Dad and I loved this pub

One particular door has shut in Katong Village that will probably leave my Friday and Saturday night schedules very bare.

The rock 'n' roll or country-and-Western sounds from three-piece live band That's Life, the little two-by-two-metre dance floor and the resident DJ who provided a good mix of new and old tunes, have all ceased operation, together with nine-year-old pub 57 Chevy.

Before its closure late last month due to failed attempts to renew its entertainment licence, that little corner in Katong was almost always buzzing with patrons both young and old.

It was the only place where you could have drinks with your parents - and groove to the same music.

My friend Amelia chose 57 Chevy for one of the most thought-out events in every girl's life - introducing her new man to her mother and stepfather because "it was a chill-out setting that took the pressure off".

The 24-year-old undergraduate had said: "Imagine having to introduce him to them during a sit-down-type family dinner. The pressure would be crazy."

The eastside corner pub holds personal memories for me, too.

Because my 60-year-old dad is rarely around on weekends, because he works shifts, we have planned father-daughter drinking benders since 2008 on the rare occasions that his days off fall on a Friday or Saturday.

Our quality time together always ended with his dire need to end up on the dance floor to have his dose of cha-cha before we called it a night.

It was the only place where my friends and our respective families could come together and enjoy a nightspot setting without feeling that one or the other did not quite fit in with the general vibe.

My dad once said that 57 Chevy had "a great ambience" paired with music that appealed to both generations, which is the reason we all never failed to let loose and have a little fun there.

My best friend, a typically entertaining 26-year-old chap, especially after a few glasses of "gold heaven", could even sit with my old man and sing along with the band for hours.

And I still remember what my very concerned and protective father once said: "Before we started going there, I never knew where on earth you and your friends head to when you go and 'party', but it has given me a fairly good idea of what you young people get up to, what you drink and how you behave, which has put me at ease."

So more than anything, 57 Chevy was THE place where we started bonding after I turned 18, and it's become a different yet unbreakable bond crafted over the years.

And I can't thank them enough.

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