Bed is now 7!

Bed Bar Malate is now 7 years old. Who would’ve thought that a gay dance club would last this long? Bed has outlasted Government and Embassy and it has lasted longer than the previous Malate gay clubs like Mint, Joy and Piggy’s.

To celebrate this milestone, Bed is throwing a party tonight called Lucky Seven. This 7th anniversary party was supposed to have been held on April 16, but for some reason unknown to me, they decided to swap the Bed Bodies show (which normally happens on the last Friday of every month) with this anniv party.

I wrote about Bed’s 5th anniversary two years ago and my feelings for this club has not changed one bit. This place holds quite a lot of memories for me and so I find it a huge comfort to see Bed continuing to prosper. When I want to have fun, or to meet guys, or to go dance the night away, Bed has always been my first choice.

So, congratulations to Bed and may you continue to be an inspiring institution to the Filipino PLU community! Here’s to seven more years!

The kiss between Man U’s Scholes and Neville

For your “that’s so gay!” news of the moment, two Manchester United footballers share a long kiss after narrowly avoiding a draw to win a key game. Thirty-five-year-old football veteran Paul Scholes scored a goal with 17 seconds to spare winning the decisive game for his team. Team captain Gary Neville was so elated at winning that he planted a full-blown lips-to-lips kiss on Scholes on the field.

This kiss became a sensation in the UK especially in the ultra-macho world of English football. You can read a short account of the win over at Daily Mail, or read an interesting commentary on the kiss (touching on homophobia) from The Guardian, or simply admire large photos of the kiss at The Huffington Post. For more viewing pleasure, The Spoiler has assembled a very nice gallery of other English footballers sharing saliva.

Me? I'm just enjoying ogling at the pictures. (And hoping that this leads to less homophobia in the UK. Or at least more guys kissing.)

Talking about me on Twitter

Alam mo, wag mo na akong tanungin kung guwapo ba si Discreet Manila... I DON'T REMEMBER NA! I was WASAK, duh! Hahaha!

— Joel McVie (@mcvie) April 21, 2010

@mcvie @lobster_tony who is discreet manila? is he and @gibbscadiz same banana?

— jonas bagas (@jonasbagas) April 21, 2010

No comment na lang. Hehehe.

The soju summer party

When the Fabcasters throw a party, they really know how to throw a party! And it was at the Fabcasters’ summer party that my friend and I found ourselves last Saturday night. Although there had only been two previous Fabcasters’ parties with soju—the Beginnings New Year’s party and Migs’ despidida party—these events have become quite legendary online, all thanks to soju, the famed Korean rice liquor.

Was it fun? Oh yes! Given the choice of partying in Bed or attending a Fabcasters’ Party, I’d definitely choose the latter! I’d love to tell all of the details of last Saturday’s revelry that my drunken mind could remember, but as someone on Twitter said, “what happens in a Fabcasters’ party, stays in a Fabcasters’ Party.” Hehehe. That said, you can get an idea of what transpired from McVie’s post or follow the post-party tweets from the usual suspects on Twitter.

While I know or have met some of the Fabcasters, it was really nice getting to meet all of them. It was also great to finally put a face to several of the blogs I’m following. So, thank you to Migs and AJ for inviting me, thanks to Tony for sort of accompanying me, to CC for not forgetting me, and to McVie for being a gracious host and playing nanny to a bunch of raucous kids.

Ej Montuano is hawt!

I couple of people I know were invited to participate in Rachel Lobangco’s intriguing photography series called Drench. The concept of the series is to depict various people and their professions while getting wet under a shower of water. I think getting wet is kinda sexy so I browsed those albums that were already online on Facebook such as the ones for Chef Roland Laudico, model Mark Manicad and DJ Tony Pavia. It was while browsing the photos as well as some behind-the-scene pictures that I came across this yummy model named Ej Montuano.

Ej is the male model tapped for the concept shoot of Drench and he has his own solo Drench album. Aside from that, he also sometimes takes the role of “drencher” for the other people, using a water can to shower subjects with water.

Well, Ej is quite ripped and I have this thing for semikal hunks so it’s no surprise that I ended up enjoying looking at his his photos on his Facebook profile. Hehehe. He has this raw manly appeal with his defined abs and a really square jaw. I hope these pictures of him brightened up your weekend!

O-Bar Ortigas is O-Kay

One Saturday last month, my usual clubbing buddy texted me saying he wanted to go out and party. We usually go to Malate, but since he was somewhere in Katipunan and I was in Pasig at that time, I suggested that we try out the Ortigas branch of O Bar for a change. My interest in O Bar Ortigas was piqued when I read about the place from the Corporate Closet and Johhny Cursive. He was hesitant at first but I managed to convince him and off to O Bar we went.

Well, O Bar is definitely nothing like Bed. It doesn’t even feel like the original O Bar in Malate. It’s a relatively small place at the second floor of Ortigas Home Depot along Julia Vargas Ave. (See the map below.) You will definitely have no problem finding it since the conspicuous pink “O” logo is unmistakable and the bar is found above this Persian restaurant very near the main entrance to the Home Depot. The entrance fee is 200 pesos (Saturday rate) and it’s good for three beers—definitely a bargain for those who like drinking compared to Bed’s pocket damage.

When we went inside, we found the place filled with boys (and a few girls), though it wasn’t too packed and that you can actually move around quite freely. The place has a high ceiling and there are a couple of elevated balcony ledges where the gogo boys dance and strut their well-defined abs. Between those ledges is the DJ’s booth—also elevated. If you like ogling at gogo boys, then O Bar Ortigas’ setup is really not good since you’d be craning your neck.

View O Bar Ortigas Home Depot in a larger map

As for the entertainment, the music is actually quite good being a nice mix of dance remixes of popular tunes and your usual assortment of gay-friendly house anthems. The night is also punctuated by frequent song-and-dance drag shows held at the two stages at the opposite ends of the bar. These shows are from the resident tranny divas. In fairness, the shows were quite entertaining and me and my buddy actually thought that one of the divas was extremely talented (and not to mention quite goodlooking and muscular if she were butch).

One possible problem with the shows is that they frequently drag an audience member onstage. So if you have stage fright and really don’t like embarrassing situations, you’d probably find yourself scrambling far away from the stages. Another problem is that the shows occur too many times. Unlike Saturday nights in Bed where you usually only have 2 sets of 2 songs from the Dragon Divas, in O Bar Ortigas, you’ll frequently find yourself getting into the groove of dancing and then it will be interrupted by yet another drag show. Well, the way the bar is set-up seems to emphasize that dancing is really not the main point since there is really no sizable dance floor to speak of and tables with chairs are aplenty in the bar.

As for the crowd? Well, if you’re expecting a nice place to meet new people, then O Bar Ortigas doesn’t seem to be it since from what I’ve seen, guys stick to their circle of friends here. That said, the crowd is a nice mix of guys and tending to the younger side. I also spotted a few Bed regulars that night.

My verdict? It’s a pretty decent alternative place to Malate. If you wanna hang out with your friends and drink the night away far from Malate, then O Bar Ortigas would not be a bad choice.

If you want other perspectives, then check out this very in-depth Geeky Guide to O Bar Ortigas (with plenty of pictures) or this negative experience from John Stanley. Update (May 5): Here’s Guyrony’s take and he doesn’t like the drag shows.

So, have you been to O Bar Ortigas? How did you find it?

Pope Benedict’s Commandments

The editorial cartoon above from The Courier-Journal has got to be the best illustration of the juxtaposition of the Catholic Church’s stance on sexuality (like the CBCP’s opposition to Ang Ladlad) and the worldwide sex abuses scandal gripping the Vatican.

Vote Ang Ladlad for Party List!

Ay, manikurista?

So there I was hanging out at the house of this guy I’ve been meeting on and off for the past two years. We were watching TV on the sofa when he noticed that I had untrimmed fingernails. He then said he’d clip them and proceeded to do so, after going to his room to fetch the nail clipper. Needless to say, I was a bit embarrassed and a little self-conscious the whole time he was trimming my nails.

Now the question is, what was the reason for this sudden urge of his?

1. He really likes me and was comfortable enough with me to not be bothered with doing something this personal? (Awww.)
2. He’s obsessed with hygiene to the point that he imposes on other people? (Yikes!)
3. He’s avoiding the possibility of me injuring him with scratches when we would have sex later? (Rawr!)
4. He’s a frustrated manicurist? (Ay!)
5. All of the above?

What do you guys think?

P.S. I don’t scratch. Really.

The Supreme Court approves Ang Ladlad as a party-list candidate!

The Supreme Court’s recent decision, passing with a vote of 13-2, rejecting the COMELEC’s two resolutions disqualifying Ang Ladlad from the party list elections is definitely one of the best pieces of news I have heard all week (and the week is not yet over)! Finally, I can vote for a party list organizaton that actually represents me! See the news articles from Inquirer, the Philippine Star, Manila Bulletin, ABS-CBN and GMA.

The following paragraphs from the Supreme Court’s decision bear repeating:

We are not blind to the fact that, through the years, homosexual conduct, and perhaps homosexuals themselves, have borne the brunt of societal disapproval. It is not difficult to imagine the reasons behind this censure – religious beliefs, convictions about the preservation of marriage, family, and procreation, even dislike or distrust of homosexuals themselves and their perceived lifestyle. Nonetheless, we recall that the Philippines has not seen fit to criminalize homosexual conduct. Evidently, therefore, these “generally accepted public morals” have not been convincingly transplanted into the realm of law.

From the standpoint of the political process, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender have the same interest in participating in the party-list system on the same basis as other political parties similarly situated. State intrusion in this case is equally burdensome. Hence, laws of general application should apply with equal force to LGBTs, and they deserve to participate in the party-list system on the same basis as other marginalized and under-represented sectors.

As such, we hold that moral disapproval, without more, is not a sufficient governmental interest to justify exclusion of homosexuals from participation in the party-list system. The denial of Ang Ladlad’s registration on purely moral grounds amounts more to a statement of dislike and disapproval of homosexuals, rather than a tool to further any substantial public interest.

We do not doubt that a number of our citizens may believe that homosexual conduct is distasteful, offensive, or even defiant. They are entitled to hold and express that view. On the other hand, LGBTs and their supporters, in all likelihood, believe with equal fervor that relationships between individuals of the same sex are morally equivalent to heterosexual relationships. They, too, are entitled to hold and express that view. However, as far as this Court is concerned, our democracy precludes using the religious or moral views of one part of the community to exclude from consideration the values of other members of the community.

I’m so happy I could burst! But the fight is not yet over. The next step is to help Ang Ladlad campaign so that they can get just enough votes to have at least one representative in Congress. Remember that Ang Ladlad is #89 on the ballot. So, won’t you vote for them?

Anyway, I’d like to mention that I have been debating this Ang Ladlad-COMELEC issue with an orthodox Catholic guy on his blog. He posted an article back in November praising the COMELEC’s resolution to disqualify Ang Ladlad and I engaged in a discussion insisting that while the Catholic Church can indeed discriminate against the LGBT sector, the Philippines, as a secular nation, can and must not. In the end, he had to fall back on that single mention of “Almighty God” in the preamble of the Philippine Constitution to buttress his argument that the Philippines ought to embrace Christian ideals.

As I expected, he recently posted an article decrying the Supreme Court’s decision. Again, I rebutted his points. I have no illusion of changing his mind, but I do hope that he can concede the point that even if he thinks that the Supreme Court’s decision is immoral, that it is still, objectively speaking, quite legal. I do hope that I was able to project a high level of discourse. Anyway, he called on the Catholic faithful to rise up to battle:

With the Supreme courts decision in favor of LADLAD, we have lost a battle and not a war. I am calling on the Church Militant. Arise from your slumber. Awake! The war is on! Let us recover the word “militant” from the the militant Left. Beat your ploughshares into swords and join in this battle of ideas. The future of Philippine Christianity is at stake! Fire! Foes! Awake!

And to that, I say, “Bring it on!”