365days2playAfter work yesterday, I thought I’d go to Clarke Quay to have dinner as well as soak in the football atmosphere. It was 6.30pm when we got there and most of the pubs and restaurants were hardly filled. I thought the pubs would be full of people ”choping” seats in anticipation of the 7.30pm match between Germany and Serbia. But I guess maybe the frenzy will only be seen in the later rounds.
All the pubs had TVs but I noticed that many restaurants had TVs too. When we got to the middle of Clarke Quay, we saw that Carlsberg had erected a huge stand, with a big drop-down screen. We decided to eat at the Highlander and were so happy to get the last seat facing the big screen. But strangely, when 7.30pm came, nothing was on the screen! What is the purpose of having that big screen there if they are not going to show the match????
After dinner, we walked around again and most people weren’t even watching the match. They were having dinner and chatting with friends like the World Cup wasn’t on at all. Mulligan’s, an Irish Pub, had several TV screens at their premises yet they were showing Rugby League instead of the World Cup. What’s going on???
We roamed around Clarke Quay and even went to the Riverside Point mall. The restaurant seats are all lined along by the river. It would have been a nice view, except the river was really muddy looking, thanks to the rainy weather lately I suppose. Apart from the restaurants which are all facing the river, there is almost nothing going on in the rest of Riverside Point. It seems much of the floor space has not been rented by anyone. Why is Riverside Point languishing in such a state in a prime area?
After we left Clarke Quay, we happened to drive past Hong Lim Park, and guess what we saw? There was a humongous big screen with lots of people watching the football! The Telok Ayer Hong Lim Community Centre had set up the big screen for fans. The seating area was cordoned off, and it was packed inside. But I suppose you could just as well stand outside the cordoned off area because the screen is so big I could even see it from the park.
