Pride March 2009...

If I didn't have the streetkids commitment last Saturday, I would have gone to the Pride March.

I've never attended one, and with the recent Comelec decision, the "tibak" (ask a UP student what that means) spirit which I knew is somewhere inside of me was somewhat activated. (Still on that subject, I'm still outraged at how these idiots at Comelec used "morality" as a basis for disqualifying Ang Ladlad.)

Anyway, I didn't get to attend the entire parade, but I saw the tail end of the march as it passed by Pedro Gil. Fellow volunteer Jay and I were on our way to Robinson's when we saw the parade as we stepped out of the College of Medicine gates.

The colorful banners, huge rainbow flags, placards that called for equality and tolerance, elaborate costumes were not the only ones I saw. At the corner of Orosa and Pedro Gil was a small group of about 7-10 anti-gay religious group members.

They wore shirts that said Fear God, Jesus Hates Sin, and so on. The placards they carried had the same messages. I didn't see any placards that bashed homosexuality, but they did shout it out loud. "Walang bakla sa langit." "Turn or burn."

As the parade participants passed by, the group yelled out their messages calling for repentance and a change of life. The parade participants meanwhile answered back with their own messages. "Karapatang Bakla. Karapatan ng Tao." (Some of them were also playful and yelled out "Oral Sex" repeatedly instead, to drown out the chants of the anti-gay groups. Haha!)

There was a point where I thought that a fist fight would erupt, but I'm really glad that didn't happen.

Seeing the parade did me a lot of good. I've never felt prouder. It may not have been as grand as the ones in the West, but it's a good start. And it's really great to see that the local community is doing something to deliver the message, "We're queer. We're here. Get used to it." (Or as one poster I saw says it, "Some people are born gay. Get over it." Astig, man! Hehe!)

But at the same time, it's kinda saddening seeing upfront how prejudice and differences in beliefs really breed division among people. If we would just simplify things, wouldn't it all lead to just one plain fact - that we are humans who are capable of loving? Why can't we just concentrate on that simple reality? Our ability to love. Disregard gender. Look past the color of skin. Drop the ethnicity. Forget the religious beliefs. Focus on one thing - the ability to love. Hay. But it's not that simple. Otherwise, "It's complicated" would've never been included as an option in the relationship status section of social networking sites.

The few minutes I spent watching the parade go by was more than enough to make me want to celebrate that night and greet people "Happy Pride!"

So around past midnight, Winston and I were in Malate to join the celebration. We hung out most of the time at Bed. It was great seeing familiar faces - Jayce, his friend Norman, then Dom, and then I also saw JM and Melo, too. And it was just great to have spent the night dancing and celebrating to the superb music of Brian and Toy.

Speaking of music, my fave dance track that night was Cheryl Cole's Fight for this Love. Check out the cool Moto Club and Cahill remixes from Mediafire. Hehe! The song is just so appropriate for that night.

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Anything that's worth having
Is sure enough worth fighting for
Quitting's out of the question
When it gets tough gotta fight some more

We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love
We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love
We gotta fight, fight, fight, fight, fight for this love
If it's worth having it's worth fighting for

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Happy Pride, Ladies, Gentlemen and Undecided!

Sunday night wasn't such a good gimik night...

As mentioned in a previous post, Saturday night and Sunday morning were spent in Tagaytay. I got back in Manila by Sunday afternoon, and I was raring to have some more party time.

It is a long weekend after all, and I had to spend time with “my” people as well. Haha!!!

So I spent the entire late afternoon and early evening in bed to get ready for another night of partying. The plan was to go to Malate with Winston, Errol and Engel. Only Winston and I made it. Boohoo to E and E! Hehe!

Since Bed was closed because it was a Sunday, Winston and I had no choice but to just go to a neighboring bar. I like the place. Man, I’ve been going to that spot even before it became what it is now. I’ve somehow seen that exact location transform from a mostly lezzie hangout to a mostly gay men’s hangout to the top floor becoming a store to its ver.1 and now to its ver. 2. When I write it this way, it makes me look like I’ve been going to Malate for so long. Haha!

Uhm, not really. I did a bit of the scene maybe in the first half of the decade and then when the Great Crash happened in 2006, I somehow disconnected myself and it was only this year that I sort of went back to the whole Malate thing. I’m surprised myself. There are definitely some changes. I’d write about it but, basta. There are changes. Haha!

Going back to the bar, the other night was the second time I visited the place since the comeback a couple of months ago. I’d usually hang out at Bed. Not to compare the two, but I find the guys in my age range box more in Bed than in this one. I sometimes feel like I’m a Tito when I go to the latter. Hahaha!

The other night wasn’t particularly one of my favorite Malate gimik nights. Uhm, first, the place became crowded, as in really crowded. I don’t usually complain about it because it’s sort of my therapy for my claustrophobia (Hehe!), but the other night was just different.

The A/C couldn’t handle the volume of the people. I didn’t get to dance much, since I knew how hyper my sweat glands are. And the “baskil” look just isn’t one of my favorites. Haha! I chose standing near the A/C over dancing.

Then, the back of the head of people and all the hair kept going smack into my nose and my face. It was crowded, so every time the head of the guy in front of me bobs, I had to figure out a way to avoid it without hitting the guy behind me.

There’s also the fear of getting burnt by someone’s cigarette. Again, I have no issues with guys and their yosi. Honestly, I think sometimes think it’s sexy. A bottle of beer in one hand, a lit stick on the other. Somehow, it looks astig (most of the time. Hehe!). But because that night defied all the laws of physics on space, I kept looking out for where the yosi of the guy beside me and behind me would go.

As I had feared, I got burnt. Haha! Someone’s lit yosi brushed against my finger. Ouch! Well, just a little. And it was Winston’s yosi so no big deal.

What else? Ah, the music was particularly annoying. The last time I went to this bar, the music was good. The DJ did just fine but the other night, I felt like the DJ was probably having some issues. He played some good music, but the transition was definitely not seamless. He would start playing the intro of some good dance songs, then all of a sudden switch to another song. What annoyed Winston the most was when the DJ started to play really good music, but we were already out of the bar and getting some air just before heading home. I asked Winston if he wanted to go back in, but with the volume of people and the “Extra Challenge” involved in getting in and out of the place, he said no.

And then the performances of the drag queens were just too long. I usually enjoy these performances. What these queens do is difficult, that’s for sure, so I really respect them for their craft. But the performances the other night were just too long. It took away so much of the “dance time.” Hehe! Plus, the transition music to the performance part wasn’t seamless as well.

So there, some reasons why the other night’s gimik won’t definitely make it to the top 3 fave gimik nights of 2009. Hehe! I’m just really thankful that Winston was there. He is always fun to hang out with, For some reason, he always gets the girls. Seriously. Girl as in girls. I dunno why. But it’s always an amusement to us.

I dunno. Maybe it just really wasn’t a good night. I still plan to go there once in awhile. It is one of the nicer places for “us” here in the metro. Last night just wasn’t that good. And I wasn’t the only one who didn’t find that night to be good. Me, plus the really cute guy sitting on the pavement who tried to hide his sobbing with his hanky. Winston and I wanted to sit by his side and hug him and tell him everything will be alright. Hehe. For everyone else, it was probably the best night of their lives. Especially that birthday boy who… basta. That’s it. Haha!

Like a (Malate) virgin again...

Roy and I finally went to Bed together. Wait, that didn't sound right. Hahaha!

Of course, if you play for the team, you'd know that the Bed I was referring to is that club in Malate.

Despite the rains last Saturday, Roy and I met up and did the long overdue Malate gimik.

I just came from a baby shower and was home at 11PM. After finalizing plans with Roy, I was already in Malate a little past midnight.

Hmm, I can't remember the last time I was in Malate. I can't remember the last time I went to Bed.

I felt like I was a Malate virgin again. I have to say that I felt pretty excited as Roy and I walked the familiar streets of Nakpil and Ma. Orosa and made our way to Bed.

The excitement sort of died down as the Bed bouncers parted the curtains (?) that led to the dance floor/bar.

Unless I've been out of the scene that long or it was theme night and the theme was "small talk," I found it really odd that people were all just standing in little groups holding a drink in one hand while chatting with friends.

It was weird. I was half-expecting something similar to an opening scene of Queer as Folk and the set was Babylon. Instead, I was greeted by what almost looked like a product launch (mainly because people were just standing and chatting). Hahaha!

Things changed quickly though and pretty soon, people started moving to the music of the DJ. In a couple of minutes, the place was packed. Roy and I found ourselves a good spot (or maybe a good view?).

The vodka Sprite did great opening remarks for my party mood. A pitcher of Blue Frog made it even better.

I wasn't sure if it was because I haven't been there for the longest time or if it was because I was having so much fun that I didn't notice the hours pass by. One moment, I was just checking out this cute chinito and then, it was already past 5AM.

Uhm, it was a pretty interesting evening/early morning. I bumped into some friends I haven't seen for a long time GA and then Ian. And then I saw one of the guys who goes to the same gym that I go to. And then there are some thoughts on how things were several years ago and how things are now. Don't kill me but I'm a big fan of post-event/experience processing. I got it from the years and years of doing volunteer work. Hehehe!

But I think I'm going to spare myself the "emo" thoughts and just remember that night as a night that I got to reconnect again to the "brotherhood" (So butch! Hahaha!) and assure myself that I still haven't gone the straight path. Hahaha! As if. How could I when I can't kick Prada and LV out of my system?! Hahaha!

Anyway, wondering when the next trip to Malate would be.