August Revenge Trip - Manila-Bangkok Detour!
Hope you bros will forgive me (and this belongs both in Thailand and rest of the world sections), but this is a half-time report of general impressions from my August SE Asian BnB (birdz & beez) tour. I’m not a seasoned Thailand-Philippine pro like a lot of you bros, and summer 2022 was my first go go bar trip. But the 2 year confinement drove me to new depths, so as I reported in a few recent posts, I did my maiden voyage to Angeles City for a weeklong rompation tour. I’ll follow up with a couple Bangkok reports soon, but this report is just to give some thoughts about the frequent “should I go to Philippines or Thailand for best punting” debate.
My original 3-week itinerary was to be a AC-Manila-one other Philippine outpost to see how the brown sugar was faring in 2022. Everybody knows about AC already but it was my virgin venture, and you know what, I can’t wait to go back (at least before the hordes of punters re-invade). I listed overnight prices (3000-4000 PHP) for 3 good punts there and I had to walk away from some other promising freelancers that I met there.
Manila was a different story. I was prepared to pay a lot more on my 2nd wing to Manila and I opted for a well known mid-range guest friendly hotel right near Burgos area. I’ve read the recent posts from other bros who had a good run there and in other Manila areas, but it didn’t work for me from the moment I got to Makati. My first night out there was nothing but dodging aggressive ladyboys, pushy freelancers and street kids trying to pick my pockets. It was like a hailstorm. I only saw a few places for girls but it just wasn’t very promising. And all the online reports about how hot Manila women are… I just didn’t see it.
Before I went to Manila, I read a negative mongering report (different site) from a guy who left Manila in a huff and puff calling it a “sh..thole.” Nothing against any of my respected bros or Pinay ladyfriends but there's some truth to what he says. By day, it felt reasonably chill (except for endless traffic thundering up to my 19th floor room and the toxic fumes pumped into my lungs from passing jeepneys), and the only thing that saved me was the nice rooftop pool where I could lounge about. But once night came it just didn’t feel safe or chill, welcoming or safe. The food was awful, streets are ugly, and the prices average looking girls were quoting was out of this galaxy 5-10k PHP. After a few days my lb was losing his little lustre and I wasn’t in the mood for adventure.
The other thing is that prices in the PH are inflated across the board. Look, Thailand and the Philippines just haven’t moved at the same pace in the past 20 years. And even though Thailand really isn’t the land of smiles anymore (being overrun by tourists for decades), it has built a nice infrastructure to match its increasing prices. Not so in the PH. It looks the same as videos from 40 years ago but its not really cheap anymore. Hotels, restaurants, bars, and girls are all at super inflated prices (in my opinion).
That’s to say that I was looking to cut my Manila stay short and check out other PH spots. But after going online to search Boracay, Cebu and elsewhere, it looked like more of the same – gotta watch your ass everywhere (even AC wasn’t feeling that safe at times), gotta pay inflated prices for mediocre hotels and bad food, and AC seems to be the best girl option out there. But I wasn’t feeling like going back to AC just yet so…
I made a spontaneous decision to ditch the PH and go to Bangkok. My hotel was nice enough to refund the last couple days, but I ate my PH-HK ticket fare from the local airline (also inflated and horribly inoperable website). It took me all of an hour to book my Thai airways ticket to Bkk and Soi 8 hotel with nice rooftop pool and 5 minutes from Nana. My last uneventful (except bad sleep) night in Manila, taxi to the airport and poof! I was on the chill skytrain into central Bangkok (surrounded by Thai lovelys everywhere).
In a nutshell, I cut my 20 day PH tour in half and spent the last 10 beautiful days enjoying spicy Thai streetfood (a couple dollars per delectable feast) at every meal, an increasingly chill Bkk vibe (as long as you can get a half block away from the main street), nightlife on the rebound without any sense of threat to my personal security, now clean(!!!) Bangkok air (among the best pollution index ratings in the world, if you can believe it), and 360 degree girl possibilities 24/7. Ok, as I’ll write about in the coming reports, the Bangkok girl seen really is over commercialized now, but it’s that way in PH too. Just that to me the overall punting tour was overall apples to oranges better in Bkk.
I know some of you guys prefer the PH and I gotta say the girls there have unrivalled skills (ok I got Pinay fever too...) And a lot of the things I don’t like about Manila seem to attract others. I get that. I’m already planning my next AC romp tour as we speak, but I saved my August hedonist’s post-Covid reunion tour by making that sudden detour to Bangkok (where I’ll be back to even sooner). Spirits were oh sooooo good on my Thai Air flight back to HK (even with the stinking quarantine still in place). For my 2 cents, it was worth it all the way!
Recent Ratings
HK_Legend
15-10-2022 09:10 Karma +5
bigboy4791
12-9-2022 23:28 Karma +4
Unitedfuture
12-9-2022 18:36 Karma +2
Dr.A
11-9-2022 15:32 Karma +10
Been to AC once in 2019, and really dont like the place/girls/prices
Kingdom88
11-9-2022 10:38 Karma +5
Well said, I don't rate Manila as a good mongering spot ever
obe
11-9-2022 08:59 Karma +10
Good report
JackTheBat
11-9-2022 08:55 Karma +10
Thanks. Pls write separate reports on BKK punts & post in Thailand section.
halfclover
11-9-2022 07:27 Karma +8
Nice report, appreciated!