Makati

[Ghost D]

Last night I went to P Burgos Street to see what has opened since as of Tuesday (1st Feb) Manila is now at Alert Level 2 down from Level 3 which was brough in mid January (higher alert levels are more strict).

General observations is that the street has been cleaned up, gone are the vagrants sleeping outside Hollywood on the street, and some places look like they are being worked on to open again (fingers crossed).

That Hello Kitty style drinks shop next to Bourbon at the bottom of P. Burgos street is now closed, so hopefully it will be replaced with something more interesting for this forums readers.

Currently all the "action" in P. Burgos Street is located at the top of the street, for those going to travel here, while there is fun to be had, I suggest setting your expectations real, real low. Like I mentioned before it's a shadow of it's former glory days pre-pandemic. Hopefully that changes with the relaxing of the travel rules, but for now I could only find 4 bars that reflect days gone past.

Nautica is located at the top of P. Burgos Street, shown in the map image with a red circle, this is a small cozy place with a dance stage, it might have been there pre-pandemic, they had about 10 ladies in there last night when I was in, I suspect more can be called in on short notice if the need arises. , ladies drinks were being pushed (not too hard) and there looked to be a mamasan on duty there so take out was an option, I didn't ask about prices. There is a bit of a dance area for the ladies to strut their stuff, and I suspect it wouldn't take too much effort for them to go topless on a busy night there.

Next door is a place called Coco Rock, shown in the map image with a blue circle, it's just a doorway and a stairs so super easy to miss if you are not paying attention. There is a guy on the door trying to get customers in which helps. This place looks pre-pandemic, is a little larger than Nautica and has a pool table in addition to a small dance stage, given I was the only customer in there for most of my time there I didn't see any dancing. Ladies are available and ladies drinks are being gently pushed as well, I didn't ask about prices.

I didn't go into V8, but was in there before Christmas, it's clearly designed for a groups (maybe Korean / Chinese style gentlemen's entertainment, please do comment if you know more about this type of setup), in that the seating is mostly tables with half circle sofa's, when I was there I wasn't allowed to sit in a big table, but was seated off in a corner, then a group of ladies are brough up and the group is expected to choose a number of these ladies to keep them company for their time there. Someone said it has a Chinese owner, I don't know if this is true, but it's a different style to many of the other venues in P Burgos street. There is no dance floor or dancing ladies that I saw when there.

I did go into Saharat, shown with the yellow circle, which is again up a set of stairs, but has a big sign outside (photo attached), this is clearly more of a night club type setup, with a dancing floor and seating arranged around it for party and fun, I would say that there is a mix of customers in there, some looking for ladies and some just out to have fun, so I would exercise some common sense before approaching any ladies. Working ladies are available and from what I can see it is a mix of mamasan (which will include bar fine) and some freelancers. The Manasan ensures her ladies are dressed up and out dancing on the dance floor in some sort of rotation which adds to the overall night club vibe of the place.

Other than that the usual regular bars and restaurants are still open as previously reported by myself and others, hopefully in the coming weeks more places will open up again.

[Ghost D]

I believe your information on the current status of the P Burgos bars is a bit dated. Here's an updated YT vid posted 1-14: worth watching.

https://youtu.be/MJL-vPphUzQ

That's a great video, thanks for sharing, that guy knows the history of the street way better than I do, recommended.

I actually took my photos the following week (19 or 20th Jan) after that video was posted (14 Jan) according to YouTube, when I took the photos the Filling Station was closed and last week was still closed, not sure why, following my post Bourbon closed for a few days then opened again and then Lips closed, hopefully they will all open again and stay open.

[Docwiltro]

Yes, I think it was Kojax, location shown on the map here, L- for Lips, H. What was Hollywood, and are. What was Rogues. Had to make the letters with a mouse on a PC so hope it's not soo bad.

I believe your information on the current status of the P Burgos bars is a bit dated. Here's an updated YT vid posted 1-14: worth watching.

https://youtu.be/MJL-vPphUzQ

[Ghost D]

Inbox cleared, thanks.

Lips. Was that previously Kojax?

Yes, I think it was Kojax, location shown on the map here, L- for Lips, H. What was Hollywood, and are. What was Rogues. Had to make the letters with a mouse on a PC so hope it's not soo bad.

[WestCoast1]

And Lips is closed for a couple of days now, hopefully it will open again soon, it's actually on Badajos street, which is down by Bourbon bar.

Inbox cleared, thanks.

Lips. Was that previously Kojax?

[Ghost D]

And Lips is closed for a couple of days now, hopefully it will open again soon, it's actually on Badajos street, which is down by Bourbon bar.

[Ghost D]

And the last few of the top of the street, big change from before the pandemic, the newer bars that had opened under L2 are now closed while L3 is enforced.

[Ghost D]

Good pics. Re-posting a couple of yours.

Thanks WestCoast, it's all about knowledge sharing, and photos show how it really is, hopefully the street can bounce back to some if not most of it's former glory.

[Breadman]

Westcoast your box is full, please clear some space buddy.

[WestCoast1]

These are of Rogues and next door to it.

Good pics. Re-posting a couple of yours.

First pic. I think the boarded up building next door was previously Hollywood bar, and next to that on the corner is Bourbon. When I was there a few months back, Bourbon had changed its interior to include pool tables, and its become a regular restaurant.

Second pic. Previously during pandemic I was there on different evenings around 8 and 9:30-10 pm. In your pics there are more people and vehicles moving than when I was there. When I was there, every few minutes you'd see a small flurry of motorcycles (3-4-5) turn from Makati Ave onto Burgos and zip by. Ten seconds later a similar number of cars (mostly taxis) would do the same. Then a period of several minutes of no street movement (other than us walking), followed by that cycle of bikes and cars again. In this second pic, just up the street before the 7-11 (on the 7-11 side), you see a white SUV at the street corner attempting to turn onto (or cross) Burgos street. At this corner each time I went was a group of Bakla.

All of my Manila regulars told me at various times during the pandemic that this or that bar on Burgos had re-opened. "I have friend worked Hollywood before. She says its open now". Others said Mirrors, Plan bee, and Go Bananas were open. Really sweetie. "Yes I want to go there". Um, sweetie, I'm not so sure its open. "I want to go sometime". So, a few weeks later when the curfew shortened, we taxi'd over. She was in shock at the continued death of the place. On another occasion I took another of my Burgos regulars to a ST hotel nearby for the night. We went walking up Burgos and she had the same reaction. All of my girls were wrong about Burgos. I posted recently about LGU and government misinformation. Misinformation flies around Phils faster than Omicron.

[Ghost D]

The view down the street.

[Ghost D]

These are of Rogues and next door to it.

[Ghost D]

OK, I need to compress the photos to upload.

String is on Makati Avenue just by the entrance to P Burgos.

[Ghost D]

I took some photos recently to share of P Burgos Street, it's bleak compared to pre-pandemic times, hopefully the street bounces back to life in the future.

I think I have to upload 1-2 images per post, so hopefully this works.

The map image provides a bit of context, I started at Makati Avenue and then walked up P Burgos Street most of the photos are of establishments / buildings on the right hand side of the street as there is very little to see on the opposite side.

[Bushes]

It is pretty much the same across Asia and parts of the US. Many nightlife areas in Asia are in the ICU or vacant. The US border with Mexico might be better because that cesspool will be hard to shut down.

Many countries are trying to open up and, quoting Johnson, let the bodies pile high. I suspect they will label Covid endemic soon. That might bring back travel and tourism. 5 days, 14 days and 21 days quarantine on both sides of travel is hard as the ex head of Credit Suisse will probably attest to based on his avoidance strategy.