f-Bar!!

Having spent the best part of my student life in Manipal, you could say that I might be one of the snobs when it comes to going places. Manipal has an endless list of party places which used to cost us lesser than what a meal costs us in Bangalore. Food, drinks and dancing- the budget for a couple could be well within 300 (God I miss DT!!). For the snazzy places (which could beat any of the clubs and pubs in Bangalore anytime) push the number upto 600. For those of you who are still in Manipal, I urge you to make the best of BlueWaters while you can. I can assure you the shots cost 4 to 5 times of what they were in the seemingly expensive Blue..

So in all, Manipal totally spoilt me. My colleagues- who have spent the same time in Bangalore or other metros, often complain that I am a specimen who wants taste and at the same time am not ready to part with my money. True; being stingy bought me class in Manipal but never in Bangalore. I can't help feeling irritated everytime I dine out and end up parting with a hefty amount. I can always name a couple of places in Manipal which would be better than Cafe-Masala, Couch, Banjaara, etc. while not hurting your pockets half as much.

 

But what all of us really miss here in Bangalore: is the music and the dancing. Since some morons call the shots to make laws that could very well be an entry in a joke book, we are unable to dance to westernize ourselves (as claimed by the above mentioned people).

 

A mutual friend made an announcement that he had passes to some place called the 'F-Bar'. Though initially a bit wary for the fear of losing helluva money, I agreed to come eventually. The main group went ahead of us while I dilly- dallied my way to the St. Marks road grabbing a bite on the way (I wanted to save as much as I could, avoiding food there is a start..).

Reaching there, I uttered- uh-oh..! How wrong had I been? This place was way beyond Le-Rock, Legends of Rock and even Hard Rock Cafe.. I would not be very proud of parking my pulsar 200 next to the sleek red Toyota Celica and the innumerable Civics that greeted me. The crowd- my! I could have sworn that I’d walked into Delhi's Le-Meridian, Ashoka or something! Later I got to know that this was just the chaff trying to get an entry. As we wrestled our way to the entry, 3 bouncers confront us and say matter of fact’edly- 'Entry's closed'. Fortunately, our gang had written down our names beforehand so we were ushered in without much of a trouble. My company in the elevator freaked me out for a while. A number of toto hot chicks and a couple of dudes. But the scariest was this guy with long golden locks, at least a kilo of gold on him and a gold Rolex. As soon as the elevator doors opened, we realized that we were the most under-dressed people here. Well, in a way at least my funky T was unique amongst the flashy club wear and the skimpy stuff worn by the ladies here. I took a while to comprehend the purpose of the balcony (this is the only place where we could stand) when the bar came in my sight. The bar is at one corner of the dance floor and houses some of the finest stuff that money can buy. I cannot list out what was there but I can assure you it was a majestic sight. The floor is a huge hall with couches in one corner and the DJ operating at an elevated level. Half of the floor is multi- tiered with 2 levels (one at the bar level and one at the DJ's level). The Dj played awesome stuff (Sorry I can't remember his name but it was said they flew in Goa's no. 1 this day)- mostly house and trance. We eased into the spot near the bar. We had a great view of the second level. When I say a great view, the engineer in me would like to point out that there must have been an illumination technologist of great skill who designed the lighting for this place. The DJ level dance place is lit up in such a manner that the focus is on the bodies swinging to the music. The faces are scarcely seen.

Ya ya..I here the taunts coming in from the ladies- “guys must have had a great time”:: considering the classy chicks that come here and the kind of dressing, I can’t agree more.

 

There is also a cameraman hobnobbing around here. He's taking pictures of the oomph' people with his mammoth tool going on blinding people with his flash bulb. I couldn't help hee hee hee-ing when he asked me if he could take a picture of my date with me. Of course we refused. I was actually freaked out knowing that there is a remote chance of the f-Bar pics landing up somewhere.

 

After wavering to the music for a while, we all head to the bar to order. I overheard that Bacardi rum is the cheapest thing here. When I say cheapest- I mean in terms of value for money. You also get a KF pint for 200 bucks here but KF- 500ml- 200 bucks?? Nah...

So I go ahead and confidently order the Bacardi. The bartender quips a sorry and announces that they've run out of it. Also, would I like the other rum he suggests? In midst of the music, I miss out the name and tell him to go ahead and get me that. Then the cash register in my head pings to life. Fear grips me. 'What if it's 1000 bucks? or 2000? or 3000?'. This arithmetic progression question clouds my mind. When he asks me what I'd like to mix it, I go into the ultimate savings mode and say 'ice'. Well I think in all this worked pretty well for me. This guy put a couple of ice cubes in the tall glass and kept pouring the stuff till it reached the brim. Maybe he took pity on me or something. This I think, was the tripping point for me. Those who know me well will understand :) . All the apprehensions about the place melted away when he produced a bill for 350 bucks. I know it's not cheap, but for a place like that it's absolutely a steal!! And the neat quantity- Just made for me!! The rum that I now held like a king, was mysteriously sweet and potent. I enjoyed my drink for a while soaking in the music and the place at the same time.

Then, we danced..! After days, months, years, we danced!! The music was great and nothing needs to be said about the atmosphere. This went all until 11pm and when we expressed our plans of moving out of here to a place where we could talk for a while, the ladies were downright reluctant to leave the floor! Well, we eventually left at 11:20pm.

The variety of cars outside floored me yet again and I see the cops closing in. You would think they are coming to shut this place down or something, but they are actually here to protect the page 3 crowd.

 

So going there again?? Dunno.. I’ll definitely join in if someone amongst all you wonderful people decide to throw a party there of course..