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JULY 2003 Hi folks, TIDBITS The popular one handed Dr. Esmeraldo De Guzman Jr will soon be moving his office to a new location on Perimeter Road. Many will recall that Doc De Guzman is the individual who "single-handedly" prevented the construction of the Philippine International Hospital (PIH) at the site his present office occupies. His new office will be located at 660 Don Juico Ave (Perimeter Road) between Waterbest and Buzzky Club. Upon exiting the Pick-Up Disco one evening Mark Smith talked me into ordering one of the mini-pizzas offered by their outside café. He told me that he had already eaten two of them and was thinking of a third as they were so good. I ordered, consumed half of it and forced myself to finish the rest. The price is right, P45 but when asked what I thought of it I had to be honest and say, "It was lousy". They are OK for the Filipino who doesn't know what a good pizza is anyway, but most foreigners do not appreciate the Filipino style pizza because the dough has too much sugar and their use of quick melt cheese is not conducive to good pizza making. Now, if I was exiting at 0300 hrs instead of 2100 hrs and had enough drink in me I probably would have loved it. This is not to take away from the other food items offered and the pleasure of sitting down outside and watching the view, it is just that the next time I will try a different item to eat. After suffering through the Pick-Up pizza my taste buds were watering for a As of 25 Jun the Makati Jade Cool operation remains closed. For a short while the Angeles City Jade Cool was shut down by the owners for self protection but is up and running now. From what I hear from a reliable source the Makati folks plan to be up and running again when and if certain financial arrangements can be met. It appears to be taking a bit longer than expected. The Vietnam Veterans of America, Chapter PI 887, Angeles City is inviting one and all to "join us in celebrating Independence Day, 4 Jul 03". The Chapter will host a family outing and BBQ 1100 - 1700 hours at the Ponderosa Hotel (Mt. View). Menu will consist of BBQ Chicken, Kabobs, Ham Steaks, Hamburgers, Hot Dogs, Cole Slaw, Potato Salad, Baked Beans and hopefully watermelon. The pool will be open for swimming and there will be a great band for all to enjoy. Tickets are on sale now at P250 for adults and P100 for children (6-12 Yrs) with Children less than 6 Yrs FREE. Sounds like it will be a great event and I will hate to miss it but will be in San Antonio, TX at that time. If any of you readers are in town take advantage of this opportunity to enjoy some great food, have fun and meet some great folks. At one time, the 4th of July was considered both the American and Philippine Independence Days. Now, it's Fil-Am Friendship Day. This year, Mo is throwing a giant pool party on the 6th at Kokomo's and the pool. It will feature a BBQ, contests, girls from several different bars, prizes and lots of other surprises. It's scheduled from noon till 6. Darn it, another event I will miss out on. Hey I need your help, how about anyone attending either one of these 4th of July events sending the Horse your comments about what went on and your impressions. I will publish your comments in my Aug issue. I especially would like to hear from the out of town folks and please, use your real names, leave the nicknames to the discussion boards. Reports have been reaching me that expats have had the pleasure of being stopped by traffic policemen in downtown Angeles City for various traffic Remember Dennis (the Menace) Mitchell, past employee at Kokomos for many years? He is hard to find these days because of being really, really retired and living a low key life style. For those of you that miss talking to this lad you can see him while the new Subdelicious eatery is being constructed at the Jade Cool site. Better hurry though as construction is just about completed. The G-Spot will be renamed the Cheetah Club and will undergo yet another renovation. Robert Sullivan will in charge of the construction, second one on the G-Spot and three for the Cleopatra, but still only one for Ayer's Rock as well (does anyone go into Ayer's Rock?). What's next Sullo? I suspect that it won't be too long before every male tourist visiting Angeles City will be chewing a hell of a lot of gum. Recently I came across an announcement that Wrigley (the gum folks) was granted a patent for developing a Viagra gum that will be faster acting than the pill. Guess it will not go over well in Singapore! Who is the well known peddler of dead animals who thought a 4X shirt would fit him and then found out that a 6X fit better (barely)? DUKE is the manager of Cleopatra and would like one and all to know their new hours are from 3 PM to 3 AM; Tom (previously with G-Spot) is the manager of the Dirty Duck. Tom is still dealing with legal problems resulting from the closure of the G-Spot (Paul, where are you?). Night manager of the Swagman is Todd, but is temporarily on construction duty. Hans, previously with Mirrors is now with Camelot. Common sense prevailed at Hidden Vale as management decided not to change the name to "Richland". The impression of that name would have been, "if you are not rich, do not apply". The present name will remain! Bubbles bar on Perimeter Road is up for sale. A second anniversary bash was held on 22 Jun and it was well attended. The owner is asking 1.2 million pesos and he will pay the lease for one year or pay $15,000 US and he will pay half the lease for the next year. This is a good business opportunity for someone looking to take over a club with an established reputation. The Zapata's Mexican restaurant is also up for sale as owner Roger is considering a permanent move to the States. The price is in the neighborhood of $100,000.00 or make me an offer I can't refuse. The Swagman has found a good use for the dead space at the far end of their property in the swimming pool area. Presently under construction is a small night club that, if approved, will be named the "Love Shack". This appears to be a good idea as the Swaggie is a bit off the beaten track and a more upscale club that their customers and locals in the area can go to for entertainment will be most welcome. If the weather cooperates a late July opening can be anticipated. No smoking in Manila and supposedly the rest of the Philippines. President Macapagal-Arroyo signed a new law regulating the use of tobacco products and the one part that will make many folks unhappy (or happy) is the part that stipulates no smoking in enclosed public places. A week ago a mate of mine that is in Manila every day told me that the ban was being enforced in the Pubs in the Makati area. He went to three different ones to eat and was told he could not smoke. In desperation, he went to a bar instead and was able to smoke, but there was no food. A week later, he was able to eat AND smoke in a pub that had previously prohibited it for one week. The explanation is that an envelope was provided to the "man" outside who would no longer enter the premises to check on compliance. You better believe that this law will now create another source of revenue for whoever is authorized to make ocular inspections of premises. Ted, the owner of Emotions is going to open the smaller bar adjacent to the main bar and it will be named "Touch of Class". Many will remember that this was supposed to open last year but with business so slow, it never got off the ground. Not sure when it will open but Ted indicated it would not be too long from now. Want a good massage? Next month I will report on the massage service offered on the second floor of Pattayaland. The talented Amor is in charge and believe me; this woman has very strong hands and can crack those sore, tight muscles. More next month. GOOD NEWS It definitely is a pleasure to let one and all know that the Philippine International Hospital is officially opened once again. The problem areas that prevented the Mayor from granting a business license to operate have been resolved. A licensed contractor in Manila authorized to collect and dispose of hazardous waste was contacted and a copy of the contract was forwarded to the City Administrator. The septic tank problem was resolved when a company was hired to chemically treat it and I have been told that it will be the cleanest water going into the creek. The following notice was forwarded to me from the PIH Administrator: We are happy to report that the Philippine International Hospital is OPEN!!
VOLCANO NO MORE
Not to worry folks, it is only a name change. Horst wanted to keep the theme that seems to be popular in town right now so the Volcano will now be known as Sir Lancelot. Here is a souvenir picture taken prior to the name change. Well, some of you are history buffs, right? There are extensive internal renovations going on as I write this and from what I see it will be a great improvement over what existed before. The imitation tree is gone but when I popped in for a look there was just too much torn up for me to get a good idea of how it would turn out. As soon as I get back from the States I will get some updated pictures. I suspect Sir Lancelot will be open by that time.
THIS IS A STRANGE ONE
Had the opportunity to stop in and see what the Lady Morgana bar had to offer. It is located next to Harro's Lightning Jacks and it is certainly different. Owned by a Filipino, Maricel Cameino, the plans are to be open 24 hours a day. A bold show will be offered between 2130 - 2200 hours or thereabouts. They have a number of "private rooms" available that are quite simple but has an obvious intent. The large room is P800, the small room P400 and an EWR costs P1,000. Ladies drinks are P150 for a single and P250 for a double which seemed a bit strange to me. The plan is to have gay dancers as well but I don't know what time they plan for that, possibly in the day time. You see, I have not been back there to check out the details and not sure I ever will.
THE PICK-UP
I have always been impressed with the Pick-up's interior. It is massive and smells of the large amounts of money spent to build it. Gerard builds to sell and he was very happy to sell the Pick-up to the AC Alliance, all of whom are very optimistic that they will be able to generate a profit from this establishment. Mark Smith is there working his magic as only Mark can do in his usual aggressive management style and it is wonderfully entertaining to be on hand when he and Horst are in "friendly" debates on how to manage effectively. It all works out in the end and you can be sure that the end result is a well trained staff that toes the line and the customer is well taken care of. Something a few of the bars on Fields Ave still have to learn. In the Pick-up the Mamasan does NOT run the place, in fact she is well aware of what her job is all about and she is part of the TEAM effort. Their EWR policy is P500 to the bar and any further negotiations are between the girl and the customer; be curious to see how well that goes. Now, I made the mistake of going in there at 9 PM on a Monday night and it was nearly empty, I mean dead but then I realized it only opens at 8 PM and the action does not really get going until after 11 PM, which normally is near my bed time. Weekends are their busiest times and just recently they started a Tuesday Ladies Night. The sound system is fantastic (better be, it cost P1.2 million) and the talented DJ, Larry Labrados is on hand to keep the beat going. Larry is a Angeles City native but worked in Manila for 10 years as a DJ and two years with television channels 7 and 21. I doubt that anyone coming to town will miss the opportunity to visit the Pick-Up and for some of you, it won't be your cup of tea, some like me, will only stay a few hours once a week and you younger lads may stay for hours every evening of the week. Whatever you might think, for sure, it is one overwhelming experience and just to sit down at the balcony to enjoy the view is entertainment enough for many.
I WOULD IF I COULD She is cheerful, personable, speaks great English and can hold her own with the most flagrant Expat, no matter how drunk. Her name is Marz Bondoc, 21 years old, from Conception, Tarlac now living in Dau. She works at the Hang-Out on Perimeter Road, no kids, no boyfriend (I think) and is available. Her cell phone number is 09194194422 but be advised that sometimes the phone is without a load.
FULL LOAD This is one of those "only in the Philippines) photos. Spotted this tricycle loaded down with flowers parked in front of the Thi-Hi one day as he waited for the customer responsible for the flowers. Who needs a truck when a tricycle, with a bit of juggling, can carry one hell of a load.
THE SECRET IS OUT
The three new bars in one complex on Santos St. (blow row) are named "The Hole in the Wall", "Secrets" and "Spanx". Of the three Secrets was the first to open in early June. All three are open now but I have not had the opportunity to check out the other two. It is my belief that all three will be popular and successful. The reason is that they are small enough to provide a friendly atmosphere and big enough without being too big. Does that make sense? I liked Secrets and its simple good taste décor, not overly done. If the interior becomes too crowded it is fun to step outside on the balcony and be able to look down on Santos St. to see what is happening there. It will be hard to walk along that street now without being seen by a bunch of people that know you. You can run, but you can't hide; will follow up with the two other establishments next month.
CLUB AMORE
The Club Amore, next to Black Jack, finally opened after many delays. The question now is how long will it remain open or how long before somebody else buys it? It has comfortable enough seating and no unobstructed viewing of the ladies on stage. The music is loud, VERY LOUD so do not go there if you want to converse with your companions. It will amuse me to see how many customers ring the bell at P10, 000 a pop. They have a Filipino manager which is never a good sign and if you want to converse with the owners, yes, more than one, forget it as they are Koreans that definitely have not attended any of the "learn to speak English" classes offered in town. The waitresses have cute costumes and the dancers are average but plenty on hand. Present also are "Models" that are displayed at 9 PM each night. On this night the reaction of those present were that they were BORING. Nothing special here, they just walked out of the back, paraded on stage for a couple of minutes and then got their stuck up asses off the stage in a hurry. The Filipino manager was not willing to let me photograph the "models" as I thought it would be a selling point for the bar but he indicated that the Korean owner did not want pictures; when I tried to talk to the four Koreans sitting at the bar I got that "sorry, no speak English" response. The waitresses were friendly and the beer was P60. Except for the Filipino manager, Al, and the Koreans there who were completely negative, the place is not all that bad. The location is good as this area, as I said before, will be the entertainment plaza of the future. Let's see what happens in the next few months.
WET SEALS You know, maybe I go barhopping on the wrong night of the week. This month I picked a Monday night and for sure, everyone else must have stayed at home or in their hotel rooms. I had been meaning to drop in at Wet Seals to see how they were doing and other than one person playing pool, I was the lone customer. To be fair, it was the same story at Angel's across the street and also nearly the same in Cleopatra's as well. The one thing going for the Wet Seals though, is being able to talk with Aimee and Miguel who remain optimistic about their business. Aimee is charming and has many ideas for improving the bar but is holding off for now because of the very slow season being experienced. Sometimes I wonder if Fields Ave is reaching the saturation point for bars and clubs and that there just aren't enough customers to keep everyone in the black. If that is the case, I hope that Wet Seals will not be a victim but, a sad fact is that being nice, at times is just not enough. I am hoping that this couple will find the answer, implement changes and stay with us for many years. IS THE DOG GETTING TOO OLD? After 18 months, it looks like the Sons of Bacchus (SOB) is taking the lead in Angeles City's early evening entertainment. In case you have not heard of these organizations, they are a loose confederation of bars that hold a sort of party on Tuesday and Thursday from 5 to 7 (Doghouse on Tuesday and SOB on There definitely appears to be a "Battle of the Boards" in this City as each one tries to come up with the best ideas to grab your attention. For a city the size of Angeles City, there is a lot of Internet activity. It rotates around several main sites; some pay some free. The free sites are: www.angeles2.com, www.balibago.com. The pay sites are www.go2phil.com and www.iwantamama.com. All but balibago.com center around interactive message boards. The boards on go2phil.com is part of the membership fee. iwantamama.com's board is free, but the remainder of the site is pay and offers adult materials. Anyone wanting to stay in touch with what is going on in Angeles City can find most of the local personalities hanging around on most of the boards. For sure though, you know where to go to read Harry the Horse! THE BYRD CAGE/PATIO BAR MYSTERY Open one day and talking about finishing their lease at the end of September, all of a sudden they're closed. When the Champagne Group bought the adjacent property they made a deal with the owners of the Byrd Cage property to take over the lease. Seems they got it a couple of months early. Update: The owners of the CAN YOU REMEMBER Congratulations go out to the Barbara Forman who was able to change her last name to Laczak recently when she married New Castle, Australia resident Richard Laczak. Barbara is 36 years old and started her career in Angeles City when she was 18 and went to work as a young innocent lady for the Ned Kelly bar (how many folks remember that establishment?). She went on to work at the Birds of Paradise for a number of years and the Mustang Ranch and then for the last three and a half years at the Blue Boar Inn. The wedding and reception was held at the Hotel La Casa/Blue Boar Inn where publican Jimmy D had the honor of giving her away. Barbie doll has developed many friends over the years and each one wishes her and Richard much happiness and a long life together.
SUBDELICIOUS COMES TO ANGELES CITY
Don't feel bad, I never heard of it before but then I never, thankfully, lived in Buffalo New York either. Coming to Angeles City is the talented Tom Milani (A real Sicilian descendant) hailing from Lockport, Buffalo where he and his family established a chain of Subdelicious eateries throughout Buffalo. Tom has 32 years of restaurant experience and was trained for the Hilton Hotel chain and is even qualified to be a health inspector. His grandparents migrated to the United States and started with nothing but as was the tradition so many years ago, his grandfather worked hard, raised a family, and by the time Tom, a third generation grandson came along the Milani's were well established. As the name suggests this new addition to Angeles City will specialize in Sub sandwiches, pizzas, and real buffalo wings. They plan to be open 24 hours a day and provide pizza delivery as well. I seem to be writing a lot about pizzas this month. Tom had custom made pizza ovens fabricated in Manila featuring brick oven cooking. He will offer his version of the original Philly Cheese Steak
and also has developed his own special oil dressing for the sandwiches. He had been offering free samples for a few nights but the night I went there to sample these delicacies he had been closed down by the BIR until he got the proper tapes and paperwork for his cash register (well, that's the story given to me). In any case, I hope to check out all his specials before I leave for the States so there goes my quest to lose weight and lower my cholesterol count. If any customers from the Cambodia Club are wondering what happened to one of the supervisors (Irene), you can find her at Tom's eatery. He was able to entice her away from the Cambodia so this young lady that first came to Angeles City as a very young 16 years of age has certainly gained a great deal of experience over the years; I'm sure Tom considers her a valuable asset to his new venture. The Subdelicious is located in the Jade Cool building just off of Fields Ave, next to the Stinger bar, you can't miss it for the patio bar will be open for drinks as well and it is a nice spot to sit and watch the action. CLUB RIO/NIFTY'S These two clubs are still going strong and well worth a visit. It is even more fun if you go there late at night and find yourself the lone customer. I decided to see how business was one late evening and went into Club Rio first. I was the only one there and the ladies were very attentive, naturally, but after a couple of drinks I went next door to Nifty's and ended up staying there far longer than intended. The reason is that a friend joined me and then Sullivan and Neville showed up and we ended up talking for quite a while. Now, Nifty's was more interesting than Club Rio because the ladies there seemed more personable and my friend was full of compliments for the attention showed by "Babes" who we both thought was the biggest asset for that bar, in more ways than one. Whether early in the day or late at night, take the time to visit these two bars, you will not regret it.
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OK, you guessed it, I had to fly the flag for the 4th of July, just can't get the "Yank" out of me, despite being an honorary Aussie. Sure hope it does not rain here on the 4th as there are a few activities scheduled on this day of celebration. It certainly was a wet June and many of the local club owners are shedding a few tears for the lack of business. Will July pick up? That is a good question and one I don't have an answer to. Now that the SARS scare is over maybe you folks will be booking flights. I'll tell you this; those that did come in June were certainly greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm by the ladies on Fields Ave. Even this old Horse had to fight past the entrances as the ladies were literally grabbing and holding on. I fought them off as best I could knowing that they could get a bit more money out of you lads than from me. As you read this I will be in San Antonio, Texas but will return to AC on 18 Jul, so it is a short trip. That will allow me time to publish in August but no doubt, it will be a short read. Please note my new Email address: 
better quality treat so I headed for Salvatore's and called Priscilla the Horse to join me. It had been a couple of years since I ate a pizza there and I remembered how great they were. In great anticipation I ordered the very large 16" deluxe model and when served immediately attacked a slice. Oh, oh, it tasted funny - was it my imagination? I tried a second slice and then checked with Mrs. Horse and we both agreed that the Salvatore pizza just wasn't as good as it used to be. Naturally, at this time I regretted ordering the large size as I could not consume any more so, reluctantly, had it wrapped up to go, took it home and gave it to the relatives, who, like Mark Smith, will eat anything. It was a bad pizza evening!
Thursday). There is an admission charge of P350 and P400 respectively. Admission includes all you can drink, a catered meal, dance shows, a raffle. SOB started years after Doghouse. There are a few differences between the two events; Doghouse has 7 members, Misty's, Blue Nile, Cambodia, Nero's Forum (all Misty's Group bars), LaBamba, Rhapsody (LaBamba Group) and Honey Kos. SOB's 12 members are Angel's, Ayer's Rock, Blue Fox, Bunny Ranch and Las Vegas (Las Vegas Group), Confetti and Tom Cat (Confetti's Group) Jungle, Treasure Island, Voodoo and Wet Seals. Besides the number of member bars, the other main differences are that every SOB bar sends girls to their events and each bar puts on a show and every attendee receives a raffle prize. Many of the prizes are worth more than the cost of entrance. In addition, many of the Doghouse bars have either closed, changed hands or decided to drop out. Perhaps people get tired of visiting the same bar every 7 weeks. Who knows? The difference to this horse is that SOB is more 
I have spent the whole day and late into the night on this 25th of June to complete this month's edition but feel like I have not covered everything I should. There were just too many rainy nights this month that managed to keep me home with Priscilla but I can't complain, she takes good care of me and the extra bonus is with the rains, the weather is much cooler. I did save a few things for next month's issue, i.e., the RAO Subic branch here in AC, the Children's Center's new school, crystal burgers, and a few more items. Understandable since I will have less than two weeks to write the Aug issue, right? Oh well, additionally, you will have to read about my trip and my impressions of San Antonio. If there are any readers from San Antonio, give me a call, I will be staying at the Red Roof Inn (Most reasonable price I could find) and it is close to Lackland AFB where the Tops in Blue 50th Anniversary activities will be held (will be there 2 thru 14 Jul then a couple of days in Houston). I am sure that all those Texans will be kind to horses, especially this one, I hope! Happy 4th of July, have fun! |