The Meal between 7pm and 10pm

“Stewart” and I were supposed to meet earlier for dinner. We made quick arrangements yesterday to meet up tonight before he goes to work. Between 7pm to 10pm

This time is sort of the “holy grail” if a customer would want to meet up quickly with a macho dancer or hosto outside of the bar. They are usually free at this time -- after they wake-up at 6-7 pm and before their call time of 9-10 pm. On a regular day, this is the time they take a quick shower, dress up for work, catch a glimpse of some local TV shows, and grab a quick bite at home, before they head out for a 30-minute to an hour commute to work.

But oftentimes, they would rush to go to work without having eaten anything yet. Once they arrive in their bar, they would either order a one ulam (viand) rice meal from the bar’s kitchen, or sneak outside to eat at the nearby carinderia, or eat a few pieces of pandesal / egg they brought, or suffer the entire night without having eaten anything (worse, they’d be drinking beer on an empty stomach). They’d be lucky if a customer who “tabled” them that night would order one or two plates of bar chow together with their drinks. Of course, they’d be luckier if the matakaw customer would order so much (attention: my friend, “Ringo”) that, as one macho dancer said, with this free meal, “kanin na lang ang kulang.”

So I thought an invitation to dine out – call it either my dinner or their “breakfast” – would be accepted without hesitation. I never got a refusal from any boy who was on his way to work; some of them even invite us out. What’s to lose from a free dinner treated by a customer?

I don’t know, but Stewart never replied if our dinner would push through tonight.   

GB Goer
Learn more: Lessons from Gay Bars in Manila
http://machosandhostos.blogspot.com/
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