Exploring Amsterdam's Red Light district

ayan, request kasi ni Ton na magkuwento ako about Amsterdam's red light district (or Rosse Buurt). so here it is.

After our flight from Madrid at 6am that arrived in Amsterdam around 10, we slept the whole day in Lenin's house (our gay pinoy host) to prepare ourselves for a wild night in Amsterdam's famous red light district. So, around 9pm, off we go unto our hedonistic ways.

We got of at Waterlooplein station and just walked. First stop, the lesbian bar (didn't get the name). medyo scary kasi uber laki nung mga macho tibams na kasama ang kanilang mga partners. we did not even go inside and just peered through the windows.

next stop, bar where guys get picked up by guys. in other words, pimping station for gays. there is nothing for us there hahaha.

next stop, Lellebel, the only bar in Amsterdam for drag queens, trans, and cross-dressers located at Utrechtsestraat. We immediately loved this small bar with flashy and entertaining drag queens, they were very friendly. One customer, a young trans, who sat beside me even engaged me in a conversation. Some of the trans were very attractive. Lumabas na naman nga ang aking attraction sa mga trans e, pero sympre good girl ako kasi kasama ko si pangga. The music was great and we felt safe in the place. After a drink, we headed off to the red light district.

Yes, women were displayed in windows, in their undies and bras, casually standing or sitting, some were trying to seduce passers-by.It was actually quite sad and scary since we went to the red light district around 12 midnight and most of the people there were drunk men and very few tourists like us. Prostitution is legal in Amsterdam though it is largely concentrated around the Oude Kerk (Old Church). Yes, the oldest church in Amsterdam located in Oudezijds Voorburgwal at Oudekerksplein is surrounded by prostitutes displayed on windows, sex shops, and peep shows. Safe to say that I did not take part in this exercise and limited myself to observer status (sympre kasama ko si Pangga e). Pero ironic talaga kasi nga old church surrounded by prostitutes. tapos kapag nakasara ang window curtain ibig sabihin may client.

After that we went to a pretentious gay bar, no comments here, i did not like the place. But 2 guys tried to pick me up, tapped me on the shoulder and made some attempts. but no, pangga protected ako e hahaha.

So, off we went to the liveliest, noisiest, most popular karaoke bar in Amsterdam - Casablanca. My gash it was so jampacked we literally had to fight to get to the coat check (50 cents) and toilet (1 euro). it was so smoke-filled sakit sa mata. the dutch are bad singers and are quite rude when drunk, they just bang and bump and crash into people just to pass. so, i couldn't take the place and had to go out. then a huge macho tibam tried to engage me in a conversation, small time pa-cute. pero sympre naman ako smile lang. sa isip ko, "huwag po lola, butch din po ako" hahaha.

so, after so many bars, we ended up at Lellebel again where we stayed til around 3am. met some more gay pinoys, Lenin's friends. enjoyed conversation with more trans. saw Sugi, the star of the night. an indonesian dressed up so flamboyant it would give priscilla queen of the desert a run for her money. her hair was so huge she had to squat a little to get into the toilet (free toilet here).

on the taxi home, the driver was a gringo honasan look-a-like. type siya ni lenin, so when we went down from the taxi, lenin signalled for us to go ahead so he could make a move on the driver. after a few minutes, lenin arrived and said that the taxi driver actually wanted to have sex with pangga, and not with lenin. the driver also said that he would only have sex with lenin if it's a three-way with pangga. HELL NO! is he crazy? Pangga is mine, all mine lang. oh well, ganun lang ang sex sa amsterdam, casual casual lang.

so, next time na ang kuwento about the museums and canals of amsterdam hahaha...