What are the Pros and Cons of Visiting Manila?

[+ Lucky]

Among the many places I have never visited is Manila. Perhaps the location is a deterrent, but I also have the idea that it is more of a third world country with lots of poverty. That wouldn't stop me from going, but I can't come up with any incentives to plan a visit when there is so much competition for my gay dollar.

So, for those who have been, what are the highlights? Thanks.

[Marc in Calif]

Most of Manila is a hell-hole. Unless you have lots of experience in less-developed countries and their megacities, I'd advise going elsewhere. 

For a first visit to the Philippines, you'd be much happier (and cleaner!) visiting one of the other large cities such as Cebu and Davao. If you're on Grindr, you'll have no problem finding providers of all sorts. Or just buddies to have fun with. 

If you're into beaches, there's El Nido on Palawan island. 🏖️

All of these will likely require flying through Manila. A couple of days there will be sufficient if you want to keep both your sanity and your hearing. 😊

Edited August 13, 2024 by Marc in Calif

[BSR]

On 8/12/2024 at 10:22 AM, Lucky said:

Among the many places I have never visited is Manila. Perhaps the location is a deterrent, but I also have the idea that it is more of a third world country with lots of poverty. That wouldn't stop me from going, but I can't come up with any incentives to plan a visit when there is so much competition for my gay dollar.

So, for those who have been, what are the highlights? Thanks.

Perhaps the window has passed on this 5-month old topic, but I will be going to Manila on Feb 11 and will post my thoughts on visiting there.  I’ll try to look into the scene (escorts, masseurs, dancers), but since I’ll be spending most of the time with family, naughty-fun opportunities will likely be limited.  Meanwhile, some food for thought: here is a video on pag pag, food “recycled” from fast-food garbage.  Yup, people literally sort through McDonalds & Jollibee (Filipino KFC) garbage bags, pluck out the scraps, either boil or fry it to (hopefully) kill the bacteria, then sell it.  Yikes, I knew poverty was bad in the Philippines, but people actually make a living by selling dumpster scraps??

 

[BSR]

OK, so I just got back from my first hire in Manila.  First, Manila as a travel destination.  @Marc in Calif is correct, it’s kind of a shithole.   It’s ugly & congested, hot & humid, the exhaust fumes will make your lungs beg for mercy, and gawd help you if you’re ever stuck in rush-hour traffic.  For a city so rich in history, there’s not that much to see or do.

Those are (some of) the cons.  But hey, there’s good and bad in everything, and Manila does have its pros, sparse as they may be.  If you have an adventurous palate, Filipino cuisine is pretty good, and the home-cooking joints are really inexpensive.  The people here are simply fantastic:  impeccably polite, friendly, and bend-over-backwards helpful.  Yes, traffic sucks, but for the best thrill ride outside of a Six Flags roller coaster, ride on the back of a motorcycle taxi.  If you’re going somewhere by yourself, get a ride thru Move It, a ride share app but just for motorcycles and scooters.  I took one today because I was leaving during rush hour.  The advantage of these 2-wheel taxis is that they can scoot up to the front at every intersection whereas cars might need 2 or even 3 green lights to get thru the most congested intersections.  Mind you, it’s not for the faint of heart because the driver will weave in between cars, often thru spaces that look impossibly narrow.  But once you stop soiling yourself, it’s actually hella fun.

Now for the fun part … here’s the little I learned after my first hire:  Rentmen Philippines — rentmen.ph — is the site I used.  I have no idea if it’s the best site for our hobby, but it certainly has a sh*t-ton of listings, more than 300.  Of the dozen rentguys I contacted, only 1 listed his sexual orientation as gay, 1 as bisexual, 1 as “ask me.”  The other 9 listed themselves as straight, and I doubt it was just the small sample size.  I’m guessing gay4pay is rampant on the site and in the country.  For some, a straight provider is a nonstarter.  Even if you’re open to hiring gay4pay, make sure to get nitty-gritty about the provider’s limitations because he’ll likely have plenty.  The good thing is the straight providers I interacted with were all quite forthcoming and specific about their limits.

I did have a bit of a communication issue with my guy tonight.  I was very specific about kissing, tongues and the whole 9 yards, which he said he was OK with.  I ended the text exchange with “as long as I can do plenty of kissing and rimming, I’ll be happy.”  As it so turns out, he had no idea what rimming was and later confessed he was too embarrassed to ask.  I had gotten a bit spoiled in the few days I had been here because Filipinos who deal with the public speak anywhere from very good to perfect English.  My guy, not so much.

Nonetheless, I had fun.  He was beautiful, looked just like his pictures, and did try to please despite his limits.  I wouldn’t be quite so forgiving if I were paying US rates (how much is a 5-hr date in cities like NYC? eek!), but hey, at ~$260 (15,000 pesos) for 5 hours, no way am I going full raging Karen.  Some guys cited a rate of 20,000p (~$347), 1 said 25,000p (~$431), and the 1 gay provider quoted me 30,000p (~$520).  Yes, they expect you to tip.  I just flat out asked him how much he was hoping for because I had no idea and because I’m sure expectations vary widely.  I like longer sessions but simply can’t afford the going rate in the US.  Rentboys for a fraction the price is a gigantic check mark in Manila’s pro column.

[jbsjbs99]

Thank you for this great information.

Who was your guy? Do you have a link?

What was the percentage of the tip?

[BSR]

20 hours ago, jbsjbs99 said:

Thank you for this great information.

Who was your guy? Do you have a link?

What was the percentage of the tip?

Tim Guevara
I was going to tip him 20%, 3,000p.  Once I saw on his face that he wasn’t particularly happy about it (certainly wasn’t mad either), I asked him how much he was hoping for.  After much arm-twisting, he admitted he expected 3,000p but was hoping for 6,000p, prolly ‘cuz he saw me as a rich (ha!) foreigner.  I ended up tipping him 5,000p.  Fee + tip = 20,000p or ~$345, a heckuva bargain for a 5-hour session.  Since I’m staying at my aunt’s condo, I had to get a hotel room.  Another tick in Manila’s pro column is that I got a nice 4* hotel in his neighborhood (he can’t host) for just $48.  No Priceline or anything, just the regular price on the hotel website.

Straight, new to the biz (started 2 months ago), definitely a diamond in the rough.  He’s very up-front with his limits, so you’ll be able to make an informed decision.  He’s shy, even in his native tongue.  He understands English very well because he’s watched a lot of American movies & TV but he struggles a bit speaking it.  Don’t worry, his English is more than good enough to work out arrangements, just don’t expect a chatty boyfriend experience.  He thanked me as soon as he got home and texted me the next day.  If I had more time in Manila, I would definitely see him again.

Edited February 18 by BSR
Typo

[jbsjbs99]

Do you have a link to this guy?

On 2/19/2025 at 1:55 AM, BSR said:

Tim Guevara
I was going to tip him 20%, 3,000p.  Once I saw on his face that he wasn’t particularly happy about it (certainly wasn’t mad either), I asked him how much he was hoping for.  After much arm-twisting, he admitted he expected 3,000p but was hoping for 6,000p, prolly ‘cuz he saw me as a rich (ha!) foreigner.  I ended up tipping him 5,000p.  Fee + tip = 20,000p or ~$345, a heckuva bargain for a 5-hour session.  Since I’m staying at my aunt’s condo, I had to get a hotel room.  Another tick in Manila’s pro column is that I got a nice 4* hotel in his neighborhood (he can’t host) for just $48.  No Priceline or anything, just the regular price on the hotel website.

Straight, new to the biz (started 2 months ago), definitely a diamond in the rough.  He’s very up-front with his limits, so you’ll be able to make an informed decision.  He’s shy, even in his native tongue.  He understands English very well because he’s watched a lot of American movies & TV but he struggles a bit speaking it.  Don’t worry, his English is more than good enough to work out arrangements, just don’t expect a chatty boyfriend experience.  He thanked me as soon as he got home and texted me the next day.  If I had more time in Manila, I would definitely see him again.

 

[mike carey]

1 hour ago, jbsjbs99 said:

Do you have a link to this guy?

It's in the post, all you need to do is edit the rentmen.ph url to a rent.men one, viz 

Tim_Guevara - Male Escort, Gay massage - Manila | Rent.Men

RENT.MEN

---

Tim_Guevara Gay Escort in Manila, Philippines, available for Gay Escorting,Modeling,Erotic Massage. | Find all the best...

 

[eric thome]

Hi, I have a 5 hour layover in Manila coming up ... is that enough time to leave the area to get a great sensual massage? Any recommendations? Thanks l

[BSR]

In theory, yes, but …

First, make sure you download the app eGovPH and have it all filled out before landing because doing so will greatly expedite your passage thru Customs — I’m assuming you will have to go thru Customs if you’re exiting the airport.  Población (the gay district in the neighboring city Makati) is only 15 minutes from the airport without traffic.  In traffic, I’d figure more like 45 minutes.  Mapping out a worst case, if you hit traffic going both ways (45 minutes x 2), Customs drags out (another 45 minutes), and security takes a while going back in (another 45 minutes), that’s 3 hours “in transit,” with 2 hours  to squeeze in a massage.  There are a bunch of gay massage spots in Quezon City, but don’t even think about it because QC is kinda far even in light traffic.  If you hit heavy traffic, you’re dead.

You could “order in” and host in The Wings, a transit lounge in Terminal 3 that offers private rooms.  I gotta think you’d have to pay a hefty deposit since no working guy is going all the way out to the airport only to get stood up.  Try the Remitly app because others like PayPal or GCash (most popular cash app in the Philippines) require a Philippine bank account.  Note that you will likely have to start the Remitly transfer several days before meeting because for first-time users, they require you to speak with an agent to ensure the transfer is legit.  It’ll take ~24 hours for the transfer to alert their fraud dept, then you have to speak to them during West Coast business hours, then it takes another 24+ hours for the transfer to clear.

So it’s up to you whether you’d rather deal with the risk of getting stuck in traffic or of paying a deposit to an escort/masseur you don’t know.

PS:  download the Grab app and set up an account before landing.  Uber doesn’t operate in the Philippines; their equivalent is Grab.  When we were looking for a taxi to my aunt’s place, the cabdrivers quoted 1200 pesos, and my aunt asked in Tagalog!  They eventually gave the “real price,” 400 pesos.  I can only imagine the crazy ripoff price they’ll quote a foreigner.  Also, on the way back to the airport, it’s basically impossible to hail a cab in the street.  You’ll need to use Grab (which can e-hail both Uber-style private cars and metered taxis) to get back to the airport.  Note that you can only tip in cash in the Philippines.  10% rounded up to at least 100p (90 cents) to your driver is fine.  The currency exchange at the airport gives a good rate and charges a fair commission.

Edited June 22 by BSR
Added PS

[eric thome]

Thanks so much ... extremely informative 👏