5:01 Club - 11/30/07

It feels like I'm part of the group now. They've always been welcoming but it just takes a few times to hang out with new people before you're comfortable with them and vice versa.

THIS time I REALLY planned on not staying out late. I did much better than last weekend with French Guy Benjamin however I still sucked down more drinks/shooters than I was supposed to.

You see, I had made an appointment with a Chinese doctor to discuss Eastern treatment options for my anxiety, knee joint pain, allergies, etc. today at noon. So I thought it might not be the best idea to be totally hungover for that. Plus, I've been wanting to do this for years and it's important to me.

You'd think that would be enough to motivate me to not drink that much. But nooooOOOOOOOoooooo. The problem is the ringleader, or President as he deemed himself, Jonathan. He's charming as hell and you just can't say no to the guy. We started out at a bar called Tivo. Good thing about HK is they serve you free appetizers at the posh bars. Yes, I just used the word posh. The appetizers are the size of a dime but they're FREE so I shouldn't bitch. Aren't we supposed to not complain anymore and wear a Lance Armstrong-esque bracelet and inflict pain on ourselves whenever we do complain now? I heard that's like...the thing.

Anyway...had a couple drinks at Tivo and then I should've gone home. But Jonathan turned on the charm so I went to the next place...Stormies. Stormies cracks me up. It's so cheesy. They play cheesy music, have cheesy expats pouring out into the street, etc. You're allowed to drink in the street in HK. Waiters come to you and everything. So cars can't drive in the expat bar area, Lan Kwai Fong. It's like spring break for 30-year old finance people every weekend. I just decided to let go of the fact that it's sort of loser-ish and dorky and just had fun instead.

I talked a lot with Matt. Matt grew up in HK and London. He's a very cool guy, smart, funny, laid-back. Loves the witty back-and-forth convo but can also talk about serious stuff. Looks-wise I'm on the fence with him. He has one of those gummy smiles. I hate gummy smiles. And he's generally attractive but I'm not drawn to him yet. Jonathan keeps asking me what I think about him. Last night I told him to just chill...that I think he's a cool guy and I'm trying to get to know him.

After Stormies we went to Le Jardin. I love this place. Tons of plants and it's upstairs. Feels like an oasis from the city. Did a kamikaze shot and drank a beer there. And I had a beer at Stormies. So 5 drinks total. Could've done better. But I wasn't that hungover today. And I had a great meeting with the doctor. I now have Chinese herbal shit I'm supposed to drink 2x/day.

All the 5:01'ers are going on a junk cruise tomorrow so we'll be stuck on a boat together for 6 hours. I'm scared but also excited. We leave at noon. Drink for a few hours. Park the boat somewhere and eat at a really small, local place with good, fresh food. Then it's back on the boat for another few hours of drinking. Then we'll be back on land at about 6pm on a Sunday and will be totally wasted lookin' for trouble.

Lord.