Mar 10, 2008

Finding your way inside Epitome

Epitome logo. One problem I'm sure many of you guys had when going inside a new place is finding your way around. I had that problem when I went inside Epitome and I had quite a dilemma finding how to get to the bathhouse proper. It's a bit embarrassing to have someone tour you around since it'd be quite obvious to the other patrons that you are new and you'd likely be targeted as "fresh meat." I'm an admitted self-effacing person, so I don't want the attention.

Fortunately for you guys wanting to try out Epitome, I've done the hard part of drawing for you a floor plan of Epitome. May you find the way to your heart's desire as a result. :-)

Anyway, Epitome actually occupies the third floor of the building next to the street and the two-storey "house" behind that building in the heart of the city block. I mentioned before that the entrance of Epitome leads directly to a second-floor landing. From there, you open the door to your left and climb another set of stairs where the registration counter is located. Beyond the counter is the hallway containing the safety deposit boxes where you have to deposit all your valuables and this leads to the U-shaped lounge where the Raging Kittens stage their productions. You can actually just stay and relax here if you don't want to venture further.

From the lounge, you go to the other end of the "U" where there's a door leading to a fire-escape-like walkway. This leads down to the bathhouse proper and entering it leads you to the locker room. To go explore more of the bathhouse, you need to strip down and wear your supplied towel. Also on the second floor is the video room where M2M films are often shown (or sometimes episodes of Queer as Folk) and there are also cubicles with leather-covered mattresses where you can have private sessions (or just sleep away).

Going down to the ground floor leads directly into the dark maze and from here you can either go to the gym area and the open air garden with a bar, or you can go to the steam room, sauna, toilet, shower, and jacuzzi.

There. I hope that through this blog post, you won't get lost in your first visit to Epitome. Just one tip: don't print out this post and bring it with you for reference. Hehehe.

36 comments:

discreetj wrote on November 6, 2008 at 8:01 AM:

So is it legal now to operate a bathhouse in the Philippines? Is it a sex on place thing?

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on November 10, 2008 at 1:08 AM:

discreetj, it's not illegal to operate a bath house in the Philippines. What's illegal is to have "live shows" and stuff like that inside the bath house.

 
Anonymous wrote on March 10, 2009 at 11:57 PM:

Is Epitome located near a crowded place or are there a lot of by standers near the place? I'm a very discreet guy and I just want to try going to a bathhouse. I'm just curious if it's just ok to go there alone.

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on March 12, 2009 at 11:40 PM:

Drew, Epitome is located on a slightly busy street but the place is quite discreet. It's pretty safe to go there alone.

 
jas4oral wrote on July 19, 2009 at 4:24 PM:

I had a lot of fun at Epitome. Thank you for the floor map ahead of time!

I just wish that the small ground floor cubicles had some gloryholes!

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on July 23, 2009 at 1:30 AM:

Jas4oral, I happy that you found my guide helpful. And would gloryholes even work? The place is too dark!

 
jas4oral wrote on November 14, 2009 at 7:06 PM:

I think that gloryholes would work in the small cubicles by the shower area. Also the back wall in the video room might be a fun place for a couple of holes.

Thanks again for your great blog!

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on November 15, 2009 at 6:57 AM:

jas4oral, I agree that those cubicles would be nice places to have holes. :-)

 
Anonymous wrote on November 16, 2009 at 7:12 PM:

Hi, never been to bathouses...I want to try..ethan.adams84@yahoo.com --- just drop me a line for those who will accompany me.

 
Anonymous wrote on December 8, 2009 at 12:57 AM:

ako ung blog mo d2 tol...informative at nkakatulong ka sa community..hehhe.....tgal n akong naghahanap ng ganitong place,sana makapunta din ako d2..nun may napupuntahan ako sa may araneta avenue ung notary public na napalabas sa abs -cbn,pero hindi nila nireport sa police un..hindi katulad ng gma 7 anti gay sila,pag may natuklasn sila ganitong place,survillance agad tapos sumbobg agad sa police pangpatas ng rating marami kasi nanonod pag ganun ang tima nila...anyway tol thanks a lot tol,hope sa bakasyon ko makatakas ako sa gf ko para mkapunta lang d2,sana masamahan mo ako,heheheh...thanks uli more power and information

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on December 20, 2009 at 11:16 PM:

Anon, may GF ka tapos gusto mong pumunta ng bathhouse? Bad yan. Hehe. :-P

 
Anonymous wrote on March 21, 2010 at 8:21 AM:

I went to E last Friday.... I think it was a slow night because they started stacking the bar stools at 1 am.

I think the place is okay enough, medyo accessible for me, not to mention bleeding affordable.

The mattresses referred to seem to have gone missing. what was left in the cubicles on the second floor (the ones near the viewing room) are just the platforms.

Beer selection's a bit limited. They seem to have stopped serving other drinks (even your cheap-ass instant coffee) for some months now. Too bad....

I liked the idea of wandering around in the maze. Got to play in there myself, although those running around tend to be picky as well.

One of the "highlights" was being in a jacuzzi while a couple was, erm, in progress. The sight was simply unbelievable!

In fairness, the whole joint's reasonably priced.

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on April 9, 2010 at 11:41 PM:

@Anon, oh yeah, they removed the mattresses and made each room into a "theme" room.

Anyway, glad to hear that you liked it. :-)

 
Anonymous wrote on May 19, 2010 at 3:27 AM:

just visited E lastnight.. i just wish that everynight is lights out..
you can go running around the place butt naked.. hahahhaha.. The maze was very insteresting... first thing that came out of my mind is to go there. Luckily, somebody was already eyeing on me.. Pretty sure, i will come back.. either every tuesday or thursday..

P.S. certainly it was a happy ending..

DheeXXX

 
shy type wrote on May 19, 2010 at 8:17 AM:

anonymous...i went to E last but didn't have the guts to get inside...
when are you coming back? sabay tayo!

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on May 19, 2010 at 8:56 PM:

@anon (DheeXXX), I'm glad that you enjoyed yourself. Try mo pumunta ng Wednesday. You will definitely go around the place with your butt naked. ;-)

@shy type, huwag kang mahiya. Hanap ka ng good friend na puwedeng sumama. Hehehe.

 
Anonymous wrote on May 28, 2010 at 2:54 AM:

hhmm.. i might have a 2nd visit on tuesday night..

@vince ...would really like to try but i'm not confident enough to bare it all.


DheeXXX

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on May 31, 2010 at 3:59 PM:

@Anon (DheeXXX), ok no pressure. Enjoy the lights out again! :-D

 
Anonymous wrote on June 2, 2010 at 3:20 AM:

surely did...had twice..lolz

DheeXXX

 
Anonymous wrote on July 17, 2010 at 2:41 PM:

excited to go there pero nakaka-kaba hehe...

 
Anonymous wrote on July 22, 2010 at 10:36 PM:

bakit kaya cose yung epitome?? kelan kaya mag oopen ulit?

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on July 23, 2010 at 12:19 AM:

@Anon (July 22), here's the message I got at the PlanetRomeo thread on Epitome: "Water Crisis has hit Malate. Epitome is temporary closed this week due to Maynilad implementation of rationing water supply in Metro Manila. In behalf of the Board of Epitome. Sorry for the inconvenience."

 
Anonymous wrote on October 16, 2010 at 7:23 AM:

open na ba ulit ang E? want to try the wednesday theme night. k lang ba crowd ng 7:30 to 10:00?

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on October 18, 2010 at 11:21 PM:

@Anon, yes, Epitome is open. They just closed temporarily for less than a week that time.

Based on experience, 8 to 12 seems to be the peak time in terms of crowd.

 
Anonymous wrote on December 20, 2010 at 4:00 PM:

think its time to do some upgrading... upholster the couches, provide garbage bin in every cubicle so rubbish may dispose properly, doorlocks for cubicles, and a long chair infront of the steam room. :)

 
Anonymous wrote on February 7, 2011 at 2:43 AM:

Yesterday, ive been to epitome or the first time. Im kinda nervous because its my first time to go to a gay bathhouse. Thanks to your blogsite, i became more aware of whats inside. Anyway, im really paranoid that everyone has hiv, specially that i dont have any condoms by that time. Besides expecting too much from the jacuzzi, steambath and sauna(which i expected to be big enough), ive enjoyed my stay at the video. I can say im an exhibitionistcso ive decided to stroke my cock while watching porn... I dont feel embarrased because i think we're there for the same reason. Anyway, when i hangout at the garden area, one hot guy approached me and wad talking about how well i did my performance. And i just found out that what doing at the video room has been the talk of the town(which i totally didnt expect) to sum it up, im so happy that my first experience at epitome has been memorable, not only to me, but to my audience. Haha

 
Vince (Discreet Manila) wrote on February 16, 2011 at 12:21 AM:

@Anon (Feb 7), I would have loved to have seen your "performance". ;-)

 
Anonymous wrote on October 14, 2011 at 4:07 AM:

looking for a gloryhole or simply want a nice blow job? i'll give you a good one till you bust your thick load down my throat. email me at gloryholemanila@gmail.com

 
Anonymous wrote on October 23, 2011 at 11:16 PM:

i want to try to go to a bathhouse but i'm shy to enter alone.. it'd be better kung may kasama sana ako na may alam... sino pwede? anong day ba ok pumunta sa epitome? thanks.

-blu

 
Anonymous wrote on November 8, 2011 at 4:04 PM:

im planning to go to epitome on nov 11 2011 friday..it will be my first time..who wants to come with me? im discreet,gymfit and goodlooking..thanks..

-josh

 
tonichi wrote on November 11, 2011 at 1:16 PM:
This comment has been removed by the author.  
Anonymous wrote on November 13, 2011 at 5:52 AM:

hi! first, thank you for posting something like this. i want to go to epitome but im afraid and shy like other guys here. i must admit that i really do want to have unforgettable encounters.. and i think E would be a nice place to go..

but i still need to know few things..

- if i'd go there.. how much do i need to pay..

- when is the best time to go to E?

- will staff be able to guide me where to go.. what to expect and what to do there..

- can i just get laid there..?

- how long can i stay there..?

- can i do whatever i want to do there..(i.e having sex.. blowjob.. etc..)

anyone who has plan of going there by next week.. well, maybe we can talk about it.. i would really want to try it..

i'm an average guy.. not good looking.. but discreet enough. i'm 28.. looking for encounters.. but searching for something more than that..

ill leave the first 10 digits of my no. 0917592622* try to guess the last one.

oh.. it would be better if you're from 26-30 years old.. lean and not smaller that 5'6.. (am I being demanding here)..

thanks..

- v

 
edroger wrote on January 30, 2012 at 9:12 PM:

Ang mga comments nio make me excited to go there also. Wala pa akong exp. pumunta sa mga ganitong place but i really want to try this wednesday but im shy and nervous..pls i need company to go there...... kung cnu man ang may gustong pumunta just email me edroger1977@yahoo.com

 
taurus top wrote on March 18, 2012 at 5:36 AM:

Important Advisory:

Epitome Club Malate will have its FINAL Week of Operations at Leon Guinto St from March 18 to March 25 before we pack up and move for a better home. A Big Finale Show will be on March 24 Saturday.

Thanks for all the love, loyalty, bonding and memories we shared since 2004.

Until we meet again.

 
kaile wrote on August 22, 2012 at 3:09 PM:

just wanna ask, meron ba akong pwedeng pag dalahan sa slave ko na kano, gusto ko sya ipunish, so im thinking sa gloryholes. at the same time i could earn money out of his service, san ko kaya sya pwedeng dalhin?

 
Anonymous wrote on December 13, 2013 at 6:10 PM:

Magkano jan?