Massive weekend - part 2

So after I left Windows Scoreboard I was off to the Blue Frog (another $3 taxi ride). The Blue Frog bar is on Tongren Rd, which is a pretty famous bar strip in Shanghai. It's quite a strange sight actually - you turn onto the road, and the first hundred metres or so is packed with a dozen different bars. Each one has a couple of pretty girls out the front and they shout out a welcome and invite in everyone that passes by. The Blue Frog is about the second-last one, so I had to walk past all the others first to get to it.

Upon entering it looked pretty small. The downstairs area has a DJ and bar, and a number of tables along the side. It was quite busy, and initially the only place I could stand was right in front of the bartender as he was mixing drinks. A few minutes later a table freed up, and I was able to sit down and enjoy my (reasonably priced) beer and some complimentary nuts. I had a quick flick through the menu while I was there; they have a pretty good range of drinks (and a hundred-shots challenge that I can't imagine anyone completing), and a good range of bar meals too. It's actually a multi-level place - second floor is a restaurant, and the third floor a lounge area. It'd be a good place to go with a few friends and relax for a bit. I stayed there for a few beers, and then went off to my final establishment of the evening - Studio 78.

Studio 78 is actually only two doors down from Blue Frog, so I didn't have far to go. It isn't particularly well-labeled, but you get into an elevator and go up one flight and there it is. It was bigger than Blue Frog, and actually had a dance floor which was a reasonable size and some very comfortable couches around the place, although it wasn't very busy. There wasn't anyone at the entrance when I walked in, so I wandered straight up to the bar and asked for a pint of Tiger. The barman handed it over and went about his business...and didn't ask me for any money.

Around this time I notice the sign on the table which said 'Open Bar Drinks', and then had a list of drinks underneath it. A lightbulb blinked on inside my head, and my inner child gleefully informed me that I had stumbled across free beer. I suspect that the establishment was having one of those nights (which are quite popular here in Shanghai) where you pay something like $AUS20-50 at the door and get free drinks for the rest of the night. I must have walked in at a time when the door-person was having a break, and so didn't have to pay any money.

Now I don't know about you, but when I get free alcohol of any kind, it's hard to pass up. So although I had been originally planning on only have a few drinks during my bar investigation night, I ended up getting pretty smashed. I think I had 3 or 4 pints at Studio 78, after which time I mustered up the courage to walk out as I knew I had things to do on Saturday and didn't want to be too hungover. I was quite proud of myself actually. I went outside and got into a taxi and got home just after 2. Cost to get home: $AUS10. Awesome.

Saturday I woke up mostly hangover free, which I was quite pleased about. I did a bit of research on the interwebs to determine which bars I would be going to Saturday night. Then I got my gear together and jogged up the road to the basketball courts where I had played the previous week. Got there by 11 and found both courts empty, which was great. However I'd only been shooting around for 10 minutes when a young Chinese guy came up and asked to play one on one. We did that for about half an hour or so by which time a group of guys had come along to the other court. We organised a 3 on 3 matchup and spent the next 90 minutes trying to outdoor each other on the court. It was heaps of fun. By this time it was midafternoon and I was getting hungry, so I made my apologies and left. I made a quick detour up the road to the DVD place I'd gone the previous week to pay them the rest of the money I owed, and then went home for a late lunch.

I spent the rest of the afternoon watching movies, before getting changed and heading out on the town again. More about that in the next post.