Zouk

Singapore has a world-renowned nightclub: Zouk.

Ranked 13th in DJmag magazine's Top 100 Clubs chart in 2009 (the second highest outside Europe, following Womb in Tokyo), this nightclub cannot be missed for a 30-something who still loves club music (that is, me).

What impresses me about Zouk is the sound quality. I have to say, the bass sound is not as powerful as Room 1 of Fabric in London. The high-pitched sound is not as clearly-heard as Cocoon in Frankfurt. However, that's an extremely tough competition to win. Zouk's sound system and accoustics is much better than all the usual nightclubs you can find anywhere (including Room 2 of Fabric, whose acoustics is pretty bad in my opinion).

The DJ on the deck tonight is Dubfire, apparently a famous DJ in the house music scene. But I didn't really know his music. With the excellent sound system, however, I do enjoy his DJ set featuring minimal techno tunes (if I pick the club music category term correctly). The sound system, I believe, is crucial for enjoying the kind of music you don't usually listen to. People behind Zouk seem to know this.

The crowd is, surprisingly, ethnically mixed. If this were in London, I would see mostly white people only. Here I see faces of Chinese, Malays, and Indians with several white people and a couple of black girls, just about the same proportion as the nation-wide one.

Unlike Womb in Tokyo serving a bowl of fresh tomatoes on the bar counter for free, Zouk doesn't offer something (perhaps unnecessary) extra. Unlike Fabric in London, the floor doesn't get too dirty.

Those behind the Zouk nightclub ever since it opened its door back in 1991 deserve a round of applause. It's not so easy to establish and maintain a decent nightclub in Asia where clubbing culture is essentially absent.