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FYI SOUTH Magazine, August 2003. VOL.3 ISSUE 8

Happy Hours, Happy Days, Happy Nights By Steven Crook

     South Taiwan's watering holes offer a bewildering array of special promotions that can be considered Happy Hours, or certain days of the week when drinks are cheaper (Happy Days or Happy Nights). To help readers get the most for their drinking dollars, FYI SOUTH has been surveying drinking establishments in Kaohsiung and Tainan to find the best deals.

     Because it is open all day, Kaohsiung's Pig & Whistle (199, SzWei 4th Rd.) is able to offer very long happy hours--from 11-30 am to 9-30 pm Sunday to Thursday, 11-30 am to 7-30 pm Friday and Saturday--during which all drinks priced NT$160 or less are buy-one-get-one-free.

     According to the floor captain Julie, the most popular beverages during Happy Hour are Guinness Draught (NT$180 a glass, but still buy-one-get-one-free), and Boddingtons Draught.

     Happy Hour at the Oxford Music Pub (111, DaYi St., Kaohsiung City) is 5 pm to 8 pm every night of the week.

     Compared to other bars in the Wufu Fourth Road neighborhood, the Oxford receives a steady trickle of customers early in the evening. Interestingly, proprietor Luka attributes this not to the enticing buy-one-get-one-free deal for draft beer, but to the bar's food and atmosphere.

     Most of the customers who come during Happy Hour do so because they know the Oxford has a good chef, she says, while adding that some people telephone to confirm Happy Hour details before coming over.

     Rather than limit cheap drinks to certain hours, the Hang Out (128-32, GungYuan Rd., Tainan City) offers a different three-bottles-for-NT$250 deal on beer every night. See the What's On section on pages 11-14 for details.

     Like Luka at the Oxford, the Hang Out's boss, Jed, believes that Happy Hours and promotions don't have a huge impact on drinking habits. "Most people drink what they want to drink," he says.

NOTES FOR TRANSLATOR:

     The Chinese names and addresses of all the bars mentioned can be found in the What's On section, or on pages 40 or 44

     No Chinese names for Jed, Luka and Julie - this is what their customers, Taiwanese or foreign, call them. Luka and Julie are female, Jed is male.