Absente Absinthe Absinete Absnittheee

Manue and François are engaged! Being in Hong Kong gave me a chance to celebrate with them. We had an awesome night but the day after was quite painful. We kicked it for a while on LKF catching up and having dinner and drink, and more drinks, till finally we retreated to small bar where we indulged in a shot of Absinthe. These days there are numerous bars that offer Absinthe although it was illegal for a while. What they actually serve though is a tempered down version of the liquor. In actual fact Absinthe is so bitter it actually has to be consumed with a cube of sugar and is so potent that it can cause one to hallucinate! No one really knows the ORIGINAL way to make Absinthe anymore but there are a few places in Switzerland, France, and Eastern Europe where you can sample stuff that is colder to the original than what is sold on the shelves. There is a bar in HK that does serve up a potent version of Absinthe in a small bottle with an eye dropper. It is the little bottle on the right.

I do not know why, but at the time I was not bothered to turn the bottle a bit to get a closer shot of the label. I was more preoccupied with getting my drink on. But from what I heard the stuff in the bottle is not really what the label says but some home made stuff. It is lethal.

Most people just drop it into their shots for a little extra boost. Of course we had to turn it up a notch. The Absinthe was extremely bitter and left my tongue numb for a few moments as well.

And I managed a double dose for mysele. I am a big guy so I needed it! I totally forgot about my tattoo by this time. I was not even supposed to be drinking actually. There is a clear view straight through my nose to my brain here. But I dont see no brain.


That night we ended up at some new place with no name. It was in an apartment on or around LKF. I cant remember, things we a bit blurry by then. There was a bar, and there was a stage with seating set up all around it. Some guy was up there wearing a fez hat doing a one man play with puppets. It was already quite late and we missed the bulk of the show but what I did see was quite funny. Then this chick came on, she looked Indian but had a thick British accent. She spoke a poem; I think it was called Urban Warrior. It was pretty awesome, turn up the volume so you can here the lyrics.

Her style was so cool. The club was not crowded when we were so although I could have approached her to learn more about her I just hung back with my friends. I really liked the place. I have never lived anywhere there was a poetry club or comedy club, or just a place where people could freely and artistically express them selves. I guess there is so much off the main stream that HK has to offer and I hope in subsequent trips I will be able to enjoy more of it. I don’t know if the Absinthe eventually made me just drunk or actually put me in a trip but I had a blast. And the hangover was not as brutal as you might imagine. At one point I could only see one Van Gogh!!!