Woke up at about 7am and went up to the pool for a quick swim (and it was quick as it was bloody freezing lol). Had a warm in the Jacuzzi for a bit and we just managed to catch the sun coming up before we left the pool. Got dried off and then had another belly-busting breakfast. . I made it a little bit healthy by having a carrot and apple juice to get my vitamins in lol. It’s a good job we weren’t staying here very long or I would of put loads of weight on.
After stuffing our faces we walked some of it off making our way over to the bus station. We got there at about 9.30am even though the pick-up wasn’t until 10am as it said that you had to check in half an hour before.
The coach came on time (as you would expect) and I have to say it was very impressive. The seats were leather recliner chairs, wider than an airline seat, and there was loads of legroom. You had individual TV screens where you could choose your own movies and play games.
Within minutes of setting off the coach attendant woman was coming round with coffee and breakfast boxes. We all saved our box for lunch as we were all still stuffed. Plus it was a subway sandwich so would be good to have later for lunch.
I managed to watch films, Hancock and most of a film called bulletproof staring Adam Sandler. Played a few games in-between and had a bit of a sleep just as we were leaving Singapore. Had to get off too clear Kuala Lumpur and Singapore immigration and customs, both of which were pretty painless. It was definitely better going by coach as it was a lot more comfortable and also 2 hours quicker, and only £2 more expensive.
When we got to the hotel we all sorted out what stuff we were going to send back home in a parcel so that in would just need boxing up in the morning when the post office is open.
Quick wash and change and then we were out for dinner. Tried to find a small local place to eat but we ended up going to our local haunt next door as there is lots of choice from the different vendors and its very reasonably priced.
We took a walk around the area to a few bars to see what the nightlife was like. The first was called “the public house” and had a sign up in the window that we’d seen earlier. It said “STAFF WANTED” then listed loads of things like: bad breath, bad odour, no sense of humour and then said underneath “if you have any of the above qualities, DON’T BOTHER” LOL. The menu’s listed the prices but then had a note at the bottom offering various percentage discounts at certain times. Not surprising when the small Tiger beers were $10 (about £5). Needless to say we didn’t stay there too long, we just had one beer each and then a cider called “pip squeak” while Phil was sipping his first beer like a girl. He didn’t want to drink it fast, he said after paying a fiver for it. Well that and the fact that the football was on in the bar. The staff were really friendly and very chatty (but I guess they would need to be to make up for the prices they were charging).
The next bar was one that we had spotted across the road from us that seemed to have different floors, one being a pub and another a lounge. When we walked in we could hear someone singing in Chinese so thought it was Karaoke or something. We were shown to a table and ordered some beers. There was only about another 6 people in the place and probably more staff than there were customers. Almost the minute you took a sip out of your glass of beer one of the waitresses would come and top it up again to full. Next we were brought a bowl of oranges for good luck to celebrate the New Year (yeah I always fancy an orange when I’m having a beer!!) also a bowl of prawn crackers. We didn’t dare eat anything though in case they charged us for it lol. I still couldn’t see any Karaoke books and the girls on stage didn’t seem to be looking at a TV screen. Nobody clapped in between songs and they would just kinda go from one straight into the next song till it was another girls time. All the girls had FMB’s on and short skirt and I noticed they had round discs near the waistband with a number on, hmmm me thinks this aint Karaoke ! LOL
Girl 48 was mid song when suddenly two of the waitresses started blowing whistles and the girl was given a bright pink sash saying $50. I thought “now if that’s a prize I’m up for this gig” lol. The woman putting the sash on her then gestured toward the table behind us where two old geezers were sat as if to say “that’s from him” Next up was tone deaf Tina, number 92, I don’t think she’s gonna be getting a sash any time soon, and after 3 torturous songs…. no sash. I asked our waitress woman what the crack was with the Sash’s and she explained if you liked the girl you could buy her “a flower” i.e one of these bright sash things. The sash’s were quite thick and velcro’d on and had a glittery dollar sign with an amount and then some Chinese writing. I wasn’t sure what you got in return for these sash’s and wasn’t planning to find out. We kept trying to watch what was going on but funnily enough nothing dodgy seemed to be happening. The old guy didn’t get a nod and a wink and then disappear behind some velvet curtain or owt, so I wasn’t really sure why you would want to pay £25 just to say “hey you’re pretty". Two of the girls did go and sit at his table though so maybe they are paying for their company? Anyway unless they left and went to another floor we didn’t see owt going on.
Sam was sat next to Phil so they probably thought they were a couple, which just left me looking like I might be up for a sash purchase as the waitress kept asking did I want to buy one of them a flower. I thought “ a flower for £25? I should cocoa I can get a whole bunch at home for that”, but I kept well buttoned and just said I was married so I couldn’t.
Sam popped to the loo (after I’d been for a butchers to make sure it wasn’t “the velvet curtain” lol) and quick sharp as soon as she went, over comes tone deaf Tina (or number 92 for short). The minute she sat next to me, over, came the waitress and got an extra glass and poured her a glass from our beers in the ice bucket. “Wow wow wow” I thought “who invited you to the party”, but said nothing and smiled (typical Brit). Next thing she’s trying to make small talk (in the little English she could speak) and starts putting her hand on my knee, GREAT ! just what I need.
Phil and Sam could barely look at me for fear of laughing and I just kept trying to talk to them and ignore number 92 trying to catch my eye. I took comfort in drinking my beer quickly to get topped up regularly, which would soon annoy Phil, and then he’d suggest we go lol. He didn’t bite though as he was enjoying the show too much and said he’d never seen me so quiet.
Next up was a fella without a number who said a few words and people clapped and then went into a few songs. I’m guessing he was the owner as he didn’t have a number and was probably saying something about Happy New Year but he could have been saying “these idiot don’t understand what’s going on” for all we knew.
After he’d finished he came and scooched up next to Sam, someone’s not laughing now are they lol. He was making conversation and asking where we were from and stuff. He explained the fruit and crisps were free and for the new year for good luck (DAMN I could of been eating them all this time lol). We told him we had an early flight and had to go soon, so he disappeared after a bit of chit chat.
Next up jumps number 92 and tells me to watch her sing, and over comes Waitress asking if I want to buy her a flower. She gets the 'I’m married' line and wanders off. We took this opportunity to plan our exit before Mai Ling swigged her way through our beers. As we were getting the money together to pay the bill I could see Warbling Wendy look all happy thinking she was getting a flower, yeah good luck with that love lol.
Third bar, we popped back to the hotel to ask where was the place to go in the area and she told us to go to Chimes just down the road. Sam had heard of that so it was probably in one of the guidebooks. We walked for about 5 mins and found I just down the road on the right. It was a kind of walled off complex with various bars, restaurants in a kind of square with an outdoor seated area in the middle with a huge TV screen on showing the football. Liverpool were playing so that was Sam fixed to her seat for the night. Phil was also engrossed and so I couldn’t get a word out of either of them. After our first drink I said I would have a mooch around and leave them to it. Found a bar that had good music playing and a dance floor. When I went in they asked if I was crew or not as it was crew discount night. I said yes and blagged that I worked for an airline. It was a good move as you got 40% discount on drinks, RESULT !
After a while a live act who were really good, a young Chinese girl and a big guy with a backing band, playing pretty up to date stuff, replaced the music after about half an hour. I had a few drinks and then made my way back to the hotel at about 11.30 (everywhere seems to close early here).
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