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- Sea Breeze Apartments, 23 July - 7 August, 2003
By Frankie and Lesley Colclough
Tuesday
A brief visit to the beach followed by a quick change - then off to meet Hubert & Brigitte at The Amsterdam Manor for the BB Party.
(So have we got it straight - that was Bus - Bus - Beach, Bus - Bus - SeaBreeze - Local Bus)
Oh and what fun we had when the local bus had a blow-out. It turned out they had no spare, so they had to stop the next bus to borrow theirs. After they handed over their spare and drove off ~ they discovered that part of the jack was missing. Some of the passengers produced some metal rods that they had with them and tried to crank up the jack with them. This only partly worked - the rods were bending. So they phoned for help. A scruffy car arrived and out leaped two chaps to the rescue (or not!). They didn't have the same kind of jack, what they had was the oldest, rustiest and most battered jack in the world. One chap crawled under the minibus and tried to find a suitable place to get some leverage. As he was struggling along came another minibus which produced yet another kind of jack ~ at this point our driver told us to get on this latest bus and she gave us our money back. This was one time I didn't want the money back as it was so funny - but we were getting late for The BB party - so off we went!
Herein lies a tale of Drunkenness caused by $1.00 cocktails. Look away now!!!
We arrived slightly late at the Amsterdam Manor where we met Hubert & Brigitte from Belgium and Amber & Chuck from Arkansas.
We were not aware of Hubert's bad news and thought he was fooling around when he got up to leave after about an hour. We were saddened to hear of the loss of his Brother, and anyone interested should look at the photo he posted as a tribute to him.
At least we got to meet our new friends briefly before they flew off!
After a Cuba Libre and a couple of Margaritas, the young Barman "Reggie" got talking to us. He asked if I liked the cocktails or would I like something different? I asked him what did he have in mind?
He replied "something fruitier, creamy or stronger"
The "Regginator" is what he has for stronger!
No one has ever drunk more than three, he claimed - Dontcha just love a challenge?
The drinks flowed and we had a great time answering Chuck's questions:
Q. "So what do you guys do on 4th of July?"
A. "Nothing"
Q. "Thanksgiving?"
A. "Nothing"
Q." Labour Day?"
Q. "Memorial Day?"
A. "Nothing"
Q."Presidents Day?" Did he make that one up
Q."Halloween?"
A. "Not as much as you lot!"
"But we do have Guy Fawkes" - explanation followed.
The Amsterdam Manor served us some snacks but it was too late for yours truly. I was on my fourth "Regginator", Lesley was not laughing. Chuck paid the Bill I think he said it was about $16.00 (Hubert had kindly paid for the first wave) I guess I owe them a drink or two at The Green Man or somewhere more exotic!
The end result was Lesley had to drive Amber, Chuck and myself back to the Tam in their Jeep, where we caught the Bus. We have a picture of Amber climbing in the trees whilst they were waiting at the bus stop with us.
It was a $17.00 taxi from town to the SeaBreeze where I slept soundly.
Lesley tells a far harsher tale of these events.
And just in case Chuck has forgotten... "No I will not take you to see Manchester United if you visit England"
Wednesday.
Surprisingly this was a day of Idleness. Lesley spent the day sunbathing by the Sea Breeze pool. I flitted between the shade and the local shop - where I purchased a number of vitamin packed juice drinks. Also watched an episode of Monk that I had not seen.
In the evening we went to the pictures to see "Pirates of The Caribbean" - we thought it was appropriate. It was very good and very funny. I immediately wanted to go on a "Jolly Pirates" trip. ~ Maybe next time
After the cinema we had a very nice meal at Iguana Joes. Bus home.
Something of a record today - only two bus trips
Thursday - The day of the lifts.
The day started well when a local lady pulled up at the bus stop and told us to hop in. She gave us a lift into town as we chatted with her about all sorts. We must have spent nearly an hour on the internet in our regular cafe. We put a film in for processing; it's so expensive even with a 20% discount voucher. Good job it was only one film. We bought some cold medication in the pharmacy for Lesley; looking back it must have been the AC that gave her the cold - the same as it gave me a sore throat. Nearly cleared up now, thanks.
Then we headed to Manchebo Beach. Somewhere lost in my records is the fact that we stopped at Mi Dushi Bagels early on in our holiday. We never made it again as we were always getting to the beach after it shut. We usually stopped at subway to buy a couple of large drinks - I liked the "grape" you can't really get it over here. Lesley was a bit revolted when I had grape and cherry mixed.
In the evening we caught a bus then a taxi from town out to Madame Jannette's as we had made another reservation on our last visit, as it was so good. We were given a table almost next to the singer "Ahr" who entertained us ALL night. It became apparent that he was very fond of Irish/Scottish Folk songs. When he discovered that I was also keen on the same, he played a number of great songs that really made my evening. Ahr told me that his daughter had made a cd of Irish Folk and that He would like me to hear it. He also told us that he would be playing with his wife and another daughter in MJ's the following night and he thought we would enjoy the trio. As the night came to a close Ahr asked us where were we staying - he was surprised that we were so far away in Pos Chiquito and said he would give us a lift home as he had to pass by it.
We made a reservation for the Friday night and asked for a table as close as possible to the singer...little did we know.
We are going to cover the meals in the restaurant review section - eventually, but I just want to say that all the staff were very friendly and good at their jobs!
Friday
We stayed by the pool again. Perhaps I should explain that Lesley likes to do what she calls "Day On, Day Off" - that is a day on the beach then a day off the beach. It's for two reasons - 1. So that she does not overdo the sun tanning and 2. I do not go out of my head from sunstroke!
I spent some time editing two mini discs of Irish & Scottish Folk music which I had made for Hubert to hear at the BB Party, as I was giving them to Ahr as a present.
I went to the supermarket to buy something new for the mozzies in our room as they had even been getting me through my socks. The burning thing was doing no good. I sprayed the entire apartment with about half the can of Baygon bug killer and we headed off for MJ's.
Once again we arrived early so we took a seat at the bar next to a young couple who introduced themselves as Kevin & Meredith - you Americans are so polite.
Well when we were taken to our table we were surprised. We had a table right in front of Ahr the entertainer, accompanied by his wife and daughter. Everything was once again excellent.
I asked Kevin & Meredith if they would like to join us as they were leaving, I said they could have a glass of wine as I was struggling with the bottle. The waiters brought some more glasses, Kevin and I grabbed some vacant chairs and we spent the rest of the night chatting with them and Ahr. They "helped" me finish my bottle of Alsace Pinot Blanc, and then we helped each other finish two further bottles of Alsace Pinot Gris.
We sat and talked for hours, Ahr played their wedding song (sort of) on the condition that they danced - which they did, and he also gave them a present of his cd. To us he gave his cd and the one of his daughters.
Kevin refused to let me pay for one of the extra bottles of wine - so I bought a couple of Dalwhinnies for us a beer for Meredith and a few more Dalwhinnies for the staff at the bar.
Ahr must have said "goodnight, this is my last song" to all the remaining guests at least 3 times then got back up to sing another request for someone including if I remember correctly - The Swiss Consul and the writer of one of the songs he sings.
When it was all over he totally surprised us by telling us that his wife Flora was going to take us home.
We said goodbye to Kevin & Meredith and headed home.
Flora chatted all the way back with us, telling us how they had a very special night because they had friends and family there. By the time we got to the Sea Breeze we felt that we had almost become friends and family.
At the Sea Breeze the German guests were still up drinking some wine in the garden. We have been nodding and saying hello for the last week as we keep bumping into them either in town on the bus or at the apartments.
Squeamish? Look away now!
The Baygon deathraygas worked very well.
It was just gone 2.30am and I had to go around the Apt. Sweeping up dead things ( Hi! auntie ) which I promptly and probably drunkenly threw in the pool.
Saturday 1st August.....
Early (Far Too Early) the next morning about 7 am Lesley woke me up to ask what had I done with all the dead things. I confessed that I had thrown them in the pool (I believe it was to drown any survivors ), she was horrified and made me get myself out of bed and clean the pool.
With the small net that was by the side of our apartment I removed all the offenders from the pool and then everything else - I thought I would do a real good job.
I placed all the debris in a hole that was next to a cactus outside the apartment. I thought the sun could toast the remains, it reminded me of poor old Guy Fawkes who was Hung , Drawn & Quartered. The Bugs were Gassed, Drowned & Toasted
A little later on we went shopping again! In the Seaport Mall there was a Table Top Sale - we don't have anything like it over here! There was also a fashion show and some deafening music. After mooching around there for a while we went to - 't Pannekoekhuis. It is a new Dutch Pancake house in Seaport Marketplace and it is well worth a visit! During the meal we were entertained by a little bird which kept on flying back and forth to a large mirror in the restaurant - It was trying to communicate (mate?) with its reflection.
The Pancakes were yummy and we had poffertes for dessert, we ordered small but should have had larger! They were equal to the ones we had in Amsterdam.
We then continued our mooch around (avoiding the Tiger ) Did the internet, then we bumped into Kevin & Meredith and joined forces. We went on a joint mooch, Kevin bought some sunglasses then we came across a street party on Mainstreet. There was live music competing with sound systems, souped up cars, bouncing bungee thingy and tabletop sales. It was all very entertaining and colourful. After walking the length of the street we had a little look for "Pai's Rum Hut" ( I think that was what it was called!) a place I had seen once when we were on a local bus. I failed to find said place, I even started asking people in the street, first you have to sift between Locals & Tourists - maybe next time!
On the way back to the bus station Kevin found a T-Shirt Shop that was selling Marlboro Lights from under the counter - he was very happy!
We did the usual quick change then bussed it to Tabasko. Tabasko was wonderful and when we return to Aruba we will return to Tabasko.
The Arubus took us straight through to Pos Chiquito without having to change. Most certainly The Right Bus! The German family got on in town so we all walked back together and then had a bottle of wine by the pool.
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