Wednesday 28 June
A quick in and out
Maybe it’s the floor layout on the second floor, but it’s always a place with an energetic aura - never a haven to put your feet up and relax. As I climb the stairs to try and catch the Boss I walk into the maelstrom of the pool competition, which - as the tournament draws to its conclusion - is getting pretty intense, and there’s some keen play going on. Realising that it’s neither the time nor the place for a leisurely chat I bow out gracefully and wander up the street to D’s Place.
I stroll into D’s Place with the expectation that it’ll be a good half hour, and I’m not disappointed. The pool is in full swing at the end of the bar, and the free barrel of beer has primed the assembled throng. There’s a pleasant hum of convivial conversation in the bar, and the place has that nicely laid-back feel of a real English pub. Mein host is making sure that he greets all the guys personally, spreading bonhomie and sharing scraps of news and gossip as he goes.
It’s the Joker Lucky Draw night, a popular event that everyone enjoys. The jackpot has been rolling over for quite a while, so there’s a very big pot to win - which gives the proceedings a nice little edge, and there’s a definite frisson as the winning ticket holder hops across to try his luck at picking the joker. He misses it, to general groans of sympathy and commiseration.
Then who should I see propping up the bar as to the manner born, but our very own Harry Flashman. He’s having a farewell binge, as he’s returning home for spell and will be away for a month or so. I also bump into another guy at the bar entrance, who’s a longtime fan of the web site. He comes to Jakarta every few months on a business trip, and of course he spends much of his free time renewing his acquaintance with the Blok.
I nab the boss as he darts past and we have a useful chat about the design of a web site I’m working on for the Falatehan Association of Businesses, better known as FAB. After a pleasant drink and exchange of ideas he dashes off to attend to the staff, and I make my farewells.
The new extension in Top Gun is doing well. Most important, it’s become the centre of gravity for the place, and quite a few of the guys and girls wander down and take up their revelling stations by the new bar. I have a chat with a few friends, down a couple of bottles, play a truly awful game of pool that has the onlookers wincing, and then head off out.
I don’t feel like a late night, and anyway I’ve got a lot of work to attend to on my web sites, so I decide to get out while I’m ahead and go home. As I swing round the bust-station corner of Jalan Palatehan, on the spur of the moment I decide to pop into the Club and see if anything’s happening there. And yes, everything’s exactly the same as it was the last time I was in - with one ominous and rather disturbing change: they’ve switched the lights off behind the bar, in the area known as the Dark Side. As I sit myself down and order a beer a coven of the old girls prowl up on me and suddenly I’m surrounded. Some very unambiguous groping starts up, but it’s just their friendly way of saying “hello” so I politely ignore it.
As Confucius said, “When rape is inevitable lie back and enjoy it”, so I just go with the flow and have a pleasantly relaxing half hour chatting with the girls, several of whom I’ve known since my early days in Blok M. Two of them are ex Top Gun troopers, one is an Oscar pensioner, and another two are refugees from Lintas Melawai. Now getting in to the Club may be free, but by golly you’ve got to pay to get out. The Dear Old Things form a human wall around me, and plead for a little taxi money. Being a soft-hearted soul I dispense a little largesse and then wave goodbye to them all.
One good thing about the Club is that it’s right across the road from my bajay, and even as I’m starting to cross the road one of my regular drivers is waving frantically in my direction. So off back to hearth and home, and the burning of some midnight oil on my trusty computer.