Wednesday 8/28 Meeting Friends, and First Clubbing Night
I
got up around 7AM, the jetlag is getting better. I called Dave around 10:30 and asked about his day. His only big news was that the American
Idol finale is on tomorrow night.
He then asked “How was your day?”
“You
mean, how was my night?”
“Oh…yeah.”
“I
uh, slept.”
Finally
when it was 11:30 and I was starving, Gary called and came to get me, with the
girl I’ve heard him talk about before as his sort-of girlfriend Kate, and his
friend from law school Arthur.
Kate is from TaiZhong, very sweet and nice. Art is from Los Angeles but Taiwan originally, and I quickly
learned he is single and very, quite actively looking. We ate breakfast at a small place
nearby—a rice roll with egg, yiou tiau (long stick of fried dough, literally
translated is “oil stick”), and soy milk.
After all my fancyish meals with relatives, this was my first sort-of off-the-street
meal, the way to eat that Taiwan is famous for. And I’ve quickly deduced that, despite the J.D. salaries they’ll
soon be making, they eat on a stricter budget than me. I’ve been throwing NTs left and right
without keeping much track, all I know is that things have been cheap. Have I mentioned reverse sticker shock
is great?
We
went to ShiMin Plaza, a whole block of small shops and eateries. Gary: “Just all eating and shopping, because that’s all Taiwan is
anyway.” They love to eat and kept
stopping for treats every few minutes.
A drink called Ai Yu (like lemonade with bits of jello you suck through
a straw), stinky tofu with spicy sauce on a stick, and a noodle soup with goose
meat were just some. We went into
a multi-level mall that was full of all cutesy things, like Sanrio, stuffed
animals, souvenirs, clothing, and tiny electronics. Then suddenly there was this gun place, out of nowhere,
selling bebe guns. They looked
completely real, all kinds--handguns, pistols, long rifles. Art got all excited. He insisted there must be a way to get
it home but I warned him the airports will nab him for anything that remotely
RESEMBLES a gun. Gary and I joked
that he should just bring it and say innocently, “Oh! Sorry, I forgot I had this on me.” Or, feign total confusion: “What, officer?
Is there a problem with this?”
We
bussed back to our hotels to rest and get ready for dinner. For dinner I changed to black capris
and asked Kate if I should wear them clubbing, with my silver halter. My other choice was a shiny red dress,
fun but modest. I asked her, “So
should I do pretty and elegant, or sexy?”
She said Sexy.
We
went to a famous dumpling place, Din Tai Feng, which has been packed ever since
some New York Times reviewer called it one of the best Chinese restaurants in
the world. We waited 30 minutes. Three girls, Art’s friends came and met
us as did Gary’s friend from college Jake. I hadn’t known Jake at Brown (a year above us) and when he
learned I’d be here 10 months he immediately asked if I could do Brown
interviews for prospectives in Taipei.
I said Sure, I can’t wait to be intimidating.
The
place was good but as Gary said, probably doesn’t quite fulfill its claim to
fame. We had dessert at a nearby
park and checked out a cellphone shop where I considered getting a Motorola,
but it will still cost me US$90 and I don’t know if it’ll work when I bring it
home to the U.S. I really like the
Motorola V70 which opens by rotating in a circle, but it can’t work outside
Taiwan, they said. After that, the
girls and Jake split and we went back to the hotels to change for clubbing. Gary said to get off the bus two stops
after they. I was half-daydreaming
and lost count (yes, of counting to TWO) and suddenly wasn’t sure if we were at
the 2nd stop. Then we
passed my lane and kept going a while. Finally the bus stopped at a light and I begged the driver
to let me down, which he did reluctantly.
It was now dark and I walked quickly alone on the (here deserted) road,
getting sweaty and rushing. By the
time I reached the hotel I decided to wear a miniskirt because it was just too
hot.
Gary
called as they were leaving their hotel and this time I was ready and waited
for them. I was carrying an extra
pair of shoes for Kate, since she didn’t have any clubbing shoes with her. 20 minutes passed by and still no
them. People passing stared,
especially an old guy walking his dog.
He kept walking it back and forth my one corner. Here I was standing on a street corner
clad in halter top and miniskirt, randomly carrying a pair of shoes. I knelt down to be less
conspicuous. Finally, PO’ed, I
went back to the hotel where the desk guy said someone called for me, but he
wouldn’t let me use his phone so I had to head back up to my room. Just then Art came up to get me, I
fumed but he played dumb and said Gary must’ve called me too early. But in the cab, Gary said Art had
forgotten his ID so they’d had to turn around.
The
club, Room 18, was part of a plaza with stores all around an open walkway area,
called Warner Village. Part of it
is called New York New York and it’s all designed to try to look like America,
with wider streets etc. Kate had
told us all to dress up because there were a lot of elegant, rich,
celebrity-type frequenters here.
But at the door was a long line of what looked like a lot of
18-year-olds in jeans. She immediately
apologized and said it used to be different. I was glad I picked the right outfit. There was NO fear of looking too sexy—or
rather, slutty, here. Three of
Kate’s friends came, one of whom wore a skirt rolled so low on her hips that it
clearly showed the V top of her thong.
Another girl on line wore short, tight shorts that showed the bottom of
her butt.
Gary’s
two guy friends from the law school he’d studied at in Taiwan, came too and
looked bored the whole night, like they’d rather be at a bar, despite all the
hot young girls (it was Wednesday, ladies’ night, ladies free--so the gender
ratio was ridiculous). Art also
stuck to me like a post-it note all night even though we tried to egg him on to
make some moves. He asked, “What
am I supposed to say?”
“Say,
‘Hi, I’m a lawyer. I went to
Cornell. I will make more money in
my first paycheck than you have ever seen in your 18-year-old life.’ Then watch them fall all over you.”
The
club scene is entirely different than I remembered it from 7 years ago. Everyone looks “American” and there were
quite a few ABC’s there, but you couldn’t tell from looking. The kids are now tall—I’d say
about 25% of guys were over 5’10” and girls over 5’6”, and there were quite a
few Caucasians. One tall brunette
with low-cut jeans also showing the back of her thong kept dancing on the
platform with her ass to the crowd.
Gary said I’ll probably meet these people at CCLC. Greeeat.
The
music was good—dance/house, then some hip hop. All American. I
only had two drinks all night. The
first was a cranberry vodka, weak, maybe because Art got it for me with his
free drink voucher that came with his cover charge. The second time I suggested we do a round of tequila shots
and what started out as 4 of us ended up as Gary and I buying for everyone,
including the girls whose names I couldn’t remember.
Around 2AM
I got tired and told Gary they could stay longer but I was going, and of course
they all said they’d go too. Gary’s
two friends, who I don’t think danced once, drove us back.