My original plan for this entry was to make you green with envy. It's really about time anyway...

But instead of telling you about the glorious weather and beach here, about living in a nice hotel room where other people take care of your laundry, where you are not able to cook for yourself (not that I'd want to) and have to order Room Service or about sitting at the pool doing f#%k all other than drinking strawberry daiquiris etc., I have come across something else you need to know about. And when I say need to know about, for some of you I really mean it. You can't afford not to know!

But let's back up one step. As some of you might remember from my previous entry, I am currently in Aruba on a secret mission. And while Room Service might be fun once in a while, trust me, you don't want it every night. There is also only so much diversion a hotel room or even an entire hotel can offer, so you will have to venture out once in a while. Especially if it is Stanley Cup Playoff season (that means Ice Hockey for those of you who might not follow US Sports as closely as you should) and the games are not shown on the channels available in your room and you have been to the Champions Sport Bar in your hotel 4 times in the week already.

There are plenty of dinner opportunities here in the direct vicinity of the hotel including a Tony Romas, a TGI Fridays, Benihana among many many others. Quite a few of them will show sports events. But the one place that caught my eye is located directly above the Benihana here.

It is a Hooters!!! I see the question mark in some of your faces. Well, Hooters is a restaurant chain that uses a certain concept to appeal to a certain type of customer. I am very excited! More explanations later. Believe it or not, I had never been to one before. That's not particularly surprising as in Europe they are relatively rare. There's only 2 in Germany, 3 in Austria & Switzerland and only one in the UK. I was very close to getting into one once about 10 years ago on a USA holiday, but the girlfriend at the time did not deem it a suitable dining option, what with all the sports on TV and the lovely waitresses and their very own asset structure...

Which brings us back to the concept. Nocturnal birds like owls are referred to as Hooters, presumably because of the noise they make. The company actually uses an owl in their logo.  However, certain female body parts are sometimes also referred to as Hooters and I believe this is more what the founders had in mind 25 years ago.

So, you end up with a restaurant that serves about the usual American fare (i.e. onion rings, ribs, shrimps, burgers etc.) served by pretty waitresses with big smiles in a very distinctive outfit in a place showing all sorts of sports on many many TVs. It also has a certain knack for taking the mick out of themselves, which is something I like very much in everything. As I said, it appeals to a certain type of customer. As you might have guessed by this point, I am one of them. No seriously, if you haven't been, you must go at once! Take my car!

So while I could try to tell you that I went in there last Friday for a Caesar Salad, the New York Rangers game and a drink, I don't think I would be very successful. It is partly true though. They also had Happy Hour. So, I sit there with my 2 drinks watching the game with one eye and soaking up the atmosphere and all the information with the other. You see, we hospitality folks have a bad habit of always looking for flaws or figuring out how something works.

Well, while I obviously don't know for sure, I would think the Aruba Hooters is a franchise run by what I would guess are a Filipino family, which comes maybe a bit unexpected. The kitchen is quick and puts out decent food. The whole place including the Used Beer Department (love it!) is clean and well maintained. Some of the girls are truly lovely and by luck I have chosen the section served by the prettiest one of them.  Her name is Natasha and with her wonderful smile she keeps me supplied with drinks for about the next 3 hours. During the game I proceed to befriend 2 American guys at the next table, one of which works at the local refinery. I have pretty much forgotten everything else they have told me. After the game is over I hand over a ludicrously large amount of money to the lovely Natasha and move on. Because I have lost the receipt, I can't tell you how many drinks I had exactly. I could also not remember any particularly funny behavior on my part, but supposedly I guess there must have been a lot of drinks as well as some memorable behavior on my part.

I went back there on Monday for the Boston Bruins game (really) and was immediately recognized and greeted with a big smile, which kind of tells me what sort of evening it must have been. Whatever, as long as I'm greeted like this and as long as the lovely Natasha is around I'll be more than happy to go back.

Today there is no Ice Hockey, so I'm not going, but nevertheless, you'll have to excuse me now. Room Service has just arrived and I really was out to make you full of envy after all....

Life's good, take care...