Citibank offered me a place at a Wine Appreciation workshop on Sunday, 28 August. Since it was free, I went for fun. Venue was this wine lounge just opposite Hong Lim Park (the Speakers' Corner that has gone dusty from under-use).
While walking to the wine lounge, I passed by this unit called Settlers Cafe, and when I looked in, it was full of happy people! I took a closer look, and realised it was one of those cafes where you could gather with friends to play board-games which are provided by the cafe. If you know your cafes, you would know that Mind Cafe also boasts a similar concept. From the atmosphere I saw at Settlers Cafe despite being a Sunday night, these cafes must have proven to be a hit with $'poreans.
I noticed that the set-up of the cafe allowed (or forced) customers to be huddled/seated close together as they played the games. Now, this is my theory-- the success of these cafes is because of one thing, GIRLS. Yes, girls. Think about it, will any normal guy get together with a bunch of guys to play boardgames at a cafe?? Sounds lame isn't it? No way would I say yes, no matter how interesting that board game is! But throw in girls into the equation, and it makes a whole lot of difference, and sense. Meaning, these cafes will either appeal to girls (those who are genuinely interested in learning new and fun boardgames), and to men who are interested in girls (and of course being in close proximity to them), which surely comprises a sizeable percentage of our population (and 99.7% of all the men).
Anyway, no matter how cynical I sounded (by the way, I've never patronized board-game cafes before), I guess it's all good clean fun. Much better than spending one's time in front of the PC and numbing your brains with online gaming.
Here's some pics of the wine workshop (to test the low-light mode of my new digicam). The lounge looks nice and cosy. When I asked the 'lecturer' why I always have a hangover with red wine but never with white, he confirmed that there are really certain people with this condition. His advice was for me to try red wine from different regions/countries for it has been found that not all reds give people like me headaches. Nah, I have never liked red wine anyway.
While walking to the wine lounge, I passed by this unit called Settlers Cafe, and when I looked in, it was full of happy people! I took a closer look, and realised it was one of those cafes where you could gather with friends to play board-games which are provided by the cafe. If you know your cafes, you would know that Mind Cafe also boasts a similar concept. From the atmosphere I saw at Settlers Cafe despite being a Sunday night, these cafes must have proven to be a hit with $'poreans.
I noticed that the set-up of the cafe allowed (or forced) customers to be huddled/seated close together as they played the games. Now, this is my theory-- the success of these cafes is because of one thing, GIRLS. Yes, girls. Think about it, will any normal guy get together with a bunch of guys to play boardgames at a cafe?? Sounds lame isn't it? No way would I say yes, no matter how interesting that board game is! But throw in girls into the equation, and it makes a whole lot of difference, and sense. Meaning, these cafes will either appeal to girls (those who are genuinely interested in learning new and fun boardgames), and to men who are interested in girls (and of course being in close proximity to them), which surely comprises a sizeable percentage of our population (and 99.7% of all the men).
Anyway, no matter how cynical I sounded (by the way, I've never patronized board-game cafes before), I guess it's all good clean fun. Much better than spending one's time in front of the PC and numbing your brains with online gaming.
Here's some pics of the wine workshop (to test the low-light mode of my new digicam). The lounge looks nice and cosy. When I asked the 'lecturer' why I always have a hangover with red wine but never with white, he confirmed that there are really certain people with this condition. His advice was for me to try red wine from different regions/countries for it has been found that not all reds give people like me headaches. Nah, I have never liked red wine anyway.
