Carnegie's - the "chat" thread

JFYI, Carnegies has put its drinks list and menus online, and has a discussion forum, events list and bar photos, etc. :wink:

See youā€™re trying for a free beer, Monkey, but thereā€™s a big problem ā€“ wouldnā€™t you have to actually go there in order to get your drink? Hardly worth it, is it. Carnegies has to be one of the saddest, most desperate places Iā€™ve ever seen. The photos on their website say it all.

Stop yer moaning man, a beerā€™s a beer! But has anyone tried the grub there yet? ā€¦ particulary the ā€œBritish Favouritesā€ ā€“ the fish & chips and all-day brekkie?

Seems to be a lot of people having fun there. Maybe you are too old Sandman !

I quite like it during the weekend. Good music (matches my taste) and usually a good mooded crowd. Havenā€™t eaten there though.

I gotta side with sandman on this one, and I canā€™t resist chiming in. I find that place excrutiating. I wonā€™t go into full slag mode here as I think I would draw a lot of flak for being such a snob, but Iā€™m getting shivers down my spine just thinking about the last time I was there. Though I remember liking my fish and chips.

I would hardly use the arguement that one could be ā€˜too oldā€™ for Carnegies. From my experience it seems that being an old sad white foreigner hoping to hook up with local women is one of the entry requirements.

Yeah, and I would argue that not all the ā€œlocal womenā€ are women but ******* instead. Typical stereotyping which hardly makes an argument.

Yeah, and I would argue that not all the ā€œlocal womenā€ are women but ******* instead. Typical stereotyping which hardly makes an argument.[/quote]

Which is why he prefaced with the disclaimer ā€œfrom my experienceā€ and ā€œit seems.ā€

But I take issue with AWOLā€™s opinion that being old sad and white is an entry requirement. Its not, but being one will ensure that you fit in with a sizeable majority of the crowd.

Right, Iā€™ll take my tongue out of my cheek now before anyone else thinks I seriously give a toss about the clientele of some crappy bar. :wink:

How old do you have to be to be classed as an old foreigner? When exactly do you become a ā€œsad old white foreignerā€? Can you be a happy old brownish foreigner? :laughing:

Whatā€™s with all the negativity? Iā€™ve been to Carnegieā€™s maybe half a dozen times. Iā€™ve had a really good time there at least three of those times, but thatā€™s probably because I was with a bunch of good friends. I think almost every time we went there, it was as couples, and we didnā€™t really pay too much attention to what everybody else was doing. The only time Iā€™ve been unamused with the place is when we started focusing on what the other customers were doing. But then again, if memory serves me correctly, Iā€™d get the same vibes from going to other drink 'n dance joints, wathcing the customers there.

The music at Carnegieā€™s is mainstream stuff, a lot of which was am radio fodder when I was in high school. Not exactly favourite stuff, but still familiar, which is not always bad.

Carnegieā€™s best feature, in my view, is their outdoor patio, especially on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Anhe Road has to be one of the nicest streets to sit outside on, and I donā€™t remember being offended by the food at all, and I am pretty sensitive to bad food.

As far as the old geezer bit, well, how many good dance places are there for the over 30 crowd? In the mid 90ā€™s, wehen I first came to Taipei I went to Spin, then to Sex a GoGo and Kiss Disco, later Opium Den and Room 18. Thereā€™s no way I can go back to Spin now, and frankly, even though Iā€™m not ancient, at 36 I donā€™t really want to be hanging out with kids exclusively. And although I still feel comfortable at 2nd Floor or Room 18, many of my friends - married and some with kids - do not. So relax a little, donā€™t worry so much about what other people are doing. So some fat old geezer is dancing on the bar. Heā€™s probably having a good time. Hope Iā€™m still having a good time when Iā€™m 50.

(And Sandman, 50 isnā€™t that far off for some of us! :wink: )

Oooooh! Below the belt! That hurt! :blush:

I can sum up the reason why Carnegieā€™s sucks in just 8 words:

They played a medley of songs from Grease.

the thought of it still sends waves of nausea throughout me.

Ohā€¦and there was my friend who was there, who saw a white girl turned away from the door, because she was ā€œa fat cowā€.

nice people, arenā€™t they.

Sucks.
Sucks.
Sucks.

Iā€™ve never seen so many creepy lookinā€™ foreign middle aged men in one spot trying to score with Asian chicks.

i donā€™t mind the music there. nothing wrong with cheesy music. i donā€™t even mind that itā€™s a meat market. lots of places in taiwan are meat markets. what creeps me out about the place is how aggressive the men there are. iā€™ve seen so many men just walk around groping random women until they find one that doesnā€™t mind. you know the sign in roxy that says ā€œplease donā€™t touch women in a sexual wayā€? they need one of those at carnegies.

I find that over analysing somewhere like Carnegieā€™s is bit like trying to understand what makes a joke funny. The component parts may seem bland or even distasteful but the package can make you laugh if you are in the right mood (& have a sense of humour).

Why do middle-aged western guys go there to pick up chicks? Same reason a dog licks its ballsā€¦ because it can. I have only been there 2 or 3 times but have seen middle-aged blokes successfully pick up each time & also young westerners & also sorts of Taiwanese guys succeed too. Hence it presumably fulfills a need for both sexes.

If you go in the right frame of mind with a bunch of friends it can be fun to watch the pick-up attemps , the crap dancing etc. & also watch the ā€œaudienceā€ (ie those not picking up or dancing) too who look on with a mixture of interest/boredom/disdain.

I wouldnā€™t go regularly though as it is a bit like McDonaldā€™s in that when you walk through the door , you know exactly what you are going to get.

Sorry, we canā€™t let this thread die. I still got bitchinā€™ to do and I almost got enough to buy my avatar, BACK!

Iā€™m always amazed at stories I am told about people being treated like shit at these places and they continue to go back. Not just Carnegieā€™s Iā€™ve heard a slew of stories about Room 18 and other such over-priced scams.
They charge you a fortune to get in, you gotta wait in line, the service sucks, and the people are horrendous. I think some people just like to be shat on. Or the attitude is, ā€˜Hey theryā€™re shitting on us. This must be a great place. Weā€™ll try again next week.ā€™ There is no other explantion.

Donā€™t they charge people money to go into Carnegiesā€™s now? And they do at Roxy 99, as well. Thatā€™s friggin hilarious. Can anyone imagine paying money to step into that place, anywhere other than Taiwan?

Uh-oh, Iā€™m letting the snob out of the bag.

Carnegieā€™s charges you NT$500 on weekends, on drink included. Rozy99 charges NT$300 and you can exchange a NT$200 voucher for drinks or food, i.e. if the drink costs 250 you just top up by 50.
If itā€™s less itā€™s your loss of course but if you go with a friend(s) use one voucher only to order two drinks and keep on drinking until all the vouchers are gone. :mrgreen:

Wonā€™t happen to me (going back when treated badly). However the fact that people are willing to pay to get in will certainly not make them change their current ā€œbusiness modelā€.

Malaysia. Not imagining, itā€™s a fact. :?

Small correction edited

Yeah Carnegies

Greasy fat married middle aged engineers and sleazy short trip buyer business types falling dancing pissed on the bar to Grease and Abbaā€¦

I mean Iā€™m still in my 20s but I DONT want to end up like that.

Chehhhheeeeazzzzzzzzy

Still Iā€™ve gone there a couple of times with friends and have danced on the bar myself but have given it a miss for a longtime nowā€¦

The prices are pretty steep too.

A male friend of mine heard about the free champagne given to the ladies on Wednesdays and decided to try and get in on the action. He packed a duffel with some gal threads, got in the door, headed to the little boys room to change, and walked out, all 6ā€™4 of him, in a skirt, camisole, stuffed bra, and lipstick. Not only did he get all the free champagne he wanted, but he also got the attention of ladies. They were all over his cross-dressing a$$. Funny stuff, good times. Never been back though.