Where the White Women At?

Notes from Plunger. Still down in Old Mexico and chomping at the bit to

GET THE FUCK OUT.

• Uniformed cops shaking down foreigners in the street
• Sly ladyboys angling for your wallet, et al....

Can you imagine??

Year of the Pig:
Chinese New Year is winding down. We are officially in the The Year of the Golden Pig. I can feel it. It wasn't just the Ticos bombing around town with big branches hanging out the windows or the SUVs with torch-sized sticks of burning incense sticking out the back. I feel PIG. It feels right. It's going to be a good one! (Knock on wood...)

Where the White Women At?
Blame it on the Rambler. He had 2 silver bellies in tow, it was getting late, Jim at Cali2 angling to get us the hell out so he could go party. Where do you take 2 well-heeled White women at that time of night?

Pontoon:
We weaved our way down the Quay towards the landing across from Street108. Burned one on the way. Preventative RX. Safety-word, "Sharky." First sign of trouble, "Sharky!" and we'd be out the door. And so - down the steps through a wall of stench (the boat is located next to a sewer outlet) and into another world.

We hit the scene. Whale and Porpoise were already at the bar- being chatted up by some Brit sporting a large camera with a telephoto lens. He was trying hard to scam them and....it was funny as hell. Go for it, Rico Suave. Gotta love a guy working chicks at a barang bar with the aid of a camera...("I'm doing fashion in London, but I came over to do some travel shots for the Agency....")

Vodka from the Khmer kid behind the bar. Reasonable. ($2) Music from the stereo: Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield. Cool. Maybe I got this place all wrong. Maybe there's a world beyond Howies and Sharky and Martini's and Sophies...

Then the crowds started showing up. Barangs you know live here, yet you've never seen before. They came in cars and white SUVs. They dressed up to go out. Silk shirts. Khakis. Dudes in coordinated outfits. People who wear watches. (!!)

The music changed. Curtis was gone. Techno-electronic crap took over. I couldn't remember the "get-away" phrase. Bad scene. Porpoise ordered a round of pink drinks called, Californications. ($2.50, I think.) I felt like the un-easy rider. But I was drunk and high and watching the NGO/Embassy crowd try and cut loose - without really cutting loose was kind of fun.

Dregde showed up with an ex-Cyrcee cutie. Barang wives and girfriends took note. Win. Pink drinks for everyone! We broke out a bone and sparked it. NGO-dude working the bar not down with a taxi-girl scene but hey, Pontoon is smoke-friendly. Score one for 'em. Comfortable booths, too. Middle-aged couple behind us caught the 2nd hand smoke. Wife looked pissed. Guy looked envious - maybe thinking about what could have been....

DJ Luv showed up and got the techno shit off the sound system and started playing grooves that didn't make me angry. Porpoise and Whale said they had 2 bottles of wine and some beer at their place. Rambler said it wasn't enough. Martini's on the horizon.