My friend Masato was living in the USA for a six month tour of duty working for General Electric of Japan. We were at a friend’s house pounding shochu (Japanese rice alcohol) one night and he started talking about how he missed partying in Tokyo. While he was here (he’s back in Tokyo now), he stayed in Irvine so he was bored out of his fucking mind. He’s more of a trance kind of guy so I suggested we go to Avalon in Hollywood one day. So about seven months ago I went to Avalon in Hollywood with Masato to check it out. He ran into a chick he knew and she had a friend. So since Masato was busy trying to lay the mack down on the other chick, I got to talk to the friend, Saya. I thought Saya was pretty cool so we talked, drank, smoked, etc. for most of the night. I did get her number, but I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to call.
It turns out that Saya was new to Los Angles having just moved here from living in Orlando for 2 years. Previous to Orlando, she was living in New York City for 6 years. So being the perfect gentleman that I am, I offered to show her around LA. When it comes to my personal life, sometimes I don’t follow up on things so I wasn’t sure if it would ever happen (car related stuff I always get done!). I subscribe to the 5 day rule (no 3 day rule here…) so I waited 5 days and gave her a call – you can’t let the ladies think you’re too excited to call. So we spoke on the phone and the conversation went pretty well and was very natural considering that I don’t usually talk much on the phone. We set up a date for that Saturday. Ok, stop guys – I know what you must be thinking, but the funny thing was that I wasn’t really interested in hooking up or anything. My personal friends reading this must think I’m full of shit here too. I was just thinking to go out with a chick and have a good time around town.
On the friday night before the date, I was hanging out with three of my buddies at a lounge with too many waitresses and drank WAY too much. I don’t remember exactly, but I remember something like 2 bottles of Don Julio tequila, 1 bottle of Grey Goose Vodka, 2 bottles of Perrier-Jouet Champagne. It was a long night and a total blast, but let me tell you that the next day was far from fun. It was one of the worst hangovers I’ve ever suffered from to date and I’ve had my fair share of them. So I canceled on Saya, but she was cool about it. I was expecting a little attitude, but she was very understanding being a drinker herself. After 1.5 days of absolute suffering, I called her on Sunday and we made it to the Standard Hotel upstairs lounge in downtown LA Sunday night. There under the night sky with the view of the surrounding skyscrapers, I managed to sip my stoli and soda slowly while engrossed in deep conversation with Saya. The rest is history and now she’s my girlfriend.
It turns out that Saya wasn’t necessarily interested in me the first night we met either, but I think my overpowering charms got her…hahah. It’s rare to find an attractive, easy going chick with a good personality these days so you have to hang on to one once you’ve found her. The moral of the story here is sometimes you might find a treasure when you don’t expect to find treasure. Keep an open mind and you just might.
I was a little red from the wine….