What’s inside Club Bath?

To continue my posts on Club Bath here are the floor plans of the three-storey mansion that Club Bath has repurposed as a bath house. (You can also see the floor plan of Epitome which I’ve written about before.)

The first floor is where the entrance and the exit is. You enter Club Bath through a gate along Valhalla St. near the corner with F.B. Harrison. Inside the gate is a foyer area and the reception can be found at the far end. From the reception area, you can immediately see the gym to the left, and the TV room and Internet room to the right. Behind the gym is the locker area and at the very back is the wet area, containing shower stalls and a steam room (no sauna). The shower stalls do not have doors so shy people are not allowed, but there are dividers to give some privacy. There is adequate lighting in the shower room so you might find it a bit disconcerting.

The second floor is where the bulk of the action happens. Most of the space is given to 25 private rooms. (When you go to Club Bath, you must either avail of a locker or a private room.) The numbers/letters you see on the floor plan are the room numbers. Aside from the rooms, there’s also a comfort room, a hidden free cubicle, and two open-air balcony areas where people can smoke.

The corner balcony area is the brightest spot in the whole mansion, no thanks to decorative street lamps installed by the Pasay City Government. But the balcony is not seen from the street; there are bamboo curtains installed to give a modicum of privacy. The other balcony, on the other hand, is quite dark and I’ve seen some exhibitionist action going on here.

The third floor contains four more private rooms and an open-air dark room and lanai for even more smoking. The dark room also has three free cubicles, for use by patrons that have not availed of rooms.

So there. Hopefully you found this useful if ever you decide to try Club Bath and so that you won’t look like a lost newbie. Hehehe.

Walang Kawala: a reaction

I didn’t want to waste the very long Christmas break so I took an unplanned hiatus from blogging. But the holidays are quite over and I think that 2009 is looking to be a very good year so I’d like to greet all of my readers a very happy new year! I won’t write a 2008 recap post but instead I’ll get down to business and give my reaction—I refuse to call it a review—to the last gay-oriented movie I saw last year and this is the Joel Lamangan-directed Walang Kawala.

To get to the point, Walang Kawala is not a very good movie. But it’s not entirely crappy unlike Hugot. And while the acting of the two lead stars, Polo Ravales and Joseph Bitangcol, leave much to be desired, I can definitely say that their kissing scenes are pretty hot (unlike, say, the ones between Harold Chua and Justin de Leon in Ang Lalake sa Parola). The only acting I liked in the movie were those of Emilio Garcia and Polo’s real-life ex-lover Jean Garcia.

I found it surprising that the review board did not cut Marco Morales’ frontal nudity gay bar scene—the overly-hyped daring act whose only purpose is to woo the gay audience but did nothing whatsoever to advance the plot or to add to the movie’s artistic value. It’s a blatant in-your-face display of cheap film cheesiness. (Yet, I would be hypocritical if I say that I didn’t appreciate the cheese; Marco Morales is uber-hot especially when I saw him one time in Megamall. Hehehe.) Other standout gay-cheese scenes include Paolo Rivero’s loving caress of a sleeping Joseph Bitangcol’s body and Emilio Garcia’s power-tripping sexual acts on both Polo and Joseph (for those who are inclined into sado-masochism).

As for the plot, I didn’t find it remarkable nor did I get anything redeeming from it. I think that it’s just an elaborate game of Where’s Waldo? It’s basically the story of two gay lovers from the province where one, Waldo (Bitangcol), went to Manila in a fit of jealousy after the wife of the other guy, Joaquin (Ravales) came home. Joaquin leaves the wife and comes looking for Waldo and they both became ensnared into the human trafficking operations of Rufo (Emilio Garcia), a corrupt cop. Aside from the story, the cinematography and the music are also quite forgettable.

I guess the movie is good enough to watch at least once, but I’d recommend you and your friends just chip in to buy or rent the DVD, if you haven’t seen it in the theaters.

Here are some other choice reviews and reactions of the movie elsewhere:

• Joel McVie’s very entertaining take
• The Bakla Reviewer’s poignant prose
• The resident ClickTheCity.com critic’s scathing assessment
• Richard Bolisay’s very insightful commentary

Getting to Club Bath

Photo by Macoy.

It’s one thing to say that the address of Club Bath is #2456 F.B. Harrison St., Pasay City, but it’s definitely a different thing actually finding it. However, basing on the fact that one of my readers found it means that it’s quite easy to go to Club Bath. But for those of you who need more guidance, then continue reading on!

Check out the photo above to see how Club Bath looks from the outside along F.B. Harrison. There’s actually no indication that this mansion houses a bath house inside it, lending it a very discreet air. The entrance is at the side (to the left of the photo) along Valhalla Street while to the right is Moana Street. Club Bath is located very near the Pasay City Hall to the south, while Libertad is within walking distance to the north where at the intersection there is a Chowking outlet. Some people like to eat at here after having fun in CB. The nearby Andok’s Restaurant is another frequented place.

Shown below are maps highlighting the location of Club Bath. The first one depicts northern Pasay between EDSA and Buendia while the second map zooms in for a closer look.

Bringing your own car

It’s quite safe to bring your own car to the area. The location is well-lit and it’s not a seedy place at all. It would be best to ask the guard on duty where to park. The usual parking areas are beside the mansion along Valhalla and Moana streets and secondary parking areas are along the buildings leading towards Libertad. Warning: do not try to park along Valhalla, Moana, or Pasadena streets past the gates. The local barangay has a curfew and they close the gates late at night, which could get your car trapped inside.

If you’re coming from EDSA, the landmark to watch for to know F.B. Harrison is the diagonal MMDA footbridge spanning EDSA at the intersection. F.B. Harrison is also the street just before the neon-lighted Pasay Edsa International Entertainment Complex. If you’re coming from Buendia, F.B. Harrison is the major street where jeepneys turn into.

Taking public transportation

If you plan to go there by taxi, the best landmark to give the driver is the Pasay City Hall. You can have yourself dropped at the City Hall and just walk to CB, or you can stop at CB itself.

There’s also a jeepney route passing along F.B. Harrison. These are the routes that start at Pasay Rotonda (where the LRT-EDSA and the MRT-Taft stations are) and pass by F.B. Harrison going to Manila. If you’re coming from Manila, make sure that the jeepney passes by F.B. Harrison instead of Taft Avenue. If you’re coming from EDSA, you can either take the jeep at Pasay Rotonda or you can ride at the intersection of F.B. Harrison and EDSA—there are several jeepneys that stop here to wait for passengers. (This is also the place where you can get off an EDSA bus).

Pride and the closet

So yesterday was the Manila Pride March 2008 in Malate, Manila. I’ve gone to a June White Party once years ago, but never been to the December March. And I don’t think I’ll ever go to one in the near future. I guess being discreet and partly closeted means that one would naturally shy away from attending such “out, loud, and proud” affairs. But it’s not for lack of appreciation; I fully support equality and gay rights, like when I lamented the passage of Proposition 8 in California and condemned the raids on gay establishments. However, looking at the whole thing, the right question to ask regarding the Pride March is, “Are you proud to be PLU?”

My answer is no: I’m not proud to be PLU. But, I’m neither ashamed to be one. While I’m a proud Filipino and a proud alumni of my University, I don’t feel the need to have pride in my sexual orientation. I’ve gone through the phase where I could not accept that I was attracted to guys and I’ve eventually learned to accept myself for who I am, but I don’t think that it’s important to flaunt it.

I will admit that the reason why I am still mostly in the closet and why I try to be discreet is I don’t like to be discriminated against. I also don’t like people gossiping about me behind my back and to have their impressions of me clouded by their perceived stereotypes. I know it would be better in the long run if I come out and then educate the people around me about People Like Us and shatter their stereotypes, but my life is complicated as it is right now and I don’t want the added drama.

That said, is it possible to be proud while still being in the closet? I cannot answer that question personally, but one thing’s for sure: learning to accept and love oneself is the first step, and I certainly got that.

Photo from the Kurt Löwenstein Educational Center at Flickr.

On HIV and AIDS

I’ve been following and reading a few blogs from fellow PLUs who are HIV-positive. Two of the most active are Back in the Closet and The Chronicles of E. The latter didn’t actually start out as a blog about living with HIV—the positive result came during the blog’s lifetime (see this post and this follow-up). Two other Pinoy HIV blogs are I have HIV! and Confessions of A Pinoy HIV plus (+) though these two are long not updated.

HIV and AIDS is a scary thing. Though I consider myself quite informed about the subject (i.e., I know more than the fact that you don’t get AIDS from toilet seats and the fact that the Philippines is considered as one of the low-prevalence countries, having less than 0.1% of the population infected even with liberal estimates), the reality of living with HIV is quite an alien thing for me. Even with what I know, the information is far too sterile and clinical and it doesn't reflect the fact that HIV/AIDS is a growing problem and that Filipinos need to see the reality of it. Reading these blogs gave me the much needed perspective about such a taboo area and one thing I’ve learned is that many HIV-positive people in the Philippines get antiretroviral medications for free from government-run medical institutions. This is a good thing since these drugs are very expensive.

One good thing that is coming out from this increased awareness about HIV and AIDS through the local PLU blogosphere is the teaser launch of Positivism, an e-zine that aims to combat the stigma and discrimination (that’s much worse than PLU discrimination) attached to HIV-positive people. This is one really commendable project and I look forward to seeing these people, whether HIV-positive or negative, succeed.