So I did the rounds of wanchai bars last night, and the ratios were really pretty poor, so I thought I would post to see if anyone had any insight.

I hit the below bars at around 1am, and literally stayed in each place no more than 3 minutes.

1)  Insiders - Maybe 20 people in the place.  Happened to be in there when the DJ was on and not the band.  Nobody dancing.  1:1 ratio.  Basically dead.
2)  Neptune 3 - Maybe 40 people inside.  Decently filled but still plenty of space to move around.  2 guys for every girl, though.
3)  HK Cafe - Maybe 40 people inside.  Girl band was on.  They were ok.  2 guys for every girl
4)  Escape - Still pretty dead.  Mostly guys in there
5)  Joe Bananas - Pretty empty.  1 to 1 ratio

I gave up after this.  I did try to go into New Makati but they tried to charge me cover so I skipped it.

Has something changed with the scene?  I know places like Escape start later but usually 1am is ok.  Are things starting later?  Was there a recent crackdown?  Maybe girls have already started going home for CNY?  Is there another bar that is now "hot" that the girls are going to?  Just a bad night?  Any insight is appreciated.  Thanks.

Swung into Wanchai few hours earlier last night. At about 9pm at Neptune 3 for the band that plays 30 minutes every hour on the hour. I'd say 30-40 people. Ratio about 3 guys for every girl. Most girls look tired anyway. There was a young local male who had what appeared to be 2 young Chinese girls entertaining him. Yes we looked like a pair of hungry wolves licking our chops whenever the girls came within 10 feet of us. Change is good. They looked delectable. Lucky guy!

Then about 9:45 pm proceeded to Insiders and there were a total of 4 customers there. The band started at 10pm and played for 45 minutes. At slightly past 10 noticed the girls coming in and by the time we left slightly before 11 there were quite a few girls mulling around and a lot more customers. Seems slightly after 10pm is the best time to go.

Seems Wanchai is starting later and later. Boracay was quite fun the last time I went and that was on a Monday night. Worth checking out as well.

Have fun!

...entire Wan Chai scene feels dead to me too, but I chalked my recent visits to simply not understanding 'the beast'--not knowing what night is going to be hot.

I've been to Wan Chai around 4 times within the past few weeks, always on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday, and always around 11:30 PM or later, and save for only one evening which felt average or slightly above (I've been in Wan Chai on 'big nights' before so I know what a 'full night' in Wan Chai looks like, it gets packed like LKF) the scene was dead.

Whenever in Wan Chai I make a point to walk around the entire 2-3 blocks (both sides) to get a strong indicator of the overall vibe for that night and to see what places are hot that particular night... Some of the usual pubs were crammed, they always are though so that's not new. Insiders has been dead EACH time, always a bad ratio in there now and I notice the same 4-5 girls hanging together (one ultra skinny girl with short hair, you'll know her when you see her) who I think have a deal with the bar to bait men into buying them drinks. ESCAPE was hopping one night I was there, the rest was empty or felt really quite.

Even the velvet-curtain girly bars looked dead, more than a few had their curtains pulled back entirely with all the lights on and NO ONE inside. Really weird.

Amazonia did seem busy half the nights I was there. I didn't go in, but seemed busy. So, there's that. I really don't understand it. Maybe I was truly in the wrong places for those nights... or I was unlucky, or maybe it's just a bad time of year to be there, or maybe the Wan Chai scene is changing.

I was even in Wan Chai (briefly) on New Years Eve and it felt dead then too, but I explained that away in my own mind as, "there's simply too many other places to be on NYE than Wan Chai (LKF primarily, the boardwalk, elsewhere). I left Wan Chai 30 min to midnight so maybe it was about to pick up after that and I missed all the action--I don't think so, but who knows. Maybe.

So, yeah. I don't quite understand Wan Chai because there is no set weeknight 'to be there'. One Friday is different from the next Friday. One Saturday is not the same as the previous or next Saturday. And so on...

My closing thought is that the whole scene lives and dies by Indonesian and Philippine girls, it's all up to them if/when they decide to come en mass--this makes Wan Chai worth going.... I used to know an Indo girl who seemingly knew which nights 'to go' and they were always explosive nights. But whenever I decide to go on my own they are no where near as good. I have no idea how it works. Must be some sort of Indo/Philo-girl Batphone or something.

[ Last edited by  MONGERLOID at 9-1-2014 21:15 ]

So it might not have just been the one night.  Oh man.

I'm gonna recon again tonight.