Yes, there was a time when pink partying was somewhat centralized – just about everyone knew that to party with the pink crowd, one only had to check one of the multiple venues located in Malate in the city of Manila (particularly along J. Nakpil and Ma. Orosa). But those days are long gone. For good or bad, nowadays, partying in Metro Manila means the need to discover party venues at just about every city within Metro Manila; and the venues differ oh-so-grandly, meaning that partygoers need to adjust to be able to truly enjoy the contexts of these party venues…
This leads us to Beach House (BH), currently the one must-visit venue for so many MSM – if not necessarily LGBT – in Las Pinas.
WHAT’S THERE
BH is – in not so many words – one big inuman (drinking) place that is not similar to Western-influenced dance bars. Here, forget the dance floor; instead, there are just tables after tables where locals gather to spend hours with each other.
There are actually two “sections” for BH – one is the “outside” section, where the seats/tables are mostly wooden, and where there’s no airconditioning. The “inside” venue is enclosed (thus airconditioned, though this doesn’t function as well as it should); and while the place still has wooden furniture, this venue is where some shows (usually standup comedy, or beauty pageants of local clans) take place.
Both sections have karaoke – inside, you have to go through the comedians first before you can sing (typical of standup comedy bars, though here, some of the jokes are already stale and have already been used in similar venues elsewhere in Metro Manila); while outside, you just have to insert a five-peso coin in the machine, punch the number of the song you want to belt out, and then wait for your turn.
Many here drink as groups – i.e. forget the buckets of six beer bottles since people instead order the per-liter bottle (e.g. one liter of Red Horse costs P100) or long neck bottles of Emperador (P250 per bottle). And I’d say somewhat typical of the drinking venues in, say, Cebu City, many here are to be self-served (e.g. make your own juice).
A friend who goes to the place told me that “wala naman ibang mapupuntahan (there are no other venues we can go to)”, so this place can get quite busy (particularly the outdoor section). So expect to see some cuties… though most partygoers here are dressed-down (e.g. slippers-wearing).
AND WHY GO THERE
If you follow that friend’s logic, then you really don’t have a choice if you wanna party in LP but to go here.
If you wanna check the LP crowd, too, this is a good place to start that.
It helps, of course, that it’s conveniently accessible (right across SM Southmall), so…
WHY AVOID
This is not a fancy place – let that serve as a warning to those expecting “more”. Instead, this is almost like a “tambayan” (place for hanging out) while getting drunk, complete with that karaoke machine. So that aside from drinking and singing (or listening to others do some wailing), not much can be done here (e.g. dancing).
Even when there are special events (e.g. pageants), these are obviously not on a par with other Metro Manila-organized events – e.g. the airconditioning fails, hosts recycle old skits from other bars, et cetera. So if you’ve no patience for this, you’ve been warned.
IN CONCLUSION
All the same, if in LP, you may want to head here (at least even once) if only to see how LP’s gay scene sort of party. Some are laid back (e.g. you can come as you are, slippers and all), some pretentious (e.g. hear some clubbers belittle those who aren’t “classy enough”, delivered in thick English accent), some couldn’t care less (e.g. there are some who fall asleep drunk on their tables), some are wild (e.g. PDAs happen near the toilet), some are looking for a fight (e.g. fisticuffs right outside the bar), and so on…
This place makes you realize that not too far from “imperial Manila” (i.e. City of Manila, Makati City, Taguig City and Quezon City), it’s a completely different world already. And yes, it’s a world that is worth checking now and then..
Beach House is located right across SM Southmall (which is along Alabang-Zapote Road).
