Orchard Towers - "The four floors of W..."

**preface: the rating & the cost are based on 'clean fun', ie. not picking up a girl. If you do pick one up, the ratings may/will vary accordingly ;)

**preface#2: the writer does not necessarily condone or approve of some or all of the below noted activities.

For those that live and have been to Singapore, the place "Orchard Towers" is a household name. For those that have not been to Singapore, you might have heard about it from the friends that have been here. So this review is for everybody who either has not heard about it or has, but never been and is just curious to know a bit more....

In a city where chewing gum is outlawed, and not flushing a toilet in a public bathroom carries a fine, it sure is strange that prostitution is legal (note that pornography is not, and that too carries a hefty fine as well). Perhaps that is a legacy of being a port city... the sailors need some fun! My guess is that the government realized that outlawing it would prove futile, so they instead decided to control it!

There are many places in Singapore where you can find "working girls", this review will soley cover arguably the most (in)famous place, which is Orchard Towers.

I am unsure of the actual origins of the building, I think someone told me it was built in 1980. Exactly at what time it became what it is today, I don't know, but it has been like this for at least 10 years.

So what is Orchard Towers?.... It is 4 story building that has a few electronic shops, a tailor, internet cafe, 7/11, a mexican restaraunt (not a very good one by the way), and at least a dozen bars. In these bars at night you will find prostitutes - and thus the nickname "Four Floors of Whores".

As I said in my preface, this is not an article promoting prostitution, but an objective description of the place from my personal experience/knowledge.

The bars inside are all different... some are very small, some are big, some have good music, some don't, some have real girls, others not, etc... You probably by now have a picture in your head of a very sleazy place where anything goes and where you wouldn't want to ever take your mother to... well... yes, partly true. Most of the places are sleazy, if you define the term sleazy as containing prostitutes. However, you will not find any strip shows, sex shows, or see any private body part exposed. In fact, the place is perfectly safe for couples to go and enjoy a good time. If a guy comes into the place with a girl/wife, the prostitutes won't bother the couple. There are a two good bars where couples can go to enjoy live music and watch the girls get worked and picked up by guys (Bongo bar & I forget the name of the other, sorry).

If you are a guy and going there alone (or with other guy friends) then you too can have a good time just drinking and enjoying the atmosphere. Usually the girls will wait for you to come up and talk to them. If they go up to you, just be honest and say you are not interested and they will move on.

A word of caution, if you are interested in picking up a girl, make sure she is a girl! About half of the bars in this place have "lady-boys". It is very easy to get fooled, especially after a few drinks... and even sober, some of these lady-boys look prettier then the regular gals. To be on the safe side stick to "Ipanema" bar. Whatever you do do not go to "Crazy Horse"

So if you are in Singapore, don't be shy, there is no shame in going to OT and having a few drinks.