[Mekatulia]

Mis-adventure in Shenyang

It takes some research, reliable network and friends, time, effort, and money to go on an adventure, source for places to have fun. Sometimes things might work out, but many a times, things don't turn up as planned. Below is an account of an adventure which LT and EZ took, which I (EZ) personally think didn't turn out quite as expected, but due to our gut feel, probably sharpened through the years of experience dealing with China MMs, has managed to soften the impact.

LT and EZ landed in ShenYang (沈阳), capital city of LiaoNing (辽宁) province. LT had to fly out to another place for some serious business meetings, and on the last night, LT and I decided let's be adventurous. I suggested to go KTV then, we deserve a break after our long trip and now with SY being our last stop.

LT did some research and rummaged through his old notes to see what choices do we have. Seriously if you ask me, I would prefer places like the BBS or commonly known in the southern parts of China as Falang (发廊). I do enjoy sauna occassionally but one thing I don't like is the ISO procedure, I always request the MM to skip those unnecessary stuff. As for KTV, I think we got to set our priorities right. My priority is to get into the pants of MM, it may sound blunt, but at least I am honest about it. Going to KTV, spending money on the drinks, is just part of the process which if possible, I would want to skip that and just get right to the main action.

LT got back with a phone number of a KJ and the name of the place which was recommended. However, it turns out that the phone number is already not in use. The name of the joint was 金色年华, and it was just further down the street where our hotel was. And so, we decided after dinner that, we just walk in to the ktv then. But little did we realise that the 金色年华 has 2 joints, and the one near our hotel is the family ktv type. We almost wanted to give up and seems like we are not going to get any action tonight.

Our next course of action is to either go to another recommended ktv called 音乐虫 or to go the pub street and hava a few drinks. We hailed a cab and off we went. We passed by the western part of the city, and presumably that's where the 音乐虫 and the pub street was. Our hotel was slightly more central, at the city center.

We alighted at 音乐虫， but we realise, it is another family type ktv (量版式)! bummer. So were ready to give up and decided our last course of action is to just to have a few drinks at the pub street. We hailed another taxi and off we went.

When we pass thru the west side of the city, LT commented that he once stayed there, and that time, while wandering around, he popped into a ktv with a big hall with performance. Along the way, we saw the sign pointing towards the side road, and the name of that KTV also happened to be 金色年华！

Suddenly we were thinking... could it be there are 2 金色年华, and we happen to go to the wrong one? Anyways, LT picked up a conversation with the taxi driver trying to sound out what's the local scene like. When we reach the supposedly pub street, it was... empty... and we were puzzled. Then the driver said the pub street has long gone, 1 year ago! We told the driver to head back to 金色年华 which seems to be the right 金色年华, suddenly the thought of having some action was revived!

When we arrive, ah ha! That looks more like it, there were 知客. We walked in, enquired about the cost, seems ok, and we were brought to the room, taking the lift going up to the 5th floor of the hotel.

We didn't waste anytime and start to get straight into the main reason, got the mummy to start bringing in the girls. The pickings for that night, in terms of quantity was low, due to the recent clamp down and also it was a weekday nite, so quite a number of gals decided to take leave. Quality wise, i would say it was 4-6.8 on a scale of 10.

LT picked a cute lil gal type, i picked one that i thought looked the best among the group. All I can comment is, these gals are just super seasoned. Definitely have been around, and drink alcohol like water. Personally, I was a bit pissed off by my gal towards the end, as I began to realise the game that they were playing. My gal keep pushing for the drinks to be bottoms up. They probably knew that since we are from outta town, the chances for us coming back will be slim, so low chance for return biz. So they decided to make as much a killing as possible.

The other thing is, normally, the mummy doesn't get the tip, because normally they would already take a cut from the gals. However, towards the end, or late into the nite, the mummy stayed in the room, while most of the time she was nowhere to be seen. When we decided to call for the bill and began to settle the tips for the gals, my gal quickly handed her portion to the mummy and asked for another 200 tips. That kinda pissed LT off.

It turns out to be an expensive night, with drinks coming up to about RMB 900+, and RMB 200 x 4 = RMB 800 tips for the KJ, 2 gals and 1 mummy. The going rates at this joint is suppose to be 2/5/8 i think...

Mid way through the nite, I have already made up my mind not to take my gal for any further action, I guess that is the saving grace. Same for LT, he commented that he knew if he were to take his cute lil gal, that would probably be the start of a disaster. Towards the end of the nite, his cute lil gal turned out to be quite a gold digger, kept pestering LT for more tips, for supper, etc. LT, being experienced, earlier on has already faked drinking too much and pretend half unconscious.

LT tried to hint to me to carry on singing, trying to extend the time of our departure so as to get rid of the mummy in the room, but I didn't exactly get what his point because by then, i was quite pissed by my gal and just wanted to leave.

If this is the modus operandi in northern China, I guess i won't be coming back for further exploration. Well at least, I learnt a valuable lesson that night.