Cherry Trip - Easter 2010 / Angeles City
Hot and Humid !! When the plane arrived at Clark it was midnight and around 80 degrees and 90 percent humidity - I had a ride arranged from the hotel: Affinity Condo-Hotel a quick drive
through the old US Air Force Base and 3 blocks to the Hotel. A security guard armed with some
version of an assault weapon, no elevator yet only 3 stories. I stayed in 1 bedroom unit for
15 days of my 20 day stay, then due to others reservations i moved to a studio. The hotel is
a solid 3.5 star; friendly staff, pool, restaurant / room service, not on Fields yet 10 minute walk
or 2 minutes in trike. Wow, that is another story too - the trike for a fat guy like me was always
a challenge to get into and out of; combined with the oppressive humidity it reminded me of
basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, MO in July. Fortunately, there was no rain during my stay.
I considered Manila, yet too many positives drew me to Angeles City direct flight, easy transportation, single street loaded with bars. I went at Easter time so the airport at LAX was
packed with Filipinos returning for holidays with huge boxes 3x3x3 or so apparently filled with
items not obtainable in PI - it must have cost extra but I never asked anyone anything. I had
two huge duffel / suitcases and was never notified of overweight, i did have a TSA notice that
one bag was searched. Both bags had special tags attached, I don’t know what that was about
either. I took a large bottle of Tequila, condoms and other ‘gift type items.’ At this point I should
just say I gleaned plenty of good information from many reports that I had read, and hope that
someone somewhere will gather some kernel of info from my journey.
I had an intention of attending an Easter ceremony / Mock Crucifixion at Pampanga - the reality
was that Angeles City had a lesser known version that worked just as well for me. There were
3 crosses erected with willing supplicants; along the roads were people carrying crosses and
flogging themselves. That is what i wanted to see and did, I wanted to attend Catholic Services
Easter Sunday but that did not occur.
So this hotel, apparently owned by Australians had all modern conveniences and at that time no
more than 4 or 5 years old, nice furnishings to include a neat video camera to identify visitors
whilst they were at the front door on the outdoors side of the guard with the firearm. I took car
and driver and hot rod magazines for the guys i might encounter (guards/kitchen/trike driver)
they were not appreciated as well as the glamour magazines for the girls. I awoke at noon or
so to some huge sound similar to an industrial engine, it was a gigantic diesel electric generator.
Apparently brown outs / black outs are quite common - one afternoon we went to 6 bars or so
that had no power until we came upon one that had auxiliary power [ towards Perimeter Rd ].
The room had a balcony, not small - bedroom with king maybe queen, kitchen with range top,
refrigerator, the mini-bar was 2 of anything you would need: sanitary napkins, candy bars, water
bottles - I put it all under the sink for the duration. There was a large couch and several chairs,
table good sized TV. In the bedroom was another good sized TV, closet cabinet and safe, the bathroom had a huge spa tub all new and shiny.
I was paranoid to stand on a street corner or have to search for a discreet ATM, in addition to
paper trail and 3 to 4 percent surcharge, so I took cash, predominantly $100 USD banknotes
newest possible. After that rude wake up from the generator I gave a stack to the front desk
to cover the rent and some incidentals. Surprisingly it doesn’t seem as though the exchange
rate or prices have changed that much, from what I can tell reading this and that. Apr 2010;
$1 USD = P 42 or 43; the rent for the 1 bedroom was around P 3200. I had read about
one week millionaires well i have slept in pup tents for $300 a month and got up at 4am to
do a push up sit up 2 mile run so being more than 50 years old, I finally took a nice vacay - -
this place has a rooftop pool, nice balcony and I enjoyed everything I could. I asked about
exchanging money and the hotel staff said, “ Oh, just around the corner ! “ I said i was interested in having someone ‘do it for me,’ they called the standby trike guy outside, nice husky
Filipino guy who I gave $300 to - he was back in 10 minutes with an adding machine tape
showing the transaction and the money. We were best of acquaintances for the better part
of 3 weeks. That afternoon we got in his trike, I asked “Do you know where there is a donkey
show?” He told me he was police, Task Force [ as much as I could figure they watch for
underage dancers in the clubs ] I never asked anything more and never saw a donkey show.
He took me to Fields Ave; I forget the name of the bar I wanted to go to but it was closed
until 5PM this was about 3. He dropped me at Vodoo Bar, it was dark / eye adjustment
issues - I walked in about one third of the way and sat down next to a cute girl. My t-shirt
was stuck to my back from a 10 minute heat blast from the hotel to the bar.
Before I forget some of the tips I learned from others was the little key the front desk has to
open the in-room safe; this tip was to break a toothpick off in the key slot to disable someone
from opening it when you expect it to be secure. Other tips about currency storage are to
hide in the room, pull back carpet or inside drape liner up high. I always carry a photocopy of
my passport in a ziploc. So there I was and the girls flock over, they almost all speak decent
English - the girl I sat next to was fanning my back (unsticking it from my soaked t-shirt, kind
act but fruitless the shirt was drenched). The manager came over and comped me a beer
I joined he and other punters(?) Urban Dictionary term. During this time the shift of girls rotated
the dancers sat down and the sitters got up to dance. Other places have other arrangements
I noticed some where 3 or 4 girls would rotate in and out and then some of the places Blue Nile
or Mirrors where they have the huge floor shows and dancers are just that. Anyhow, my girl
was on stage, but I looked and looked and could not see her, she later said she was shy and
was ‘ in the back. ‘ She told me she had never been on a Bar Fine, but had been asked by an
old Hapon / Japan man but she declined. Ok !, it must have been my lucky day, I told her I had
never been on Bar Fine either, she laughed. The mamasan cautioned me to be nice with her.
We didn’t even have a ladies drink; but she did tell me she had 2 children and her family lived
in Bataan - she did not know how to cook or how to swim. C’est La Vie ~ ~ As we stood outside
in the bright light I did not notice mud in between her toes yet she appreciated the mani/pedi
the next day.
The next day we (she and the trike driver) returned to Voodoo Bar, I met her 3 best friends
we did ladies drinks and I got more information from the Manager. He shared with me some
recommendations for the buffet inside the hotel on Clark; a breakfast place he enjoyed and
a BBQ place run by an ex-air force GI. Through our time we went to all those places.
The heat was oppressive to me it was not until about day 10 that it became tolerable. So
our schedule was as follows, she would sleep until 10A I was up at 7 or so, coffee and toast
watch the Manila news, two ladies spoke perfect English, always horrendous traffic reports.
After lunchtime we would frolic and nap until 5 or 6 ish, dinner and clubbing until 12, 1 or 2.
The trike guy never seemed to have another commitment, there was a trike stop adjacent to
the hotel, it was just down the street from the huge jeepney terminal and a warehouse that
had cases of San Mig for cheap / locals pricing. Hot but we had a refrigerator. Some may
wonder if I was on the Save a Ho program, no but she was honest, fun, spoke well and was
better than good. Only 1 day did the trike driver have a commitment - it was election time and
he was campaigning somewhere, so he got us a compatriot to shuttle us about. He also had
access to a mini-van; you can not enter Clark in a trike.
The scheduled day off for the friends was Monday so we had a pool party that day - The Hell
with ABC or those other big time operations. I paid P 600 to each of the three girls plus the
shopping to make Sisig (which had to be broiled in hotel restaurant kitchen, we did not have an
oven broiler), fried chicken and plenty of other delicious dishes. The girl who cooked did not
learn from her mother, her boyfriend taught her - she and I did shots all day, my girl was a
lightweight. The next day the front desk said they had ‘a notice’ for me - I said what, Too Much
Noise ? No it was the pool would be closed for maintenance. The trike driver went shopping for
veggies and meat for the party, beer runs, snacks, my dictionary did not have all the words we
needed (do they ever ?) so he went to the SM mall and bought a larger one, it didn’t have anymore words either. He also took my girl to her ‘ stay in ‘ the company supplied housing
to get clothes, etc. Oh yeah, we also had to take to her to the weekly health exam at a medical
clinic too. And, he got a mask and snorkel so she could putz around in the pool. He was as good a find as she…
We went on a weekend trip with one of her friends from the Province, Mariveles / Bataan we first
went to Subic Bay for a day of beaching and a night at Lips Two and Angel Witch, I tried hard to
get a Bar Fine for the friend who was a Cherry Girl - it didn’t happen, but I danced with the troupe
at Angel Witch. Trike Guy played pool at Lips Two while we watched the girls dancing, my girl
met one of her compatriots from another club at Angeles City; he said he counted 18 beers that
I sent his way. I don’t know, I just know that when the fluorescent lights came on at our beach
side hotel it was bright and way too early. We drove to meet the family; we had made / decorated Easter Eggs in AC at the hotel, the girls had fun decorating with crayon and then
color dying. I asked about the housing, if her recently deceased father had purchased or paid
rent, she said ‘ Squatter / The Governor has given permission. ‘ They had some type of
citronella corkscrew looking incense/bug repellent burning through the night, we laid on a pad
similar to thick yoga pad. The brother - in - law said when he could work as a plumber he made
P 300 a day. He had a sheep head that was cooked we ate the brain, drank beer, smoked
cigs and talked about fishing. I gave her mom P 1500 on the way out the door, in the van I got
the squeeze for P 500 for the brother and brother-in-law; Trike Guy said it was the custom.
Upon return to A.C. I asked her if she wanted to stay with me or return to Voodoo, she stayed
we got nasty. I bequested her my pedialyte, condoms, and this and that. I never took pictures,
I bought her and hotel clerks ‘ load ‘ for there phones, as I recall there were three types they used. I needed the hotel to confirm my return flight, but they did not have outgoing international ?
I flew Asiana, South Korean - right the ones with the blind pilots; RE: SFO crash last year :-(
We went to several of the fancier (Korean owned, they said) Blue Nile, Golden Dragon - great shows, even rode in an elevator 3rd floor nightclub. Karaoke was not as I expected, we drove
by local setup but it was just Filipino men; trike guy said NO ! One night we caught up with
a Korean punter from our hotel; we went to the Karaoke on Fields, open aire - like a swap
meet with a bullhorn. I belted out some Cheap Trick; kids came to look who was the fat high
pitched guy. The hotel girl that accompanied us puked, not from me singing. Little brown
girls, cheap beer, cold Air Con, value for the dollar - good clean fun. In one of those fancier
bars some guy said, ‘ It’s like Disneyland, You will be back ! ‘ I hope so.
I will answer just about any questions.