Metro Manila Community Quarantine - Daty 1204
Today we had a big excursion planned for the whole team present in Taiwan. Our itinerary included a rather intimidating full-day tour of the north coast area that I knew would be a LOT. But hey, how often will we be in Taiwan, right.
After waiting for both the tour guide and the transportation to get their act together for the day, we made the trek up to Yehliu Geopark, followed by Jiufen Old Street. Some of us managed to visit the Golden Waterfalls but the rest of us just waited around near the Yinyang Sea and the 13 Layer Remains. We skipped the Shifen Waterfalls due to transportation constraints but still went to the Shifen Old Railways and ended the day by lighting Sky Lanterns at Shifen. Of all the activities for the day, I think I appreciated Jiufen Old Street and the Shifen sky lanterns the most because I can be a little cheesy that way.
After freshening up at the hotel, Tobie and I immediately made our way back to the Red House area to see if the bars would be any different on a Saturday night versus Friday. There was indeed a drag show of sorts at Cafe Dalida, but it felt more like the kind of thing we'd see at Puerto Galera or Boracay, thus reinforcing the overall Malate-esque feels of the area. Beyond, people were just frequenting this or that bar to drink and not much else - not even dancing.
I do not understand the Taipei queer scene.
Across the two days, we tried to check out some more risque establishments not in the main Red House area, but we didn't bother to go in due to timing, door fees, and the complications of the language barrier. Maybe we'll try again during another visit, provided we do return here someday.
Things like this just reinforce why we stay in Manila. I love our queer scene more than any other country and I've yet to find an experience that makes me feel like I could genuinely enjoy being based there for longer periods of time. And yes, this includes the likes of West Hollywood - no one can really compare to the O Bar drag bar concept,
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