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another story time… Noush, Elyse and i were planning to find places to hang out, with nice atmosphere and good live bands. you see, three kids fresh from overseas, looking for evening entertainment, are bound to find strange things. Elyse and I used to live in the US for years and years, while Noush just got back from Brisbane. we’re pretty much are clueless of those kinds of places here in Jakarta. but we’re determined to find something… today is the first day of that quest.

after having a quick dinner with Noush and family at PIM, we went back to my home to meet up with Elyse. around 10-ish at night, we drove heading to Shangri-la Hotel. Noush said that one of her friends recommended B.A.T.S. (Bar at the Shangri-la), when she asked for places with good live bands.

the first shock was the cover charge: Rp. 60,000. we all murmured, eek, that was the most expensive cover charge we’ve ever paid. we could hear the DJ playing Shut Up from Black Eye Peas. the bouncer had to show us the way to get into the bar since we walked to a wrong room… how embarassing is that? the ticket guy even asked, “did you guys just came back from school?”, commenting on Noush’s backpack. i guess it was some sort of hint that we’re not up to their dress code or something.

we walked down the curvy staircase heading towards the bar, ordered a drink and stared amusingly at the people in there. before i continue, i appologize if i sound catty, superficial or stereotyping. this is just an opinion from an amused girl after seeing such situation. first thing that came out of Elyse’s mouth was, “hmm, they’re all old men… and… ”

the place was super-crowded. there was no table or seat left. and the crowd is can be categorized in 3 different types: upper 20s to 40s white males who dress cassually drinking beer or wine or whatever, teen - lower 20s indonesian females with completely revealing clothing and make up that makes them look older than me, and the people who work there (there are so many of them, that they have to be seperated into a different category). many of them are making out. some of them are hugging and sticking to each other in an uncomfortable sight… and the place is not even that dark.

we saw an unsuccessful transaction (you know what i mean!) right in front of us. another group of girls behind us didn’t stop eyeing us from head to toe and gave us meany stare… we stick out like sore thumb there. even Elyse, who dressed the most sophisticated among us, isn’t up to par. not enough make up, i guess. and the ticket guy was right, we looked like a school girls trying to fit in… eek.

Noush whispers, “are we the only normal people here?”… the atmosphere was so bad. it was too sexual and too discriminating for us. but after paying that much cover charge, we figured we should at least wait for the band and stay for 1 song. one of the worker there (who are mostly very nice) told us that the band is taking a break and should start really soon.

it felt like a long wait, but finally the band from Canada called DZire showed up. and, man, they’re goooooood! they’re so good that we stayed for 3 songs. after getting an info that DZire plays every night, Monday to Saturday, we decided to come back during weekdays, hoping that it was less crowded and less, ehm, sexual.

by the time we left the hotel, it was already quarter to midnight. the places we wanted to go to (the crepe place, i forgot the name, Elyse!) was closed already. so we ended up stopping by Pasir Putih to show Noush how different it looked compare to our highschool year. we didn’t like it much, especailly since the music was played waaay too loud that we ended up sitting outside.

so, the first quest wasn’t too successful, although we’re sure we’ll come back to B.A.T.S. again to see the band sometimes in weekdays. anyone has suggestion where to go?

addition: after reading Elyse’s entry regarding the same night, and found this forum thread, i raelized that we should’ve done soem reasearch, at least on the internet… *shakes head*