I spent the day with my girlfriends yesterday. We had a nice time doing what girls normally do: bitch, shop and alternate between chatting and commiserating with one another. Despite the fact that my friends disagree over my opinion that "friends are the new family" (re: Ethan Watters's Urban Tribes and the ESRC Group on Care, Values and the Future of Welfare's paper), these far-too-rare times in which I get to spill everything to my old friends are far more therapeutic than any glorious spa session combined with the most accomplished and expensive psychiatrist you could hire.

At the end of the night, I had returned home, friend-in-tow, with two newly acquired CDs and another lacy/frilly clubbing top from Future State (who seem to make tops that fit me extremely well), for dinner, which was a multi-cultural concoction of roti john, curry chicken pie and sweetcorn soup. We adjourned to my room later to partake of the Black Eyed Peas, which was either a mistake or a stroke of brilliance, depending on how you look at it, because it put us in the mood for some hip hop clubbing, so we ended up walking out at 2330 h to get a cab to go to Cheeky Monkeys (S$20 for cover inclusive of one drink - kind of a rip off it you ask me).

Cheeky Monkeys was... an experience, to say the least. It wasn't jam-packed with people but it was certainly very crowded. I was hit on by a guy who wanted to dance with me (in a panic, I asked my seasoned friend what to do, but with all the loud music, she thought I wanted her to tell the guy to f*** off, so she did exactly that. Heh.) and by another girl, who thought I was a really hot Japanese chick. Suffice it to say that if you want some action, this is the place to go. With cheap drinks (apparently S$3 all night), sexy music, lots of bumping and grinding, I half-felt like letting go and half-felt like running out of there screaming. Part of the night I was like, "I'm Catholic!! Don't do anything to me! Please!!!"

It's not that I'm a prude or a homophobe. It's just that I'm thoroughly unequipped to deal with situations like these. I've rarely been hit on - be it in clubs or other places, and especially not in hip hop clubs, which are dens that reek of sexiness and sin, and therefore, I don't know how to react despite the fact that I can dance to the music pretty damn well. Men - and women - here just get so up-close-and-personal, moving their hands all over your body, and sometimes even moving in for the kiss, which is the part that I dread the most. Maybe I shouldn't assume they'll do that because in my capacity as observer, they certainly didn't do that with my friend (but then again, my friend is the one who does the moving in, so she isn't exactly a typical case-in-point), but my point is: if they did, how am I supposed to react? I'm really helpless in these kind of situations and despite the fact that I'm quite aggressive and fierce at work and in life, that's only verbally. I'm not sure how I'll react when I'll have to be aggressive instead of act aggressive.

And yes, this applies to far more dangerous situations, like muggers and potential rapists. Will I be able to summon up the latent courage and confidence in myself to act? I sure as hell hope so.