Seniors to celebrate with 'world famous scorpion bowls'

As seniors prepare to descend upon the Hong Kong in Harvard Square tonight for Senior Pub Night, we thought we should give you the lowdown on where we will be going to celebrate 100 -- more like 70 -- days before graduation.

This three tiered bar, with a slight taste of ghetto flavor, is located at 1236 Mass Ave. Since the unfortunate closing of the Crimson, this place has become the hot spot for finding Harvard nerds and jocks alike.

During the daytime hours, the Hong Kong is nothing but a restaurant offering the perfect combination of chicken fingers and the "world famous scorpion bowls." If you miss a meal here during the daytime hours though, don't fret. This restaurant is open until the bar upstairs closes, so if you get a case of the ravaging drunken munchies you can just walk downstairs for a sampling from the menu. Fair warning though, hold your breath if you plan on using the restaurant bathroom -- trust us.

If you're looking for more of a liquid diet, bypass the restaurant and head up to the second floor. This is where Hong Kong's main bar is featured. You can grab a booth here and sample that "world famous scorpion bowl" in which they so nicely put a variety of small plastic animals for your hunting pleasure.

If you want to make a game of it, you can become the animal that you've chosen from your bowl and hunt down your Ivy League prey. Or on nights like tonight, you may have a better chance at a Jumbo love match.

Once you have a few drinks and scorpion bowls in you, you'll be ready to climb another set of stairs to make your debut on the dance floor. Drink up before you head upstairs though, because the bar by the dance floor has a much more limited selection than the second floor bar.

So now you're out on the dance floor breaking out those moves we know you've been practicing in the mirror. The floor is a pretty good size and offers a variety of dance partners to chose from ranging from the ghetto thug to the preppy jock to the kid who will come up to you because his nerdy friend with the glasses in the corner has a crush on you.

After a dance partner has been secured, the Hong Kong third floor DJ offers a variety of chart topping music from techno to hip hop to Madonna -- so you can break it down. As the night goes on, the dance floor often gets crowded so secure a spot early for your last minute attempt to burn spring break calories.

Unless you plan on going on Tufts night, whereby you had to pay for your pub night ticket, the Hong Kong charges no cover. And if you're not 21, don't worry, the Hong Kong isn't too strict about the identification it accepts either.

One difference we noticed between the Hong Kong and our previously surveyed bar, the Rack, was the age demographic of its patrons. A less professional crowd gathers here, seeming more like a college party than a Boston bar. The one difference is that this bar will also include that sketchy man with a beer belly who looks about 50 and stands in the corner checking you out. Don't worry, he's harmless.

For those of you who were lucky enough to secure one of only 350 tickets offered to our class of over 1000 students, hold on to your ticket stub so that you can claim your "free gift" that you paid $5 for, on Friday at the Campus Center.

To all the single ladies attending, you know the guy you've wanted since freshmen year will be there. Make like the animal in your scorpion bowl and hunt down your prey. This is one of only a few Senior Pub Nights left, so make the most of it at this popular Harvard drinking hole.