Friday 9/20/02:                     InHouse Lounge and Club Mega19

 

Today in class we had to pair up and use new vocabulary words we were randomly given on cards to fit into as few sentences as possible that still made sense.   I was paired with Debbie and together we put all ten words into one long-ass sentence, but the teacher hacked it up with grammatical corrections.

 

This time after class Ange, Ginger and I met up with Eric and his GRE teacher, a white guy Dave from another class, and with Stella and her sis we all went to lunch off ShiDa road, a place with good spicy Szechuan. 

 

As I left for work  I asked Stella what she was doing tonight, determined I was going to find a party, but she said she was staying in and we’d go out tomorrow. 

When I got to work and logged on, Dave was still up but still struggling with writing the statement and frustrated and tired and we didn’t really talk.  The weather was cooler so I thought of running at the ShiDa track and SMS’ed Stella to see if she’d join me.  She said “I’m going to slip but do you want to get drinks w/Eric and Ginger around 11?”  I wrote back “I thought you were staying in, someone changed your mind?  ;)”  She ignored the comment and wrote a bar called InHouse at Warner Village, call her after my run.  When I got home was raining though, so I figured I’d skip running.        

 

            Got to my apartment and the inside wood door was locked.  It can only be locked/unlocked from the inside and I usually lock it at night (pushing in the button) for safety but in my rush this morning I must’ve forgotten to unlock it, and I rattled it, tried a flimsy card in it, but couldn’t open it.  Downstairs I asked the doorlady who said I could call a locksmith, it’s 100NT.  That was cheap, but I called ShauWu first to see if there was a key, but GuMa and said there is none.  The smith used various tools on the knob a looooong time till he got it open. 

 

After that ordeal I ate leftovers and Jonathan called, so I told him about InHouse tonight and he came around 8:45, we wandered down Chunghsiao looking for a coffee shop.  We passed a cart selling the adorable puppies I first saw with Gary and co at the TungHua nite market.  Jon said we could get it on the way back and he wanted one as a gift so maybe with 2 we could get a bargain. 

 

We didn’t find the café but instead an ice cream shop; he had to translate the flavors for me, the scoop guy giving us strange looks.  He spoke to me in English, and to Jon in Chinese, complimenting his Chinese.  Man, the service he gets! 

No matter that we both grew up in the same country, and Jon spent four years of college majoring in Chinese and spent six months in Beijing.  As long as he can say a few words in Chinese, it’s amazing.  When I speak, I get laughed at. 

 

I got taro, strawberry and raspberry and he taro, peanut.  We tasted it and looked at each other.  “Um, interesting texture,” said Jon.  It wasn’t ice cream, it was just slushy icey and with no cream.  At least not fattening, but not what we were looking for.  We vowed we’d try ice cream everywhere possible until we found a good place, then write it up for the Fulbrights next year.  

 

Jonathan is extremely easy to talk to and it’s hard to believe he’s so young that he just graduated college.  On our way back, he “bargained” with the puppy woman who gave in to him right away!  It was the first time bargaining had been successful for me.  I need to shop with him more.

 

We got to Warner early and finally when found Stella and Chris, they were dressed to the 9s compared to me.  I’d been happy to finally wear “cute” clothes instead of the businesslike conservative stuff I need to wear to work, so I wore my black jeans, blue flowered Skechers thongs, and white strappy tank with ruffles and tie in front.  When I’d tried on both my blue jeans they were both baggy, the waist hanging too low and hips puffy, I’d been surprised.  These black ones, normally tight enough to be uncomfortable, fit comfortably now.  But, Stella wore black pants with black fitted blouse, and Chris a gold low cut dress with black cardigan, and both wore high strappy heels.  They assured me I was dressed fine, but I was dubious.

 

We went into InHouse where we met Eric and Dave, and it turned out Dave and Jon had met at Jewish temple already.  I said How surprising, but Jon shrugged, said “There aren’t that many of us here.”  We were seated at a table.  Though the place had tables like a restaurant, people just sat and checked out people and drank.

 

Chris and Stella had a hard time explaining what Malibu was to our waiter and got OJ with Malibu while I figured I’d keep it simple and they can’t mess up my Cran vodka.  But it came and tasted weird, not strong at all yet with not enough cran either, I think they added gin.  I should’ve gotten their OJ/Malibu, which was quite good.

 

People Eric, Stella and Chris knew, from ShDa or otherwise, kept coming over to say hi.  Two more guys named Eric joined us, all the guys sat at the end.  It became we 3 girls and Jon talking, about shopping and bargaining and South Africa, while the guys talked about GREs and politics, and once Jon tried to join in their conversation but reported back to me, “They’re talking about different kinds of weed and the highs you get from each one.” 

 

Stella and Chris kept introducing me to various guy friends as they came up, who seemed all to be each cuter than the previous, and Jon commented they were the glamour girls and I agreed.  Ginger joined us, who’d had been at a fashion show next door, and we all headed to Mega19, a club/lounge.  Jon left, and we all waited at the club entrance as cops were just finishing a bust/ID check.

 

We went in as the party picked up again, it was a nice place with rectangular bar in the center with beads hanging all around on top, a lounge on side, the dance floor behind.  There was house music all night.  Ginger and I met more of Stella/Chris’s friends, lots of guys from UC Berkeley.  They all seemed young party types and reminded me of Love Boat.  “Just eye candy,” Ginger commented, and I agreed.

 

We 4 girls danced together.  The bartenders lit some bottles on fire and juggled them high in the air and threw them to each other and behind their backs, it was pretty cool.  At the end of the night we saw helium balloons at the entrance and asked the doorman if we could borrow them “just for a photo,” he said reluctancly, OK just for a photo.  We took group pictures in front of the door, then when our cab came Christina said, “Let’s run!”  We scrambled inside and took the balloons home.