The first venue we went to was Coco Manga’s. It’s a lively bar with a dance floor. The cocktails in Jam jars

are their specialty – a must try. Also, you should try the shot menu because it has a large variety. If the girls are Filipino then chances are they’re Pay to Play. While that doesn’t mean every girl, a large number of the women that go out at night are working girls. If she asks you to buy her a drink, it’s a warning sign.

I met a girl there. She was cute, short, and very petite. She mentioned buying her a drink. I thought “Ok cool. Only one drink.” Well, I pretty much got the hint that she was Pay for Play when she kept asking me to buy her drinks. I kept hanging out with her and eventually we left to check out this other bar called Summer Place. We took a motorbike taxi. The girls wanted us to pay the cost but after some argument we got them to chip in.

Lumiere went off in another direction and the girls took me on the side streets to take the shortcut to get there. The locals really do know the best routes on the island. Summer Place is a big disco with 70 percent tourists and thirty percent locals. There are two bars in the venue. One of them in a regular bar while the other is in the shape of an L. The music is American mainstream and they tend to play the same songs over and over again. The vibe is fun but there are mostly guys there.

We hung out there for a bit and I opened a few sets. I was even opened by some cute university students in town from Manila. I also met a few Americans and Europeans in the venue. We all danced and it definitely made the time more fun. That chick that I went to that venue with was flirting with other guys (probably customers).

Later on, Lumiere and I decided to call it a night. We grabbed some late night fast food: fried bbq chicken and rice. Then we took a motorbike back to our apartment for 35 pesos. Make sure to negotiate your price beforehand or you could have issues with the drivers asking for more money. There were some cab drivers trying to charge us a ridiculous price like 200 pesos. Then we went back home.

The next morning there was sunshine coming to my room. I walked into the living room and looked at the view of the beach and it was beautiful. “It’s going to be a fun month down here”, I thought to myself. Later, I ordered an American breakfast from our kitchen for around 200 pesos. It was delicious and came with bacon, eggs, and a hash brown. Nothing like breakfast at 1PM huh?

Then Lumiere and I took a walk around the area. We went to Bolabag Beach which is where all the kite surfers go. I knew nothing about kitesurfing but Lumiere was able to give me a great deal of information on it. He learned how to kitesurf when he was in the Dominican (they even have 8 year old Dominican children as instructions there). I learned that kite surfing has a lot to do with the wind and if there is no parallel wind/slightly inward/outward you won’t be able to kitesurf. He gave me a great deal of information on how to kitesurf, but I didn’t know everything he was talking about since I had no experience with it. We even checked out a kite surfing school in the area called Isla Kitesuring. The price for the intro course was 50 euros (66 USD, 2,901 Pesos) and the price for the 4 hour course was 99 euros they also offer equipment rental and storage.

Afterwards we walked down Bulabog Beach and checked out a property called Aqua Boracay. The property was beautiful and will be complete in 2013.

The interesting thing is that the property focused on the architectural design. The agent even mentioned that the property is protected from typhoons because of the design. They use columns instead of walls to get a better view of the outside. There is also glass surrounding the property.

Cebu Filveenee (a furnishing/housewares company) and the Shangri-La Hotel provide the furnishing of the property. The master bedroom has wooden floors and the shower of the 2-bedroom show room is German engineered. The doors to the bedrooms are also made of Australian pine wood. If you want more information on the properties check out this site. They are offering one and two bedroom apartments and if you buy now you can get a 10 percent discount. The single bedroom apartment is running about 155,000 USD. This price won’t last for long as they will continue to move along the phases of construction. The property also plans to build a road that will connect the property to the main road of the beach.

After checking out the property, we took a side road to get over to White Beach. The side road was mostly locals and they do live at a much lower standard than the tourists. I never felt unsafe walking on the road, though. We got to White Beach and opened a few sets. Lumiere opened a Taiwanese girl and I opened two more sets. One set was of two Korean girls I got my targets email since she didn’t have a phone and a Filipino chick that I facebook closed.

We picked up some groceries after. The milk was difficult to find and we finally found a market that had it. They were sold out in the other markets. It was a long hike with our groceries back to our place, but it was nice to come home. I’m probably going to check out the nightlife tonight. I also got a look of the sunset and it was beautiful. I plan to post some pics of it soon enough ☺

We made the trip today from Manila (Ninoy Aquino International Airport) to Boracay (Caticlan). Make sure not to take a yellow cab when you are going to the Manila airport. The yellow cab is an airport cab and charges extra. The cost of our taxi was 140 pesos ($3.19). Regular cabs in Manila are white. There is also a lot of traffic on the streets if your flight leaves during the afternoon like ours did. Make sure to head to the airport a couple hours early. Once you are on the freeway, there is less traffic. The time to the airport was around 30 minutes or so.

Our flight with Cebu Pacific was around 2,000 pesos. A warning: Cebu Pacific only allows 10 KG of excess baggage per flight. Fortunately, the hostel I stayed at had a storage space for around 50 pesos a day so I was able to avoid the fee. I plan to go back to Manila before I leave the Philippines and pick up my suitcase. They also check your weight when you check into the flight because it is a small aircraft and they have to control the weight limit.

When we arrived at the airport, there was a sign for bomb threat jokes warnings. The fine is 40,000 pesos and/or 5 years in prison. A pretty hefty fine, and Lumiere told me that some Filipino people would go the airport joking about bomb threats so the police did that to prevent it from happening again. Some people in the Philippines always joke about Lumiere’s cowboy hat asking him “Hey Cowboy where’s your horse?” The interesting thing is that they think it is original, but it’s not. He hears it from people every day. There is also a security checkpoint upon arrival into the airport and they pat you down as well. Additionally, there is one final checkpoint when you go to your gate. Also, there is a domestic fee of 200 pesos that you have to pay before you go to your gate.

They also do the boarding passes differently in the Philippines. It’s just a smaller ticket. I ended up losing mine prior to going through the final security checkpoint. Fortunately, our flight was delayed and I had enough time to get my boarding pass and head through security. I was also able to eat some pasta from the food court. Once our flight was called, we took an air conditioned shuttle bus to our small plane. The flight was fully booked and there was a pretty long wait before we took off. The flight was only one hour.

As we were about to land, Lumiere showed me the island of Boracay and explained to me the different beaches. The island you arrive on isn’t in Boracay it’s on an island called Caticlan. The weather was quite cloudy and rainy when we got outside. Luckily, the people working for the airline gave us umbrellas when we got off the runway. The airport in Caticlan is very small and there are no luggage carousels to bring your checked in baggage. We had to wait in an unorganized line to get our bags. Lumiere filled out a form for our departure and then we were off. There was light rain and wind so my bags got wet. We had to walk a few minutes to take the tricycle taxi (50 pesos) to the ferry. If you don’t have much luggage and you want to save money, you can walk to the dock where the ferry is.

When you take the boat you will have to pay the boat fee, terminal fee, and environmental fee which was a total of 255 pesos. The boat only took about 10 minutes. It was raining so they had a blue tarp covering the sides of the boat so we wouldn’t get wet. The people who work for the boat company can also help you with your bags. We were picked up by our apartment company at the docks when we got into Boracay. There was no charge for that service and they picked us up in a small truck. When I looked outside, I could see how natural and ecofriendly Boracay is. Lumiere mentioned that there are no standard taxis on the island to protect it from pollution. There are also no large buildings on the island. We checked into our apartment and I was like WOW! I attached a few pics.. More to come later.

I can get quite sidetracked from my work when there are group conversations. Lumiere came out later and we decided to go back to that restaurant called Rufo’s Famous Tapas. This time I tried a Tapa dish that consisted of beef with dark colored gravy on top, rice and a sunny side up egg.

Overall, the dish was satisfying. The meat was a bit cold, but tender. The gravy gave it a sweet taste and made it juicy as well. There were no knives given to us to cut the meat. This made it difficult to eat because I had to use the fork to cut the meat. The music was nice as they played “What’s love got to do with it.” That song put me in a good mood to go out for the night.

There was also a police man outside. Lumiere mentioned that security in Manila is used to keep the beggars away from the customers. Without the security, there would be beggars everywhere and it could turn into chaos. Thank goodness for security.

After, Lumiere showed me around the area.  He took me to Polaris Street which is full of cafes and karaoke places. The interesting thing I found is the number of Korean restaurants and supermarkets in the area. When we went to the club that night, I also noticed a number of Korean people. I would open a two set in Korean and they were pretty surprised by that haha.

I had a Day 1 lined up with this girl from DateInAsia and she turned out to be pretty lame.  She was cute though- really small (like 4’11) and thin. But she had a bad attitude that I didn’t like. When I met her, she gave off a bad vibe. When I went outside to meet her, she gave me a stoic look. While we all sat down she wasn’t sociable at all. Luckily, one of the Chinese girls that was with us started talking to her. As Lumiere says: “If there isn’t a good vibe you can disqualify the set”. Fortunately, Lumiere had invited 3 Chinese girls out and we used them as social proof.  I ignored the chick from DIA. She sent me a few text messages while we were all together in the bar.  She mentioned how it was unusual for her to be in this kind of setting with other foreigners. I thought to myself that this was unusual for someone that I invited out to text me when they are sitting at a close proximity to me. So, I just talked to the other girls that were with us. She eventually left. I probably won’t be using that dating site to meet girls anymore.

Later, we went over to this bar called Handle Bar. This creepy gray haired Western guy followed us to the next bar. We first noticed him in Heckle and Jeckle while he was trying to flirt with one of the Chinese girls we were with when he was playing pool… We figured once we left the venue it wouldn’t be a big deal. The interesting thing is when we left Heckle and Jeckle the creepy guy asked Lumiere where we were going. Lumiere knew better then to tell him so he just ignored him. We were a little surprised to see him in the next venue, but we knew he wouldn’t be a threat. It was a failed attempt on his part because he didn’t even come to our table. He wandered around the venue talking to some older expat guys that he seemed to know, and ended up leaving the venue after about 15 minutes.

Handle Bar is a chill bar with a drink menu that offers a variety of drinks. They have two projectors that play all of the different sports games. There are also two pool tables and the staff are also pretty friendly. There weren’t that many people there at the time, but we had a good time with the girls. The plan was to hit up two more clubs which were called Kyss and Encore. Lumiere had gotten in contact with the promoters at these two venues so we didn’t have to pay to get in.

Kyss wasn’t that great since it was filled with mostly guys. The only good thing was that the venue was relatively close to our hostel. Also, they didn’t check our names on the guest list. We only stayed there for about ten minutes and decided to leave because nothing was going on.

After leaving the venue, we went over to Encore which is supposed to be one of the most famous clubs in the Philippines. It is located in the business district of Makati – about a 10 minute taxi ride from our hostel.

Upon arriving, I noticed how nice the infrastructure was. It looked like I was in a nice downtown area in the U.S. The pavement was really nice and there were no beggars on the street. We went inside Encore and we got on the guest list thanks to Lumiere’s contact.

Encore has a large dance floor. There are VIP tables to the left and the right of the dance floor.  They played mostly mainstream music. Bone Thugs n Harmony actually showed up to the club. While I was at the bar, I heard their names being called on stage. I never actually saw them at the venue, but other people there told me they did make an appearance. Bone Thugs had a concert going on earlier that night in town.

We came in the venue with the 3 Chinese girls which helped for social proof. But VIP is definitely the way to go since the club is essentially one big open space. If a club has a lot of open space on the dance floor, people tend to focus more on the DJ. However, if you bounce some girls back to your table, you will be able to talk more because it is more of a private area.

We hung around the club (the girls left later) for a bit then went to McDonald’s… McDonald’s in the Philippines is an experience. They actually serve spaghetti and rice. The rice is called McDo. It was kind of weird for me to be eating my fried chicken with rice and French fries. I also learned from Lumiere that locals eat rice with their hands. Lumiere adopted what the local customs and also eats rice in the Philippines with his hands. I thought this was kind of strange so I used a fork instead. When I looked around at the people in the McDonald’s, I noticed that they weren’t eating the rice their hands.

Afterwards, we went back to Encore and opened a few more sets. I winged Lumiere in a set when he opened some Filipino models.  I danced with one of them and the guys who were with them looked a bit feminine. They just stared at us while we were dancing with them. One of the guys said hi to Lumiere. I think he liked him haha…

When we left Encore, Lumiere took me to this place called Manila Bay Café  in Malati where the semi-pro girls hang-out.  The venue was interesting because the girl to guy ratio was really good, and we know why. The first way of telling if a venue has semi-pros is a good girl to guy ratio. Also, some of the guys in the venue had sex tourist written all over them. They had the bald hair and looked older. These guys probably couldn’t get laid in their home country so they came to the Philippines to have some fun. After talking to a few girls, I just didn’t feel right in this sort of environment. When Lumiere asked if I was ready to go, I was more than ready to leave this venue.

Getting to the airport from Taipei- We took a van from my apartment to the airport. If you’re looking to go to the airport then call 55688 and you can get to the airport for only 800 NT. If you let a taxi just run the meter then the price can easily reach close to 2000NT.

Bolo helped me with my packing most of the day which helped me avoid an excess baggage charge. It was sad saying goodbye to my friend, but we’ll catch each other on the road again sometime. I’m sure of it. I felt very excited about going to the Philippines. Lumiere told me a story about a guy who took a girl home and cried how she didn’t have enough money to pay the electricity bill. The guy fell for the sob story. Lumiere told him he was naive. The Philippines is not for a new traveler. It is a destination that is for more experienced travelers because people constantly have their hand out. “This will be a test for me” I thought to myself as we were heading to the airport in the cab. As we approached the airport we learned a lesson. Make sure to check which terminal you have to get off of.

Cab driver: Terminal 1 or 2?
Lumiere: I don’t know.
Cab driver: You are going to?
Lumiere: Philippines.

Then the cab driver took us to the correct terminal.

At the airport they checked if we had a return ticket. Fortunately, we remembered to have a return ticket with us and showed the person at the ticket counter. The airline can deny you a flight if you don’t have it. This is because airlines could get charged if you don’t have one and they ask when you enter the country you are traveling to.

Cebu Pacific

When we got on the flight there was hip-hop music and the flight attendants were friendly. That was about the only positive thing about the flight. I had to pay for a croissant which was 100 NT($3.45), but they offered it for 100 pesos($2.27). A rip off if you pay in TWD. On top of that, we were in front of the emergency exit so we couldn’t recline our seat. It was an uncomfortable flight (about 3 hrs) and I see why it was cheap to fly with Cebu Pacific.

I heard Tagalog on the flight, which interestingly has a mixture of Spanish and English words. I heard words like “cinturon”(seat belt in Spanish) During the flight, Lumiere mentioned that in Cosmo Magazine for the Philippines 80 percent of the ads feature Caucasian men and not Asian men. He mentioned how if someone has light skin it is an advantage in the Philippines.

Once in Manila, we got our stuff and headed outside of the airport. It smelled like a dirty, polluted city. As we were about to get a cab, (I had lots of baggage with me) Lumiere said “Welcome to the tropics.” The weather was warm and I was excited for the adventure that awaited me in Manila. We got a shuttle from Manila Airport and the price was about 10 USD.

We got checked into our hostel, Our Melting Pot, around 4AM. Then Lumiere and I decided to grab a beer. I had energy and was also excited to check out the area. Lumiere covered logistics with me and we went to an expat bar in Makai named Heckle and Jeckle.

Inside were two pool tables, a nice bar, and tables around the bar. Lumiere said “ First Beers on me.” The service was excellent as the bar-girl remembered Lumiere’s name. One of the other bargirls remembered my name as well when I came the next day. After hanging out and having a few Redhorse beers with Lumiere, we decided to check out this restaurant called JollyBee’s which has really good fried chicken and gravy. We went inside and I opened a set. It was 7AM by the way. I felt the beer buzz coming on as I opened the set and I got her email address. Later, Lumiere opened a set and introduced me. Lumiere closed that girl the next day. Upon speaking with Filipino women in sets I thought that A. There English is really good compared to other Asian countries and B. They are pretty friendly and ask a lot of questions about you. I didn’t get to bed till around 9.

My second day in Manila I woke up feeling exhausted. I was in a 6-bed dorm so there were people coming in and out which made it hard to sleep. There was also construction outside which Lumiere mentioned is quite common in Manila. I went out during the day and noticed that the streets here are not built for street game. They are full of annoying beggars and you have to walk on the street because there are no sidewalks.

Fortunately, there is the Green Belt mall in the area. I opened three sets there and got two number closes. One of the girls I have a Day 2 planned with on Monday. I didn’t get the feel that it’s a numbers game. Also the girls spoke English WOO HOO!

The malls in Manila are an oasis for people to escape the hassles of the big city. It has 5 different sections with bars, clubs, restaurants, and stores. Be warned though, it can be like a maze. I got lost trying to leave the mall and had trouble getting a cab. Cabs in Manila can be quite frustrating. That is because some of the drivers like to rip off foreigners and won’t use a meter when you are trying to go to other parts of the city. Make sure that to tell the driver where you are headed and check if he uses a meter BEFORE you get into the cab. If they give you a fixed price, DO NOT go in. You WILL get ripped off. Manila has lots of traffic. Fortunately the meters are fixed to the distance traveled and not the time.

Later that night, I went out with Lumiere and his regular to Rufo’s Famous Tapas restaurant located in Makati. It is open 24 hours and we noticed that there were a lot of locals there so we decided to try it out. I wanted to get a feel for the local food. I ordered the Liempo which is fried pork and rice.

When the dish first arrived, I thought to myself “This doesn’t look like it will be filling.” It was fried pork with the white rice that had some type of spice on it. But, the interesting thing is as I started to chew around the bone and eat the fat I started to get full. I would describe the dish as greasy, fatty, and chewy.

We ordered a San Miguel Pilsen beer as well which was nice to sip on. San Miguel is pricier in other Asian countries like Taiwan and Korea. However, my meal cost me about 98 pesos($2.22). Not bad for a meal which was filling and included a beer. The venue has long black tables where groups can go in. They also have smaller tables if you have less people with you. After that, we headed to Heckle and Jeckle where the LR went down. The plan was to go this club called Mystiq near the international airport, but we never made it out there for good reasons.

Pointers from Lumiere

1. Some girls in the Philippines have their hand-out. Be wary of that.

2. Abundance mentality- being non-needy/ opposite of desperate/ you don’t deviate your path to meet women. You have them meet you where you want to meet them; not the opposite.

3. Lumiere mentioned “When the vibe is good – sexualize.” In Lumiere’s pure form game, he talks about how it’s important to establish a vibe. Once the vibe is established, then you escalate. This is a major component in Lumiere’s game that has made him be so successful while traveling and picking up in other countries.

Here is some info on Gangnam Station

Bounce Locations

1. Exit 7- you can also use the street on this exit to open sets. I preferred sarging here on sunny days in the afternoon. The weekends also receive a large influx of people. I usually opened with something simple like a directions opener. Setting up insta-dates weren’t a problem either. I would usually insta-date by asking “What are you doing today?” If they didn’t have anything going on, then I would suggest getting some coffee. That’s why it’s important you should learn the venues in the area first before asking a girl on an insta-date. I remember when I would travel places and not know where I was going to take them… This is not a situation you want to be in TRUST ME.

There is a Coffee Bean and Starbuck’s to your right when exiting Gangnam Station Exit 7. Both coffee shops are good for daygame and are great meeting locations for Day 2’s in Gangnam. Personally, I prefer taking my dates to less crowded coffee shops so I use some of the others mentioned on this list.

There is an additional Starbuck’s next to the McDonald’s

2. Behind the Starbuck’s- I have attached a picture so you can get an idea of where this Starbuck’s is located.

If you go behind the McDonald’s and Starbuck’s, there are a ton of restaurants. One of them I recommend is a Budaek jjigae restaurant. When you go behind the Starbuck’s, turn right and walk for a couple minutes. Look for the sign 부대찌개. The restaurant also has an interesting design on it. The staff were also very friendly. Here is a map of the location in Korean.

3. The CGV Building – On the third floor, there is a nice cafe there. It has a window where you can look up the building. It’s pretty cool and the staff is also friendly.

If you go near the CGV (movie theatre) Building make a right (you will go up a hill) and go down the side street full of cafes. There are two that I recommend.

4. Namu Wa- it’s a really nice tree cafe at the end of this street. During the spring, you can go to the third floor and they have a nice atmosphere up there. There are a lot of trees and it is outdoor so the girls really like this place.

There is also another cafe next to this one (on the right side of the street Name Wa is on the right side) where celebrities like to go. When I was at Namu Wa one time, I saw them filming a TV show.

5. Taco Rico-
This video here gives you a step by step instruction on how to get to Taco Rico and Big Rock in Gangnam from Exit 8 of Gangnam Station.

I have been to this restaurant several times and the owner is Korean, but lived in Mexico. Not only that, but the cook is from Mexico. This is probably the most authentic Mexican you will get in Seoul. They have everything from quesadillas to flautas! My favorite dish is the chicken burrito. It is located next to the front entrance of Big Rock.

Side note- they recently put in media poles in Gangnam Station Exit 6. These are great because you can take pictures with your date and edit (add cool images like in the photo booths) them for free. It also has an email feature where you can send it to your email address.

Nightlife at Exit 7:

1. Big Rock- I love this pub! It’s a nice Canadian pub in the area and also has many kinds of beer on draft. I have taken many girls there and they enjoyed the atmosphere because of the music and “Canadian” feel it gives off. If you watch the video on you tube, it has directions on how to get there from Exit #8.

2. Sky Lounge-

Want a view of Gangnam with a location HB’s just love? Head to the Sky Lounge for a few cocktails. Go outside for a nice view of the city… To get there, turn right where the McDonald’s and Starbuck’s is continue going up the hill until you see the sign Dublin Bar. Turn right there and look up. Take the elevator to the 8th floor.

Here is a map in Korean:

3. Club Eden (closer to Sinnonhyeon Station)-

This venue is located behind the Ritz Carlton. If you go from Exit 7 in Gangnam, continue straight for about 10 minutes until you reach Sinnonhyeon Station. Make a right and go down the street another five minutes until you see the Ritz Carlton. When you see the Ritz Carlton, make a right and you will be able to see Club Eden. Here is a map of how to get to Club Eden:

In terms of layout, this is one of the better clubs in Gangnam. The quality of women is also ridiculously high. They fly in DJ’s from all over the world there (Basement Jaxx in 2010). The cover charge is 30,000 won on the weekends and that includes one drink. It’s a bit steep for most clubs in Gangnam, but the quality of women there is totally worth it.

Exit 6

This exit is also good for street game because many of the fashion stores (Zara, Giordano) are also on this street. Exit 6 is also where many of the clubs in Gangnam are located

Sarge Locations/Bounce Locations

1. Kyobo Bookstore-

Subway: If you are coming outside Exit 6, walk straight for about 10 minutes (500m). Alternatively, you can get off at Sinnonhyeon Station Exit 6 to get to Kyobo Bookstore as well. You can’t miss the building! I like to come here for day game and I usually open sets in the English section of the bookstore.

2. Dos Tacos (map)-

Dos Tacos is located at exit 6 before the Kyobo Bookstore look on the left of the alleyway near the Apple Store. They have really good burritos (chicken/beef)… Margaritas are cheap too for Gangnam… The price for burritos is around 6,000 won. If you go there during lunch time, you can take advantage of their lunch prices which are around 5,000 won and it comes with a drink.

3. Brasilia-

Take exit 6 and head down the main street going towards Kyobo Bookstore… Look on your left for a Brazilian Steakhouse sign… The food is all you can eat style and absolutely delicious. The price is around 25,000 won for unlimited steak!

Nightlife at Exit 6

1. Rainbow Hookah Lounge- want a place to pre-game? Check out this hookah lounge. They have all different kinds of flavored hookahs there from strawberry to blueberry. Check out my original post on Rainbow here

2. Uncle 29- this is more of an American style Pub. It is also another good place to pre-game before getting the party started. The bartenders have a really nice show that they do when they light shots on fire. And the bartenders know how to make some good cocktails!

3. NB Club-

I rarely went to this club, but I heard it was pretty decent. They play hip-hop, Korean pop, and electro. The cover charge is 15,000 won on weekdays and 20,000 won on the weekends. You can get there by going straight from Exit 6 for about 6-7 minutes and making a left after you pass the Giordano clothing store. You will see the two clubs after walking a couple of minutes.

4. Harlem-

Hip-hop club. Again, not really my style because the venue is too smokey (from the smoke generators) and the girls there were kinda trashy when I went. It is open on Friday’s and Saturday’s and the cover is 20,000 won.

5. Club Mass-

This venue is pretty good because of the quality of women there. They play mostly House/Trance music and also bring in guest Dj’s. It is located near Cafe Bene (turn left when you see Café Bene) about 3-5 minutes walking distance from Exit 6. The cover charge is usually 25,000 won on the weekends (15,000 won on weekdays) and that gets you a drink. The drink price for a Heineken is 7,000 won. The major disadvantage is that it is basically one big dance room unless you have VIP. If you have VIP, then you can bounce sets to your table. That’s more like it right?

Side note- On the same street as Club Mass if you continue walking straight, you can find Butterfinger Pancakes. There is also a Burger King right next door.

They have the best pancakes in Seoul. There is also a California Pizza Kitchen on the same street as well as you pass the Butterfinger Pancakes walk for about 5 more minutes or so.

Yeoksam Club-

Club Heaven-

Yeoksam is the next station over to Gangnam and Heaven is one of my favorite clubs in Seoul. Club Heaven is located near Yeoksam Station close to the Renaissance Hotel. The cover charge is 20,000 won and the best nights to go are Friday and Saturday. They usually bring in guest Dj’s. The music is House/Trance music.

Directions

Subway: Make sure to get out of Yeoksam Station Exit #8 and walk straight for 4 blocks until you see Renaissance Hotel which will be on your left. Make a left at Renaissance Hotel near the main intersection. Cross the street and make a right. Heaven will be on your right.

I didn’t stay in Taichung too long so there is not much to write up. I stayed with a couchsurfing host one night near Feng Chuia University. She was really nice and took me around the city on her scooter, took me to nice restaurants, and introduced me to her friends… This was my second scooter ride around in a town. The other person I met from couchsurfing in Kaohsiung also rode me around in her scooter. In the States, I’m not accustomed to riding around in a scooter so it had a different feel to it. It felt like I was in a video game, and when she stepped on the gas it was even more fun! The next country I settle in I’m definitely going to get me a scooter. It’s easy to maneuver around the streets and quicker than walking…

Sights:

Sun Moon Lake (Didn’t get a chance to check it out, but I heard it has natural beauty)

Tunghai University- my host took me here and it was a beautiful university campus. It is also a Christian university. We ended up finding a milk store .The milk store looked interesting because it had a cow design around the building “Moo Moo” I thought to myself as I looked at the building. There were also cut out cows with the store design near the store. Inside the store, you could buy anything that had to do with milk. I asked my host if the university had an agriculture program, but she said she didn’t think so. I wondered why this store was here?

There is also a really a church with unique architecture at the university campus.

Fengjia Night Market - this is the largest night market in all of Taiwan.

There is a wide selection of food and you will find yourself wandering around all of the different food stalls for quite some time. Watch out for the stinky tofu you can smell it a mile away… It is near Feng Chuia University.

Nightlife-

Bars/Clubs

Fu Bar – This bar is run by three Canadian owners. While we were there, they had American football on TV. They have the local Taiwanese beer on draft (100 NT) and imported beer (140 NT) as well. It also closes at 12AM.

Xaga - This club is run by the owner of Luxy in Taipei. The cover charge on Wednesday’s for Ladies Night is 600 NT. We didn’t go in, but there were a lot of cute girls in line… But, there were also a lot of guys. It was mostly Taiwanese guys so if you’re a foreigner it might be a plus.

Overall-

I didn’t like the fact that there was no MRT and the layout of the city was a bit confusing to me. Most of the signs were in Chinese so that made it difficult to know where in the city I was. However, I did find that there were quite a few good-looking girls in this city. Taichung might be worth checking out. I would also like to go back and see Sun Moon Lake because I didn’t have enough time to check it out on this trip. My host also told me that the KTV’s (karaoke rooms) in Taichung are run by the Chinese mafia so don’t go starting shit in them! The weather in Taichung is also warmer than Taipei but a little bit colder than Kaohsiung.

How to get there:

From Kaohsiung you can take the MRT to Kaohsiung Train Station. You have to go outside of Exit 1 and it’s the big building to your right. You can’t miss it. The price to get there is 69 NT by regular train. I nearly missed my train when I lost Lumiere he had gone to the 7/11 to buy more minutes for his phone and I was waiting for him outside of the station. After a few minutes, I called him and found out that he was at the platform already waiting for me. The people were kind enough to hold the train for me as I ran down the stairs. The train ride to Tainan is roughly about 45 minutes. Make sure to check which stop you’re supposed to get off of. You wouldn’t want to miss your stop would you? While we were hearing the stops in Chinese, we didn’t know where we were supposed to get off. After about 30 minutes on the train, I just started looking for the names of the stations in English so I wouldn’t miss my stop. I also remember times when my friends in Seoul (Bolo) slept past their subway stop and awoke several stops away from where they were supposed to get off.

The City:

Once you get off at the station, you will get a feel for the city. Lumiere mentioned that it didn’t have the international feel that Taipei has. It has more of the traditional feel which you can notice in the architecture and layout of the city. My Taiwanese friend compared Tainan to the Kyoto of Japan because of its historical importance. Also, the girls that I saw for the short time I was there weren’t that hot. I’m sure there are good-looking women in Tainan, but I didn’t see many while I was there. The weather in Tainan is also warmer than Taipei because it is in the south of Taiwan.

You also might want to take a taxi around the city since there is no MRT. The benefit is that Tainan is a fairly small city so the cab fares won’t be expensive.

We got a map from our hostel that was an advertisement for Iris Tower Hostel which is located in the center of the city.

The Sights:

We were limited on time and the guy who runs the hostel in Kaohsiung recommended two main sights for us to check out.

Chikan Towers:

Location: No. 212, Sec.2, Minzu Rd

This was once known as the Fort Provintia. The cost to see it is 50 NT. I would recommend checking it out since it is one of Tainan’s most important historical sites. They also have traditional music and the architecture has an ancient feel. The attraction is open from 8:30 AM to 21:30.

Anping Old Fort:
Location: 82 Kuo-Sheng Rd. An-Ping District

You will also need to take a cab here from Chikan Towers. We spent around 170 NT. The cab was about 10 minutes. As soon as you arrive you will see a temple, but the fort is in the back. This was a former Dutch fort and it is well preserved.

It took us around 15-20 mins to take pictures around the area.

Lumiere pointed out a long cue (restaurant) as were heading into the fort. “It must be good food” I thought to myself. Travel rule #1 eat where the locals eat and that line was certainly long. When we went out, I decided to check it out…

We waited for a long time. Lumiere took an ATM break and a beer break while we were in the line. We finally got there and I ordered the snack. It was 50 NT and there was a choice between two snacks one that looked like an empanada and one that looked like a Latin breakfast dish called hojaldra. I ordered two of the snacks that looked like an empanada.

Well, it was worth the wait… There were slices of what looked like green onions, small thin pieces of noodles, and meat inside. I savored it on the taxi ride back to the train station. My hands were all greasy afterward!

Not a bad day in Tainan!

Or Montserrat as the locals call it.

Cerro De Montserrat is a 10,000 feet (lots of steps) mountain. It’s a popular spot for locals and tourist who want a spectacular view of Bogota.

From almost anywhere in the city you can see Montserrat in it’s full glory. At the peak is a church. It looked like a perfect touristy thing to do. Big B, LatinStylez and I went to the base of the mountain. In front of us were two roads, one leading to stairs and the other to the cable carts. Tickets were 7,000 pesos one way. Decisions decisions…cable carts.

The view going up was beautiful. We passed by little rivers, indigenous flowers, and some train tracks leading into the mountain. Once outside, I saw a few restaurants, snack shops, and the church. Also at the top were lots of shops selling church souvenirs. want a frame picture of Christ bleeding? Leather shot glass covers with the Colombian flag on them? This is the place to go.

Sigh…just another shitty tourist trap…Hello. What’s this?

Oh shit! Coca leaves! I’ve been looking for these ever since I got to Colombia! Apparently these are harder to find then expected. Some Colombians I asked said that Coca leaves are regulated and only to be used for it’s native purposes.

For those who don’t know, Coca leaves are a traditional plant used by many people in Latin America for consumption. It was used traditionally for altitude sickness (Bogota is 8,500 feet above sea level.), hunger, fatigue, headache, broken bones, toothache(chew it and it numbs the mouth), ease labor pains and a ton more.

It’s also what’s used to make cocaine, so don’t expect to find these babies at your local Whole Foods.

The coca leaves came with a little booklet that described all the benefits of this miracle leaf. Although I’m not sure what to make of claims such as these:

Homemades Remedys with Leaf of Coca
*Antirheumatic. To consum 2 grammes of leefs by day (relief almost inmediatly of pains in articulations and or muscles).
*Burns.Fatigued leefs in plaster(1)
*Hemorrhages. To apply one compress (2) to saturated in the infusion of coca upon the woundeds that delay in to cicatrize or the varcoses ulcers.
*Antidepressive. Infusion or to chew the leafs to act in little minutes.

I took a pinch and put it in my mouth and chewed. Man, this stuff taste like shit! It was literally like taking leaves off a tree and eating them. But after a few minutes I could feel myself feeling a little more energetic and giddy. Looks like those health claims were true after all.

Big B took some Coca leaves and claimed that it cleared his sinuses up and made him feel chill. And LatinStylez was bouncing off the walls after he took them.

B suggested that we hike down the mountain. LatinStylez was nervous because he had heard that this mountain may have robbers. After chastising LS for being a weeny we took the trail down. On our way down the mountain we saw many others going down: people walkintg dogs, families with young children,stalls selling food and drinks, horses, donkeys, horse and donkey shit and police officers standing patrol.

Doesn’t look like we have anything to worry about. Except for maybe the turds lying around.

As we went along B and LS chewed our coca leaves whenever they got tired. I kept my leaves stuck in my cheek like chewing tobacco. My mouth was getting numb We would get tired, chew some leaves, and get a surge of energy to run down the mountain.

The next day, B and i felt a need to climb up the mountain. we took some coca leaves and water and were off. It took about 2 hours but we made it up. I chewed on some coca leaves in celebration then insisted that we take the tram down.

Now I’m wishing these coca leaves could also cure soreness.