One of my accountants is a Taiwanese guy. He had been telling me for some time that he knew another Taiwanese man that I should talk with, professionally, and I said sure, set it up.
We set it up for last night. I asked him where we were going [in Flushing] but he told me he didn't really know the addresses or business names, so I said no problem, pick me up and we'll all go together.
The first place we went was on Northern Blvd, just north of Union Street. I've driven by there many times but never paid it much attention. There's a narrow alley and parking lot in the back, and we had the pleasure of entering through the kitchen. The girls are Korean/Chinese, meaning they speak both languages and have family roots in NE China or South Korea.
I've been to many similar places in Asia, but never really liked them much because of the smoking. Well, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, there's absolutely no smoking in the KTVs here! I was 95% sure that I knew the mamasan there from somewhere else, perhaps a KMP in another state in a prior era.
So let's cut to the chase. The girls are great to look at, no question. There are some really sexy girls there. But only about 1/5 can carry on a conversation, and by now I'm pretty good at it. The girls drink with you and ask you to buy a fruit platter. The bill was $138 about an hour later, and I think my friend tipped another $40. I didn't really feel it was value because the girls were mostly on the other side of the bar, but there was one tall girl that was really hot to look at and cordial to talk with. The music was also a bit too loud. Sometimes it's good to remember just how good they can look under the right circumstances. That's surely a key reason we do this - there are a few out there who are absolutely stunning.
The second place was much better. Again the girls were Chinese/Korean. Just off Northern Blvd, not far from the orange-colored supermarket, it looked inconspicuous from the street, but inside the place was hopping. We sat at a booth and I quickly learned this is the right seating decision. The girls need to sit in the booth with you; they're not across the bar. And the fun begins. Their goal is to get you to take a room downstairs. I later learned that a guest earlier that week ran up a bill of ~$1,500 by drinking three $450 bottles of something. So I would avoid that option. There were some hot looking young girls, but we talked at greater length with the manager and owner. I have a series of questions I ask and they passed all my tests. Then they started asking their own questions, and the owner got excited at how collectively smart we 3 guys were. The manager told me she had been forced to drink so much booze last night that she really couldn't drink booze with us tonight, and I said no problem, drink tea or whatever, and it was as if I had just touched down from the moon. I guess so many of the Asian guys just have their rituals and if the girl says she can't drink booze the guys get pissed off, whatever.
The conversations and laughter waned and waxed, legs were touched, bodies were pressed together, men were sandwiched among women, pieces of fruit were tactfully placed in each other's mouths, etc. The music was not too loud - check. We talked about whether it was good for them to try to get white guys as customers, what the white guys' expectations were, etc. I think we need Prix Fixe options and I'm going to cultivate that idea. Those of you who know my prior writing are aware that my M.O. is that you always want to make good friends, because the ones you become friends with are your vector to their friends. And believe me, they all have friends that want to meet us.
Eventually the owner asked for my phone # and I gave her my Google Voice #. Note: never give out your cell phone #. Get a Google Voice # or similar. Using my sales training techniques, I asked, what would she do IF I gave her my #? Eventually we established that with her schedule and lifestyle, she doesn't get to eat a lot of home-cooked meals, and I may get my cooking lady to come over and cook a nice meal for all of us.
There were terrific hugs and groping at the end, and the bill was a mere $68 for ~1.5 hours of beer + fruit for the 3 of us. I think my friend tipped $30 and told me not to tip more. I'll follow up with another visit and report back. I think having a place like this as a coded UG destination with Prix Fixe options might provide the environment and collegiality some UGers are looking for. And there's absolutely the possibility for extracurriculars, but it will take some cultivation on your part.
We set it up for last night. I asked him where we were going [in Flushing] but he told me he didn't really know the addresses or business names, so I said no problem, pick me up and we'll all go together.
The first place we went was on Northern Blvd, just north of Union Street. I've driven by there many times but never paid it much attention. There's a narrow alley and parking lot in the back, and we had the pleasure of entering through the kitchen. The girls are Korean/Chinese, meaning they speak both languages and have family roots in NE China or South Korea.
I've been to many similar places in Asia, but never really liked them much because of the smoking. Well, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg, there's absolutely no smoking in the KTVs here! I was 95% sure that I knew the mamasan there from somewhere else, perhaps a KMP in another state in a prior era.
So let's cut to the chase. The girls are great to look at, no question. There are some really sexy girls there. But only about 1/5 can carry on a conversation, and by now I'm pretty good at it. The girls drink with you and ask you to buy a fruit platter. The bill was $138 about an hour later, and I think my friend tipped another $40. I didn't really feel it was value because the girls were mostly on the other side of the bar, but there was one tall girl that was really hot to look at and cordial to talk with. The music was also a bit too loud. Sometimes it's good to remember just how good they can look under the right circumstances. That's surely a key reason we do this - there are a few out there who are absolutely stunning.
The second place was much better. Again the girls were Chinese/Korean. Just off Northern Blvd, not far from the orange-colored supermarket, it looked inconspicuous from the street, but inside the place was hopping. We sat at a booth and I quickly learned this is the right seating decision. The girls need to sit in the booth with you; they're not across the bar. And the fun begins. Their goal is to get you to take a room downstairs. I later learned that a guest earlier that week ran up a bill of ~$1,500 by drinking three $450 bottles of something. So I would avoid that option. There were some hot looking young girls, but we talked at greater length with the manager and owner. I have a series of questions I ask and they passed all my tests. Then they started asking their own questions, and the owner got excited at how collectively smart we 3 guys were. The manager told me she had been forced to drink so much booze last night that she really couldn't drink booze with us tonight, and I said no problem, drink tea or whatever, and it was as if I had just touched down from the moon. I guess so many of the Asian guys just have their rituals and if the girl says she can't drink booze the guys get pissed off, whatever.
The conversations and laughter waned and waxed, legs were touched, bodies were pressed together, men were sandwiched among women, pieces of fruit were tactfully placed in each other's mouths, etc. The music was not too loud - check. We talked about whether it was good for them to try to get white guys as customers, what the white guys' expectations were, etc. I think we need Prix Fixe options and I'm going to cultivate that idea. Those of you who know my prior writing are aware that my M.O. is that you always want to make good friends, because the ones you become friends with are your vector to their friends. And believe me, they all have friends that want to meet us.
Eventually the owner asked for my phone # and I gave her my Google Voice #. Note: never give out your cell phone #. Get a Google Voice # or similar. Using my sales training techniques, I asked, what would she do IF I gave her my #? Eventually we established that with her schedule and lifestyle, she doesn't get to eat a lot of home-cooked meals, and I may get my cooking lady to come over and cook a nice meal for all of us.
There were terrific hugs and groping at the end, and the bill was a mere $68 for ~1.5 hours of beer + fruit for the 3 of us. I think my friend tipped $30 and told me not to tip more. I'll follow up with another visit and report back. I think having a place like this as a coded UG destination with Prix Fixe options might provide the environment and collegiality some UGers are looking for. And there's absolutely the possibility for extracurriculars, but it will take some cultivation on your part.