Ladislav, were go-go bars like this in the 90's?

[Winston]

See these clips from this film about Filipina brides from 1991. They are really funny. The girls in those bars look ugly though. Was it really like that back in the 90's?

[Rock]

Wow, great find Winston. Like a window in time. I've only gotten through first 3 so far but look forward to watching the rest later today.

Gogo bar looks so cheesy. The latter half of Part 3 is kinda looks just like that era's version of a social.

Sounded like air tickets were a lot more expensive then too, over 2,000 GBP and GBP varied in value to the US$ from 2.4 at beginning of decade to just 1.03 by 1985.

[Repatriate]

So where are these couples now if this has been going on since the 90's?

[ladislav]

This looks like Ermita before the bars got shot down. I was not in RP in the 80ies so I do not know anything about that. I do know that they were pickier about who they let into bars before, but now anyone 18-28 who is a female can work there. Do keep in mind that it is a movie so these may just be actresses who got roles and not real go go dancers.
Statistically 80% of Filipina/foreigner marriages work out so most girls are with their hubbies right now I guess.

[Rock]

This looks like Ermita before the bars got shot down. I was not in RP in the 80ies so I do not know anything about that. I do know that they were pickier about who they let into bars before, but now anyone 18-28 who is a female can work there. Do keep in mind that it is a movie so these may just be actresses who got roles and not real go go dancers.
Statistically 80% of Filipina/foreigner marriages work out so most girls are with their hubbies right now I guess.

I don't know Lad. This film is gritty and feels pretty authentic.

I wouldn't surprised if at least some of the 'go-go actresses' were girls from the biz. I mean they look short, dark, and butt ugly, just like real Ermita P4P girls from the day. If the bars were picky, they must have discriminated against taller, lighter, and classier looking gals. There may have been a few token hotties here and there, but often, they were employed as window dressing at clip joints just to get guys in the door.

The P250 bar fine is US$10 at the exchange rate of the time, more like US$20 in today's money. That's not cheap considering that you paid the girl separately back then. Don't know if that's still the case in Phils.

Taxis look nicer than I would have expected cus through much of the 80s, I think flag fall was just P2.5, the equivalent of 10 cents US. Of course drivers did their damndest not to use the meter, at least with foreigners. In reality, the typical ones were probably much older and often beat-up looking.

[Rock]

Listen Gareth, we’ve got (books full of) highly educated young ladies, dying for the chance of marriage to a…sophisticate like you. Lol.

[momopi]

My coworker (former USMC) was stationed in Olongapo in the 1980s. He said back then, as they marched off the ships, Filipina river queens would come in their boats wearing see-through white fabric outfits and invite men to throw money at them. Sometimes the $$ fell into the water and there would be a kid on the boat who'd dive after the coins. The water was dirty with untreated sewage, and the kids would come out of the water with crap on their heads.

He said back then you could rent a place and have a girl cook/clean and iron press your cloths for $5/day. If you want the girl for sex it's extra $$. He liked to have his outfits iron pressed because they have to line up for inspection from time to time, and your uniform needs to be clean and pressed. He'd go to town and spend $10-$15 and have a good time. STD's were rampant and the whole place was dirty.

[Repatriate]

My coworker (former USMC) was stationed in Olongapo in the 1980s. He said back then, as they marched off the ships, Filipina river queens would come in their boats wearing see-through white fabric outfits and invite men to throw money at them. Sometimes the $$ fell into the water and there would be a kid on the boat who'd dive after the coins. The water was dirty with untreated sewage, and the kids would come out of the water with crap on their heads.

Jesus, this account is more depressing than anything else. I suppose the Phillipines has always been like this, probably for as long as people there can remember at least. It's where the whole decades old "Little Brown f**k Machine" LBFM moniker came from anyhow.

[ladislav]

I was in Olongapo this April and the place looks really clean and very American. It is almost like being somewhere in Florida. There has been a lot of development lately. The water is clean and nothing like this is happening anymore. Also, the people who were serving the US troops were simply a certain class of people. The Philippine society by and large is quite conservative still and very hard core Christian. There are sideline aberrations and this is what the foreigners get to see because the people assume that is what they want to see.

[Mr S]

This movie is still authentic, even if it was made in the 80's. The bar scene is exactly what it's like in the day time bars section of Angeles City nowadays. Actually most of the bars moved up there after the mayor, Lim closed them down in the 90's.

Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

Also, many of the guys frequenting the bars nowadays look like those guys still, ha ha!

If you are younger or in decent shape you will attract the women like flies on shit over there. I do; and it's so much now I find it annoying!

Their English in the movie is probably dubbed though, or English levels are a lot shittier than back then cause they don't talk that good normally.

[momopi]

I noticed when the guy walked in to the upscale hotel lobby, the door man inside used a metal detector on him.

When I was in Manila in 2007, I think either at Mataki Shangri-La or another hotel, they used metal scanner on you before you entered, and they added a bomb sniffing dog and handler. Unlike the US, they weren't as strict or professional about it, and you could pet & play with the dog.

That was an awkward 2 weeks. My friend's parents had divorced 20+ years ago on bad terms, so we had to keep them in separate hotels until the wedding. I had to babysit the mother and my friend's sister & husband had to babysit the father. The parents got to stay in luxurious suites in the hotel and I had to go stay at a barely furnished condo in Greenbelt. Then on the wedding day, somebody forgot to pick up the groom's father! It was hot at the Church and I was sent to buy a few bags of bottled water. Then after passing it out I was told that food and drinks weren't allowed in Church, even if it's just a chapel attached to the wedding facility. X_X;;

I like the 5 cent coins with the hole in the middle. Metal prices are going up and putting a hole in the center would reduce cost for minting very low face value coins. Plus you can string them up like the old Chinese cash coins!

[Winston]

I like the Filipina in light green in this clip:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=zAuLufm__nI[/youtube]

She's very pretty, sincere and looks very wholesome, like the epitome of the selfless loving tender traits of the "true Filipina". Her smile is sexy too. And she looks exotic and beautiful inside and out.

[Winston]

Correction. That movie was from 1991. See below. It has good reviews on imdb. Ive corrected the opening post with 90s.

Filipina Dream Girls
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102863/?ref_=m_fn_al_1

[MatureDJ]

Wow, the fat Englishman is like a white version of Winston!