Slamming down the Belgians - oh, good times.

Everyone blames the Belgians.
Well, add one more to that list.
It wasn't my fault, you see. It was the Belgians. Over 40 of the swines.
I never stood a chance. I should have seen it coming.
I wasn't prepared.
I was a virgin and they ravaged me and left me, lying on the street, face cut up and in my own vomit (they really did).
Thank goodness the 4 police men who held me in the police station and drove me home then watched me fall out of the police van onto my face and then carried me to my apartment didn't arrest me to... do things.


What happened was...


...I was passing throught the sugaya beer shop area on Saturday afternoon.
I was on yet another HardOff recycle store trip.
The wonderfully helpful and ever kind staff at Sugaya told me that they were having one of their MiniBeer parties.
These are pretty infamous.
They are held round the corner from the shop in a shedlike building with loads of awesome kickass world's best booze on tap. It was already around 3pm when I got there, so it was too late to get real value from the event before it closed at around 5. Talking to a nice Russian guy (talking? More like listening to him shouting and screaming into my face - one of those drunks. Nice guy but when he told me his amazing jokes, I think everyone within 10km got the punchline.) convinced me that it was a fun event. After staring at his tonsils for 15 or 20 minutes in the Sugaya beer shop and recovering my sense of hearing, I went with him to check the place out. It looked good.

The amazing lady of the house was there and invited me in for a quick look. She was extra kind as always and even gave me a free drink to savor. The Russian guy came back and together with an older Japanese gentleman (who never stopped critiscizing my lack of good Japanese and keptputting me down - but only because I think in a strange way that he liked me and was trying to encourage me? - why do I always get the weird drunk ones?), gave me little time to purvey my surroundings. Still, I saw enough to want more.
Here are some pictures of that experience:
I decided to return the next day - with a posse.


The next day, as always, I was running late.
If I took the train, it would take over 30 minutes to get somewhere near where the party was being held. however, if I cycled there, I could perhaps get there in 20minutes.
I decided to cycle and carry my bike back in my bike bag, on the train. Well, that was the plan, anyway.

I met up with Glen as I hurtled past the convenience store on my bike. I heard a high pitched squeal (artistic liscence) and slammed on my brakes, doing an amazing 180 degree skidding turn that made women swoon and grown men get down on their knees and display humbleness before their god of men (slight artistic liscence there).

I met up with Glen and we walked the rest of the 2km to Sugaya beer shop.
I parked my bike about 400m before the shop, outside an AMPM convenience store. I figured I'd pick it up later on and put it in my bike bag.

We ascended the steps and entered the holy grounds.
What we beheld in that sacred place none shall tell, but thee.

Here are the photos:

(clicking on the pic will take you to another window with the pics. Just click on slideshow)

Glen and I met many interesting people, including two very nice young ladies who we probably embarrassed. Although I remember almost all that happened up to about 5pm, after that time, it's a total blank, except for slamming my head on the road and not wanting to get up, scampering on my hands and knees in an effort to find the gutter to be sick in and finally realising I was outside my place and reagaining the will to live, once again.

I woke up the next day (after several attempts at roughly 4am, 6am and 8am) with no bike, no wallet and no bag.
All I had was my little digital camera.
Luckily, after a good search, I found my small bike bag inside my larger backpack.
I also found my wallet inside that bag.
I then made my way back to the sugaya shop, where I found my bike. It was parked outside the store! I must have carried it there and tried to fold it (both pedals were folded and the rear mudguard was twisted), then given up and walked off.
The police found me a few stations away (in the wrong direction). Luckily, I was a foreigner with a large backpack on, so they may have figured I was a tourist and tried their best to look after me and not to let me have a nasty accident. I should thank the owner of the bar who called the police after I couldn't stand up in her place. I have no idea where this bar was, why I was there or what I was doing (sometimes, it's best not to know). The police then took over and took me to the police station where I stayed while they called my friends in my mobile phone.
They got through eventually and they were given directions whilst they slowly drove me home.
As they were signing over responsibility for me to Yoriko (who was the only one kind enough to wait outside my place in the cold for over 90minutes), guess who came flying headfirst out of the side of the police van, slamming his face into the concrete? - me.
Of course.
It was perfect timing.
As the police were officially removing themselves of responsibility for me, I drunkenly throw myself out of the van, head first, onto the concrete. Should've filmed that one.
Still have the scar.
I remember hitting the road with my face and feeling so tired that i just wanted to stay there.
I thin I remember male voices asking me if I was alright and I answered that I was ok and I was just going to sleep.
The road was cold but I didn't care. Wow, that must have been right outside my place. I had absolutely no idea what was going on or where I was.
All the people in the neighbouring bars and restaurants were out, watching the spectacle.
Great.

The yellow monkey puts on a show.

I was totally Towelie right then.

Still, we live and learn, eh?

Later that week, I went to the bar where the two lovely ladies worked.
The Delirium Cafe

It's very nice.
If you have a chance, pop out and visit it.
It took me bloody ages to find.
I managed to get myself stuck in a high rise building whilst looking for it. There seemed to be different maps with different locations for the same place - only one of them being correct.

This Belgian bar is worth it, if not for the beer, then for the toilet experience (try to read the buttons before pressing them)