1/4/2007 China Day 101: Hong Kong - Night Out! Woohoo!

Tonight I had the most fun night yet in Hong Kong with 3 American exchange students studying Chinese in Beijing: Tim (he's buff), Reese (he's tall), and Andrea (she's bubbly). We met because we're staying in the same hostel - Mirador Mansion, 13th Floor ($60 HKD/night). They're in Beijing for 1 year, and are travelling around China for 1 month during winter break.

We started out the night at a Russian ice bar, a place with an ice room that they keep around -20ºC and have chilled vodka on display. They have jackets and hats that you can borrow for a more comfortable experience. Costs about $25 HKD more per shot (i.e. $68 HKD) for the experience, which we learned later at the table.

We started out the evening as 5. Lenny, a Hong Kong native studying abroad in Andrea's home college, was our guide. Several vodka rounds later, Kirsten, Kelvin, and Felicia joined us. When it was the guys' turn to buy, we bought the straight vodka. When it was the girls' turn, they bought the flavored stuff. We tried Stolichnaya, but we found that a brand that started with "M" whose name I forget was much better. It had a nutty taste that I really enjoyed.

There was a Russian(?) couple playing some Russian folk music, and everyone was having a great time. Somewhere in there I ordered some Russian liver to see how it compared to French foie gras. The Russian liver was very good - smooth and not at all grainy. But a more apt comparison would have been with French paté because the Russian liver didn't come from a fattened bird.

Sufficiently liquored up, we were ready for the next phase of the night, dancing and Ladies' Night in Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong island. Quick hop on the subway and you're in a trendy bar/night club area of Hong Kong! Well, it turns out we didn't get to go dancing in the night club where it was Ladies' Night because the line was 1.5 hours long at 1 AM.

So we went looking for another club/bar. First bar, clientele was too old, and some Filipino band was playing, but not dance or even rock. Next bar was already announcing last call for drinks as we walked in, and it was empty. Nevertheless, the ladies ordered some drinks, perhaps just as well to keep us from wandering endlessly from one unsatisfactory bar to another. Eventually the waiter came to me and asked me for my order, and I said, "Nothing for me, thanks." I wasn't feeling the bar, and it was expensive (~$88 HKD) for not much going on, so I was just going to keep my friends company.

Somewhat unexpectedly, the waiter in response put some hard pressure on me to order a drink. He said that he had already let my 2 friends (Tim and Reese) bring in beers from the outside, and 3 freeloaders was a bit much (well, he didn't say this last part, but I understood it). And, he said, there was a 1 drink minimum. I told him politely that him letting my friends in with outside drinks had nothing to do with me, and I still wasn't going to order anything - I'd rather leave. He said, OK, then you should leave.

I didn't leave right away. Tim and Reese downed their beers, and we just hung out with our other friends. 5 minutes later the same waiter came back and asked why I still hadn't left. I looked at him, smiled, and cheerfully said, "Just waiting for you to escort me out!" I offered him my elbow, but he didn't take it. At this point, I got an idea from Burning Man. Seeing his discomfort with any male-male physical contact, I smiled even bigger at him and then started dancing with him to the music in the bar like he was some hot shit (and I was gay, or at least bisexual). I was grinding my hips and ass next to him, like I know how to do. Well, if you thought he was uncomfortable before, you should have seen him then! He didn't know what to do, so I got to dance next to him for a couple minutes. I wasn't paying any attention to my friends because I was just paying attention to the waiter. But they told me afterwards that they thought it was fucking hilarious!

Eventually I got bored and we left - Tim, Reese, and me. We went downstairs, where there was just a chill bar - no music, where it was also last call too. They served some good beers like Peter would like. Mmmmm, Duvel. And some complimentary peanuts. Tim and Reese had never had Duvel before, so we ordered a 750 mL bottle between the 3 of us ($80 HKD). Now that's cheap. And good.

When the girls and the 2 Hong Kong guys (Lenny and Kelvin) came down, lots of people were ready to call it a night. Half of them took a cab back to Kowloon - across Victoria Harbor from Lan Kwai Fong on Hong Kong island, because there's no subway or ferry service that late. That left Andrea, Lenny, Kelvin, and me. We stopped at another bar that was pretty packed. They were playing some music with a beat. Nobody else was dancing, but that didn't stop Andrea and me! Some of the other patrons were appreciative. Andrea wanted to be able to talk more with Lenny and Kelvin though, so we didn't stay long.

And when we had settled down a little bit outside, they decided to just call it a night, since they were meeting Lenny for Dim Sum tomorrow at noon anyways. Lenny, Andrea, and I took a night bus back to Kowloon ($30+ HKD).