Maison

Bikini bar but with plenty of extras available.

The scene in the Philippines is very variable. A bar or area that is good one year might have disappeared a year later. However, this street has been unusually consistent. Individual bars have come and gone, got better, or got worse but there have been some bars for decades.

Now, specifically for this bar: Maison. There is a stage with seats nearby and others further back against the walls. Depending on the time of day, there are 6 to 10 girls on stage. They are mostly dressed the same: bra, very short skirt, panties, and shoes. A few girls take their tops off on stage. A few pull their panties aside for a flash while trying to get a drink from you. I did not see any full nudity on stage.

There is no cover charge. A bottle of local beer is 180PHP (3.15USD). Lady drinks are 390PHP (6.75USD). There's no happy hour, those are the prices from opening at 2pm to closing at 2am.

In the past, you would often need to be very careful about unexpected charges and other tricks. I experienced none of that in my recent trips. The bill was always correct.

The girls are not as pretty as years ago but there are plenty of nice ones. A few are a little heavier than I would like but not much so. A few tattoos but less than is common elsewhere these days. In the afternoons, I was sometimes the only customer and there was at most one other. In the evenings, maybe 3 or 4 other customers but we were still outnumbered many to one.

Of course, there is pressure to buy lady drinks but it is not unreasonable. If you buy one then other girls will try to get a drink but, again, a polite no thank you is sufficient.

Value for the drinks is good. They will encourage you to move to one of the back seats. This is worth taking as the stage show is not great and the girls will be less inhibited in the back seats. You can get up to a lot. Oddly, the girls don't get fully nude but as good as. The bra should come off quickly. Getting the panties off might require a second drink but you'll get inside it from the first drink. The skirt is likely to stay on but it is small and will be pulled up out of the way. One girl took her skirt off but kept her bra on (pulled up to reveal her tits). Maybe this allows them to deny bring nude.

You can pay a bar fine to take a girl out but I don't know the cost. Remember that the bar fine is to the bar to cover the loss of her time. You will need to strike a deal with her for other activities.