The bars of P Burgos Street

Padre Burgos Street (not to be confused with Padre Burgos Avenue) in Metro’s Manila’s City of Makati in the Philippines is lined with go go bars. In many respects P. Burgos Street resembles Walking Street in Angeles City though as readers will come to find out there are many differences between the two.

Since Makati is often described as one of the more “upscale” sections of Metro Manila some may expect the bars and even the street itself to be a lot better than what exists in Angeles.

The truth is that the bars are of about the same quality. In fact some of the larger bars in Angeles like Atlantis may even be on the nicer side of things. The streets themselves are a lot like each other, with narrow sidewalks that force pedestrians into the street where they are met by vehicles, beggars and vendors pushing sunglasses and fake Cialis.

When it comes to the number of bars Angeles City is the clear winner. But since the bars in Angeles have been regularly raided for at least the last year, Burgos certainly offers a more relaxed atmosphere. During weekdays Burgos bars may even be less crowded, though Makati is a much more populated area.

Bars on P Burgos

There are several bars on Burgos Street and a few on streets that are connected to it. While some bars do share the same owners, there is a real range and variety of quality and price around the area. Some bars like Shampoo and Bottoms open in the afternoon with a shift change early in the night. Other bars like Plan B and Kojax don’t open until 9 pm.

The bars of Burgos get a much later start than a lot of similar areas around the world. During the day the selection of staff members working a bar can be anywhere from limited to truly pathetic. I don’t make a habit out of criticizing women for their looks. But I simply can’t get much enjoyment out of watching overweight ladies in their late 30’s dance around in small bikinis.

It’s quite possible that the gals may have great personalities and be a lot of fun in which case they would do better in other positions or even different establishments. Judging by how empty most places on Burgos are during the day, I guess it all boils down to a question of economics. If I was a 19 year old go go dancer with a smoking hot body I probably wouldn’t want the day shift either.

Around 10 pm most bars start to truly come alive. New shifts come on and customers start to fill the seats and things really get going. At this point most of the bars on Burgos have fairly large numbers of women on stage.

Rouges continues to be one of the cheapest bars on the street. Drink prices are among the best on the strip and the ladies who work the bar don’t expect huge sums of money to spend time with customers. Bar fines are probably the lowest on P Burgos at 1,600 Pesos ($35 USD). On the other hand the place is dark inside and illuminated with ultraviolet lights that make it hard for people to see each other. Since so many moms work the place I imagine the conditions lead to a lot of surprises outside. The low drink prices and free flowing atmosphere also attract a lot of people which can quickly crowd the place out and the bar seems to be a magnet for guys who get drunk and act like utter maniacs.

Plan B continues to have a large staff of women that includes some of the better looking lasses on the street. It has been that way since it opened a few years ago. The bar has a good layout but it opens late and has some of the highest rates around. A can of Coca Cola runs a whopping 200 Pesos ($4.50 USD) and lady drinks are of course much more. Bar fines run into the thousands of pesos and the women who work the place expect a payment at least equal to that to spend time with a customer outside of the place. There are also a large number of older less attractive bar hustlers roaming around the bar in full dresses trying to bilk guys out of their cash through games like Connect Four or simple passive aggressive pressure.

Kojax around on Badajos Street is owned by the same people. It is also a newer bar with an interesting layout that is staffed by plenty of attractive dancing girls. Prices are just as high at Kojax as they are at Plan B. There are no aged bar hustlers around but waitresses take up their task and push customers to buy drinks for ladies at the bar. Signs saying the place is in a three month soft opening phase have been up for over a year and are now joined by other signs warning people of 1000 Pesos “consumption taxes” for breaking house rules.

High Heels further up the street is still in business though it never seems to attract to many customers. The place staffs a decent number of twenty-something dancing girls who wear bikinis along with several mostly older gals in full dress who work the floor. Drink prices are normal for the area but bar fines are 3,600 Pesos ($77 USD). Women of course expect several thousand more pesos to be given to them by any guy they join outside of the bar. Bar fines can be negotiated with the management by customers who purchase lots of drinks or take more than one lady out of the place. A VIP room in the back requires customers to pay a bar fine too though it allows action to take place right on premises which most women working the place seem willing to provide for a tip of around 2000 Pesos ($43 USD).

Tickles is a small bar that usually has a two or three women working at any given time. It has been open for years and continues to maintain the same level of service. There are few to no unattractive or overweight women on staff. There are usually several good looking ladies on the stage at any given time and most if not all are keen to see customers outside. Drink prices are normal. Lady drinks cost a little more but are still priced within reason although a roaming mamasan likes to take walk around and take gulps of various glasses to keep the transactions coming. Customers must pay an early work release rate of 3,500 Pesos ($75 USD) if they want to leave with a woman on staff. The women expect an additional gift of 2,500 to 4,000 Pesos from customers who take them back to a room or the short time hotel next door.

Wow Wow Wow has been around for ages and has kept prices pretty reasonable though the place seems like it may have gone through a little shakeup recently. The staff is small and mainly made up of average looking women. The only thing that sets the bar apart is that the ladies wear fishnet shirts that don’t leave much to the imagination. Unfortunately the place is managed by a guy who rules with an iron hand and that seems to put a damper on the mood most times. To their credit most of the women who work the bar remain cheerful even in the face of an overbearing boss.

Bottoms is probably one of the most popular bars on the street. Even though it is big and long with plenty of seats it does fill up on busy nights. The main draw is a staff of several dozen women including some super busty babes who dance with things like suspenders on that cover almost nothing up top. Prices are average and the place is otherwise not really notable.

Bar Girls on P Burgos

I wouldn’t say that the women working in the Burgos bars are in general any better looking than the women in the bars of Angeles City. Sure there are a few stunners but that can be said of almost any go go area in the country. With many women working Burgos coming from the same provinces that are home to so many of the working women of Angeles, how much variety can one really expect?

As is the case with Angeles City’s bars, many of the go go gals working Burgos Street are mothers. Although some are just entering adulthood themselves they already have one or more children. This may not be obvious at first glance, especially in the dim nightclub lighting, but it is the reality. While many guys couldn’t care less or may even be into the “MILF” experience others looking for very fit women may be disappointed. That’s not to say that every woman working on Burgos is a mom, just that it’s frequent enough to be worth noting.

As with most similar set ups, the women working the bars of Burgos Street are under no obligation to leave a bar with a customer. They have the ability to make up an excuse or simply say no if they’re not interested. That said, the Burgos bar girls seem to be among the most willing in the world to be bar fined and spend a few hours or longer with a customer. Not every woman will go out with every guy, but rejections seem to be very rare.

When a customer is interested in a woman or women dancing on stage or sitting around the bar, they can simply ask the gals to join them or flag down a waitress to call the gals over. This offer is never refused since it means lady drinks will be purchased giving additional income to the gals in question.

Prices

Bar fines are arranged with mama sans who loom around every bar in the area. Once a customer buys a drink or two (at an average price of around 350 Pesos, which amounts to a whopping $8 USD) for a woman and they agree to go out together the mama san will be called over to explain the prices and make sure everything is okay. This is where the most major differences between Burgos Street and Angeles City emerge.

While Rogues at the end of P Burgos asks for a more reasonable 1800 Pesos ($41 USD) many bars in the area ask for a whopping 3900 Pesos ($89 USD) or more. Unlike the go go bars of Angeles City or even Cebu City, these bar fines do not include a payment for the ladies. That additional fee is negotiated between the ladies and the customers, though the most knowledgeable guys may already have a good feel for things and simply hand over a standard tip after the session ends.

What exactly is a standard tip? It can range anywhere from 2000 Pesos ($45.50 USD) to 5000 Pesos ($114 USD). Only the most experienced guys will get away with the lower tips on a regular basis and newbies are likely to get hit with requests for 5000 Pesos when they undoubtedly ask a gal how much she wants.

All of these bar fine prices and tips are up to double what they were as recently as 2008, and they are well over the standard rates at go go bars in other parts of the country. Well, Makati can be an expensive place and since customers keep on rolling in and out of the bars I guess there’s not much more to say.

The amount of time a working woman will spend with her customer depends on her life, her schedule, the chemistry and any other number of things. Over night stays are not uncommon when the lady likes her customer but the 4 AM departure is also quite normal. The bars themselves close at 5 AM.

Women who work the Burgos Bars aren’t always the most skilled when it comes to sexual services. That may surprise some since the bars are after all places where women offer their services to guys on a regular basis. Those who have more of a grasp on local life will be better able to understand. One hint can be found in the way most women dress in Manila. While gals in Bangkok or Saigon often walk around in the middle of the city in super sexy outfits, beautiful women in Manila are more likely to wear shirts and long pants. The reasons for all of this go much deeper than I can reach in this brief report.

Girl friendly hotels

There are a few hotels on P Burgos Street and countless others around Makati. Nearly all allow guests to bring girls back to their rooms without a problem. A select few hotels may ask any women entering the hotel to leave their ID card at the front desk but most don’t even bother. Any decent hotel will call a guest’s room when his gal leaves to make sure everything is okay.

There are also some short time hotels in and around Burgos Street where guys can take a gal for a quick romp. These are pretty easy to find. One well known (and used) short time hold over is located right next to Tickles Bar, though someone who didn’t know what they were looking for could probably miss it pretty easily. Asking around is a good way to find this place or others like it. Many bar girls and all mama sans will know where at least one is located.

Those who don’t want to take girls home or shell out an additional 1000 Pesos for a short time hotel room will be happy to know that action is available right on-premises in bars like Shampoo, Rogues, Rascals, Ivory, Montana, Dimples and High Heels. This can take the form of hand or mouth play in a dark booth or that and everything else in a “VIP room.” VIP rooms typically cost as much as a bar fine and do not include payment to the service providers. The prices of VIP rooms can usually be negotiated down by at least 800 Pesos with the mama san. Guys who buy a lot of lady drinks may be able to have the price of a bar fine or VIP room reduced by the total amount spend on beverages, though this requires further negotiation.

At other bars there is a possibility for some play in the booth but it depends on any number of variables.

Best and worst go go bars

Jools and Stardust vary a bit from the other bars in the area in that have well choreographed dance shows at regular intervals. Some of the things the women pull off during these shows are pretty damn amazing, but guys who are more interested in ass than dash may not get a lot of it. In between shows these bars operate like any other.

While women who work the bars may flash their tits from time to time, especially when asked by a paying customer, Bottoms is the only bar I know where the women dance topless. Well they actually “wear” a set of suspenders that cover absolutely nothing. It’s not unusual to see a guy playing with a dancer’s nobs in a booth after buying her a drink either.

The aforementioned Kojax and Plan B bars which are owned by the same person seem to have a larger percent of fit and good looking ladies than many of the other bars around but their prices are on the high end. Unlike their competitors they don’t accept credit cards so guys who are uncomfortable lugging around hundreds of bills may not be able to afford all of the fun.

Ringside bar is unique in that it offers things like girl-on-girl boxing matches and oil wrestling along with other odd sideshows.

Other bars like G-String and Wild West can also have good number of beautiful women on staff at any time. Others like Papillion can be hit or miss. Things change on a regular basis and even from night to night, so there’s no way to come up with a completely accurate write up that will stand the test of time. As they say, nothing beats experience.

Freelance prostitutes

Something else to note about P Burgos Street is the prevalence of “massage girls” on the street throughout the night. These women hang out all along the street in groups and solicit passing guys for massages. They sometimes hand out papers with phone numbers but they’re mostly keen to get right to the services. Women in polo shirt or nurse scrub uniforms can perform massages in shops located along the street or go straight to the customer’s room. Women who are not wearing uniforms, more commonly known as “freelancers”, are usually only available for the second option. There are also numerous transgender “ladyboys” around who also offer “massage” but I have no real info on them.

A typical massage is usually quoted at 500 Pesos ($11.50 USD). If a guy goes to a massage parlor with a gal he will typically be asked to tip more for extra services if they are available. Sometimes the masseuse will say that extras can only be provided in the customer’s hotel room. Freelancers operate in hotel rooms exclusively so things are more likely to go in a sexual direction very quickly. The tip expected by any of the women working P Burgos Street can vary greatly but it seems that most reasonable offers are excepted. This means that anything from 500 Pesos ($11.50 USD) on the low end to 2500 Pesos ($57 USD) on the high end can get a guy what he’s after.

In many parts of the world only the most downtrodden women work the streets. In Makati that doesn’t seem to be the case. Many of the women who travel the street in groups offering massages are quite pretty. More than a few look just as good as the women dancing inside the bars. With the general safety of coworkers available these women may simply be part timers who don’t want to dance in bikinis or work a regular bar schedule, genuine massage therapists looking to supplement their incomes or women on short visits to Manila trying to make some extra money.

Padre Burgos Street offers a lot of action in a pretty compact area. Although there are some dangers about the street is relatively safe by Manila standards. The biggest drawbacks to the area are the high prices, the over abundance of street sellers and the number of dancers, male attendants and even mama sans who try to pressure guys into tipping or buying drinks even when they’re not interested. Men who are unable to politely refuse such propositions can quickly go through a stack of money without getting any enjoyment out of it whatsoever.