|
Barfly Jason Genegabus |
Barfly hits hostess
bar bookMAHALO plenty to all you faithful readers out there who noticed the absence of this column in last Friday's Star-Bulletin.
For the first time since Barfly started running in the newspaper, my boss allowed me to take the week off -- so instead of finding a bar to drink at and write about here, I spent part of my vacation kicking back on the couch at home and reading about a type of establishment many of you know about, but fewer have probably gathered up the courage to actually go and visit. I'm talking about hostess bars.
TO BE completely honest, I can count on one hand the number of times I've actually set foot in a hostess bar, including the one episode chronicled in this space earlier this year. At the same time, I have friends that don't like to spend their money anyplace else.
"Buy Me Drinkee: Hostess Bar 101"
By "Maria Tuu-Bigg,"
"Fu Ling Yu Tuu" and
"Pua Ting Tuu"
(Aventine Press, 98 pages, $12.95)Available at the Coffee Factory (1372 S. King St.) and on the web at www.buymedrinkee.com
What's the attraction, you ask? For some less sociable folk, its an opportunity to get a relatively good-looking woman (at least most of the time) to sit down and treat you like a king for a few minutes -- usually at a price starting around 20 bucks. For others, it's the fact that a hostess bar is the only place you can get a $2 beer on a weekend, or drinks and pupus after 2 a.m. when all the other bars in town have closed for the night.
IN THE book, "Buy Me Drinkee: Hostess Bar 101," someone who goes by the name "Maria Tuu-Bigg" takes readers behind the velvet curtain and into the shady world of "high back booths, the over-friendly, over-pushy girls and, oh yeah, that special corner table that no one can see."
From the very first chapter, the author breaks it down, in no uncertain terms, what the one thing is that drives the hostess bar industry in Honolulu -- money. Men need to spend it in order to get the attention of the women; the women want it in order to justify spending time with guys they normally wouldn't give the time of day to; and bar owners try to make as much of it as possible while bending the rules set by Honolulu's Liquor Commission and hoping they don't get caught.
"Buy Me Drinkee" is a pretty quick read at just 98 pages, but it also covers just about every aspect of the business that someone curious about the industry would want to know about. Ever wonder why hostess bars always seem to be changing their names and announcing that they're "under new management?" This book breaks it down.
Other topics covered include the proper way to serve champagne in a hostess bar; some of the more important Liquor Commission rules to be aware of when visiting the ladies; the different categories most customers of these types of establishments fall under; and why it's important to never, I repeat, NEVER pay with a credit card if you decide to visit this kind of place.
AVAILABLE ONLY at the Coffee Factory on South King Street and online at www.buymedrinkee.com for the time being, "Buy Me Drinkee: Hostess Bar 101" is a quick and easy way to get some insight into the world of hostess bars without having to actually step inside one and spend money on the ladies.
While a disclaimer tells readers that "the stories and events in this book are fictional," you can be sure that the author has most of his or her facts straight and is painting a pretty accurate picture of what it's like inside this type of establishment.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Barfly appears every Friday in Star-Bulletin Weekend.
E-mail Jason Genegabus at jason@starbulletin.com with suggestions of neighborhood bars to visit.
