Beijing Boyce

Street racer

Plastered T-shirts will take the Olympic spirit into the hutongs when it hosts a 100-metre sprint this Saturday to promote its new line of Games-wear. The race is part of a weekend party in Nanluoguxiang (near Houhai) that promises plenty of music, food and culture.

The 100-meter race and a fashion show are set for 7 PM at Plastered, with fire dancers performing a “warm up”, at 6:30 PM. See this map or contact plastered8@gmail.com / 13910-205-721 for details.

Saturday schedule

Sunday schedule

From the last Plastered event (see here)

Owl right! (Thanks to The Crow for this Saturday night pic)

While Hooters officially opens today, I somehow ended up on an invite list for a VIP party on Monday and a “pretend to be a customer” event on Saturday and thus got some sneak peaks. On my way to the party, I ran into a female journalist and brought her along, the perfect guest for a spot known for its “Hooters girls“, which stateside are often equated with being top-heavy and globally with wearing orange shorts, sheer pantyhose and tight tops while doing periodic dances to songs I generally loathe, such as Mickey and You Are My Sunshine.

The Beijing Hooters is on Workers Stadium East, just in front of The Den, and the place was hopping. A few observations:

- There was a free buffet of wings, ribs, mashed potatoes, salads, dessert and more - I would give the highest marks to the ribs and spuds.

- There was free flow beer, wine and some kind of bubbly drink from France that was apparently sparkling wine (I went Budweiser all the way).

- The Hooters girls were extremely energetic in terms of singing and dancing, but need a bit of work in terms of actually providing service, i.e. I asked for a beer six times and each time the waitress cheerfully said “right away”, headed off, and then forget all about my order by the time she got to the counter. I’ll chalk it up to opening night excitement. You certainly couldn’t knock their enthusiasm.

- The old maxim that “some people should never be allowed near a microphone” applied to the hostess (at least on this night) who decided to outline the history of Hooters halfway through the evening (when everyone was already loaded with food and drink) and repeatedly and relentlessly yelled out raffle ticket numbers and other info (yes, we heard it!). We’ll chalk that up to opening night excitement, too. The Beijing owner kept it terse and told everyone to have a good time.

- Miss Hooters 2006, who arrived in Beijing a day earlier, circulated and signed fliers of herself. In hindsight, I missed an excellent chance to get a “Dear Osama, all my love, Miss Hooters 2006. PS. That beard is a dead giveaway!” flier, which might have brought a pretty penny on E-bay. Also on hand from the states were several company bigwigs and a handful of Hooters girls to train the local staff.

- The place is L-shaped, two-tiered and spacious, with both booth and table seating. It’s a nice layout, though on slower nights, it might be a bit awkward having a dozen Hooters girls dancing for a few tables of patrons.

- The kitchen staff beat the crap out of the stainless steel countertops whenever the Hooters girls finished their dances. The hidden message - don’t mess with these guys; they have knives and spatulas and are not afraid to use them.

All in all, it was a fun party, particularly as my table was loaded with Europeans and I have several photos of them chowing through a third basket of cheese sticks. These will provide ample evidence next time I heard them mocking American cuisine. Mu-wha-ha-ha-ha!

As for all the talk about the Hooters girls’ outfits, it seems misplaced given the number of hotels and restaurants in town where the wait staff wear qipao slit up to their waists and show more leg than a giraffe.

Previous story: Hooters “owl” set to open