When I had some German friends here in Beijing, back when they were here at least, in the last week they took me to a bar called Plan B. Let's ignore the possibility of the abortion reference in their name and instead pretend they're just the Plan-B of which bar to go to (if your other bar closes before you go out).
Either way, I met all three of the owners. One is a German, one is his girlfriend, and the third is another Chinese guy. I like to support bars and restaurants and Tea Houses owned by people I know, and so no matter what the atmosphere there is, I'll make an effort to go once every two or three weeks. Tonight was an event of some sort, and so I was determined to go. Because of the fact that I spent 3 hours hiking today, I came home around 7am, lied on my bed, watched Slumdog again, and just relaxed. But come 10PM, I wanted something more to do, so I went to this bar.
In a normal situation, I'd go with my headlamp and my xiaohongmao book (child's chinese story book, little red riding hood basically). However I knew this was an event of sorts and it'd be silly to bring my study material and try to get any work done. It wouldn't be anything other than a front. Why front tonight? It's not worth it.
So I go to the bar, and of course I didn't bring my study material, so I have to grab a chair by myself and just kinda look purposeful. That's kind of a hard task when you don't have a book to read or anyone to talk to, but luckily the three owners each took turns to come talk to me. One of the owner's brothers decided to become my new friend and hovered over me for at least the first hour (and definitely into the next 2, though less so.) But I was kinda grateful for this.
30 minutes after I get there, I see the table in front of me has 11 people: 9 females, 2 males. I buy the entire table a round of beer (costs 220 kwai, which is about $30. Not a big dent for me really). Aside from a few cheers, over and over, the language barrier was a problem. Also, half the time when one of those 9 girls came to cheers me, the hovering new-best-friend seemed to scare them off by his presence. He asked if I wanted to join them, and I said when I felt like joining them I'd simply move my chair to their table. It's no big deal.
So after another half hour, I decided to join them. I drank my beers, I got a few cigarettes in thanks, and lots of cheers of course. And then as could be expected at an event like this, they demanded I dance alongside them. Luckily, the alcohol and the training I received from the Ambassador of Fun during the past year made me less self-conscious, and I just rocked out. Go me.
In the end, despite that I wanted to home by 1 or 2, I think I left around 2:30. This was actually a bit of an accomplishment believe it or not. In New York I sometimes (read usually) don't leave until 3 or 4. There were many attractive females there, and leaving cheap ($1) beers is a tough thing for a New Yorker, but I did manage to go home at a reasonable hour. And so I'm glad.
Ever since my German friends left, and all of my Chinese friends seemed to miraculously have found girlfriends in the past 2 weeks, I decided to actually get the owner's brother's number in case he's a fun guy. I'm in desperate need of friends to hang out with. See... here in China, when you get a girlfriend, even if you've dated only 1 week, you simply stop going out. It's that simple. It's like magic. All of my co-workers seem afflicted with this syndrome. Some girl kisses them and they disappear. Forever. It's Magic.
So yeah... a long day hiking, a relaxing evening, and then 4 hours of drinking with some dancing thrown in. All in all a good night, not TOO crazy, home at a reasonable hour on a weekend, a little drunk but no spins. I predict a good slumber.
Also, I've been listening to M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes" on endless loop... because it's easier than putting Slumdog on loop. And now I'm exhausted. Night all.