The date from hell... that wasn't

Just so we're clear, it wasn't a date. Now that's out of the way I can begin.

A guy messages me on gaydar, and of course we start chatting a bit. As you know i'm keen to meet new people and make new friends, so why not. He lived in the northern suburbs but one weekend he told me he was going to be near where I live, so we made plans to meet. I suggested a drink, he said how about coffee? And coffee it was to be.

We planned to meet at Chocolateria San Churro which is best described as a chain of chocolate cafes, which in addition to the usual cafe fare they have Spanish hot chocolate and churros, I've loved churros ever since I first had then in Buenos Aires. There is one on Chapel St which is close by.

Well I got there, and the place was packed, and he was sitting on a bench nearby so we got a table outside. I had a hot chocolate, he didn't want anything. We this is going to go great I thought. He was honestly one of the rudest people i've ever met. For starters he cruised every single cute guy that walked past. Actually, make that every guy. He didn't just check them out, he literally stared at them. Literally turning his head as they walked by. I mean really?!

Things didn't get better at all. He was an Aussie but of French/Palestinian heritage and had lived both in France and Gaza for many years. He was wearing one of the Yasser Araft teatowels as a scarf, lol. I didn't tell him I was Jewish, I figured he might press the detonator.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not a racist person. I'm generally a very friendly person and get along well with most people. But this guy was just an asshole. Apparently he doesn't get on with anglos well because all they do is drink and think about where their next drink will be. He gets along more with people from a similar background to him. He also said he didn't have many friends and then told me about one of his good friends he'd planned on meeting up with but they had to cancel. Then it turned out this friend was a cousin.

One of the great quotes of the night was that he would only become friends with a) people he could have an intelligent conversation with (which is a bit overboard but whatever) and b) people that were open to his political views and beliefs. Within 15 minutes of meeting him he'd already told me his thoughts on September 11, the wars on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that Israel was killing all the Palestinians. He worked in pharmaceuticals so I'm sure he had something to do with chemical weapons R&D, lol.

I was dying to get out of there (lest he detonate, lol) it was just too awkward. Any conversation between us was started by me, otherwise we would've sat in silence. After almost an hour I figured enough was enough, and we went our separate ways. And he wonders why he has no friends....

Had it been a date, I would've called it the date from hell. Alas it was just a random stranger from gaydar who probably will never have any friends unless his social skills improve immensely. The moral of the story is to try to be more picky when it comes to meeting random people for a bevvy. Or just chat more before you decide to meet. And maybe stick to people on this side of the river :) I'm glad though in further blog posts things have improved immensely.

Jay

God save the queens

Well the time had arrived for my next overseas jaunt. This time to London. It had come sooner than expected, only about 4 months after i'd returned from my previous trip, but when one of your best friends gets married, how can you not go? It was going to be a fairly quick trip. Quick in the that it was taking me over 24 hours to fly each way, yet I was only staying for 8 days.

I used miles for the trip and flew in business class, which was a hoot :) Nothing like actually getting some decent sleep on board, plus decent food and wines (and champagne!). The only problem is how will I ever fly in economy ever again?!

As is per usual, I packed like I was going overseas for a month, not just a week. You never know when you might need all those items of clothing, and it's London at the end of spring. It could be warm, it could be cold, it could be rainy, it could be a heatwave, it could be a blizzard. Well maybe i'm getting carried away but I think I had 6 or 7 pairs of shoes with me. Told you I overpack.

Anyway, the day had arrived. I finished work, finished packing and then it was airport time. Another reason I love travelling in business class is there's less hassle. Faster checkin, faster immigration (sometimes), faster baggage on arrival, and you can chillax in the lounge, which is exactly where I went after check in. As one does, I got a glass of wine and checked out grindr. Got chatting to a guy who was in a different lounge. I was flying to Bangkok and he to Hong Kong.

Eventually they called for boarding and off we went. A nice 4 course meal was served, and then a nice long sleep before arriving into Bangkok. I had a decent amount of connection time so I was able to check out the lounges (and have a very welcome shower) and the spa. Had an awesome neck and shoulder massage, complimentary because i'm a VIP (or maybe just I was flying in business class). The next flight was more of the same and what felt like an eternity later we finally landed in Heathrow. It actually was like an eternity because it was almost 30 hours from departure to landing.

From the time I landed I was constantly on the go. A girl at work had lived in London for 10 years so she gave me a list of places to go to (she also told me drugs were cheap in London if I was into that kind of stuff lol). I got to my hotel and told me the groom's family were waiting for me at a nearby restaurant. With the bucks party, wedding related events and meals both pre and post-wedding, meeting a long lost relative for dinner one night, time was of the essence. I toured during the day, meeting up with friends, checking out some sights. I was walking along Saville Row one afternoon and popped into the Ben Sherman store. As I walked out there was a parking inspector outside, who asked me if I owned the Bentley parked there. I wish!

I even went on a bar crawl through Soho (albeit during an afternoon). A mate of mine is a bartender there so knows his way around :) Getting pissed during the day wasn't intentional, but gladly it sort of wore off by the time I went to a dinner party that night. I also saw the show Legally Blonde at the Savoy theatre with a friend and really enjoyed it. We were going to see Lord of the Flies at the open air theatre but the only day with bad weather nixed that plan. 

Unfortunately the fun had to end eventually and I left, determined to visit again someday.

Now that's over, I can stop writing posts where I did this and this and that and move onto more serious things :)

Catch ya later