After Hours... China: Huangpu District, Shanghai!

That late afternoon High Ball had turned things from a cute sightseeing day to a serious night out! Dressed to impressed, I headed out for the night, was I sure? No, I needed to check my senses, I had lost them down the road! From craft beers to cocktails, I didn't need to know any better! Shanghai had been a place where I wanted to experience the nightlife! S, I did just that! 

Now, I had clocked a craft beer place named 'Tap That' as I walked around the corner from my 'Yongshou Road' exploration. I knew that once it was a little later that a drink or two from there would be a sterling idea, or would it be? Going back to freshen up at my hotel was a given, I had been on my feet all day and I needed to transform myself ahead of that night out! Who for you say? For myself and the city of Shanghai, that was and only that! I was at peace with not having had any evening meal before I started drinking, that was a whole choice and then some! My hotel was located within spitting distance of 'Tap That', it was thankfully open by the time I had left my hotel. Merely paces away, I ordered a craft lager to start with and don't ask me the name of it because I can't remember! I just know that it was not a pale ale but a wheat beer, that first drink went down much too fast! I was able to sit outside on the pavement at a table with those former June 2015 haunts reimagined almost one decade later. Drinking mode on, I had no plan! 

I was telling myself lies! I already knew which venues I would be frequenting, mind this night out would be a test run! The occasional night out in Shanghai sounded like a plan if those nocturnal activities went well, I wished myself well! Those beers were going down famously, I felt the unseasonably mild temperatures needed to be enjoyed, I had no qualms with such weather. I got talking with a Singaporean Chinese guy who ironically was thankful for an English speaker to converse with, that was until he found a Malaysian Chinese person to ditch our chat for! Hey, he didn't take my bus and that instant manoeuvre gave me the instant ick! 'Tap That' had served me well, so much so I needed to eat something if I wanted to continue my night because I had not thought before starting those first few drinks! My evening meal was just around the corner, it was much needed and saw me to change over to cocktails because I knew better? A change of scenery was needed, my APP allowed me to hit the road with the quickness!

'Amigo' or 'Cap Bar?' I hailed a car, heading towards 'Cap Bar' sounded like a plan. Now, those drinks were starting to hit me but I kept on with my night because Shanghai wouldn't see me tank it! I took one look at the bustling crowd outside Cap Bar, it was filled with a gaggle of Shanghai Gays with their fresh cuts and shiny moisturised skin! I decided to ditch Cap Bar for the night and head over to their neighbour bar, 'Amigo'. I wasn't looking to schmooze with those delectable gentleman because they looked pretty comfortable in their groups, I was there for me! Ordering another negroni because I could, it was my third cocktail of the night? No, my second! The brightly lit bar made that small watering hole shimmer because those Gays deserved to stand out as they sipped on their dainty cocktails! It was the campest bar I had been to in China, for it being in plain-sight I was really impressed! I'm not saying things are way behind but you'll know if you've lived in China or visited. Sipping away, I surveyed the immediate bar area. Ooh! 

Another negroni? I knew that deep down it was the right idea, or was it? Amigo was getting busy considering the night was pressing on at that point. I really kept myself to myself, I stayed quiet with more than a satisfactory view to make use of. Shanghai was really impressive, it felt like it would be the first of many nights out for me! Amigo kept things simple, it was great to listen to people's conversations, really I wasn't paying attention I was just glad to be out of the house. Real talk, it was refreshing to see a Gay bar of its kind operating so openly, located along a quiet main road, I really wanted to know what the immediate area thought about the many gentlemen that frequented these bars? Did they care? I wanted to know! That second mixed drink took me to my limit at Amigo, I was being strategic because I had placed a three venue minimum for my night out in Shanghai. I will definitely call in for another cocktail at Amigo and I'll for check out Cap Bar. Back on the road, I had a little drive in front of me! Getting to the final venue felt long! 

I had heard a lot about my third and final venue of the night, 'HUNT' had been a bar that I had been following on WeChat for a long time. I paid my 'All You Can Drink' fee but you know I just needed one more for the night. For me, I went there to say that I knew where it was, to be able to plan another night during one of their events. During that Saturday night, well Sunday morning there wasn't a lot going on. I really didn't need another drink but I had decided that it would've been rude to not. Venue clocked, I am not even sure if I finished my drink, when that happens you know it is time for bed. I had drank the most and seen the most, I didn't have my dancing shoes on because I had drank my body weight in whatever I could find. HUNT deserves another chance, I actually want to go again but make it my first venue of the night. We learn and thankfully I lived to tell the tale, to console myself as that hangover was going to hit me like a lorry colliding into another on a motorway! Shanghai, I know that I drank the most! My head! 

My night in Shanghai naturally came to an end, I headed back towards my hotel because the day had been long and it was already the next day! It was bizarre, I found myself on a rickshaw! I swore I had hailed a taxi outside of HUNT? It was fine, I ended back at my hotel and passed out! Shanghai's night out had been what I wanted it to be, it was an introduction and it was mad to think that I hadn't had a night out there before? Like, really? Don't even talk to me about the following day because the journey back to Ningbo was an absolute mess! I had to surrender my aerosol can at the security check, nobody had stopped me in Ningbo but Hongqiao made an example. I accidently sliced my finger open on my razor as I had not placed it back in my wash bag, that's what a sensible person does? Yes! Zooming back to Ningbo on the high speed train, I was contemplating those life choices from the previous night. I definitely have to look at the way I drink but in the moment its always a very different situation. Next night out? It's Manila, baby!

To Be Continued... 

Desperately Seeking Adventure