Up until 4 AM, I would have said I’d had better nights, I’d had worse nights. After that, things went rapidly downhill.

I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go out tonight. But finally, bored and restless, I set out around midnight. After a stop for some food, I looked around, thought about it for a bit, and went into Neptune although I soon realized I wasn’t in a Neptune mood.

I just kinda sat there, looked around, had a drink or two and said, well, maybe I’m in a crappy mood but I’m wide awake, might as well stay here, listen to the music, enjoy the view.

At some point, some guy came up to me and asked if I was Spike. I didn’t ask how he recognized me, just said yes. He said he was a reader and occasional commenter and said something about how he liked my taste in music and my lifestyle. Fair enough.

Some other guy admires my Ramones t shirt and says too bad there aren’t more people wearing this shirt in HK and I agree with him. But then he adds that it’s too bad they’re not playing gigs anymore and I say that could be because most of them are dead.

At 3 I went into Joe Bananas, vaguely dying down. At 3:30, I went into Amazonia, but unfortunately it was the last few seconds before the band was taking a break. Amazonia’s a weird place but I do like the bands that play there – Filipino cover bands but with a harder edge than in the surrounding clubs.

So after 15 or 20 minutes, I head out and walk down the street towards Fenwick, not sure if I will go in or just get in a taxi. I see this guy and girl walking down the street and all of a sudden the girl starts calling out my name.

She’s a local girl, F, she used to work with my ex-wife. I have not seen her in about 10 years, so she doesn’t know we’ve split up. F and I have some history – not exactly what I know you’re thinking but in that vein. The fact that she asks me for my number right in front of the guy is not a bad sign, either. And I’m thinking, the fact that we did like each other and we’ve run into each other after all this time could be meaningful.

The guy she’s with has picked her up in Carnegies. I let the two of them drag me into Mes Amis. Now at 4 AM, the guy is telling me his life story and the entire business model of his company. He’s someone who has been here for two years and I suppose has swallowed all of the worst aspects of the HK lifestyle.

F is drunk, clearly. She says that she never thought that my wife and I would split up. She asks me what I’m looking for now. She says she’s out drinking because she’s lonely. She says she wants to get married and have kids – as many as she can and she knows I can afford it because I’m rich. (Yes, clearly drunk.) At some point, F starts talking about god! She says my wife told her I’m not religious and I have to go back to god to find happiness.

When she asks what I’m looking for and I say I’m looking for a girlfriend, she says she doesn’t want a one night stand, she wants something permanent. I tell her I’m looking for something permanent too because she is really pretty though the whole god thing is putting me off. There is little doubt in my mind that if I felt like exerting myself, I could pull her away from this guy. And like I said, she is really pretty but the god thing …. well, I decide not to exert myself.

F lives quite far from Wanchai and I tell her, as a joke, that if she wants I can drive her home. But finally after god and business plans and drunk yuppies crashing into me, I’ve had all I can stand. I ask her if she’s okay if I leave her with that guy, she says yes, and I head home.

I’m not home 5 minutes when I get an SMS from her asking if I would come back and get her and drive her home. I reply, asking if she’s serious and she replies that she’s “begging.” So I say okay, 5 minutes, grab the car, drive over, park outside Mes.

I call, tell her I’m outside, she says she will be out in a minute. I don’t go in because I don’t wanna have a scene with Mr. Businessman. Two minutes later an SMS that she will be out, she promises. Two more minutes, I walk over to the bar. They’re closing, they won’t let me in.

I call, she doesn’t answer. I look in through the window, some guy has his arms around her and is putting the moves on her – hard. I don’t see her fighting him off. His arms are around her, his hands on her thighs, pushing her skirt up. Now I’m getting pissed off. I call 2 or 3 more times, finally the phone is answered but by the guy who says, “is this Spike?” I disconnect the call.

I go back to the car. Two minutes later, she comes out of the bar with the guy, his arm around her. And they walk down the street and turn the corner towards Neptune.

Now I’m thoroughly pissed off. Who needs this shit? But I’m not going to go into Neptune, I don’t need some confrontation over this dingbat. So I head into Fenwick, take a look around, sit, realize I can’t drink because I’ve got the car, have a smoke, come home.

Now, if I can possibly clear my head, I will go to sleep.