Bottom line: I don't consider Cebu to be a "primary pay-for-play destination." All told, I did not "score" in Cebu, and split after a few days.

The usual asking price was 3000 PHP. Higher than I expected, but it was of no consequence, i.e., I would not have gone with any of these girls anyway.

Believe it or not, I also found useful information just by Googling for "how to get laid in Cebu." This guy's page is more about gaming regular girls, but it still has some interesting information:

http://www.dexterhorn.com/jrgss/pay/country/asia/philippines/cebu.htm

CLUBS

This list is not comprehensive, but it might as well be, i.e. I doubt that I missed anything substantial.

There are a bunch of clubs crammed into a small area, about a ten-minute walk from the Holiday Plaza Hotel, and about a one-minute walk from the Beverly Boutique Hotel: Red Lips (CH Link), Dimples (CH Link), Viking (CH Link), Papillon (CH Link), Pussy Cats (CH Link), Planet X (CH Link), Erik the Red (CH Link), Sisters (CH Link), and a few others. They're all about the same. Don't let that long list of names fool you into thinking there's a lot going on here. For the most part I found the girls unattractive. Single moms with a few pounds in the wrong places taking turns pole dancing. They are also open (but emptier) during the day.

One evening at Sisters I spied a perfect little bod wearing ultra-short shorts, the kind that show her buns coming out the top and bottom. She had nice natural breasts. She spotted me looking at her while she was, I believe, trying to entice some guys I presumed to be U.S. military. They didn't seem to be very committal, so I figured she might come over and she did. She latched on to me and had a superb attitude. She said her name was Scarlet. She was very touchy-feely and snuggly, and we did a lot of hugging and rubbing as we shared a barstool.

I asked if her breasts were natural and she said that they were. I offered a 100-peso note in exchange for proof. So she exposed them one at a time, allowing me to fondle. Now the military guys were overtly pointing at me. I suppose they were saying something like, "Look at the treatment she's giving him! But they hadn't seen me slip her the money. A few minutes later they passed by us on their way out. I told them that I was about to leave (in case they wanted her), but they were heading out anyway.

She was a bit of a butter-face. I told her I was too jet lagged to take her home just then (true enough). I had a severe case of blue balls from all the canoodling. I had built up a load for a few weeks, so I had a quart and I was aching, but I tend to go into vapor lock seeking a stunner for the first f*** of the trip. When I left she kissed me on the lips with that bareback look in her eye. :-) Tempting, but no. It's OK, no one ever died from blue balls.

The Arena KTV. (CH Link) The only place that didn't have an all-skank line up. This place also has single moms, but these are a cut above. There were a few here that were definitely do-able. I never understood KTV (Karaoke TV) because I never got what was going on with Karaoke in the first place. (You go to a private room where she sings? No. Can't be.) Is it about renting a private room? This place has little signs in the foyer saying STRICTY NO BAR FINE. (So you can't take them home? Can't be.) I bought one girl a drink because she was tall, pretty, and brown with big legs. She was about twenty-four. (The rule is you have to buy one lady drink per hour. The first drink costs 600 PHP and subsequent drinks cost 300.) I asked her if she could come back to the hotel with me. (Just to see what the deal was, not to take her back.) She said she could when she got off at 4 a.m. How about now? She gave me what turned out to be the standard response in this place: "Ask the mamasan." The girls always defer to the boss. So I asked. For the bar fine they wanted 6200 PHP!


TAXI EXPEDITIONS

It is a myth that all Filipinos speak English. What makes it worse is that they all know the word "yes." So if you ask a question like, "What time does this place open?" they answer "yes." But even the cab drivers generally don't speak any English at all. (That's not much better in Manila.) It's easy enough to communicate through sign language that you're looking for girls, but any details beyond that aren't so easy to get across.

I took five taxi expeditions looking for brothels. Three drivers took me to one particular place that, on one visit, had four girls --all skanks. On the other visits to that place there weren't even that many girls. The prices the drivers told me was 3000 PHP. One driver managed to find me a pair of girls who wanted 1500 each. I wasn't the least bit tempted to go with any of these girls.

One driver took me down a completely unlit street. There was not a street light anywhere, which is hard to visualize for anyone from a rich country. It was dark. Damn dark. We pulled over. It was weird with shapes walking around in the dark. Six girls came to stand in front of the taxi headlights so that I could see them. They adjusted their skirts and prettied themselves, or at least tried to. I passed on these, too, but it was kind of neat getting a private show while wondering if I would make it back with both kidneys.

Sorry to hear your trip was a bust. Thanks for the report though. There aren't too many first hand accounts of Cebu out there.

This kind of plays into my theory about the fallacy of "going to the source." In almost every country I've been to, I've chatted with someone, usually in the capital, who's been to whatever region the best looking girls come from and how much cheaper mongering is and there's beauties everywhere and yadda yadda yadda.

But where are all the reports? Surely there would be a good sized mongering scene in that region if this were true.

I think the reality is that looks differ by region and some regions produce some really good looking women, but that's not true of them all. The good looking ones will waste no time in their impoverished countryside planting rice or sweating in factories if there's an established mongering center in their capital or even the neighboring countries (i.e. Viets in Phnom Penh, Cambodians in Pattaya, Romanians in Frankfurt) offering a month's salary back home for one night of action in the big city.

With that said, it's still fun getting off the beaten path now and again especially after a solid week of hard mongering.

Pops: it was only a bust in terms of mongering. I would leap at the chance to do this week over.

Also, I don't know that Cebu City would be considered a source because the Philippines is just so spread out. The real source would probably be uncountable tiny villages. I've been to one on the southern part of Cebu island (on a previous trip). I stuck out like a sore thumb and the 18-year-old girl I had been corresponding with just stared at me silently with her family while the neigbors came out to have a look. I felt like a space alien. :-)

In Thailand, I think most guys who headed into Esarn country would feel completely lost and out of place. There are no signs in English as in Bangkok and Pattaya. Only Thai. And you can't just head out to the shacks people live in out in the country and start mingling.

The only way I can think of would be to meet girls at a mall in an Esarn city such as Khorat or Udon Thani. That's going to require skills that mongers aren't likely to have. Even those girls who "work" in Pattaya aren't hookers at home among their families and neighbors.

Exactly. It would be too scandalous for most girls to be hookers catering to Western foreigners in Udon Thani so they go to Pattaya and Bangkok instead.

Travel to a place like Cebu, I think ought to be just for travel's sake, with any mongering opportunities a bonus, but not to be counted on.

I spent a week in Cebu City back in March 2006 (last trip to the PI). My experience was a bit different. I stayed right downtown in the old city at the Cebu View Hotel. There were several little go go bars down the street and around the corner and a Sogo Hotel right next door to the CVH.

Anytime you wanted pussy you could get it, especially at night. Just go across the street at a street meat on a stick barbecue setup. They'll show up, believe me.

One thing I really liked about it was the cabbies seemed to take good care of me in showing me the famous "basketball court" which turned out to be an easy five minute walk from my hotel.

You can pull in there morning, noon and night, sit at this little grocery store that serves beer and they'll be coming around. It seemed to be a neighborhood gathering place for regular people too, but nobody seemd to be bothered by me, an obvious gringo looking to pick up some prostitute for some boom boom. Really relaxed, laid back place. I met some older guys from the US in old Cebu that were great fun to be around. They realized their mongering days were numbered, but the soldiered on. God bless intestinal fortutide.

I've read on some boards that this particular basketball court place is dangerous, especially at night, so, considering it's proximity, I had to walk by myself there at night. I'm nutty that way.

I couldn't believe the sheer number of putas out on parade and the cars coming in and out. Again, I had no problems, but could see where if the wrong set of circumstances happened to line up, things could go bad there. It was truly a unique place.

I flew there from Manila RT, but understand Cebu Pacific has flights to Clark now, making it real easy for the AC crowd. Whoa nellie...

Thanks for the current update CS. Much can change in six years which gives me pause when considering a future visit. The days of large numbers of freelancers working certain areas of Cebu City are over. My last trip there I wasn't on the prowl but from what I've been hearing and reading the local authorities are coming down hard on pimps, prostitutes, freelancers and will at times even hassle bargirl's with their BF's. I have met a few webcam models but it's a considerable investment of time and money with an above average chance they'll ultimately avoid face to face encounters. Even if you do find one who'll meet you for lunch, small chance she'll share her cookies. Not sure I would invest much before meeting someone I really don't know for essentially a cup of coffee.

"but it was kind of neat getting a private show while wondering if I would make it back with both kidneys."
You are the Indiana Jones of mongering. You really should stop by Sonora for warm-up, and Juarez if you really want a challenge.
Rock on, BD

Popcorn: You know something? The first working girls I saw there were freelancers who approached me as I stepped out of the Holiday Plaza Hotel for the first time. But no one would take them. I never saw any again after that.

Forgot to mention that the Arena KTV is far from those other clubs. You need a taxi or some kind of wheels to get there.

Costar, interesting report. I was in Cebu late last year for the first time, before moving on to AC and Subic Bay. I am not proud of what I accomplished there, as far as mongering.

I was there two nights. The first night I ended up just bullshitting with people in the bar at the Beverly Boutique Hotel and drinking so much beer that I had to go to bed.

The second night I went to the nearby Red Lips Bar. I was impressed with the quality of the girls. I figured the barfine would be too much, because 90% of the customers were Koreans. I never asked the price, though I think several of girls would have been worth the 3,000 peso price for short time, that I found out later.

I enjoyed walking around the city during the day and going to a nearby massage parlor (forgot the name now) that was only 150 pesos during the day for a one hour massage! The massages were excellent!!! But the girls would not do any 'extras'.

The one night I was out late, I saw lots of trannies on the streets, which made me feel uncomfortable. Some of the trannies were very aggressive as I passed.

I could have done better with the girls in Cebu. Next time I will put more effort in. The civilian scene is probably the best way to go in Cebu.