It’s Thursday night at the casino complex NagaWorld, and no one is dancing to the Filipino cover band’s synth-heavy version of Madonna’s “Borderline.” Instead, patrons of the Darlin Darlin Bar, mostly young men, are playing dice games to expedite their imbibing as young waitresses in single-shoulder red gowns shuttle between the bartenders and the tables. At the rear of the bar, a wall of young women in miniskirts chat with each other or look at their phones, waiting for the men to invite them over for a drink.
Finally, the crowd shows some signs of life as the band plays the first few notes of the Teresa Teng tune “Tian Mi Mi,” a Mandarin pop song. At a table near the front, four men, all Chinese, with crew cuts and black t-shirts, raise their glasses of beer and hoot in approval.
Darlin' Darlin' Nightclub, Nagaworld Entertainment Complex, Phnom Penh
Credit: Blemished Paradise, Creative Commons
The Darlin Darlin Bar would not be out of place in any second or th
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