Potbellied Pigs 2001

For the second time in a year and a half, the Seoul Survivors embarked on a journey south to Hong Kong to play our long-time friends and drinking partners, the Potbellied Pigs. Although we had been in Hong Kong briefly last November, it was just a pit stop on the way to mainland China in search of true liberation. This time we stayed and left our mark there...in fact it's safe to say that our most noticeable 'mark' (on the wall of a hotel room) is probably being investigated by the HK police at this very moment.

Upon arrival we were met by the famous Subic Survivor and taken on a wonderful tour up Victoria Peak...as it happened, we arrived in Hong Kong on one of the four clear days that it gets every year, so we were able to enjoy some great views, good beer, and a few nasty fire-breathing shots courtesy of Mr. Sharpe & his brigade of officers. They were soon to discover a new breed of shot that paled that one in terms of total disgust. From the Peak, it was back down the hill and off to the pier to catch the evening boat to Lamma Island...after a brief stop at a convenience store to pick up enough beer to keep the brigade happy for a while.

As has been Survivor tradition on Lamma, the new boys were treated to the afore-mentioned local drink...known as bai-jo, and as has also become a tradition, it completely repulsed them. Nasty stuff, that. It even caused one of the brigade to leave the dinner on a completely empty stomach....despite the selection of fine food that we were treated to. More room for beer, I suppose.

The remainder of the evening was spent carousing in Wanchai - watching large, bald men from Texas dance on the bar; being harrassed by large white women looking for a not-so-long-term relationship, and in a frightening example of foreshadowing...drinking RED BULL and vodka. The highlight of the night was the appearance and all around performance of the wife of our invisible member that evening. Another Survivor first - someone being out-partied by his wife while on tour. Hmmmmmm....

The game-that-almost-wasn't was played the next day. A few hours before kickoff we were informed that we couldn't use the pitch due to the fact that heavy rains had fallen in the early morning. That ruling stood until the very last minute, when a local Scottish Lad (who ended up playing brilliantly for us) managed to convince the authorities that no Survivor tour had ever been without a rugby game. This brought them to their senses instantly and the game was on. Unfortunately, however, in the long run we might have been better off had it not been played, as the end result saw us on the wrong end of a 20 - 14 score. It is worth mentioning the fact that we had 16 players to their 30, and faced a fresh set of legs every 15 minutes through the 60 minute game. The game was lost, in fact, in the last few minutes when we were clearly running out of steam & the 5:00am drunken return home was starting to catch up with us. But....those are still only excuses. We lost, so we'll have to wait until the Pigs make it up here again to have another shot at them.

The post-game party was held at Murphy's Bar (the old Mad Dogs in TST). It included plenty of food, beer, presentations, and so on...the only down side was that we had a long wait for the very dull Tri-Nations game that came on at 11:00 that evening. After that, it was on to Wanchai again for another round of carousing.

What followed from there...well....you know the rules. That's about all that will go into this report. It is worth noting, however, that our lodging in Causeway Bay has officially changed its name to the "Crime Scene Hotel". If any HK Police happen to come this way asking for statements, fingerprints....or blood samples, we need to stick together and all plead the Fifth. Fortunately we were able to get out of there okay & make it back home safe and free.

One new nickname came out of the weekend...Red Bull, and not after the drink; and our tour fool was, to nobody's surprise, Sir Snakebite, who kept us very entertained all weekend.

Our man of the match went to Sebastion...interestingly the only Survivor who wasn't out the night before the game. Everyone gave all they had both on and off the pitch, and as always it was a great tour. Special thanks to Subic for all his work getting us set up over there and to Piano Man for securing our flights. Finally, a big thank you goes out to the Pigs, who, as always, were fantastic hosts & a treat to go and visit. Hope we can see them up here again soon.

The next stop on the Survivor Express is Cambodia......start packing your grenades.

Fonz