I'm confused about a conversation in Pacific Rim beween Newt and Hannibal Chow.

It's previous established that eyes can become bloodshot and damaged when a drift goes wrong (or perhaps it's too much strain).

 - The early Jaeger Pilots have bloodshot eyes
 - Newt's first attempt to drift with a kaiju left him with a bloodshot eye

When Hannibal is discussing drifting with a kaiju he shows his eye to Newt (01:14:55), it's also damaged and he says

> I tried it once... once!

However he previously suggested that the reason there's a double event (and the kaiju is looking for Newt) is because

> Maybe that's because no one has ever drifted with one before!

Which suggests to me that he didn't attempt a kaiju drift... So I'm unclear, what did he only try once? Is he referring to drifting or perhaps going to a public refuge?