Several years ago, while flying back to Thailand from Indonesia, a voluptuous young Asian woman took the seat next to me. Now most of the time I keep my trap shut while flying, even going as far as listening to my IPod to block out any blabbermouths that happen to sit next to me, but of course, this was different. Her smell alone made me take notice; she was sexy as hell, one of those rare women who managed to get my testosterone pumping full speed by her mere presence.
I knew had to talk to her and go for the number close – so I did. Within minutes, I knew her vital information. She was a 23-year-old Thai living in Indonesia, Surabaya to be exact, and she had been living there off and on for about a year. She gave “Coyote Dancer” as her profession.
Shanghai is known for its bar scene. Unlike Beijing, Shanghai’s bars display a wide diversity of genres, prices, decors, and entertainment. The hobnobbers convene nightly along the Bund drinking brandy for $30USD a glass while the English teachers rendezvous along Hangshan Road, where cold beer can flow for as cheap as $1USD. Everything imaginable lies in between these extremes, the most intense of which are the so-called all-you-can-drink bars catering almost exclusively to expats.
One of the top bars in Shanghai’s all-you-can-drink scene is De La Coast where for 100 RMB (about $14USD) you can do your best to damage your liver amid flashing lights and endless seizure-like dance offs. A truly gifted DJ blasts perfectly mixed tunes while friendly bartenders mix an unending barrage of rail drinks. The bar is successful primarily because it attracts a steady stream of regulars.
While De La Coast may be one of the more dual-gendered bars in the area, attracting a plethora of expats and locals alike, the traditional drink-for-a-sum bars in Shanghai use blunt human-nature tactics for attracting foreign currency: pigtails, pushup bras, and stick on purple eyelashes.
My first trip to a strip bar in Panama was to the infamous La Mayor in San Felipe, Panama City. I had been lounging at an outside bar all day drinking Seko and O.J. with a guy from Sweden and another from Tennessee and we were all getting a bit fidgety. Big Swede (as they call him) mentioned that he wouldn’t mind going to a nudie bar and it didn’t take much arm twisting to get me and Tennessee to agree.
I had only been in the country for a few days so I wasn’t going to be much help in selecting a venue and Big Swede who has been to most of the skin dens said he just wanted to go some place different. This left the decision to the gentleman from Tennessee who sort of grinned and said “I know a place we can go to.” A few minutes later we had downed our drinks, paid our separate tabs and stumbled out onto the sidewalk together to wait for a taxi.
Although some expats complain about them, taxis in Panama are plentiful and relatively cheap. You never have to wait too long for one to stop for you and on this evening we didn’t either. The tiny Toyota pulled up looking like it had spent several years doing the derby circuits and sporting a paint job of several different shades of yellow. Tennessee approached the driver side window, leaned down then sort of grinned and said “We wanna go to La Mayor in San Felipe.”
Jakarta is surprisingly cosmopolitan. However, many expats don’t see this side or choose to explore it. Often they go to the same bars and hang-out with the same people they would back home. I would never accuse my fellow expat rockstars of doing this though, as I know they are always wiling to sample new things and try new experiences.
For those who want something different on their nights out in Jakarta, then I suggest you try the Arab nightclubs – Delilah and Tiga Kuda.
Delilah on Gatot Subroto is a huge club situated near the Planet Hollywood restaurant and consists of two floors, pool tables, a big dance floor and a stage. The music, as you’d expect, is mainly middle eastern dance tunes with the live band playing Arabic music. This in itself is a cultural experience as you watch how the men and women shake their thing to the music.
However, I suspect that most frequenters of this site are not going to bars for the music and ambience alone. When an expat rockstar has a night out, women are usually an essential part of the evening’s entertainment.
Despite its position as the capital of the world’s largest Muslim population, Jakarta has always been famed for its raucous nightlife. However, most expats, whether here long-term or short-term, rarely venture from the confines of Blok M or the hotel bars. But, fellow expat rockstars there is a much wilder scene to be explored in the maze of flashing neon and run-down side streets of North Jakarta.
The area around Mangga Besar may look dilapidated but it is the area of the old China Town and where many of Jakarta’s Chinese businessmen like to hold their business meetings or simply go and unwind.
The amount of signs hanging from hotels offering spas or karaoke lounges should give some clue as to what type of services are on offer up here, but that is only part of the story. If you want to see naked women dancing, and by that I mean good looking women and not the low-quality girls in D’s Place on the Blok, then you need to head up North on a weekend.
Located in one of Jakarta’s swanker shopping malls and (oddly) above a bowling alley and pool hall is one of Jakarta’s best bar/lounges, the Mojito Lounge. The Mojito Lounge is a small lounge and bar with a great selection of cigars, comfortable couches and a wile menu of different types of Mojito’s (hence the name).
The first time I went to the Mojito Lounge I was invited by a local lady friend because she knew I liked smoking cigars. At first I was like “you want to hang out at a bar in a shopping mall?” but I figured why not go ahead and check it out.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was ten drop-dead beautiful Indonesian girls all wearing white dresses sitting around.
A haunt of the wealthier resident expats, visiting businessmen, middle class girls and girls who work in the oldest profession, the bars in the five-star hotels are buzzing and busy most weekends. These bars are not for the expat rockstars on a tight budget, as drinks prices and in some cases prices for the girls are much higher than elsewhere. However, they are the place to come if you want to meet some of the better looking or higher class girls or impress visitors from out of town.
There is a mix of office girls out for a good time, some married rich girls out for a bit of fun and ladies looking for payment for their services. The more aggressive the come-on the more likely she is of the latter variety. However, each to their own, this is Asia after all. But the reason I myself like these bars every now and then is that you can drop lucky and meet a girl who is independently wealthy and has her own driver, apartment etc and treats you as a sexual plaything – which after all is the ultimate aim for any self-respecting man. So happy hunting.
The Three Best Jakarta Hotel Bars for Meeting Local Women are…
Every once in awhile you gotta hit up the Blok. Blok M that is. To me Blok M is like Taco Bell: you know you’re gonna regret it, but every once in a while you gotta get some. I try to stay at some of the more unknown joints in Jakarta. Places more akin to the ERS maxim which is: drink, party and play, but do it big time. However, that’s not to say that Blok M doesn’t offer fun for all you readers who hold highly the principles of the Expat Rock Star.
Me and Mr. Grey had been drinking for a good portion of the night (him scotch and me bourbon) and the snap decision was made to hit up the old Blok (quite like the decision for going to Taco Bell hits you). So we caught a Blue Bird from the Shangri La and headed out on the hope something spectacular was gonna happen (I was hoping to get into a knife fight).
