I finally got sick...
It was bound to happen eventually, and at least it isn't bird flu...
In retrospect, three straight nights of over consumption of ETOH (that's ethyl alcohol for the non-medical group) probably wasn't the best way to boost the old immune system. Either way, after the fun at Micasa on Thursday night, I managed to pull myself together to actually be productive at work and around 5:30 my boss Alex, his girlfriend Ann, Sarah from the business office and I headed to Blue Frog for happy hour. "Happy Hour" is actually three hours, from 5-8 and provides 2-for-1 deals on every drink on the menu... on Friday, that drink was Double Margaritas on the rocks. Tequila is nobody's friend, especially with nothing but a plate of nachos in your stomach, and by the time I stumbled out of blue frog (at 8:30 pm) I was forced to dedicate a large portion of my mental capacity to maintaining my balance and a semi-straight path as I attempted to make a bee-line for the taxi stand. I made it, don't worry, but was at this point craving pizza like a pregnant woman at 36 weeks so called Larry and met up with him at Sasha's for some amazing wood-fired pizza. At home, in bed by 10:30... and by "in bed" of course, I mean "passed out on the couch."
Saturday was boatloads of fun as I had to go into work to fix some issues for our tax auditors all day. I was there until 8:00 when I realized I was an hour late for Justin and Nellie's dinner party. I rushed over and after profuse apologies enjoyed a "grown-up" night of wine and mildly sophisticated conversation. The caliber of the conversation took a rapid dive when Larry and Nathan realized that they both received a truly astonishing number of phone calls on a daily basis, from the same crazy Shanghainese girl, a stalker named Gina. Gina's M.O. is to meet a white guy once or twice, wrangle his number from him and then proceed to call the unfortunate individual as many as 9 times in a 24 hour period (the current record, held by Larry.) The Gina Phenomenon had turned into a running joke between Larry and me and when we discovered that there existed a whole group of guys who were on the receiving end of her unwanted attention, we both nearly fell out of our chairs laughing. As the dinner party wrapped up, we made our way as a group to a club called "Guandi" which I had never heard of before.
There was a reason.
That reason, is that no Laowai (that's foreigner in Chinese) with half a brain goes there, except, of course, the creepy white dudes who can't get laid in the states so come here where the novelty of their skin color and the commonly held misconception that all Americans are rich overcomes their lack of good looks, charm and/or personal hygiene.
Regardless of how out of place I should have felt, the wine from the dinner party and safety in numbers convinced me to give it a chance. I may have mentioned before that the Chinese are addicted to mixing Chivas Regal (whiskey) with green tea. I wasn't blown away the first time I tried it up in Qingdao, but since I wasn't paying, decided to give it a second chance.
Alcohol mistake number two of the weekend (tequila was number one.)
Miraculously, I made it home without incident (Justin was asked to leave after refusing to remove his backpack while imitating an epileptic on the packed dance floor) and was up bright and early the next morning to meet Larry at Bubba's Texas Bar-b-que for the First Annual Shanghai Chili Cookoff. The event pitted 20 teams against each other with the title of "Best Chili in Shanghai" up for grabs. For us mere spectators, the draw was 20 chilis and bottomless beer all day for $12.50.
All-in-all, it was a great weekend, but evidently a little too good, as it left me with the sniffles on Monday, a headache and sore-throat on Tuesday and a full blown, incapacitating head cold by Wednesday morning.
On the upside, I pulled myself out of bed and cleaned my apartment top to bottom in preparation for my mother's arrival in a little more than 24 hours.
In retrospect, three straight nights of over consumption of ETOH (that's ethyl alcohol for the non-medical group) probably wasn't the best way to boost the old immune system. Either way, after the fun at Micasa on Thursday night, I managed to pull myself together to actually be productive at work and around 5:30 my boss Alex, his girlfriend Ann, Sarah from the business office and I headed to Blue Frog for happy hour. "Happy Hour" is actually three hours, from 5-8 and provides 2-for-1 deals on every drink on the menu... on Friday, that drink was Double Margaritas on the rocks. Tequila is nobody's friend, especially with nothing but a plate of nachos in your stomach, and by the time I stumbled out of blue frog (at 8:30 pm) I was forced to dedicate a large portion of my mental capacity to maintaining my balance and a semi-straight path as I attempted to make a bee-line for the taxi stand. I made it, don't worry, but was at this point craving pizza like a pregnant woman at 36 weeks so called Larry and met up with him at Sasha's for some amazing wood-fired pizza. At home, in bed by 10:30... and by "in bed" of course, I mean "passed out on the couch."
Saturday was boatloads of fun as I had to go into work to fix some issues for our tax auditors all day. I was there until 8:00 when I realized I was an hour late for Justin and Nellie's dinner party. I rushed over and after profuse apologies enjoyed a "grown-up" night of wine and mildly sophisticated conversation. The caliber of the conversation took a rapid dive when Larry and Nathan realized that they both received a truly astonishing number of phone calls on a daily basis, from the same crazy Shanghainese girl, a stalker named Gina. Gina's M.O. is to meet a white guy once or twice, wrangle his number from him and then proceed to call the unfortunate individual as many as 9 times in a 24 hour period (the current record, held by Larry.) The Gina Phenomenon had turned into a running joke between Larry and me and when we discovered that there existed a whole group of guys who were on the receiving end of her unwanted attention, we both nearly fell out of our chairs laughing. As the dinner party wrapped up, we made our way as a group to a club called "Guandi" which I had never heard of before.
There was a reason.
That reason, is that no Laowai (that's foreigner in Chinese) with half a brain goes there, except, of course, the creepy white dudes who can't get laid in the states so come here where the novelty of their skin color and the commonly held misconception that all Americans are rich overcomes their lack of good looks, charm and/or personal hygiene.
Regardless of how out of place I should have felt, the wine from the dinner party and safety in numbers convinced me to give it a chance. I may have mentioned before that the Chinese are addicted to mixing Chivas Regal (whiskey) with green tea. I wasn't blown away the first time I tried it up in Qingdao, but since I wasn't paying, decided to give it a second chance.
Alcohol mistake number two of the weekend (tequila was number one.)
Miraculously, I made it home without incident (Justin was asked to leave after refusing to remove his backpack while imitating an epileptic on the packed dance floor) and was up bright and early the next morning to meet Larry at Bubba's Texas Bar-b-que for the First Annual Shanghai Chili Cookoff. The event pitted 20 teams against each other with the title of "Best Chili in Shanghai" up for grabs. For us mere spectators, the draw was 20 chilis and bottomless beer all day for $12.50.
All-in-all, it was a great weekend, but evidently a little too good, as it left me with the sniffles on Monday, a headache and sore-throat on Tuesday and a full blown, incapacitating head cold by Wednesday morning.
On the upside, I pulled myself out of bed and cleaned my apartment top to bottom in preparation for my mother's arrival in a little more than 24 hours.
posted by Mr. Frisky | 4:07 PM
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