HK: Where's the Party?

Thanks to my friends who have introduced me to people they know living in HK, I have increased my friend count from two to twelve. And thanks to my new friends, I experienced my first club scene in HK this past weekend. Turns out clubbing in HK isn't like clubbing in any other city I've been - it's overly exclusive to a point of ridiculousness. Every club requires membership that costs thousands to tens of thousands of HK dollars a month! If you are not a member, then you'll have to wait in line and it could be hours before they let you in. Some clubs do not even allow non-members to line up - they simply turn you away. A couple exclusive clubs scan your fingerprints before entry, but one club in particular even has face recognition technology. I mean seriously people, a bit pretentious are we?
Friday night I had dinner plans with my friend Nelly's sister Stephanie who has lived in HK for two years and Stephanie's friend Linda at an upscale Chinese restaurant called One Harbour Road at the Grand Hyatt. When both girls arrived, standing at 5'10", well 6' with heels, they resembled Asian models who looked as if they had just sauntered their way downstairs for dinner from their hotel suite. Then Daphne, a friend introduced by Thomas, met up with us before we made our first stop at M1NT, a super trendy members club imported from London. Since Stephanie and Linda are regulars there, we walked right up to the bouncers who air kissed my two tall friends and we were let in immediately. Unlike clubs back in the U.S. filled with teeny boppers, the clientele here consisted of mostly expats in their mid to late 20's, with a few well in their 40's. Then a group of Stephanie's friends arrived and were doling out Dom Perignon like it was water. After a few glasses of the expensive bubbly, I couldn't stop dancing or talking.
We left the pre-party at around 1am to go to Prive where I was meeting up with another friend Wei (introduced by my girlfriend Sueann from DC). He had put me and Daphne on the guest list, but turned out he didn't need to since Stephanie and Linda are already members there. Again we whizzed by the queue of poor saps waiting to get in and were admitted into the club right away. After a few text messages, I was able to locate Wei and hung out with him and his friends for a little bit before they jetted off to their next destination, Beijing Club, which also happened to be where Stephanie's friends were headed after M1NT. But the girls and I decided to stay at Prive for the rest of the night, which turned out to be wise since Wei and his friends along with Stephanie's friends all came back to Prive by 3am. After meeting a lot of people that night (my favorite was an Indian guy who was born and raised in Taiwan and speaks perfect Mandarin), Daphne and I left the club in good spirits at 4:30. As for how much champagne I consumed, I lost count after my eighth glass! I'd say my overall clubbing experience in HK was positive - good crowd with good music - but they could seriously do without the exclusivity.