Batgung

A guy takes a girl to a bar for a drink or two and the conversation may go something like this:

Girl: Hmmm what shall I have? Pussy Foot? Shirley Temple or Fruit Punch?

Boy: How about a Long Island Iced Tea? It only has a little alcohol in it.

Girl: Tee hee hee !

Boy: Go on -- have the Sex on the Beach, the Flaming Lamborghini, the Orgasmic thunder buster gutbreaker….

Girl: What's she having on the next table? The green red and blue drink with the umbrella -- I'll have that…. Is it Happy Hour?

And there, in a nutshell is how the bar business stays in business in HK. None of these three types of beers, several types of single malt whiskeys and a couple of lonely bottles of tonic water behind the barman . . . . No -- a true bar in HK needs a virtually encyclopedic drinks menu with cocktails and mocktails from around the World. Included in this inventory is a stockpile of cut fruit [preferably a little withered around the edges] strategically balanced on plastic toothpicks, an assortment of coloured umbrellas, a veritable Mount Everest of fake maraschino cherries and even some dry ice and a few sparklers. If you can find a waiter who will serve up these concoctions with a straight face then you're on to a winner. And be prepared to make more than one round as Happy Hours last from 5pm to 10pm in some places.