I'm in Angeles now and I had a chance to take a walk through Walking street a few days ago and I also took a long walk all the way down perimeter past horizon tower today.
Angeles doesn't look that deserted day or night. Still plenty of local people walking around like normal. The street is still filled with trikes and cars. The main difference I see is a lot less Koreans and younger tourists drinking.
I saw maybe two Koreans in the past couple of days. I also saw one Singaporean (I think) with a date. I didn't say anything to him but he was in JJ's market and I heard him talk to the girl with a Singaporean accent. If you are the guy with the ponytail and you're reading this...PM me.
Walking street is not even close to how it was during pre covid but not as depressing as I thought it would be. You still see some customers walking around and girls calling people in. It's just more low key now.
Baccara is open. XS and Level 3 both open. Lollipop and Q bar also. I believe I saw Monsoon and shooterz open as well but i'm not 100% certain because I walked by it pretty quickly.
Today on my long walk down perimeter I saw the cluster of bars near Det5 open. The old man bars Honey Ko, Touch of class, etc.. were open as well. That new hotel & bar Kona is also still open. I walked by one old timer bar called Garfield's and they had a "No Chinese allowed" sign in front. Interesting and quite racist business model.
I saw a real cutie standing around in front of Det 5.
There are many businesses in Angeles that did not survive Covid. Many of the secondary bars like Las Vegas, Red, etc.. are dead and my favorite day time bar "Soya" also did not survive.
I picked up a freelancer online and had a good time with her. I asked her some questions about Angeles and she said that it's mostly old expats now and that many girls still have not come back from the province.
Later this week I will be popping by some of the bars when I have the opportunity and do a more thorough look. The clientele you still see in Angeles are mostly the old grumpy westerner type now. So, i'm not sure what the vibe will be in some of those bars. It should be entertaining in one way or another. haha
This is a historic time for Angeles. I'm not sure if it will survive or not but it is very interesting to see it right now in its current state of being.
One thing about being in Angeles now is that as a foreigner you stick out much more than before. At night I saw a few groups of mid 20's filipino men just hanging out in street corners. Many look unemployed and restless. It does not feel as safe as before unfortunately. I got a few looks by some of these guys that I didn't really like at night.
The place i'm staying at is normally booked at least 60% occupancy during pre-covid and I have seen maybe one or two other guests. The rest are long stay expats who seem to be leasing long term.