The V.I.P. Room (Part 1 of 3)

I remember being a newbie customer in the macho dancer world, seated in one of the regular couches inside Home Base. On that "initiation" night, I scanned the entire bar, with my eyes wandering from the stage at the center to the other empty tables to the showroom at the far end, and up to the dark second floor. I asked the gay manager seated beside us what was up there.

"It's the VIP room," she said, as she further explained what's inside it and how much to rent it.

"Sarap siguro maging VIP sa bar na ito," (It may be good to be a VIP here in this bar) I thought to myself. I imagined rich gays from the fashion or entertainment world, chatting around, drinking their wine, getting lap danced by the boy of their choice, privately. They'd get the best boys of the bunch, maybe the most handsome, the most macho, or the most well-endowed, and then tipping them with thousand peso bills tucked in their bikinis (I wonder how Jose Abad Santos would feel if his portrait was facing a boy's crotch. I bet Madamme Girl Scout Josefa Llanes Escoda would not mind being in that position).

At that time, I wished I was earning enough to be one of this bar's VIP. But with P2000 in my wallet, I just settled with being an ordinary customer seated on one of the bar's ordinary couches.

Ten months after, last weekend, my friend Ringo and I decided to try out the supposed "Lord" of Manila's gay bars. The place was massive, filled with groups of on-lookers from "Tanauan, Batangas" (Tanauan = Tanawan = Tanaw = ayaw mag-table, gusto sight from afar lang ng hubaderos).

At first, we sat on the ordinary couches at the dark area of the bar. But the place was too massive, too noise. We wanted some privacy with our tabled boys. So we told the manager that we'd get one of their VIP Rooms.

Wow, I thought to myself. I never imagined being inside a VIP Room inside Manila's top gay bar. And it was just our first time there.

(to be continued)

GB Goer
Learn more: Lessons from Gay Bars in Manila
http://machosandhostos.blogspot.com/
email: char.affairs@gmail.com; Follow at twitter: @gbgoer

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