Memories of Mick, Mercedes and Moon Doggies

WARNING: This is a long winded old guy personal memoirs type story that includes very little sex so if you don’t want to read it, don’t read it but I do suggest that you view the video link at the end regardless. And remember it’s the internet so whether you believe it or not it really makes no difference to me. I enjoyed writing it and hope you enjoy reading it. As a young man in search of an adventurous and meaningful life I accepted a job with a company that did work around the world. My first assignment was to tag along with an older, experienced guy and to just “observe and do as I was told”. That guy was Jerry, a man of few words and one of the many characters I would meet in the coming years. He told me to meet him at the airport the next day and to not forget my passport. I asked where are we going? “The Philippines, three weeks, is that a problem?” was all he said. I’d never been to Asia. I’d never really been anywhere. Mexico and Canada didn’t count. We landed in Manila late at night or very early in the morning. All I remember is it was very dark and the vivid recollection of the sight that is still burned into my mind when we stepped outside of the terminal. A high fence separated the terminal from a mass of humanity of waiting Filipinos pressed against that fence. It looked like something out of Soylent Green. The air was thick, Ferdinand Marcos was president, the communist NPA (New Peoples Army) was murdering people, and Martial Law was in force. I dutifully followed Jerry to a waiting car and we were chauffeured away by the Filipino driver. I nodded off in the back seat still not knowing anything more than that we were going somewhere into the mountains to do something, I didn’t know what, with the Aetas. The Aetas are a primitive people who live in the jungles and mountains living a subsistence life. I woke when we came to a stop somewhere on the outskirts of Manila at some sort of café. We went in and ate breakfast. Jerry could have been incapable of speech for as little as he said. The sun was now up and we went back to the car but this time Jerry drove and our Filipino driver didn’t come with us. After an hour or so we turned off the highway and entered the city of Angeles. I was near sensory overload from all the chaos. The noise, the smells, the dust, and seeing the roads filled with Jeepneys, motorized trikes, motorcycles, push carts, horse drawn wagons, people galore, and Filipino Army troops seemingly everywhere. I’m looking at Jerry wondering why we are in the city when we are supposed to be going into the mountains. He must have read my mind and for the first time in hours he spoke. “My girlfriend lives here.” Angeles City was next to the US Clark Air Base which had about five to six thousand personnel assigned. The city was famous for its adult entertainment. At the time it was said that there were four hundred and fifty bars and clubs in the city but I was unaware of any of this. As we drove through the city some of these bars started to come into view and then they were everywhere. Suddenly Jerry stopped in the middle of the road and basically kicked me out. Across the street was my first view of “Moon Doggies” where Jerry told me to wait until he came back to pick me up. In psychology there is a concept called imprinting. It’s a rapid learning during a receptive period that results in a long-lasting behavioral response. Most people have heard of ducklings attaching to a human shortly after birth. That is imprinting and now I was a clueless young man abandoned in a strange and foreign land and my only lifeline was a bar. I definitely experienced imprinting except in my case “Moon Doggies” became my surrogate parent. I had already figured out that most of the bars in the city were girlie bars. With names like “Buster Hymen” it didn’t take a rocket scientist to come to that conclusion. As I crossed the street and sheepishly entered Moon Doggies I was actually relieved to discover that it was just a regular bar and nothing out of the ordinary. There were two Filipinas inside sweeping and cleaning up. They were dressed in white T-shirts, Daisy Dukes cut off jeans and flip flops. As I entered the two girls, Josie and Mercedes, looked up and then continued with their work. I stood there like a fish out of water until the older one, Josie, walked over. I asked her if it was OK for me to wait for my friend. She looked at me like I was from a different planet so I asked if they had coffee. She turned and called to the other girl saying something in Tagalog (the local language). I took a seat and watched as Mercedes who appeared to be about 18, fixed a cup of coffee. Back then coffee in Asia most often came in a small package or jar labeled Nescafe. Horrible, horrible instant coffee. Mercedes brought the coffee over and then also set down a small plastic cup with a slip of paper inside. It was the bill for the coffee. Suddenly panic set in. The charge was in Philippine Pesos and I had none. Jerry must have had a bunch from previous trips for himself because we never stopped to exchange dollars for pesos. I blurted out something unintelligible I’m sure but Mercedes asked if I wanted to exchange dollars. I pulled out $100 and before I could ask if they were able to exchange that much she took the money, walked out the bar and turned up the street. I just watched with some bewilderment. She returned after only a few minutes and gave me a lot of pesos. I tried to figure out how much each denomination was worth while the two girls continued their work. I now had local currency which made me feel better but I was still as nervous as could be wondering when or if Jerry was coming back. The girls were dusting off bottles behind the bar and as I watched I saw that Mercedes would keep sneaking glances at me. I was preoccupied with my predicament and the last thing on my mind was females (I don’t say that very often). After some time Josie went into the back. When she returned there was a huge white man following behind her. They stopped just inside the doorway and while he looked at me Josie looked at him in a way that seemed to say “See I told you”. He gave me the once over and then held up two fingers to Mercedes. She understood the signal and I watched a ritual that I would see many thousands of times again over the coming years. She opened a bottle of beer and inexplicably stuck her index finger in the bottle only to remove it with a loud pop. She repeated the ritual with a second bottle and wrapped both beers with paper napkins. The big guy took the bottles and walked over, set one down in front of me and said “You look like shit. Welcome to the Philippines”. I must have had that look. It was only about 10 AM and I wasn’t sure whether I was on the clock or not but I didn’t think to turn down the hospitality. And truthfully I was still too confused about why that girl stuck her finger in what was now my beer bottle. My new friend was the owner Mick O’xxxxx and we each started to drink. I took a sip of my very first San Miguel, the nectar of the gods, while Mick emptied half his bottle in one swig. I told him the short version of being abandoned and all he said was “Hope he comes back for you” and then walked away leaving me to watch the beer delivery guy carry in case after case after case of San Miguel. Mick was an Australian and this was my first ever encounter with an ex-Patriot (ex-Pat) or someone who leaves his native country behind to live in a foreign land. I later learned that Mick had been in the Australian SAS and fought in Vietnam. Unlike most veterans who return to the life they had previously known, he chose to live a different life for himself. He was far from the only ex-Pat in Angeles most whom were Americans. Mick was never my mentor or even a role model but rather he was an example to me of what was possible that would prove to have a profound effect on my life. Anyways I sat there in Moon Doggies, my new safe space quietly for most of the day. I watched the activity on the street outside and what was the usual crowd as they shuffled in. I also watched as Mercedes continued to sneak glances at me though she never approached or said anything. And like a puppy waiting for its master’s return I was impatient but I could do absolutely nothing about it. Jerry didn’t come back for me until after 4 in the afternoon (bastard). He dropped me at a hotel and we left the city before dawn the next day. A few hours later we hiked up a jungle covered mountain (another first for me). Then after three days with the Aetas we hiked back down. Still as naïve as a new born I assumed we were going to another location considering our return flight to the US was still more than two weeks away. Nope, not a chance. It was straight back to Angeles City where Jerry dropped me at a hotel and disappeared to see his girlfriend. So for two weeks every day I would go to my safe space and after a few bottles of San Miguel and conversation with Mick and the girls I would venture out to explore Sodom and Gomorrah. To paraphrase that famous song verse, “Angeles City has been the ruin of many a poor boy”. I managed to find the sex shows, the nudie bars, Blow Row, and even the weekend cock fights all of which I would indulge in to some extent during the following years. Fortunately Moon Doggies would forever remain my safe space and provided me with a sanctuary where I could find respite and avoid temptation for at least a while so that I wasn’t ever pulled too far under. Jerry and I returned to the States without incident. From then on my company kept me very busy sending me to many different places including numerous trips back to the Philippines. I never had as much free time as my first visit but I spent a lot of time in Angeles and at Moon Doggies whenever possible. Josie found her Prince Charming and got married and moved away but Mercedes was a constant for me. She made plenty of time to catch up whenever I showed up. After about three years I resigned from my job and began doing contract work. At that time I also took up residency in Angeles City but I was gone out of the country almost all the time. Contracting meant working harder but also meant a lot more money. When I was home I felt more like a transient and always went to the place that I knew. For years Moon Doggies, Mick and Mercedes were always there. One day when I felt particularly worn out from working so hard, I walked into Moon Doggies and Mercedes shyly approached me to see if I wanted to buy a ticket to a boxing match that evening. Mick ran his own stable of amateur fighters and much like the PAL (Police Athletic League) in the States he tried to keep the kids off the streets and out of trouble. That night other fighters were coming from Manila for a competition at the local Swagman Hotel. I was suddenly elated at the prospect of something new in the way of entertainment and excitedly said hell yes I want to go. Mercedes said something like she wished she could afford to go. I said no problem give me two tickets and you can come too. Suddenly it was Mercedes who was excited and she blurted out that we would need to get Mick’s permission. I was a bit confused but she grabbed my arm and pulled me over to Mick and told him “BabyDoc wants to take me to the fights tonight. Can I go?” Now Mercedes didn’t work evenings and was about 24 or 25 y/o and not related to Mick who is now looking at me like he’s her father and reluctantly grants his approval for me to take her on a date. I was confused. I had never thought of Mercedes as a girl. What I mean is that like some kid who has a girl on his little league baseball team and thinks of her as a second baseman and maybe a tomboy buddy but not as a squishy female until one day he notices she has boobs. Or in my case until she figuratively hit me upside the head with a baseball bat and said “Hey dummy, I’ve got boobs”. I mentally shrugged my shoulders at the realization and thought to myself well I guess we were going on a date and I was OK with that. We did go out and had a nice meal before watching the fights. Every bout was worth watching and Mercedes seemed to enjoy it as much as I did. Afterward we walked hand in hand and then arm in arm as we went bar hopping. It was clear that Mercedes had had a crush on me for some time and was relishing being on a date. She was very much showing me off as her date and seeing her so happy made me happy. Yes we did end up in bed together and the sex was very much boyfriend/girlfriend sex. I still can’t think of a more relaxing and fun and overall enjoyable evening in my life. Now from a high to a low. I had to leave for a contract in another country the next day. Mercedes was aware that I was leaving and had said she didn’t expect any kind of commitment from me when I came back. Like any woman promising that “It’s OK” it probably wasn’t true but I was looking forward to coming back to see where if anywhere our relationship would go. I don’t remember how long I was gone but it was for at least a month or more. When I came back all hell broke loose as my world collapsed. First I went to Moon Doggies and discovered that Mick had sold the place. Mercedes was still working there but it was her day off. I left word that I’d be in the next day. When the next day came the USAF was evacuating the airbase early in the morning and the Philippine government had declared an emergency in anticipation of a Mt Pinatubo volcanic eruption. Things were chaotic to say the least and there was no hope of finding anyone. A few mushroom cloud eruptions did occur but it wasn’t until a typhoon arrived that the big one happened. I’ll let the reader look it up but all I can say is that if you weren’t there then you can’t imagine it. For those of us who were there what I will say is we have seen what the end of the world looks like. I’ve seen and experienced all kinds of horrific shit in my life but nothing compares to the Mt Pinatubo eruption. The aftermath was pure devastation. Hundreds died many of whom were Aetas who lived on the slopes of Mt Pinatubo. Angeles City was a wasteland with much of the population having walked the 15 miles south through volcanic ash to safety and water at a government camp. There were no such things as cel phones or social media and attempts to locate Mercedes or any of the other people I cared about were futile. After about two weeks I made it to Manila. As soon as the airport reopened I bought a one way ticket on Lufthansa for a flight to Germany carrying all my remaining worldly goods in a small carryon bag. I didn’t return to the Philippines for another fifteen years until after I stopped working. I had no idea that my date night would be the last time I would see Mick and Mercedes both. Moon Doggies is no more. I’ve heard but not confirmed that Mick died of cancer in the early 90’s and I have no idea what happened to Mercedes but I hope she fared well. Shit can happen in an instant and I learned that life should be lived to the fullest while we can. Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die. ****NOTE: “Mercedes” is a pseudonym (that means a fake name). BONUS: Below are two YouTube photo montages of some of the bars in Angeles City. The first has more period photos and gives a better sense of that time IMHO. The second has many of the same photos but also a lot of more recent ones and I’ve included it only because there is a photo of Moon Doggies at 6:39 if you’re interested. Thanks for reading. Angeles City bars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmGBKvWMCIw Moon Doggies at 6:39 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXxI4HvPokI