Friends, and Friends of Friends.
Had an interesting experience recently I thought was worth sharing with the forum. I am based in the area but only occasionally indulge in the pleasures of Burgos street (not out of lack of interest mind you, but more due to restrictive personal circumstances). I had not been on the strip in quite a while and after a stressful day at work went out for a few beers and ended up at Iron Horse, which I had never been to before and was curious to check out. I was only there for an hour or so and shot some pool before calling it a night. I wasn't interested in anything more than a bit of fun and flirting while getting buzzed.
Overall the time I spent there was great for my purposes at the moment. I think I was the only customer (was there pretty early), there were lots of friendly ladies (though admittedly not lookers) loitering around and with nothing else better to do than pay me attention while we played different variations of pool and other silly games. I even managed to keep all of them occupied without succumbing to an egregiously overpriced round of lady drinks, so also left with my wallet intact.
When I decided to call it a night, I got the bill and paid, and just as I was leaving an apparition from the past instantly materialized while I was trying to walk out the door. A girl I think I had last seen at Nautika over 2 or 3 years ago. She jumped in front of me and asked if I remembered her, and I said of course, how are you, had some brief chit chat and explained I needed to head out. She asked if she could get my whatsapp (as we all know, for the usual purposes of either pestering you for money, convincing you to come to the bar, or to meet with you outside with no barfine.) I was happy to oblige and left immediately afterwards.
Lo and behold, over the next three days I was contacted not only by her, but by another girl I think I had only seen 4 (years ago, with messages requesting money for the grandmother's hospital expenses etc. And then finally by the ex-mamasan of Nautika, who I guess is now perhaps involved in running things at Iron Horse. The last was particularly irksome, as I had blocked her previously and not returned to Nautika in 2-3 years because of how she had ripped off my credit card on an occasion previously described on this forum. She had the audacity to send me a gcash request for payment despite me not responding.
So, what are the takeaways? (1) Bargilrs are very good at their jobs, remember who you are, and will strike at any opportunity to use you as an ATM function if they think there is any possibility at all (duh). (2) The Burgos street bars are closely knit together and you can be sure that most of the people working there are speaking with each other and trading insights on potential marks (hey. Can't blame them, it's their job!) (3) A repeated warning for the forum regarding that ex-mamasan of Nautika and apparently current mamasan of Iron Horse (not sure if she is still working for both) - it's obvious she orchestrated the entire outreach with a very obvious objective in mind. So just be careful out there.