High Mile Club

Hello to the DABOW family. Hope all of you had a great weekend. A little sorry for the delay in letting all of you know how last Wednesday was. Had a few pressing matters to attend to and now that they have been pressed away, I am here once again.

It’s been quite an exciting weekend for me where there has been a lot of enlightenment and there was a lot of discussion. Some of them very interesting and the others were just discussions. But these discussions are leading to exciting times, more on this and a whole lot more when the time is right. Don’t be surprised to see a lot of announcements in the near future.

Now before we head down the rant, a small observation that has been brought to my notice. It has been said that I may get a little too critical and maybe even pushy. Well I would like to think that’s the idea. Its fodder for everybody in one way or the other and everything said here is said in the utmost humorous faith anybody can ever manage. For the record there is no malice. Well if anybody looking for an apology may have to wait till my love for beer diminishes. This is not a democracy here. It’s more like I speak, you listen, you like, you don’t like. But yeah you have the option of commenting. Now that I have got that weight of my shoulder and a mug in one hand, it’s time for discovery.

So last Wednesday was The International Beer Day and it was a good cause for celebration and to get a few like minded people together. With the venue fixed on the Manhattan, all that was left was to get ourselves there. So as we readied ourselves not knowing for sure what the Manhattan held for us, we took a quick headcount before we headed out to see if there were any surprises. Well Shetty was there, as always, screaming his support out for the planet on his T-shirt, “Trees Rock”. Dom who was just back from work and dressed quite formally, refused to change his clothes till he had had his fill of beer for the night, and then there was Leon who was back with us after an absence of a week. Amit who was still on holiday, was getting used to drinking like a fish. Cyril was going to meet us there straight at the venue. And the star of last evening, Dwight was there hoping to make a rock star appearance once again. A lot of people said they would love to or would try to make it on that night, and though we waited and we hoped, this would be the final number for the night.

Well we got a little delayed and could not really make it there by 9.30 pm. So Cyril who was wandering the streets of Bur Dubai wondering what was taking us guys so long decided to walk in and be the first to know what the Manhattan had to offer. Even I am wondering now, what was taking us for long? Since Cyril had religiously read the last posting, he went searching for Murphy’s – the sports bar. Not much of a fan of the dance bars be it Indian or South Indian, he skipped past these joints and after still not being able to find the joint, it was time to use the secret language of the brotherhood to get some information. So with a wave of both his hands and kicking one foot in front, he posed the question where he would he able to find Murphy’s. Well much to the dismay of an awkwardly standing Cyril, he was informed that Murphy’s no longer existed and instead there was Cyclone in its place. And as if a thousand bottles of beer came crashing down, Cyril was caught with panic and a bit of uncertainty and then these questions stormed right out...Would he have to sit with the boys in a loud Indian dance bar tonight? Would anyone be able to hear him speak? Would he be able to hear anyone but himself speak? Would he be able to bear it? Would there be beer? Would there be no discovery tonight? Did he have his credit card? Wonder what’s for dinner? Where are these guys? What time is it? Wonder if there are potatoes at home? What’s the scene? Where is the loo?

Well not really waiting for the guy in front of him to answer that question, the storm called Cyril approached the doors of Cyclone? With every step that Cyril took he knew that he had the responsibility of either making this night or breaking it. Breaking it would be like another round of thousand bottles breaking and another set of questions. Don’t think he wanted that, I didn’t want it, neither did the other guys, and trust me you don’t want it as well.

Well as he opened the door, it seemed like the lights just seemed to go out and the sounds in there just got very loud. Maybe this is the idea of letting people know how it would feel if your eyes failed you. No lights and lots of loud sounds that you would probably even end up making you deaf. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he once again saw nothing. Two silhouettes in the corner occupied a table, and that was all the attendance that was there. Scrambling for the exit, and stumbling through the door, and looking for a cigarette, Cyril smsed me to let me know what the scene was. We still weren’t there and nowhere near. It was time to take a call and there was just one place left in the Manhattan to check out if we could really make a night of it. So speaking very hurriedly to ensure that urgency was key, he told me that we needed to take a call. Well it was really simple and we had to give Manhattan a decent shot of a review, so told him to walk through the doors of the High Mile Club…Now Cyril was thirsty, and isn’t used to so much exertion for beer and that too alone. So as he approached the door that resembled the entrance of a plane. He had his doubts and once again there was a barrage of questions that followed…Hope this evening does not come crashing down? Can I say bomb in there without getting thrown out? Will they serve beer on this flight? What time is it? Where is the loo? Where are these guys? Wonder if they have any offers in there that Ryan was mentioning about? Well after not getting any response from the man who was holding the door open for him, he decided to step in…

I and the rest of the guys after Cyril smsed, were wondering what kind of questions Cyril would be posing when we met. Most of us were maybe even preparing replies. But not Shetty, he was busy trying to get his laundry delivered and after a few calls to his folks, his broker and the laundry, he still wasn’t ready. With Leon finishing his third cigarette without having a drop, we decided that Cyril had waited alone long enough and we had to join him and besides we needed two cabs anyways. So Amit, Leon, Dwight and I moved ahead with Domnic and Shetty to follow. Cyril had messaged again saying that he had ordered himself a draught and was in the High Mile Club. Well at least now we knew that he wasn’t alone and had a Heineken to keep him company. He did warn us about some bizarre interiors and that offers were on and happening at the joint. The cabbie we hailed knew where the Manhattan was, so the new name was catching up and the cab had already made a few trips to the hotel. As he whizzed us out of the busy streets of Karama and through to the busy Mankhool area, I really don’t remember what we were discussing. So we may have to just skip this part and fast forward to us entering the doors of the Manhattan.

The first thing that caught my attention was the door that looked like it was taking us into a plane. I sort of imagined that the seats in there would resemble the ones that you find in planes with push back seats and with a head towel and each seat having its own tray table. Women would be dressed as airhostesses serving us and the manager would be the Captain of the ship, and though a good idea the High Mile Club didn’t seem to catch on it. Instead we walked into an egg shaped room. The lighting resembled that of some UV chamber. Michael Jackson (RIP) if he had to see the place may even have had the set up replicated in Neverland to help in his skin treatment or whatever he was trying to do. With the bar in the centre of the egg and four 32’ plasma screens strategically placed so that you could watch either MTV Arabia, Dubai One, MBC 4 and MBC 2, this place certainly didn’t seem like the most appealing. There weren’t any airhostesses, nor was there a Captain. Instead there was one barman, who could use some cheering up and there was one more guy to help him around with the serving. Looking around, we found Cyril placed under the plasma showing MTV Arabia. So as we got through the customary greetings of a nod, a handshake and an expletive, we seated ourselves and waited with bated breath to know what the offer was.

Well ladies and all you gentlemen holding those ladies, you guys better take a seat because we have found the offer of the week at this corner joint in Mankhool. Now everybody knows that there are buckets of beer to offer at many places where they give you five bottles for the price of six or five bottles for say maybe Dhs 90. But this is the point where most of us found those uncomfortable chairs that we were seated on a little bit comforting and I’m sure you’ll will agree when you hear the sound that we heard. It went something like this - five bottles of Kingfisher for Dhs 55. OK if you think there has been a typo, I am going to repeat myself here - five bottles of Kingfisher for Dhs 55. Now isn’t that a steal for anybody out here in Dubai and to top it all it’s Kingfisher. I am not sure how much Kingfisher costs in other places, its something that I will have to check. But it is a fact that this is easily the cheapest beer I have had in Dubai.

After we had soaked in most of the shock and excitement and seen in real the bucket in front of us, it was time to cheer and wish each other a Happy International Beer Day. After that formality it was time to have a look around. The bar really wasn’t filled up nor was it empty. A lot of Indians and not many women, with weird lighting, this place didn’t really scream it was a hit. Well Dwight certainly wasn’t impressed because he wouldn’t really stand out in this place and there just weren’t any women around who would be attracted or just understand him. So he had a quiet evening and this was Cyril and Shetty got into an interesting conversation on Indian television and the latest reality offering of Rakhi ka Swayamvar.

I haven’t really watched the show but here is some information that I have picked out from Wikipedia and subbed so that you guys get an idea.

Rakhi Ka Swayamwar is a reality show broadcast on NDTV Imagine. The show started on June 29, 2009. Wikipedia claims that Rakhi Sawant, is a popular but controversial actress and even a talk show host. Don’t know which talk show she has hopsted but in reality she has done a few dance numbers and drags the media to cover her so called realities which she calls controversies. There was a claim once that she was a man in drag as well. The nedia so straved to fill up their air time and print space are more than happy to spend a few precious minutes on her.
In the final episode held on 2nd August 2009, Rakhi Sawant selected Elesh Parujanwala as her future Bridegroom from among the three finalists. They exchanged Garlands and Bridal Rings, thus being "Engaged". But they have decided in favour of postponing their marriage for sometime, and allow themselves to know each other better.
Now not many may know and I don’t remember most of the stuff that was discussed that night. But an important observation that Cyril threw up is that the initial few weeks of the show, drew three times more the audience than the Indian Premier League (IPL). Now that’s one for the ratings and one for all those who say that only cricket sells. The new mantra these days, if you want to be a celebrity, get married and let the world know. In your face all you cricket worshippers…The talk the continued on with television and I think there was a brief mention of movies as well.

After talking about Freddie Mercury and his track Bohemian Rhapsody we ended the night early which was a very conscious decision as most people who do not turn up believe that these nights end up going till very late. Also I was suffering from a bad case of flu (not the piggy one) which I have shaken off since then and feeling much better now. So by 11.15 pm the lot of us bundled out of the bar happy and having something new to talk about. Not bad for a good evening out and I am imagining that everybody was

Alright so here is the review of the place now. The High Mile Club is not a place to go to if you trying to impress somebody. The place is gaudily weird and the service does leave a lot to be desired. We didn’t really try the food there but am guessing that it won’t be much to write home about. The interiors are funny and make for maybe two great pics at the most. Now we come to the best part of the place. It’s the beer which comes for cheap. A draught of Heineken would cost around Dhs 22 and like I mentioned earlier the offer is quite a killer one. So drinks are cheap and it’s a good place to go out with the mates. The man to woman ratio was 100:0, but to be fair the place could do with some woman folk around and they wouldn’t be uncomfortable. The televisions are a bit distracting and the music is quite faint, which is a bad thing because I would probably hear the guy next to me fart and that’s not something I want. The choice of music also could do with some change. I would personally recommend some Disco and retro stuff to go with the ambience. The furniture is simple mixed with an attempt to look a bit modern. You have high barstools that resemble a urinal and there are low single seat chairs that are simply put as uncomfortable. The bill for a bunch of five odd guys was Dhs 132 for just beers and it was quite a sight to see people pulling out 10 buck notes rather than the usual scene of 100 bucks. I would imagine that a joint like this would have regular customers and that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for anybody to become a regular there.

So another exciting evening, another long post, people you better get used to it. I would like to see a little more participation if people can manage it, because people may be getting a little restless seeing the same faces. A new catalyst would be welcome. So if you all do decide to come along, don’t forget to get a friend along. We are a good laugh and the Beer is a good drink. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

Cheers

The Beerman

Gonz Beer Trivia
Beer is an essential source of B complex vitamins.