What is "Bagsak ng Drinks"?

Da Who?: Macho Dancer wants to return to "Home Base" after two weeks of absence. Manager of "Home Base" said he can only return once "mag-bagsak ng" 100 drinks. MD bargained, until drinks required from him were lowered from 100 to 50 to 30. One night, Rich Guest of  MD made "bagsak" 15 drinks, with 15 drinks remaining that MD needs to shoulder. Now MD is having a hard time to pay off the remaining 15 drinks.

"Bagsak" is a term used in macho dancing bars or hosto bars that denotes guarenteed purchase or assurance of payment for a specified number of drinks. The word "bagsak ng drinks" was maybe coined in reference to the many bottles of beer being "dropped" on the table once a customer buys for the boys.

How do macho dancers and hostos use this bagsak system? Bagsak, as used in a sentence and as used in actual bar situations:

1. As Votes for Big Night Competitions: Nanalo si Bantay ng "Mr Hot Body in Outrageous Bikini Design 2010" dahil nag bagsak ang matronang ex-lawyer guest niya ng 150 drinks. Bawat drink kasi ay 1 puntos para sa scores. 

(Bantay won the "Mr Hot Body in Outrageous Bikini Design 2010" competition because his aged-woman ex-lawyer guest guaranteed to pay 150 drinks. One drink is equivalent to 1 point

2. To return working in the bar after long period of absence: Hindi pumapayag si manager Jonnalyn na bumalik si Badong kung hindi siya magbagsak ng 100 drinks. Iniisip kasi ng bar na binahay siya, at gusto lang bumalik dahil natikman na ng baklang guest niya kaya't naghiwalay na.

(Manager Jonnalyn wouldn't allow Badong to return to the bar if he won't guarantee sales of 100 drinks. This is because the bar thinks that Badong was "housed" by his gay guest and now wants to return because his guest has tasted him already and thus, has separated).

3. For the customer to pay for remaining drinks to reach the dancer's quota of the month: Dahil kulang pa si Manoy ng 30 drinks para maabot ang quota, binagsakan siya ng kanyang koreanang guest na si Jung Li Bee ng 30 drinks. Ayan naka-quota na si Manoy. Sa susunod na buwan kaya ulit? 

(Because Manoy was 30 drinks-short to reach the monthly quota, his Koreana guest Jung Li Bee bought him 30 drinks. There, Manoy reached the quota. How about for next month?)

4. The only number of drinks that a customer will pay for that night: Si baklang Felicidad ay ayaw na gumastos nang malaki, kaya sinabi niya sa waiter na 10 drinks na ang ibagsak sa kanyang kasintahang macho dancer na si Dagul.

(Felicidad didn't want to spend that much so he told the waiter that he'll pay for only 10 drinks guaranteed that night, for his lover-dancer Dagul).

So back to the blind item. Da who is this MD? His code name is the last name of a once-famous commercial model whose first name is that of an international educational institution (Oxford? Marshall? Nanyang in Singapore?).

Skemper na!

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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photocredits: www.free-stockphotos.com

Ai Ai and My Little Secret

I watched this episode of "The Bottomline with Boy Abunda" with Ai Ai delas Alas as guest, last August. I remember laughing so hard on this particular segment on her views about love/relationships. Here's the exceprt:

Boy: What would you rather have -- love or money?
Ai Ai: I think money. Because with money, you can buy love. (laughter)

Ai Ai: Pambakla. You can buy motorcylce and cars. And loads and cellphones! (e, ito rin ang mga ekasktong hinihingi ng mga macho dancers ah)

Boy: Ito'y tanong talaga. Sa tanang ng buhay mo, bumili ka na ba ng pag-ibig?
Ai Ai: Madalas! ... Baklang bakla yung sagot ko! (OMG! Tinamaan ata ako doon ah.)

Yes, she's "soooo bak-la!", as what my friend Ringo would usually say.

And the timing of this episode couldn't have been more perfect -- she nailed what I, the bakla, was going through at that time. It was as if I was feeding Ai Ai with the answers. Kaya pala naging "baklang bakla" yung sagot niya.

Giggle, giggle. I guess Ai ai and I share a little secret.

Watch the full interview 
(For the exact segment above, wait for the 4th video, at around 5:00. I couldn't find this segment on youtube) 

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

On Why I Prefer Going to a Gay Bar than a Gay Club

This post perhaps is an extension of what my gay high school friends and I discussed during dinner last night. I haven’t seen them for almost the entire year, as I was going to gay bars more, which I have kept secret to them since March. So earlier over dinner, I outed my new past time to them.

For the purpose of this post, I’d like to differentiate the “gay bar” as the bars with macho dancers or male strip clubs – like the ones in Pasay/Manila and Timog QC – and the “gay club” as the night club or disco (does anyone still use this term?) catered to gays – the ones in Nakpil-Orosa, Malate.



[Images from http://www.blingcheese.com/videos/3/marcellas.htm and http://www.myspace.com/hapenismusic]

The gay guys in my generation have been “getting it on” in gay clubs, where hooking up is way cheaper. I am the only one in my peer group going to gay bars – there’s no other gay guy in their 20s in these bars. I am as old as, or albeit slightly older than, the boys working in macho dancer bars.

So what enchants me in a gay bar that makes go there week after week, spending my time and moolah with straight boys?

The reasons, after the jump. Feel free and liberated to comment.

First Time Niyo?

Tuwing pumapasok kami ng gay pals ko sa isang gay bar (o macho dancer bar), medyo naiirita ako kapag tinatanong kami ng mga receptionist ng -- "First time niyo?"

Sa loob-loob ko, "Di niyo kami kilala? Kami ang mga diyosang regular customers ng bar na ito!"

Syempre, hindi na nagmamaganda ang mga vakels at babaeng vakels, at sumasagot na lang ng "hindi, nakapunta na kami dati."

Kung first time kasi ng customer sa isang gay bar, may maliit na seremonyas pang sandaling mangyayari bago makapasok:

1. Itatanong kung may camera o camera phone sa bag. Dapat kasing i-surrender muna ang mga ito sa reception bago makapasok.
    > Syempre, baka kasi may hidden cam na kukuha ng mga videos at ipapalabas sa mga expose at investigative shows. Worse, baka sa youtube pa lumabas. Nangyayari lang ata ito sa isang bar, ngunit hindi ko alam kung may ganitong policy rin sa ibang bar sa QC.

2. Mag-a-assign ang receptionist ng isang bading na floor manager sa grupo ninyo (kadalasang mga tranny sila).
   > Ang floor manager kumbaga ang magiging "mamasan" ninyo sa bar. Siya rin ang kakausapin niyo kung mayroon kayong gustong i-table na lalake. Siya rin ang mangungulit sa iyo buong gabi na kumuha ng isang lalaki.
   > Tip: Alalahanin ang pangalan ng bading na manager. Siya ang "password" mo (o pangalan na iyong i-name drop) sa susunod na punta niyo sa bar.

Siguro, ginagawa itong maliit na seremonyas na ito para sa proteksyon na rin ng mga bar at mga nagtatrabaho rito. Malay mo nga naman, maaaring yung bagong customer na dumating ay grupo pala ng mga pulis na naka in-disguise na nag-ba-bading-badingan, upang makahuli kung may hubarang mangyayari bago sila mag-raid. Pero, dont worry! Sa dalas ng punta namin sa gay bar, wala pang ni-isang raid ang nagaganap. So maliit lang din ang posibilidad na ma-raid ang bar kung pupunta kayo. May mga dahilan kung bakit, pero hindi iyon ang paksa natin ngayon.

So kahit na tinatanong pa rin kami minsan kung first time namin sa bar, buti na lang pala, hindi pa nila kami gaanong namumukaan kahit ilang beses na kaming umikot sa gay bar circuit. Proteksyon na rin sa akin, para sa isang hindi pa gaanong "out" tulad ko (charing, ang patron ng gay bar, hindi pa raw out?).


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

Date with a Macho – 3rd Party Perspective

I’ve been dateless since I don’t know when. Three weeks perhaps. This is quite odd since there was a time I used to go out with a macho dancer or hosto almost once or twice every week.

This past holiday season, I’ve been meeting up with friends, instead of boylets. And in two instances, there was always another table with a sight I am familiar with – the date of a guest with a macho or hosto.

Like right now. One of those said couples is just at another table in front of me. (Ang chismoso! Haha!)

How did I know?

First, the age difference is a dead give-away -- one slightly older gay guy (or woman) and a young, fresh-looking guy or boylet. Especially if the boylet is handsome (or above average in looks, kanto-boy-wise), lean, well-built or buff (at least, not chubby), has well-styled hair (colored hair with streaks or Korean-pop-inspired that may give clues on his "profession"), slim-fit jeans, and of course, white leather pointy shoes (but not applicable every time, because these dancers also wear flip flops outside the bar).

Ooh, the boy just fixed his hair, which looked as if it took forever to comb and gelled that way. Maybe, tell-tale signs of his vanity, as you well know how important it is in his industry to look good? (Again, ano ba paki-alam ko sa kanila?)

Second, the slight awkwardness and distance show that they are not buddies, classmates, officemates or barkada. The couple in front of me looks like they are on their first or second date. They are seated in front of each other. No exchange of witty one-liners, no boisterous laughter, no snickering. Only polite chuckles. Quiet getting-to-know-you conversation. The comfort usually seen among long-time buddies seems to be missing.

A third sign is if the older gay guy instructs the boy to order, and then foots the bill. That’s more difficult to observe where I am seated now. (Usisero!)

But if this set-up took place in a fast food counter, the guest would be the one in-line, standing in front of the cashier, with the boy behind his guest. As the guest informs the cashier of their orders, the boy would just be quiet. After the order, the boy would then offer to carry the food tray or find a table for them. The boy "offers his help", as he is possibly nahihiya to the kind gesture of his guest treating him. 

Well, I’ll just give this couple in front of me the benefit of the doubt. When I go out on dates with my boys, I simply want to adapt to the environment or blend-in, and not appear too different from the boy I am with. If he’ll be in shorts and slippers, I’ll also be wearing the same. I intend to to look as if we’re just barkada. If somehow I'd feel like I'm standing out, I'd feel too self-conscious from being stared-at by other people, who might suspect something fishy as to why a mid-20s gay guy is in the company of a cute straight boylet, (and paying for both meals) thus making me feel awkward just by being with him.

Wait, I seem to have described myself, based on what I am seeing in this couple in front me. It takes one to know one.

Pero, swear. Mukha talagang baklita at hosto/dancer yung magkasama sa harap ko!

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