Bright Lights
So yesterday at Andy and Krista’s party, I was talked into taking a shot of Andy’s Chinese sports liquor. In case you haven’t heard the story, Andy came back from China with a couple of plastic bottles of liquor. That’s already breaking a drinking rule of mine. To make things even scarier, they come with sporty pop tops, like regular water bottles! And the stuff is clear, so you could be pretty easily tricked into taking a swig of death.
This is the stuff that Krista insists tastes like burning, and the general consensus of the people in the room was that it was worse than Everclear. The same stuff that Drew says made Matt go blind. (OK, someone clarified for me that Matt did not actually go blind. He just took more than he should have and then yakked continously for twenty minutes.)
So after hearing all these horror stories about the stuff, I was naturally hesitant. And yet morbidly curious. To those of you who call me a masochist… you’re not entirely wrong. I had to try some of this stuff. Especially since Andy said this was the last of his stash. How could I let the opportunity for blinding pain pass me by forever?
Andy waved a shotglass in my general direction, and I grabbed it willingly. Even though it was a double shot glass. But it wasn’t filled to the brim, so maybe a little more than a regular shot. I got a chaser ready and quietly prayed. The final countdown came, and I took it like a solider. Drew said the worst part of shooting it was the taste, but that didn’t bother me too much, I’ve had too much Chinese medicine in my life. Krista said it burned all the way down, but I didn’t feel that either. What was unsettling was that it sat heavy in my stomach. It felt like a solid lump in my chest, as if I had swallowed a hot coal. A lump that was slowly throbbing… almost as if it was threatening to explode from my chest like an alien face-hugger that had had its way with me.
I just finished my chaser and burped as much as I could at that point, and all was well with the world again. Was kinda worried last night, but woke up this morning still able to see as crappily as usual. Haven’t been so happy to see the Davis overcast sky in a long while.
I have now been initiated into something possibly more exclusive than the Buffalo Piss club… For now, anyway. Andy says he saw the same bottles for sale in Chinatown. 
February 7th, 2005 at 11:02
you should come drink with my dad! he has this bottle of Chinese liquor from “Jin-Men”, it’s a small island next to Taiwan, still part of Taiwan tho. that place is famous for producing this… strong.. liquor
and and my dad has that bottle since before i was born!!! wooooooooo!