So another February has rolled around and with it comes another special Valentines day. Having lived in the Philippines for the last 18 years I have become all too familiar with their somewhat unique brand of Valentines celebrations, however, this was not always the case. On my first visit to the Philippines in 1991 I was quite literally amazed by the extensive celebrations Valentines Day elicited. Many Valentines Days have come and gone since then and over the years I have come to realize that Filipino culture is very different from the one I grew up in and a major part of that difference is the cultural significance of events such as Valentines day.
To understand what are the popularity of Valentines in the Philippines and why it is such an significant day in Filipino culture it is necessary to briefly examine the history of Valentines day.

The roots of Valentines day can be traced back to Ancient roman days where February 14 was a holiday to honor Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage. The following day, February 15th, began the Feast of Lupercalia. At that time young boys and girls would grow up separately however on the eve of Lupercalia the girls would have their names placed in a giant urn and each young man would draw a girl’s name from the jar and the young couple would then be partners throughout the festival. Sometimes the pairing of the children lasted an entire year, and often, they would fall in love and later marry.

Modern day St Valentines day can be traced back to the time of Claudius II or Claudius the cruel. The most generally accepted theory is that Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome in an effort to force men to join the Roman army. According to legend at this time Valentine was a Christian priest who defied Claudius and secretly married Christian couples. Valentine was eventually caught and was sentenced to a lengthy jail term culminating in being beaten to death by clubbing and beheading.

Yet another theory suggests that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

Legend further has it that during his jail term many people would come to visit the popular priest and one of these was his jailers daughter who it is commonly believed Valentine fell in love with and left a farewell note for signing it, “from your Valentine”.

Valentine was killed February 14, 269 A.D. and then in 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius named him a martyr and a Saint setting aside February 14 to honor him. As time marched on many cultures adopted February 14 as the official Valentines day and Saint Valentine became the patron Saint of lovers. The date was marked by sending poems, love messages and simple gifts such as flowers or candy.

In modern day western societies, Valentine’s Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one’s feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine’s Day greetings and in the 1840’s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines cards in America.

The Valentines day legend is an intoxicating mix of historical mystery, religious connotations and the most powerful of all human emotions, love. Given these factors it is only natural that this day should be so popular in Philippine culture.

The Filipinas are renowned worldwide for their capacity to love and care for their men folk and they have a reputation as incurable romantics who are very much in touch with their emotions. Given this, is it any wonder that in a country where women supposedly outnumber men 3 to 1, Valentines day is so popular.

Filipinas are also recognized as being demonstrative and indeed the Philippine culture recognizes public displays of emotion as being totally normal as well as recognizing the importance of emotion as an influential factor in determining behavior. Given the Filipino acceptance of displaying emotions, Valentines day with its various products depicting love, and simple demonstrative acts such as holding hands and kissing, is virtually guaranteed to be a significant day in Philippine culture.

The predominant religion which is infused into nearly all aspects of Filipino life is Roman Catholicism. Religion is a key factor and a corner stone of Filipino culture and a major influence on peoples beliefs and behavior, as such, Valentines day with its religious overtones, was by definition, always going to be an important day on the Filipino calendar.

As is clearly demonstrated by their movies and by incidents that occur every day Filipinos have a natural flair for the dramatic. The most popular movies in this country will always have a certain percentage of drama and this drama nearly always takes the form of an emotional outburst. Valentines day primarily deals with love the most powerful emotion of all and as such it will always have a sort of dramatic element to it, very attractive to Filipinos.

Valentines day combines emotional mythology and religious mythology two very influential factors in Philippine culture.
What’s more this combination of religion and love is
expressed publically and in a slightly dramatic way thus
guaranteeing Valentines day a place of preeminence in
modern Philippine society

Last but certainly by no means least there is the commercial factor. Although Valentines day has its roots in Ancient Roman tradition Valentines Day has been appropriated by commercialism and today’s version is among other things, very much a commercial enterprise representing a chance to make money. Every year there are vast amounts of symbolic Valentines day products produced in many countries throughout the world and the Philippines is no exception. Here in the Philippines the whole gamut of Valentines day regalia is represented there are plastic hearts on a stick, heart shaped cushions and red Valentines day balloons with special love messages, through to valentines candy, valentines cake, roses, valentines greeting cards and of course Valentines jewelry.

Heart shaped candies and chocolate the classic Valentines day gift.

All of these products are important both in their symbolic value and also in their commercial value and to be honest Valentines day is traditionally a huge day for retailers across the Philippines directly bolstering the national economy. With the inundation of Valentines day related products, especially here in the Philippines, one could be forgiven for thinking Valentines day is purely an exercise in crass commercialism however if one considers the history and its true meaning together with how it relates to the Philippine culture, Valentines day, takes on a much more profound perspective, which goes way beyond commercialism and the power of the piso.

Basically I think Valentines day relates on two levels in Filipino society. On one level it represents the mythology, religious connotations and a celebration of love, on another level it represents a chance for Filipinos to express their emotions in a fun and creative way and of course a massive bolstering of the Philippine economy. From a simple kiss in the park and the giving of inexpensive gifts through to lavish dinners at expensive restaurants and mammoth kissing competitions Valentines day in the Philippines is something truly special and an event enjoyed by all.

Throughout the Philippines, from the biggest cities to the smallest most remote provincial areas, there are street vendors and stall operators plying their trade. These vendors and the produce they sell invariably reflect ready availability of commodities from the local environment – specifically, anything that has a low initial purchasing price and the opportunity for a significantly marked-up end sale price. These vendors and their produce will to some extent reflect as well as create certain cultural aspects of Philippine society.

Perhaps the most famous or should I say infamous of all the products sold by street vendors is Balot. Balot is basically a duck or chicken egg with a semi formed fetus inside. For the uninitiated taste buds this tastes vile, and even the Filipinos whom I know that eat this do not claim it tastes nice.

Male virility is an important aspect of Filipino culture and it represents an intriguing mixture of Spanish and Chinese influences. The ‘machismo’ and extroverted masculinity aspects come from the Spanish influence whereas the belief that a man’s potency can be increased by what he eats, is more of a Chinese concept. In fact I would hypothesize that the practice of eating of balut has Chinese origins and is a classic example of Chinese influence on Filipino culture.

Another food sold by vendors which clearly demonstrates the Chinese influence on Philippine culture, is chicken feet. I can distinctly remember the first time I saw these being served in a Chinese restaurant in Sydney and my reaction was much the same then as it is today, YUCK. However my reaction is far from common place in the Philippines as many Filipinos seem to consider barbecue chicken feet, barbecue chicken intestines along with barbecue pork as part of their staple diet.

Prior to arriving in the Philippines I always associated chicken feet with Chinese cuisine and upon first arriving in Manila in 1991 it was quite a shock for me to see them being sold on a street side barbecue stand. Over time I have gotten used to seeing them on a daily basis and upon reflection I realize chicken feet are another example of the Chinese influence on Filipino culture.

Apart from deep fried and boiled foods much street food is cooked by utilizing a barbecue grill. This is a very effective and cheap way of cooking but does not have the advantage of portability.

Pork along with chicken is very much the staple meat source in the Philippines. Again most parts of the slaughtered pig will be used for consumption including what is referred to as Tainga or pigs ear.

When it comes to street cooking the grill or barbecue is the qucik, portable and an inexpensive means of cooking. Best of all the raw produce can be readily purchased from the local market at very low prices and resold incorporating a significant mark up. These are high profitability items. The barbecue produce can vary in price anywhere from 5 piso through to 15 piso and it is often consumed in a social situation along with alcohol. When the food is served in this way it is referred to as Pulutan.

Chicken and pork are by far the most common sorts of meat consumed by Filipinos not including fish. The problem is pork and especially chicken are mostly fried which is not exactly the healthiest means of cooking. Upon walking the streets of Angeles you will often see street vendors with their portable stalls selling fried chicken. Normally this will be a piece of chicken wrapped in flour and a wok with cooking oil heated by a gas flame very much like an enlarged portable bunson burner. Each piece of fried chicken costs 20 piso and as you can see by the amount pf chicken he has pre prepared this is quite a popular snack and probably quite profitable.

Pork fat soup

A chicken broth soup with noodles and pieces of chicken

For some reason Filipinos seem to like a lot of their food stuff either raw or unripened. A classic example of this is the Green Mango. Vendors will mostly utilize a push bike with covered side car attached.

I have often pondered why Filipinos like to eat their fruit raw and the only reason I can come up with is that in this country food can be a scarce commodity so if hungry enough you do not wait unti a fruit is ripe to eat it, on the contrary, you consume it as soon as possible. Secondly competition is fierce in this country and if you don’t consume the fruit when you have the chance, someone else will.

From eating raw fruit out of necessity I hypothesize that what started out as a necessity has slowly crossed over into mainstream culture to the extent where eating raw fruit is now considered totally normal. A second factor is that when eaten with the shrimp paste your taste buds are assaulted by totally opposite flavors which makes for an interesting eating experience.

Very often the Mango vendors will also have other types of fruit to sell including a local orange called dalandan which is picked and consumed whilst still unripe. Depending on the time of season there may also be oranges, mandarins and even apples.

To make the banana fritter the banana is fried in a wok with raw sugar and cooking oil. The banana is very sweet and naturally filling which at ten piso a pop makes it a cheap way of taking the edge of your hunger.

Slowly but surely as the Filipino taste buds become exposed to outside influences a number of different fruits are finding their way onto the streets of Angeles. For example on my way home after work I stopped at my favorite fruit stall on Fields Avenue only to be confronted with a variety of fruit including Kiwi fruit. Coming from New Zealand originally this was somewhat of a pleasant surprise for me and I asked SWMBO to ask the vendor if they were grown here and she received a definite yes. Somewhere around Angeles there is a kiwi fruit farm or maybe it’s in Bagiou, either way the point remains it is now finally possible to get a greater range of fruits in the Philippines.

Another way of selling peanuts very common in most of the bars is to sell a plate full of deep fried peanuts for 20 piso. For this the vendor will go the market buy the peanuts and other merchandise in bulk then resell them as smaller portions.

Being composed of numerous islands it is only natural that a major component of the Filipino diet is seafood and fresh water fish. In terms of the vendors this will normally take the most abundant and therefore easily accessible and cheapest product to sell. For seafood this will normally be a small fresh water fish called Tinapa. These fish are about the size of a sardine and are smoked by the vendor who then sells them raw and smoked. The cost is 25 piso for 3 pieces. Once the smoked fish is purchased it is then stir fried in cooking oil and eaten with rice.

As you get into some of the more provincial areas the food types and the means of selling them become more basic. In many cases for the older and more traditional Filipinos you will not even use the bicycle but instead they will balance the food on their head and sell it like a door to door sales person.

A lot of street food are products which come from the immediate surrounding environment. Generally speaking these products are cheap to grow and can be sold for a handsome markup. One example of this is corn or maize as the Filipinos call it. The corn is sold on roadside stalls and also by mobile vendors who trail it around in a hot tub. Normally the corn ears are precooked and sold to purchasers with butter and a sprinkling of salt. The corn ears cost twenty piso each.

The Philippine street food is both basic and diverse as well as being a direct contributor to, and reflection of, Philippine culture. It is nearly always plentiful, cheap, and ready to be consumed with minimal preparation. For us foreigners there is literally a whole new world to be explored complete with some very nice and some not so nice, taste experiences.

The concept of show girls acting as an individual specialized dance group separate from the bigger body of normal go-go dancers has been around for a long time however the first bar to actually make their dance troupe prominent and try to attract customers utilizing a dance group, was Jools in Makati.

With their emphasis on show girls and specialized dance troupes, Jools was singlehandedly responsible for the emergence of showgirls and professional dance troupes into the mainstream girlie bar industry. The shows came about primarily because they saw the opportunity to cater for a sizeable niche market, that of local business men and their international clients.

Secondly the shows were perceived purely as entertainment. Rather than selling sex, the bar was seen as selling entertainment.The issue of bar fines has always been contentious in Makati and the shows basically took the emphasis away from bar-fines and placed it on entertainment. Lastly the shows were professionally choreographed and offered something different from the norm. At this time the majority of bars simply offered rows of bikini clad girls standing on stage hardly moving or the old fashioned Filipino style where a solo dancer would perform one or two numbers either removing articles of clothing or at the very least gyrating her body in a sexually provocative way. When Jools came along with their emphasis on professional dance troupes they raised the level of the bar so to speak and developed a whole new facet of the girlie bar industry.

The second stage in the evolution of dance troupes particularly those composed exclusively of female members was the emergence of the “sex bomb dancers” on mainstream television. In approximately 2003 -2004 the “sex bomb dancers”, who performed on a local afternoon show “eat bulaga”, suddenly became famous and a role model for every female from age 5 to 45. The sex bombs represented a celebration and the public aggrandizement of female sexuality. This was a sort of girl power movement taking the form of a dance troupe and complimented by a hit single. The Sex Bombs represented the slightly naughty and sexually provocative aspects of femininity as such it was only a matter of time until they became role models for females across the country. With their constant exposure through a national television station and airplay of the sex bomb song, it was in some ways inevitable that they should come to define certain aspects of femininity in the Philippines. Indeed, it was not uncommon to see female kids in the slums of Manila and in the remotest provincial areas gyrating their hips to the sex bomb song and directly mimicking the sex bomb dancers. Their popularity was to some extent ground breaking and it wasn’t long until rival groups such as the Viva hot babes came into existence and between them they paved the way for the emergence of all female professional dance troupes within the girlie bar industry and even within everyday Filipino culture including in the provincial fiestas.

Over my years of working in the bars I have seen numerous dance shows and so called professional dance troupes. I have made my own observations and talked to numerous customers and as such have formed definite opinions regarding dance groups. Basically I see more disadvantages than advantages but for the purpose of this article I will simply highlight both and let the readers form their own opinion.

(Picture of Blue Nile showgirls)

The Blue Nile show girls during their seventh anniversary show.

One major advantage of a separate group of show girls, or cultural dancers, is that they break up the monotony of just more bikini clad girls standing on stage looking bored. When they first started in AC they were something different from the norm and helped distinguish the Blue Nile Executive from its competitors.

A second advantage was how the Cultural Dancers were perceived. As in the case of its Makati predecessor Jools, local business men would take their friends and business clients up to the Exec and watch what was perceived as a politically correct show. There could be no innuendo or allegations of sexual impropriety bought against cultural dancers whose dance reflected the cultural values of Filipino society. The cultural dancers helped the owners position the Executive so as to appeal to an affluent niche market and a more up-market clientele in general.

(Picture of Blue Nile showgirls)

A further advantage is that when done properly a dance group can create an energetic atmosphere in the bar. In Neros it was not uncommon for the majority of girls to gather round and cheer on the show girls especially when they had a new dance routine. The newness of the routine was not necessarily appreciated by the customers but the atmosphere created by the girls cheering on the dancers, certainly was.

For every girl there is always a limit to her bar life longevity. All girls go through what I call the “barizing” process and after a while they are either too old or jaded to be dancing in a bikini however these same girls will often make excellent show girls because the emphasis, in their mind, is on dancing and providing entertainment, as opposed to dancing so as to attract a man for sex.

One major advantage is in terms of the image the showgirls portray. The professional show girls take away the emphasis on bar fines and sex for money replacing it with an emphasis on professional entertainment. This is a particularly relevant point considering the political environment at the current time.

The saying states, competition is a wonderful thing, and when it comes to show girls this is certainly true. Now that there are several different groups of bars providing show girls and competing for the same market, the standard of the dance routines has risen considerably and a new level of professionalism has come into being.

(Picture of Neros showgirls)

A final advantage is that when the show girls are on stage this gives the normal dancers a chance to mingle and communicate with the customers. It allows them time to approach the customers on the ground level and talk to him rather than having to make eye contact from the stage. When communication occurs between the girls and the customers everyone wins.

Perhaps the major disadvantage of having show girls is that it creates a division between the girls who work in the bar. As already discussed it is often the show girls who see themselves as being better or more important than the normal dancer when in fact the opposite is true.

The Filipinas who work in the bar often have what I call a clannish mentality where they like to form their own little gangs and in my experience having a separate group of so called show girls very much panders to the gang mentality.

(Picture of Bad Influence Dancers)

In many cases there is an over emphasis on the showgirls and a classic example of this is the Bad Influence Dancers. They are now being promoted as a major attraction supposed to entice the customer into the soon to open Golden Nile. The Golden Nile is a rather large building which will incorporate two floors of poker machines and other gambling activities with a large show bar on the third floor. In this bar there will no doubt be numerous dancers and yet the promotional banners outside the club only feature the Bad Influence dancers. Personally I think an advertisement stating that they have over 100 beautiful dancers would be a much more powerful enticement for me to visit the bar than an advertisement for the Bad Influence dancers.

The Bad Influence dance group. They are performing in Cambodia but being advertised outside the Golden Nile.

One big negative for me is the fact that the so called show girls often exist at a cost to the normal line up. A classic example of this is Tropix Bar. Here the mamasans have created a showgirl group by taking the best girls out of the normal dance lineup. As a result the normal dance line up is severely depleted of good looking girls.

The lack of variety in the shows is a big problem. Most often they will have a bakla dance instructor and the dance moves are just so obviously choreographed by a male trying to look feminine. When the real females copy these moves it tends to look ridiculous. What’s more most of the baklas have very similar dance moves so it looks like the different groups in different bars have all been choreographed by the same dance instructor. Here I must give credit to the Bad Influence at least their show is original and different from the show routines that exist in other bars.

The lack of variety is also a problem for the all female professional dance groups such as the Bad Influence. The Bad Influence originally came from Makati the spawning ground of professional showgirls and even though they have been working in the Blue Nile Group for over one year, I am yet to see a new dance incorporated into their routine. They are doing exactly the same dance numbers as when they first started.

Far from dying the Bad Influence group is in fact expanding.

(Picture of Tropix showgirls)

(Picture of Atlantis showgirls)

Personally I cannot see how groups such as the Bad Influence make money but obviously there must be an angle here that eludes me because if they were not a profitable option they would no longer be in existance. At the end of the day they like everyone else working in the bar are part of a business and as such are there to create money for that business.

For the customer who wishes to date a lady from the bar the show girls represent a major inconvenience. In most cases their bar fines are more expensive and even then the girl cannot leave until after a certain time as she is part of the show group. For example the Neros show girls are encouraged to wait until after midnight before they can leave with a customer. To me this is clearly a case of placing an emphasis on entertainment at the cost of customer satisfaction.

Because the show girl position is seen as being a better position than a normal dancer it is valued and a much sought after position amongst the girls. Because it is valued, so too is everything that goes with the position, including the dance moves. These girls literally see their position as a source of pride and whenever they get the chance they will revert to the dance moves they have learnt. In the local disco Skytrax it is not uncommon to see groups of show girls actually dancing to a particular song utilizing their dance moves incorporated in their show. The same scenario can be seen when a customer takes a show girl bar hopping, many times the girl will be in another bar and when she hears a song which is incorporated in her show she will start doing the exact same dance moves as she would when performing a show. Personally I find this slightly annoying and inconsiderate.

(Picture of Atlantis showgirls)

The Atlantis showgirls.

There are some advantages to having showgirls and professional dance troupes however there are also many disadvantages. As the Angeles bar scene evolves I can see a much greater emphasis on show girls and professional dance group type of entertainment. Could this be the future direction of Angeles bars, are we looking at a future scenario where the bars are strictly entertainment like in Vegas? I guess only time will tell but I certainly hope this is not the case.

Within the Philippine bar scene at the current moment there is a debate ensuing regarding bar managers and bar managers practices such as giving away OTH. Basically there are two schools of thought regarding OTH. One school which I describe as the anti OTH school and the other being the pro OTH school. In the anti OTH school on the house drinks are seen as a waste and a cost which should be minimized wherever possible. In the pro OTH school they are viewed as an investment which when utilized properly, will generate a profitable return.

In this article I will analyze the relevant points of both schools of thought and in so doing hopefully give readers a better perspective of the OTH debate so as they can make up their own mind.

Amongst Philippine bar owners there seems to be a growing opinion that if the bars in Thailand can operate without OTH then so too can the bars in the Philippines. The bar owners who compare the Thailand bar scene OTH and that of the Philippines will at worst see OTH as a waste and at best as a necessary evil to be minimized wherever possible.

The anti OTH arguments states that by buying a customer a drink you are not only wasting the bars money but in fact costing the bar money. The argument states that the customer has his own money so he will normally buy his own drink. By buying him a drink you are stopping him from buying it himself and at the same time incurring the cost of a drink, as a cost to the bar. This argument concludes that the end effect of OTH is that it takes away from the bars profit. Some people even go so far as to say by buying some customers a drink you draw unwanted attention to them and it may even be a reason for that person not to come back to the bar.

Another extension of this argument states that most customers can only consume limited amounts of alcohol so they will often not appreciate another drink even if it is free.

Some bar owners claim that OTH is too easily abused by managers and customers so it is better not to have it all. In regards to the managers this argument states the OTH actually makes things too easy for them, because they do not have to pay for it they tend to forget about the cost of giving it away. As an extension to this line of thought they argue that being oblivious to the costs will encourage the managers to give away drinks randomly without any thought as to the objectives they are trying to achieve through OTH in the first place. This argument does have some validity however amongst the vast majority of bar managers I have found them to know exactly how and when to give away a free drink and will keep in mind the objectives they are trying to achieve by doing so.

In regards to managers another argument states that since alcohol for them is free, managers will often get drunk and abuse the OTH either through personal consumption or through giving it away to their friends. Whilst this may be true in some cases it is also true to say that managers who have been doing the job for an extended period of time are in fact quite weary of alcohol and the problems it can cause when over indulged in plus they are also well aware of customers whom buy back and the others who just seem to take but never buy back.

Lastly the OTH is open to abuse from the staff that work in the bar and indeed in my experience it is common for the staff to place a small amount of drinks on the managers or mamasans OTH check list. This can be a minor problem but will not escalate if the proper checks and balances are put in place right from the word go.

In regards to the customers some bar owners have claimed that some customers actually come to rely on OTH and expect it. Indeed during my time of managing bars I have on several occasions been approached by customers asking where is their OTH drink and when I reply “I am not buying one today” they actually seem upset, almost as if they regard it as their right to receive it.

There are many arguments in favor of OTH but in the interests of ease of reading I will just try to briefly highlight the main ones.

Firstly and perhaps most importantly there is the costing factor. Opponents who argue against OTH will often view it as a percentage of the total sales and it will be charged at customer prices. For example rum and coke will be charged at anywhere between 45 piso through to 95 piso when in fact it only costs about 5 piso for the bar to supply it. The same argument can be used for San Miguel beer which is purchased at approximately 20 piso but charged on the OTH from anywhere between 45 piso to 95 piso.

There are numerous advantages to buying an OTH drink for a customer and following are just some of them that I have been able to categorize over my years of working in the bar.

Firstly there is the rent a customer argument which states that people go where people are, in other words few people will walk into a quiet bar as they automatically think ‘what is wrong with this bar’, ‘why is no one here’. On the other hand if they walk into a bar and there are some people sitting around enjoying a drink then they are more likely to stay. In short by buying people a drink you are keeping customers in the bar which in turn attracts other customers.

There is always a strong social element in the Philippine bar business and a key element of this is OTH drinks. When the manager buys an OTH drink for a customer this serves a number of purposes. If the customer is new then the drink acts as a social icebreaker and if the customer is known to the manager the drink serves as a sign of greeting or respect. In each case the fact is the drink is keeping people in the bar, it is establishing friendly communication between the customer and manager, it is creating an opportunity for the customer to spend money either by buying a drink for the manager, another drink for himself, or possibly a ladies drink or even the taking a girl out of the bar. The point here is that if the manager didn’t purchase the OTH drink in the first place none of these scenarios would even have a chance of eventuating.

The OTH drinks have a tremendous word of mouth value. For example as a great English poet once said “no man is an island” and when you buy a customer a drink he will no doubt tell his friends and encourage them to come in and enjoy a drink in your bar. Few men are loners and the customer you buy a drink for will invariably know other customers and so on and so on.
Perhaps the most obvious advantage of OTH drinks is their profitability. The cost to the bar for buying a shooter or normal drink will normally be a fraction of what the customer is charged and in fact the markup for the bars is often 150% or more. As a result when the customer buys a drink back it is obviously a very profitable proposition for the bar but the most profitable scenario for the bar is when the shooters are involved. For example the shooters even if they are composed of imported liquor are cheap to make, small volume, quickly and easily consumed, they normally come in rounds and best of all there is an implicit understanding on behalf of the customer and the bar manager that a round will be bought back.

Last but by no means least it is a well known fact amongst the bar manager fraternity that the more drunk your customers are the more likely they are to spend money. Buying OTH drinks certainly helps facilitate this situation as well as helping to create an atmosphere more conducive to spending

As a bar manager I am very much in favor of OTH and in my experience when used properly it is an effective money spinner within the bar environment. Yes I concede that it can be misused and needs to be kept in check but for me the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Replacing my bar manager hat with my customer hat I once again am very much in favor of OTH drinks and am certainly grateful when I receive one from a bar manager.

The bar scene is changing and evolving so it will be interesting to see what happens to bar managers as well as to the concept of OTH drinks. Personally I see both of them as something unique and an essential part of the Philippine bar business which hopefully will be around for many years to come.

Once we arrived we got a closer look at what was for sale.

As expected there was a varied range of fruits and vegetables on sale. The seller was quite friendly and the prices were good. The girls seem unexplainably entertained by the produce.

I have to say it is rather remarkable how these places can just appear anywhere then build and build until the authorities come through and drive them out at which point they will just start the process up all over again somewhere else.

We asked Ronalie (No Nose) to ask the store keepers which days of the week they are running. After about twenty minutes she comes back and says “One guy said they are open everyday the lady at the dress shop says it is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Finally the Food lady says it is open only two days a week (no idea which two)”. Admittedly we were not too surprised as this kind of response seems to be a typical Filipino answer.

Finally after a long hot thirty minutes of shopping we cooled off with a refreshing drink of buko juice, buko meaning coconut.

Referring to managers as a “dying breed” has always been a rather worrying statement for me in that it is too close to home. As a result, when it was said to me just the other night by a bar owner from Thailand, I paused for a moment of reflection and decided this subject would make an interesting column for AE.

Normally when someone says to me ‘you bar managers are a dying breed’ I pretend to brush it off as a flippant comment that I have heard a thousand times, however, given what has happened to the Blue Nile Group management team, (which until recently I was part of), the Thailand bar owners statement hit home and made me ponder the statement on a much deeper level than I normally would.

To fully understand the role of a professional bar manager it is necessary to look at how the position evolved. In the mid eighties in M. H. Pillar, Ermita, Manila the bar scene suddenly started to take off with an influx of money invested and an influx of customers availing of services the bars were offering. As the bar scene expanded it evolved from the owners acting as owner /managers to a fully blown industry incorporating individuals whose only job was to manage the bar on a day to day or should I say, night to night, basis. Back in those days it was common for the manager to drink copious amounts of alcohol, give away even greater amounts of alcohol and generally create a party atmosphere in conjunction with the girls and the customers. This in turn would encourage the customers to spend more and the end result was revenue for the bar.

A bar manager and customer both sculling shooters with no hands. In days gone by this sort of behavior was considered par for the course.

The concept of a ‘girlie bar’ manager creating a party atmosphere is in many ways unique to the Philippines. For example you will not find many professional girlie bar managers in Thailand or other parts of Asia and when you do he will normally be an owner wearing both his owner hat and manager’s hat. This situation occurs partly because in other countries the emphasis is on directly selling alcohol and sexual services rather than creating a party atmosphere.

So are bar managers a dying breed, is the position of professional bar manager soon to be a thing of the past? In my opinion the answer to this is both yes and no depending upon the sort of bar and the owners marketing approach. In many of the bigger more commercial bars (Doll House, Atlantis, Tropix, Crystal Palace, Blue Nile, Neros and Blue Nile Executive) it would seem there is a definite trend to utilize cheaper Filipino management as opposed to the more costly foreign management. There are numerous reasons why this has occurred some of which I will now examine in this article.

Firstly there is the question of cost. By not employing foreign managers the bar will cut down on OTH (on the house) drinks and the bars salary bill will be significantly less. Whilst this line of thinking may be true on paper it is in reality a falsehood because by cutting down on OTH you may minimize expenses but at the same time you also minimize sales.

The same argument can also be applied when you address the question of Filipino managers versus foreigner managers. The simple fact is the Fields Avenue -Perimeter Road bars are mainly patronized by foreigners and these same foreigners will often choose which bar to visit based on the fact they are friends with a particular bars manager. Caucasian customers naturally tend to patronize bars which are run by Caucasian managers just as Filipino customers often feel more comfortable patronizing a bar run by Filipino managers.

Secondly there is the question of the owner’s market perception. The owners who see their main market as being the Asian customers really have no need of a highly paid foreign manager. In most cases the Asian customers are handled by the mamasans and contact between the foreigner managers and Asian customers is traditionally minimal. Conversely, owners who employ foreign managers expect the managers to attract foreigner customers to their bar.

Thirdly there is the question of a bars ambiance. On the whole I think it is safe to generalize and say the owners who choose to employ Filipino managers over foreigners place little emphasis on a bars ambiance. In my opinion a good foreigner manager will influence a bars ambiance by his presence, his appearance, his personality, his implementation of the rules, his relationship with the girls, his choice of music or his approach towards the customers. To this day I have only seen one Filipino manager who considers the ambience of the bar an important factor which influences the bars sales.

This man is renowned for his outlandish apparel and unique ability to generate the party ambiance.

Fourthly there is the question of the interaction between the manager and customer. Generally speaking the owners who employ foreign managers view customer relations, (or PR as it is often referred to), as an important part of the job and those who employ locals place only a minimal emphasis on customer relations. For the owners who employ Filipino managers they place an emphasis on the girls and the mamasans relating to the customer rather than the manager. In this situation the manager job becomes more of a supervisory role.

Prince Charles a happy customer indeed as he parties with the girls in Lollipop bar.

Fifthly it is a well known fact that the political climate which effects the bars is changing rather quickly and as such no one is absolutely certain what direction things will take. In uncertain times such as these there is a prevailing logic which states who better to deal with the Filipino powers that be than a Filipino citizen. In this scenario the manager actually assumes the duties of official representative for the bars.

When discussing the value of a bar manager the most important aspect to consider is return on investment. Basically if the owners view the manager as an investment then they must look at their return on investment. In most instances the very least a bar manager should be able to produce in sales is his salary plus ten percent. By doing this he is covering the cost of employing him and his OTH expenditure. Obviously most owners will expect a lot more from the manager than just covering what he costs and as a general guideline I have found a productive manager on any single night will be directly responsible for producing sales equaling his salary plus 60%. Of course this figure will vary from night to night but over a period of one month it tends to average out to roughly this amount.

Speaking as someone who makes his living from managing a bar I feel worried by the trends I am observing in the rapidly changing Angeles bar scene. With several of the bigger bars choosing to utilize Filipino management the employment options for foreign bar managers are becoming more and more limited. Most of the bigger bars with the potential to gainfully employ a foreign manager have either decided to cut costs and go with the lower paid Filipino managers and the other big bars that like foreign managers have already employed one and are happy with his performance. As a result the only other options are medium sized bars and the smaller Perimeter Road bars. In the case of the medium sized bars they are normally operating on a tighter budget than the bigger bars so as a result, traditionally speaking, they pay their managers less than the big bars.

The next option is the Perimeter Road bars but here again the budget comes into play. Basically the Perimeter road bars operate on a very tight budget and this is why you will often find a sort of owner/manager situation in these bars. By the owner assuming the duties of manager he manages to save paying out a regular wage. In most Perimeter Road bars the main group of customers will be local expatriates and long term visitors who frequent that bar because they know the manager/owner and enjoy drinking with him. This of course places a special importance on the manager’s role yet the irony is in most cases the bars do not generate enough income to justify employing a full time professional manager.

Last but not least there is a seeming lack of new blood coming into the industry. Many have gone on record as saying bar management is a young man’s game and yet there are very few young men working as, or seeking the position as, bar manager. Currently in Angeles I can think of only four managers under 30 years of age who are employed in the bars, what’s more, in the last 18 years I have seen only a few younger men apply for the job. As the future of the business will ultimately rely on the younger generation the lack of younger men working in the industry or seeking to work in the industry, does not bode well for the positions future.

To summarize I do believe the statement “bar managers are a dying breed” has a certain element of truth in it. Basically many of the big bars in Manila as well as Angeles are turning towards utilizing the Filipino labor force in the position of bar managers. In Makati there are approximately 40 bars yet there is only one full time manager that I know of and even he is looking at leaving. In Pasay there is basically only the Firehouse Complex at EDSA which to the best of my knowledge does not employ foreign managers but rather the owners tend to act as owner managers and the emphasis of customer entertainment is placed on the mamasan. In Subic the bars do employ managers but normally this is considered a part time job or just something to do to keep busy and the majority of bars are small affairs where the owner acts as owner and manager. As the bar scene in Subic grows there will no doubt be more available positions offering a decent salary but when this will actually happen is impossible to accurately predict.

Currently the only place for a professional bar manager to effectively ply his trade is Angeles. As long as the bar owners have the opinion that a good manager will bring in substantially more revenue than what he costs then the position is to some extent secure and has a future. On the other hand if what I call the cost minimization mentality prevails and the perceived value of a bar manager declines then the statement ‘bar managers are a dying breed’ may well prove to be prophetic in the near future.

“Send me money honey”. How often have I heard this exact phrase gushing forth from the mouths of Filipinas. Even the girls with a limited grasp of English quickly learn how to say this perfectly. Yes I am a bit cynical when I say this, but the simple fact is when you are involved with a Filipina the issue of financial support will always be an important factor in your relationship. I would estimate that up to 90% of the Filipinas we foreigners meet have very little money and expect us as foreigners to give them money. In the short term the giving of money will take the form of a cash remittance for services rendered or possibly an act of charity but in the long term it will take the form of financial support. The level of support required will vary amongst individual girls but at the end of the day when involved with a Filipina it is almost inevitable and something we all have to come to terms with.

Fourthly it is important to realize that in the Philippines the wages are low and there is a general lack of income earning potential no matter how hard you are prepared to work or what level of education you may obtain. Consequently, many Filipinas find it necessary to supplement their meager income with money being sent from overseas.

A second reason is a genuine sense of altruism or simply a desire to help the girls make something more of their life. Recently I was telling a friend of mine about this article and since he has been down the support road many times with a number of different girls he was immediately interested. In fact he even proposed he write down the reasons why he supports girls which I gladly accepted. The following is what he wrote “I Like to get girls out of the bar that really, really don’t want to be in the bar or are especially vulnerable”.

“- Even if it goes bad and they end up returning to that, at least I kept them out of it for a little while – because in the end, if one is honest with oneself – it is not a very pleasant job and I don’t like to see them have to put up with the plethora of jackasses that think it’s cool to treat people like objects instead of people … just because they can …”.

There is of course another side to the altruism argument. When I discussed the support issue with another close friend of mine he argued that by providing support you may be doing the girl a favor in the short term but in the long term you are actually doing her a disfavor. Certainly you are taking her out of the bar and certainly you are providing short term support for the girl and her family but the reality is your support will not last forever and secondly the bar girls so called “shelf life” is a short term time span so by taking her out of the bar “you are shortening the time she has to find someone to marry her”.

Another prominent reason guys like to support a girl is to ensure sexual exclusivity. I have seen many guys who support girls because they believe that in so doing they will receive exclusive sexual rights. This is in fact a fallacy and whilst support money may satisfy the girl’s familial obligations and provide rice on the table it will not guarantee sexual exclusivity.

There are a number of questions that are associated with the issue of supporting a Filipina and to be honest there are no conclusive answers. First among these is how much is enough? To be honest there is no definite amount that can be used as an indicator because there are so many variables and each case is different. When asked I generally reply ‘well I am no expert but twenty to twenty five thousand piso per month should suffice’. Some people will say this is not enough whereas others will say this is too much. I then reply “well how much you spend is really up to you, I am just giving you a general guideline based on my experiences”.

So now for the million dollar question, should you support a Filipina? There are a two main arguments for supporting a Filipina and they are as follows.

1: By providing support you are helping the girls who have limited means of getting money otherwise.

2: By providing support you are helping the girl get out of the bar life.

3: By sending support you are helping someone less fortunate than yourself.

4: The altruistic feeling that is engendered by sending support.

There are several arguments against sending support.

1: By providing support you actually take them off the market during their prime time and in so doing decrease their chances of finding a husband.

2: By just giving money you encourage the “hands out mentality” when it would be more constructive to help them help themselves.

3: By giving money you are perpetuating the family support system. It is a simple fact that in most cases the money you send to help your girl will actually be used to support her family rather than herself.

4: From the mongering perspective by taking a girl out of the bar and supporting her you are weakening the bars ability to provide you the monger with girls whom you and other mongers would want to meet. By weakening a bars lineup you actually hurt the bars profitability.

5: With support will come a number of expectations on behalf of the supporter. Normally the priority expectation would be sexual exclusivity but in my experience this is an unrealistic expectation. Just because you send money to a girl do not assume this will then guarantee you sexual exclusivity. The fact is in most cases the Filipina bar girl has multiple lovers.

6: Another expectation often associated with support is honesty. Most men if supporting a girl will expect their girl to be honest. Again it is my experience that this is rarely the case, indeed I have seen girls picking up two different payments from different men at the same time.

To be honest there is no easy answer to the should I or shouldn’t I support a girl question and when I discuss it with people I find it usually boils down to what their expectations are. When supporting a Filipina most people have a number of expectations or should I say conditions that go with the support and in my experience it will always boil down to whether these expectations are realistic for both parties. As stated previously there are no absolutes when it comes to supporting a girl and each case will vary according the individuals involved and the conditions involved.

If you are considering supporting a Filipina it is my sincere hope that this article will provide you with some helpful insights and practical guidelines. Whilst there are no definite answers and every situation is different, one thing is for sure, getting involved with a Filipina will be a unique experience and a ride full of highs and lows unlike any other.

Having been diagnosed with waitressitis I reflected on my times in the bar and it was with wry amusement that I realized just one night previously I had been yelling for a waitress and probably contracted the disease.

There I was sitting at the managers table with a few friends and it was my round so I looked around for a waitress but of course none were visible. I knew we had at least 15 waitresses on duty that night so I was not amused by their lack of appearance. I looked at Shagger and said “these f*&^%$ng waitresses are like taxies always hanging around when you don’t need them but never around when you need them” He looked at me with a knowing smirk and said “go check in the change room, mate”.

Following his suggestion I rose and walked to the change room to be greeted by 8 waitresses, 4 sitting around having a chat and a chow down, 3 waiting for the Bakla to do their makeup and 1 just surveying the whole scene.

Well this was too much for me and as the blood boiled I yelled “hey waitresses what the f*&k are you doing in here.” When they heard me yell they looked at me and the groups spokesperson replied, “daddy we on break time”. Now ordinarily I would have asked why do you all have to take your break time together but being here long I knew better so instead I politely asked “can I please have a waitress at the managers table right now, if it’s not too much trouble”. Instantly one waitress got up and took my order when I returned to the managers table. One hour later it was my round again and I looked for a waitress only to find two sitting just beside the table having a good old chin wag. I politely asked just loud enough to be heard over the music, “waitress” but as usual no one heard me so I had to yell at the top of my voice thus exacerbating my waitressitis.

Just recently I read Pok Pok boys thread called the role of waitresses and upon reading it I decided this would make a good topic for an AE column. Thanks in advance to Pok Pok Boy for the insightful thread which demonstrated his vast experience and inspired me to write down my own thoughts on this subject. Pok Pok boy, rest assured I will unashamedly plagiarize your post and expand upon your thoughts wherever possible.
In this article I will attempt to define the role of a waitress and also examine the reasons why there are so few competent waitresses in the AC bars scene. In so doing I hope I will pass on some useful information and at the same time come to a better understanding of the AC bar waitress myself thus saving my vocal cords and what hair I have left from wiatressitis.

So what exactly is the role of waitresses in the AC bars? Well it just so happens that I have definite ideas on this as I have had many a meeting with waitresses and the following is what I tell them.

1: Her role is to serve customers their drinks and in some cases food.

2: Her role is to help the dancers get ladies and serve the dancers ladies drinks.

3: Wherever possible her role is to get ladies drink herself.

4: Since she is often the first point of contact with the customer it is also her job to entertain the customer with light hearted conversation.

5: In many bars the waitresses must look sexy and visually appealing, in fact, they are positively encouraged to go EWR.

Pok Pok boy tackled this question by stating why waitresses are selected or hired and why girls want to be waitresses instead of dancers. In so doing he bought up some very relevant points as to why in many cases bar waitresses are incompetent at their job. I am not saying they are all incompetent in fact there are some very good waitresses but in my experience these are few and far between.

1: A girl will often become a waitress because she is a “long term employee” and past her prime as a dancer. Since she can no longer make money as a dancer she is “rewarded with a change in job description” and becomes a waitress. Basically when a girl reaches this stage she has very little options in the bar so this is seen as her last step and an easy way to make money.

A classic example of this is Evelyn a waitress in Neros who can supposedly suck a bowling ball through a garden hose. Yes she has well accredited oral skills but is a bit long in the tooth to be a productive dancer so as a result she has decided to ply her trade as a waitress.

2: The girl is a cute cherry girl that can get ladies drinks but doesn’t go out with customers hence she becomes a waitress where there is less emphasis on going EWR.

3: Thirdly there is what I refer to as the standby situation, this is where a customer steady barfines a dancer and for whatever reasons wants her to stay in the bar but not to go out with other men. Often the customer, the bar staff, the mamasan and the girl in question will opt for the better of two evils and rather than be a dancer seek a position as a waitress.
The so called standby situation has disadvantages and advantages. The major disadvantage is that even though she is a waitress and no longer dancing, she will still be exposed to bar life, peer group pressure and other men. In short whilst in the bar she will always have temptation and the modes of behavior she has learnt as a dancer will be reinforced.

The advantages are that the girl can still feel self worth in that she is earning a small income and has what is in her mind a legitimate job. Secondly she still gets to hang out with her friends in an environment she is familiar with and this stops her from feeling bored. Thirdly the besotted customer can now keep an eye on her, or so he thinks.

4: Often amongst Angeles bar girls there is very little comprehension of English and they are not good with slang or accents. Many times I have personally experienced a waitress who will not understand my order either because of her lack of English or because of my accent.

I can distinctly remember one waitress at Nero’s who we aptly named brain surgeon. One night a bunch of us were sitting round the managers table when I ordered a CC ginger for Shagger, a vodka coke for Jason, a Jim Beam diet coke for myself, a Rum Diet coke for Drummer and an SML for Netguard. Shagger looked at me and said “that’s more than one drink I bet you 500 peso she will get the order wrong”.

We waited 5 minutes but no drinks arrived so I looked around and there she was in an animated conversation with the bar tender. I walked up to her and said “let me guess you forgot the order” to which she replied “ooh po, sorry Daddy”. I then repeated the order and made her recite it back to me. Ok now she had it and I was sure the 500 peso was mine.
Another 3 minutes passes when Miss brain surgeon walks up to the table and asks, “on your Bill daddy”? Another 5 minutes passes by and then she saunters back with 3 drinks returns to the bar tender picks up two more and delivers them.

At this point I have a smile on my dial and confidently request that Shagger pay up. He looks at me and says “hang on a second I just have to check this out”. He takes a sip of his CC Ginger and says “there is something wrong with this, it tastes like shit”. I grab his drink and have a sip only to taste J&B with ginger. Close but no cigar and I could see the 500 peso leaving my wallet in a hurry. I looked at Shagger and said “well that doesn’t really count as she did get the whisky part right so let’s call it even” Drummer tasted his only to find whiskey coke, whilst Jason’s was Jack Daniels coke and mine was some strange concoction about as far away from Jim Beam as you could possibly get.

Ok I had to admit she had stuffed up big time so it was time to hand over the 500 to Shagger and then as I did so, amidst various expletives, Netguard looked at me and said “I don’t know what your problem is I got my SML”.

The brain surgeon was a classic situation of if you didn’t laugh you would cry. I remember to this day how Netguard and Jung were sitting at the managers table and Kim was trying to force Tom to drink beer. As such he called the brain surgeon over and ordered a SMB for Tom and an SML for himself. The brain surgeon waddled of and came back placing the SML in front of Tom and the SMB in front of Kim. I was just about to reach over and swap them round when Tom said to me “wait one moment” and called the brain surgeon over. He said to her “You have given us the wrong drinks, I wanted SMB and Kim wanted SML so can you please take these back and bring us what we ordered.” The brain surgeon looks at him vacantly, takes the drinks and gives them back to the bar tender. She then proceeds to tell the bar tender these are the wrong drinks they want SML and SMB not SMB and SML. The bar tender looks at her and suddenly breaks out laughing. At this point brain surgeon scratches her head totally unaware of why the bar tender is laughing looks at drinks and bang it dawns on her. With this she brings the beers back and says to Tom, “funny man you, what do you think to me, stupid?”

The lack of understanding English is a common problem and it is exacerbated by the Filipina habit of just walking away and not admitting that they don’t understand you because to do so would be a loss of face.

5: Lack of training. Lack of training occurs simply because there is no official training for waitresses. They are thrown into the job for the wrong reasons and are expected to learn as they go.

6: Lack of product knowledge. Because there is such strict lines of demarcation and such defined job boundaries the waitresses very rarely progress to bar tenders, as such they have no knowledge of the actual product that is being ordered. For example, many times I have found myself ordering a B52 shaken and unless it’s one of my regular waitresses this request will always be met with a blank stare and the obligatory scratch of the head denoting total bewilderment. Most often it is “ano B52” and the shaken part totally eludes them. If the waitresses had experience behind the bar actually mixing the drinks then they would no doubt have a much easier time understanding the orders, this however will never happen as the bar tender jobs are valued and jealously guarded.

7: They listen but they don’t hear. How often have I heard this said by expats who live here and deal with the Filipinas on a daily basis. So many times I have listened and watched customers ordering drinks only to find the wrong drinks being delivered. I always used to think this was a language problem and the mistakes were coming because the waitresses couldn’t understand English however this misconception was soon to be shattered when I came to work with James.

James is fluent in Tagalog and quite often he will order using this language. I remember one particular night walking into Neros to find him literally pulling his hair out. I asked him “what’s wrong” and he replied watch this. He then called a waitress over and in Tagalog ordered five Jager bombs emphasizing that they were on his bill. The waitress wandered off only to shortly return and ask “Daddy the bar tender wants to know why you order 5 bomba (Tagalog for bomb)”.

James patiently explains the mix of a Jager bomb and emphasizes they are on his bill. Two more minutes pass and an empty handed waitress returns asking “daddy your bill or the customers?”

8: A waitress has a perceptional advantage in that many customers perceive her as being a good girl as opposed to the dancers who are bad girls and high mileage. How many times have I heard customers and girls themselves state, “she worked in the bar as a waitress she was never a dancer”. Straight away the perceived implication is that she was not a whore, aka a dancer, but rather she was a waitress where she is perceived as being a good girl.

In my experience this perception is a false one and in fact the waitresses have often seen more action than the dancers. However the point is not to discuss whether the waitress are good girls or bad but rather to point out that there is a perceptional falsehood at work here and this is not a good reason let alone a necessary qualification for a girl to become a waitress.

Many girls see the position of waitress in the same way as the customers and therefore will strive to become one. Does this mean they will be good waitresses, on the contrary in my experience it means they will be bad waitresses because they do not really understand the duties and they just want to obtain this position because of how it is perceived.

9: Laziness or perhaps the path of least resistance is always a key factor for most waitresses. Let’s face it sitting in the corner, hiding in the dressing room, sleeping on the lounges, chatting up the DJ’s, eating a snack from the lady keeper or outside or having a good old gossip session is common place amongst AC waitresses and as such it has to be an easier job than dancing 8 half hour sets every night. The laziness aspect is exacerbated when they divide the bar into service stations. Often you will see a customer trying to get service from a waitress but she will just sit down and ignore his pleas and when asked why she will tell you “that is not my station”. This is a very handy excuse for one or two waitresses to do all the work whilst others sit and do nothing. There is no concept of teamwork or covering your fellow waitresses back.

10: Pok Pok boy in his post also pointed out that uniform plays a large role in why a girl would want to be a waitress instead of a dancer. Often you will hear them say “No I don’t like bikini” or “I like waitress uniform”. Noticeably when the girl tells you this she is invariably self conscious about a minor defect or flaw and she realizes the waitresses uniform will cover this up.

11: There is often less scrutiny on a waitress and as such she has less pressure to go bar fine, less pressure to secure ladies drinks and she can have more days off without being penalized.

12: The blurring effect. Part of the problem with waitresses is that the actual duties are a little bit blurred. This has occurred because they are encouraged to go barfine so in their mind they are half dancer, (working girl or as the Filipinos would say puta) and half professional waitress. This is clearly emphasized when you see a waitress who is good at waitressing. In the bars the waitresses who are good at waitressing are invariably the older girls who do not concentrate on bar fining. Of course there are a few pretty younger waitresses who manage to juggle the duties of waitressing and of bar fining but these in my experience are few and far between.

Sometimes the importance of the ability to barfine outweighs other considerations such as whether or not she would be good at her job.

One day when I visited the Executive I overheard daddy Bruce having a conversation with his mamasan regarding a new waitress the mamasan had just appointed.

Bruce: Mummy why did you give that dragon a job?
Mamasan : She nice girl daddy and she go bar fine
Bruce: So do the baklas in Santos Street and you don’t see them working here.
Mamasan: But daddy she nice girl and she money maker
Bruce: So are the baklas on Santos, now get rid of her.

13: The low salary. Waitresses traditionally are paid a very low salary and this is because they are considered non productive in terms of raising revenue for the bar, especially in comparison to dancers. Whilst the assumption of low productivity may be true in many cases the low salary is a deterrent for quality service. Bottom line here is that even if they perform their job well it will not gain them any more money. In short they have no incentive to be a good waitress.

What about the tips I hear you asking, well the unfortunate fact is in the majority of clubs the tips are centralized and divided equally amongst all the waitresses working that particular night. As a result the waitresses tips are not an incentive for the girls to work harder or learn their job to a professional standard.

14: The number of waitresses hired. For this point I will directly plagiarize Pok Pok Boy. “Like most Philippines hiring policies its hire 15 and hope 5 show up for work. That’s why some nights you see a number of waitresses sitting in the corner waiting their turn to serve and yet on other nights there aren’t enough to do the job! Go figure!.”

15: The Mamasan connection. Quite often a new troglodyte waitress will surface and when the manager looks in horror and asks who gave her a job, the answer will invariably be “mummy is the one”. I remember when I was working in Mistys and this particularly obese waitress with absolutely no English or comprehension of the job suddenly appeared. I was sitting next to Steve the manager of Nero’s at the time and I spotted her and asked in amazement what the f*%k is that? Steve followed my gaze saw the troglodyte and said “I bet she’s a friend of mummy’s”. I called her over and asked her “when did you start work” and she replied “sa gabi (tonight) daddy”, then I asked her “and who gave you the job” to which she replied, “mummy be the one”. I then asked her “don’t you think you are a bit old for this job” to which she replied “ooh ooh dad but my anak (child) have utang (loan) to mummy so work me now”.

The point here is not to blame her but rather to point out that the criteria for choosing who can be a waitress is often totally irrelevant to the job itself.

So far I have painted a fairly gloomy picture but the truth is there are several bars where the waitresses are efficient, courteous and well trained these include Roadhouse

La Pasha, Carousel, Roadies and to a lesser extent Champagne. Of these the one that stands out for me is Roadhouse. Noticeably the waitresses here do not go bar fine and they have experienced head waitresses who actually teach the newer waitresses how to do their job. Another bar that stands out is La Pasha and not coincidentally the waitresses here are average looking yet highly ranked in terms of service.

In the Blue Nile group they literally have a plethora of waitresses and some of them are very good however once again the good waitresses are the older ones who do not concentrate on bar fines but rather on serving the customers.

The quality of waitresses is often reflected by the owners or managers attitude towards the job itself. In the case of Roadhouse Mark puts an emphasis on quality service as does Neil from Roadies. Just yesterday I was in Roadies having a few beers with a couple of friends when I realized I had run out of cigarettes. I called the waitress over and asked for a packet of Winston lights. She promptly fetched them bought them over together with the bill and proceeded to neatly open the packet for me with one cigarette already slightly out, ready for me to smoke. To be honest I was pleasantly surprised by her courteous and professional demeanor so I left a healthy tip.

As anyone who has been here more than once will attest to, waitresses in AC are a unique breed and it is my sincere hope that this article in some part explains why they are this way and at the same time helps you the customer to understand them and as such deal with them more efficiently. If you have had a few laughs as well as gaining some useful knowledge along the way then I have achieved my objective.

El Kabayo
Gil Puyat Ave corner Panday Pira
Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga
Tel +(63) 916 519-9146
Fax +(632) 852-3117
Email: clarkridingstables@gmail.com
www.clarkridingstables.com

Roll em out round em up Rawhide.

That’s right folks it was the Blues brothers, not literally but the sound track from the movie playing through the music system at El Kabayo. Ok so what is El Kabayo I hear you asking and I’m glad you did because that is the focus of this article.

In our never ending quest to supply readers with information on what to do in the daytime when in AC, Shagger and I recently took a trip out on the base and discovered El Kabayo.

El Kabayo is a term which normally refers to Thotoy but in this case it is the name of a mock old western town, featuring horse riding trips. This is a fun day out especially if you take a Filipina with you and we thoroughly recommend when in AC you pay it a visit.
El Kabayo is situated along the Mabalacat gate road out on Clark airbase. To get there go through the Friendship gate and turn left, continue up the road until you reach a second set of lights and turn left again. Follow this road veering left continue past the outside air force museum and turn right following signs to the Mabalacat gate. El Kabayo is approximately three kilometers down this road on your left hand side.

El Kabayo is done up as a mock old western town and features the facades of buildings typical of this era.The buildings except for the general store and the saloon are all facades and behind the exterior walls are stables where the many horses are kept. As you enter the El Kabayo compound, walk into the general store which is in fact the office and main reception area. Enter here and you will be asked to pay 350 peso for a half hour ride on the horses.

After paying the 350 peso walk outside and you will be greeted by the stable hands / horse instructors. If you are an experienced horse rider tell them and they will let you ride around the compound for half an hour by yourself, if inexperienced which most of us probably are, then tell them and they will guide the horse keeping a tight hold on the reigns whilst you ride.

When we arrived Shagger and the girls went inside their office paid their money and were presented with safety helmets which are required usage for any riders. After this they were greeted by the stable hands who promptly told them “for a while” which in local parlance means wait here while we decide which horses are best for you.

After riding her Thotoy kabayo the night before in Neros

Ronalie thought she was ready to take on the real thing however when seeing the actual size of the horses both girls had second thoughts.

Just then Shagger had the bright idea of getting the girls acquainted with their rides by feeding them carrots.

The girls were a little afraid of the horses thinking they may get bitten when feeding the carrots so it was time for a demonstration of the correct procedure.

But no matter how the stable hand tried he couldn’t install enough trust in the girls to actually feed the horse.

Somehow they seemed unimpressed and no matter what methods of persuasion were used the girls weren’t about to start feeding the horses at least not the four legged ones.

After brief acquaintances were made it was time for the girls to mount their steeds and prepare for a ride. I thought this would be quite a challenge but the stable hands at El Kabayo had obviously been through this scenario many times before and from out of nowhere produced some wooden steps.

The girls were rather tentative at first and very unsure about these big beasts between their legs.

With all riders mounted it was time to head out on the trail.

The Shagger man seemed pretty confident as he toured the course using only one hand thus freeing up the other hand to snap photos whilst riding. Impressive move Shagger.

After she settled down and had gotten used to the riding Mr’s Mjibbo was all smiles. Later on I asked her did you have a good time horse riding and she replied “yes mahal I like it but the saddle keep rubbing my peanut”. No wonder she was smiling all the time.

It took Ronalie a while to relax even though her horse looked like it was sleep walking. In the end she was heard to say “much better I ride Thotoy because he smaller and closer to the ground”.

Shagger seemed right at home on horseback.

For the 350 peso you basically get half an hour ride. The ride is a pleasant stroll through a grassy tree lined park.

Along the way they met many locals who were quick to offer friendly salutations and they even had their own 4 legged guide in the form of the local Labrador.

Meanwhile back at the ranch yours truly was busy taking snap shots of the El Kabayo compound.

Inside the saloon is in fact a tastefully decorated eatery with large wooden tables capable of seating and feeding numerous guests.

Pictured here is an ornate saddle inside the general store.

A quick glimpse at the coffee table demonstrates the concept behind this place.

Inside the general store there are numerous merchandise items for sale.

They were going to take them for two laps around the riding circuit but Shagger seeing that Ronalie was not exactly comfortable decided to head back to the ranch. At the rides end the wooden steps magically appeared again and the girls s disembarked hastily.

Once the actual ride was over No Nose Ronalie seemed to relax and was all smiles.

But when questioned she openly admitted she preferred the Honda steed to her four legged steed.

All in all we had a great day out at El Kabayo. The girls were a little tentative at first especially Ronalie when she saw how big the horses were compared to the Shagger horse she was used to riding. However, after a while both girls relaxed and enjoyed the ride. This is definitely a fun way to spend a couple of hours with your honey-ko and it’s something different to do in the daytime.

We were in fact looking for Paradise Ranch but ended up at El Kabayo which we came across first. As a result Paradise ranch is on the agenda for our next trip.

El Kabayo
HORSEBACK RIDING
Leisure & Trail Rides
Riding Lessons
Riding Tours

My Bangka Boat Trip By Ronalie

I had no idea that this weekend in Subic would be so amazing as I did not expect to win anything in the Miss Blue Rock competition because there are so many pretty and sexy girls here in Philippines.

We woke up the next day after celebrating all night and I still can’t believe what happened the night before, it was already after lunch time and Daddy Martin and Shagger were already gone doing some work for AE

I new they were busy and wound probable not takes us for a boat ride so Jen (daddy’s wife) and I decided to use some of the money I won the night before to hire a Bangka boat ourselves and go for a ride.

We found a guy on the beach in front of our hotel and he said 600p for one hour ride. We went back to our rooms and packed some stuff then we went back to the boat and I ask to the bangkero what will happen if we sink me and jen we are a little bit scared because maybe we not good swimmers. The Bangkero laugh at me and said no one sinks in Subic Bay it very quiet water so off we went.

Jen was scared to go at first and wanted to wait till the boys came back

But once we were on the boat she was happy because she had the room key

The very first place we went past was the Blue Rock floating bar and Shagger and Daddy were there on top of roof and they have a girl! We tell to the driver to take us there and we stop beside the bar.

Daddy and Shagger come down and ask what we are doing; I said you promise to take us on boat ride not play with a girl. They see our angry faces so they climb onto boat and come with us but now our boat is tangled in ropes from the floating bar. After a little time we get free and off we go to look at the islands

First we traveled along the shore and we seen many poor peoples houses next to some very nice places

After we traveled for a while we turned out towards some of the islands in the bay

Passing some rocks sticking out of the water I was thinking if our boat hit these and sunk I would choose the big island

The first island had building on it so I asked how they can build a house with no roads and no shops, Daddy and Wayne they just laugh at me. :blush:

The next Island had no buildings just a tower and they said its to tell the boats at night not to crash into me :crazy:

I really enjoyed our ride in the Bangka but it was a bit scary when the land was so far away :sauer:

Sitting looking out at the ocean I started thinking about the night before and still could not believe what happened to me, maybe it was just a dream :/

I was happy when we were back near Blue Rock and I could see the castle and I think that’s where the mermaids live

I am sorry to bore you with my boat trip but it was a very special weekend for me and the first time I experience like that, I had such a fun time