Zouk Cinema Club + AbsoluteCycle Experience: Here’s how a nightclub fares at being an exercise arena /cinema

Zouk’s flashing strobe lights and booming bass are familiar at night—usually past midnight—but at 10am, it seems almost like a foreign place altogether. I’d never thought I’d be here at Zouk for anything other than dancing my lungs out, but there’s always a first for everything. I stumble my way into the night club-turned-exercise arena bright and early on a Wednesday morning, in my humble attempt to do something active for once.

Zouk x AbsoluteCycle

It’s not my first foray into spin classes—the first ever time I took a spin class two years ago, I couldn’t walk for a good week. Which in hindsight, was a terrible idea considering that I was leaving for my exchange programme that very week, and not being able to use my legs would prove to be an awful hindrance.

Anyhow, I tread gingerly into this morning’s class taught by Jia En, ambivalent to give spin another chance before I completely shelve it from my exercise routines. Armed with my spin shoes and workout gear generously sponsored by Asics, I find my way to my bike on level 2—which means I have the fortune of watching everyone downstairs suffer from the comfort of the shadows. Yes, it’s all very schadenfreude of me.

As with most exercise routines, my theory is that the first five minutes of any workouts are almost always the hardest. It’s when your body is clamouring to keep up with the rude shock you’re putting it through, and perhaps that’s why dragging yourself to the gym can be hard sometimes. Your body distinctly remembers the initial dread, and that’s enough to put you off getting back into it altogether.

45 minutes sounds like a relatively short amount of time until you realise that packed into it is an intense, full-fledged regime that aims for maximum burn within a minimum period. But once you’re past that fierce five (as I call it), your body adjusts and adapts, and soon, you realise you might not be dying after all.

The painful part comes when you’re asked to crank up the resistance on your bike along the way, in between segments. The best way to cope with this, no matter how tempted you might be to slack off, is to remind yourself that you’ll be cheating nobody but yourself. An age-old motivational cliche, I know, but it gets the job done.

That said, it’s also extremely important to listen to your body when it comes to pushing limits. Your body is well aware of its own capabilities, and paying it no mind has its consequences. We don’t stamina-shame in here, so if you’re not feeling up to it or need to take it down a notch, take on a resistance level only in tune with your comfort.

As always, the post-spin glow never disappoints. Who knows whether my legs might still work tomorrow? Will I be able to bend my knees past a ninety-degree angle? Either way, the endorphins never fail to send you into a high right after climbing down from the bike.

And that’s how I went straight from working out at Zouk to filming a vlog for our Eating Out series on SETHLUI.com’s YouTube channel—coming to you soon on our channel.

Zouk Cinema Club

Going to the movies has always been one of the activities my boyfriend and I share whenever we’ve time to spare—yes, I’m ready to flex my HSBC All-Day Platinum Movie Card, fight me. So when Zouk’s Cinema Club came a-knocking, naturally I had to bring him along with me to evaluate the experience.

We’re ushered into our plush front-row couches, and already on the table, handsome bottles of Belvedere Vodka (S$220++) and Moët & Chandon Imperial (S$170++) greet us. Well, hello to you too. It’s interesting how just yesterday, I was huffing and puffing my way through my workout just upstairs, but the place has now been duly converted into a cinema; sans the little glimpses of spin bikes peeking through the sides.

Joining the booze on the table, bar bites such as the Prata Dog (S$8++), Sausage & Mash (S$10++), Nacho Chips (S$10++), Fried Chicken (S$12++), and Garrett Popcorn CaramelCrisp (S$8++) double up as great movie snacks as we’re whisked away into the whimsical world of Into The Woods.

In-keeping with the musical theme, there’s a ten-minute intermission before our night continues with a show that boasts one of my favourite broadway soundtrack of all time—Moulin Rouge. Truly a classic, “Your Song” by the young and handsome Ewan McGregor, was indeed an experience that sent 15-year-old Vera swooning.

But enough about men who can sing. Logistically speaking, it makes absolute sense to convert a club into a cinema space. For the most part, it works. My only gripe is that the aspect ratio on the projector screen seems a tiny bit off, and the actors on the screen wind up looking just a tad bit squished—which really affects the viewing experience on a whole. If Zouk could find a way to invest in a bigger, more fitting screen, viewers would have a much lovelier time at the cinema club.

Zouk Cinema Club runs from Wednesday to Saturday, with table packages starting at S$75++. On Wednesdays, 1 jug of house pour spirits or Zouk’s signature long island tea goes at S$75++ for 1 – 2 pax, and 3 jugs of the same pours at S$175++ for 3 – 5 pax.

From Thursday to Saturday, 1 bottle of Moët for 1 – 2 pax goes at S$150++, while 1 bottle of Moët and 1 bottle of Belvedere is priced at S$350++ for 3 – 5 pax.

Watching the once-booming Zouk pivot and come up with different ways and means to keep the business relevant is refreshing, at least from a customer’s point-of-view. First, it was Capital Kitchen, now it’s exercise classes and movies. This only goes to show that no business is immune to a pandemic’s clutches, and has also highlighted how important it is to be able to think quickly on one’s feet, always improving, and always bettering.