State of Calamity at Edsa's Firehouse. 9-26-09
by greengrasser@yahoo.com

Monday.

According to today Monday's Manila newspaper, President of Arroyo has declared a state of calamity for the island of Luzon. Worst flooding in metro Manila in 40 years.

Last Saturday morning about 11 am, my night's barfine and I had waded through shoe-deep water on Adriatico Street, rain, and shouting pedicab drivers hawking for fares to walk into and browse Robinson Place mall. The plan was that instead of her taking her usual 3-hour jeepney ride to go home and another 3-hour ride to return to the club for work in the evening, she would spend part of the day with me at the mall and in my hotel room, and then leave early for work at the Edsa International Entertainment Center.

As we browsed the mall, the rain and wind were getting worse and my girl was receiving and sending a bunch of texts on her cell phone to her aunt and her girl friends. She announced to me her change of plan, she needed to buy baby formula for her aunt and her 6-month nephew and to go back to the Edsa club to meet her girl friend to share a ride back to home.

We passed an exit to the alley that linked Adriatico to Padre Faura and saw some taxis outside the door. But, she needed to buy baby formula at the supermarket. We walked through the center of the mall to the Adriatico wing, where the supermarket moved to and barely managed to bypass a puddle of water that stretched almost wall-to-wall of the corridor in front of the supermarket. After buying a can of baby formula that should last ten days, we tried to go back to the alley exit. But, mall staff stopped everyone from walking in that direction, because the puddle of water was worse. I guess Robinson will be asking architects and construction engineers who built the mall about the water.

So, we went the other way and ended at the Pedro Gil entrance. A line of 20 people were lined up in the rain waiting for a taxi. Pedicabs were bringing people to the mall and no one wanted to get into a pedicab to leave. A mall cop had to continually tell the pedicabs to stop blocking the entrance and wait on the far side. I waited with my girl in the line and tried to shield us from the driving rain and blowing wind, which occasionally inverted my new umbrella and did break an umbrella rib support. We waited about half hour in line, since taxis were few. In the meantime, several couples of older white guys with their Filipino girl friends broke into the front of line and claimed that they were next and grabbed the next taxi. No wonder that some white guys get mugged at night.

Finally, my girl was able to get a taxi and leave. I went back into the mall and bought a big bag of Jollibee burgers and fries, figuring that I would not be able to get out the rest of the day and night. Then I waded back to my hotel in mid-calf deep water on Adriatico, Pedro Gil, and Mabini streets -- while pedicab drivers were pedaling their 3-wheelers in the wet happily with prospects of making money and some grungy-looking locals shouting at me to come into their dingy smelly establishments to get out of the water and for food and drink.

I got back to my hotel room on the sixth floor, where I stripped, placed all my wet stuff in front of the air conditioner to dry, showered to wash off the grime, urine, shit, etc that was in the water that I just waded through. Then I turned on cable tv to watch the local weather report, next my dvd's of assorted television series, ate a couple of burgers, drink a few San Miguels, watched the rain, etc.

The rain stopped about 8 pm, as segment #2 of Survivor - Samoa ended its television broadcast with the New Hampshire lady cop casted out of the game through the connivance of the multi-millionaire Houston oil company president.

Sunday night, I had no problem in getting a taxi, which drove to Edsa in light traffic. What a pleasure to get a taxi without hassle and to get to destination quickly.

At Edsa, only the club Space Girls was not opened (VIP Lounge has been closed for renovation) with a lot of girls and a lot of customers. A manager told me that Saturday night, only 51 girls were able to report to work, so Edsa only had Firehouse opened and Firehouse had 61 barfines. The difference is obviously due to short-timers.

My girl, according to a manager, was not able to come to work due to flooding around her home. But, then he proceeded to point out six girls that he claimed were new.

Instead, I got another quick taxi and went to LA Cafe. It was another crowded Sunday night, with more girls than guys and more girls coming in as several couples left. Outside the entrance, an old woman was offering a pair of young girls, as a police car was parked across the street with two male cops inside the car watching the front of LA Cafe.

I opted for the 19-peso hot dog at 7-11.

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Tuesday.

Reading the newspapers and watching cable televisions, you would think that Manila is a total disaster. For example, one frequently-mentioned data was that the MMDA (metro manila development? authority) said that 90 percent (or 80 percent depending upon the reporter) of Manila was flooded by Saturday's tropical storm (or typhoon, as called by some reporters).

On Sunday, I walked around Ermita and Malate and hardly saw any puddles of water. The pavements were wet because there were brief rains during the day.

Yesterday, Monday, was the same.

I went out both nights. Getting a taxi was quick and easy. Drivers did not argue about using the taxi meter and did not demand a tip. The drive along Roxas Blvd in the early evening was fast, since the traffic was light. Along a couple of parts of Roxas, there were puddles that cover half of one lane, so vehicles did slow and moved to the other lane. The meter read less than 70 pesos when we arrived at Edsa Center, instead of the usual 90-plus pesos.

Last night, all the clubs were opened, chock full of girls and lots of customers.

After a few hours, I got another taxi quickly and experienced a fast ride back to Ermita, a little over ten minutes.

LA Cafe was brimming with girls and customers. Same as Sunday night.

Amazonia Bar, in spite of its live loud band, and Butterfly Bar were empty of customers.

Patchez Bar had one other customer, so ten bar girls swarmed me.

Room 526 International was full of women in floor-length evening gowns and tuxedo-vested waiters, who all stood up to welcome me in, in spite of my tattered jeans attire. I was too embarrassed by my beat-down clothes to stay more than a couple of minutes.

Skorski in Malate on Adriatico Street was my last stop of the night. Beer cost 95 pesos (less than LA Cafe's 110 pesos) and Cutty Sark cost 110 pesos. Enjoyed the clean modern interior, the disco sounds of a live 6-piece band, the balcony seating surrounding the dance floor, the modest-sized discotheque with a bar and bar stools on the right side.

One minor irritation. At the end of my night out, I had to go to three different 7-11 stores, before I found a store with steaming hot dogs and buns.

Thanks for the report. The T-shirt pick had me LMAO. "Buy me a fucking drink!" Pretty much encapsulates what's gone wrong in SEA pay for play.

Talk to my girl from Rizal last night , she says her house is a disaster, many things broken, and she can't go home, maybe for 1 month before the water retreats.

She is staying with a friend but now needs to find an apartment untill she can return home.

"She is staying with a friend but now needs to find an apartment untill she can return home."

Did she suggest that maybe you could pay for that apartment? A real LBFM would ask if you didn't offer quickly.

Thanks for the detailed report GG. Its good to hear such cultural landmarks as L.A. Cafe and EDSA complex survived the deluge!

(Mabini Steet's exchange rate was 47.8 peso = US $1)

Tuesday evening.

I met up with a friend, who has been working in Manila and living in Ermita for over a year. We were scheduled to go out and visit Burgos Street last Saturday but did not. So, we re-scheduled for Tuesday evening. He was anxious to see Burgos Street his first visit ever, although he first visited Manila in the 1970s and married a Filipina through the then-favorite marriage service, a penpal club.

When we met up, he told me some interesting stories. Last Saturday, early afternoon, he drove his SUV south along Roxas Blvd to the Mall of Asia without any problem. At that mall, there was no problem with flooding. When he tried to return from the Mall of Asia (which is at the western end of Edsa street and sits on built-up land area in Manila Bay), he encountered a traffic jam trying to get back on Roxas Blvd going back north to Ermita. After over five hours of traffic tie-up, he drove to the airport where he parked his car on relatively high ground. Then he walked from the NAIA Airport to the Edsa Complex. He confirmed that only Firehouse club was opened. He was able to get a taxi from the Edsa Complex to Ermita without much problem. He said that he tried to cell phone me, but he got no signal. I had sent him a text message, but there was no indication that the text did not go through. On Monday, he found out that a Globe cell tower had been knocked out and would be repaired that day.

Tuesday evening, we met up at G Point and then I showed him the four cathouses in Ermita. They were all opened and operating. He was surprised that they were there and had not known that they existed.

About 8:30 pm, we hailed a taxi on Del Pilar Street within a minute. The first taxi driver wanted 150 pesos to drive to Burgos Street. A minute later, a second taxi driver agreed to the meter price, without argument. We drove along Roxas Blvd, Buendia Street, and Makati Avenue without hardly any stop exccept for the traffic light at Makati Avenue. The ride to Burgos Street took about 15 minutes and cost less than 100 pesos.

We visited a bunch of clubs. In general, nearly all the clubs had about half their usual number of girls, except Rogues. It had a full house of girls and customers, with hardly any seats available. With that one exception, it was easy to see that the Burgos clubs had been affected by the storm-flood in terms of girls and customers.

Specifically, the Pussycats doorman said that its show was cancelled due to the flood. Stardust was short one girl of its usual five-performer show. Jools' show had eight performers (not sure if it was short a ninth girl) and relatively simple costumes and head-dress for its 10 pm show (not sure if it had a costume transport problem or not).

By the way, my friend enjoyed his first visit to Burgos clubs. He really liked being surrounded by five to six girls vying constantly for his attention in Ivory club. But, he spoiled the girls. Instead of buying lady drinks at 390 pesos a pop, he tucked 100-peso bills inside of their bras at different intervals during our one-beer (cost 160 pesos each) stay. I guessed he gave away about 1,500 pesos. Much better for the spender who likes to cop a feel, than those Angeles City guys who toss stacks of folding money over a balcony to a crowd of girls below.

After visiting the two happy massage parlors (also had fewer than their usual numbers) near Burgos Street, we quickly located a taxi on Makati Avenue and headed back to Ermita about 11 pm since my friend had to work the next day. Our taxi traveled Jupiter Avenue, Osmena Highway, Quirino Avenue, and then zig-zagged through side streets to Malate. No puddles, no flood problem three days after the big storm.

Wednesday evening.

My last night in Manila and I returned again to the Edsa Complex. Again, getting a taxi was easy and finding a driver to agree to the metered fare was simple. We traveled along Roxas Blvd. The traffic was heavier than the nights before, but was not as heavy as the week before the storm hit.

When we took the access road to get onto Edsa Street, we hit four lanes of traffic going to the Mall of Asia, about three long blocks away to our right. The trick was that the taxi had to cross these lanes in order to get the U-turn about 70 meters to our right. My driver was aggressive and got to the U-turn within three minutes. Next was four lanes of traffic heading east away from the Mall of Asia. Since the heavy traffic was not as bad as rush hour a week earlier, the traffic moved and we made it to the second U-turn, from where we circled back to stop in front of the Edsa Complex.

All the Edsa clubs were full of girls and customers, similar to the Monday before and the week before. I quickly found my last Friday night's girl.

The last time I saw her, she got into a taxi in front of the Pedro Gil entrance at Robinson Place mall about 11:30 am amid blowing wind, pouring rain, a line of other wet people behind us shivering for a taxi to transport them away, a crowd of pedicabs soliciting for customers, and a single mall cop trying to stop white foreigners and others from grabbing a taxicab without waiting in line and shooing the pedicabls to stop blocking the driveway in front of the mall entrance.

I asked her what happened?

Her English was less than adequate, so her explanation was brief. She took the taxi to Baclaran and paid 300 pesos, triple the usual fare. (Baclaran is a major jeepney and bus stop for people heading south and has a variety of small shops. It is located about five blocks south of Edsa, somewhere around Roxas Blvd. and Harrison Avenue, never been there myself). Due to street flooding, she was stranded there for over 12 hours. (I think her count was off or she left out some details.) The next morning Sunday she walked to the MRT station on Edsa and Taft Avenue and took the skytrain to Quezon Avenue. From there, she took jeepney, FX (an enclosed, sometimes air-conditioned type of jeepney), and bus to her home town. She arrived there about 9 pm Sunday. Her home was not flooded, but the surrounding streets were partly flooded making travel very slow. So, she was not able to return to work at the Edsa Complex for Sunday and Monday evenings. Tuesday evening was her first day back at work.

Needless to say, I replied: I told you so. You should have stayed with me in my hotel room, eating Jollibee burgers and fries, watching cable tv, and making sweet-sweet love all day and night.

She replied: we can do that tonight for only 5,000 pesos.