Dark Side of Life in Philippines

Guess what, i have no idea how i should start this. So i think i shall just go with the flow ya?

I went to a bar in Angeles City. Ok before people start flying out of their seats and fingers start pointing, i must clarify that i went there strictly to see how it is like really. I mean since i had gone to THOSE bars in Thailand with Cassie the last time round, i wanted to see how bars were like here. With Thailand, you kinda expect whatever your mind's thinking of right now. But with Philippines, which isn't exactly known for that kind of trade, it was a whole different "experience".

*** Initial Encounter ***

The first bar i stepped into, i wanted to step out of as quickly as i could. There were dancers on stage, much like in Thailand, and they reminded me all too much of Thailand... -..-

Shaken, i was about to write off the local scene as another little-Thailand when i decided to just give the place another shot. (Oh btw, yes its we, but i decided to just stick to "i" since some of the guys weren't there for the same purpose as myself. But yea, i got to call the shots whether we stayed or left... most of the time... Anyway they aren't important :p)

Now this place was abit different. Almost same setup, but alot less intimidating. The dancers are more covered up and the waitresses looked like waitresses... in hot outfits, ie. short short skirts (ooops... my fetish haha...)

As usual we, *ahem* i attracted the attention of the resident mamasan the moment i entered. Hardly surprising, since the usual customer averages around 50 years of age ^ ^; The waitresses naturally gravitated over and soon a nice little crowd had gathered around. There were usual requests for "Lady's drinks" which cost 150 pesos (exchange rate $1 to 32 pesos, go do your math hehe), which i complied with.

The mamasan was a 40 year old woman who somehow reminded me of my own mum hahaha... Oops?! But at 40 she looked older than my 54 yr old mum. Hmmm... does she look old or does my mum look young. I think both? I've got evergreen parents ^ ^

Anyway the mamasan was really friendly and was open with the questions i posed, often offering more information without prompting. So there i was chatting and gathering information while my "shadows" were doing whatever fancied them at the moment.

*** Life of a Night Crawler ***

The girls, it seems, get commission from the drinks that are offered to them. Something like 50 pesos for each drink they get. Not too sure if the mamasan gets a cut out of this. This may sound not too bad, but from what i see, most of the people there hardly ever gets them drinks. Oh maybe for the girl that catches their eye, but no one else usually. The dancers come down to do their rounds offering "tequila shots" for commission similarly, but we didn't stay long enough for that to happen.

Now the horrible part. If a customer fancies one of the girls, be it a dancer or one of the waitresses, he can offer to take her out by paying what is called a "barfine" to the mamasan in charge. This money kinda covers whatever the girl could have earned had she stayed on working (which i kinda doubt) and allows her to knock off early and keep the customer company for whatever activities he may have in mind. What i gathered is that usually the younger customers (younger here means below 50 yrs of age haha...) would bring the girl out to the various bars (what is known as barhopping) drink/dance the night away, before finally retiring to their lodgings WITH the girl. Oh the girl can refuse to of cos, or she could go and refuse to do that thing which is on your minds right now. But i think most of them wouldn't refuse, since if u made the customer happy, you get to keep all of whatever tip he decides to give you the next day when you leave. And do you know how much is the barfine? A measly 1200 pesos, half of which goes to the mamasan and half to the girl. 600 pesos... can you imagine? Its horrible. And i hear some customers may not even tip, claiming to be disatisfied? Or be really stingry with their tip?

Hearing this information made me look around at the girls around the bar, smiling and milling about, trying to make a living. How can they take it? Being Catholics (most if not all of them still proclaim themselves to be Catholics) how are they able to come to terms with what they do? Now i hope the righteous lot of you won't start jumping and belittling them. I'm glad i didn't.

*** Rhea ***

Somewhere somehow sometime during the conversation one of the waitresses (otherwise known as the bargirl in the local scene) caught my eye. Now don't get me wrong. Its not for THAT reason that had just crossed your mind again. I'm a great mind reader aren't i? Haha...

Remember easily a dozen girls had gathered around and drinks were bought for them? Well all of them continued casting their charms on my hapless crew and myself, hoping for a fine catch that night. All except this one girl who didn't join in asking for drinks, stayed in the background, yet always just hovering at the edge and *ahem* casting shy glances at me haha... She's also the one that went and brought the drinks over, 2 at a time... after many trips. Oh by the way, by drinks, i had Ice Tea, the girls had non-alcoholic drinks like gatorade, chocolate milk, strawberry milk, ice tea... the occassional beer. Its definitely unlike Thailand where it was beer or nothing.

Mmm yea back to the girl. Well, i noticed her noticing me and for some reason i decided to call her over. Well basically i asked the mamasan who's the girl there, she looks like a girl i used to like. Lame i know... but it was the only excuse i could think of, which i knew would have the same effect of getting her over, rather than saying i want that girl over and implying that i fancied her for some "other" reasons. Hmmm... whatever.

It was a relief to have her over cos that meant the girl who had wedged herself into my seat with me as well as that girl who jumped me and was happily sitting on my lap had to give way to the "Chosen one" haha... Anyway, gosh, she was a shy one. One look and you wonder what in the world is a girl like her doing working as a bargirl. Well, the mamasan filled me in, telling me she's only started work for a month and that she's a TEACHER! I was like what the? It seems that in Philippines you need to sit for some Teacher's Review after you get your degree, which would determine if you became a teacher or not. The mamasan herself had almost become a teacher herself, but she didn't even make it for the review having failed the tests before that thrice. -..-

So then... hmmm... the girls were surprisingly unselfish after i had indicated my "interest" in the shy girl and kept pushing her to me despite her feeble protests. Eventually she landed up on my lap too, which was kind of nice actually hahaha... Hey, the previous one treated me like I-Gallop for goodness' sake... -..- At leas this one's docile and i don't know why but despite being shy, she held on to my hand fiercely... Everyone commented that we looked alike. My fellow Singaporeans quipped "fu qi xiang" -..- She had the same moles as me on our face i guess? And similar eyes. Oh right, description of her looks? Innocent. Shy. Cute. I wouldn't say she's a babe. But somehow something about her makes me decide that she looks nice? How do i explain it? Its like LQ laaa, her niceness enhances her entire person doesn't it? Its the same with the girl. Haha... comparing LQ with a bargirl. Don't kill me :p Seriously though... same aura about her? But very different lives of course...

Ok enter Rhea. The 21 yr old graduate with a degree in Secondary School Education, ie. she'll become a teacher in secondary schools once she passes the review. Rhea Mae Real. Yea her surname's really Real... -..- Hey it isn't everyday i get to make a pun~

Its pronounced Ray-Ya. It seems that her uncle brought her out of the provinces to work here in the bar, together with 7 other cousins, with her 2 younger sisters joining up the next week. And get this, they're only 16 and 17 years old respectively. I was shocked. On my query of why they aren't studying, she turned to look at me with a sad smile and an even sadder look in her eyes and told me simply "We have no money." Herself, she had been what she calls a "Working Student" in order to complete her education. I tried asking her what it means to be a Working Student, but she didn't want to talk about it. Hmmm must have been terrible from the response i got from her. Over our conversation, i gathered that her uncle (father's cousin) helped bring them from the rural provinces to this place to work in return for a sum of money for the family. Which in my opinion is much like selling them off? She wants to be a teacher, but has no money to go for the review, and her family unable to support in anyway. Seems that the same problem's here as other places. The poor people have no family planning and have tons of kids. Probably lack of contraceptives? I don't know.

We talked about a bunch of stuff and i was starting to really enjoy her company when the mamasan nudged me and asked if i'd like to barfine her, while the girls around were giggling away. Erm... barfine her? Hesitate. Turned and looked at her. She turned away (does that everytime i try to get a good look at her... -..- like i said, shy...) but her grip on my arm was stronger than ever. So i did.

Ok now everybody lets jump to the beat. Bleah.

You should have seen how happy she was. I think she was really glad for any chance to get out of there and escape any chance of being barfined by some disgusting dude. She was barfined ONCE so far in the month that she had worked there... by a black dude she said, with a grimace. Argh. Plus, i think she knew i wasn't up to know good haha... Seriously i wasn't >.<

Off she went to change out of her work clothes (although i wouldn't have minded one bit had she stayed in that outfit hahaha...) while i continued my conversation with the mamasan. Just some random stuff, like how she knows this Japanese businessman, supposedly the President of the Yokohama group or something like that, although i have my doubts, who had promised to help sponsor her daughter for further studies, after which he promised to have her work for him in a proper office and not in the same industry as her mum. Part of the deal, i gathered, was that the daughter would become that dude's woman. The mamasan slyly told me "Of course its also because my daughter is a cherry girl." Huh? Cherry girl? "You know... no first time yet... " Wink wink with a poke in my ribs... Oh... that... -..- Seeing how much hope she had in this promise, i decided to keep quiet about my speculations and doubts.

My "date" for the night reappeared shortly and i was dumbstruck. I had expected some hot outfit or another. But there before me was a decent girl dressed in jeans and a MICKEY MOUSE t-shirt. -..- I looked at her and laughed "Mickey mouse?" Which made her blush and turn away yet again... Haha...

Oh yes, again i left out some info... The bars there open at around 2pm all the way till 3am mostly. Some open earlier, some close later. So when we left, it was still pretty early at night. I was famished and it was dinner... followed by...

Hmmmm.... What do you think?

I sent her home -..- Plus i wanted to grab the chance to see how the living condition's like. The weird thing was, although they "belong" to the mamasan, she doesn't provide lodgings. The girls have to find their own place to stay and pay through their own pockets. Much later, i found out that they regain their freedom by paying what is known as a Steady Barfine of 24000 pesos. Well, they could TRY to save up that amount or pray some silly guy comes along and helps them out. But many of the girls who are freed by their "boyfriends" eventually get dumped and end up going back to the bars. There was this really pretty girl in the bar, Christine, who had a Korean boyfriend who visits every few months, but returned to the bar after a big fight with him, needing the money to take care of her toddler son. She looks what, 19? Last heard her boyfriend will be redeeming her again the next month... hope he does...

Anyway ya, i visited Rhea's home. A 5000 pesos a month place that belongs to her cousin who has retired from the bar scene, currently surviving on money from some black dude in america, has a son by some Korean dude, and has 5 other local boyfriends who always come over for some fun and laughter -..- Rhea wasn't too happy having to live there with her 2 younger sisters and always sleeps with their room locked. Oh her nephew was CUTE... He really looks Korean with those eyes of his. I'll upload his pictures maybe... Bo-Yong's his name. I call him monkey... Haha... On my subsequent visit i brought chocolates that i had bought at the airport for myself for them. They were shaped like bird eggs? And this monkey picked up one, tried knocking it on the table and eventually tried knocking it against his forehead as well. It was hilarious and all of us almost died from laughing at him haha...

Well, eventually i took her out every night that we spent in town, with the weather and all prohibiting the "expedition". She starts work at 6pm, so i'd meet her at her house in the afternoons and go with her to the bar at 6 just to pay the barfine and whisk her off again. She sings everytime the song bug bites her and she has a really really good voice! Found out that she's part of the chior in Church -..- She was active in Theatre as well as Singing in school and had performed quite a few times it seems. She even won some duet competition. Saw the cert haha... Impressive.

We went grocery shopping and i helped stock up their fridge with food. She cooked for me and i had several meals there. Simple meals with just one dish. Usually either just fried fish, or chicken or some pork stew thingy, with rice. Simple fare. I felt so at ease there and preferred the simple comforts of her home to the hotel and the bars that littered the streets leading up to it. I even learnt a few simple words in Tagalog haha...

*** Confession ***

Yes its not conclusion, its confession. Well in a way its conclusion laaa... but yea. I tried to share this in person, but i couldn't. And i'm not too sure you should let my mum know about this either. Hmmm... Wonder if my sis reads this? She's a broadcasting station at home -..-

Its NOT what you think it is. >..<

I bought her freedom thats all. On my last day there, on Friday, i went and got her out of the place for good. She was crying, all her friends in the bar were hugging her and crying. Others were shooting her looks of envy. The mamasan was telling her how lucky she was having only worked there for a month... A record it seems. It was all very touching.

I felt pretty good, yet at the same time helpless? Cos although she's out, her sisters are starting work -..- And things weren't as simple too. Now that she's earned her freedom, she won't be working anymore. At least not until her teacher's review thingy in August, which hopefully she passes... So i decided to not do a half-assed job. I decided to support her financially until she gains independence.

I'm not sure if you understand the implications. Well i didn't really think about it until it hit me in the face. Her irritating boy-crazy cousin asked "So when you going to marry her?"

Imagine something like a fridge landing on my head. -..-

I squirmed out of the question while not outright saying it won't happen. It might not be the smartest thing to do, but i think she was hoping too... and i couldn't bring myself to dash her hopes? Argh... probably a bad move. Chinese saying "Short-term pain is better than long-term pain?" But i just wanted her to stay happy for as long as she could? She was so happy that day... Argh...

Anywayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy... The whole bunch of them sent me off at the airport that day. She cried although she tried to hide it from me. I made a promise to go back again soon as i can. Which i will probably end-december. My only other free time i think. Looking at things gonna be packed all the way till then, not even able to go for Church camp.

So there... Thats it. My misadventures in Philippines. Crazy and totally expected of me -..- PLEASE try to be encouraging... i'm down enough as it is right now... thinking about the future and all. Bah...