Why did the chicks cross the border?

I was going to put this off again until a friend told me this morning that she was so inspired by my "Girls just want to have fun' post that she's going to attempt to do the same thing... AND she's going to put on the blame on me to her husband.

Hmmmm......????

Actually, I think a chick trip once in a while is really good for recharging.

So to provide even more inspiration and support to her, here's an account of my chick trip....

Day 1

As usual, I didn't pack my bag till the night (or rather the morning) of the trip. I was actually agonising over whether to bring along a soft travel bag or a cabin bag. A soft bag will be easier to carry but a cabin bag will have more space for shopping...... Guess which bag I took in the end?

Husband was rolling his eyes and shaking his head as I rush around like a headless chicken trying to do everything at the same time...But he didn't say a word....he was too used to my behaviour the night before a holiday.

We had booked one of those coach package- 1st class coach, with 2 nights stay at a 5 star hotel. Pretty good deal at under $200.

The coach was going to leave early- 7.30am to be precise. It was way too early! So I did what any sensible women would do... I batted my eyelids and smiled very sweetly at husband. He drove me and NT there.


The first class coach

This was the first time I was taking the 1st class coach. I must say I am impressed.

16 seaters, with individual TV screen, videos and games on demand and games and food and drinks provided. Even the driver and the 'cabin steward' wear a suit. But the most important feature of all, of which the transport company has been agrressively promoting as their unique feature:

THE VIBRATING.................. CHAIR!

Now what were you thinking of? Tsk! Tsk! It's actually a massage chair.

Press button 1- it massages your legs
Press button 2- it massages your back
Press button 3- it does your back and legs (I think)
Press button 4- err... can't remember where it massages but some parts of the seat vibrates

After about 10 minutes of all the massaging, I stopped. As one of my friend said later: "It's giving me a headache." Alright, it's really not that bad and I'm sure many people do use it but it's not a winning formula for me.

Now videos on demand. That's something to shout about. I managed to watch "Double Agent" (Korean) and almost all of Quill (Japanese). Why almost? Well, there was about 10 minutes left of the movie when we reached our destination. It was the same with SK too. It was quite funny, as both of us actually didn't want to get off the bus... we were frantically trying to fast forward the movie...


Me in my first class seat

The trip went smoothly, with a short 'toilet stop' and we reached KL's Pasarakyat Bus Terminal at about 12.15pm. Not bad really.

After putting our bags in the room, we activated our plan- lunch and shopping.

Bukit Bintang is within what is called the Golden Triangle, the eaquivalent of Orchard Road. We had lunch at Starhill, a new shopping mall sandwiched between JW Marriot and Ritz Carlton. Lots of high end stores within this mall. Very well and tastefully designed... So well and impressed were we that we took photos inside the toilet! SShhhhhh......!

I don't know about the other F&B outlets but the dim sum from Chinese restaurant in the basement was fantastic..... Yummy! Thumbs up and highly recommended. I think it was called Luk Yu.

And then it was just shopping and more shopping.

We had no particular plans. We just wandered into shops that took our fancy.... normally shops with sale signs attract us. I think that's the best part about going on a holiday with girlfriends.

You don't feel guilty about shopping for hours on end.
You try anything that interests you.
You try things that don't interest you at the urging of your girlfriends.

And then you sit down for a drink to recuperate.... and then you shop some more. Husbands and boyfriends wouldn't and couldn't last through such a schedule.

By about 9pm, we were tired, hungry, carrying lots of bags. Very hungry.

So we headed down to Jalan Alor- hawker food at its best. If you are looking for a clean environment, then forget about this place. The hawkers set up their stalls on the pavement next to a road. In front of blocks of very old, blackish flats. I don't know how these residents sleep through the noise and smell but it sure provide for great people watching. Indeed, we spotted quite a few of them sitting in their balcony and looking at the crowd. The stalls stretched the length of the road, which basically means you're spoilt for choice. We had some hard decisions to make.

And then we caught the people at the other tables staring at us.

I'm embarrassed to say that our table was groaning with food. I'm even more embarrassed to say that the 4 of us actually finished all the food.

Oh well, what's a holiday if you can't binge. I'll regret it when I come back to Singapore of course. But at that moment, my philosophy was: "Who cares?"

Here's a good site to go to on infor about Jalan Alor- ttp://www.malaysiasite.nl/jalanaloreng.htm

All these activities, well, they're not really the most exciting, are it? But we weren't looking for excitment. We just wanted a break from having to cook, wash, look after children, husband and work.

Why did the chicks cross the border?
To have a break away from the coop.