Saturday 27/6/15 - Perth airport, Phuket & Bangla Rd

It had been almost 3 years since I had been on a holiday. I had been working pretty hard and needed some time away from the computer. The last holiday I had gone on was to Phuket (big surprise) in November 2012. I went with Will, Toby, Sull and Chesty and soon after arriving back from this holiday I had to face some big changes. The changes were: leaving our beloved house in Wattle Grove; and biting the bullet and finding a full-time job as my days as a Toll drifter were coming to an end.

Jas and I had been discussing holidays for six months or so and this would usually only happen when we were out on a Saturday night. Life was busy and you don't always have time to talk during the week. Jas had suggested destinations such as Morocco and Russia - these were not practical and not what I was looking for. We had discussed places close as well like South-East Asia so Phuket was definitely on the cards.

One night we were out and we were with two guys we new from footy and from the many nights that we spent at Yaya's Bar in Northbridge. They had gone to Phuket a few weeks earlier for a 30th birthday and liked it a lot and were considering going again sometime soon. We considered the idea and decided to meet up at The Royal two Fridays later to discuss details. We followed this up and the morning after our Rendezvous we booked our flights.

Saturday 27/6/15

Our flight was early so Dad dropped me off at the airport by 0730. Jas and I both had suitcases but CK and LV both only had backpacks. Kelmar was also hungover and sleep deprived from the night before; Jas, LV and myself were all feeling pretty good. 

My excitement didn't kick in until after we checked in and started browsing through the various duty free stores. I am normally a zen master but I felt inclined to purchase something as the merchandise and the store fronts are always so inviting. I didn't need anything but when there are that many bottles of alcohol and cologne together, the urge is just too overwhelming. I purchased a one litre bottle of vodka in case I needed some courage before heading out onto Bangla Rd at night. A younger SD would have had no problem consuming this but I had a feeling that I would never actually drink any. My gut was right.    

6 hours later
We were getting close now and we were all feeling more alert and lively. There was a middle aged man sitting next to me so I couldn't quite see out of the window. I caught glimpses of the many small islands and they were looking green, the water, viridescent. There were the small fishing boats too so I knew we were getting close. 

Touchdown, 220pm Phuket time - warm and humid. The sun was intense too so I had to take my jumper off. We were the first through immigration so all we had left was to grab our luggage (well at least Jas and I did). This is where I started to get excited.

We grabbed our bags and headed out of the airport. We went out the front and it was fairly humid and somewhat busy. Kelmar had organised a taxi with a local he knew from earlier. We jumped into the taxi and left. The journey to our hotel was fairly quiet; perhaps because it is not always that comfortable (I get motion sickness) and took about 45 minutes. We drove past the golf course and all the smaller villages which brought back many forgotten memories of the times when we had come here in the past to have a few drinks and take it easy. I realised that a lot had changed since then. Back then we were primarily interested in drinking and going to nightclubs every night until the early hours of the morning. They were good days but I knew that that time had since past.

We arrived at the hotel about 4pm Phuket time. The weather was nice, a little humid and about 31 degrees. I didn't realise our hotel was actually in Patong - when I had done my research before we left, I was viewing the website of the wrong hotel. The hotel was very large and the lobby was at the top of a large set of stairs which go down to the road which runs perpendicular to Bangla Rd. We sat down and had our complementary beverages and paid for our accommodation. We were then ushered up to our rooms on the fourth floor. It was a Saturday afternoon and it was a nice feeling to be in a new place without the distraction of work or the other usual burdens.

Our room was nice and overlooked the pool. Jas' focus shifted to the free wifi and he was eager to connect his phone to check out Facebook and Instagram to check the boys in. I couldn't get on the internet but I didn't really care anyway, I did however need my phone to take photos to prove that I was actually there.. quite the dilemma. I turned on the tv; I was very excited. I was not disappointed. 80 channels would do the job. I left the tv on one of the music channels (it was probably Fashion TV) and started to unpack and freshen up. It must have been about 430pm Phuket time by now which means Saturday night footy was about to start. The plan was to head down to the Aussie Bar on Bangla to grab something to eat and watch some sport.

We left the hotel and walked down our road for about 800 metres or so. It wasn't busy but it was certainly busier than I had anticipated. There were the usuals i.e. older western blokes, quite tanned and wearing singlets with slogans like "Sherpin' n sheilas - Welcome to Bangla" (these guys are always funny to watch as it as if they are in heaven. There were some younger people too similar to our age or slightly younger. Many with the attitude "I'm in Phuket and I can do whatever I want", they are usually quite tanned and often wearing bright colours. The locals and merchants were friendly like always and they liked the look of me as they thought I was an easy target.. they might have been right.

We turned right on Bangla towards the Aussie Bar which is about 60% of the way down. I was harassed by several sunglass salesmen whilst I was looking for a pair of cheap sunnies to wear. I purchased a paid of Prada glasses and paid a fair amount for them because they need the money more than I do. They followed us all the way to the Aussie Bar as they were under the impression that I was going to let them borrow my real sunnies so they could replicate them. We walked up the stairs of the Aussie Bar and grabbed a table. The place had not changed since the first time we came year back in 2010. The place was fairly busy, 90% occupied by other Australians as you would expect. Aussie wearing singlets and drinking beer and also watching sport. I watch a lot of sport so I was quite content, I couldn't get over though, how many people were playing on their phones. Literally two thirds of the patrons there. Each to their own I guess.. right? Soon it was time to leave so we could get ready for the night ahead. The atmosphere had picked up and Bangla was starting to fill up. I noticed that our old friend Seduction had moved across to the other side of the road and it had become quite conspicuous. Gee, this was an old throw back.

We arrived back at the hotel and went for a quick swim. The pool was enormous and unoccupied as it was about 830pm. Everyone else was having or already would have had dinner; I guess you could say this was the time when hotels can become quiet. The pool was amazing and relaxing but we were running out of time so we got out and had a proper meal at the nightly dinner buffet. It was Asian themed night and there was a lot of food and no one left there to compete for it except for us. This was a good meal. We got ready (rushed albeit) and finally headed out to Bangla Rd to see where our night would take us. It was about 10pm at this time.

It was dark and warm and Bangla road was quite lively.

The tuk-tuks were pumping dance music as they drove around and everyone was upbeat as it was a Saturday night. There were some new places on Bangla which I wasn't aware of and then of course there were the places which were still running strong. When I was younger, we went to Seduction a lot. I wasn't sure if I would want to go back or if there would be other places to try. Kelmar and Vesper strongly suggested we go into Seduction, Jas liked the appeal (it was the most popular club), I said "okay".

We headed in. The nightclub had only one level but you have to go up stairs to get to it. It is fairly big with an outside balcony as well. The music was loud and there was lots of second hand smoke. Anyway, we were given the ticket / promo card for the unlimited drink re-fill special. I chose to drink from a bucket instead of a small cup, bad move. I got the bucket filled with vodka & soda. The place was pretty busy so I got carried away and drank my first bucket fairly quickly. More and more people started to come in and I kept on drinking. I was wary that I had past my normal quota of 4-5 drinks and I was starting to feel it. I decided to go back to the hotel and change my shirt. I left Seduction and jumped on the back of a moped and asked the driver to drop me off at the hotel. I put on my long-sleeve cricket shirt which I've had since I was about 14. This shirt had a high comfort level and was very versatile. I had been wearing it around the house for the last 12 months and I felt that I could wear this in Phuket without judgement and nightclub bouncers etc wouldn't care. I left the hotel and walked back to Bangla Rd. I went back inside Seduction and had some more to drink.

I was wary that the sherp would hit me soon so I decided to stop drinking. I was enjoying the night, I hadn't really been in many nightclubs for a while except Tigerlil's which is not as big and not as loud or busy. 

LV paid for me to funnel a Bacardi Breezer. Part of me wanted me to walk away as I don't really drink RTDs anymore and I had already drank enough, the other part encouraged me to challenge myself and skull the drink. I knelt down and funnelled the Breezer.

I was way past my quota and had pushed my liquid intake to the limits. I purchased a bottle of water and drank that quick to offset the other alcohol. I then purchased another bottle. Vesper challenged me to skull the bottle of water and he would skull the rest of his drink; it was difficult to say no. Both of us shouldn't have done this. After all liquid I had just consumed, I knew I had gone too far. I had no other real option but to use the technique my brother had taught me in a nightclub in Florence over 7 years earlier when I was only 19. I went to the toilets and made myself vomit up as much as I could. It worked well.

I had just vomited (tactical albeit) so I decided to call it quits and leave. It was late and I was tired so I decided to go home (it was about 1am). I woke up with a hangover the next morning but it was only really a headache. The following morning was one of the two mornings I woke up with a respectable hangover (I only had a headache) but I still made breakfast. Jas wasn't too bad; the other two, Vesper especially were not too good.