It was another of those times, that are occurring here but haven't occurred much in my life, where I was included in a group that broke away from a larger group. The ex pats organize dinners once a month (and now there are more such groups, so these gatherings are more frequent). This one was at the new Monkey King, a few doors down from Chocolates German bar. The MK is a full Italian restaurant, with a geeky Sardinian Italian chef. We all love it when this is our meeting place. Most of the year we can sit at outdoor tables.
I took a bus there and walked some, and by the time I arrived I was hot and sweaty. There were two long tables outside; it was a good turnout. I just couldn't bring myself to sit out there, because even with the cool breeze I was roasting. I went inside and sat at the tiny bar, and ordered a beer. I didn't have the buffet. The heat had taken my appetite away.
I was content. The bar is next to the toilet, so a friend would wander by now and again and stop to chat. Eventually I cooled down enough to brave the outdoors. I moved among the tables and greeted folks. Ozmat was there, a beautiful lively slender Turkish woman whom I met for the first time in my bakery some months before. We had met again at another ex pat gathering, and really hit it off. I sat with her for a while, then moved on.
One fellow I chatted with lives and works about an hour outside Changzhou. I told him about the bakery and the android app that AJ developed. He downloaded it immediately. He will be our trial run. I think his order is supposed to come through my email inbox. Then we'll have to find a courier to deliver the bread, and figure out how to pack it.
I have no idea how much time had passed, when Ozmat and Rachel came to me and said, "Come on. We're going to listen to some music." We found two cabs waiting outside the restaurant, and we all piled in.
The place we went to is known as Canal 5. The sign above it says something like 'Creativity University'. It is about a kilometer west of the NanDaJie (or the Big North Street) shopping center, on a main canal.
Changzhou is riddled with small canals, many bus stops have the word 'bridge' after them. Canal 5 is one of the larger tributaries.
It is an amazing place. When I first arrived in Changzhou in 2009 I couldn't imagine such a swinging place happening. And of course, it wasn't, back then.
An old factory, perhaps a textile mill, had been turned over to create this extensive center for the arts. There are art galleries, I'm told. Some very nice restaurants, of course, and lots of unique bars. One is the Zeeland, a Dutch bar run by a Chinese guy who lived seven years in Holland. The ex pats have organized a few things there that I have attended over this past year. There are also a number of venues for live music. The one we went to was more the soft rock, jazz, blues style than the previous one I had visited. The latter was in the old boiler room, and it was loud rock and roll.
I am not sure who all was in the two cabs that took us from the Monkey King and dropped us off at the Blank Space. I seem to recall that we were all women, some of whom had left their mates behind at MK. Once there, led by Ozmat, we joined a few Turkish guys (including Dogan) and took up this space. I was offered a coke. I took it, with thanks, then went to the bar to get a glass, ice, and a shot of rum. Maybe these Turks figured the girls didn't drink alcohol. I couldn't very well refuse this drink, but I was in a party frame of mind and plain Coke wasn't going to cut it. Somewhere during the night a bottle of Johnny Walker arrived.
This club, called the 'Blank Space', is one large room. On the right half the floor is slightly raised, and a counter runs along the raised lip. There are two bars;one on the right end wall and the other on the left end wall. In the center against the wall is a stage. I saw and heard some amazing stuff on that stage that night!
The main attraction was a Chinese girl singer and her guitarist. She sang in both English and Chinese, a very pleasant sound. As the night progressed, she was joined by two 'white guys' with wind instruments. You name it, they had it. Saxophone, clarinet, slide trombone, french horn. They did some great jazz improve over the music of the Chinese couple. When I had the chance, I asked where they were from. They told me they are from the Ukraine.
And then Dogan took out his guitar and joined them. Apparently, he does this often at this club, and was welcomed onto the stage.
Apparently, this pic was taken late in the evening when the clubbers had begun to thin out. I see the bottle of scotch is empty.
I had spoken to Dogan the night before, at the expat gathering at the Zeeland Pub. That was a night of farewells, for many of the ex pats would be leaving over the next few weeks. We discovered that we had both been living in Changzhou for more than three years, he in the north, me in the south. It is such a large city!
I am so not used to drinking anything stronger than wine and beer. It was a bottle of black label that we guzzled. At some point in the evening, beyond the point when my perceptions were fuzzy, the group got up. left that place, and moved on. After the jazz club we went to one of those noisy discotheques in the Landmark area of Nan Da Jie, the club street. I remember sitting at the very long, square bar and being fascinated by the many bartenders. I remember that Dogan was hovering quite near, pleasurably so. I don't remember leaving, though I do remember the cab ride home. I don't know the name of my new place yet, so I had to watch the driver carefully, telling him 'right' here and 'left' there.
My Turkish girlfriend messaged me the next day saying I had 'disappeared' and they were worried about me. So did I just hop off the bar stool, wander out to the curb and hail a cab? Ah, it was a lovely, fun evening. Wish I could do it more often, minus the booze.
I'm so tired of the bakery. Especially now when sales are down, there seems no reason to bake. I wish I could just stay home, wait for the weekends, and party.
But methinks I need a new wardrobe. See pic.
