Last week I found out that a small bar named 'The Shed' was closing in a few weeks. The Shed lives in a fairly arty district of Puxi, and was originally created as an office by two guys named Matt and Steve - who just happen to be the founders of www.justbeer.cn, the company that imports most Australian beer into China.
They started the company a couple of years ago, and they needed an office. So they rented out a reasonably-sized room at the top of an old residential building in a little laneway along Taikan Rd. Since they were selling beer into China, they decided that they needed a couple of fridges full of cold beer for potential customers to try. In order to drink the beer, they decided they needed a bar - and so, The Shed was born. It's a tiny place - can probably seat less than 10 people at the bar itself, and probably another 10 or so could squeeze in around the edges. It's only opened when the owners feel like it (every weekend during the AFL season) and is usually full of friendly Aussie faces. I went there for the first time a few months ago after I met Matt and Steve out at an event they were sponsoring, and have been back a few times since.
Anyway, after finding out it was closing down (the government is redeveloping the whole area so a lot of businesses are getting kicked out), I decided I'd better go along on Saturday and have a few beers. I made my way over at around noon (an AFL game was starting at 12:30) and knocked on the door...only to get no answer. Obviously I was a little early, so I wandered around a few of the laneways nearby to have a look around. Great place for art lovers as there were a lot of display galleries around, and a number of stores selling all sorts of trinkets. I stopped into a cafe and had a delicious chicken pasta and some even more delicious Coronas (it was pretty hot), and after an hour or so made my way back to the bar to find that Matt had opened it up.
I immediately got stuck in the Pure Blondes, and before long a few more people had wandered in. People kept appearing in fits and starts throughout the day, and at one stage it was pretty much capacity - obviously word had spread about the place closing down. I ended up staying there all the way through until the end of the night at 9, when everyone left to either go home (the smart option) or go out somewhere else (the Andrew option). Total cost for 8 hours of drinking - $AUS20. Nice one.
As I mentioned, I foolishly decided I would go out somewhere else after everyone had gone. After a quick trip home to have a meal and get changed, I went out to Hengshan Rd, and an old favourite - Zapatas. Got in and the place was packed - I can't remember if I've been there on a Saturday night or not, but I'd never seen it so busy. I grabbed myself a beer and before too long I was out on the dancefloor moving and shaking. A couple of guys 'encouraged' me to get up on the bar...and before I knew it, that's where I was. My memories of being at University and dancing at the Icon Bar came flooding back at this point. I spent the next few hours dancing on the bar, getting off to get a drink, getting up on the bar again, repeat. At one point I ran into a guy who is a mini-celebrity here in Shanghai - he's an Aussie guy that's on a number of TV shows on one of the two english language channels - ICS. I didn't really talk to him much, but I remember he was an excellent dancer and showed me up by doing the splits a few timers whilst on the bar. I think I attempted it and almost fell off/did some damage to my groin.
Eventually I grew tired of Zapatas and went off in search of more entertainment. At this time I made my way to Tongren Rd, home of the City Diner (mmm...food) and a lot of extremely dodgy bars filled with working girls...and some working guys that look suspiciously like girls. Anyway, I went into Judy's Too, a place that I knew stayed open until the wee hours of the morning. I ran into an English bloke in there and we spent the next few hours drinking, laughing and dancing on the podiums like idiots. Before I knew it, it was 6am and I decided it was time to call it a night...I mean morning. I'd been going for 18 hours, and it was time for sleep.
Unfortunately, my stupid body clock didn't really let me sleep very much. I was up before 10am on Sunday, and a world-class struggler. I had some short naps on the couch during the afternoon, but by the time Monday came around, I was still hungover and not prepared to go to work. Took a much needed day off and was back to normal by Tuesday, thank god. Note to self: 18 hour sessions are not the answer.
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