Kai Hits Clarke Quay

Hari Raya Puasa, Wednesday 1 October

This public holiday was a great opportunity to really kick our root down at home, and it went well; placating Lil' Kai, having lunch at the hawker centre, and capping it off with his first major outing, a trip via MRT to Clarke Quay, where Jamie and I had our first three-way date over burgers and beers at Crazy Elephant! The tourists couldn't believe how small he was, and half way through I couldn't believe Kai was at his first pub. At least it was a quality one.

Homeward Bound

Sunday 21 September

As the four of us came to in the hotel room, I finished my scotch and got ready to attack the last few hours in London - a few people had told me this town is all about Sunday - and it was good to have some nice times with Max, Tommy and his friend to round off the week.

We strolled down the sunny side of the street to a gastro pub and sat in a small garden out the back, savouring some salmon and champagne and celebrating the previous night's win and not getting stabbed or robbed.

By 3pm I had said my goodbyes and was in a car heading to Heathrow - I tuned into Galaxy 99.5FM and had a peaceful hour listening to roots reggae as the driver winded his way through the sunny Sunday streets towards the airport. With no check-in baggage I made my way wearily through customs and security, enjoyed my final Tiger in the SQ lounge, then boarded the plane for an extremely painful flight home, all the way back to my wailing baby and frazzled wife. Getting this trip behind me was indeed a milestone and though Kai learned how to really holler this week, just being home and physically there to help out now, is a big bonus for all concerned. London, over and out.

Tiger Translate London

Saturday 20 September

I was kind to myself and everyone today, so there were no official duties until 3pm. I slept till around twelve, then headed out to get some lunch at a local pub with Max. Again, I was amazed by London's approach - the first pub had no cook on duty, the second one had no electricity, the third one had beer but no food. Pretty fed up by then I said to Max, "F*ck it, let's get a pint" and proceeded to do so and order a bloody Domino's pizza into the pub. The developing world seems more civilised in comparison.

Spent the afternoon getting ready at the event venue with all the artists, managed to grab a decent diner meal (cheeseburger, fries and coke) with Max, Mee Wong and Badral Bold which was a sweet little respite (though as Max said, in this environment where trashiness would be appropriate, the joint's design was a little too English, subtle and tasteful to classify as a real American diner).

At 8pm the doors opened and the show peaked around 11pm with the live art battle, though the UK beatboxer and The Nextmen were my highlights - the latter played everything including the kitchen sink, and by 1am when Tommy Gerard rocked up, he was introducing me to the true meaning of dubstep. Had a good yum seng with Max and his mate from Otago, drank a few quality beverages, boogied, socialised and generally had a good time.

After the venue was cleared out at 2am, I gathered the final party crew and took the van to Dalston Jazz Club, a tiny little place that was packed liked sardines but still functioning. Again I failed to see the civilisation in this setup and so ordered a round of Beerlao, before popping onto the street for some fresh air with Tommy. When the time came to go back in and get Max, the bouncer enforced the by-now-infurating licensing laws, so I took Tommy's advice and had to use Jedi mind power to entice Max out of the bar. We tried one more bar up the road and suffered the same old gag, after which I had seriously had enough and we made a beeline back to the hotel to drink some single malt.

As Mr Hook said recently, the US and Europe may have only recently been considered the first world, but Asia is rapidly knocking them off their pedestal and it's very interesting to experience the difference first-hand. Back in the comfort of our room, we listened to iTunes, sipped on Macallan and ice and shot the shit till dawn. Primo.

T-Minus One

Friday 19 September

"Getting there!" was a key thought in my mind by this stage, with Kai and Jamie back home taking up a lot of mental real estate, and the culmination of a year's work happening in the here and now taking up the rest.

Headed down to Shoreditch once again, where all the collaborations were coming together nicely, especially the London cab under the clear blue, late summer sky. Took a walk with Pure Evil to a junk shop and fell in love with an integrated mobile DJ unit from the 70s, with two belt drive turntables, a mixer and microphone all built in. They were only asking 200 squid and I was very tempted to buy it, but the thought of transport and storage won over the kitsch value in the end. Had a quick but quality coffee with Wan Yee and Wayne on Brick Lane then took my leave.

Picked up the media from the hotel, now adding a minivan to my arsenal, and had a nice casual lunch at Canteloupe. Phin Wong from Today ordered a bottle of sparkling wine and I was happy to help him with it, supplementing my lunchtime Tiger and aubergine. After that it was time for the media briefing, which this time was done by yours truly, with one Max Bania joining just in time to catch a piece of the action. Dispensed with all my duties and headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next battle, bringing Max with me, fresh off the back of travelling around Eastern Europe and ecstatic about seeing his first real bed in weeks!

Took a smaller group of about 12 media to dinner at the Great Eastern Dining Room which was a fantastic taste sensation - hadn't had 'fusion' Asian food in a while but this worked pretty well. Across the road we had a round of Tigers at Canteloupe, not trashy at all with a nice buzz going, before jumping in Tiger tuk tuks to Juno, round the corner, where a Secret Wars live art battle was going on.

It was here that I started to relax a little and caught up with Katie and Max as part of the crowd spilling out over the pavement and eventually onto the road! Made radio contact with Ben Frost and once everyone was nicely lubricated, invited all the party people to jump into the van and head to Koko, where the boss had offered us a private section with a cooler full of beer!

Picked up Ben and his girl Maddi en route and kicked it VIP-style into the giant, pumping venue. Rocked it properly up there (feeling a little like Statler & Waldorf looking down at all the stupid indie kids below). Our guests had a great time and as they slowly filtered off, the hardcore remained as Max and I entertained Jesper and Katie by singing along to "Call Me Al" on the dance floor.

Taking Jesper's suggestion and hungry for more late night Friday action, we headed towards the centre of town to Tiger Tiger but that's where it all started going pear-shaped - finding a drink late at night in London was like drawing blood from a stone. The closest we got was a place that would charge us 5 quid cover and only serve soft drinks, so after wandering around the rabble-filled streets of Leicester square for quite a while, we gave up and had a sing-along taxi ride first to drop Katie home and then to bed around 5am.

Redheads not Warheads

Thursday 18 September

Started at 9am in the lobby again, with our last addition, Alex from Hicalorie, joining us and headed down to the studio. Got everyone doing their thing, checked out some artwork on the roof with Pure Evil, before heading back to the hotel to get a little work done and meet a business partner over lunch. Headed up to Camden after that to visit Koko, an iconic music venue with some potential for more work next year. Got shown around the beautiful converted theatre, met one of the directors and bounced some ideas around.

Starting to feel like things were getting a little hectic, I found a nice sunny pub and sat down with a Guinness to get my thoughts, papers and media presentation in order. Well worth it. Headed back to the studio to check on the progress of the artwork and take the team back to the hotel so they could have a little down time.

By 7:30pm the Thai band had arrived along with the Singapore media, so we had a formidable group of about of 25 people for me to host for dinner and drinks! Luckily I had a thick wad of pounds in my pocket and a clear plan, so after sunset we set off on foot from the hotel towards Thai Sqaure Angel in Islington. Hit a slight hitch when the back half of the ambling group followed an errant guest into the tube station, within which there was no hint of mobile phone reception, so I had to troubleshoot and get some help to rescue them from the warren-like underground.

Dinner went well at a big long table and I chatted with the Danish guys (I think a shared disdain for Ikea was the foundation for our bond) and our 'celebrity bloggers' (www.dawnyang.com and www.kennysia.com). Eight hundred quid later we rolled up the road to a nice bar called Living Room where most of our group headed home and were replaced by a couple of Malaysian English blokes with strong affinity to Tiger Beer! With a writer from Vice magazine Denmark, we caught a cab down to Shoreditch and had a pint at a nice and trashy bar called Old Blue Last. Shit stereo quality, bright lights and a friendly vibe, apparently this is the place where all the 'it' bands choose to play to launch their new albums to the London hipsters. To me it was just trashy and bright, but at least they had beer.

Down the street we went into a darker bar called Tea and had what would turn out to be our final drink, and here I was struck by normal-looking people, drinking normal drinks and dancing to normal-sounding dance music. Perhaps my expectations for something mind-blowing were a little too high. The rest of the night was spent wandering the streets with our Danish and English friends, finding one closed bar after another. Yay England.

For The Love Of My Child(ren)

Wednesday 17 September

With my body still on Singapore time, I decided to get up early to clear some emails and mentally prepare for the battle ahead. Well worth it. Meeting all the artists in the lobby at 9am, we took the tube from Angel to Old Street and winded our way down the brown and grey inner city streets, first to the car park at Hearn Street and then to the collaboration studio - Cordy House.

Met Eine and Pure Evil, the UK headline artists and a lovely couple of geezers. After breaking the ice, a spot of lunch, shopping for art materials and checking out the museum-like streets of Shoreditch (courtesy of Banksy, Eine and the like) everyone got cracking on their artwork. I had a small bit of down-time on the sofa and chatted with Odgerel from Mongolia about next year's plans, before heading over to see where Singapore, China and UK were getting started on customising an old London cab!

Knocked off at a civilised hour and then headed up to Camden Town with Ben Qwek for a tasty Indian dinner followed by drinks at the Jazz Cafe to see none other than Finley Quaye! The warm-up band confirmed the quality of the music scene here, and Finley was in a state of total wastedness but executed his lyrics perfectly; "I sacrifice my life for the love of my children" & "I need you to stop! Find out what's wrong! Get it right!" Awesome. Enjoyed a couple of Budvars and a Red Stripe while swaying to the reggae and soul sounds, highlighted by the saxophonist - wow. Made it home safely and was in bed around midnight.

Filthy MacNasty's

Tuesday 16 September

Jumped on a plane at 9am and spent the best part of 13 hours reading, working, watching Flight of the Conchords, listening to music and drinking Tiger in preparation for this year's Tiger Translate global showcase in London!

Arrived in Heathrow and swiftly escaped on the express train to Paddington (smooth) - transferred to the tube (not so smooth), got out at King's Cross and took a long walk with baggage in hand to the Jury's Inn Islington on Pentonville Road. Blue Monopoly! The business hotel was totally sweet and after settling into my room and making contact with a few team-mates and meeting the artists from Singapore, India, Denmark and Mongolia, headed down the road to Filthy MacNasty's - a lovely local pub for a delicious pie with mash and peas and a couple of pints of lager. Had an early night, woke up the next day even earlier.

And Now a Word from Our Sponsor

10 September 2008

Thanks to the little birthday present that keeps on giving, my 32nd birthday was a picture of absolute domestic bliss; sleeping in, breakfast in bed, playing with Kai, a trip down to the ICA to apply for the baby bonus, discovering the local NTUC. Yes, it's true, I have become a Singaporean.

Matt and Wendy get hitched!

Kai Gerard in Full Effect!

Born at 8:53 am on Thursday 28 August 2008, Kai Gerard aka 陈凯 weighed in at 2.9 kilos and 50 cm long. A healthy baby boy is welcomed into the world!

Tiger Translate Vientiane II

08/08/08

In the venue by mid-morning, Don and Kevin got the visual side of things going while I burnt charcoal around the club to neutralise the skanky odour. The tech requirements for a VJ are tricky at the best of times, but we managed to pull it together even in a cowboy town like Vientiane.

Met up with Koflow and Shellsuit then headed to lunch which featured an awesome river fish, oily and delicious! Had an hour before sound check so took the guys to get a traditional massage - I tried out ear candling for the first time - good if slightly freaky. Sound check went well, the guys had a bit of time to chill before dinner at Sokdy and on-time!

Doors opened at 9pm and the crowd flowed in swift and steady. The great young crowd were totally up-for-it and lapped up the true school hip-hop served by Koflow, with a bit of Baltimore sound thrown in by Shellsuit. The visuals looked awesome and the entire place was pumping from start to finish, leaving one very happy Singapore crew!

Feeling the Flow

Thursday 7 August

After a month or so of planning, an early start got me to Changi airport along with DJs Koflow and Shellsuit, VJ Kevin Kong aka QWTY, and my old partner in crime, Don. A fairly smooth trip via Bangkok to Vientiane got us there in the early afternoon, checking out lots of great new acts for the London musical lineup en route.

Chowed down in the hotel, visited the venue for the following night's event, made some tweaks to the layout and met up with Leng, our local DJ and PR point man. After a little down-time I met up with the boys and we took a walk down to the Mekong River, this time fully swollen (as opposed to its parched state in May). Soaked up the river's vibe before proceeding to dinner at Kong View, a beautiful new restaurant also on the river's bank, serving a delicious selection of Lao food, the highlights of which were the spicy fish salad and super juicy chicken.

Following the very ambient and beery meal, we proceeded to check out a few clubs - Marina, D-Tech, Meena and Romeo. Carlsberg was counter-attacking that night with a nicely decked-out event at Marina, D-Tech was gearing up for a big bang the next day, Meena was pumping and we thankfully only scraped the surface of a bottle of Johnnie, while Romeo was the newest, biggest and highest potential of the lot for the next event.

Churchill Made Me Do It

Saturday 2 August

After some well-needed sleep I met up with Sayson and had a simple, late lunch of tom yam soup and mee goreng at the brand new Ritz Carlton. I had an inkling to check out the bar upstairs and was totally blown away by the incredibly cosy and authentic cigar and whisky bar named after Winston Churchill. I'd be baaack.

Checked out the China marketing head office (very nice) and went out with a cartonful of premiums, though not without sitting in the lobby for a while and eating the restrictive procedures. I still don't understand how the lobby guard let us out in the end, as we neither gave him money nor the signed form he had requested.

Dropped the booty at the hotel then jumped in a cab to Nitya's apartment over in Tianhe, chilled at their place for a while and sampled some random local beers from the convenience store - Zhu Jiang didn't make me want to wretch at all! After introducing them to Flight of the Conchords we all cabbed over to Zhu Jiang Xin Cheng, the brand spanking new area, where a friend of theirs was soft launching a smashing Indian restaurant, all built from scratch.

Following a bottle of SA wine and a Heineken there, we met up with Sayson again at the Churchill Bar, where I indulged in a rusty nail with great delight! The place had so much leather, so many cigars, and such great service - I think I really must be getting old. After a simple but yummy late night dinner I bid Nitya and Ashwin farewell and headed to a final destination, a local nightclub with Translate artwork up, a black guy rapping in Chinese, and lots of people drinking Tiger. That took me to the logical conclusion of another dawn cab ride home, a few hours sleep, getting back on the plane the next day and drinking my way back to Singapore. Healthy.

Tiger Translate Guangzhou

Friday 1 August

After a late night in Singapore punctuated by Geylang Claypot Rice with Jamie, Luke and Dawn followed by Tiger Translate's Future event in Zouk (featuring Li Qiu Qiu and Dexpistols), I took a four hour flight to Guangzhou, where I hadn't been since 2001.

Unlike a visit to NZ after a long time, everything had changed, to the extent that the city today was completely unrecognisable from my trip with Ben and Anchali in December '01. Massive, modern, shiny and grey, Guangzhou was at once the gargantuan and faceless beast that is Modern China.

Had a quick lunch with Sayson and got ready for the press conference in the basement of C:Union, a reggae bar that had been decked out with artwork for our event. Met the local artist Mee Wong who's responsible for some of the most saucy pieces in the collection, and was busy painting a semi-naked babe onto an old-fashioned bathtub - hot.

Managed to successfully field a few questions in Mandarin (with the help of a couple of Tigers) and then hung around talking to the musicians and the local team. Grabbed some spicy frog legs at a nearby restaurant together with the BAs from all over China. Feeling pretty low energy I willed myself into it as the doors opened around 8, and was totally blown away by the live performance by Beijing rock band, Muma. I read last week that the Beijing live music scene is now up in the top ten worldwide and seeing these guys perform, I could believe it.

Nitya, Ashwin and some of their friends turned up later and we hung out at the bar, also meeting some randoms including an experimental electronic musician from Denmark who had suffered a total nervous breakdown and never had to work again, his language partner, a fashion designer from Wenzhou, and assorted trading professionals from Syria, India and the UK. When the African came and they all started puffing at the bar, all I could think of was; Cosmopolitan? China? Wow.

Headed over to Nitya's friend's place to chill for a while (he gave me a gorgeous black and white printed sticker of Bob Marley for the new crib) then finished up the night with some crazy seafood done in a southern style. Got home around 5.30am.

Tiger Hits Siem Reap

24-27 June 2008

Helping organise this year's Tiger Beer Conference, I flew with a bunch of colleagues to Siem Reap, Cambodia on a Tuesday morning and spent the rest of the week there organising, presenting, eating, drinking, (a bit of sleeping) and checking out this quaint town.

Highlights were spending some quality time with Tzao Shen, cruising around in a tuk tuk late at night with him and Nam, swimming in the palace-like hotel pool, and blowing away our 100 delegates with a smooth and high-energy conference.

On Friday we hopped on bicycles and rode around three of the biggest temples there - Angkor Wat, Angkor Thom and Bagon - beautiful, ancient and impossibly steep in places! The heat was pretty oppressive but I kept hydrated with ice cold Tiger and enjoyed every moment of it.

On the Saturday I took a lovely afternoon flight down to KL and met up with Jamie for the wedding of Joanne and Prakash - a memorable if slightly nerdy occcasion (apparently the groom had asked if there was an 'epsilon possibility' that they might get married) with Jamie's PPP.

The following day I caught up with Kevin for lunch and chilled at his place for a while, before catching the train from KL Sentral to the airport and heading back to Singapore for our last Sunday at Spottiswoode Park!

Hostel Spottiswoode

Saturday 7 June

Sundown Sessions on Juhu Beach

Sunday 25 May

After another healthy sleep, breakfast and dose of reading, I met up with Chetan and his wife for a yummy Indian lunch at Bandra, a cool suburb of Bombay. Around 4.30pm I headed to Juhu Beach and wandered along this expansive stretch of sand on the Arabian Sea, warm like a bath and teeming with humanity.

More crowded than any beach I've seen in China, it was still a remarkably beautiful stretch with palm trees, blue skies and some amazing beachfront properties that looked like run-down bomb shelters. Groups of guys played cricket, girls ran into the sea fully clothed, and everyone was holding hands. As I got to the core of the crowd I found people selling fruit, photos, balloons and someone even offered me a smoke! Didn't feel threatened until I realised just how big the crowd that I was immersed in really was (and how many people could be hit by just one bomb blast - even though Mumbai is said to be very safe thanks to a strong mafia), and decided to head back to Vie Lounge and kick back on the other side of the fence.

This place was part Ku De Ta, part KM8, but with an art deco vibe that was entirely original and not forced at all. The crowd grooved to Sunday afternoon house music dished out by some quality British DJs while the Tiger flowed on. I lodged myself in the jutting out part of the deck and just observed both the party and its own group of observers on the beach. Overheard one of the Bollywood producer types say to his younger friend, "Act like a star, you're going to be one soon."

Hung around until I had my fill, then headed back for a shower, a light dinner and off to the airport. The midnight flight saw me sleepy and I half dozed for the 5 hour trip back to Singapore and a real Monday morning. Respect to the sub-continent.

This Is How We Do It

Saturday 24 May

Gave myself a break in the morning with a sleep-in, healthy breakfast and a few chapters of 'The Pregnant Guy' - a fun book written for someone like me; head swirling with a thousand thoughts about bringing a new person into the world. Had a home-cooked vegetarian lunch and a nap (the bliss!) before on-time.

Having asked for a briefing on the press conference I was to be involved in this evening, the PR agency came over and we discussed for a while what was going to happen. Apparently it's S.O.P. here to have no briefing, no key messages, just get up there and say whatever comes to mind. Though I found this a little unsettling, I'm enjoying the part of my job which requires me to be flexible and learn how different cultures work, so instead of going "WTF!" I probed them with questions to extract as much sense as I could (not much) and when they had gone, worked out my own key messages in the quiet of the guest house.

With an hour's worth of traffic in between us and the event venue, the car that was going to take us there failed to show up, so we jumped into a rickshaw which took us on the first part of the journey - hot, sweaty and cramped, but strangely I didn't feel a layer of grime settling on me like in Beijing. He took us as far as he could before we transferred to one of the ubiquitous 1960s Fiat cabs that ply the streets in their non-air-con and hunched up manner. While Jaymin was on edge I figured there was no choice but to suck it up and relax - I guess my training in KL with Kevin getting to the bus on time has served me well.

Eventually we sighted Chetan's car and he took us the rest of the way in the relative luxury of a Toyota Corolla, through downtown Mumbai and into a beautiful part of town with grand old colonial buildings and enormous trees which added more than a touch of class and greenery to the otherwise chaotic city.

The event was held at two adjacent clubs called Red Light and Yashab - three rooms in total with loosely executed work from the Merge, Rise and Gold collections. A bunch of TV crews and journos had interviewed me before the press conference even started, meaning I was well warmed up by the time I had to address the roomful of media. Fun.

As the party kicked off with three live artists doing their thing, I sucked back some beer and wandered around checking out the action. The live room featured a local jazz band but was pretty sparsely populated, while the dance room got more and more frenzied until it was wall-to-wall party people. I got disindividuated in there for a while and spotted a white model about 6'4" in heels - I thought she was an alien until she adjusted her bra strap. The premium crowd was in full effect, however I made my escape with Chetan before the cops arrived at 2am and uncereomoniously ordered the ugly lights on and everyone out with whistles. Our payment obviously didn't include the glamour premium.

Headed to a famous roadside stall for roast chicken rolls on the car boot - awesome. Tried a mutton roll thereafter but the texture was very turd-like so Chetan suggested not to finish it. Through the early morning traffic, getting home was much easier and again I made it to bed safely and slept like a log.

Translating Mumbai

Friday 23 May

The third Tiger Translate launch in a month got me up in the wee hours and making the five hour flight to Mumbai for the second time - caught up on some reading and made it into the Santacruz office by 11am. Spent the day working with the team on the India campaign, punctuated with a slap-up lunch across the road.

Left the office around seven and dropped my stuff at the guest house after Chetan battled the traffic and pedestrians to get me there. Jaymin then picked me up and we headed to check out the night scene - first at an outdoor cafe called Mocha where the Indian Premier League (pro cricket) was capturing everyone's attention and wallets. There was a Tiger promo going on where we witnessed the slack promoters drinking beer and coffee on the job and promptly got them sacked!

Vie Lounge was the next stop, a lovely spot perched right on Juhu Beach facing west, affording killer sunsets and the accompanying cocktails for Mumbai's Bollywood class. A few doors up we checked out Aurus, a more posh version decked out with a lavish restaurant and lounge, spacious deck and all sorts of beautiful people ready to party Friday night away. Luckily I was working so was able to avoid such decadence, and we proceeded inland to Olive - this was a white-washed art deco building serving great food and drinks, and we sat in the courtyard admiring the vision of the guy who had created this little oasis among the craziness of the streets outside.

Zenzi was our final destination and we had a warm-down Heineken at this very unpretentious but upmarket place that was refreshing (not everyone wears sunglasses at night!) for its grungily dressed patrons and lack of plasticity. Made it home at a respectable hour and crashed happily.

Tiger Translate Vientiane

Thursday 8 May

Slept solidly and got a good breakfast in before doing some work in the hotel room. Met Antz in the lobby and had lunch with the team before getting him started on the 4x2 metre canvas in the shade outside the club. Supervised the setup then headed back to get a bit more work done and pick up Don for sound check. Once that was all dispensed with I took my leave and cooled off from the dry heat in the pool for a while, allowing the thousand thoughts in my head to settle after a few laps.

At 7pm we went for dinner at Sokdy, just next to the hotel, and had more fish, veges, rice and chicken, before heading to Marina for the big show. Doors opened at nine and Don treated the early birds to a warm-up set featuring Shadow, Digable Planets and many more songs they didn't understand. By ten the place was getting into liquid phase with the help of some well-timed jiggy selections, and Antz took up his brush and finished the black outlines of his piece while the crowd looked on intently.

Big bottles were soon the order of the day and guys and girls were letting go - after he completed his canvas a few punters came up to Antz and asked him to tag their neck, their leg, their waist, and even one girl's breast! The 26 year-old couldn't believe his luck and I encouraged him to stop and breathe, have a drink, think about what he was about to do, then execute! Awesome.

By midnight Don was running low on commercial tracks and let the house DJ take over for the last spot. The capacity crowd rocked till the end but no groupies hung around for the artists - we headed for supper just down the road before making it back safe and sound. All in a day's work.

Lao PDR

Wednesday 7 May

After a break from travelling in April, I got up at 5am today and headed to Vientiane in Laos via Bangkok. With me was Don, DJ and promoter extraordinaire, and Antz, illustrator/designer/graffiti artist/all-round dude. Loading up the plane with turntables, serato gear, markers and a bag full of spray paint, we made it out of Changi safely and spent an hour or two chillaxing in the Bangkok airport lounge.

About to board our connecting flight to Vientiane however, we suffered a small setback when the airport staff said we couldn't take the 27 spray cans onboard! They had a fair argument (even though Singapore had no problem with it) and after twenty minutes of pleading on the tarmac to no avail, we said goodbye to the paint and jumped on the one hour flight to Laos.

95% jungle, 6.5 million people, very developing and largely Buddhist, Laos is the location of our latest venture and I have the enviable task of helping the team get Tiger Translate off the ground here! Greeted by Tina and To at the aiport, we hit the ground sans spray paint and with a slightly damaged turntable. Not to worry, we proceeded to check in to the hotel and had half an hour to stroll down to the Mekong River, low and dry at this time of year. The guys had a coconut juice while I tried the local Beerlao, a tasty wee beverage with 99% market share here.

From there we went to the event venue, a high-end disco called Marina. The crew were setting up in earnest and had a range of action lined up; video walls, artwork on display, a pimped out Tiger Translate DJ console, the whole nine yards. Don spent a few hours testing out the sound system and dropping his 'educational' tracks (like KRS-One and Gang Starr) in amongst the jiggy crowd-pleasers. In my bones I can feel this is going to rock.

Meanwhile the question of the spray paint was looming heavy on my mind - To had sent some guys across the border to Thailand to get Antz' preferred Nippon brand, but after some questions and searching, we managed to get hold of paints by a local brand ATM that seem to be mainly used to customise motorbikes. Antz was happy so I was happy. We proceeded to the mansion of Lao Art Media's boss where three canvases were set up, and Antz drafted out his piece called 'Golden Tiger' based on traditional Chinese kids' masks. Watching this guy in action is like listening to John Coltrane, his skill makes it seem all too easy. With Antz psyched and more paints lined up for the next day, we returned to the venue where Don was finishing up.

After a quick shower and change of threads, we headed for dinner at a lovely restarant called KCD ('kop chai de' means 'thank you' in Lao) with the whole brand team including Phong and Binh, plus the GM Danny and a radio DJ who'll be our MC. We feasted on sticky rice, tom yam soup, salad, pork and of course Tiger to our hearts' content, before heading to D-Tech, a local disco behind the Novotel. It was definitely more ghetto than fabulous, dark and loud with groups of guys and girls drinking beer with ice from quart bottles, and some dancing at the safety of their cocktail tables.

From there we headed back to Marina which was pretty quiet, cats were singing karaoke which sent Don into a sonorific trance. I sent the two guys home after that, then had a couple of beers with Binh at Wind West, Vientiane's first pub and Tiger's strongest supporter. Back at the hotel at a reasonable hour, I heard some thumping beats around the corner and thought I would investigate before going to bed. Turned out to be D-Tech again (with it's freaky sign at the entrance saying no singlets, shorts, guns or children - there's obviously a big problem with sex tourism in Laos) and was much more packed now. Had a Tiger to wind down and some friendly locals invited me to drink with them. Turned out they were a little on the agressive side and when my light bulb flicked on that they were actually working trannies, I took my leave without saying goodbye!

Gave Don a call as I knew he would be burning the candle at both ends (turned out he was working on his set and Giles Peterson's Worldwide Fetival till 7am!) - and chilled in his room for a while; brainstormed some tracks to drop and shared with him the Flight of the Conchords 'Business Time' and 'Distant Future' for light relief. The guy is working like a madman, and extremely psyched at this chance to play for a new crowd in Vientiane. Made it to bed safely before 2am, making it a 20+ hour day.

Get Duffed!

Let's get this started with some Duff beer on a Sunday night. Getting up to speed with a new Sony Ericsson that is now my handphone, walkman, camera and mobile blogging machine!

Like a Punch in the Guts

Sunday 30 March

Dozing till close to noon, I drank water, got up to pee, snoozed again, before deciding to remove myself from the comfortable womb of this western hotel and wander down the street to one of Yangon's most famous markets. I'll admit I was hungover as I flopped down the street, absorbing whatever I came across but not really able to process it.

Turning left at an intersection I was overcome with a beautiful sensation as sweet fragrances unlike anything I had ever experienced filled the air. The light jingle of clear bells accompanied the heavenly scent, borne from the gears of the old machines that ground sugar cane still in 2008.

Over a railway bridge and past a poor deformed beggar child, I wandered into the market proper, drifting this way and that among the cobbled streets and past all sorts of colours, goods, people and sounds. People wanted to sell me this, offer that, but I floated through it all with a smile and an expression of wonder.

Deciding that some food would be a good idea, I settled on the only cafe I had seen, just near the foot bridge, and ordered some fried rice and a coke from a young kid with the best smile ever. From ear to ear he grinned at me and took my order in English, then dashed inside to transmit it and over again to pick up something else.

Wandering back over the bridge afterwards, to check out of the hotel and head to the airport, I saw the beggar child once again and felt so sorry for him it was an automatic response to give him 200 kyats, or twenty cents. When he looked up at me, through one eye, this pitiful boy showed his beautiful, grateful soul and I saw a pure smile of thanks for this tiny gesture. I couldn't take it then, and fell apart on the bridge before I moved to the side of the tracks and wept for this boy. The horror of so many people undergoing such suffering overcame me, and the rest of the trip was spent in numb recognition of the gross inequity in the world today.

A True Gentleman's Game

Saturday 29 March

Hitting breakfast at 5.30, leaving the hotel by 6, and getting ready to tee off at 6.30 am before the real heat kicked in, I felt like I was finally giving in to a sort of gentleman's code that I had ignored for so long. Having not played golf since the 90s, I had no idea how I was going to fare, but I had the right shirt, acceptable shoes and a positive attitude!

Turned out that I can still hit a ball straight and even get a respectable distance on some shots, so I had a very enjoyable game along with James, the GM Peter, two local sales managers and a few key customers. In the early morning shade under temples nestled in majestic hills, the peace and beauty of the place was highlighted by some young novice monks who smiled and gave me the 'OK' hand-sign on the second hole. I wasn't keeping score but feeling the flow, especially with intermittent stops involving cold beer, our first at 8.15am!

In all we were on the course for 6 hours, and by the end it was as hot as a sauna and I was sporting a light bronze glow. We gorged on lunch and cruised back to the hotel where I plunged into the pool and indulged in a fantastic foot massage - sorry, am I feeling guilty yet? No. Packed my bag with not a second to lose and headed to the airport for another shuttle jet back to Yangon.

Intending to catch some Zs on the flight but in fact only having a short power nap and the rest of the time in animated discussion, I must have been sucking energy from all the golden pagodas over which we were flying! Was picked up by Win Zar at the airport and again I dropped my bag and headed straight to dinner, a delicious and healthy meal at a Yunnan BBQ restaurant - fish, chicken, veges and dofu! Headed to Power Light, a large outlet where the entertainment was an array of singers and models who paraded around unsmilingly and received garlands from the crowd, followed by Country House, an ABC lead outlet where I had my first ever ABC draught followed by the much lighter Myanmar beer. Finished off the night at a place called Music Club, one of the country's only discos in the basement of the Park Royal Hotel. Crashed finally and got my first decent sleep since Monday.

Tiger Translate Mandalay Jam!

Friday 28 March

After a few hours sleep at the airport hotel in Bangkok, I hopped on an early, short flight to Yangon filled with anticipation about throwing a beer party in a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world. At the same time I was supremely excited about discovering an enormous, beautiful, Buddhist country that seemed to live in an isolated time warp.

Landing in Yangon and driving down the tree-lined streets, my first impression was of the abundance of mid-80s Toyota Corollas and people walking down the streets, not a few of which were barefoot monks. Our office was set up a driveway and in a two-storey colonial building, as if it could have been a guest house prior to becoming the headquarters of the nation's biggest brewer.

After an excellent briefing about the market, the ethnic groups, the border influences and the infamous Golden Triangle (a veritable country in itself, run by drug lords at the intersection of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar), James took me to lunch on some fantastic noodles in a garden that could have been set in the Far North of NZ at the height of summer. We checked out a modern supermarket then headed for the domestic airport, where an Air Bagan shuttle jet took us via Heho to Mandalay.

Hot hot hot! 38 degrees but dry, the 40 minute drive from the airport took us down dusty, bumpy rural roads and into the more built-up but no less dusty or bumpy city. Our hotel was across the road from an enormous, sprawling palace with its own golf course inside and fully surrounded by a moat, but unfortunately time didn't permit us to appreciate its splendour. We met the hotel manager, dropped our bags and proceeded to the event venue, a large open-air restaurant called Mya Nandar set right on the bank of the Ayeyarwady River. The crowd flowed in early and set the organisers' minds at ease - they had taken a risk by throwing the first ever event of this nature in Mandalay!

We got some food in us and proceeded to rock the party which needed little encouragement - the Thai DJs got the crowd going easily and before the night was over we'd sold out of beer and got almost 600 people into a happy sweaty state of joy! Met a handful of kids from the US who were teaching English, plus one or two rich men's sons, before bouncing down a dark bumpy road to a karaoke joint that seemed like a potential horror movie set. It was a two-storey shack with a tiny TV and not much fun, but I enjoyed the cold beer and fruit there before heading for a super painful 2 hour massage with our general manager! This guy knows how to jam, and at 2am we hit the hay, agreeing to meet for breakfast only 3 hours later.

Gearing up in Saigon

24-27 March 2008

In Saigon for a three day communications workshop, I got more acquainted with the city and started to appreciate its good parts. Stayed in Duxton Hotel right in the heart of town and caught up with colleagues like Joseph, Sam and Nam.

The speakers were very solid and the course well-run, but naturally the highlights were checking out the city at night. Our welcome dinner was lovely, if very formal, in a garden oasis wedding venue with palm trees, a lake and a cool breeze, welcome respite from the bustling streets outside.

On Tuesday the four of us and a new girl Joyce, from Shanghai, hit up a quality beer garden and got into the baby bird eggs, suckling pig and hot pot garden action along with a case of Tiger on ice. Discovered a funky (if slightly sharky) club and had a few rounds of draught while enjoying some Young MC and Jungle Brothers from the DJ! Followed that up with a local disco (very loud, lots of fruit) and got to bed at a respectable 2am.

Wednesday we had the full dinner and market visit which was surprisngly tame: premium beer garden for dinner, mainstream beer garden for follow-up (like a well-lit and comfortable hawker centre with armies of competing brand promoters) where I discovered the joys of spring onion stalks in your beer mug (looks crazy and you chew on it - good for men), then a road-side 'low seat' outlet. Tried Biere Larue, a recent addition to our portfolio and a strategic mainstream brand with a hundred year heritage, along with some yummy fried pregnant fish.

Checked out Apocalypse, back near the Saigon River, a pretty trashy place filled with tourists and selling canned (!) beer before winding up on the roadside with Jo Yeong and discussing life the universe and everything APB over some Tiger and chicken's feet. Got four hours sleep, powered my way through the last day of the workshop, and now kicking it in the airport lounge on a short hop to Bangkok.

Dialing up the DINK-hood

8-15 March 2008

After a hectic start to the year, I was able to push out a bunch of work and celebrate the 2008 FTR (replete with the hand-made durian brew Beereno and roast hoggart), before jumping onto a short flight to Phuket with Jamie. The occasion? The March school holidays and possibly our last DINK holiday for a while.

We made the most of it by doing absolutely nothing - spent three nights at Kamala on Phuket, then travelled by ferry via Ko Phi Phi to Ko Lanta. There at Long Beach we had a blissful week of sleeping, eating, reading and the occasional swim.

The sun was baking hot and the tom yum went down well, especially with Jamie's craving for spicy food, courtesy of the 3 month old being inside her growing steadily. Lounging in the shade, the occasional massage, and long sunset walks made this the ultimate in slothful living.

One Night in Mumbai

Thursday 14 February

Rolling out of bed at 5am to catch a seven o'clock flight to Mumbai, I was weary but excited at the prospect of visiting India for the first time. Ray had managed my expectations down such that when I landed at 10am and there was no-one waiting for me at the airport, I didn't worry. When finally someone did show up and we took 40 minutes to go a few kilometres down the road to the office, I didn't see any need to worry either.

The traffic here is "Incredible India" - a sort of automotive anarchy where I didn't see a single traffic light or any semblance of rules, however everyone went for themselves and no-one got hurt. The absolute poverty of the slums lay directly next to the runway where shiny new jets ferried the wealthy from port to port. We had lunch among them at the Hyatt, with its pastries and lattes, and I couldn't help but feel lucky to be on this side of the fence.

Conducted a workshop all afternoon with the help of a little chicken essence, before knocking off around 7pm. Chetan showed me his skills and drove me to the guesthouse, where I dropped my bag and we rolled on towards the city centre. With seemingly all the restaurants in this city of 16 million people booked up for Valentine's Day, we took the time offered by the hour-long rush hour journey to make some calls and finally Chetan negotiated a table at The Jewel of India using the Kiwi card!

Had an enormous meal including some delicious lamb and vegetarian dishes, and possibly the best hot pickle I've ever tasted, all washed down with Kingfisher and Heineken. By the time we were out of there it was already getting late, and we ended up hitting only one bar, Shiro, which was a goodie. Drove through South Mumbai, the old colonial part of town and saw some beautiful buildings and a bridge along Marine Drive that was known as something like Queen Victoria's Necklace. Having been up for over 22 hours I was fading fast, but luckily the ride home was much faster after midnight and I crashed at the guest house around 1am.

Tiger Translate Thailand Finale

Saturday 9 February

For the occasion of the grand finale of Thailand's Tiger Translate campaign, Ray and I flew up to Bangkok on Saturday morning and headed to the Suanlum Night Bazaar for 8 hours of art, design, music and beer. A real festival vibe, there was a lot going on with two stages, street art, a massive lomo wall and a short film area which was great for chillin'.

The beer was fresh and cold, and served in the biggest cups I had ever seen - awesome! The crowd too was fantastic, totalling 7,000 by the end of the night, mainly twenty-something Thai cats. A number of bands battled it out (my highlights were an eight-man ska outfit and a four piece who blended metal with traditional Thai instruments very skilfully) and the winner was a young Bangkok band called Circle 22. Off to London for them!

Had a good tom yum for supper and got to bed at a very respectable 1.30am! Had 8 hours sleep and hit breakfast, a massage, some laps in the pool and then cruised home while doing a wrap-up presentation of the campaign for my boss to present on Monday. Celebrated the end of the CNY weekend with a choya and a sardine sandwich - ha!

The Jakarta So-Called Semi-Jam

1-3 February 2008

AKA The Washout Jam, I never had a really good vibe about this weekend in Jakarta to celebrate Luke's new job in Manila, however I wasn't going to rain on his parade (turned out the gods did that instead), so I gave my commitment along with Hookstarr and Bu La De. Barnaby was a late and ominous addition to the starting line-up and though he didn't add as much value for the team this time, it was, in his own words, "a jam for me".

Our scheduled departure from Changi airport on Friday night was delayed for 6 hours due to heavy rains and flooding in Jakarta, essentially blocking access to and from the airport. I almost pulled out more than once, not excited at the prospect of being stuck in a third world airport, city, or street that had become a river of sewage.

I stuck with it however as the chicken essence had me ready to roll, and we finally took off around 2am, caught a ride at the other end with Arief and his Japanese DJ, and made it to the Somerset serviced apartments exactly 12 hours after leaving the office. If that sounds bad, bear in mind that Barnaby had enjoyed a massive head-start, but arrived at the same time as us after spending 6 hours in a Jakarta taxi, meeting a Javanese sailor and coming into some polio/TB drugs.

Too late and too tired to do anything, we had a wind-down scotch (18 year old Glenlivet - very syrupy) and got to bed at dawn. Saturday was a chill day drinking Heineken by the pool, and we got ready to hit the bars starting with a sports bar named Aphrodite around 7.30pm. Had a good solid meal and a few jugs of Bintang before heading to an empty bar in an office building - thumbs down. The only highlight was the subsequent Red Square - a nice sized bar that was packed with Jakarta party people and decent tunes. Things had potential to turn into a jam from there but the rain came in and blocked our access to Embassy, where the Japanese DJ was spinning. We drove around through the floods back to a bar right across the street from where we started, X2, and it was a massive generic dance club that didn't do anything for me.

Brad and I left at that point and had some civilised nightcaps back at the apartment before getting some decent sleep. The next day saw a lovely brunch at Le Meridien, a foot massage across the street, and successfully escaping the world's largest Muslim nation with no hangover, no robberies and no sign of a real jam.

Tiger Translate Saigon

Sunday 20 January

After a solid sleep and a hearty breakfast I hit the streets - almost got run over by a speeding motorbike which was a little scary and put me on full guard after that. Wandered through the central market (reminded me of Neil Young, Piece Of Crap) and then down to the Saigon River. The swift brown current carried boatfuls of Vietnamese tourists and as I watched one pull up I wasn't sure who was gawking at who. A couple of kids were swimming at the river's edge with bits of polystyrene - their complete disregard for the skanky water was pretty rock n roll.

Walked up Nguyen Hue, one of the biggest streets here, and met Nam at the central cafe over a beer and some vegetable curry. Saw Maria Sharapova win a few points on ESPN - what a machine! Around 3.30 I headed back to the hotel, picked up my new jeans after one round of tweaking, showered and headed out to the venue. The buzz was amazing! Teenage kids were going crazy, the scalpers were selling tickets for VND 20,000 and the team was a little nervous but excited.

I hung out in the trade tent for a while, checked out the activities there (highlights included a digital rock game, an army of PGs and a full-scale spit roast!) and met Jin from STB who's now based here looking after Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Larry Lee gave a great speech and I had some interesting chats with the booking agent and tour manager, whose last job was for the White Stripes - apparently one of their stipualtions was that all crew wore full black suits, red ties and fedoras the entire time!

Around 7pm I went into the stadium and parked myself front and centre to soak up the crowd's vibe - ended up staying there from start to finish! The generally well-behaved crowd lapped up Unlimited, whose lead singer easily had the best hair of the entire campaign. Ngu Cung had a more sophisticated sound but MCR blew them all away once their sound kicked in - the stage presence of Gerard Way was pretty hot, a little Robert Smith and a little Jack White.

Mama was my favourite song among the crowd pleasers, the drama on stage was good and the security did their best to keep the cameras down, though the battle for intellectual property here is a losing one. The show ended around 10.30 and after congratulating the team I headed for supper with Nam and the HBL guys, together with Lan from Holy Red Cross - some quality roadside beers along with a steamboat of never-ending veges and beef. Finished up around 1.30, got back to the hotel still buzzing, and wrapped up in preparation for the sweet journey home.

Rock on, comrades

Saturday 19 January

Got up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, had a hearty breakfast and attended the press conference where My Chemical Romance, the biggest rock band ever to play in Vietnam, alongside Unlimited and Ngu Cung, the best young local bands, did a great job for the local media.

Took my new pair of Levi's to the tailor to get taken up then cruised the streets of central Saigon for a couple of hours on foot. Discovered a nice gelato place next to a roundabout, very piazza-like (what's a piazza?) and tucked into some great beef stew and french bread with a freshly brewed Heineken - yum.

Strolled back and cooled off in the pool for a bit before showering and heading to the venue - amazingly, the band weren't into the humvee limo we had secured for them, so I jumped at the chance and rode there in style, blown away by the juxtaposition when looking through the one-way windows at the dusty streets crowded with motorbikes outside.

The band had an autograph session for 500 screaming fans (mostly teenagers and the odd uncle) which made for a few laughs, followed by sound check as the sun went down. Danh and Vo took me out for dinner around 7pm and we had a good feast at Ly Ly (a mainstream beer garden) - pork, liver, noodles, quail eggs and these crazy whole fish whose bodies were totally filled with eggs!

Hit Seventeen Saloon for some draught beer after that, right downtown, then a bit further out for a couple of pint bottles at what they called a mainstream discotheque, something like the bars on Neil Rd but thankfully less aggressive. Again, most places close at midnight so I caught a cab home (much smoother at that time of night) and rested up for the main event!

Uncle Ho is Dead

Friday 18 January

After a fantastically chill week with Jamie, I surfaced bright and early to hop on a plane to Saigon - read the paper next to a takeaway store owner who'd been living in Perth for almost twenty years - and was there in under two hours. Got picked up in style, whisked to the office for a spot of labour, then headed to the Military Stadium, the venue of this weekend's melarkey.

Was introduced to My Chemical Romance and helped the Tiger team meet with their management in the comfort of an aircon room in the stadium, after wandering the grounds and getting the feeling of Tampines FC on yabba. Got a lift via the office to my hotel and was delighted to check into the executive floor where free wireless, salmon, asparagus and Heineken was awaitin'.

After two weeks of prep I was really up for a large one (even with the prospect of a press conference the next morning - hey, i'm not gonna be in front of the cameras!) - however the team was exhausted so we just had a simple dinner (cheese strips and salad for entree followed by a bowl of fish steamboat between five of us), showed face at the opening of D&D Club (nothing but Martell and a few models), then headed home to rest. Sometimes, sensibility is the best option.

Tiger Translate Hanoi

Sunday 6 January

Met Nam at 9.30am and had a traditional breakfast of Pho Bo (beef noodle soup) which was delicious - little did I know that was the last semi-normal thing I would eat today...

Went back to the venue again before spending some time sightseeing - we skirted around Uncle Ho's mausoleum but no matter which angle we tried to approach it from, a security guard would appear and wave us off! Checked out Van Mieu, the Temple of Literature, where Confucian scholars received their official education since 1070 - old school tablets with ancient Chinese inscriptions on the backs of stone tortoises.

After midday we drove across the river to a snake ghetto, and pulled up to a specialty restaurant where we were all in for a treat. The ground floor had all sorts of live and pickled animals - the freakiest being an armadillo-like creature with its bloodshot eyes rolled back in a disgusting death pose. Live snakes slithered and my stomach churned with the thought of what was to come...

Our meal began with a guy killing the snake in front of us, squeezing the blood from its throat into a container, and squishing out the innards which I take it weren't that tasty. A few minutes later we were each presented with two shot glasses - one blood red and one transparent yellow. It took me several minutes to build up the courage to down the blood, but I did in the end, surprised to find out it was mixed with some sort of liquor, which took the lead in terms of taste. The yellow stuff turned out to be bile, but again I managed to keep my breakfast down, and from here on in I was able to relax a little.

A selection of about ten dishes followed, each made from snake meat in a different way - my favourites were the crushed bones on a hard tortilla-type thing and grilled spine meat. The food was accompanied by snake wine and intensely flavoured raw vegetable leaves - all in all it was a full spectrum flavour assault and probably the most memorable, if least comfortable, meal I've ever had.

In the afternoon I got some well-needed down-time back at the hotel before bouncing off again to the party - tickets were being touted on the street at the entrance and the buzz was palpable. Proceeded in and talked with Andrew, the man behind it all, gave an interview with Hanoi TV and shook hands with one of the biggest rockers in the capital. As the crowd built up and the security steeled themsleves, we cracked our first Tiger of the day and it went down a treat.

Soon after, the perimeter was breached but the kids weren't worried about the guards laying into them with batons, just crazed for the metal that was about to be laid down. As I sat down in the VIP area with Vietnamese rock gods on my left and government officials on my right, I couldn't help but be thankful for the ice cold beer that was handed to me as the crowd in front turned into a thronging mass of fist-pumping rockers.

The show that ensued was flawlessly produced, massive in scale and extremely loud. Long hair, Gibson flying Vs and vocals deep from the throat dominated, and all I could do was smile, enjoy and sip quietly. Partied up front with some young kids, to the side with the sales team, and up back with Nam. After all was said and done the show was a phenomenal success, and I joined the organising team afterwards for steamboat, where I laid into the pig brains and doufu. Good night!

Agent Orange

Saturday 5 January 2008

2008 kicked off with a bang after a very mellow New Year's Eve with Jamie, Kevin and Ngala in KL (camping, watching movies, playing guitars and board games and drinking beer) - the final of Tiger Translate Vietnam took place in Hanoi, featuring 6 heavy metal bands from around the country battling to play support for My Chemical Romance in Saigon later this month.

I flew in on Saturday morning and spent the afternoon wandering around Thu Le Lake, taking in the dusty streets buzzing with motorbikes and the crowded sidewalks filled with people drinking tea. Realising I hadn't packed anything warm, I bought a simple jumper for 60,000 dong (about 4 or 5 bucks) and a yummy baozi-like thing to fill my belly. Stopped for a Bia Ha Noi at a cute little cafe (such tiny chairs!) and then wandered back a different way, past a roller skating rink where the kids were literally falling over themselves having fun, and through a maze-like residential area back to the hotel.

I freshened up before meeting Nam, the Brand Manager for Tiger at HBL, who picked me up and took me to the outdoor venue to check out the setup. A massive, crazy stage design was the highlight, and listening to the bands rehearse I knew my ears were in for a full-on assault! From there, Hau from VBL joined us and we went for a lovely buffet dinner at the Lotus Restaurant - fresh food and Tiger beer all round in a classy joint.

Hop joined us after dinner and we started off at Seventeen Saloon, a hopping bar where the barmaids drank behind the bar and shook their cowgirl booty to the live rock band. Relax Bar just down the street reminded me of an unpretentious spot on the Lower East Side, with its dim lighting, relaxed vibe and understated cool - here one of the barmaids was sporting fishnet stockings which I thought was a nice touch! Our last stop was a tall and narrow bar, built like a wooden shophouse, with plenty of Tiger bottles floating around and a crowd including younger Western kids. Not generally a late night town, we called it a day after that and I crashed around 1am.