Friday, June 24, 2011

china anniversary

A friend who promotes for various bars and nightclubs in HCMC got us tickets to the 20th anniversary celebration of Apocalypse Now (known as Apo). It is one of those seedy places where nobody likes but everyone goes to. It's an institution that just needs to be experienced - at least once. As someone noted, you have to be drunk to be amused, which is why it usually doesn't pick up until after midnight as one of, if not, the last stomping ground after a long night.

It is definitely a place for tourists, sexpats and local pros to congregate. The first floor is where the pros hang out, but even the second floor has a number of them staking their territories. I find it amusing listening to some of the male expat conversations about the pick-up opportunities in these places. They tend to criticize men who pick up the pros; however, don't quite see the irony that the woman they just went home with is a pro although she called herself a 'model' - she just didn't charge them because of their looks or white skin. All the drinks they paid for these women is another form of payment. Yet somehow there's a difference that my simple mind just doesn't understand.

While there may be variety and the abundance ensures a different one each night, I find it doubtful that the drunkened state of all parties calls for responsible protection. An Irish chap that has been living in Asia for over a decade noted that Asia is the 2nd highest after Africa when it comes to HIV/AIDS. While I don't know whether that is true or not, it sure does give one pause in pursuing opportunities here. It is difficult to distinguish one of these sexpats from a regular expat (e.g., Irish friend has only had two long-term relationships while in Asia), as some of them have made an art out of such clandestine activities.

The party perhaps had a thousand in attendance, as I've been to Apo a number of times when it's been really crowded but this one topped all those times. They had lucky draws, of which one set was for those with VIP cards. VIP cards are usually given out to those who spend a lot of money at the establishment or based on connections. My promoter friend was talking to a woman at the next table who had a silver/platinum VIP card, which he noted later was higher status than his. I'm pretty sure by observation of her table over the night that she has never had to spend a cent (or rather dong) at Apo. =)

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