Sorry, I miss going to Angeles City with Gitano and meeting some of the Club Hombre members. We met up in Manila and since it was his first visit, I showed a few places that I knew: Ermita around LA Cafe, Burgos in Makati, and the EDSA Center. He told me about the guys in Angeles City. But, I have been wanting to visit Cebu City for a long time. Below is my tips about visiting Cebu City.
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Cebu City tips, 7/2005
by Green Grasser (formerly El Hunter)
greengrasser+yahoo.com

Cebu is the island in the Philippines where Magellan exploring the Pacific made his last stop. Also, it has always had the reputation of having the most beautiful girls of PI. After meeting several very nice girls from Cebu during the hey days of old Ermita's red lights, I first visited Cebu City in the mid-1980s which was already a watering hole for Aussies. However, in a visit of only two to three days, I did not find enough activities to prod me to return soon. In later years, reports of bigger and better actions in Cebu came out.

I returned for a short second visit this July 2005 to Cebu City, the principal city on the island. It was definitely bigger and better for action compared to my first visit. But, it is still not as good as Pattaya, Angeles City, Bangkok, and Manila. It is better than Nagoya, Batam at least for bikini bars, but not as cheap for some basics. For quality girls, I think the first four cities are definitely better. I would recommend Cebu City for guys in their 70s without a big bag of money, who have a difficult time attracting and dating girls in their 20s.

Thanks to Curious for his reports of years ago (where are you now?), chrispforr for his list of clubs in Cebu City and two nearby cities, Jackson for his public web site (sorry, I will miss the annual Thanksgiving dinner), Paul for his private board, Mattrick for his tip about the hotel discount price, Dragon Slayer, and Krum Lov for their tips.


1. AIRLINE. Cebu Pacific Airline, www.cebupacificair.com/hoteldet.asp?hID=7. Round-trip ticket between Manila and Cebu cost was 6,253 pesos. Its web site showed that reservation on Saturday and Sunday flights were fully booked. Phoning its office was next to impossible because the telephone was always busy. I went to a travel agent in Manila, who made a reservation for me and issued the ticket. Other airlines also fly to Cebu and charge a few dollars less. However, one can get a room for two (double) at the Cebu Midtown Hotel for 1400 pesos per night by flying Cebu Pacific Airline and showing its boarding pass when checking in at the hotel. See #9 below for web address.

2. AIRLINE OFFICE AT ROBINSON'S PLACE, MANILA. Cebu Pacific Airline has an office located near the Adriatico entrance into the mall in Manila. It has its own entrance and was opened at 9 am on Saturday, before the mall opened at 10 am. For a change of flight date, you hava to go to one of the airline's offices and have a change-date sticker attached to your ticket. This can also be done at the airline's office at Domestic Airport. You do not get an assigned seat on the flight, until you check in at the airline counter at the airport for boarding.

3. DEPARTURE FROM DOMESTIC AIRPORT, MANILA. My taxi driver asked me which domestic airport? I said the one with Cebu Pacific Airline. That is the OLD domestic airport. He left me in front of the airline office, which was only 50 feet from the entrance into the airport building. There was a terminal fee of 100 pesos, which was supposed to increase to 200 pesos in August 2005.

4. FLIGHT. The flight took a little over 1 hour in a relatively new Boeing 757. After handing out a bottle of juice and a bag of pretzels, the attendants held a contest to give away tee shirt, etc. One contest involved the name of a movie after hearing a famous line from it. The contest on the return flight was who first could show possession of an item, like a red pen. After the contest, the attendants sold tee shirts for 200 pesos each, bags, caps, etc at different prices. There was no earphone nor audio programs.

5. TAXI AT CEBU AIRPORT. The Cebu airport is actually on the island of Mactan which is connected by two bridges to the island of Cebu. An information desk near the baggage area in the airport told me that a metered taxi would cost about 170 pesos and an airport vehicle service would cost 325 pesos. On the far side of the road in front of the arrival section of the terminal building to the right was a lane for taxis. I arrived on a weekday afternoon and one taxi had just left with a passenger. There was no other taxi waiting. I crossed the road at the pedestrian marked crossing and walked up about 20 steps to get to the arrival section of the terminal. Turned left and walked about 200 feet to get to the entrance and taxi stand. There were about ten other people waiting for a taxi. After 15 minutes, only two taxis arrived to drop off passengers. I gave up. Went back down the steps and crossed the road. A guy in an official-looking barong (shirt) asked me if I wanted an airport vehicle? I said how much? He said 325 pesos. I said yes and he gestured to another guy and pointed me to head to the right where the road continued away. Another guy grabbed my roll-away 22-inch luggage, who I thought was the driver. But, he was a middle-aged guy hustling to make a few pesos.

6. RIDE TO CEBU CITY. The ride took about 40 minutes. There was a lot of traffic, which added about 15 minutes to the ride. The weather was hot and sticky. In the early 1980s, the air was clean and the sky was blue. Now, the air is polluted and the sky is grayish. As would be expected in over 20 years, there was a lot of development, namely, asphalt roads, street lights, tall buildings in addition to hotels, big malls, gas stations, etc.

7. MONEY. Exchange rate was about 56 pesos to a US dollar. Different banks will give slightly different rates. Best rate was for US$50 and US$100 bills. Others have reported that the exchange rate is lower in Philippine cities other than Manila. Hotel exchange rates are usually the worst. My banks have started charging an extra 1 to 2 percent fee for international transactions on my debit and ATM cards. So, I carry US dollar bills for my primary money source and brought more than enough pesos from Manila with me to Cebu.

8. HOTELS. The web did not provide a lot of information on hotels, such as condition and proximity to desirable locations. I usually make hotel reservations in Bangkok and Manila through the cheaper of www.precisionreservations.com and www.asiahotels.com. There were other web sites, that offered a variety of prices and some hotels not listed on other sites: http://www.cebu-hotels.info (long list by lodging type and costs), www.lakbaypilipinas.com/hotels_cebu.html (list over 30 hotels), www.hotelleisure.com/asia/philippines/index.asp?rcode=asia&ccode=ph&cicode=ceb (list of 15 hotels), www.bestofcebu.com/standard.htm For telephone numbers of hotels, try: http://www.ngkhai.com/pointcebu/travel/hotelists6.htm

9. CEBU MIDTOWN HOTEL. Located next to Fuente Osmena (a traffic circle), on F. Ramos Street near General Maxilom Avenue (formerly called Mango). Cebu Midtown Hotel was within easy walking distance of Lone Star and Club FH (formerly Firehouse) to the left when exiting and Thunderdome and Volvo to the right. From the hotel, you could walk about six blocks to where seven bikini bars are located or take a 40 peso taxi ride. The reception desk is on the fourth floor of the building. Rated four-star, but is deteriorating. For 1400 pesos, it was worth the price. Queen-sized bed, cable TV, two-person sofa, mini-frig with space to store another six-pack or more, air conditioner, key card lock, bathroom with counter and tub. No in-room safe, but safety deposit box near the hotel's reception desk. Breakfast was not included for this price. The e-mail address to make a reservation at the Cebu Midtown Hotel is: cmhsales@skyinet.net You can also try Cebu Pacific Airline web site, www.cebupacificair.com/hoteldet.asp?hID=7 and its contact info: (6332) 253-9711 and cmh@gsilink.com .

10. WATER, BEER, GROCERY, ETC. One grocery store is located at the basement level of Robinson's Place (a small mall), which occupies the first three floor of the same building where the Cebu Midtown Hotel is located. Another grocery store, called Rustan's, was located two blocks from the hotel on General Maxilom Ave.

11. MAP. http://cebu-hotels.com/philippines/Cebumap3.gif On the second floor of Robinson Place was a bookstore, which sold a street map for 250 pesos. A similar street map was on the web at http://livingincebu.com/pdf/maps/cebu_map.pdf

12. EATS. Food court in the basement of Robinson's Place, 50 pesos and up for a plate of food. Have to exit the hotel building to enter the basement. See #10. Joven's Grill, Osmena Blvd on the corner of Rafol Street, 120 pesos for eat-all-you-can seafood lunch, no air-conditioning, open 2-3 hours for lunch and same for dinner. Ratsky's, Ayala Mall, ground floor, 150 pesos for eat-all-you-can pizza and pasta, 2 pm - 6 pm.

13. MALLS. Two large malls, Ayala Center Cebu and SM City Cebu. The first is located in a nice part of the city. I did not have time to visit the second mall, which is supposedly larger.

14. BUYS. This city supposedly makes guitars. Street vendors sold DVDs for 85 pesos. I purchased four DVDs which contained 3 to six movies on each. One DVD with the Godfather triology did not work in my DVD player. I should have tried them at the internet place on the first floor of Robinson's Place. Also, I bought CDs music for 100 pesos, but could not play them on my two CD players. My computer played the CDs and they were of file type, cda.

15. MASSAGE - LEGIT. There were at least six legitimate massage places within three blocks of Fuente Osmena on F. Ramos, General Maxilom Ave, and Osmena Blvd going north. Prices ranged from 150 to 250 pesos per hour. Four massage places advertised Thai massage. I tried two of them. NUAT THAI, Gullas Building, located on the north side of General Maximlom Ave, half block from Fuente Osmena, open 9 am to 12 midnight, 255-5597. It is halfway to the rear of a passageway lined with shops on both sides. I paid 300 pesos for two hours. Be sure to tip generously your masseuse. The massages were about as good as the Thai massage in Bangkok. One reason might be because on my first visit in the early 1980s I heard that there were many Thai guys studying at the university in Cebu.

16. MASSAGE - SEX. I heard that there were several of these places going south towards the waters on Osmena Blvd and near Colon Street. One name of a massage place mentioned often on a forum was Finland.

17. CLUBS, MIDTOWN, AREA TO THE RIGHT (F. RAMOS). Exit the ground floor of the Cebu Midtown Hotel and turn right. This is F. Ramos Street. About a block away or 200 feet on the right hand side are two bikini bars, Thunderdome and Volvo. Both are supposedly owned by the same person who owns Love City and a big neon-lighted KTV (name of Infinity) on the road near Ayala Mall. THUNDERDOME had 15 girls sitting in rows on folding chairs, one girl dancing on stage, an aggressive mama-san who said 5,000 pesos to take out a girl, and charge of 90 pesos for a beer. VOLVO was the better place. It had 25 girls sitting in rows on folding chairs, three girls dancing on stage (some topless, some in see-thru top), semi-aggressive mama-san who said 4,000 pesos to take out a girl, charge of 100 pesos for admission, and 60 pesos for a beer. On Friday midnight, it had a 3-act show (juggler, magician/sword-swallower, and song pantominist/satirist) which was good and the girls really laughed at the last act.

18. CLUBS, MIDTOWN, AREA TO THE LEFT (OSMENA BLVD or JONES going south). Exit the ground floor of the Cebu Midtown Hotel and turn left. You walk pass the entrance of Robinson's Place to the next major street. This is Osmena Blvd, heading south. About a half block away on the left is SILVER DOLLAR. This is reportedly an expat hangout and opens 4 pm. It was a small place and the price of beer was half -priced at 35 pesos until 8 or 9 pm. Girls started dancing on the narrow stage behind the bar at 7 pm. At that time, there were about 10 girls. I did not have a good experience there, because the girls behind the bar were slow or did not respond to my requests for services (beer, my payment, returning change). One reason might be that they did not seem to understand or speak English. Exit Silver Dollar and turn left and head south on Osmena Blvd. About two blocks away is a short side road to the left. About 100 feet away on the left-hand side is CLUB FH. This was formerly known as Firehouse. A new owner took over on July 1 and changed the name. According to a girl I met in another club, she used to work at Firehouse and she and many other girls have left it. When I visited it on Friday night about 10:30 pm, there were 12 girls and 8 guys sitting in the dark and a 5-musician band that played out-of-tune or on a poor acoustic system. The only thing of interest was the two television monitors showing models on a runway, probably the Fashion TV channel. I signed a chit for 80 pesos for my beer. After I finished my beer, I left a 100-peso bill in the chit cup and left. Outside, a waiter chased me and said that I owed another 100 pesos for admission. None of the three persons at the door had mentioned the admission charge when I entered and there was no sign about admission. I paid rather than argue.

19. CLUBS (or bikini bars), MIDTOWN, GENERAL MAXILOM AVE (or MANGO STREET). Exit the ground floor of the building where Cebu Midtown Hotel and go straight ahead crossing F. Ramos street and heading north along the traffic circle. At the next corner, turn right onto General Maxilom Ave, which was also known as Mango Street. About four or five blocks to the east or away from the traffic circle is a major intersection. On this corner on the right side of the street were three clubs (locally called bikini bars in reference to what the girls wear when dancing on a stage), which had the names of BLACK HOLE, BG, and VIKING-MIDNIGHT SUN. Across the street, or the left side of Mango Street were four clubs, which had the names of EXOTICA, DIMPLES, LOVE CITY, and PAPILLON. The prices were 50 - 60 pesos for a beer, 150 pesos for a lady's drink, and 1,700 pesos for a girl take-out, of which 700 pesos went to the club. I did not like Love City because I peeked in and saw only two girls who were dancing on a tiny center stage and about 20 guys sitting around the stage who looked like Filipinos. One tip, on Saturday night a female bartender at Viking told me that some girls left at 9 pm and would not be paid their 200 pesos salary for the night, because they were not barfined the night before (Friday) and were asked to leave that night (Saturday). These clubs supposedly stay open to 3:30 am.

20. CLUBS, MIDTOWN, QUEEN'S ROAD. This is one block behind the seven clubs on Mango Street. One club is located there called LONE STAR. Like the other clubs, it has dancing girls on a large stage behind the u-shaped bar, a pool table in a separate room, beer for 60 pesos, and 30 willing girls. I liked the club.

21. CLUBS UPTOWN. My taxi driver tried to find Club Moritz on Salinas Drive and Jukebox on Archbishop Reyes road. But, we could not find either one. The first one might have listed the address in error, because later I saw mention that the Hotel St. Moritz had dancers. According to a security guard at the Grand Convention building, the disco dance place in back of the building used to be Jukebox. See also #25.

21. CLUBS DOWNTOWN. I did not have time to visit any clubs downtown. Others listed 14 places, but thought the places were not worth a repeat visit and not as good as the midtown clubs. They are located supposedly on Pelaez St, Junquera, Cebu South Road, and elsewhere.

22. CASAS. A taxi driver told me that Cebu City used to have more than six casas, but now there was only one. He said that the price was 2,500 pesos for a girl take-out. He drove me there, about 15 minutes away from my hotel. It was located on a busy side street and on the corner where the road forked. A metal gate with the hand-written name "Gate III" was opened to let us drive into a driveway that could hold about six vehicles. I had to wait outside for a couple of other guys to make their selection and leave. While waiting, I asked for a business card that read, HANA VALLEY III, J. Panis St, cor. Vico Rd. (besides Cempark Cem), 232-1159, 0927-912-9330. Inside at 7 pm on Saturday night were 25 girls sitting. I did not select any and the male manager advised me to return at 9 pm when there would be more girls. I think that 9 pm is when the malls close. We drove away and nearby was Gaisano Mall. Without my asking, the driver in about five minutes drove to a place with a sign in front that said SAKURA, near Morales Road, about four blocks from the Cebu Grand Hotel. Inside there were only six girls. After we left, the driver asked me if I wanted to go to Mactan Island where there were six more casas. I declined and when he left me at Lone Star, the meter read 135 pesos.

23. STREET LADIES. Three names came up: Junqunera, the Basketball Court near Kabatingan, and San Carlos. These could be the same location, but I do not know. I had an enjoyable chat in Viking with a tall American guy in his 40s who said that he stays in Cebu most of each year since the late 1980s. He recommended Junquera to find 18-year girls. JUNQUERA is a street that is south of F. Ramos and runs parallel to Osmena Blvd. Some ex-pats said that THE BASKETBALL COURT is an area full of girls and is near Kabatingan. Saturday night about 10 pm, a taxi driver invited me to visit SAN CARLOS which was about 10 minutes away from Fuente Osmena. The driver said that the price was 1,500 pesos and advised me to lock all the doors and not to leave the car. We drove down some narrow side streets with few street lights. Before we crossed a street to San Carlos, I could see other cars leaving and several teenage boys rushed the cars and tried to open the doors. We crossed the street and drove into a dark area. In front of the car headlights, over 40 young girls in street clothes crowded each other in 2 or 3 rows. I could see several likely prospects, but the clothes and partial darkness can cover a lot of faults. So, I prefer bikini bars and buying lady's drinks.

24. KTVs. There were a lot of KTVs. I usually avoid them in Manila and elsewhere, because the pricing structure is too complicated with the ultimate goal of a high bill and I cannot sing. Of the following, I peeked in at the second one. INFINITY is a brightly-lit, free-standing building on a road between Fuente Osmena and Ayala Center mall. A driver said that an Infinity girl cost 6,000 pesos. At the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, enter the lobby and take the escalator on the left to the bottom level and exit the building. To the left about 50 yards is a KTV, called CLUB NYX. On Friday night, about 9:30 pm, there was no one inside and a few employees waiting outside the sidewalk door. The mama-san quoted prices of 2,000 pesos for consumables in a room, 500 pesos for a girl's first hour with you in the KTV which included one drink, minimum of 250 pesos for her second drink, 250 pesos for a girl's second hour, one drink for her (mentioned by the mama-san with each price quote), and 4,000 pesos for a girl to go to your room. I did not tell her that I was not a hotel guest. She also said that there were 32 girls available. MARINE CLUB, SM mall. A girl at Viking said that she used to work at the Marine Club and the price was 6,000 pesos to take out a girl. She said that she quit because the club had too many girls.

25. DISCO. SUNSHINE, a discotheque on Salinas Drive in the vicinity of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel, is recommended by others after midnight. I did not have a chance to visit it. RATSKY at Ayala Center mall turns into a live music place about 10 pm and charged 150 pesos entrance fee. Ratsky employees told me that Brix at Ayala Center mall was closed a long time ago. See also #20.

26. FORUM. An internet forum devoted to Cebu City is at www.livingincebu.com. Nearly all the boards are public except the one for nightlife and for it, you have to become a member. It does not have many board members and some posters tend to get into flame wars which show their inexperience with boards. In general, this board can give specifics on what is there, but seems to lack experience with contrast to cities outside of PI. A few guys on this board are very helpful.

27. TAXI. The drivers were generally pleasant and helpful. Many did not speak much English. One helpful device was to write down my destination on paper in large capital letters. Nearly all of them turned on their taxi meters without asking. This included drivers who were parked in front of clubs waiting. The local expats claim that the drivers do not expect a tip. Taxis seem plentiful in front of hotels and clubs, but seem few at night.

28. SIGHTS. Price quote for a city tour of four hours for one person ranged from 1750 to 2200 pesos, varying from one travel agency to the next. Daoist Temple in a residential neighborhood called Beverly Hills was interesting and had a scenic view of part of the city and the ocean. Entrance was free. I took a taxi there, walked around for 15 minutes while the taxi meter ran, and afterwards went on to Ayala Mall and the meter read 120 pesos. www.cebutours.com offer a bar hop tour for 300 pesos on Wednesday nights. The island also offers resort hotels, golf, water activities, etc. Sorry I am the one to give you information on those activities.

29. RIDE TO CEBU AIRPORT. After I checked out of the Cebu Midtown Hotel and headed for the elevator, the security guard asked me if I wanted to take the hotel car service to the airport for 250 pesos. This was lower than the price quote of 325 pesos that I received from the car service desk a couple of days earlier. Compared to a taxi cost of 170 pesos, I figured that the convenience, safety, and speed were worth the extra 80 pesos. The car pick up was on the same level as the 4th floor hotel lobby and about 50 feet away from the hotel counter.

30. END NOTE.

All in all, I had a pleasant long weekend in Cebu City. As mentioned earlier, I recommend this city for a guy in his 70s on a budget looking for acceptable quality girls in their 20s. Of course, the guy should be pleasant and not physically challenged. In one club, I saw an overweight white guy in his late 60s or 70s with obvious health problems scowling and complaining bitterly to a waitress about girls, prices, and others and even gestured at me, four bar stools away, and called me a yo-yo. I ignored him and continued to sip a beer and watch the girls. He got up and moved to a table where 3 girls were sitting instead of other empty tables. Those girls practically ran away from him. All other guys, middle-aged and old, were having a good time.

On this my second visit to Cebu City, the action was much, much better than my first vist in the mid-1980s. But, my preferences for Asian City are in the following order: Pattaya, Bangkok, Angeles City, Manila, Cebu City, Bantam, and Singapore. My list do not include for fun the cities of Hong Kong, New Delhi, and Jakarta due to cost or no recent visit. If you have never been to Cebu City, it is definitely worth at least one visit. If you are an Angles City fan, its price increases might pressure you to consider an alternative destination. As for me, I will probably return to Cebu City when I visit Manila again, at least to sample the other places in Cebu City and its two nearby cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, which I did not see.

What an awesome report, an excellent resource that Í´ll be sure to use in a future trip.

Cebu does seem expensive, I´d be unsure if I would pay 4K for a gal. I´m wondering if the 1700 at Papillon was all inclusive like AC or do U still have to tip that gal afterwards.

I can relate to that story about the scowling overweight dude, seems I run into them in Manila and the Perimeter bars also.

Haha. Thats a good name for that type of guy, "scowling dude". There always has to be one at all the places you monger in the phils. I actually try to avoid all guys that approach me in the phils. Like Jim Cramer says, "I am not here to make friends. . ."

I was in Cebu City a few months ago and stayed at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel (the name is a bit misleading as it isn't near any water). I visited Club NYX in the basement and sang some cheesy old songs badly out of tune with a couple of cuties. As the place was about to shut and the girls were due to finish for the night I arranged to meet one of them in my room in 20 minutes to avoid paying the "barfine". She was more than happy with this arrangement.

I believe that the disco you refer to that's located near the Waterfront is called Sunflower not Sunshine. It's a huge place but on the Monday night that I went there weren't that many people in the building although at the weekend it's apparently hopping. The obligatory live Philippino cover band is a given, obviously.

I quite enjoyed drinking and playing around in the Mango Street area of bars. There are around 8 bars next to each other and you can bounce from one to another checking out the ladies and knocking back the San Miguels. Some of the bars around here have the same owners and/or links with Manila bars with the same name.

One good website about Cebu I discovered was www.wayblima.com - excellent insights to the the city and the culture.

Great report by the way.

GG, great info.

There are many SG's who live and study on their own in Cebu, away from the parents. AKA tuition girls.

I luv finding a sweet somewhat innocent, tuition girl. Though my last trip there was in '98.

Great Report.

I would have verified the taxi man's assertion that there is only one Casa operating today versus 6 in the past.

My last visit about 18 months ago unveiled more than one except that they were mostly out of town.

It is possible that he was too lazy to drive you there because of the distance or perhaps, a matter of commissions from the one he likes to promote etc.

I have this hypothesis that almost all taxi drivers in the Philippines are born liars and cheats based on my personal experiences over more than 15 years of visits to that otherwise lovely country.

Meantime, Cebu is definitely a place to go if you like a combination of island-beach and women except that you should expect to pay at least double what you pay in AC overall.

Much of this due to their clientele being from HK, Japan and Korea and we all know that this ups the ante quite a bit.