Let Your Hair Down

After logging over 55 hours this week, the gang was ready to let their hair down. After work, I went back to the apartment to shower. Jared came down to Oriental Plaza, and we went down to the Wangfujing Night Market to scrounge up some dinner. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I didn't get any pictures, but some of the foods available there were: sea snake, sea urchin, starfish, ostrich, dumplings, fried ice cream, candied fruit skewers, eel, lamb, goat penis (I'm not kidding,) octopus, squid, and so much more. I had an ostrich skewer (tasted like steak,) a squid skewer (deliciously spiced, and very juicy,) and some beef dumplings (like potstickers.)

We went up to the Sanlitun bar district to meet up with some of my colleagues: Jay, Heather, Guillaume, Liz, Sharon, Mike, and Tiffany. They'd eaten pizza there, and we all enjoyed a drink before walking over to Vic's a dance bar that is generally frequented by younger, wealthier Chinese and lowai (foreigners.) Tiffany got us in for free, and we had a table next to the dance floor, where we were required to buy a couple bottles of alcohol. The alcohol came with our own personal staff-member, who helped with ice, glasses, and pouring drinks. Honestly, it felt a little strange to have him standing there the whole night in the midst of our group of friends. There was also a bathroom attendant who personally handed me the paper towels to dry my hands. Awkward. More of our colleagues showed up, and we all had a great time out on the dance floor. It was extremely loud, but the DJs were playing a good mix of 80s, 90s and current dance hits that really kept the whole club pumping. At some point, Sharon, Tiffany, and I found ourselves up on the box grinding to Gimme More by Britney Spears, ferociously remixed by the DJ. I saw some Chinese pointing and staring at our crazy antics, but we didn't care. I think Heather's camera was out, so some pictures of our crazy times may be showing up online somewhere. I'll be sure to grab one for you, my faithful readers. :-) Jared and I continued on to Destination, Beijing's only gay bar, where we ran into someone who looked really familiar. I walked up to him and asked if he was from Chicago, and I found out he used to work at the Gap at Broadway and Belmont, 1/2 a mile from my condo in Lakeview. He's here in China now, teaching English. What a small world!