I keep coming back to Manila

In Manila for a week starting tomorrow. 

Will try not to gain weight while I'm away.

See you soon!

Pinay Bloggers in Siam

When I moved to Thailand one of the first things I did was search the web for Pinoy bloggers in Bangkok.. well the bayot kind, to be specific. Unfortunately, I did not find one at that time. Fast forward three years later, I have come across a number of Siam-based bloggers, which certainly is a welcome treat. It's always nice to find out how my kababayans (countrymen) see Bangkok through their own eyes and indeed I found a variety of perspectives among them.

The first blogger I stumbled on is Man of the Rose, and my, my, my what a find it truly is! Man of the Rose features the delectable side of Thailand, its men in particular. Cee, the author, posts photos of Thai men (and other Asian celebrities and models, but mostly Thai) in various states of undress, including see-through moments that leave very little to the imagination... or au naturel some times.

I believe Binibining Cee gets his photos from Thai fashion magazines as well as gay-oriented magazines and websites. Thank God for Cee's resourcefulness, any visitor to his website would have more than enough material for wet dreams to last a lifetime. Warning, this site is mostly NSFW.

The other blog authored by Cee is Carlo de la Rosa's I'm Not Most People.  Here he posts a hodgepodge of stuff, from Thai and Filipino celebrity gossip, to movies, theater, and features stories of some of his trips.

I've in fact seen Carlo a few weeks back at Charice's mall appearance in BKK. He was covering the visit and had the chance to interview the Pinay star... but I was too shy to say hi.

The next Pinay bayot blogger is La Primera Chismosa in the City of Fallen Angels, Gossip Girl TS. The blurb in his profile says: "I am Gossip Girl based in Times Square. Your reliable source of everything juicy and scandalous about the lives of Upper TS office goers. I rely on your tips so message me and let's give everyone something to talk about. Everyone gets SPOTTED. And you're next. You know you love me. XOXO"

Gossip Girl TS is a hilarious account of the misadventures of his other bayot friends, and that includes my dear Bubbles, who is featured in the latest post titled "The XYZ of :Love." I also happen to know most of the people whose lives GG (Gossip Girl) exposes. GG is undoubtedly a gifted writer, making the mundane and raunchy sound at least a bit classy and ultimately amusing.

Speaking of La Bubbles, he has a blog too! Atbp. ni Biloc is his musings on life, love, and lust.  Ok, maybe not lust, but how can you separate that from La Bubbles, right?

It's quite difficult to pinpoint exactly what Atbp. ni Biloc is all about. It's at times philosophical ("But whatever the LOTUS entails, for me it’s a flower that gives radiance. You appreciate the form it shows and how it blooms"), political, or just simply musical. A example of the latter is his latest post on Lani Misalucha's Tila, which I suspect is La Bubbles' ode to the rainy season in this part of the world? Ladies and gentlemen, please help me figure out Atbp. ni Biloc.

Rounding up my finds of Pinoy-authored blogs in BKK is the latest addition to the small group, Siam Stylista. I am totally excited that finally there's a street-style blog covering the many fashionistas in this city (I'm not exactly sure if this is the first and only, but it's the only site of its kind I've seen so far).

It's a relatively newly-started blog and the author has been quite consistent in posting. At the moment, it's still difficult to figure out the aesthetics that draws Siam Stylista to his subjects, but he's off to a good start nonetheless. He even had the chance to interview the owner of one of my favorite Thai brands, Wonder Anatomie (Donita Rose, check it out!).

By the look of it, there's a growing number of Pinoy bayot bloggers in Bangkok and one can only wish that our number increases even further. Again, these are the only blogs to my knowledge but there could be more out there. If you happen to be one of those authors I forgot to mention, please feel free to drop me a message.

The Girls from Asia

Well, here we are again! One of the most-anticipated moments of the year when girls from all over the world scramble over a stupid crown Donal Trump puts up for grabs. The new Miss Universe will be crowned in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks or so. And that means bayots all over the world will be closely scrutinizing each contestant, as already started by Lyka Bergen?

As part of the big crowd of beauty pageant "observers", I have a few things to say about the evening gown photos of the contestants.

Last year I checked the women from Asia and I'm doing the same this time. I'm just wondering though, where's Miss Vietnam?

Anyway, let's start.

Miss China. You. Must. Be. Kidding. Me. I did not even know China celebrates Halloween and now she comes as what, Tinkerbell? Such a beautiful girl (look at those skinny arms!), but what is she doing in this gown that not one courageous drag queen would ever want to wear?

Miss India. This is a beautifully draped gown and the color is very sophisticated. I also love the glittery shoulder pad. But his Cheri Gil wanabee could not even work the gown properly. And that headband? Is it keeping that atrocious hair in place? Hmmm... this is how you DON'T win a beauty pageant, my love.

Miss Indonesia. Now this is how you work a gown... if and only if you want to tell people that you don't have a proper ironing board in whatever seedy Las Vegas hotel Donald Trump put you in. Besides, the color is too bubblegum to be taken seriously, and those frayed seams cheapen the gown even more.

Miss Japan. This is how you work a gown. Now, seriously. Her pose, along with the hair, complements the shape of the gown to perfection and I love that fierce look on her. However, I find the material of this gown too heavy. Also, what's with insects this year, aber? Do we have an entomology theme?

Miss Korea. Love this! Love the gown, love the pose, love the hair, love the body (hellow clavicles!), love the accessories, but I don't love the face. I think she's quite pretty but the way she angles her face here is just plain boring and she is virtually without a neck.

Miss Malaysia. She has a really beautiful face, and those eyes are very arresting. But again, she looks stumpy here because like Miss Korea she forgot to use her neck. The gown, on the other hand, is making me sleep. The color is not going to catch any of the judge's attention and the curtain fabric used drags it even further.

Miss Philippines. I love the dynamism of the pose, she looks like she's dancing. Also, this is how you use your neck to full advantage. But while the gown moves well, the color and material are, as Lyka said, very Divisoria. Someone please put this stunning girl in a decent gown! And I'm not talking to you, Pitoy Moreno!

Miss Singapore. Does anyone have some Paracetamol? I see a major migraine on its way, ladies. Or is she just bored by her boring face? I'm sure she's not alone. And that gown, why does it have to be such a heavy material? It makes it her look obese! Next!

Miss Thailand. Let's start with the obvious... this gown is completely over-worked, especially for a beauty pageant. It's distracting us from her face and gives her too much bulk. Someone give this girl some scissors to trim the gown with. And while you're at it, please also give her a lesson on putting make-up.

So that rounds up our girls from Asia this year. I obviously could not tell yet who among them is strong, but I'm so uninspired by this year's contestants from this part of this world.

It's early to tell though coz we've only seen the gowns. I checked the photos of the other girls and their gowns look equally cheap, if not cheaper, than the Asians. I could not wait to see the swimsuit photos to give us more basis on betting for our favorite girls. 

So let's keep our eyes open for Miss Universe action and may the best girl win. 

Threesome

A wonderful addition to the small body of literature by Filipino gay men is the collection of books written by three bloggers, published by Grey Matter Publishing. The publisher, La Czarina, is a close friend. Finally, after a rather protracted process of publishing the books, they successfully launched them few weeks back (congrats, love!). My BKK-based amiga, Norlybelle, brought me and La Bubbles' copies.

The first book I read is The Chronicles of E because I've never read his blog before. I met the author, E, in BKK last April and I sheepishly confessed to him that I don't visit his blog, although two friends are avid readers.

The Chronicles of E tells the story of his crazy relationships ("Me in a relationship meant only one thing: I needed a place to stay and I need money"), drug addiction, and short stint as a boy-for-rent.

The bulk of his entries, however, focus on his journey as an HIV-positive person."I never really believed that there were a lot of people here in Manila or in the Philippines who have HIV or AIDS, so I always thought that the chances of me getting HIV was like winning a Nobel Prize."

From his initial ignorance on the real state of HIV infection in the Philippines (I learned through a friend that between January to May this year around 700 have tested HIV positive in Manila), he gives us a first-hand account of how he had to deal with being poz. He also has to go through the motions of reconciling with his family (his "evil aunt" took care of him as a child) and how he is on a path to fulfilling his dreams, which he feels is now limited because he is HIV positive.

Written as an online journal, E portrays him self as a completely imperfect character, if you may. His tone is far from preachy, nor does he claim to have found any redemption. On the contrary, just like most of us, he is a work in progress and that evolution, along with his flaws, makes the book very poignant and raw.

The second book I read is The Wet Book: Stories from the Bathhouse by McVie. His blog is far from being a stranger to me. I've been reading him for about four years now. Last year I saw McVie in a club in Manila and I was completely starstruck when I introduced my self to him.

Well, obviously I'm a McVie fan and for quite some time now I'm convinced he deserves to be published. Thank God someone finally noticed! While making up only a portion of his blog, his entries on his escapades in the bathhouses of Manila are some of his most hilarious posts. I've actually read on his blog many of the chapters in the book but it's still quite fun to go through them again.

"In the darkness of bathhouses there's a strict feeding hierarchy... [The top-feeders] are the ones who either have The Face or The Body. [The bottom-feeders] are depressing creatures cursed with unprepossessing features...", from an entry titled Animal Kingdom.

As a guy who works in advertising, McVie is definitely gifted with wit. As such, his entries always deliver a good punchline. Add to that the variety of crazy people he meets in the bathhouse, for instance a guy pitched a pyramid scheme to him after having sex.

McVie's book sent me laughing in many chapters. Aside from the entertainment value, however, the book succeeds in giving us a glimpse into the dark and mysterious corners of bathhouses, thanks to McVie who is brave enough to tell us the inside stories.

Completing the threesome is Dear Migs, Letters to the Manila Gay Guy. Migs' blog is definitely one of the most popular gay blogs in the Philippines. But because he writes on a wide array of topics, when I first heard MGG will come out as a book I was curious what part of the blog the publication will focus on.

So apparently they extracted the most popular letters sent to Migs over the years. While Migs sort of gives his advice to the letter-sender, a major percentage of the book is allocated to the comments (in the form of advices) left by MGG readers.

Following such a "democratic" approach, Dear Migs is very insightful on how the current generation of Filipino gay men think. And as I allowed my self to be quite judgmental while reading the book, my eyes were constantly rolling - clockwise and counter-clockwise - as I went through the letters and comments.

Oh the bloody drama! How Pinoy!

Divided in chapters, the book opens with a letter titled "Am I Gay?". The letter-sender, William, asks, "I'm afraid if I do become gay, I'm going to ruin my future. I'm not going to have a son, I will have to marry someone and consummate that marriage even if I'm gay. Plus, I'm Roman Catholic. The Church says homosexuality is wrong. Maybe this is the reason why I don't admit I'm gay even to my self."

That opening letter alone gives you a good glimpse into the ceaseless crisis of guilt and fear that many Filipino gay men go through. (I don't want to trivialize their problems, but those lines in the letter have been repeated way too often to be anything new to me.)

Or how about such dilemmas as "Afraid of growing old and lonely," or "Am I falling in love with him? My girlfriend doesn't mind us going out since he's her cousin," or "I'm a discreet bisexual."

There's something cliched about the letters, but sadly many can relate to the writers' issues as well. If MGG's book can help those who ask the same questions, then it is definitely helping many Filipino gay men come to terms with themselves.

The comments, meanwhile, are sometimes hilarious. To the writer of a letter that detailed his first brush with love that eventually failed, a reader said "Sister, alam mo ansarap mong batukan. Gaga, as in gaga ka talaga sa pag-ibig. Bakit mo sisirain ang buhay mo dahil lang sa isang lalaki?"

There's something sisterly/brotherly in the comments. A lot of the advices commiserated with the letter-writers, while others simply served a strong slap on the faces of the authors of letters who most need them.

Reading the three books is like having a conversation with three gay friends. E is the confused kid, McVie is the witty ate with a hearty laughter, and MGG is the amiga who dispenses advice at the tip of his fingers. The books thus give readers a casual feel, at times revealing, but always insightful. Congrats, La Czarina for a job well done!