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MARCH 2001 March is upon us and Valentines Day is past but the love bug hit Chuck Andre who sent his lady, Cheryl, an "I want to marry you" e-mail on 3 Feb. He has told her to bring her birth certificate to Thailand and that he has everything arranged for a wedding. Now, those of us who know Chuck, including Cheryl, feel that he must have written this while drunk and lonely over there in Pattaya. How he could be lonely there is anyone's guess but maybe the love bug has finally bitten him on the butt. Obviously, he has finally realized that only Cheryl has the patience to put up with his personality and he better tie the knot before someone else grabs her. If all this is on the up and up, congrats Chuck and Cheryl, good luck. It never did cool off very much in Jan and Feb and now March is heating things up more than ever. Speaking of heat, the hottest new bar on Fields Ave for the moment is the Brown Sugar that opened its doors, for the second time, on 3 Feb. The usual opening day crowd was there; a good number of bar owners and managers, tourists and the usual percentage of non-spenders looking for free food and drinks. All in all it was a good opening and at 8 PM Margarita Station provided snacks and throughout the night, Dominos Pizza was distributing tasty morsels throughout the crowd. Having been in the Brown Sugar prior to its closing I must compliment the new lessees, Horst and Ralph Geans on the great renovations. The upper deck has been removed, along with the pool table to accommodate live-in quarters and offices and the bar moved to the rear. The overall effect is fantastic. Comfortable seating along the wall, a more intimate atmosphere and with 51 dancers on hand the scenery is great. The twenty-four waitresses are efficient and not bad to look at. Some of the dancers and waitresses will look familiar to long time patrons of Fields Ave, as many have moved over from other bars. The head Mamasan is Sonya, previously from Top Hat. Night manager Andrew, AKA Wild Child, is on hand to keep things moving and is an enjoyable person to talk to. Andrew is no stranger to Fields Ave regulars and his tenure as manager was a wise decision by management. The good news is that finally, a newly opened bar on Fields Ave is being a bit more reasonable in their pricing. Happy hour prices are P35 (2-8 PM) and P45 thereafter; outside consultation fees are only P1000. Considering the large overhead and the large number of dancers (consultants), these prices are most reasonable and a step in the right direction in bringing more customers to Fields Ave. The operating hours of Brown Sugar are from 2 PM to 5 AM daily. For the latest Robert Sullivan project check out the website primeinvest.homestead.com. It is interesting to read that he is presenting a hot "business opportunity" in promoting "his" vacant 5,000 sq. mtr. Building for establishing a major liquidation warehouse. Mr. Sullivan indicates that his company is willing to work out a joint venture or sublease the building. This lad never gives up and let us hope that he meets that one person or persons willing to part with the funding he so desperately seeks. The site is strategically located and many of us hope that Sullivan's idea number 100 or so finally get some results. Without going into details, as there are too many and rather complicated, let it be known that those of you waiting for Charles Horne's International Pacific Airways (IPA) to finally get off the ground can forget it. Once again, expectations were raised only to be dashed.
The Feb 18th edition of the Philippine Daily Inquirer featured an article reporting that 14 aliens were nabbed for stock fraud in the Philippines. It indicated that 14 foreigners from Britain, Canada, Italy, the Czech Republic and Ireland had been detained as part of an investigation into fraudulent stock sales. It appears that they were employees of a gentleman that was running a telemarketing operation to fraudulently sell hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in companies that do not exist. A follow-up 23 Feb article stated that the Department of Justice filed charges against the 14 for securities fraud. Those operating this scam knew the risk of discovery but their attitude was that if they were "busted" they would just pack up and move elsewhere. There is one operating in Bangkok. Recently I met an ex-employee that was hired to work there and even though he knew that what he was doing was illegal, the $200 a week plus 2% commission he earned was worth it to him. The ex-pats they like to recruit are those that are trying to live overseas on a very limited budget and need the money. Believe me, there are an awful lot of those around and if I was one of them, I would probably be tempted to take the job until I began to feel too guilty about what I was doing. Like so many scams, the victims are people with a little greed in their hearts, looking to make money the easy way. These con men operated by telephone and could send out some very professional looking material on the company stocks that they were offering, but did not exist. One South African victim was taken for $135,000 so this was no small time operation. The person I talked to from Bangkok indicated that their favorite victim were the rich Chinese. There is a lesson to be learned here folks. Many times I have warned the readers of this column to be very wary in any business dealings they intend to take part in with ex-pats in this country. Many are legitimate and money can be made but there are ex-pats here, in Manila and Angeles City that are looking for those gullible individuals with money to spend but do not want to take the time to thoroughly check out the reputations of those individuals they are dealing with. Please, don't be stupid, just be careful!! I have also mentioned before about being very careful in being too trusting with the ladies you meet in the bars here. Rather than go into the many examples of what can happen I would just like you to read the story about an individual who was both stupid and too trusting. Pull up www.criminal.home.ph and read about the type of lady that you definitely do not want to get involved with during your stay in the Philippines. All is not bad though. On 17 Feb I happened to be at the Orchid Inn getting advice from Ron on how to grow tomatoes (a tasty treat for horses) when I noticed that there was a beautiful set up for a wedding that was to take place that day. Last month I mentioned how older men can be very happy here in the Philippines and on this day, a 61 year old American man working in Guam was to marry a 21 year old, very good looking young lady who was still a virgin. She had been employed at the Roadhouse for only a short period of time when this energetic American, who has been married a number of times, spotted her and fell instantly in love. This is a love story that makes us all happy and of course, we hope that this match will last many years. Good things do happen in Angeles City and after seeing how well the Orchid Inn personnel prepared the garden for this wedding I can tell you that it made this old horse wanted to run home and get Mrs. Horse to marry me again. (By the time I got home my senses had returned) Speaking of the Orchid room, sometime in March or April they will be breaking ground for the construction of another 33-room addition to the Hotel. This hotel is fully booked for most of the year and has developed an excellent location in regards to safety, service and the quality of the food.
Bruce Silverman, Mr. Murphy and Frank S. must be overjoyed that they have finally found someone (an American named Bill) to take over the building formerly occupied by Jim Dale of Abbey Road and Villa Modesto fame. The interior of the building is undergoing an extensive renovation involving a large outlay of cash. Bill is from Florida and this is his first business venture in the Philippines. To give you an idea of how much it cost to lease one of Murphy's buildings Bill paid 3 years in advance on a 5 year lease of 500 US dollars a month, with the rent increasing 10% each year. It is good to know that there are folks out there with deep pockets who are still bullish on Angeles City and the future of its bar scene. The ongoing construction is pictured here and the planned opening date is 11 March if all goes well. Bill will introduce something a bit different in that the back of the stage where the ladies dance will feature a one-way glass in which customers sitting behind the dancing area can see the dancers but the dancers cannot see the customers. So, for those of you that always complained about the ladies always having their backs to you as they gazed upon themselves in the mirror can now see the front view. The dancers will be going nuts, no way to hide now. A pool table will be available and it appears that this will be another upscale, nicely decorated, fun place to visit. Bar hopping gets better and better. Good luck Bill. Happy birthday Mark Smith and his partner Girlie, both of who can still brag that they are under 45, barely. Mark and Girlie hosted a well-attended party at the Roadhouse on Sat, 17 Feb and after fighting my way through the crowd I was able to gobble up a bit of the food that was on hand. It was a fine evening and we thank Mark for allowing us to share this special day with him. For sure, next year when that pivotal age of 45 comes about this horse will be chomping at the bit to see what should be a gigantic celebration with tons of food and drink. Sorry Mark, it all starts to go downhill after 45 except for the waistline which takes on a life of its own.
This month I would like to introduce you to Mel, a bartender/waitress working the dayshift at Kokomos. Mel is my "Filly of the Month" which, in future columns will feature a lady that I consider very cute, nice personality and not working in a bar. Of course she must be single, no children, just a nice person that many of you might not get to meet in your brief visits to Angeles City. I can't promise a picture every month as the ladies I wish to introduce will normally balk at appearing here and I will have to do a lot of talking to convince them to do so. It will be a hard job, but someone has to do it! Meanwhile, if you wish to say hello to Mel you can do so by sending her an e-mail through the Kokomos business center, bizcenter@kokomoz.com, attn: Mel the waitress. Better still, drop by and see her personally and tell her Harry the Horse sent you.
Get the cameras ready, the next Swagman wet t-shirt contest will be on 20 March. The event will not be featured on Cable Television this time - too bad, I was going to get my VCR ready to go for that auspicious event. Guess I'll just have to run down there for my own close-ups. Tired of the wet T-shirt contest? No problem, check out the body-painting contest on the 27th. I saw some pictures of previous contests and I think this will definitely draw my attention. This is different and if you can plan your trip to get here on time, don't miss this happening. Be sure to bring a camera with close up capabilities for these body paintings are something to behold. For those enjoying a good feed, the Swagman offers a very nice all you can Indian buffet every Tuesday for 190 pesos and on Thursdays, my favorite, all you can eat Thai buffet for 160 pesos. Having tried both I can promise that it is worth a visit. One problem is that the tendency is to overeat. On a smaller scale, Kokomos will hold their Wet T-shirt contest on 16 Apr. It might be on a smaller scale but the event continues to gain in popularity and the location is ideal. Put both events on your "must see" list and then check out the winners at their working locations. My wife, Priscilla the Horse, took me to dinner at Mo's Steak House for my birthday. It was nice to sit out on the viewing deck and watch many familiar folks pass by on Fields Ave. I had the 400-gram rib-eye steak and it was cooked to perfection, thoroughly enjoyable. Mrs. Horse ordered the chicken and ribs combo but regretfully they were out of stock. Though disappointed, she opted for the hamburger steak which was OK. The soup and salad bar for an extra 30 pesos was just right to get us ready for the main course. One thing I gave up on was asking for Worcestershire sauce as the waitress brought me soy sauce, then when I said that was not correct, she came back with oyster sauce. I finally realized that I had better settle for the steak sauce that was already provided. Despite those little set backs, it was a wonderful evening and it was nice to know that the Mrs. was footing the bill. I was surprised that on a Saturday evening it wasn't crowded but maybe enough folks have not discovered this pleasant place to eat because it is on top of a Fields Ave nightclub. For me, that made the evening more interesting and after dinner we walked over to have a drink at the Midnight Rodeo and listen to the live Country and Western Band. It was a nice quiet evening for this senior citizen. The story of Ken Evans and the Silver Fox is well known in that he paid a rather large sum of money to Neville for the rights to the place and then proceeded to enjoy his tenure as Daddy Ken. Neville promised Ken that he would only be opening a store next to Ken but instead opened the Jolly Frog in direct competition. So much for keeping one's word, but business is business. The Silver Fox became quite popular because of the very bold, audacious, accommodating ladies in its employ. Regretfully, Ken ran afoul of an ex-girlfriend who more or less set him up for a hard fall. Ken, thanks to help from some benefactors was able to skip town for Thailand where he is presently licking his wounds. Now, opportunity has knocked for Neville who has taken over what used to be the Silver Fox and has renamed it "Niftys". Many local ex-pats that know Neville have commented that the name should be "Shifty Niftys" instead. Extensive renovation is taking place and NevilIe has told me that he expects to open by mid-March. The only way that this bar can be successful, because of its location, is if the "entertainment" that was offered before is continued. The many fans of the old "Silver Fox" will return in droves to enjoy an atmosphere not readily available on Fields Ave. Maybe Neville can make another 25 grand out of the place but before he sells it, I hope that we old customers get to enjoy many months of active participation at the new "Shifty Nifty", oops, I mean "Niftys". See you at the opening! Cliff Wilsey, unofficial VFW leader, moneychanger, and man about town has now joined the ranks of the married ones. On 21 Feb Cliff uttered those dreaded, but inevitable words "I do" and now many of the very young ladies on Fields Ave are either mourning or celebrating the departure of Cliff from his normal hunting grounds. Congrats Cliff and for sure, after Claire completes her driving lessons, she will be a much better looking driver than Jess.
Health Visions has indicated that they will be breaking ground for the construction of their five-story total life care medical center II in Angeles City in March. The Center will be located on Perimeter road starting where the old "Trading Post" was located all the way to where Streetlights is now. All the property has been purchased and present occupants of buildings removed except for Dr. DeGuzman who is objecting. That is a lost cause as the building has been bought and his lease is expiring very shortly. They are saying that the Center will be open for business in two months, fully operational in six months. This schedule seems to be a bit ambitious but when complete this facility will be a very welcome addition to this area and will certainly be a wonderful service to be provided to the U.S. military retirees living in the area. The handout speaks of 12 operating rooms, 200 private rooms, emergency rooms, and I.C.U.'s. There is much more but I do not want to take up this space to list all the services offered. Lets just say that 90 percent of what ails you can be handled by this future facility. Seeing is believing so when construction has actually started I will be out there to take a picture and print it in this column. Moneyman John Jones has said it is a done deal so you have our attention John, now, deliver the goods. While enjoying a drink at the Illusions bar I ran into Andres Gedeberg from Sweden who caught my attention because of the new tattoo a local tattoo artist had recently affixed to his arm. It seems that many tourists come here for tattoos at a most reasonable price. This one was so eye-catching that I had to take a picture. Andres indicated that it was not complete as three more colors still had to be added. I looked at my arm and figured that the only creature that would fit on it would be a snail. Priscilla told me to forget it!
There is a bar on Fields Ave that has a mother and her daughter employed as dancers. I thought that this was unique but the owner has asked me not to mention the name of the establishment because he did not want to embarrass the two ladies. I will say that the daughter looks mighty good and can you imagine the options here? Now, dear readers, your mission, should you accept, is to try and discover the location where these two ladies are employed. It is on Fields Ave between Margarita Station and Jade Cool. That gives you a large area to search. I've mentioned the proposed construction of the Subic - Clark Toll road in previous columns and recently, an informed source told me that the contracts have been awarded by the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) and construction will commence on 1 Mar with an 18-month completion schedule. After the Subic-Clark phase is complete construction will begin on the final phase, which will be from Clark to Tarlac to be completed within 6 months. By Dec 2002 if all goes according to plan the drive to Subic and Tarlac from Clark will no longer take hours. The actual route of the Subic-Clark portion is not being released as there are about five options and land speculation is to be avoided. Months ago I wrote about the construction of a Marine World at Subic and now the Whale Encounter program is a reality as of 1 Mar. This is a fantastic tourist attraction where for a $50 fee an individual can get in the water with a false whale and be able to pet him, rub his tongue and just experience a closeness that you would only see on TV. This encounter is very exclusive as only 50 people a day can participate. They will be divided into four different time slots, each one taking 7-8 people. Two whales will be available for 0930, 1130, 1330, and 1530 shows. Family members can attend for 150 pesos each and pictures can be taken. Tickets can be purchased in Makati, Manila and San Fernando but the locations are not known yet. Meanwhile, reservations by phone are being taken by calling 047-252-5880 and tickets can be picked up at the site. The session lasts about two hours. 1 Mar is the soft opening as construction continues on the full park. The grand opening is scheduled for the last week of March and will feature an aquarium, sea lion and whale show. Tickets will be approximately $10 US each. Folks, this sounds exciting and it is certainly a step in the right direction in providing family entertainment in this area. Members of the 353d Special Operations Group out of Kadena, Okinawa held a memorial flight for a C-130 S-59 flight Crew stationed at Clark in the early 80's which went down on a training mission over the Capones in 1983. There was one survivor out of a 9-man crew. This is a yearly mission in which crew members from Kadena hold a service while flying over the crash site. This year was a special honor as the 353d Special Operations Group Commander, Col Salmon, was able to be on board. This was his first visit to the Philippines and Angeles City and John Cummings, of Margarita Station hosted a well-attended cocktail hour at his establishment in which Mayor Lazatin, Mr. Rey Pineda, other dignitaries and various Fields Ave establishment owners were in attendance. Col Salmon's picture will be added to the Special Ops wall of fame located at the Blue Boar Inn, Clarkview. John, this horse must once again compliment you and Aida on the great hosting job you did and of course, the food was superb. Fontana Casino has a March promotion open to foreigners (non-Filipinos) in which each foreigner may bring one female guest at a ticket cost of P299.00 from 1-15 March (Monday thru Thursday). The ticket includes transportation from and returning to Margarita Station; One (1) complimentary standard drink; free entrance to Fontana Casino, P200 match n' play coupons and a free supper buffet. The pick up at Margarita Station is 6:45 PM with a return shuttle at midnight or 2 AM. Interested persons can check with the Margarita Station cashier or shift manager for more details. Only one reply was forwarded to me in answer to my query for recommended hotels in Bangkok. A Cliff Berning reported that he would highly recommend staying at any of the centrepoints hotels. The one in Petchburi is their flagship, and is tremendously well located to shopping. The taxi to the nightlife is about 50 baht ($1 usd). Their URL is www.centrepoint.com/index.html. Thank you Cliff and recommendations from other readers is most welcome. We want you Thailand folks visiting us in Angeles City so we can compare notes. Many locals here make visa trips to Bangkok and vice-versa. It is good to share helpful information that will aid travelers at either location. A warning to tourists. Be careful about your money, even when depositing it in a hotel's safety deposit box. In most instances it is quite safe but this horse encountered an American tourist that was staying at the Chicago Hotel who was going around to every bar on Fields Ave telling the managers/owners that he had lost $3,000 from the safety deposit box at that establishment. The police were investigating. Upon talking to the supervisor of the safety deposit boxes she indicated that the owner, Mr. Kim, had reached a suitable settlement with the victim. This is a reminder to all hotels that they have to be careful in issuing out money from these boxes to make sure the guest signs all proper documents. Believe it or not, all tourists are not honest either. If one was to visit the Top End Bar on Perimeter road Bob Essary would be sitting on his favorite stool waiting to swap stories with you and his partner, Rick Brill would be harder to locate but together they run a fine establishment. Any conversation would cover many subjects but caring for street children would not be a common topic. So, after visiting the Loving Care Street Kids Foundation Center on Fields Ave, next to the police sub-station and opposite the Illusions bar this horse was impressed to find that these two individuals, especially Rick Brill (main sponsor) are the directors/founders of this center. Using their own funds this one half million peso building was built to provide a place where any street children could go for a meal, a wash-up and some clean clothes. Breakfast is from 8-9 AM, lunch 11-12 noon and dinner, 6-7 PM. During my visit the Director/Treasurer, Puring showed me around and could not say enough kind words about Rick Brill. In addition to food, dental and medical help is offered by Dr. Ding Roque (dentist) and Dr. Buddy Garcia (medical). Assistance is also provided by the Angeles Medical and Dental Association of Angeles City. On the wall of the center is artwork created by the children and in June their artwork will be exhibited at the SM Mall in San Fernando. So, if you are visiting Angeles City or are living here permanently, why not drop in and see the Center for yourself and put a few pesos in the collection box and if possible, donate a few clothes for a very worthy project. Try to be there when they are serving a meal and see for yourself how a bit of food brings a smile to some children that are used to begging for a meal or digging around garbage cans for a feed. Good on you Rick and Bob, a great job by two lads not looking for publicity. The Angeles City RSL has relocated to the Bonanza Hotel.
Honey-Ko's has their one year anniversary bash in early February and all present for the festivities had a very good time and some delicious snacks were provided. The ladies were in high spirit and host Wes was more than pleased that this first year was a huge success and that this bar, even though not on Fields Ave, is gaining in popularity. One morning while having a cup of coffee at the Hang Out Plus I spotted Trevor entering Honey-ko's and had the opportunity to enquire about his health and future plans. Trevor is due to go to Bangkok for treatment for his throat cancer and he was optimistic about the treatment. He did give me permission to tell one and all that Private Dancer Too is up for sale and any serious offers would be considered. Regretfully, I lost the notes that specified the figures he was asking but I can say this, the price is fair and very affordable. This bar is doing well and is a success but Trevor would like to cut down on his activities a bit because of his health. Anyone interested, look for Trevor at Private Dancer Too or at Honey-ko's - folks, this is a good, sound investment. Believe it or not, I am submitting this article for publication prior to the end of the month. Some visitors have teased me about being late all the time and I am trying to improve my submission record. I wonder if Peter Bellamy will let me apply some of the paint to a few of those lovely bodies on the 27th? I could practice on Mrs. Horse first! Hey, remember, be kind to Horses!
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