a means to escape from the grinding poverty most often associated with provincial life. Many girls grow up with the dream of marrying a foreigner so they can escape to another country build a future for themselves and help their families stuck in the Philippines by sending financial remittances back home. The recruiters will often play on this desire by pointing out the best way to meet a foreigner is by working in the bar in Angeles.

As I have pointed out this is primarily about the money and it is not uncommon for the girl’s parents to ask for a cash advance in lieu of their daughters salary. In many ways this is common practice and it is not unusual for the mamasan or whoever is doing the recruiting to give up to 5000 piso to a girl’s parents. This money is then taken out of the girls earnings on a regular basis. When you consider that the recruiters pay for the initial trip to the province for themselves this can run to as much as 3000 piso one way, then for food and accommodation, then for whatever cash payouts need to be made, then for transportation back to Angeles the recruitment process becomes a time consuming and costly business with no guaranteed returns.

A good mamasan realizes that she is only as good as the girls she can produce and as such she is constantly engaging in a pro active recruitment program. Some mamasans will conduct the recruiting themselves or will conduct the process together with a friend or some sort of relative. In this scenario they will normally recruit from a provincial area known to the mamasan where she has a social network and knows the lay of the land as well as the power players within the local community. A third means of recruiting is to utilize a professional recruiter. In this scenario the mamasan will give the recruiter a minimal down payment enough to cover the basic expenses and the rest will be paid when the girls are delivered. Normally the money comes from the bar or the mamasan or a combination of both. Most bar owners realize the importance of maintaining the correct level of girls and as such will have a certain amount put aside specifically for the purpose of recruitment. The professional recruiter will normally work on a slightly different level from mamasans and girls and place a more defined emphasis on money. They will promise the girls this is a “good job” with a “nice salary” and very rarely will they mention what the job actually involves, preferring instead to skirt over the means and just emphasize the end result, financial gain.

A proactive mamasan will always be on the lookout for girls to work as part of her stable and many times she will approach girls from other bars when they are bar hopping with their customers. The normal approach will be talk to the girls and tell them what the salary is and what are the other benefits. Typically this will include mention of things such as a higher commission on ladies drinks, or lack of fines or incentive programs for regular attendance or number of bar fines or number of ladies drinks. They will often mention the stay in and things such as a regular supply of food from the staff canteen, they will claim there are more customers in their bar and more big spenders and most importantly they will promise financial help when it is required. One mamasan who works for a well known smaller bar on Fields Avenue engages in an active recruitment by befriending girls from other bars when they come to visit and even lends them money. This works well as the girl feels obligated to pay back the loan and of course the best way she can earn the money is to come to work for that mamasan in her bar.

Another way of recruiting is to encourage the girls to do it themselves and often this will mean the bar conducting an active recruitment program where cash is offered as a reward for recruiting a friend to work in the bar. Typically this will work on an incentive basis, for example, programs I have run in the past give a girl 500 piso if she brings a friend in to work and the friend stays for two weeks if she stays for two weeks more the girl who recruited her then gets a further 500 piso. Programs such as this are common place but will differ slightly in the rules applied and the amount of money offered.

A subtle means of recruiting girls will be to promise an ex dancer who is now too old to be able to compete on the dance floor a job as a mamasan but before she can work she must have a minimum of ten girls. The requirement of ten girls puts pressure on the potential mamasan to actively recruit. Normally these girls will make excellent mamasans because they have been dancers themselves and are aware of all the tricks the girls will try to pull and all the problems the girls will face.

Another subtle means is to befriend people who have regular contact with the girls and are perceived by the girls as being knowledgeable or people seen as being an authoritative figure. A classic example of this is the social hygiene personnel who have regular contact with the girls and are seen as being credible because of their position. I once worked with a mamasan who was strongly connected with city hall and social hygiene personnel and she would actually give her contacts a healthy remuneration should a girl apply to work with her as a result of the contacts recommendation.

Because it can be loosely associated with human trafficking, recruitment of girls to work in a go-go bar is always a risky situation however as the number of bars continually expand and the demand for girls expands correspondingly, recruitment has become an extremely important factor throughout the entire bar business. In fact many bars financial well being can be directly linked to the effectiveness of its recruiters and I confidently state that this will be the case for many years to come.

The term mamasan has its derivatives in the Japanese language and originally referred to the Asian equivalent of a European ‘Madam’ or the female head of a brothel or house of ill repute. In the old days the mamasan would be the connection between the establishments working girls and the customers as well a type of authority figure and mother figure for the working girls as well as overseeing the running the entire operation. In today’s environment especially in the Philippines the mamasans role incorporates all of these factors and even more.

The primary role of any mamasan working in a girlie bar is to create for want of a better word a “stable” of girls that are loyal to her, will follow her instructions and will work in whatever bar she works. As has been noted many times the most important factor in any girlie bar is the quality and quantity of the girls that work there and since the mamasan influences this she is directly influencing the bars financial success. Basically the mamasans determine the quality and quantity of girls and in so doing directly influence the number of customer’s and their enjoyment which in turn influences how much money the bar generates. To create her stable and maintain it a mamasan must have one very important skill and that is the ability to recruit girls or at least have close working contact with someone who can recruit girls. This ensures a regular supply of girls keeping the number of girls in the bar steady and counters the natural rate of attrition as girls leave the bar or stop working for whatever reason.

Mummy Stella at Golden Nile one of the few Mamasans who can actually recruit girls.

The mamasans relationship with ‘her’ girls is often intricate but in my opinion a very necessary one to understand. The mamasan – working girls relationship is complex and works on several levels. On one level the mamasan is an authority figure who is older and has had more experience in the business as such she is someone who is respected and obeyed by the girls. On this level the mamasan is viewed as the boss and the girls will follow her instructions before anyone else’s. She is the primary authority figure whom the girls will obey. In most cases the mamasan is a lady who has worked in the bar herself and as such is in a position to draw from her experience and be able to advise the girl from an position of experience.

On the other level the mamasan is viewed as a mother figure and becomes almost like a surrogate parent. The surrogate mother role takes on substantial significance for the girls especially when they are new to the business and far away from their family and social network in the province. Whenever the girl has a problem the first person she will normally turn to is the mamasan her surrogate mother figure. A classic example of this is the financial problems that invariably plague the working girls. Normally a girl is working to earn money for the ever demanding family and when she has financial problems she will often turn to her mamasan. In most cases the mamasans are only too eager to loan the girl money as it strengthens her ties with the girls and in turn the girl’s obligations to her as she has to work extra hard to pay back the loan.

Mummy Sheila adopts the surrogate mother approach. She does not have many girls but those she does have are fiercely loyal and tend to stay working with her a long time.

The relationship between a mamasan and her girls will normally over a period of time evolve and change. What starts out as surrogate parent – offspring arrangement will develop into a sort of casual business relationship where the girl and the mamasan work together for each other’s financial gain. This can occur in many ways for example I have often seen girls find a good spending customer and then introduce this customer to their mamasan who will then also receive some ladies drinks. Often the relationship between a mamasan and her girls is long lasting and it is not unusual to see a girl who has quit work some years previously return, together with her husband or partner, and spend money ringing the bell, partying and buying drinks for her former mamasan.

The famous Mummy Rose in Blue Nile. This lady is one of the few who strikes a balance between being the voice of authority and a mother figure.

The relationship between the mamasan and the bars customers is also multi layered. For example on the surface level the mamasan will simply treat you as a customer and see how much she can get from you in terms of ladies drinks but as she gets to know you she will often recommend good girls who she knows will meet your sexual requirements. Some mamasans verge on being famous whilst others verge on infamy. Some are well known characters around the Angeles bar scene and are actually a draw card for customers to come into the bar. Others are a reason for customers not to visit the bar. On many occasions I would see customers come into Neros specifically to see Mummy Perla and buy her a drink but on the other hand I would hear of customers who no longer visited Neros because they felt Perla had ripped them off. Some customers use the mamasan in an advisory capacity to help solve problems in their relationship. The logic here is that the mamasan being female and with similar experience to the bar girls, will be able to advise the customer on the best course of action to take with his girlfriend or wife.

The infamous and always colorful Mummy Perla.

Some mamasans are invaluable to the bar because of the relationship they form with certain customers. An example of this is the mamasan from Lancelot who has a contact amongst the Korean community and this contact regularly feeds busloads of Korean tourists into Lancelot. More often than not the Korean customers will bar fine the girl and then return to their hotel as they are not into bar hoping but rather the sexual experience with the girl of their choice. Whereas many professional mongerers will tell you never bar fine from your first bar these Korean customers who visit Lancelot seem to have the opposite approach. They will visit one bar bar fine from this bar drink from this bar and then out the door in a group and back to the hotel room together with girls. This is not huge money but it is regular money and it is all because of the mamasans connection which she has maintained over several years.

Some customers dislike mamasans because they feel the mamasans exploit the girls and treat them more like ‘slaves’ or ‘pieces of meat’ than human beings. A classic example of this was the old mamasan in the Red Rooster bar in Pasay Manila. Here was a dinky little bar hidden in the back streets of Pasay and yet it had a steady clientele of foreigners and Filipinos alike simply because the mamasan stroke owner had that unique ability to get good looking girls. This lady would three times a year go down to Ormoc city in Leyte which is where she came from originally. Whilst there she would talk to her contacts and find some people who were struggling financially and were willing to literally rent her their daughters. The mamasan would then turn up at these peoples abode and dripping with jewelry would pay up to 5 thousand per girl to the parents and then after gathering about 5 to 8 girls she would herd them onto the ferry for the trip back to Manila. Once back in the bar the girls would start work as soon as they arrived and they would receive the massive salary of 60 piso a day. This was not exactly a substantial salary but for people who were used to having to scrounge for their next meal this was big money. Things would progress well for the first week as the girls learnt the ropes and earned money by going bar fine and making ladies drinks. Then on the second week the deductions would start first she was told she had to pay back the money that was given to her parents then she had to pay back the transportation fee then for the food then the accommodation (normally a sub standard “stay in” with rudimentary comforts only) then the new clothes and new shoes etc, etc.

This is the type of exploitation many customers dislike intensely but unfortunately to this day these practices are still engaged in by many mamasans and form part of the bars operational procedure and are part of the recruiting proceedure. The logic here is keep the girls poor then they will work harder and more often simply to get the money they need for themselves and their family to survive. In short the exploitation forces the girl to become productive and make money for herself and the bar. Whilst I admit I have seen this exploitation on many occasions I have also seen many times when the mamasans have genuinely helped the girls for reasons other than financial gain. For example I have seen mamasans help girls when they have an unwanted pregnancy and I have seen on many occasions the mamasans offering advice on various situations that are way beyond the girls experience. As someone who has worked in the bars for close on 18 years I find the behavior of some mamasans and their relationships with their girls dislikeable but at the same time I also realize this is to some extent the nature of the bar business and I doubt if it will change in the near future.

Mummy Grace adopts the authoritarian approach and utilizes the microphone to control the girls.

For the bar one very important aspect of the mamasans job is to make sure her girls regularly attend work. On the surface I realize readers will be asking am I serious, surely a simple task like making sure the girls come to work cannot be that hard. To these people I will simply say you would be surprised. The average Filipina will always exhibit the temporarily rich syndrome where they have a small amount of expendable income and suddenly all ideas of work fly out the window and it’s full on party mode until the money is gone and it’s time to go back to work again. A good mamasan accepts the responsibility of keeping tabs on her girls and will always keep current contact details so she can communicate with her if need be. These so called good mamasans in my experience are few and far between but when you find a good one she is worth her weight in gold not just because of the work she can save you from doing but also because of the money she can create for the bar.

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes in the Philippine bar business and of course this includes the various government agencies that enforce the rules which all bars must adhere to. In the case of the Angeles bar scene this organization is called social hygiene and they initiate various rules and regulations that govern the bars. To instigate these rules and regulations there is regular correspondence between social hygiene officials and the bars representatives which in most cases is the senior mamasan. The mamasan in this role acts like a bars representative and an intermediary between the government organization and the bar. For example all girls working in a bar must display a license which is issued to them by social hygiene and another card which is issued them by City Hall. To get these cards is often a long drawn out process and will always involve the mamasans who know exactly what is needed, how much it will cost and the right people to expedite, or fast track, the procedure.

Mummy Rio runs a tight ship and is known for her sharp temper.

The Philippine mamasan is a unique breed and is some ways a mother figure, and an authority figure, she can be a customer’s best friend or a customer’s worst cock blocking enemy. The mamasans have a range of duties all of which are designed to support the bar system and help the bar as well as herself make money. Personally as a customer I quite like mamasans and find them useful in providing information about their girls but as a bar manager, I find them a valuable asset on the one hand and an annoyance on the other. Most mamasans in my experience are weak in the key areas of getting and keeping good looking girls and controlling their girls making sure they reguarly attend work. Most mamasans inadequecies become annoying for example the mamasans tend not to care about the quality of girls they hire because they are not paying the recruitment costs and they are not paying the girls salary, so even if the sub standard girl makes one ladies drink or goes bar fine just once in a year, the mamasan has made a profit. The mamasans are vaguely aware or in some cases completely unaware of a girls performance or productivity.

In most cases the mamasans activities are not confined to the guide lines of her job description. Most of them have side line businesses that run in conjunction with their duties in the bar. Typically these sidelines will include loan sharking (5-6 as the Filippinos call it), selling food, selling Avon products, perfumes, jewelry, lotto tickets, Jueteng (numbers racket), cel phone loads and more. The thought behind these activities is get a little bit every day rather than go for the big hiest in one big swoop.Throughout my years in the bar business I have heard many customers and bar managers complain about the mamasans and wish that there was an effective way to run a bar without being so dependent on them however, for me the mamasans are here to stay and I am yet to see any bar run effectively without them so it perhaps best to learn how to maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses as in most cases they are a necessary evil.

In the so called Western world there is a famous sexual double standard which states that if the male has numerous sexual partners he is a stud, he is seen as virile and masculine however if a woman has numerous sexual partners she is seen as a slut or a lose woman and in some cases incorrectly labeled a whore. In short one type of behavior is acceptable and even encouraged for the male but is unacceptable for the female. For the same act one sex is praised and revered while the other is reviled, and judged. This is the classic sexual double standard.

Well guess what, in the Philippines a country where masculinity is alive and well and the women, especially the bar girls, are supposedly exploited, it is the women who have the double standard. In the bar scene where foreign men pay for the sexual services of women it is ironically the women (bar girls) who have the double standard, not the men. This double standard is where the bar girl considers it acceptable for her to have numerous sexual partners but unacceptable for the male to do the same thing. What is good for the goose is certainly not good for the gander. This double standard is normally expressed by the girl saying “you big butterfly” hence my term the butterfly syndrome.

The Filipina bar girl is in many ways a unique species with a way of thinking that for us foreigners is totally alien or as one AE member expressed it, “totally out of wack” and perhaps the best example of this is the butterfly syndrome. If you have more than one sexual partner then the girls will call you a butterfly. This term is an analogy that likens the practice of having numerous sexual partners to the behavior of a butterfly when it flitters from flower to flower sipping at the pollen.

The term ‘butterfly’ does imply a certain amount of moralistic judgment and it does represent a classic double standard but at the same time there is an element of humor in the term and it is meant more as a flippant observation than a severe moralistic judgment. If the bar girls call you a babaero ( a playboy) or a balakero (literally translated “a man who uses women”) then you know she is more serious than if she simply calls you a butterfly.

The butterfly analogy is delightfully feminine and typical Filipina, yet at the same time for us foreigners, blatantly hypocritical. Why is it that in the bar girls mind it is ok for her to have sex with numerous different partners but it’s not ok for the guys to do the same? The answer is very simple MONEY and SURVIVAL. In most cases the Filipina grows up with a conflict between moral beliefs and day to day reality. For example she is taught prostitution is bad but in reality prostitution is one of the few ways a girl can earn the money she and her family needs to survive. In her mind the Filipina bar girl justifies having sex with multiple partners by thinking, ‘this is the only way I can earn the necessary amount of money myself and my family need to survive’. This is why you will often hear them saying “it’s just my fucking job”. When they say this they are acknowledging the fact that they are having sex for money which is a morally bad thing but at the same time an economic reality if they are to survive. Because of the lack of decent paying employment opportunities in the Philippines, financial remuneration becomes a valid justification for having sex with multiple partners.

Whilst the money itself is a justification for having numerous sexual encounters perhaps a more important justification is how the money is used. 99.9% of bar girls have pressure from their family to supply money and their primary reason for working in the bar is to support their family. To support the family is seen as perfectly natural in Filipino culture and it serves as a sort of moral justification for having sex for money.

When it comes to having sex for money the Filipina is in what can only be called, a moral dilemma. As in all countries on the surface level prostitution is frowned upon and seen as morally wrong, however, if the earnings from prostitution are spent helping people who cannot help themselves (in most cases this means the girls family) then having sex for money is morally condoned. For the Filipina bar girl having sex for money is on the one hand morally wrong but on the other hand morally acceptable.

In most cultures the act of having sex for money is vilified but in the subculture of Filipina bar girls the money and how it is used becomes a justification rather than a vilification. In the bar girls mindset it’s ok to be a prostitute if the money you earn is spent on your family or on your own survival. It is important to remember that in the majority of cases the act of prostitution becomes a means of survival for both the girl and her family. Personally I find this situation the ultimate in bitter irony. The Philippines is a country dominated by Catholicism and yet it is these very same Catholics who have found a way to morally justify prostitution.

In the bar girls world it is acceptable for her to have sex with numerous individuals because it is her ”job” and it is one of the few ways she can make the necessary money for her and her family to survive. On the other hand in the bar girls mind the male customer has no such justification. For a Filipina bar girl the foreigner male has sex with multiple partners for no other reason than to satisfy the male ego and hormonal urges. In her mind these are not valid reasons to have many sexual partners and as such she will apply moralistic judgments whilst neglecting to apply those same judgments to herself.

Another thing to consider is the peer group pressure the Filipina bar girl is under. For example many subconsciously feel they must have the latest cell phone or the new fashion shoes or clothing. The world of the Filipina bar girl is a competitive one, albeit on a subconscious level, and to be able to compete successfully a bar girl must have money and the best way she knows to make money is to have sex with men.

Once working within the ‘bar system’ the girl has various pressures exerted on her and one major pressure is the mamasan pushing her to go out. Basically the mamasan’s receive a percentage of the bar fine money as their commission so it is in their best interests to push the girls to go bar-fine. Many times I have asked some of the more high profile bar girls why they go bar fine so frequently and invariably one of the reasons they will cite is pressure from the mamasan. As such this pressure acts as a sort of justification for them to go out with numerous different people however there is no such pressure on the customer and consequently no justification for you having numerous sexual partners.

Earlier in this article I noted the classic sexual double standard between men and women of the so called more affluent western countries. In this scenario if the man “fucks around” he is a stud but if the woman does it she is a “slut”. I have already discussed the implications of this double standard and the important thing to note here is that the existence of double standards in nearly all societies throughout the world. The widespread existence of double standards in totally different societies would suggest that they are a natural occurrence of human existence and as such will inevitably be found in the world of Philippine bar girls.

Often the Filipina bar girl will try to discourage the foreign male from having sex with multiple partners simply because of her ego and a natural urge to control the male. There is also a large element of competitiveness involved. Amongst the bar girls there is a strong sense of competitiveness and all of them know that to snare a man and his support they will have to compete with other bar girls and the best way of competing is to stop the male from having sex with other women. By calling a man a butterfly and exposing the judgmental implications behind this term, the bar girl is in fact exhibiting competitiveness. In a nice lighthearted way she is trying to discourage the male from having sex with other bar girls and in so doing keep him too herself.

When referring to bar girls many people have stated ,“it’s all about the money” and indeed, once incorporated into the bar world, a girl learns very quickly that the objective is to find a man who will provide them with the necessary economic and perhaps less importantly emotional support. To achieve this end the girls will adopt several methods not the least of which is to make the man fall in love with her. There is a common belief amongst Filipinas in general and especially amongst the bar girls that if you make the man fall in love you will gain a lot more from the relationship, including financial benefits. To be successful in this endeavor they must try to stop the man from having other sexual partners. The Filipina bar girl instinctively knows that if the man ‘fucks around” with other girls then her chances of securing financial and emotional support are drastically reduced. This is one reason why in the Philippine bar scene you can find the Girl Friend Experience (GFE) which is not available in similar scenes in other countries. Contrary to this is the logic they apply to themselves which states, it is all a numbers game and the more men they meet and make love with, the better their chances of finding the man who is right for them.

One unique aspect of the Filipina bar girl is her ability to develop genuine feelings for a sexual partner and believe it or not in some cases they will use these feelings as a justification for them fucking around. The bar girl logic goes something like this: when she is in love with a man she feels ashamed to ask money from him so as a result she will take on other sexual partners just to get the money she needs to survive and avoid ‘using’ the man she loves. For foreigners this logic seems bizarre and twisted but for the Filipina bar girl it makes perfect sense and she does not see any contradiction between professing love for one man and having sex with a number of other men.

The bar girls learn very quickly to compartmentalize their sexual activities based on varying criteria. For the Filipina bar girl there is a clear line between having sex for the reason of love and having sex for financial remuneration. The two are very different concepts and yet in the bar girls mind by no means mutually exclusive. Unfortunately the girls seem unable to apply the same logic to their male customers. They see the foreigners as paying for sexual services rather than getting paid and this in itself is not a strong enough reason to justify having numerous sexual partners. Once again we have the classic double standard where it is acceptable for the girl to be sexually promiscuous but not for the male.

Most girls after a period of time working the bar have, "been there done that", as the old saying goes and as such to some extent they will always keep their options open just in case the man they thought was their passport to a better life turns out to be a failure. The girls in their mind see it as perfectly normal that they would wish to keep their options open but they will not expect the man to do the same thing. On the contrary most bar girls will try their very best to get the foreigner to fall in love with them as this way the relationship will last for a longer time and the girl will get more out of it.

There are probably many more identifiable reasons why the double standard exists and yet ironically knowing the reasons behind the double standard does not help you combat it. For example many guys have said, ”when a girl tells me it’s her job I simply reply, well it’s my job as well” but invariably this will not make sense to the Filippina. For her it is basic, she receives payment for offering sexual services whilst the men do the paying. For her it is a job and in her mind the men are customers who pay her to do her job.

Perhaps the best way I have found for combating the double standard is to sit them down and explain to them that bar fining different girls you are actually supporting the system and helping them keep their job. Secondly I am helping the girls financially which is why they are working the bar in the first place. This logic works well but only up to a point because at the end of the day your average bar girl couldn’t care less about the system or the welfare of other bar girls, all she cares about is what’s in it for her.

Last but not least I think it is important to ask how does this double standard effect the customers enjoyment. The answer is in most cases it hardly has any effect at all. Granted there is a certain amount of moralistic, judgmental overtones implicit in sayings such as “you big butterfly” but on the whole sayings such as this are light hearted with a certain amount of humor and will not significantly impede your mongering activities.

Disclaimer:
This article represents my thoughts and experiences after having lived in the Philippines and worked in the bars there for the last 18 years. It is designed primarily to help foreigners understand the Filipina bar girl and in so doing hopefully foster more harmonious and successful interaction between the two. I do not claim to be 100% correct or by any means an authority on subjects such as this and please note these are just my opinions garnered from many years of experience. I welcome any discussion or sharing of opinions that this article may elicit. At the end of the day we all have an interest in Filipina bar girls and it is my hope that this article will help members gain a better understanding of these girls, their world and how they think.