Paul van Dyk in Hong Kong

So we went clubbing last night. 

I realize how ridiculous this sounds as I'm writing this.

My husband's a fan of Paul van Dyk and he was playing at a club near our place. We last saw him play in Singapore at St James Powerhouse, but that was maybe 10 years ago.

I can't recall when was the last time I went clubbing but it feels like a long time ago. Paul van Dyk was spinning at Play, which is the former Hei Hei Club, once the crown jewel of clubs in its hey day. When I first arrived in Hong Kong, Hei Hei was the place to go. It felt like deja vu to walk through those doors again.

The event was meant to start at 10pm, and of course it wasn't going to start on time - we reckoned it'll start around 11.30pm, so we got there at 11pm. We were told he'll come on at 12 midnight. He didn't come on till 1am.

So my husband and I mainly talked while we were waiting. Or rather, we shouted since we were in a club. But it was good conversation - we talked about highlights of our time in Hong Kong, laughed about funny stories of our kids, recollected random clubbing sessions, and recounted bizarre incidences.

While waiting, I found myself thinking about how my kids would one day navigate this world of clubbing. That seems like a time far off, but perhaps in a blink of an eye, 15 years will go by. 

Looking at the crowd, it was a diverse group - lots of locals, but also lots of foreigners, all mainly in their 20s and 30s. We were standing by the bar and there was a guy who stood out because he was behaving strangely. He was standing by the side of the main walkway and kept doing furtive glances, scanning the crowd, looking right and left. I observed him for a while, trying to figure out what he's up to. Is he looking for some girl to pick up? But no, he never sidled up to anyone and he kept his distance. 

For all intents and purposes, he was behaving like a bouncer. Except he wasn't dressed like one. He was in regular clothes - a white shirt and black pants. He looked like any other clubber. A plainclothes bouncer! Funny!

Wait, or did he forget his bouncer uniform? Is this his first day of work and he didn't get the memo? He looked Nepalese and I was thinking well, if he's just starting his job, it must be really overwhelming to move from a village in Nepal to a place like Hong Kong and work in a club as a bouncer. His daily life is being surrounded by a club scene which seems so removed from life in Nepal. It's like those matronly ladies who work in the restrooms in clubs - I wonder what it must be like for them, to be in this clubbing environment day in and day out, seeing girls throw up in the bathroom, and whether they worry about their kids.

My husband ran into an acquaintance who got us into the VIP area which was cordoned off by a velvet rope and guarded by a uniformed bouncer. Champagne flowed freely, sitting on ice beds embedded with lights that sparkled like Christmas. We were plied with champagne and had both hands full - one with our vodka tonic which we were drinking before getting whisked into the VIP area, and the other with a flute of champagne. We didn't even know whose VIP lounge we were in.

There was a guy in the VIP area who was clutching his iPad the entire night. He was dressed in a polo T-shirt and jeans, and with his iPad in hand, looked like he just came from the library where he was doing research on his essay. Evidently this guy didn't think he was going clubbing when he got dressed and left the house. Needless to say, he wasn't doing any dance moves. A little tricky, with iPad in hand. 

We called it a night a couple of hours later. It was crazy smoky and when we left the club, I was reeking of cigarette smoke, especially in my hair. I had to wash it out at 3am in the morning. This is what older people with kids do after a night out clubbing - go home and wash your hair out. And decide that you don't really want to do this anymore.

Comments

[Kwan]

Big night out! Years ago, this would have been a non-event and would not have made it into a blog entry at all (if you had one then)!