Members Only
October 16th, 2008We went to a couple of expat hangouts on Tongren Road yesterday. Mallone’s for a burger, then Judy’s Too for a beer. It was still relatively early when we left, so we walked across the highway to Julu Lu to continue our survey. On the way, we saw a place called S-style Club, where “Club” was written in katakana.
We asked the doorman what kind of club it was and he said, “Sorry, members only.” Then we asked in Japanese what kind of place it was and he said, “Ah, you speak Japanese! Welcome, welcome!” The only membership criterion is that you speak Nihongo, apparently.
Tonight we went to Mesa for dinner. It is billed as “modern Australian”, and was as good as everyone said. Afterward we decided to try out Lounge 758, one of the dozens of karaoke clubs like S-style Club catering to Japanese staying at the New Otani Hotel in the French Concession. The hostesses were shocked when two big white guys walked in, and doubly shocked when we started speaking Japanese (they said afterward). The place was like a typical Japanese hostess/karaoke club, but only one-tenth the price, and with two girls from Shanghai, so we finally got to hear what the local dialect sounds like.