AFL Grand Final day in Shanghai

On Saturday I was able to experience my second AFL Grand Final outside of Melbourne.  The first occurred back in 2007 when I was over in Honolulu - my co-worker John and I finished up early on the Friday afternoon and made our way to one of the only places on the island which was showing the game...and proceeded to be extremely bored by the absolutely thrashing that Geelong dealt to Port Adelaide.  It was good to be able to see the game, but there weren't too many other Aussies there, and the atmosphere was a bit lacking.

Saturday was completely different.  The local AFL footy team (the Shanghai Tigers) have been organising a Grand Final day event in Shanghai for the last few years.  This year it was held at a pub named Big Bamboo, which I've blogged about before.  The game was due to start at 12:30pm local time, and the event began at 11am, so it was an early start for me.  I arrived to find the place already extremely full of Aussies - they were everywhere!  I paid my entrance fee ($AUD40 for free beer until 6pm and free BBQ lunch), got my complimentary stubby holder and made my way inside.  I ran into a few people that I knew almost immediately and sat down at their table.  Quickly dispensing with the VB that I'd been given at the door, I moved onto the Pure Blondes and watched with interest as more and more patrons came in through the door.

By the time the telecast started, there must have been around 200 people in the bar; 98% were Australians.  We watched with pride as John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes and Mark Seymour performed (You're The Voice with all three of them - awesome!), and when the Australian national anthem was played the entire crowd stood as one and sang our hearts out.  It was fantastic!  Indeed, aside from being at an actual game at the MCG, it was the biggest group of people I've ever watched an AFL game with.

At half time there was a brief interlude while everyone got some food (delicious BBQ) and the organisers drew raffle tickets and gave out door prizes - I actually won a gift voucher for a meal at a fairly fancy restaurant worth $AUD150 or so - not bad!  Haven't used it yet but it's still valid for another month or so.  The game itself was extremely exciting and stayed close for the entire 4 quarters. Disappointed that Geelong one (my Dad is a Saints fan) but the quality of the match was excellent considering the conditions. 

The day finished at around 6pm local time, when the free beer stopped and the bar reverted to it's normal layout in preparation for the evening crowd.  By this stage the majority of patrons that were there for the Grand Final had left, but a few of us continued on.  I ended up migrating from there to Xintiandi to get a meal, and then hopped from bar to bar along the strip there until the wee hours of the morning.  Finally got home exhausted by 2am - it was a long day, but heaps of fun.

Watching AFL in China - yes, you can see it over here

A few weeks ago I found out about a place named Big Bamboo, which is a bar over in Puxi which shows AFL matches via satellite. They're only delayed by about 2 hours, which means that they usually start here at about 8:30pm local time. I went over on a Friday night and watched Collingwood beat North Melbourne. Not the most exciting game to watch, but hey, it was AFL and I was just happy to see a game for the first time this year. I sat at the bar next to a couple of poms for most of the game and had a great time trying to explain all the rules to them. They admitted that it was a lot more enjoyable to watch when they actually understood what was going on.

Anyway, last Saturday night Essendon and Richmond were playing, so I thought I'd go over and check out the game. The Big Bamboo website said that the match started at 8:30, so I timed my run to get there at about 8:45...and found that the match wasn't up on any of the TVs.

Unperturbed, I figured I'd grab a tasty beverage and that maybe one of the other sporting events they were showing had gone over time and that they'd switch to the AFL in the next half an hour or so. I was mistaken. At this point, the single only other Aussie (Michael) in the entire bar had gotten hold of the manager to ask what was going on. I noticed his accent so introduced myself and tried to get the story. It turned out that the game wasn't actually being shown until 11:30pm - the website had shown the wrong time. Michael decided to go do something else for a few hours, and if I was a smarter man, I would have gone with him. Instead, I decided to tough it out and just keep on drinking.

Unfortunately that meant that I had to sit through the only other two sports being shown - soccer and rugby. I went with the lesser of two evils (rugby) and it actually turned out to be a pretty good game (Queensland versus Wellington or someone). Anyway, 11:30 finally came around, and the AFL came on. Michael and I spent the game cheering for the same side (he's a fellow Bombers supporter) and we were happy to see them come away with a win. The fact that it stayed quite close for the first three quarters was good, as it kept things interesting. During the game, we sampled the different Australian beers they had stocked - I tried a Crownie, a James Boags, a Coopers and a Pure Blonde. I skipped the VB, because noone in their right mind drinks VB if there is anything else to drink. How did they come to have Australian beer stocked in the fridge? More about that in a future post.

After the game finished a bit after 1, Michael went home but I was keen to kick on so wandered up Tongren Rd a little ways to see what was happening. I stopped in at The Spot, but it was completely empty so I walked a little further to an American bar named Mallone's. The band was still kicking along there and there seemed to be a decent crowd, so I stayed for a few more beers. Once that place closed at 3 I walked a little further along the road and stopped in at another bar...but I don't remember what it was called. I think I ended up staying there until 5am before finally coming to my senses and getting a taxi home.

On Sunday...I paid for it. Didn't wake up until midday and had one of the worst hangovers ever. Unfortunately, I'd agreed to go play pool with one of my co-workers and an engineer who's here from Australia for the next week or so. I walked over to his hotel at 3:30pm, head pounding and mouth dry. The guys spent the next couple of hours laughing at my sorry state (although I actually did do pretty well on the pool table) before we had a quick meal and they let me get back to the solace of my living room couch. Very happy when that day was over, let me tell you.