Discreetionary: aquarium

aquarium [a·KWEH·ree·yum] noun 1. a designated room in a gay massage parlor where the masseurs stay, and where the room has a window through which a client views and selects his masseur.

Before coming to Hilom, I’ve only seen a massage parlor aquarium in the movie Masahista (featuring the cute Coco Martin). Heck, that movie was actually my first glimpse of how such gay “spas” operate. I can’t remember anymore where I first encountered the term aquarium but it’s definitely an apt word. The idea of choosing a masseur in a massage parlor is like selecting the fishes you want to eat from a tank in a fresh seafood restaurant. Hehe.

One notable feature of aquariums is that the viewing window is typically one-way: the client can see the masseurs but the boys can’t see the client. I guess this is to preserve the privacy of the client as much as possible. In the movie Heavenly Touch, the viewing window is not realistic simply because the window is two-way. In the particular case of Hilom, their window is actually the aquarium’s glass door.

I guess this aquarium business is one of the minor reasons why I didn’t really enjoy my stay at Hilom. I’m a torpe kind of guy and the idea of me doing the first move (i.e., selecting the guy) is one thing I’m not comfortable in doing, compared to guys simply hitting on me.

The link between HIV/AIDS and the Internet

There was plenty of news last year regarding the alarming rise of newly confirmed cases of HIV infection among MSM or men who have sex with men (whether these men are straight, bisexual, or gay). Most people familiar with the situation seem to think that this is due to increased testing among affected populations and not necessarily because there where many people who were actually infected last year. Take note that it takes around 3-6 months after a person gets infected before the level of HIV antibodies become detectable and that it may take an average of 10 years before symptoms show. So this recent rise in detected cases does not necessarily correspond to a dramatic recent increase in infections as well. But still, the official tally of documented HIV cases (which is currently around 4,400) is most certainly underrepresented.

In the latest chapter to this ongoing saga, the past week or two has seen a blitz of news articles and news segments on TV about the supposed link between the Internet and this alarming rise in newly-documented HIV cases. For instance, this article on INQUIRER.net has Dr. Eric Tayag of the DOH National Epidemiology Center saying that there is a link between Internet usage and HIV/AIDS.

The Department of Health (DOH) has said Internet social networking sites have provided a venue for young people to find partners in risky sex that usually leads to cases of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in the country.

This recent media blitz, while serving to highlight the need to address the problem, also leads to a lot of scaremongering and possibly unintended discrimination. These news reports have so incensed PinoyPoz, that he wrote a barrage of blog posts decrying the misleading reporting. (Go check out those posts, they’re quite educational.)

I said in my very first post that there are three things I consider pivotal in the modern history of gay and bisexual men. Two of these three are the emergence of HIV/AIDS and the rise of the Internet. I have never discussed about the link between these two things before in this blog and now we have mainstream media reporting on and discussing that very link.

Let’s face it: the Internet as a medium has revolutionized how we communicate with other people. Cyberspace has been a boon for lots of closeted PLUs in that it helped them realize that they are not alone, and that they can relate and talk to other like-minded people while remaining relatively anonymous and still in the closet. But in the same way, the Internet facilitates cruising, hooking up, and looking for casual sex, whether it be through IRC, social networking sites like PlanetRomeo, or blogs and online forums. In this day and age, it’s a rare gay person that hasn’t had sex which has not in any way been facilitated by the Internet.

I’m somehow a bit disturbed that my blog, Discreet Manila, might even be contributing to this link between Internet use and the spread of HIV/AIDS. I mean, here I am on the Internet dishing out tips on cruising and providing comprehensive guides on bathhouses in the Metro, right? Then again, I have written several posts related to HIV and AIDS and it’s not really my fault if the reader decides to have unsafe sex. Remember, even if I write about topics that can get you laid, your health is still your personal responsibility. It’s also not the Internet’s fault. The Internet is just a medium and it is still the people who use it who are responsible for their own well-being.

That said, I think that it’s still my responsibility, as a writer of a blog with quite a bit of readership, to promote safe sex and to help educate readers about STDs and HIV/AIDS. So expect me to pepper this blog with articles on said topics.

In closing, I guess it’s not enough to encourage PLUs to contribute to World Peace. It’s hard to promote camaraderie and goodwill when we are all dying before our time because of a wasting sickness, right? So I say to all my readers, Stay Safe!

Groping on the MRT

I don’t usually take the MRT or LRT so I haven’t really seen for myself all of the interesting things that may happen in packed trains. Especially if the guy squished in beside you is hot. For pervy straight dudes, overflowing trains are a delight since they can discreetly grope pretty ladies and get away with it—if they do it right. In Japan, where there are train staff whose job is to pack people in tight like sardines, groping is a problem for ladies resulting in plenty of sekuhara (sexual harrasment) arrests. But the call of train groping is so high that there is (or was) a Train Cafe, where men can pay 5,000 yen to board a simulated train ride and grope the ladies all they want! In the Philippines, this problem has resulted into the ladies-only coaches. (Why can’t we have men-only coaches? Hehehe.)

Though I’m not normally a train commuter, I will admit that I have had a couple of gay-related experiences on the MRT-3. The first time happened quite a long time ago. I got in at Taft Station and stood at the back of a coach leaning by the wall separating the operator booth. As the stations pass, the train eventually got filled in. I noticed this stout guy standing just in front of me and a bit to the side and with his back to me. He looked like he was in his late 30s and he positioned his hand awkwardly such that his palm was in front of my groin. Whenever the train accelerated, he would purposefully push himself towards me and try to grope me. I was not turned on at all (since he wasn’t my type) and so I moved the backpack I carried in front of me to give myself reprieve from his clutching hands.

The second time happened several years ago. The situation was almost exactly the same as the first. I still didn’t find the guy making his moves on me attractive, but instead of avoiding the groping, I let him be. I got a hard-on as he was subtly stroking me through my jeans. I can’t remember exactly why I didn’t avoid the groping, but I guess the combination of doing something naughty yet still discreet in a public place, plus the thought that I was still in control of the situation, made me figure that it was quite harmless. The stroking actually felt really good. Unfortunately for him, I had no intention of letting things progress further than that and immediately left when my station came up.

Have I done any groping myself? Nope. I’m too torpe to do anything like that, though I have done the pressed skin-on-skin contact in the hope that there would be some pressing back in return. Unfortunately, I didn’t get lucky.

How about you, got any naughty train stories to share?

Would you vote for Ang Ladlad?

The latest on the COMELEC-Ang Ladlad controversy is that Ang Ladlad fully went through the constitutionally-mandated processes. They filed an appeal to the COMELEC en banc, which was denied (but hooray for the body’s first division!), and so they brought the issue to the Supreme Court. As of this moment, the high court hasn’t ruled yet on whether Ang Ladlad deserves Party List accreditation, but they forced the COMELEC to provisionally put Ang Ladlad on the ballot while the justices haven’t decided yet. (The bishops of the CBCP have decried this SC decision—some with really laughable reasons. Their reaction probably deserves another post.)

While it’s not clear that the SC will rule in favor of Danton Remoto’s organization, it’s clear that their order to the COMELEC proves that they do find some merit in the appeal. So, I’m optimistic that Ang Ladlad will get the nod. Now the question is, assuming that Ang Ladlad gets its place on the ballot, would you vote for them this coming election?

I would. I was intending to vote for them in 2007 but they got disqualified so I won’t hesitate to vote for them in 2010 if ever. If they get disqualified, I won’t vote for any other Party List as a form of protest. How about you?

If you won’t vote for Ang Ladlad, I guess it will fall among any of the following reasons:

1. You can’t vote in the first place.
2. You don’t support gay rights and/or explicit representation for the gay sector.
3. You support gay rights/representation but you want to vote for some other Party List more.
4. You support gay rights/representation but you don’t like Ang Ladlad or Danton Remoto.
5. You support gay rights/representation but you are afraid of putting that on public record (i.e., the ballot).

I think these are all valid reasons except for the last. I can imagine that some guys have that apprehension. It’s true that the ballot is a government document and that the ballot number is tied to your name, but we do have ballot secrecy laws intended to establish voter independence. So I think the risk that your family members, friends, or colleagues would know that you voted for Ang Ladlad is negligible.

What’s inside Queeriosity Palace?

To continue my series of posts on Queeriosity Palace, let me now show you how this bathhouse is laid out on the inside.

Queeriosity Palace has two floors and the entrance coming in from F.B. Harrison Street is on the first floor. It’s the door located at the bottom of the floor plan above. Immediately inside is the registration area, and to the right is the bag and shoes deposit area. Further on is the safety deposit area then a toiletries area (where people can freshen up before leaving) and then the locker room.

From the locker area, you can then go on to the bar, the jacuzzi, the steam room, the lounge and the shower area. The lounge, which is surrounded by glass panels so that it’s visible from outside, used to be a closed-off area where a gym was planned to be put up by the original owner, but the new owners decided to turn this into a lounge where they put up occasional shows.

The shower area is certainly not for modest people since there are no dividers here—just two back-to-back rows of shower heads. If you want just a bit of privacy, the back row is a bit better but if you’re the exhibitionist, the front row is for you since it’s visible from the lounge.

To get to the second floor, there are two stairs available: the one beside the bar, and the one between the jacuzzi and the safety deposit box. I assume the latter stairs is for the people who opt to get one of the private rooms upstairs. I have never been inside any of the private rooms but I think each one has its own private CR. Also, one of the rooms is reserved for those who avail of the massage services provided by a couple of masseurs from Hilom.

If you didn’t opt to get one of the private rooms, there are 19 smaller rooms on the second floor and each one has a raised bed with a leather-covered mattress, and each one has its own light and exhaust fan that can individually be turned on. The second floor also has three shower cubicles (for the really modest though these cubicles don’t have any doors) and two toilets (of course with doors) at the far end. Towards the entrance side, there is an Internet cafe with three PCs and a TV room showing blue films.

I have to warn you that the second floor area where the public rooms are is a bit dark and is illuminated only by red floor lights. Most of the other areas have enough lighting. One nice touch in the bathhouse is that the floor of the bar and jacuzzi area is covered with small white pebbles giving the place a sort of tropical or spa-like feel (kinda). And if you’re wondering, the jacuzzi is cold.

So there. I know how it feels like feeling lost in a place (and it decreases your confidence levels) and so I hope that this post will help first-timers navigate the place. You’ll spend more cruising and less time getting lost. Hehehe.