A night out with friends who varied across the spectrum. I had M, Jungle Fever and bisexual girls who were into RnB and Hip Hop, other girls who were not into RnB and Hip Hop and preferred the bar scene, my cousin who only liked RnB, her Asian American relatives who were very conservative – and I had to find them all good place to go. You have to be kidding me…

Fridays @ Haymarket Hotel
I thought an event would have taken over Friday nights here, but it hasn’t. Downstairs was closed off, and it seems only regular patrons were here for a drink. On the TV screens SBS was on and, being SBS, a documentary was being played about the porno industry. Hilarious hearing the collective screams of girls as the more saucy were being played.

Off we went to Oxford Art Factory. Half of us went in first. The other half including myself tried a few minutes later but we were told that the venue was at capacity and we should try again in half an hour. I doubt a packed place would have suited some of the people here, so it was off to Doctor Pong, just a few shops down!

Fridays @ Doctor Pong (Bar)

Doctor Pong DJ area and dancefloor

Doctor Pong DJ area and dance floor

Assessment Time: 11:10PM – 11:30PM
Address: 1 Burton St, Darlinghurst
Venue Website: None
Dress Code / Door Policy: anything goes, no security checks. Cousin’s sister-in-law, who was wearing pajamas, was let in.
Entry Fee / Cover Charge: Free
Inside: Small place. Bar in the middle. Lounges on one side, table tennis ping-pong table on the other side (hence Doctor Pong), with a restaurant on the far left. DJ up next to the stairs upon entry.
Music Style: Whatever goes, but it was keeping the crowd going. Volume was at a loud house party level but not a club level. You could talk in here without shouting too much.
Crowd: Mostly Aussies.
Entertainment: The table tennis table was the star attraction. Four paddles so everyone can have a go.
Atmosphere: Pretty busy at this time when we entered. You could say it was relaxed and busy. Red plastic cups add to the american beer pong feel.
Video: Walkthrough
YouTube Preview Image

Timeline
We pretty much had a drink, and nobody here seemed to like this place, except for myself and one other friend. Some of the women here were already plastered. Majority overrules and we had to leave to another place. Others wanted RnB, but we were on Oxford st, and there was none of that around.

Recommendation
It’s just a bar with a ping-pong table, DJ and dance floor for about 5 people. Pretty cool bar.

Casey Donovan @ Slide Bar

Assessment Time: 11:30 – Midnight
Entry: Free, after Casey Donovan was finished.
Crowd: Mixed Uni students 
Inside: Elevated flashing dance floor, bar, and sofas and tables in the middle. Overhanging balcony.
Atmosphere: Not so busy

Slide Bar Dancefloor on a free uni night

Slide Bar Dancefloor on a free uni night

Yup, Casey Donovan, the Australian Idol winner was here earlier, and patrons had to pay $20 to see her. What a rip!

Was here for a drink or two, then we left. There was a uni event on, and being uni students, most couldn’t dance well, but at least the higher podium was packed full of people who enjoyed the night.  Other friends were also not happy with this place, and wanted to leave. I was pretty content here – the people seemed friendly enough. Oh well.

Puls8 @ Shark Hotel
Time: Midnight – 2AM
Free entry, fob crowd, enough said.

We hung out here, danced for a bit, and played pool. Cheap drinks. I don’t really write about Shark Hotel, as it is the same old every week. Everyone by 2am had left, and it was just me and M left. We move on to Oxford St…

The Oxford
There was a DJ, but it was dead and it was a non-fun gay bar. Left very quickly.

The Oxford

The Oxford - Totally Gay

Hi-Lo (Formerly Middle Bar @ Kinselas Hotel)
Assessment time: 2:15AM – 2:45AM
I think this place was called Hi-Lo, but it was definitely the former Middle Bar. It’s a nice place. DJ playing old school tunes – Michael Jackson et al.

 

M teaching Drunk Mike breaking

M teaching Drunk Mike breaking

No drinks
Sat down to relax, and the bartender struck a conversation with us. He asked if we wanted to order a drink.

“I don’t drink” M goes
“Why” the bartender says.
We laugh. It’s a joke.
“Why are you laughing? I’m serious”. He was serious. He didn’t understand why we weren’t drinking. Weirdo.

Drunk Mike
We found the DJ around the corner and danced. There was a drunk couple who liked us. M taught Drunk Mike some dance moves and, in return, Drunk Mike decided to teach us his signature cowboy dance. Here it is:
YouTube Preview Image

Courthouse Hotel
Assessment Time: 02:45AM – 03:30AM

Address: 189 Oxford St, Sydney
Inside & Atmosphere: This place had an electronic Jukebox to play your tunes. It was just a bar with carpeted area – carpeted enough to be able to dance freely. People here are friendly, and it appears after 3AM this is the place where quite a few people go to continue drinking after a night clubbing, as the crowd got more and more busier. Upstairs was dead throughout the night.

The StarCraft chant

There was a dude who, I am not sure how, managed to get me singing a StarCraft chant based on the “Marco Polo” game. He made me shout out “TERRAN” while he in return shouted out “PROTOSS”, and intermittently inserted “ZERG!”. Major lulz. He was ashamed that we did not play games, as we were quite clearly gamers in his eyes. Damn Asian stereotypes. He also encouraged me to hit on his female colleague, but she was a bit too older than me.

Zaia @ Space

The views expressed below are those of the author and NOT of Phat Entertainment

Assessment Time: 03:35AM – 04:00AM
Believe it, we managed to get in free. Security were relaxed this week, as opposed to weeks prior, and we got in after 3:45AM. Danced around for 15 minutes in the trance room. lol I was truly spent by then. The RnB room didn’t seem to ventilate the smoke out when we were inside. Check out the video:
[Video removed on request by Phat Entertainment]

Arrivederci  / Recommenation

Thus ended the night at 4:00AM. I liked courthouse as a place to chill out afterwards if you are in the area, and Doctor Pong as a bar in general, but don’t bring your conservatives here. Know your crowd before you go out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 Responses to Club & Bar Crawl: Haymarket Hotel, Doctor Pong, Slide Bar, Puls8 @ Shark Hotel, The Oxford, Hi-Lo (Middle Bar), Courthouse Hotel, Zaia @ Space Sydney: 20th August 2010

  1. flames says:

    haha did you get fobbed? xD
    “the crowd got more and more busier”
    “she was a bit too older than me”

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