I mentioned the concept of part-time hookers back in the Gotham East post . Since then I’ve had a couple of e-mails from readers wanting to know more.

I’m sure the practice happens in most places but I first noticed it in Hong Kong. Back in the days when they weren’t so busy US Navy ships used to frequently stop off in Hong Kong for r&r. When they did all the bars on Lockhart Road would open earlier and the number of hookers would increase exponentially.

A good number of them were were just maids and contract workers making hay while the sun shone. In other places I’ve met students who have merely wanted to “practice their English” and at the same time rack up a few dollars to help pay for their course.

One of the more extreme examples of these phenomena happened simultaneously in Bandung. Bandung is a small town Java, Indonesia. A pleasant place and an important university town, though there is little to attract the casual visitor other than the delightful art deco Savoy Homan Hotel.

I’d gone out in search of a beer and ran into a handful of Australian military men. They told me they had just completed some secret joint maneuvers and asked me if I was going to the disco. Disco? I looked out at the dark and deserted street and tried to figure out what was the most improbable; a disco or maneuvers that were secret.

I had nothing better to do so I agreed. There was indeed a disco. It was a discreet affair, you could easily walk past and not notice it. But inside it was heaving.

“Usually this place only opens on a Friday,” they told me “but they knew we’d be here.”

“How come?” I asked, “I thought your mission was secret.”

I didn’t get an answer, they’d already hit the dance floor and were enveloped in a sea of women. I sucked back another beer and organised an intense English language workshop at the Savoy Homan.

The Australians had gone by the following evening and the disco was closed, I left the following morning and my part-time hookers went back to being diligent students.