Club M

Urgh... have been so lazy. Actually recovering from an extreme state of stress to some semblance of normalcy, more like. Have been meaning to post those great pics of the hike a whole week ago and also our office's little trip down to the karaoke joint at Chaoyangmen. But those require a good deal of concentration and willingness to sit at the computer for extended periods of time - something that I've found myself having very little of ever since the project ended. And so, owing to my inability to sit still for more than 3 minutes, here's a recap of the weekend just past.

It was 8.30pm on a Friday night and I was still at the office finishing up that bloody afterevent report, something the senior manager reckoned merits a badge of honour and some flowers. (Yesh... work does offers some great incentive packages to outstanding employees...)

Woohoo! I'm da (wo)Man!

Went to Pink Loft for dinner on Saturday night with Jia, Josh and Co. Food was fanbloodytastic and the atmosphere delightfully pink. Unfortunately could only stay for a while before dashing off to Vics to help at the door.

Josh and two of his harem's finest harlots.

Cute. And don't we know it.

Spent 3 hours at Vics standing out in the cold checking people for invitations. Don't think I've ever been stone cold sober at Vics so it was interesting to see the crowd rolling in on a Saturday night. As winter creeps round fashion sense just goes out the windows. White boots and flesh coloured tights are just plain wrong. The bouncers, who are quite possibly some of the biggest and nastiest looking Chinese men I've ever come across, are indeed arseholes and not just a fragment of my usually drunken and neurotic imagination when at Vics. Got chatted up by a dodgy African guy called Johnson who told me 2 minutes into a monologue (hardly counts as a conversation with me harrumphing and grunting my answers) that we should hang out sometime. Was actually quite disappointed that I didn't get a marriage proposal like with previous would-be African (mostly Nigerian) suitors. I must be getting on a bit.

Matt, Matt and Max's dinner was postponed to Sunday because they live in Wudaokou, which is about as close as you can get to Siberia without leaving Beijing, and nobody wanted to brave the Friday traffic. Matt K roped me into helping out in the kitchen; Max wished he hadn't. Cleavers. Every Chinese household has one and every Chinese girl, even those who are in denial about their ethnicity, knows how to handle one.

"What did you say about the fly in the soup???!"

"It was tasty! It was tasty!"




First the elephant seal and now a walrus: Matt D finds his niche in the entertanment industry as a piniped impersonator.

Jia and her cigarette gets thrown into the isolation room.