O Bar: Gay Everyday

                               

Location: 1801 Nakpil St. Corner Orosa Malate Manila

Opens: Monday to Thursday 7:00pm until 4:00 am

Friday to Saturdays 7pm till 6am of the next day

Sunday 8:00pm to 03:00 am sometimes there is a drag show between 1am to 2am

                                    photo credit to : ramon papa facebook

Not everybody knows this – I most certainly didn’t, at least not for a while – but Malate in the City of Manila, that gay capital before gayness started to spread all over Metro Manila (and the whole Philippines, thankfully), is actually alive the whole week now.  Much like the scene is in the West, you can now go partying from Monday to Sunday – largely thanks to O Bar, if I may say so.

Why am I saying so?

Joy used to be Malate – then there were Mint/Babylon, Red Banana, Biology Café, and Rainbow Pride, among others.  When everything closed, the one that stayed open was Bed Bar, so much so that partying was dictated by Bed Bar’s owners’ whims and caprices; usually, that’s only from Thursday to Saturday (at times Wednesdays, or other regular days, for that matter, for special events).  This would be a major factor in the rise of O Bar, which fulfilled the need to party whenever – which is what it does now, providing a venue to let the hair down even on a Sunday or a Monday or a Tuesday.

The surprise is, a lot of people actually flock to O Bar on these days – maybe because it’s when they are off work (e.g. call center agents), or, as it is overseas, maybe simply because we need a place to party whenever we want to.  So if/when in the lookout for relatively newer (i.e. younger) community members, O Bar is the place to be at...
And then there’s the price – from P100 to P150 (Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday) and from P150 to P200 (Friday to Saturday), it’s a bargain compared with Bed Bar’s P300 to P350 (Friday to Saturday); especially since P150 is good for three bottles of beer or a glass of cocktail drink, while P300 is just good for a bottle or glass of cocktail drink.

Yes, admittedly, the place is small – as small as the ground floor of Bed Bar used to be.  To those familiar with the former places used to be there (Red Banana), which occupied two floors , this is noticeable – but then again, when performers do their acts, the expression “packed like sardines” comes to mind, seemingly a warning that should there be a stampede, someone’s bound to get hurt for sure (not that the community heeds warnings...).

Not that most would complain, actually.  It’s tight spaces that appeal to gays, after all – makes groping easier, truth be told (and it happens in O Bar, too).  On this, just stay closer to the dance floor, closer to the main door, those who are claustrophobic (or even semi-claustrophobics).  Having said these, near the door (it only has one main one) is where best to stay in O Bar, as it’s safest, and it’s where you see everyone entering – disadvantage is it’s the farthest from the toilet, as it’s way, way at the back (near back entry, which most aren’t allowed to use), so that peeing means going out to do so.

Must note:

• Friday and Saturday is the best time to Party. Most gay clubs ( Opens around 10 PM but the crowd usually arrives much later.

• Those staying at the first pole from the main door, right across the bar, tend to be just as desperate, so...;

• The snobs (and many of them don’t even look THAT good) tend to stay at the bar area;

• When outside, the supposedly “in” people stay closest to the main door (problem is, City of Manila’s mayor Alfredo Lim disallows and then allows and then disallows and then... the placement of the tables outdoors, so being able to sit outside is an on/off thing).

All in all, though, if it’s partying ANY TIME that’s wanted, needed even, then head off to O Bar – the gay place that is always open.