April 24-25, 2002

It’s been 8 years since I last visited the Subic/Barrio Barretto area. There didn’t seem to be many changes except for some new businesses opening up along National Highway in the Barrio. Now there are a few internet cafes, a Mr. Donut shop, and some local eating establishments. Then there are the familiar bars and hotels concentrated between By the Sea Resort (which has been undergoing renovation with a new building addition) and Midnight Rambler (which has moved across the street to a new location). I stayed at By the Sea Resort in the Bayview room for 1300 pesos because the standard room didn’t have hot water and I can’t take cold showers. I had high hopes to make this one day trip a memorable one because I intend to do some intensive bar hopping in the Subic area since my earlier trip was only concentrated in the Barrio area. I took the Fly the Bus van to By the Sea Resort and promptly checked in. After a quick bite to eat, I hopped into a trike to take me the 4 or so kilometers to the agogos in Subic. I was a little disappointed when I stopped in Fox Hole as it just opened up at 2 pm and it was a little slow yet. There was only 2 girls dancing on the stage at this time and none really looked good. Soon the bar filled up with their regular afternoon customers, which were mostly retired aged gentlemen. A few more dancers entered the scene but I found out that they mostly wanted to only hustle for ladies drinks. The price for LD is either 60 or 120 pesos which seems to be a bargain for the cheap charlies. I stayed in Fox Hole until around 4 pm which in when Crows Nest opened up. They had the best set up for agogo in the Subic area. It is more designed like an Angeles City club. They also had the most dancers on stage and some were lookers but just like Fox Hole, many of the dancers only cared for hustling drinks. I stayed there for a couple of hours waiting for Muff Divers to open up. I went across the street to check out Muff Divers but only a few dancers were dancing. The other dancers finally showed up and maybe there were about a couple of nice looking girls but they were also hustlers. The stage is average, but the upstairs bar was a step better than Fox Hole but didn’t compare to Crows Nest’s quality. There was another nightclub near Fox Hole called Georgetown which opens up after 9 pm but the clientele seem to be exclusively Filipino customers, so I didn’t get a chance to review that place even though they do have dancers in there. I went back into Fox Hole and it slowed down already with only one other customer in there and the few remaining dancers looking tired and bored. A revisit to Crows Nest was in order but I bought too many ladies drinks from dancers that only wanted to sit down for drinks. It was now getting late and a return to some potential dancers up at Muff Divers was in order. The joint was packed at this time of the night, as it seems that Muff Divers is the in-place to be. I finally found my companion with hopes of continuing my bar hopping in Barrio Barretto. By the time I arrived in the Barrio, I was starting to feel tired and decided to save the bar hopping for another day. The next morning, I checked out and returned to the sweet life of Angeles City. A few notes about the Subic agogos: