Friday, September 23, 2016

Tiger Beer on Tap


Rolled my eyes a little in Shenzhen when the gig venue's official beer was Tiger. Didn't come here to drink Tiger. I wanted Tsingtao Chun Sheng (青岛纯生). The cans of Tiger Crystal weren't bad though. They tasted okay chilled, and better than what the average can of Tiger taste like at home.

When we rocked up to Shanghai Brewery and realized they offered Tiger on tap, we promptly ordered a pint to try. IT WAS BLOODY GOOD. Ordered more. I've always known Tiger tasted better overseas, but it seems to taste even better now. Like they tweaked the brewing formula and hops for export, but never quite bothered with the range at home. WHY LIDDAT? WHY AH?

While waiting for our Uber ride back to the hotel, we saw two fights erupt in front of us in two languages- English and Mandarin. WAH> HA! So not getting involved man. We literally stood aside to watch the 'shows' and exchanged meaningful glances with one another. Saved the discussion till later when we were safely out of sight and out of hearing.


The bar had chased after a group to remind them about an outstanding bill. The people in question were openly aggressive right from the start and said they paid their share and it was none of their business. We figured they probably had separate bills and someone didn't pay. It degenerated into a full-blown fight with yelling and punches thrown. In the end, someone from the table threw a bill down on the floor and yelled, "Keep the fucking change!" That outstanding amount was either ¥15 or ¥50. Either way, it was an embarrassing amount for the unhappiness created. Totally the table's fault.

Then a cab dropping off a passenger on the sidewalk clipped a cyclist. Naturally, the cyclist went up to block the cab from driving off, and got down to give the cab driver a piece of mind. Loudly. Luckily the cab driver didn't even bother to get out or wind down the window. The cyclist didn't physically attack the cab. That kinda stopped the argument fast. Whewww.

These are fairly common sights in China lah. Less sensational than what we read online. But pretty dramatic. Before drinks, we already witnessed another heated argument between an errant stubborn driver and a bunch of traffic police over stopping and waiting at a no-waiting zone. Okay, I think the friends' China immersion program is more or less complete. Hahahaha. 

No comments: