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May-May's Diary
Entry for July 24, 1998
Part 14 of the Sunflowers story!! You will remember that I found out that there were two all-girl groups operating in Shanghai, both playing western pop music. All the girls are primary school music teachers during the day, while at night, they put on black mini skirts and sparkling eye shadow and sing: "Sha-la-la-la-la (clap clap clap)". One set of Sunflowers was playing at Club Absolut, the other set at Sallys and also at George V. Now, Absolut has fired the first set and george V has said gooodbye to the others. So the only place you can now see any of the Sunflowers is in Sally's on Wednesday and Thursday nights.
Have you been to the congee shop on Nanjing Lu? Down the road a bit from Yinyang Club. There's an interesting story behind it's name, Zhou Tian Zhou Di (congee heaven congee earth). It's run by two Shanghai guys, Mr Tian and Mr Di, who went to the States and spent several years there in the restaurant business. They both, as it happened chose for themselves the English name Joe. They met up when the came back to Shanghai a couple of years ago, and the restaurant is the result. Isn't that interesting??!!!
Actually, I made it all up! The really interesting thing about the name is that in Shanghainese, it sounds like what a man would say to a woman who is nagging him to death. I haven't spoken to the owner, and while it possible that hisw English name is Joe, I expect his wife is one of the formidable of our Shanghai sisters!!!
Entry for July 22, 1998
More info is emerging on 99 Disco, said to be the biggest disco in Asia, on Anyuan Lu. Business there has picked up considerably. I remember one night I was there soon after it opened, and myself and my partner were the only customers in the place!! But, given it's size, it take hundreds if not thousands of people before it would begin to feel really full and sweaty.
So, business is better, but many of the customers, of course, will sit on a Coke all evening. It is said that the investment in 99 Disco amounts to something around three hundred million yuan, while losses since it opened have amounted to something close to half that. It is further said that the city officials have suggested to the owner that he just close it. Watch this space for more info!!!
The strip of bars along Julu Lu, near the Changshu Lu intersection, is becoming more lively all the time. Could this be the Lankwaifong of Shanghai's future? The number of taxis parked there -- always am good indication of business prospects -- suggests it might be. There's the new Manhattan bar, and the new Hilda's Bar, both refugees from the Yanan Xi Lu Construction zone to the north. Plus Badlands and a Japanese bar called the Rattan Bar. Actually, that's the Chinese name, I can't remember what the English name is. Bar-hoppers like to have as short a distance as possible between hops. There is nowhere in Shanghai that provides such convenience for these people than Julu Lu.
Byeeeee!!!
Entry for July 20, 1998
The Yanan Xi Lu construction nightmare continues! Another unexpected casualty is the Wo Jia (My Home) restaurant in an alleyway opposite the Hilton Hotel. This was possibily the smallest restaurant in Shanghai. Not the cleanest place in town, but certainly the one with the most "flavor"!! It was one of those not-very-well-kept secrets. The sort of place people like to take friends to as a new discovery. So, now the search is on for the next smallest restaurant in Shanghai! I would propose Cafe Monica opposite the Shanghai Kerry Centre as a first entry. It's certainly small enough, but it's not really a restaurant.
I was down at Eddy's new bar the other night, and I am just so impressed!!! Not so much by the name -- he's called it Eddy's Two, which is a straight copycat of Judy's Too. And anyway, there's a problem with the mathematics. It should be Eddy's Three, by my count -- in the beginning there was Weihai Lu, then the Tree Bar on Yueyang Lu and now the new place. Each of them a mecca for those people who, in the famous May-May phrase, do not necessarily agree with the proposition "Vive La Difference".
Eddy's Two is on Xiangyang Lu, just south of the Fuxing Lu intersection, and this time charming Eddy has really got it right!! It's a former air raid shelter tunnel. Now, there are several nitelife venues around town in the tunnels built in another age to protect Shanghai's revolutionary citizens against potential bombing raids from Vladivostok or maybe Taichung. There's the Cowboy Bar on Changle Lu, and Sally's of course. But Eddy's Two is the first one to really get it right. The small dosco dance floor is the coolest in Shanghai if you like your discos small, and the long bar streching around two adjacent tunnels is longer than the Long Bar. Not a good place to go on a Saturday night if you are at all claustrophobic. Or homophobic, for that matter!!! But definitely one of the coolest paces in town right now. Don't forget to say hello to Eddy. He's the guy in the white tee-shirt who looks like Jackie Cheung!!
Byeeeee!!!
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