Your idea of a good night out

Community
#1

So I was out drinking in bars on the waterfront the other night, and remembered why I don’t do it very often. It’s expensive, too loud to hear what your mates are saying without shouting and getting a crook voice (like I have now), and the music and surroundings often leave a lot to be desired. The company might be great and at least the bars aren’t full of smoke these days, but still. Not my first choice of place to hang out with friends.

I’d rather be at a movie theatre, or doing something physical like lasertag (even playing pool is a step up), or roleplaying at a mate’s house, or pretty much most other things. And I got to wondering what else people get up to that I might not have thought of.

So, if you go out with friends for a good time, what d’ya do?

#2

I’ve got a few places I go that reliably take the music to 11. I like to dance and since I don’t drink I’m usually there for the music. I often have some connection to the DJ or at least know their work, and I always check beforehand to see who is playing. I find that the BFM Entertainment Guide doesn’t list crap gigs, but everyone’s impression is different.

Live shows. Theatre and plays and well-organised music events where the bar is not the focus. Fun and something to talk about later (way moreso than movies)

That said, at the moment there’s a film festival on so that’s a dependable and thought-provoking night out. When that’s over, keep going to the Academy.

Try cafes instead of bars/pubs - they’re better set up for talking to people, the food’s better and they’ll often have specialty drinks. I get bored at pubs but I can chill out in cafes for hours with the right people.

I have a few favourite restaurants that are good for big feeds and late nights as well. That can end up expensive but often work well.

Increasingly I’ve been going out with friends in the day time and flying kites. Still working out how to do that at night time.

#3

Hmm, we don’t go out much, but instead have people come over to our place. The drinks are cheaper, you control the music, and we can play boardgames. If you haven’t heard of the German Boardgame, then I suggest you head down to King of Cards (Basement of Queens Arcade, Queen St) where they have a very good selection. The cost of a good game, even if played only a couple of evenings, is similar to your typica movie outing these days. We used to import our games from Germany (and get rules translations off the web) but since the American market has taken off in the last 5 years, more of these games are being re-printed in english, and now being stocked by specialist shops, makes it easy to browse. Urban Games in Broadway are good too.

But if you want activites to do going out, have you tried ten pin bowling, rock climbing, ice skating, swimming pool, stardome planetarium, visit the museum (Eygpt display now on, late night Wednesday)… oops just had school holidays, and these things are still fresh at the top of my mind.