Monday
Seven Stars
Breakout
Don't stop to ask
Now you've found a break to make at last
You've got to find a way
Say what you want to say
Breakout
Seven Stars
Breakout
Don't stop to ask
Now you've found a break to make at last
You've got to find a way
Say what you want to say
Breakout
It’s late when I wake up, my eyes scanning around the room, the blackout curtains still drawn shut with just a slither of sunlight cutting through the narrow parting like the edge of a razorblade. Dramatic you say? and rightfully so, while it’s enough to wake me from my slumber I’m filled immediate dread at the realisation that I’ve probably missed Lively for breakfast....”Ah fuck it”
I roll over and fart and as snug as I might be there is the promise that I would call Jeff before heading downstairs. I pick up the phone and call him on the room to room dialling, Jeff picks up on the second ring, “Yello?” thankfully he’s waited for this call. He asks, “You ready?” as he’s good to go, but i’m like, “Hells no, gimmie 20?” and defeated he says “Oh... Alright”, I hang up laughing to myself, “heh heh heh sucker”.
We head downstairs and find James and Soly sitting outside under an umbrella table with Lively. Lively’s got a mouth full of fake bacon and barfs out the words, “What happened?” and it’s not really a question that requires a response, though it should be pointed out that I’m rather piggish with my sleep, instead I shrug my shoulders and walk away to check out the breakfast goodies. I do a lap of the breakfast pontoon and end up with a traditional English cooked breakfast and juice. While I’ve been gone the waiter has come by with a pot of black coffee and Jeff has a cup poured for me, how considerate.
Over breakfast we talk about the day ahead of us and Joggy and Soly are keen to get some shopping done. Joggy ponders out loud, “I hope the shopping here is good” I wonder why he’s said that but then he says, “because so far it’s pretty average” and he’s probably right as I’ve got nothing to compare it to, this is my second overseas holiday. Sure, I lived in Melbourne which is Australia’s fashion capital but the range of stores and brands that I’ve seen here is so much more lavish than anything I saw back in Melbourne, even when Daimaru was still around.
Soly turns to ask me, ”You sore from yesterday?” and surprisingly I’m not. “So how’d you sleep?” she asks. I tell her, “Like a log” and she smiles.
It’s close to 10:30am now which is our standard meet up time and when we head over to the lounge bar which serves as our rendezvous point where we discover Nathe and Kym are lounging about ready for whatever. Joggy lites up a cigarette, eager to get his fix, while I go over plans with Nathan and Kym. Kym seems to be two moves ahead of us always, never too keen to go with the flow unless it is in sync with her itinerary.
We head out of the hotel and walk down the block to the corner doing an ATM stop at HSBC. By the time we hit the main intersection of Bukit Bintang this already feels like a repeat episode of yesterday. We agree to start at Sungei Wang and to take it from there and to meet back here at the coffee stand in 2 hours. The crew splits up into pairs, Joggy pairs up with his wife Soly, Nathe and Kym walk off together and Lively goes with Jeff. I head over to the money changer and even though I don’t need to change my Aussie dollars the exchange rate is so good that I’d be stupid not to. I convert a $1,000 AUD into ringgits and the wedge of bills is so thick I have to put a red rubber band around it. I toy with the fat stack dangling there in my deep pockets and I feel like mega-pimp loving the sensation of a fat roll of cashish knocking around next to my balls, I feel like I’m Captain of the town, the only thing missing is my pimp hat, cane and cape.
When I come away from the money exchange Joggy and Soly are headed off in another direction and Lively and Jeff are nowhere to be seen. Nathan comes back for me and follows me into New Balance where I’m in and out in less than a minute, there’s not a lot on offer here and it seems as though the stock hasn’t moved since last year. Meanwhile Nathe and Kym agree to meet back here in an hour and a half and Nathan is relived to be set free for the time being.
Nathan and I wander around some floors and we look at I.T. accessories, tool kits, portable hard drives and other odd bits that you need in order to do your work properly as a Desktop Support Officer, but it’s the kind of stuff that you seem to never have the time of day to go out and purchase for yourself. Across from the I.T. store I look at pulp Japanese graphic novels and when Nate is done with his I.T. odds and sods we head downstairs and walk into the main part of Sungei Wang. We wander up and down escalators, from the top I point out Deli France and another restaurant my sister has recommended for dumplings, but we don’t stop and instead press on..
I roll over and fart and as snug as I might be there is the promise that I would call Jeff before heading downstairs. I pick up the phone and call him on the room to room dialling, Jeff picks up on the second ring, “Yello?” thankfully he’s waited for this call. He asks, “You ready?” as he’s good to go, but i’m like, “Hells no, gimmie 20?” and defeated he says “Oh... Alright”, I hang up laughing to myself, “heh heh heh sucker”.
We head downstairs and find James and Soly sitting outside under an umbrella table with Lively. Lively’s got a mouth full of fake bacon and barfs out the words, “What happened?” and it’s not really a question that requires a response, though it should be pointed out that I’m rather piggish with my sleep, instead I shrug my shoulders and walk away to check out the breakfast goodies. I do a lap of the breakfast pontoon and end up with a traditional English cooked breakfast and juice. While I’ve been gone the waiter has come by with a pot of black coffee and Jeff has a cup poured for me, how considerate.
Over breakfast we talk about the day ahead of us and Joggy and Soly are keen to get some shopping done. Joggy ponders out loud, “I hope the shopping here is good” I wonder why he’s said that but then he says, “because so far it’s pretty average” and he’s probably right as I’ve got nothing to compare it to, this is my second overseas holiday. Sure, I lived in Melbourne which is Australia’s fashion capital but the range of stores and brands that I’ve seen here is so much more lavish than anything I saw back in Melbourne, even when Daimaru was still around.
Soly turns to ask me, ”You sore from yesterday?” and surprisingly I’m not. “So how’d you sleep?” she asks. I tell her, “Like a log” and she smiles.
It’s close to 10:30am now which is our standard meet up time and when we head over to the lounge bar which serves as our rendezvous point where we discover Nathe and Kym are lounging about ready for whatever. Joggy lites up a cigarette, eager to get his fix, while I go over plans with Nathan and Kym. Kym seems to be two moves ahead of us always, never too keen to go with the flow unless it is in sync with her itinerary.
We head out of the hotel and walk down the block to the corner doing an ATM stop at HSBC. By the time we hit the main intersection of Bukit Bintang this already feels like a repeat episode of yesterday. We agree to start at Sungei Wang and to take it from there and to meet back here at the coffee stand in 2 hours. The crew splits up into pairs, Joggy pairs up with his wife Soly, Nathe and Kym walk off together and Lively goes with Jeff. I head over to the money changer and even though I don’t need to change my Aussie dollars the exchange rate is so good that I’d be stupid not to. I convert a $1,000 AUD into ringgits and the wedge of bills is so thick I have to put a red rubber band around it. I toy with the fat stack dangling there in my deep pockets and I feel like mega-pimp loving the sensation of a fat roll of cashish knocking around next to my balls, I feel like I’m Captain of the town, the only thing missing is my pimp hat, cane and cape.
When I come away from the money exchange Joggy and Soly are headed off in another direction and Lively and Jeff are nowhere to be seen. Nathan comes back for me and follows me into New Balance where I’m in and out in less than a minute, there’s not a lot on offer here and it seems as though the stock hasn’t moved since last year. Meanwhile Nathe and Kym agree to meet back here in an hour and a half and Nathan is relived to be set free for the time being.
Nathan and I wander around some floors and we look at I.T. accessories, tool kits, portable hard drives and other odd bits that you need in order to do your work properly as a Desktop Support Officer, but it’s the kind of stuff that you seem to never have the time of day to go out and purchase for yourself. Across from the I.T. store I look at pulp Japanese graphic novels and when Nate is done with his I.T. odds and sods we head downstairs and walk into the main part of Sungei Wang. We wander up and down escalators, from the top I point out Deli France and another restaurant my sister has recommended for dumplings, but we don’t stop and instead press on..
We ride the escalators till we reach the basement level and we wander by a Levis store and it’s retarded cousin, a Lois store. I see the same guy who sorted me out for chinos last year and he calls out to me, but doesn’t recall who I am, he nice enough to show me some short sleeve shirts and asks me if I want these and some jeans but I tell him No and that I’m on a mission for some shoes.
I head over to Clarks and they’ve got the long coveted Clarks Wallabees i’ve been chasing. It comes down to a choice of suede or leather, I waste no time, I already know what I want, mouthing the words “black leather baby!” The store attendant doesn’t get my swagger and simply says “Ok” and fits me out in a pair of size 10’s. In between fittings I check out the leather brown Natalies but in the end decide against them on the account of the crepe sole that tucks up around the toes, it ruins the look. So I stick with the Wallabees as they’re a safe bet. Nathe meanwhile has headed a few stores down to an optometrist and he’s looking for a two for one deal on some new glasses. He shows me the two pairs he’s made up his mind on, one is a carbon fibre pair and this will require half a day to prepare. In the end he’s says “Fine, let’s do it” and the optometrist relaxes knowing he has a guaranteed sale.
We wander around outside of Parksons and I really want to go inside and check out the Men’s aftershave and the Pierre Cardin and Charles Jourdan polo’s but sadly there’s no time left.
When we head back to street level I’m amazed at the time and how two hours just disappeared like that. I run into Jeff who tells me that he and Lively have been across the street and have been looking at Lot 10 and Fahrenheit shopping malls. Lively points out that he now has a better idea of where everything is located, in short – he’s got his bearings. Jeff mentions that he skipped breakfast and this is a gentle nudge for us to consider when we all might eat. I’m pretty much okay as i’m not that hungry, but then again I was the last one to eat this morning so I should probably consider what the group might want to do. So we decide to have lunch and the obvious question of where to eat comes up, I suggest dumplings and or the Teppanyaki bar back inside Sungei Wang Plaza but then it occurs to me that we should probably check out the food court at Lot 10. Jeff says, “there’s no food court at Lot 10” but I reassure him, “there is”.
As we head down the street Nathe and Kym walk on ahead of us preferring to shop over stopping and eating. The rest of us head down a set of escalators into the underground level of Lot 10 and I’m amazed how this awesome food court remains hidden to the average punter, I mean, we totally missed it the first time. We do a lap of the food court and Soly shows James some interesting things on the menu, I’m interested too but since I’ve lead both Jeff and Lively down here and noting how almost 90% of the food down here is Asian I can already hear the grumblings coming on. Jeff’s expression says it all and rather than getting pissy at him I point out a Belgian bierhaus, his expression relaxes into curiosity and I take the first dip, I order a grilled chicken breast with mashed potato and cabbage, for my drink I order a Lowenbrau and sit down on one of the stools surrounding the store. This is encouragement for Jeff and Lively to do the same, they both order beef burgers with fries and Jeff goes over with Lively to the Isetan grocery store to buy drinks.
After lunch Jeff says it’s the best burger he’s ever had and that I should have one later on in the week, I’m just glad he’s happy. I go into Isetan with Jeff and we buy up a fridge load of dry ginger ale to mix with the Canadian Club I’ve bought from the duty free. Afterwards we head upstairs and I go into Timberland and try on a polo top which is on sale but I don’t buy it on the account that it has too many horizontal stripes and this leaves me looking a little like Hamburgerler. When I come out of Timberland Joggy asks me to show him Birkenstock as he has decided against buying a pair of Crocs, I ask about the Crocs outlet at Sungei Wang and his response is whip fast, “It’s Shit”.
We go up one floor to Birkenstock and I show him their collection, I have a gander at a pair of Boston’s in anthracite, it’s a rough heather grey, but I decide that with two pairs of Birkenstocks in my cupboard at home is sufficient as I probably don’t require a third pair. I leave Joggy there at Birkenstock and afterwards Joggy and Soly head into a SaSa store while I go over to the main Isetan store looking for men’s wear. Lively and Jeff come along for the ride but I don’t see a lot here that interests me, I look at underwear for a good long while and manage to make a Muslim female store attendant slightly uncomfortable while browsing, alas I don’t find jocks or socks of my liking. I hover about looking at golf wear hoping to find a Mizuno jacket, while navigating my way around the store. I manage to avoid a fake Asian version of Ralph Lauren Polo called Beverly Hills Polo Club, it’s pretty tacky. While roaming the menswear I check out an in-store Lacoste kiosk, though unfortunately they only have a few colours, nothing that will be generous enough for my body form. I’m getting bored of Isetan now and decide to head downstairs towards the men’s cologne and after shaves. The normal favourites for me include anything by Carolina Herrera but after a whiff of her semi-new fragrance VIP for Men I liken it to Millions by Paco Raban and decide it is too overwhelming, too whoreish to be considered good.
I tend to go for the classic scents, in the early 90’s I wore a lot of YSL Jazz and Korus, Paco Raban, even Fendi for Men which incorporated a wonderful silage of sandalwood. Progressively I added Ralph Lauren to the mix, starting with Safari and later Polo. Then I tried other popular scents of the day like CK One before discovering the original Carolina Herrera for Men as the ultimate pussy melter.
In recent years Carolina Herrera’s 212 for Men has also been a favourite and in the last 18 months I’ve fallen in love with Jean Paul Gaultier’s - Le Fleur du Male. For this purchase I’m searching for another original scent to add to the collection, it’s a real classic that I’ve been wanting to buy for myself since the late 90’s, I decide to go for an Issey Mikaye gift set, Issey Miyake having remained one of my favourites from the 90’s sitting alongside Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homme, Christian Dior’s Fahrenheit and another fond smell memory found in ‘Egoiste’ Pour Homme by Chanel. This gift set comes with the classic Issey Miyake pour homme spray on (100ml) and a under arm deodorant stick and after one tester spray on my wrist I’m transported back in time to my early twenties, to the magical era of my youth. But when Jeff and Lively start teasing me about “Did you get your girly perfume?” I snap out of nostalgia knowing that it’s time to go.
We sit out in the middle of Lot 10 on some white leather sofa’s trying to get a free Wi-fi connection while waiting for Joggy and Soly to come back downstairs.
When they do we walk down the street and go into Fahrenheit 88, it’s here that Lively has been able to buy some t-shirts from Rip Curl and Jeff has managed to find some Oakley sunglasses that remind me of something rapper Kool Mo Dee wore back in the 80’s. I think to go look at some Porsche Design sunglasses but I don’t, I have my doubts as to whether I can pull off this level of a twat convincingly.
We wander around outside of Parksons and I really want to go inside and check out the Men’s aftershave and the Pierre Cardin and Charles Jourdan polo’s but sadly there’s no time left.
When we head back to street level I’m amazed at the time and how two hours just disappeared like that. I run into Jeff who tells me that he and Lively have been across the street and have been looking at Lot 10 and Fahrenheit shopping malls. Lively points out that he now has a better idea of where everything is located, in short – he’s got his bearings. Jeff mentions that he skipped breakfast and this is a gentle nudge for us to consider when we all might eat. I’m pretty much okay as i’m not that hungry, but then again I was the last one to eat this morning so I should probably consider what the group might want to do. So we decide to have lunch and the obvious question of where to eat comes up, I suggest dumplings and or the Teppanyaki bar back inside Sungei Wang Plaza but then it occurs to me that we should probably check out the food court at Lot 10. Jeff says, “there’s no food court at Lot 10” but I reassure him, “there is”.
As we head down the street Nathe and Kym walk on ahead of us preferring to shop over stopping and eating. The rest of us head down a set of escalators into the underground level of Lot 10 and I’m amazed how this awesome food court remains hidden to the average punter, I mean, we totally missed it the first time. We do a lap of the food court and Soly shows James some interesting things on the menu, I’m interested too but since I’ve lead both Jeff and Lively down here and noting how almost 90% of the food down here is Asian I can already hear the grumblings coming on. Jeff’s expression says it all and rather than getting pissy at him I point out a Belgian bierhaus, his expression relaxes into curiosity and I take the first dip, I order a grilled chicken breast with mashed potato and cabbage, for my drink I order a Lowenbrau and sit down on one of the stools surrounding the store. This is encouragement for Jeff and Lively to do the same, they both order beef burgers with fries and Jeff goes over with Lively to the Isetan grocery store to buy drinks.
After lunch Jeff says it’s the best burger he’s ever had and that I should have one later on in the week, I’m just glad he’s happy. I go into Isetan with Jeff and we buy up a fridge load of dry ginger ale to mix with the Canadian Club I’ve bought from the duty free. Afterwards we head upstairs and I go into Timberland and try on a polo top which is on sale but I don’t buy it on the account that it has too many horizontal stripes and this leaves me looking a little like Hamburgerler. When I come out of Timberland Joggy asks me to show him Birkenstock as he has decided against buying a pair of Crocs, I ask about the Crocs outlet at Sungei Wang and his response is whip fast, “It’s Shit”.
We go up one floor to Birkenstock and I show him their collection, I have a gander at a pair of Boston’s in anthracite, it’s a rough heather grey, but I decide that with two pairs of Birkenstocks in my cupboard at home is sufficient as I probably don’t require a third pair. I leave Joggy there at Birkenstock and afterwards Joggy and Soly head into a SaSa store while I go over to the main Isetan store looking for men’s wear. Lively and Jeff come along for the ride but I don’t see a lot here that interests me, I look at underwear for a good long while and manage to make a Muslim female store attendant slightly uncomfortable while browsing, alas I don’t find jocks or socks of my liking. I hover about looking at golf wear hoping to find a Mizuno jacket, while navigating my way around the store. I manage to avoid a fake Asian version of Ralph Lauren Polo called Beverly Hills Polo Club, it’s pretty tacky. While roaming the menswear I check out an in-store Lacoste kiosk, though unfortunately they only have a few colours, nothing that will be generous enough for my body form. I’m getting bored of Isetan now and decide to head downstairs towards the men’s cologne and after shaves. The normal favourites for me include anything by Carolina Herrera but after a whiff of her semi-new fragrance VIP for Men I liken it to Millions by Paco Raban and decide it is too overwhelming, too whoreish to be considered good.
I tend to go for the classic scents, in the early 90’s I wore a lot of YSL Jazz and Korus, Paco Raban, even Fendi for Men which incorporated a wonderful silage of sandalwood. Progressively I added Ralph Lauren to the mix, starting with Safari and later Polo. Then I tried other popular scents of the day like CK One before discovering the original Carolina Herrera for Men as the ultimate pussy melter.
In recent years Carolina Herrera’s 212 for Men has also been a favourite and in the last 18 months I’ve fallen in love with Jean Paul Gaultier’s - Le Fleur du Male. For this purchase I’m searching for another original scent to add to the collection, it’s a real classic that I’ve been wanting to buy for myself since the late 90’s, I decide to go for an Issey Mikaye gift set, Issey Miyake having remained one of my favourites from the 90’s sitting alongside Dolce & Gabbana Pour Homme, Christian Dior’s Fahrenheit and another fond smell memory found in ‘Egoiste’ Pour Homme by Chanel. This gift set comes with the classic Issey Miyake pour homme spray on (100ml) and a under arm deodorant stick and after one tester spray on my wrist I’m transported back in time to my early twenties, to the magical era of my youth. But when Jeff and Lively start teasing me about “Did you get your girly perfume?” I snap out of nostalgia knowing that it’s time to go.
We sit out in the middle of Lot 10 on some white leather sofa’s trying to get a free Wi-fi connection while waiting for Joggy and Soly to come back downstairs.
When they do we walk down the street and go into Fahrenheit 88, it’s here that Lively has been able to buy some t-shirts from Rip Curl and Jeff has managed to find some Oakley sunglasses that remind me of something rapper Kool Mo Dee wore back in the 80’s. I think to go look at some Porsche Design sunglasses but I don’t, I have my doubts as to whether I can pull off this level of a twat convincingly.
After a short wander around the mall I find the New Balance store and it’s on like Donkey Kong. New Balance are my favourite sneakers of all time, fuck Nike, Adidas and Puma. I wore a lot of these growing up and since the whole retro thing came in over 15 years ago. That was about the same time that I went searching for footwear that was fresh and classic at the same time, and somewhere along the way I found New Balance.
After ten minutes I’ve got it narrowed down to just two pairs and when I start asking to try these on I discover that they’re not available in my size. I’m pissed off beyond belief as I’d really wanted a new pair of New Balance classics for the year ahead. This means settling on something else or missing out entirely. But then the guy who’s been helping me try on sneakers comes back from some secret lair and shows me another colour styling of a pair of fresh kicks I was romancing on the wall of sneakers. “How about these Sir?” and he hands me a pair of the ‘Minimus’ MT10GY’s and they’re fresh as fuck. All black with neon yellow trim, they are so fucking ninja. I say, “Deal” and he bags them up while gesturing to the other pairs I’ve tried on, but I say No politely, as these are all that I want.
Joggy wanders into the store as I’m leaving. I’m now carrying two boxes of shoes, one in each hand. Jeff is helpful offering to carry the dry ginger ale. Joggy snickers, “Got some new kicks Mr. B?” and I’m so pleased with myself I say “Yes, yes I have”, gesturing to the Wallabees and the NB’s.
After ten minutes I’ve got it narrowed down to just two pairs and when I start asking to try these on I discover that they’re not available in my size. I’m pissed off beyond belief as I’d really wanted a new pair of New Balance classics for the year ahead. This means settling on something else or missing out entirely. But then the guy who’s been helping me try on sneakers comes back from some secret lair and shows me another colour styling of a pair of fresh kicks I was romancing on the wall of sneakers. “How about these Sir?” and he hands me a pair of the ‘Minimus’ MT10GY’s and they’re fresh as fuck. All black with neon yellow trim, they are so fucking ninja. I say, “Deal” and he bags them up while gesturing to the other pairs I’ve tried on, but I say No politely, as these are all that I want.
Joggy wanders into the store as I’m leaving. I’m now carrying two boxes of shoes, one in each hand. Jeff is helpful offering to carry the dry ginger ale. Joggy snickers, “Got some new kicks Mr. B?” and I’m so pleased with myself I say “Yes, yes I have”, gesturing to the Wallabees and the NB’s.
On the way out of Fahrenheit 88 we run into Nathan and Kym and it’s at this point where Jeff needs to go snap one off. I respect the fact that he wishes to use the comfort of his own porcelain and I won’t get in the way of that. Joggy and Soly decide to head back to the hotel as well. Kym says she’s going to walk it, but Jeff can’t wait, Lively says that he’ll hitch a ride if Jeff springs for a taxi and it’s all settled. I ask Nathan what he wants to do and he says he’ll come back to the Pavilion with me, he asks what else I want to look at and I tell him that I’ve spotted a Brooks Brothers store I wish to suss out. Joggy comes over and says “Still not done eh?” and I tell him if I can find these pants i’m chasing I should be all good, he tells me, “this isn’t as good as I’d hoped it was going to be” on the basis that he had wanted to find a few choice items for his own wardrobe and so far has found nothing he likes.
At this point Kym has either gone off by herself or has hopped into the taxi with the others to head back to the hotel, this worries Nathe slightly as we walk over to the Pavilion. I try to be reassuring, ”She’ll be fine” but that’s not it, he says, “She needs to come back to Sungei Wang with me at 4:30pm to look at my frames” and then I get it, a lady’s opinion counts.
While I find Brooks Brothers Nathan runs over to Parksons to look at their belts and we agree to meet back here in 20mins. I head over to Brooks Brothers and ask about their classic chino pants.
The store attendant says she can go as high as a 46 inch but I’m certain that the 42’s will be fine.
I ask about t-shirts, polo’s and long sleeve shirts in XXL and she smiles and says No, but she counters with some thin micro light jumpers if I’m keen. But I politely pass on this offering.
I go into the change room and get into the chinos in the classic herringbone twill colour and once I’ve slipped these on it’s like you have landed in heaven, they’re like the Rolls Royce of chino’s. When the attendant buzzes by my fitting room she asks, “Fit okay?” I say, “Yes” and hand her the pair through a crack in the door. After changing back into my street clothes the store attendant try’s to hard sell me on another pair, “Just the one pair Sir?” like I’m committing a crime or something by buying just one pair. I roll my eyes and say, “Yes I only need the one pair”, plus the price for a pair of pants is fucking outrageous, there is no way to tell if these are actually Brooks Brothers, no flashy logo or emblem, but maybe that’s the trick to it all, at least - You will know. And that means a lot to me because on a deep and personal level my clothes are worn like armour, the clothes making the man, inspiring the confidence, and with a pre-planned dinner at the end of the week these should go together fine with whatever top I decide to wear with them.
I meet up with Nathe and we decide to head back to the hotel, I come out of the Pavilion with all my shopping bags in tow, I’m walking up the street with bags swinging in both hands and taxi drivers and people are looking at me like I’m a glamour puss. “Fuck it”, I tell Nathan I’ll get a taxi and he says no problem. I settle on a Toyota RAV4 in blue, it’s a premium taxi and I have this hope that Mr Miyagi will be behind the wheel from last year, but he isn’t. But instead our driver is this cool as fuck guy who offers to drive us to the Islamic Arts Museum later on in the week, we take his card, he also offers us escorts if we are so inclined, and as tempting as it is to bust a nut inside a Malaysian national I can’t help but think of what my mother would do if she found out, so I shelve these thoughts on the basis that I just need to lose a little weight and learn to apply myself more socially.
At this point Kym has either gone off by herself or has hopped into the taxi with the others to head back to the hotel, this worries Nathe slightly as we walk over to the Pavilion. I try to be reassuring, ”She’ll be fine” but that’s not it, he says, “She needs to come back to Sungei Wang with me at 4:30pm to look at my frames” and then I get it, a lady’s opinion counts.
While I find Brooks Brothers Nathan runs over to Parksons to look at their belts and we agree to meet back here in 20mins. I head over to Brooks Brothers and ask about their classic chino pants.
The store attendant says she can go as high as a 46 inch but I’m certain that the 42’s will be fine.
I ask about t-shirts, polo’s and long sleeve shirts in XXL and she smiles and says No, but she counters with some thin micro light jumpers if I’m keen. But I politely pass on this offering.
I go into the change room and get into the chinos in the classic herringbone twill colour and once I’ve slipped these on it’s like you have landed in heaven, they’re like the Rolls Royce of chino’s. When the attendant buzzes by my fitting room she asks, “Fit okay?” I say, “Yes” and hand her the pair through a crack in the door. After changing back into my street clothes the store attendant try’s to hard sell me on another pair, “Just the one pair Sir?” like I’m committing a crime or something by buying just one pair. I roll my eyes and say, “Yes I only need the one pair”, plus the price for a pair of pants is fucking outrageous, there is no way to tell if these are actually Brooks Brothers, no flashy logo or emblem, but maybe that’s the trick to it all, at least - You will know. And that means a lot to me because on a deep and personal level my clothes are worn like armour, the clothes making the man, inspiring the confidence, and with a pre-planned dinner at the end of the week these should go together fine with whatever top I decide to wear with them.
I meet up with Nathe and we decide to head back to the hotel, I come out of the Pavilion with all my shopping bags in tow, I’m walking up the street with bags swinging in both hands and taxi drivers and people are looking at me like I’m a glamour puss. “Fuck it”, I tell Nathan I’ll get a taxi and he says no problem. I settle on a Toyota RAV4 in blue, it’s a premium taxi and I have this hope that Mr Miyagi will be behind the wheel from last year, but he isn’t. But instead our driver is this cool as fuck guy who offers to drive us to the Islamic Arts Museum later on in the week, we take his card, he also offers us escorts if we are so inclined, and as tempting as it is to bust a nut inside a Malaysian national I can’t help but think of what my mother would do if she found out, so I shelve these thoughts on the basis that I just need to lose a little weight and learn to apply myself more socially.
When we make it back to the hotel and as I step out of the taxi I call Joggy, instead of him picking up the phone it’s Mrs Joggy – Soly who answers with a ever-so-cool “Sup!” she tells me that the crew is hanging out by the pool and drinking.
Nathan follows me outside and when we arrive a pool attendant hands us both oversized beach towels, he asks us did we want anything to drink and we tell him we’re not sure, so he hands us a set of menu’s and tell’s us we should call him over if we would like any refreshments or food.
When we get poolside we find the gang all stretched out by the pool on a series of sun lounges. Joggy’s Mrs is looking fit as fuck in a bikini while Joggy smokes cigarettes talking smack with Jeff and Lively. Joggy says, “Lads you made it, Mr B what did you get?” I tell him pants that will be suitable for our dinner plans for later on in the week and his response is “Cool, cool”. Nathan excuses himself saying he wants to find Kym and then asks if I want him to drop off my bags in my hotel room and I say “yeah, awesome”.
Nathan follows me outside and when we arrive a pool attendant hands us both oversized beach towels, he asks us did we want anything to drink and we tell him we’re not sure, so he hands us a set of menu’s and tell’s us we should call him over if we would like any refreshments or food.
When we get poolside we find the gang all stretched out by the pool on a series of sun lounges. Joggy’s Mrs is looking fit as fuck in a bikini while Joggy smokes cigarettes talking smack with Jeff and Lively. Joggy says, “Lads you made it, Mr B what did you get?” I tell him pants that will be suitable for our dinner plans for later on in the week and his response is “Cool, cool”. Nathan excuses himself saying he wants to find Kym and then asks if I want him to drop off my bags in my hotel room and I say “yeah, awesome”.
Soly suggests we move out of the sun over to a pergola area that is remote but closer to the pool on the far edge of the hotel. We pick up our stuff and cruise over. Joggy gets the attention of the waiter and he comes over to take our orders. I look at the cocktail menu and I’m fairly certain that I’ll order a dry Manhattan when Soly convinces me to try a Singapore Sling. I’ve never had one before so I order one just out of sheer curiosity.
After a while of chit chat and cigarettes, the Singapore Slings come out and it takes me breath away after the first mouthful, “this is one strong drink”, I say out loud. Then Soly says, “It’s way too strong, they haven’t made it right, they are meant to be strong but not like this”
Joggy sips at his sling and asks me, “Wanna take a dip”, I’m keen as but I realise that I’ve not brought my bathers. Joggy says, “Meh just go in your boxers” and normally this wouldn’t be an issue but I’m wearing my Byford boxer briefs. I show Joggy my underwear and he says, “Nah you’re fine” and Soly says, “Go for it, who cares”. I think to wear a t-shirt while in the pool and I mention this to the fellas and they’re all dismissive to the idea. Even Jeff is astoundingly positive, “Dude nobody cares, take your t-shirt off”. I’m still not 100% convinced but in the end I decide that I’m going to go for a swim anyway and I’ll swim in the shorts that I’m wearing.
Lively takes a little more convincing than I do, while Lively stirs the lemonade into his glass of bourbon and ice Joggy and Jeff tag team him to get him the courage to take his shirt off and come for a swim. He ask me, “Are you gonna swim?” I tell him, “fuck yeah, who cares what other people think, we’re all fat, plus I’m on holiday in a foreign country it’s not like I’m ever going to see these people again”, Lively says “fuck it” and slings his t-shirt off over his shoulders.
Joggy sips at his sling and asks me, “Wanna take a dip”, I’m keen as but I realise that I’ve not brought my bathers. Joggy says, “Meh just go in your boxers” and normally this wouldn’t be an issue but I’m wearing my Byford boxer briefs. I show Joggy my underwear and he says, “Nah you’re fine” and Soly says, “Go for it, who cares”. I think to wear a t-shirt while in the pool and I mention this to the fellas and they’re all dismissive to the idea. Even Jeff is astoundingly positive, “Dude nobody cares, take your t-shirt off”. I’m still not 100% convinced but in the end I decide that I’m going to go for a swim anyway and I’ll swim in the shorts that I’m wearing.
Lively takes a little more convincing than I do, while Lively stirs the lemonade into his glass of bourbon and ice Joggy and Jeff tag team him to get him the courage to take his shirt off and come for a swim. He ask me, “Are you gonna swim?” I tell him, “fuck yeah, who cares what other people think, we’re all fat, plus I’m on holiday in a foreign country it’s not like I’m ever going to see these people again”, Lively says “fuck it” and slings his t-shirt off over his shoulders.
I’m about to follow Jeff and Joggy into the pool when I spy this incredible leggy Russian blonde who looks absolutely gorgeous hanging out with two lads on the deep end of the pool, “Oh man” here’s me hoping that she is some kind of international roaming prostitute as I’d love the chance to spill some liquid silk onto her belly. But before I can even contemplate that I still need to get my t-shirt off and actually get into the pool, “Oh man” I mutter to myself. It’ll be embarrassing for me until I’m underwater at chin height but when I’m just about to get my gear off, the blonde, for some reason she hops out of the pool and spreads out on one of the sun lounges. The pool at this point is all but deserted and Joggy and Jeff holler out “come on you two”, I look at Lively and say, “Fuck it, let’s go”
I put down the Singapore sling and walk down the stairs at the far end of the pool easing myself into it. Cold pool water makes contact with my balls and I shriek cupping my arms around my tits until I’m waist deep. Eventually I dunk my head under and acclimatise to the water temperature, Joggy shouts, “Yeeaah!” at my effort. I start paddling around doing laps and later racing Joggy to see how far he can swim underwater while holding his breath. We make a game of diving for coins when suddenly a Japanese tourist comes along and is intent on getting his laps done right in the middle of our game. We paddle around until the late afternoon rains comes along, it rains on us in the pool and we don’t care, that is until there is thunder and lightning. The pool attendant tells us that for OH&S reasons we can’t be in the pool while there is thunder in the sky, which makes sense. I go over to the pergola where Soly has been sitting to towel off and to finish my drink. We do our best to get dry when the pool attendant tells us that we need to wrap things up as the weather doesn’t look as though it’s going to settle. So we pack up our gear and head upstairs to get changed and agree that once dressed we’ll meet upstairs in the club lounge.
After having a quick hot shower and putting my bathers out to dry I make a move upstairs to the club lounge, I bring along my Samsung Galaxy tablet and once I arrive I find Nathan and Kym sitting at a table with Lively. I fix myself a drink and check out this evening canapés that are on offer, so far it looks pretty decent, little chicken drumsticks in tandoori sauce. When I get back to the table Joggy and Soly have arrived, both are dressed up as tonite they’re meeting up with Joggy’s long lost penpal from his childhood, the plan is to go out to dinner and make a night of it, so this is the last we’ll see of them. Joggy points out my new Red polo top and he says, “Is that from last night?” and I smile to signal my affirmation that it is, though I feel like a Star Trek ensign on the account of how bright and shiny it is. I begin to bang out an email, in between bites and pulls on my glass of gin and tonic while the email to my sister comes tumbling out.
It's tuesday last week here :)
Just kidding.
Sunday was pretty cool
We went to look at everything first to get our bearings.
I didn't exactly get my shop on.
We all went to Sungei Wang Plaza and then walked over to Low Yat Plaza
At Low Yat I bought a 32gb mini SD card for my phone and looked at peripherals for my PC at home.
For lunch we all went to The Pavilion and went to Tony Rommas, that was cool
I inhaled a chicken buffalo burger and chips.
Then we went for a massage and afterwards I could barely write to you both to check-in to say “hey I made it” The masseuse worked me over good, I’m definitely having another rub tomorrow
After the massage we walked back to the hotel on such a high
Last night we drank in the Sports bar
Then me, Kym and Nathe went to The Pavilion for some late nite shopping
I bought two polo’s from Ralph Lauren
Then we came back to the hotel for a drink with the other guys.
Then before midnight I was ready for bed.
Today, Monday - i got my shop on!
Oh man, I was a machine, I went to Sungei Wang plaza, exchanged some cashish and then hit the Clarks store for a pair of leather Wallabees.
Oh i almost forgot to tell you, yesterday I bought a cover for my phone to protect it, it has a picture of Domo Kun and I bought a small travel wallet which at a guess is fake Timberland.
Today we went to Lot 10 and I got to go to Isetan
At Isetan I bought some Issey Miyake EDT with a roll-on stick
Then I went to Fahrenheit 88 and bought a pair of New Balance kicks.
After that I went back to The Pav with Nathan and went to Brooks Brothers.
I bought a pair of chinos. I had wanted to do that for a while now J
I put down the Singapore sling and walk down the stairs at the far end of the pool easing myself into it. Cold pool water makes contact with my balls and I shriek cupping my arms around my tits until I’m waist deep. Eventually I dunk my head under and acclimatise to the water temperature, Joggy shouts, “Yeeaah!” at my effort. I start paddling around doing laps and later racing Joggy to see how far he can swim underwater while holding his breath. We make a game of diving for coins when suddenly a Japanese tourist comes along and is intent on getting his laps done right in the middle of our game. We paddle around until the late afternoon rains comes along, it rains on us in the pool and we don’t care, that is until there is thunder and lightning. The pool attendant tells us that for OH&S reasons we can’t be in the pool while there is thunder in the sky, which makes sense. I go over to the pergola where Soly has been sitting to towel off and to finish my drink. We do our best to get dry when the pool attendant tells us that we need to wrap things up as the weather doesn’t look as though it’s going to settle. So we pack up our gear and head upstairs to get changed and agree that once dressed we’ll meet upstairs in the club lounge.
After having a quick hot shower and putting my bathers out to dry I make a move upstairs to the club lounge, I bring along my Samsung Galaxy tablet and once I arrive I find Nathan and Kym sitting at a table with Lively. I fix myself a drink and check out this evening canapés that are on offer, so far it looks pretty decent, little chicken drumsticks in tandoori sauce. When I get back to the table Joggy and Soly have arrived, both are dressed up as tonite they’re meeting up with Joggy’s long lost penpal from his childhood, the plan is to go out to dinner and make a night of it, so this is the last we’ll see of them. Joggy points out my new Red polo top and he says, “Is that from last night?” and I smile to signal my affirmation that it is, though I feel like a Star Trek ensign on the account of how bright and shiny it is. I begin to bang out an email, in between bites and pulls on my glass of gin and tonic while the email to my sister comes tumbling out.
It's tuesday last week here :)
Just kidding.
Sunday was pretty cool
We went to look at everything first to get our bearings.
I didn't exactly get my shop on.
We all went to Sungei Wang Plaza and then walked over to Low Yat Plaza
At Low Yat I bought a 32gb mini SD card for my phone and looked at peripherals for my PC at home.
For lunch we all went to The Pavilion and went to Tony Rommas, that was cool
I inhaled a chicken buffalo burger and chips.
Then we went for a massage and afterwards I could barely write to you both to check-in to say “hey I made it” The masseuse worked me over good, I’m definitely having another rub tomorrow
After the massage we walked back to the hotel on such a high
Last night we drank in the Sports bar
Then me, Kym and Nathe went to The Pavilion for some late nite shopping
I bought two polo’s from Ralph Lauren
Then we came back to the hotel for a drink with the other guys.
Then before midnight I was ready for bed.
Today, Monday - i got my shop on!
Oh man, I was a machine, I went to Sungei Wang plaza, exchanged some cashish and then hit the Clarks store for a pair of leather Wallabees.
Oh i almost forgot to tell you, yesterday I bought a cover for my phone to protect it, it has a picture of Domo Kun and I bought a small travel wallet which at a guess is fake Timberland.
Today we went to Lot 10 and I got to go to Isetan
At Isetan I bought some Issey Miyake EDT with a roll-on stick
Then I went to Fahrenheit 88 and bought a pair of New Balance kicks.
After that I went back to The Pav with Nathan and went to Brooks Brothers.
I bought a pair of chinos. I had wanted to do that for a while now J
This arvo I swam in the pool and had a cocktail
I drank a Singapore sling, wow-wee, very strong
Right now I'm sitting in the Club Lounge to knock out this email.
I’m surer there’s spelling errors galore but it's this stupid blue tooth keyboard
I gotta get back to my Gn’T
Talk soon.
Love,
I drank a Singapore sling, wow-wee, very strong
Right now I'm sitting in the Club Lounge to knock out this email.
I’m surer there’s spelling errors galore but it's this stupid blue tooth keyboard
I gotta get back to my Gn’T
Talk soon.
Love,
BB
I go to stop writing and then I remind myself of some of today’s events and CC my Dad into the email.
I go to stop writing and then I remind myself of some of today’s events and CC my Dad into the email.
I forgot to mention that we ate at Lot 10 today for lunch, I ate a German dish, with cabbage chicken breast and mash potato and a Lowenbrau beer.
Last nite I had a Thai chicken and noodles.
These were from The Pav, incredible! Made fresh.
I'm still deciding what to have for dinner tonite
But first another GnT
It was so nice in the pool
I was thinking I might have a spa tonite
The Isetan grocery shop in Lot 10 is very cool, it provided us with dry ginger ale for my Canadian Club
I should go.
Laters.
I’m onto my second Gin and Tonic when Nathan and Kym get into it over Nathe’s new frames.
I’ve almost completely forgotten about it but Nathe reveals much in the retelling of the story about how the glasses we’re contoured for his face and instead the optometrist was just bending them to get the right fit. Which all that ending up doing was warping and obscuring the vision for Nathe.
When Kym is up and looking at the canapés he whispers to me, “We had a full blown argument, it was hell”. He goes on to say that rather than Kym being objective and accepting Nathan’s position she was dismissive and disinterested in him getting a resolution, he suggests that at one point she was practically siding with the Optometrist.
Nathan says somewhat defeated, “I’ve got to go back there again tomorrow,” and as he says this Kym comes back catching the last part of the conversation, “Oh were you talking about what happened at the Optometrist” her tone is fairly deadpan and I watch Nathan just cringe. He gets up from the table and wanders over to make himself a drink, I watch Kym watching Nathan and I get a strong sense that she disapproves his drinking and his hissy fit earlier.
I’ve almost completely forgotten about it but Nathe reveals much in the retelling of the story about how the glasses we’re contoured for his face and instead the optometrist was just bending them to get the right fit. Which all that ending up doing was warping and obscuring the vision for Nathe.
When Kym is up and looking at the canapés he whispers to me, “We had a full blown argument, it was hell”. He goes on to say that rather than Kym being objective and accepting Nathan’s position she was dismissive and disinterested in him getting a resolution, he suggests that at one point she was practically siding with the Optometrist.
Nathan says somewhat defeated, “I’ve got to go back there again tomorrow,” and as he says this Kym comes back catching the last part of the conversation, “Oh were you talking about what happened at the Optometrist” her tone is fairly deadpan and I watch Nathan just cringe. He gets up from the table and wanders over to make himself a drink, I watch Kym watching Nathan and I get a strong sense that she disapproves his drinking and his hissy fit earlier.
I shake my head at the silliness to it all, the nuances and inner workings of relationships between two people that I may never properly understand. Eventually it comes time for Joggy and Soly to go off to meet James’s old pen pal. Jeff and Lively are disappointed as much as I am, it’s because Joggy and Soly are truly the life of the party, they know how to have fun and how to make it fun for everybody else.
Once they have gone the conversation swings back to what we want to eat and we’re clueless.
The decision of where to eat is on the table. Jeff suggests we eat downstairs at the international food buffet, and I score an easy 5 points for guessing that one. I suggest the Iranian restaurant down the street and even go so far as suggesting that we go The Pavilion food court for a little variety. Both suggestions are met with a scoff from Jeff, while Lively is on the other side of the coin and appears to be up for anything.
Once they have gone the conversation swings back to what we want to eat and we’re clueless.
The decision of where to eat is on the table. Jeff suggests we eat downstairs at the international food buffet, and I score an easy 5 points for guessing that one. I suggest the Iranian restaurant down the street and even go so far as suggesting that we go The Pavilion food court for a little variety. Both suggestions are met with a scoff from Jeff, while Lively is on the other side of the coin and appears to be up for anything.
But it's Kym who surprises us all with a suggestion that we venture out and visit Changkat rd. which runs behind the hotel and investigate the various tapas bars and restaurants hidden there.
I reinforce the idea by retelling a story of when my bro-in-law John who got hammered drunk and went off in search of his roots, retracing his fond memories of his first visits to KL and how the bars and restaurants of this area of town are designed to accommodate the seasoned traveller. He took his friends who had never been to KL on his sentimental journey, guiding them through the back street playing the part of a narrator, he told me “A lot of ex pats and cool kids frequent these bars” then I finish his story by saying that it’s not gutter trash or the hoi polloi that will be dinning here either and that we should all feel pretty comfortable.
Nathan takes out his own ASUS Transformer tablet and launches Google maps, he studies the map and my brother in law’s voice echoes in my ears. “Come out the front of the hotel and take your first left”. And so it’s decided, we go to our rooms, drop off our tablets, phones and such, then rumble downstairs out the front doors of the hotel.
I reinforce the idea by retelling a story of when my bro-in-law John who got hammered drunk and went off in search of his roots, retracing his fond memories of his first visits to KL and how the bars and restaurants of this area of town are designed to accommodate the seasoned traveller. He took his friends who had never been to KL on his sentimental journey, guiding them through the back street playing the part of a narrator, he told me “A lot of ex pats and cool kids frequent these bars” then I finish his story by saying that it’s not gutter trash or the hoi polloi that will be dinning here either and that we should all feel pretty comfortable.
Nathan takes out his own ASUS Transformer tablet and launches Google maps, he studies the map and my brother in law’s voice echoes in my ears. “Come out the front of the hotel and take your first left”. And so it’s decided, we go to our rooms, drop off our tablets, phones and such, then rumble downstairs out the front doors of the hotel.
When we get to the first corner and the street sign is obscure and Nathan can’t tell if this is a service entrance to the hotel or a street. Nathan convinces us all that this isn’t the first left and that it must be the next corner. The next corner proves to be a lot further away than we are expecting, we walk past the golf store and the Marco Polo hotel and it’s then that I know we’ve missed our turn, when suddenly the heavens open and we’re caught in a down pour. It’s heavy thick wet drops of rain that hit us in sheets, in less than a minute we’re all soaked through to the bone. I’m raging at Nathan and I can’t keep a straight face because I’m laughing too hard, I try stopping at a bus shelter to take a break from it but there’s really no point in that, Nathan’s voice can be heard the entire time like a slave driver, “C’mon it’s not far now” and it isn’t, after a few minutes longer the rain begins to subside and we find ourselves walking the corner which takes us to the end of Changkat Rd. We follow this along for a way, our clothes beginning to dry off in the humidity. We don’t have to go far when Kym says “This is it”. I look up and don’t quite make out the words Bar 17, I mean at least I think that was the name, instead I half make out words that might fit the description, I say “Fuck it” yeah this must be the place, because right now after all the rain and the bullshit effort it took to get here, this is where we stop.
And for the record it very well might have been the place, at this point nobody in our merry crew cared, not even the staff were too bothered as we walked in looking like something the cat dragged in. Picture this three husky guys all coincidently wearing red shirts looking like they were in a wet t-shirt contest for the biggest tits, protecting a thin pretty looking girl and then this gassed out canary in yellow ready to drink his own body weight in sugar. The waiter hesitates for a moment and then looks at his colleague who is ushering us to a table in the back.
In the back, oh how I’ve been here before, but this is all there is left that will seat all five of us, plus the front of the restaurant is too wet, we look at each other and have a good laugh and we know that even if this isn’t the place, it’s perfect nonetheless.
We start by ordering a bucket of cheap beer, it’s a Thai beer called Changy, then out come the dinner menu’s and the prices are so cheap. A voice in my head echoes my Dad’s, “Order whatever you want, have fun”, it almost sounds like an order and I’m happy to oblige. I’m eager to try two different entrees and the green curry chicken as a main. Each of us orders a main and Jeff Lively and I order some entrees that can be shared with everyone. Jeff orders two entrees on the account that the serving of the Satay sticks he's ordered are too few and he wants everyone to be able to have at least two or more.
And for the record it very well might have been the place, at this point nobody in our merry crew cared, not even the staff were too bothered as we walked in looking like something the cat dragged in. Picture this three husky guys all coincidently wearing red shirts looking like they were in a wet t-shirt contest for the biggest tits, protecting a thin pretty looking girl and then this gassed out canary in yellow ready to drink his own body weight in sugar. The waiter hesitates for a moment and then looks at his colleague who is ushering us to a table in the back.
In the back, oh how I’ve been here before, but this is all there is left that will seat all five of us, plus the front of the restaurant is too wet, we look at each other and have a good laugh and we know that even if this isn’t the place, it’s perfect nonetheless.
We start by ordering a bucket of cheap beer, it’s a Thai beer called Changy, then out come the dinner menu’s and the prices are so cheap. A voice in my head echoes my Dad’s, “Order whatever you want, have fun”, it almost sounds like an order and I’m happy to oblige. I’m eager to try two different entrees and the green curry chicken as a main. Each of us orders a main and Jeff Lively and I order some entrees that can be shared with everyone. Jeff orders two entrees on the account that the serving of the Satay sticks he's ordered are too few and he wants everyone to be able to have at least two or more.
And that’s how things seem to fair over dinner, whatever is wanted is there to be had, no restrictions, no budget, tonight we dine like kings or maybe Viking conquers.
We demolish the entrees and finish the first bucket of beers in no time, we order another bucket of beer and I lose count of how many I’ve had after my third. The beer and the Gin and Tonic's I’ve consumed during sundowners are mixing together nicely. I go for a leak out the back, the red painted walls act as my guide to find my way back to the table. When I get back the gang are already tucking into their mains, what an interesting arrangement of food there is, it's not strictly Thai, more like a mash of Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian, the golden triangle of delights.
We demolish the entrees and finish the first bucket of beers in no time, we order another bucket of beer and I lose count of how many I’ve had after my third. The beer and the Gin and Tonic's I’ve consumed during sundowners are mixing together nicely. I go for a leak out the back, the red painted walls act as my guide to find my way back to the table. When I get back the gang are already tucking into their mains, what an interesting arrangement of food there is, it's not strictly Thai, more like a mash of Thai, Vietnamese and Cambodian, the golden triangle of delights.
During dinner we're all feeling so good we take a few happy snaps to commemorate this auspicious event. When it's time for dessert and coffee we pass, our clothes have almost dried and so we elect to leave hoping to find a coffee house on the journey home.
When we barrel out the restaurant and we’re all pretty liquored up, in the right way of course, happy, merry, not drunk, but all of us are in the mood for some fun. We’re feeling springy, feeling good, ready to start some mischief. We’re walking towards Bukit Bintang Rd and it’s slightly a block away, on our right - a side street with hawker foods and slightly seedier restaurants, but on Changkat Rd there’s more of the same restaurants, bars of varying quality. Kym notes that there’s even a few Tapas bars and that we should definitely come back and try these. Jeff also points out the various whiskey bars, where young Asian girls are standing out the front in pairs trying to entice us to come inside, I dunno where I get it from but I start saying to Nathan, “You wanna whisky?” and this continues as a taunt that lasts all night long. Jeff’s keen to kick back in one of these whisky bars and I know that he kept pace with me on the beers we drank at Bar 17, though now he looks really tired and ready to mellow out somewhere. Nathan on the other hand is cracked out on pixie juice, he’s saying to Lively, “how come there are no cats or dogs in this country”, when Lively points “Look over there – a cat”. Nathan goes berserk and begins to give chase down a dark alley, I’m not that far behind Nate, calling after him as he runs down an alley screaming back at me, “Did you see that? He had laser eyes, laser eyes!”
At this point we’ve turned off Changkat Rd into the hawker side street, Nate’s sayin’, “Where the fuck are we? still on Changkat?” and looking around at the hawker food carts, the outdoor plastic chairs, tables and umbrellas, and I say out loud, “More like fucking Geto Kat” and this is typical me, saying something so random and potentially wrong at the best possible time, it’s one of those comments that sticks like glue, words repeated throughout the night, “Changiest of Kats - Geto Kat” and “You wanna whiskey?”
We walk into a coffe shop hoping to get served and the staff are basically nowhere to be seen. As confirmation that this place sucks, we find a table with two leather faced dark tanned poms sitting at a table looking absolutely miserable, I jovially say to them, “Waiting for our coffees are we?” then walking away laughing my ass off with Nathan and Jeff.
We walk through a blue metal covered carpark and when we emerge on the other side we’re on the lower end of Bukit Bintang Rd and we know now that if we follow this back to the main intersection we’ll be just another short walk to the hotel.
I walk with Nathe most of the time, Lively and Jeff chaperoning Kym at different intervals, we come to a corner and there’s some remarkable graffiti, I stop and look at it and then search for my phone to take a picture. Nathe asks me about it, like why I think it’s good. I explain to him that here’s a guy who took five aerosol colours and made his name, ‘Neo’, stand out with style, colour graphics, 3-D and a fresh sense of proportion that is just all swagger. I tell him while pointing at the piece – “that’s what I think style is” but Nathan is clueless and asks “Style” and I explain, “Style is kinda like penmanship, it comes down to how well you craft your letters and they way they flow and flip each other off, supple fat edges that connect into each letter and arrows attacking with flair”
And I know he doesn’t truly understand what I’m rambling on about, he just smiles and says, “You really love this stuff, your passion for it ... it’s like you miss it, and the way you tell it..well, it makes me believe everything you just said” And what I don’t say that is absolutely true is that I really do miss it and it’s this sort of stuff that still makes my heart glow.
At this point we’ve turned off Changkat Rd into the hawker side street, Nate’s sayin’, “Where the fuck are we? still on Changkat?” and looking around at the hawker food carts, the outdoor plastic chairs, tables and umbrellas, and I say out loud, “More like fucking Geto Kat” and this is typical me, saying something so random and potentially wrong at the best possible time, it’s one of those comments that sticks like glue, words repeated throughout the night, “Changiest of Kats - Geto Kat” and “You wanna whiskey?”
We walk into a coffe shop hoping to get served and the staff are basically nowhere to be seen. As confirmation that this place sucks, we find a table with two leather faced dark tanned poms sitting at a table looking absolutely miserable, I jovially say to them, “Waiting for our coffees are we?” then walking away laughing my ass off with Nathan and Jeff.
We walk through a blue metal covered carpark and when we emerge on the other side we’re on the lower end of Bukit Bintang Rd and we know now that if we follow this back to the main intersection we’ll be just another short walk to the hotel.
I walk with Nathe most of the time, Lively and Jeff chaperoning Kym at different intervals, we come to a corner and there’s some remarkable graffiti, I stop and look at it and then search for my phone to take a picture. Nathe asks me about it, like why I think it’s good. I explain to him that here’s a guy who took five aerosol colours and made his name, ‘Neo’, stand out with style, colour graphics, 3-D and a fresh sense of proportion that is just all swagger. I tell him while pointing at the piece – “that’s what I think style is” but Nathan is clueless and asks “Style” and I explain, “Style is kinda like penmanship, it comes down to how well you craft your letters and they way they flow and flip each other off, supple fat edges that connect into each letter and arrows attacking with flair”
And I know he doesn’t truly understand what I’m rambling on about, he just smiles and says, “You really love this stuff, your passion for it ... it’s like you miss it, and the way you tell it..well, it makes me believe everything you just said” And what I don’t say that is absolutely true is that I really do miss it and it’s this sort of stuff that still makes my heart glow.
We catch up with the others and Nathan and Kym suggest grabbing a coffee before we turn in and I’m immediately receptive to the idea, a coffee will help me straighten up a little plus a cookie or muffin in my belly will soak up the booze, plus I won’t be left feeling crappy in the morning.
Then I look back at Jeff, his eyes are half shut but he’s still trailing us, still on his feet, relentless, I ask him if he’s okay and he tells me reassuringly, “Hey I’m up for whatever man, I’m fine” but in his eyes he looks half done, crazy tired and wishing that we would all just stop.
We’re walking past a series of massage parlours along the strip, at least six to a dozen girls all stand out front of each store hocking pamphlets in our general direction. We slow down our pace slightly, as we pass we talk rubbish with the girls and devilishly we’re hoping that they’re offering more than just a massage, but all the while knowing that it’s probably a tease just to get us in the door.
We’re almost out of the massage district and as we pass the hordes of girls to whom we’re never insulting, instead we just politely say No, and this negative vibe sort of filters down the sidewalk so that when we approach the next bunch of girls they’re sort of deflated, they look tired, they’re sure that we aren’t at all that interested in what they’re trying offering, but then for absolutely no reason at all I start shouting like a football fan, giving them a huge rev up, “Yeeeeaaaaahhh!” charging with my arms held high, “C’mon Girls liven up!!” and instinctively they all start jumping on the spot, screaming out “Yaaaaayy!” going nuts. It’s some funny shit and they all get a huge kick out of it, we’re all laughing, the whole sidewalk just opens up with cheers.
Then I look back at Jeff, his eyes are half shut but he’s still trailing us, still on his feet, relentless, I ask him if he’s okay and he tells me reassuringly, “Hey I’m up for whatever man, I’m fine” but in his eyes he looks half done, crazy tired and wishing that we would all just stop.
We’re walking past a series of massage parlours along the strip, at least six to a dozen girls all stand out front of each store hocking pamphlets in our general direction. We slow down our pace slightly, as we pass we talk rubbish with the girls and devilishly we’re hoping that they’re offering more than just a massage, but all the while knowing that it’s probably a tease just to get us in the door.
We’re almost out of the massage district and as we pass the hordes of girls to whom we’re never insulting, instead we just politely say No, and this negative vibe sort of filters down the sidewalk so that when we approach the next bunch of girls they’re sort of deflated, they look tired, they’re sure that we aren’t at all that interested in what they’re trying offering, but then for absolutely no reason at all I start shouting like a football fan, giving them a huge rev up, “Yeeeeaaaaahhh!” charging with my arms held high, “C’mon Girls liven up!!” and instinctively they all start jumping on the spot, screaming out “Yaaaaayy!” going nuts. It’s some funny shit and they all get a huge kick out of it, we’re all laughing, the whole sidewalk just opens up with cheers.
We’re two blocks away from the corner and the idea of stopping for that coffee sounds pretty good right now. We stop at a coffee store franchise called Papa Rich, it’s stealthy corporate silhouette reminds me of a vibrant Colonel Sanders who to me is the handsome southernly trustworthy gent and the purveyor of crack addictive chicken. I look at Kym and Nathe who are studying the menu board out front the coffee shop and say, ”Yeah? How about it” and they nod their heads in approval and we wait to get seated. And as best we try we come off looking weary, kinda haggard, and it appears as though they’re hesitant to seat us, but they eventually do, but have a guess where, in the back of course. We’re so close the kitchen I could spit and hit an apprentice chef.
We ‘re seated over by the wall, me Kym and Nathan sitting on the wall bench seat with Lively and Jeff on the chairs, Jeff is hunkered over the table like he’s ready to pass out, so I ask him, “You ok dude?” and he’s like, “Yeah i’m fine man, seriously”. We’re then served by this tiny asian lass who has chinese features and is about as tall as a match stick. We’re still slightly toasted and she knows it, she speaks no English so it’s a coin toss, Is she giving us shit or just laughing at us because she’s unusually happy. I think we all know the answer to this one. Anyway, she takes our orders, I go for a shaved ice coffee beverage that comes with a pumpkin muffin with ice cream. I can’t recall what the others ordered but I know that Kym ordered the same as me, so in no time at all out come the drinks, then the deserts and I’m expecting what’s in the photo only what I get is this muffin that’s the size of potato tot, it’s tiny, it’s a friggin mini muffin and the dollop of icecream is bigger than the muffin. This makes me and everyone at our table laugh, hey even Jeff laughs, plus our waitress, that little minx is laughing her ass off at the silly tourists. She’s making eye contact with me everytime she walks past and i’m guessing what she’s probably thinking, “look at the big fat stupid tourists yey!”
All in all it makes for few laughs after an already hectic but fun night wandering around the backstreets to the hotel. We leave the coffee shop close to 11pm and walk up the street to the main intersection of Bukit Bintang Rd. hang left and then walk a short distance towards the Hotel Istana. Along the way Nathe and I hang back and then go inside the local 7-11 to buy some snacks and beverages. We decide that given the amount of money that we are spending night to night downstairs in the lounge bar it makes more sense to have a few drinks in our rooms, I mean it's why I bought the bottle of Canadian Club in the first place.
We ‘re seated over by the wall, me Kym and Nathan sitting on the wall bench seat with Lively and Jeff on the chairs, Jeff is hunkered over the table like he’s ready to pass out, so I ask him, “You ok dude?” and he’s like, “Yeah i’m fine man, seriously”. We’re then served by this tiny asian lass who has chinese features and is about as tall as a match stick. We’re still slightly toasted and she knows it, she speaks no English so it’s a coin toss, Is she giving us shit or just laughing at us because she’s unusually happy. I think we all know the answer to this one. Anyway, she takes our orders, I go for a shaved ice coffee beverage that comes with a pumpkin muffin with ice cream. I can’t recall what the others ordered but I know that Kym ordered the same as me, so in no time at all out come the drinks, then the deserts and I’m expecting what’s in the photo only what I get is this muffin that’s the size of potato tot, it’s tiny, it’s a friggin mini muffin and the dollop of icecream is bigger than the muffin. This makes me and everyone at our table laugh, hey even Jeff laughs, plus our waitress, that little minx is laughing her ass off at the silly tourists. She’s making eye contact with me everytime she walks past and i’m guessing what she’s probably thinking, “look at the big fat stupid tourists yey!”
All in all it makes for few laughs after an already hectic but fun night wandering around the backstreets to the hotel. We leave the coffee shop close to 11pm and walk up the street to the main intersection of Bukit Bintang Rd. hang left and then walk a short distance towards the Hotel Istana. Along the way Nathe and I hang back and then go inside the local 7-11 to buy some snacks and beverages. We decide that given the amount of money that we are spending night to night downstairs in the lounge bar it makes more sense to have a few drinks in our rooms, I mean it's why I bought the bottle of Canadian Club in the first place.
Inside the 7-11 we scan the fridges and see some beers that we like and ponder over which ones we’ll buy, while we're making our minds up a pair of arse faced poms approach the fridges overhearing our accents, "Oh yeah Aussies eh?", I smile back and say all short n’ sweet "Yep", then the taller one snickers to his mate and says, "typical", and Nathe catches my reaction, the glib smile and all colour and expression drops from my face and is replaced by something that says - ready for war, in my mind I’m like ”What the fuck?”, then the two poms chuckle to themselves and slink away to the front counter, the comment leaves me rattled, What does typical mean? is he suggesting that we're all raised on beer or something, are people so stupid they’d believe that we, as Aussies, are the stereotype? And wait on, didn't these two old fucks just buy beer now, isn’t the pissed Englishman abroad a stereotype as well. Nathe is quick with his assessment, "Cunts", and this makes me laugh, and I say "Yeah, fuckheads" it's not as though I’m insulted but you gotta ask yourself - Why act like a wanker to another race of people while on holiday? You’re a guest here, having the time of your life, relaxing, taking in the sights, can’t we all just get along for five seconds for fucks sake?
We bag up around 8 beers of Carlsberg, pay, then continue the walk back to the hotel, we don’t realise it at first but Kym has been waiting for us the entire time, she shakes as though she has the chills and then says "Ew yuck, all these weirdos out the front" and I imagine that they've been having a perv on our dear Kym, after all she is rather fetching.
We walk up the block to the hotel passing stalls selling the same fake ass shit you see in China Town, it’s being sold by some really pushy Indians and it gets to the point where you need to ignore them completely because no matter how firm you are by saying No thanks, this is like a come on for them to push and harass.
As we’re approaching the hotel I look back and see that two of them have been following us, suss.
Once inside we find Jeff and Lively downstairs in the club lounge having a drink sitting fairly close to where we’ve been meeting up every morning only a little further down closer to the glass windows leading out to the back. And I like it, it’s cosier, there’s a three seater and a few single chairs and a low coffee table, plus it’s in pole position to listen to the house band.
Nathan goes upstairs with Kym and takes the beers up to his room, they say they’ll be back downstairs in a minute which is cool and that they want to kick on.
When I come to sit down with Jeff and Lively I can see Lively being served by the lovely Elis who lays out Live’s drink like it’s a tea ceremony. First she lays down a tumbler glass and adds a double hit of Jacks into the glass for him, then she adds three cubes of ice picked from a small silver bucket of ice with silver teethed tongs, and then she lets Lively pour his own lemonade to the portion amount he wants to mix with his bourbon, he gets to pour the lemonade from a tiny glass jug, it’s so cute, and when he’s finished adding the amount of lemonade he wants Elis then she takes a plastic twizzler and mixes it up for him before laying in down onto a fresh paper coaster, Viola! It’s like a card trick and I love the skill of good service, without missing a beat Elis asks me what I want to drink and I say “I’ll have a Vodka tonic”, then Jeff says “I already ordered you a Carlsberg”, I smile at Jeff and say, “Thanks, the next one’s on me” and still order the Vodka tonic regardless.
The band must be in between sets, taking a break, or smoking a cigarettesomewhere. Then I say to Lively and Jeff, “When me and Nathe stopped all i could see was you two lummoxes shuffling back the hotel” and Jeff counters my comment by saying, “Yeah I think at that point all we wanted to do was to sit down” And I get it, as i’m kinda tired too. I tell them the story about how I think we were being followed by two Indians. Then I purposely bait Lively into demonstrating his cultural sensitivities, which he says in defence that he’s merely - culturally challenged. Anyway Lively comments on the Indian hawkers, “Fuck man I was ready to swing” and this gets him all worked up as he tells it. Jeff is kicking back with a bourbon and coke and looks slightly more content than he was an hour earlier.
When Nathe comes downstairs Kym is not with him and he’s kinda antsy. Jeff asks, “She ok or is she harkin’ ya?” Nathe just smiles, covering up whatevers really going on bwtween them by saying, “Ah well”. Meanwhile Elis brings my drink over and asks did I want a double shot of Absolute vodka and I say, “Sure” like what the hell right. I ask Nathe if he wants a drink and he’s squirming ready to resist and I ask Elis will she get him one of the same.
By the time Nathe’s drink come out the hotel band starts to play the second half of their show.
The band plays a few show tunes from movies like Cabaret that allow the brass section to really liven up with some Jazzy numbers and then they switch to their usual repertoire of songs from the 80’s. We sit there in grooving along to the beat and I’m sort of shit faced at this point, nothing can take this stupid smile off my face, we drink a few rounds of vodka tonics and Lively and Jeff stick to their bourbons. The night has been good to us and we laugh and joke about Nathe chasing the cat, which we name Tron cat, with his laser eyes, on Geto Kat Road. The hotel lounge bar Manager comes over and chats with us, she tells Jeff and I that she remembers us two from this time last year, we notice how the girls still wear red silk Sari’s but now she wears a business outfit, sports coat and mini skirt both coloured in dark navy blue, black high heels and pantyhose. Jeff talks to her about it and he retells it for me once she moves on, “She has to wear that stuff now, all the managers have to dress formally”
We talk about getting a cigar from the humidor and smoking it here but we don’t. We drink long into the night making it all the way into the last set of the band, when they sing “Break Out” by ‘Swing Out Sister’ I nearly lose my shit. When the band singer is finished I have all the lads stand up and clap, I’m so pleased. The lead singer, who is a slightly older woman, then asks us where we are from and we tell her Australia. She asks us which city we come from and one at a time we name our hometown’s and she can’t believe it when she realises that we’re not from just one city and that we’re from all over Australia and what’s the most amazing thing is that we all came here together.
And she claps in appreciation of our company and from this night onwards she refers to us all as her “Australian friends”. I can’t help but smile as she says this, yes it’s true that we came from all over the country to be here together, all members of our happy clan, just wanting to be able to hang out and drink, shop and eat together for a week, and to me it’s the greatest thing that I could have ever hoped for.
The night roars on with music and more drinking, there’s more jokes and laughter and it blurs in my memory how it ended. I really don’t know how I made it back to my room or what I did to get there, all I can remember is sitting there in the lounge bar with Jeff, Nathe and Lively singing along to old songs from my youth and giggling my ass off with the dearest of mates.
Once inside we find Jeff and Lively downstairs in the club lounge having a drink sitting fairly close to where we’ve been meeting up every morning only a little further down closer to the glass windows leading out to the back. And I like it, it’s cosier, there’s a three seater and a few single chairs and a low coffee table, plus it’s in pole position to listen to the house band.
Nathan goes upstairs with Kym and takes the beers up to his room, they say they’ll be back downstairs in a minute which is cool and that they want to kick on.
When I come to sit down with Jeff and Lively I can see Lively being served by the lovely Elis who lays out Live’s drink like it’s a tea ceremony. First she lays down a tumbler glass and adds a double hit of Jacks into the glass for him, then she adds three cubes of ice picked from a small silver bucket of ice with silver teethed tongs, and then she lets Lively pour his own lemonade to the portion amount he wants to mix with his bourbon, he gets to pour the lemonade from a tiny glass jug, it’s so cute, and when he’s finished adding the amount of lemonade he wants Elis then she takes a plastic twizzler and mixes it up for him before laying in down onto a fresh paper coaster, Viola! It’s like a card trick and I love the skill of good service, without missing a beat Elis asks me what I want to drink and I say “I’ll have a Vodka tonic”, then Jeff says “I already ordered you a Carlsberg”, I smile at Jeff and say, “Thanks, the next one’s on me” and still order the Vodka tonic regardless.
The band must be in between sets, taking a break, or smoking a cigarettesomewhere. Then I say to Lively and Jeff, “When me and Nathe stopped all i could see was you two lummoxes shuffling back the hotel” and Jeff counters my comment by saying, “Yeah I think at that point all we wanted to do was to sit down” And I get it, as i’m kinda tired too. I tell them the story about how I think we were being followed by two Indians. Then I purposely bait Lively into demonstrating his cultural sensitivities, which he says in defence that he’s merely - culturally challenged. Anyway Lively comments on the Indian hawkers, “Fuck man I was ready to swing” and this gets him all worked up as he tells it. Jeff is kicking back with a bourbon and coke and looks slightly more content than he was an hour earlier.
When Nathe comes downstairs Kym is not with him and he’s kinda antsy. Jeff asks, “She ok or is she harkin’ ya?” Nathe just smiles, covering up whatevers really going on bwtween them by saying, “Ah well”. Meanwhile Elis brings my drink over and asks did I want a double shot of Absolute vodka and I say, “Sure” like what the hell right. I ask Nathe if he wants a drink and he’s squirming ready to resist and I ask Elis will she get him one of the same.
By the time Nathe’s drink come out the hotel band starts to play the second half of their show.
The band plays a few show tunes from movies like Cabaret that allow the brass section to really liven up with some Jazzy numbers and then they switch to their usual repertoire of songs from the 80’s. We sit there in grooving along to the beat and I’m sort of shit faced at this point, nothing can take this stupid smile off my face, we drink a few rounds of vodka tonics and Lively and Jeff stick to their bourbons. The night has been good to us and we laugh and joke about Nathe chasing the cat, which we name Tron cat, with his laser eyes, on Geto Kat Road. The hotel lounge bar Manager comes over and chats with us, she tells Jeff and I that she remembers us two from this time last year, we notice how the girls still wear red silk Sari’s but now she wears a business outfit, sports coat and mini skirt both coloured in dark navy blue, black high heels and pantyhose. Jeff talks to her about it and he retells it for me once she moves on, “She has to wear that stuff now, all the managers have to dress formally”
We talk about getting a cigar from the humidor and smoking it here but we don’t. We drink long into the night making it all the way into the last set of the band, when they sing “Break Out” by ‘Swing Out Sister’ I nearly lose my shit. When the band singer is finished I have all the lads stand up and clap, I’m so pleased. The lead singer, who is a slightly older woman, then asks us where we are from and we tell her Australia. She asks us which city we come from and one at a time we name our hometown’s and she can’t believe it when she realises that we’re not from just one city and that we’re from all over Australia and what’s the most amazing thing is that we all came here together.
And she claps in appreciation of our company and from this night onwards she refers to us all as her “Australian friends”. I can’t help but smile as she says this, yes it’s true that we came from all over the country to be here together, all members of our happy clan, just wanting to be able to hang out and drink, shop and eat together for a week, and to me it’s the greatest thing that I could have ever hoped for.
The night roars on with music and more drinking, there’s more jokes and laughter and it blurs in my memory how it ended. I really don’t know how I made it back to my room or what I did to get there, all I can remember is sitting there in the lounge bar with Jeff, Nathe and Lively singing along to old songs from my youth and giggling my ass off with the dearest of mates.
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