Day 2 Panama - A Few Of My Favorite Things

As exhibited by mi amigo Jose, Panamanians enjoy the reptuation of being genuinely kind and good-natured people. And they really want you to have a good time when you’re visiting their country. The most frequent question I got from the locals was: "Te gusta Panama?" (Do you like Panama?). They weren’t asking for my opinion, like "How do you like Panama?", but putting it out there like an insecure school girl passing a note. "Do you like me? Check Yes or No."

To make sure I checked Yes, it appeared as though the Panama Travel Gods decided to tab Friday night as: "The Night of My Favorite Things." It started with me watching the Yankees beat the Red Sox 1-0. At Fenway no less. I also won $100 on the game...and ate a whole pizza while I watched. A Yankees win, easy money and 8 delicious slices...all before 9 o’clock. These Gods aim to please!

Full of Yankee Pride and pizza, with a fatter wallet as well, I hopped a cab to the party street Jose had shown me earlier in the day. The bars and restaurants along Calle Uruguay aren’t laid out according to a perfectly proportioned grid thought up by a zoning board. It’s not at all like a strip mall or some small town main drag you’d find in the States. Fuddrucker’s isn’t next to Applebee’s which is opposite TGIFriday’s with big signs and ample parking for all. This is a poorly-lit and narrow neighborhood street. It’s got way too many overgrown hedges and non-existent parking.

So in the dark it’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for. However, within moments of exiting the cab I was able to locate what clearly used to be a house that now served as a British pub called The Londoner. I’m usually pretty comfortable at these places, and since it was still relatively early, I figured this was as good of a starting spot as any.

The Londoner was basically like all the other British Pubs I’ve been in. Dart boards, pool table and a few high-back booths where people talk to the people they came with. Even though I’m in a Spanish speaking country, I find it peculiar when everyone is speaking Spanish in a British pub. It’s even funnier when the owner, who looks a little like the magician from Frosty The Snowmam, is barking orders in perfect Spanish to the two Panamian bartenders and then downshifts into a Crocodile Dundee Aussie accent to talk to a couple English guys sitting next to me.

Of course these places always have a good selection of English & Irish beers. You’ll also usually find a couple of the popular American and German brands too. But these Panamian Travel Gods know how to treat a guy. Much to my amazement, The Londoner had my favorite brew, Pilsner Urquell, the national beer of the Czech Republic, in stock.

With the intent of exploring Calle Uruquay, I decided to leave The Londoner after my second Pilsner. But when I stepped outside, on to what was once somebody’s front porch, the Gods halted the exploration before it set sail. Placed in the corner of the second floor of the building across the street was a relatively small sign which caught my eye immediately. This neon beacon called out to me like the Bat Signal. It’s glow cut through the night and stated proudly: "Starlight’s Karoake Bar." On my Top 10 List of Favorite Things, singing is firmly in around #7. After two beers it probably creeps into the Top 5. So I was easily lured across the street by Commissioner Gordon’s call.

Starlight’s was also in what appeared to be a residence at one time. So when I attempted to go through what once was the front door, I was halted by a sign that said the room was reserved for a private party. There was a guy standing in front and I asked him what time the party was going to be over. He said much later, but if I wanted to go to the Karaoke, it was upstairs. I knew these Gods wouldn’t let me down.

He was the bouncer and walked me over to a side entrance that lead upstairs. I paid him $5 and headed up to enjoy the vocal festivities. But before I entered the club the Gods arranged for a few more of my favorite things to greet me. At the top of the stairs was a very attractive Panamian girl behind a makeshift bar, dolled up in shorty-shorts and a pleasingly tight and strategically cut Bacardi T-Shirt. In Spanish she asked me if I wanted a Bacardi Mojito. I hesitated momentarily as my English brain processed the Spanish. "It’s Free" followed up in Spanish. Of course I gladly accepted. I asked where her Tip Jar was and she said she didn’t have one. She told me not to worry about tipping her, but that I should just enjoy the mojito and have a good time inside. Wait a second, free booze and a hot chick who’s not all about the money....I’m being Punk’d right?

Starlight’s was packed with Panamanians. No tourists here. Since all the songs were in Spanish, I didn’t get up and sing. But I had a great time anyway. Karaoke here isn’t about one person getting up to show off there singing skills. It’s about one person getting up there and singing while the whole crowd sings along with them. With the audience participation and multitude of cute Latinas, all the place needed was a clown riding on a litte bike and a dancing box of Tide to officially qualify as the set of Sabado Gigante. I stayed for about 2 hours not knowing one song they sang, but the energy of the place was infectious and I had a great time.

I hit Calle Uruquay one more time to discover what else it offered. I passed a couple of places with hip names like "Moodz" that were clearly dance clubs with music and clientele not of my demographic. On one of the side streets, a large patio with a dozen moderatley crowded tables, caught my eye. It was getting late and I was looking for a little bit of a chill place after the electricity of Starlight’s. This place was called Sahara. And it too was a former house converted to a bar/restaurant. You entered the old house through what used to be the garage. The building was short of shaped like an L. As you entered through at the back end of the garage you stepped into the former living room which was the bottom portion of the L. This room was dispropotionately fat and had the bar directly in front of you and a decent size dance floor and stage to your immediate left. Extending off of that room was the long, skinny part of the L which played host to a 50/50 mix of men and women seated on a few couches and others flirtatiously shooting pool.

Immediately, I liked the mood of the place. Nobody was there to be seen or act like there where there to be seen. They were there to have a good time. While often times Panama can seem a lot like Miami, one thing is surely different in the clubs. The Attitude isn’t on the menu. I grabbed a Corona and enjoyed the vibe of people mingling, laughing and dancing in place to the American music from the DJ.

The stage was set up with instruments, but in the first hour I was there no one had even approached it. I figured that since it was well after midnight the band was probably done for the night. I was wrong. What I learned was that Panama parties. And it parties hard and it parties late, because a little after 1 in the morning the band came out to start their evening.

On my list of My Top 10 Favorite Things, good live music is firmly entrenched. But bad live music drives me to the door rapidly. One of the hottest things in the Latin American music is called Reggaeton. The best way I can describe it is a mix of reggae and rap with an infusion of salsa. To me it’s a bad mix. But in Panama it’s all the rage. So I figured this band was going to crank the Reggaeton and I was going to rock the exit.

But these Gods couldn’t treat me like that. This band came out and absolutely killed the first 3 songs. Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam and Lynyrd Skynyrd as good as any US bar band could cover them. Plus the guitarist had a ridiculous Sweet Home Alabama solo that would have made you think he was from Jacksonville. I stayed until they finished that night and got home way too late.

For a place that appeared to be so unfamiliar, it was funny how so many of my favorite things were experienced that night. As well as the Tour Gods treated me, there's no doubt I'll go back to Panama sometime soon. But seeing how these guys seem to grant wishes so easily, the next time I'm going to make a List in advance. (I wonder if Heidi Klum to greet me in my room is a little too much to ask?)