The Rat

The Chinese New Year celebrations started Wednesday night and will continue through the weekend. Because we didn't have class on Thursday, a bunch of students from UST decided to go to Skitz, a bar in Wan Chai. Forget the fact that Wan Chai is quite famous for Asian prostitutes, the bar's name was enough to make us laugh for a while. Skitz, Shits, Skids... let's not get our hopes up.

So before we met up with everyone Jen, Maud and I went to the Flower Market at Victoria Park. Once a year they sell hundreds of flowers, most of which are supposed to bring good luck in the new year. Unlike most places in Hong Kong, it smelled amazing! Lillies, orchids, gladiolas! The last picture turned out really well!






For some reason they also sell lots of inflatable toys at the Flower Market. Don't ask me why-- they just do. You could buy oversized blow-up chicken legs, hammers, donuts, hats, animals and butts (see picture below). When we saw the inflatable butts, I walked over, started laughing and said, "What?!" The lady selling them looked straight at me and said, "It. Is Ass." She convinced us that you could use it as a pillow, decorative object or tissue holder. We were sold! Jen bought one. Steven, don't worry. I bought you a different hilarious gift! We walked through the market until Jen announced she needed to go to the bathroom. Once we found one, she went in and immediately walked out. It was a hole-in-the-ground restroom. She literally looked at us and said, "I wasn't about to pee on THESE boots!" Guys have it too easy.




We made our way back to Wan Chai after stopping at the Spaghetti House for dinner. I know, not very Chinese, but not very good either. One of the dishes we ordered was pasta with sundried tomatoes and mushrooms. I swear they used Asian noodles instead of angel hair. Not really the same.

When we got to Skitz we found out that it's a bar on the fifth floor of an office building (or something of the sort). We took the elevator up only to discover how long the line was to get in. Yes, it was Ladies Night, but almost everyone there was from UST. It was like some bad rumor had been spread that they were giving away free plasma tvs or something. No, not tvs. Just drinks. So we waited... and corrected some girls who were trying to cut in line. We eventually made it inside (the bouncers were actually nice) and pushed our way to the bar.

The strange thing about Ladies Night at Skitz was that the drinks were STRONG. I took a sip of my vodka/soda and couldn't finish it. I went back a few minutes later and had another bartender make a new one. Jesus. I would have been on the floor! I found out later that night that two of the girls from UST got really sick and don't remember much of how they got home. Yikes.

It was a decent night. Oh! and it was made even better thanks to this place called Ebeneezer's. They're open all night and sell amazing kebobs (more like gyros)! Lamb, chicken, spicy, regular-- they're wonderful and big enough to share.

I wont be participating in any more New Years festivities because I feel terrible. I blame the rat. I woke up on Thursday feeling feverish with a massive headache. I've been in bed since then drinking lots of tea, downing Advil and whatever else my roommate recommends. What's strange is that I got the flu this exact weekend last year. So this year I got a flu shot at UT, but I don't think it vaccinated against whatever I got. Oh well.