OK then, Its tomorrow again and time for an update!!!
After finishing the blog from yesterday I actually went up to my room and left behind the lovely hotel lobby. The room was a disappointment It seems that we had been put into the 2star sister hotel next to the 5 star luxury next door.. The rooms weren’t that bad, but were just tired and a little dangerous. The door to the bathroom was like a door you would find on an outside toilet in the 1950's. The shower was from the same era and the plug socket behind the bedside cabinet, consisted of a tangle of badly wired cables, held together with electrical tape. After the talk of a really nice hotel to stay in after our long day we were all a little down-heartened
As it was Liv's birthday, most of us met up in the 5 star foyer and headed to the hotels restaurant where we were told there was food and beer available. After putting a few tables together, the serving staff, (who were brilliant all night – I wouldn’t say a word against them, because they really were nice.) brought out a few cols cans of beer and took our food orders. The beers were only small, so I immediately ordered another round. When the next beers arrived they were not cold, but the staff brought out some ice so that we could cool them down. Eventually food started to arrive at the table and it was not worth waiting for. The burgers were cold as were the chips and the spaghetty (sic) and cheesy meatballs ordered by me and Jennifer Parsonage turned out to be spicier than a vindaloo, with meatballs made from steel and the size of a mouses testicle – on a cold day! I will eat anything as long as its on a plate, so scoffed mine down before I could taste it, but Jennifer Parsonage didn’t eat hers and changed her order to a rice dish, which when it came out just a few minutes later, was actually really good. Kenneth was also disappointed, when after over an hours wait he was informed he wouldn’t get his food as the chef had gone home!! Liv was the only person who seemed to enjoy her meal as her fish was quite good. Maybe they knew it was her birthday!
Most people drifted off to bed after dinner, but myself, Liv, Donna and Jennifer Parsonage finished sat chatting for a bit. Jennifer Parsonage came back from a trip to the toilet and explained that there was a sign saying 'Do not urine at the floor!!'. Obviously the ladies out here need to be told this!! There was also a sign showing how not to use toilet! I immediately went into the gents to check it out, but there were no such signs in there, so I can only assume that blokes are allowed to 'urine at the floor', as much as they like!!
The four of us then decided to check out the karaoke bar on the 3rd floor of our cheaper sister hotel. Well, the entrance is on the 3rd floor, but randomly there is another set of stairs to the 2nd floor, where a small bar is situated at the bottom of the stairs and has a few private karaoke rooms, where guests can go to sing their little hearts out. It seems to, that you can get a lot more than karaoke there as at the side of the stairs is a room where we saw 6-7 local ladies sat, dresses in short skirts or shorts and looking all dolled up waiting for customers. We are not 100% sure what they were there for, but can imagine that if you need a bit of 'company', whilst you use the private 'Karaoke', rooms then you will be able to be 'entertained', by one or more of the aforementioned girls!!
We managed to get a couple of beers and vodkas from the bar and sat chatting for a while with the staff and the 'bar manager', who proceeded to feel my legs and take pictures of Donna. This bar manager lady is now suspected of being the boss lady of the 'Karaoke girls'.
After a few drinkies we got the bill and saw that the prices were really high! About the equivalent of £5 for a small beer or vodka and just about the price you would expect to pay in a house of ill repute!! (I should know as I have drunk in a few!!)
It was then off to bed.
Most people seemed to sleep well, which I think is probably down to a long day yesterday taking it out of us all plus the beds are actually quite comfortable. I skipped breakfast, but those that went said it was a lot better than last nights dinner. It was then back onto the bus and we were off for today’s drive, which we expect to be about 7 hours. The day started well with me, Vicky, Jennifer Parsonage, Donna, Janet and Stu all discussing last night and eventually the toilet situation in the restaurant. As per Oz-bus rules the conversation got a bit weird as we discussed different positions for using squat toilets and the pros and cons of being a man and using urinals! I showed my photos of goal posts and targets in urinals in Vienna, which seemed to impress everyone. It was a funny chat and a great way to start another long day. The first couple of hours flew by and we are expecting our first stop soon!
The rest if the journey today was pretty good. I managed a sleep, until I was rudely awoken when Jennifer Parsonage screamed as she got to a scary bit in the film she was watching. Everyone on the bus heard her she went bright red!
We arrived at the Hotel Wisata in Palembang and were really pleasantly surprised. Tonights 2 star hotel is miles better than last nights supposed 5 star effort. The rooms are clean, the bathrooms good and it has internet.
It was only about 4pm and tomorrow is another 12hour day at least, so me and Jennifer Parsonage went on a walk out to get some money changed and do some food shopping. A guy from our hotel promised to take us to a place to get Jennifer Parsonages Euros exchanged and after a 5 minute walk we ended up in a shoe shop!! It was a bit weird, but the bloke behind the counter gave us a really good exchange rate and a second dude, opened his bag to reveal a big pile of brand new Indonesian currency, which he counted out and exchanged for our euros! We then shook his hand and gave a tip to the guy who took us there, before we headed to a local shopping mall. In there we found a supermarket where we got cheese, corned beef, bread, snacks and biscuits to share on tomorrows trip. We then made our way back to the hotel and made some lovely sandwiches and put them into the sandwich bags we had also bought. The whole day had been good except for not being able to find a splitter to replace my one that was lost yesterday....However just a minute ago, Donna walked in and presented me with my splitter!! It had fallen from my seat yesterday and landed in her bag!! Result!!
Tonight we are off out for a meal, for free, on a local floating restaurant which everyone is really looking forward to. It has been a great day so far – everything has gone well and we are all happy again!! What a difference a day makes!!!
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