Night one, and NY nightlife already lives up to the hype

Joe was so excited, he ducked.

Joe, Hiro, and I contacted Jen to meet up with us that night. She came to our hotel and she took all of us to Red Egg, a restaurant which was a combination of a modern restaurant, bar, and dim sum place. However, their food itself had both Chinese, South American, and a fusion of the two. We had decided to go for their drink and dim sum happy hour special, a combination which was as promising as it was disgusting. Luckily, it was the former.

We sat on barstools around a mod bean-shaped table and proceeded to order a round of cocktails and shu mai, har gow, and cha seew bao. The food was actually really great, and better yet, went extraordinarily well with the strong drinks. We proceeded to order second, and then third, rounds of both. Overall, it was an impressive and delicious experience. Hopefully this trend will catch on.

Peking duck + ketel and tonic = Awesome. Please, please, PLEASE catch on here!

Hiro was so happy, he passed out.

Rose's friend Kenny took us barhopping that night in the Alphabet City/East Village area that night. We met up at the corner of 14th and 1st, and headed to a Japanese restaurant with half price drinks at all times to get sauced. The first thing that struck me: the waitresses were all Chinese FOBs. The second: half price drinks are awesome. I was starving so Jen and I split a few rolls of strange sushi...I remember that one was a pumpkin tempura roll. Joe and I ordered vodka tonics, but when our drinks arrived, an additional bottle of sake and beer accompanied our orders. I stared at the cute waitress hoping for a wink and a smile, but nay; our looks of wonderment were soon answered with cries for sake bombs and raised glasses at the other end of our table. While Joe, Jen, and I decided to forego the traditional sake bomb method of precariously balancing a shot of sake on two chopsticks over a glass of beer and dropping it by pounding it on the table, some decided to do it. I have my reasons, and those reasons were soon verified when after "cheers" were exchanged, the traditional method resulted in two broken glasses and, more disappointingly, spilled alcohol. You might be asking yourself, Vince, what is your method? Thanks for asking. I prefer to pour my shot into my beer, and then chug. It may not be as dramatic, but it upholds my most fundamental of canons: no wasted alcohol.

We headed to a few bars after that. The two that we went to were fairly laid back. The first had a pool table and had rock music in the background, while the second seemingly required everyone to stand along a narrow corridor while hip-hop played over the speakers. It was a good atmosphere, with everyone mingling and looking for a good time.

Vegas crew minus Mimi.

Debbie's pose indicates that yes, we are in fact drinking and not only having serious conversations.

So how were we doing by the time we left the second bar? I'll leave that up for you to decide as I describe the BEST FOOD I HAD IN MY LIFE, EVER. Debbie had placed a Yakitori restaurant/bar on the list (more on that later) which was coincidentally open at that time and located close to us, so we headed there for a late night snack. I can't really remember how long we waited in line, but we were (seemingly) seated quickly. Initially, we ordered a few items off the menu...ten yakitori for the five of us there, but this modest order drove Joe and me into an animalistic bloodlust, which led to order after order after order. The result? One of the most satisfying meals ever, for all those involved.

The look of true happiness (plus some animalistic bloodlust).

True happiness, part 2.