I have just heard from an ex Filipina GF who now lives in Sweden ( next door neighbour to one of our regular contributors? 
) that Café Havana in Greenbelt 3, Makati has shut its doors for the final time.
Manilian based expats will know of it as will regular visitors like myself. An icon on the Makati entertainment scene for not necessarily all the right reasons.
I always had a love hate relationship with this bar. The live bands were truly sensational with a rhythmic pulsating beat that even a tone deaf person could appreciate. But of course you had to put up with the ‘ladies of the night' propositioning you occasionally which became somewhat tiresome.
I've always been a great people watcher and would often sit down with a San Miguel beer outside under one of the umbrellas and watch the inter-actions between the various nationalities and wallow in the balmy evening having left behind a cold British winter. A cosmopolitan delight. The salsa dancing and live music gave the place a touch of class which I shall never forget.
The time zone between Phil and UK is usually 8 hours and the jetlag hits you soon after landing at Ninoy Aquino. For newbie readers who have never travelled to Asia before if you have not experienced it, beware the jetlag. If you go to bed before 2am in the morning you will wake up at 3am and no, most breakfast bars in hotels don't open until 6am.
My solution was to head over to CH about 10 (after I'd had my customary 2 hour jetlag massage) and sit at the bar and just chill on the lovely comfy bar stools. I shall never forget the look on the faces of foreigners who walked into the place for the first time - especially a few twenty somethings (usually squeeky clean Singapore expats) who probably thought that they were ‘street cred' regular nightclub visitors from home. Their brain could not process what was going on. This was Manila at its best in many senses. The venue was not like one of those large cattle market sized clubs you get with mindless eardrum breaking techno music blasting out where half the punters are on drugs - well I guess they had to be to enjoy the music. For the record I stopped going to clubs in the west when I was 21 so its not an age thing for me.
The bar had a Cuban theme and decor and served excellent food eaten inside or out. Live music started at 10 and thats when the fun would often begin. Ironically about 10% of the filipina visitors were non hookers and the seasoned regular could spot them a mile off. The beauty of this venue was its chic compact size. People would queue at the long elegant bar and wait to be served. By necessity you had to ‘invade' the individual persons ‘space' and so it was easy to start chatting.
I am a jazz lover and do some occasional reporting when on business trips for the London radio station Jazz FM and am always looking for venues with that something extra.
For some reason Makati nightlife has no middle ground. As a foreigner there weren't any 'normal' bars where you could meet locals. Filipinos tend to meet in restaurants or coffee shops. There were no ‘afterwork' venues that you get in other capital cities where the office crowd go for a drink - well none that I ever found. Hotel bars on the whole tend to be somewhat sterile.
A few years back I was given a business assignment in Jakarta. This city was a real eye opener and I hate to say but well ahead of Manila in terms of hotel choice, restaurants and ‘regular' bars and without a shadow of a doubt safety. Ironically (as you probably know) its a Muslim country but without the strict adherence to islamic laws so western dress is normal. I first visited in 2012 and found a really nice bar/restaurant called Loewy's in the downtown area - a sort of Café Havana but without the hookers! Often single guys or women will just come in and have a drink at the bar on their own without fear of being ‘accosted'. But if you wish to have a pleasant conversation Indonesians are some of the most gentle and friendly people I have ever met in Asia along of course with Filipinos!
For me the closure of CH (and the jazz bar/restaurant Bar Nu-Vo 3 years ago just further along) is sadly one less reason to visit Manila. The jazz radio station Crossover on 105.8FM shut down 3 years ago but at least is now online only (in high bit rate) which thankfully can be listened to anywhere in the world.
If any readers know of any non girly bars left in Makati do post!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6VE3-A45Oohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghucEJH7-OU
Manila loses an iconic venue
That is sad news. Been to CH 2x. I wonder what will take its place. Hopefully Hooters.
If I want jazz or latin music, I often check out Makati hotels' schedules. They usually have performances in their lobbies at night (usually its just a pianist in the day). I would pick one I like, then just go there, get my drink, sit and enjoy the music.
Then for old school rock n roll, RJ Bistro at Dusit Thani Hotel. I heard they just re-opened again so yay!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8u-dsbUNXg
"If I want jazz or latin music, I often check out Makati hotels' schedules"
Yes a good point Gardo. One of the best hotel venues was the Mandarin Oriental on Makati Avenue which was my hotel of choice to stay until it closed (now demolished ) a few years back. They would have some excellent live lobby bands in the evening. I say lobby but it was actually an elegant lounge with stage and high ceiling with a balcony upstairs.
Next door they had the chic 'Martini lounge' where you could sit and be served by tall stylish Filipina's in ankle length slit skirt dresses with different coloured hair wigs - purples, greens etc. Sounds tacky but it was very polished and class with a capital C.
Naturally as a Brit I had my Martini shaken and not stirred 
Lotus Eater wrote:"If I want jazz or latin music, I often check out Makati hotels' schedules"
Yes a good point Gardo. One of the best hotel venues was the Mandarin Oriental on Makati Avenue which was my hotel of choice to stay until it closed (now demolished ) a few years back. They would have some excellent live lobby bands in the evening. I say lobby but it was actually an elegant lounge with stage and high ceiling with a balcony upstairs.
That is my go-to hotel -- Mandarin Oriental. Sad that had to go also but they are going to come back in the new Ayala Tower 2 that is being developed in its place and due for completion 2024. Hopefully the music comes back as well in their lounges.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fVnJv2NTVA
Thats great news and thanks for sharing the link. I thought the replacement was going to be an office block development.
It was one of the first luxury hotels to go up in Makati in 1976 along with the Peninsula just down the road - another great hotel.
We shall have to meet up for a couple of beers Gardo when it opens
Lotus Eater wrote:Thats great news and thanks for sharing the link. I thought the replacement was going to be an office block development.
It was one of the first luxury hotels to go up in Makati in 1976 along with the Peninsula just down the road - another great hotel.
We shall have to meet up for a couple of beers Gardo when it opens
I'd love that LE! My hope is I could meet some of the guys here especially those around the Makati/Taguig area.
Just additional info to help clarify because you are also correct with what you said regarding office space block replacing the hotel. The Ayala Triangle Tower 2 is split into 2 towers -- office tower which is the one facing the link and the hotel/Mandarin Oriental tower in the back of it. The two towers will be linked at the base with a retail block which looks like will have a garden roof top such that if you view the property from atop, it is not discernible that below the greeneries separating the 2 towers is a 4-story commercial center.
https://ayalalandoffices.com.ph/offices … -tower-two
I would just like to add my 2 cents...!
This is old news, but sad news never the less.
Prior to living here in the Phlippines since 2014, I would come to visit my then gf/now ex-wife and stay at Hotel BSA - my go-to hotel whenever i visited - near to Greenbelt (i wasn't so much allowed to stay at her house during the early phase of our dating). One could hear all the usual late night social entertainment from where I was staying coming from the restos in the vicinity.
Whenever during my time visiting my then gf returned back home for the night after spending time together, and i was not yet tired due to jetlag my first few days over the course of my visit, I would go down to Cafe Havana for a drink or two, and enjoy a nice hangout with some other expats who were happy to share their table with me and their gfs whom they were with.....great memories.
there was nothing quite like the very late night party/socializing scene of Makati as of just 2 years ago.
it is now replaced by the Wildflour. Originally a resto/cafe known for its establishment in BGC and Ortigas.
Alas, this is now the reality we live in now. Many of my barbershops, tailorshops, and other places i would shop at for various things have all but shut down due to the pandemic and the catastrophic loss of sales over these 20+ months. a sad thing most definitely!
Yes it is sad. The Philippine economy has effectively been cauterised by this pandemic. One feels for the majority of Pinoys who subsist on a week by week basis.
The Philippines has suffered a huge drop in GDP, high and under employment with10% of businesses closed.
The government has been somewhat parsimonious in terms of stimulus spending and its covid restrictions some of the harshest in the A.S.E.A.N region. As a result it will yet again be the 'Sick man of Asia' coming out of this pandemic.
The locals are more than happy this place finally closed down.
I'm 63 and am married to a beautiful fipilina for over 33 years. I watched the Greenbelt be built and I watched it go from a planned family venue into something that you would never take you family to.
The local planning group is trying hard to stop the area from becoming a sex tourism spot, which it unfortunately became.
Now that that over priced hole is closed, syphilis is no longer on the menu.
@Vilyam L
Yet the Menu has relocated just 2 klms away to Burgos, where it continues to strive!
@Lotus Eater When I was traveling for Business in 1980, I stayed at Intercontinental Hotel (Now closed) in Makati. Also excellent Lounge with great Musicians, My favorite restaurant in Makati was Via Mare - now that name is being used by a Fast Food restaurant. After a scrumptious Dinner, I could order a good quality local Cigar which was brought over by a Tall Cigar Girl with a Long Slit Skirt, a la Vanna White. She would rub the cigar with Brandy with her long slender fingers, while warming it over a candle flame. EVERYONE would stop eating or talking while she was putting on her Show. I will Never forget this experience.
@talamban
The Intercontinental (now demolished) was one of the few 5 star hotels I never visited in Makati. I occasionally stayed at the Peninsula, a stones throw away, and walked past there after a night out in Greenbelt. I'd heard that they had a popular Discotheque (yeah remember that term?) in the lower basement area.
Although a non smoker I have always loved the aroma of cigars - my father smoked them and as a kid I loved it when he would occasionally light one up. Heck after the Via Mare story you just relayed that would be enough to convert any guy! A restaurant that would be on my bucket list for sure but far too decadent for our friend Vilyam L 
The Mandarin had a dedicated cigar bar and the hostess serving was always an instant cure for jetlag if you'd just landed after a long haul flight lol. 
Ah, I too remember the InterContinental - and remember it closing around the 2nd full year i had chose to live here long term. it was quite the marvel of a hotel to behold! Though I would have been too young to ever enjoy it back at the peak of it's hayday.
I've been to the Peninsula on two occasions - as a guest for a Christmas party, and for a Wedding Reception. Beautiful events, which I will remember for the rest of my life I'm sure.
And if i may share, though i am not a cigarette smoker myself, but the aroma of an occasional Cigar i find quite delicious, and thus, would enjoy a cigar from the bottom floor Cigar shop of The Filling Station in Burgos with a chilled glass of jack coke. It's been quite a while since i've enjoying that, as I haven't been down to Makati for purely leisure in almost a year, but those are some of my fondest memories from the past 5 or 6 years living in Manila!
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