Midwest Clubbing with 'My Team'

I've been living in the Midwest for a little less than 2 weeks now. It's been pretty nice. To some extent, I feel like I'm on vacation. I guess this is what happens when I'm in a new environment. I can roam, get lost, do new things, meet new people... all on my own pace.

There aren't too many guys at the Ann Arbor (A2) office that are out. I think that's the benefit of living in the Bay Area. So I'm gonna have to go experience whatever is gay in A2 either by myself or bring some of my girlies on occasion (some have already offered to go). I don't mind clubbing or bar hopping with the straighties every so often, but I do find it pretty boring.

I don't mind going out by myself. But it is weird going out and not running into anybody you know. Like I can go out in LA or SF and run into people every single time. Even if I don't run into people, I feel more comfortable introducing myself to people or I get introduced to others from my current set of friends. I guess it's just a matter of building those relationships and friendships up in the Midwest.

I also think I'm not very proactive when I'm by myself as far as introducing myself to people. When I'm with others, I have no problem. When I'm solo, it's not so easy. Maybe it's because I don't have a second opinion. It's a bit weird and something I need to work on.

So with that being said... I dived into the Ann Arbor gay scene last night. It was surprisingly fun. Where did I go? The only gay clubbing night in the city is held on 'Pride Friday's' at the city's hottest club, Necto. It's typically a straight club, but it goes gay on one night of the week. The layout of the club is pretty nice. It's like basically 3 stories. Top Level is High Energy dance music. The middle level is an outdoor area to hang out and chill. The bottom level, called the 'Red Room,' is more like a bar and the music varies. It can go from hip hop, to the latest tracks you haven't heard, to those tracks from the 80's and 90's you hate to admit you love.

Some things of note:

• Midwest gays really like to smoke, not that the west coast kind doesn't. But it's pretty gross going into clubs in which you can smoke. I also think it's because 18 to 21 year old kids like to rebel and think smoking is still cool.
  
• Ann Arbor guys are surprisingly attractive. It's partly because it's a college crowd, but I was impressed. Definitely not LA cute, but better than average.
• The club was sort of ethnically diverse. Mainly white and black folks. There were sprinkles of Asian and Latino guys. There was one slightly older Asian guy who I thought was hot, wearing a red hat, a shirt from Ruhel, and a blue American Apparel track jacket. It's too bad I never introduced myself to say Hi (just as an experiment in proactiveness). Before the night was over he made out with some fugly white dude and probably went home with him. There were also some cute black and white guys.
  
• It's nice living close to a club. 10 minute street drive home. SCORE.
• Straight girls in the Midwest love gay boys, just as much as everywhere else I've lived.
• Pride Fridays are known to be the best night at the club.
  

Necto on Yelp!
Public Photos of Necto on Flickr

Sunday in SF: From Dolores Park to Parking Tickets

Sunday was my 3rd day in a row in San Francisco. I honestly can't believe i spent all three days in the city. That's unheard of for a suburbia boy such as myself.

Anyways, Sunday was very fun.

• Chilled with Norm and some of his buddies at Dolores Park. Such a beautiful view of the city skyline. I also find it interesting how the park is segmented socially. The gay guys in one area, the families in the other, etc.

• I managed to get a parking ticket while parking on Guerrero St. It was for parking over 18 inches from the curb. That's just a fancy way of saying I parked in the street. I just saw that everyone else was and I thought it was cool. Learned my $35 lesson. *Sigh*
• We then decided to Salsa dance to a live band at El Rio in the Mission District. It's a mixed crowd, so that was nice. I really liked the band, although I don't really know how to dance to Salsa. I interpreted it in my own fashion. :P

• After dancing, we grabbed some grub nearby at Papalote, a fine not-quite-hole-in-the-wall Mexican establishment. They have quite possibly the BEST salsa I've ever tasted. I'm being totally serious. Great food there.
• Norm, Patrick, John & I decided to head to Badlands to end the night by dancing to some trashy music videos. Quite honestly, I miss seeing Tommy as the bouncer. I heard he was let go. Such a cool guy. Norm knew the door guy, so that's cool. Oh, and Rudy, who I met a few weeks back at Dragon, came up to me and said hello. I didn't remember his name, but I remembered the face.

Meet My Canadian Friend: Matt

This was somewhat of a surreal Saturday. I met Matt online about a year ago. We became pretty good friends really quickly. We had a lot in common and I knew he was a good guy.

I never thought we'd ever meet... at least not this soon. As it turns out, he was meeting another friend in San Francisco this past weekend. So we decided to meet up and hang out for a bit at Badlands SF in the Castro.

Although we didn't hang out for more than an hour and a half, due to unfortunate circumstances, it was a pleasure meeting him in person. I still find it interesting meeting people in person after you only know them online. What's their voice going to sound like? What about their mannerisms? One of the first things out of Matt's mouth was, 'I thought you'd be Taller!'

I might make a trip up to Vancouver one weekend this summer. I've heard it's a beautiful place...

Friday Night (6.15.07) - Jet, San Francisco

I made back up to SF on Friday to hang out with Ty, one of my co-workers, and some of his buddies. As usual, it was scandalous fun. Jet is the Castro's 'Hip Hop' club. The music is always great. It's super tiny, but I guess that adds to the fun.

Pictures can be found here:

Jet 6.15.07

Hunters Nighclub / Video Bar - San Jose, CA

Friday night was the 'pre-party' for San Jose pride at the new gay bar in San Jose, Hunters. The only other gay club that really competes is Splash.

To tell you the truth, I don't go out socially in San Jose that much. If I did, it would probably be at the more posh (i.e. straight) Lounges and Clubs around the city. I don't mind shopping or having a nice meal in San Jose because it's a pretty nice city. However, I usually keep it low key in Mountain View, Sunnyvale or Palo Alto. If i'm really clubbing, It's in SF.

Who did I go with? Well, I met up with someone I knew in High School, Kyle. He doesn't look the same at all. He brought some of his friends along, like Rick, Mike, David, etc. Someone asked if he knew I was gay in High School. He was like 'Um... Ya! Hello!' We then started to say who we knew was gay at Alemany. Lol. Fun Times.

It was nice to hang out with a new set of people. It's refreshing to have people in the South Bay to hang out with. Kyle and I will probably grab dinner and watch a movie one of these days to catch up. I also (albeit at the last minute) went up to a guy I thought was cute. We gave 'the look' to each other quite often but never went up to each other. While outside, I asked him his name and he wanted my number. He's a nice guy and we chatted for a few minutes tonight on the phone.

About Hunters:

• Parking is okay in the area. You can park at the garage at 2nd and San Carlos with no problems.
• The club has only been open for two weeks but has got some local press.
• The line situation is okay before 10:30pm. However, I hear that around 11 it got really whack. 30-45 minute waits were typical, even, when it wasn't all that packed in side.
  
• The sound system isn't all the good. When I walked in, I was pretty shocked. I think eventually they were able to get the sound levels right.
• The LCD TV's are a nice touch, but often times the 'VJ' playing the Videos had some technical issues.
• There are two patio areas. A small one in front and a large one in back. I wonder if there will ever be a 'front patio scene' a la 'Rage' or 'Fiesta Cantina' in Los Angeles. Places in the Bay don't tend to have a front patio due to space issues and rent prices. I'm also sure Zoning is also involved.
• The main bar area is nice, although slightly small. There is also a nice front section with seats to just chill.
  
• The bar hasn't quite found a personality yet. I'm sure that will come over time. I wonder if they'll have theme nights in the future. (A Dragon-type night would be FANTASTIC!)
• There is small open area for dancing, although no-one really started to dance until midnight.
• They had trashy Go Go boys. Although, none were my type.
• The crowd is really all over the map. I would say the crowd reminds me of Badlands in SF, but with less white guys.
• Drinks are slightly more expensive than the gay bars in SF, but they use better alcohol.
• I'll be back for sure.

Pictures:

Hunters Nightclub - San Jose, CA

So Cal Post 4: The Highlander Reunion & Gay Karaoke (Mon. June 4th, 2007)

Monday night after working at Google, I headed over to lovely Riverside, CA for the annual banquet for the UC Riverside Highlander. After possibly the worst traffic I've experienced in some time, I finally made it to the Mission Inn in Downtown Riverside around 7:15pm. The Mission Inn is by far one of the coolest landmarks in Southern California.

I parked on the street and walked up to the hotel. In typical fashion, there was brand new Lamborghini parked outside. I made my way to the Spanish Art Gallery room only to find not one single person I know. I called James in a panic and found out that James, Brian, Milt & Steve were at the Bar. I met up with those guys. I haven't seen some of them in years... so It was pretty damn fantastic... just like old times.

We eventually made our way to the banquet in the Spanish Art Gallery. I saw more familiar faces like Joe, Danielle, Mrs. B., Zuhair, Chapman, etc. However, it made me miss all of my old co-workers who couldn't make it.

After drinking alcoholic drinks, long conversations, picture taking, grubbing, laughing, trash talking and the awards ceremony, the banquet had ended.

What is a post-college student to do? Fear not! Karaoke at a Gay Bar to the rescue! We headed on over to The Menagerie, one of a whopping 2 gays bars in Riverside. That's not bad, considering how conservative the city is in general.

We sang a mix between 80's songs and boy/girl band pop. James got into the Karaoke a lot. He kicked off the night by singing a drunken version of 'Total Eclipse of the Heart' by Bonnie Tyler. Make sure to check out the karaoke video on YouTube! We sang a group version of 'Come Sail Away' by Styx. Lastly, Chapman and I butchered a Spice Girls song.

We parted ways after Karaoke. I however, got a little reminiscent about Riverside. So I decided to drive random places around the city. Mainly spots around the University, Downtown and Riverside Plaza. I'm still amazed at how quickly things change for the better in Riverside.

Highlander Banquet & Reunion - June 4, 2007

So Cal Post 3: Rage, Cindy & Santa Monica Google (Sun & Mon - June 3rd & 4th, 2007)

I drove back to LA from San Diego on Sunday Night. I arrived around 11pm. I met up with Cindy at her Redondo Beach pad for a few minutes. Her place is totally swanky. Nice find, girl!

After visiting Cindy, I went Rage in West Hollywood to meet up with Simeon. It was probably a bad idea because I had to wake up early to drive to work in Santa Monica from the Valley.

On Monday, I made the commute on the 405 to the Santa Monica Google office. I decided to work from this office so I didn't have to waste a vacation day. This office is mainly engineers, so It was a bit weird being surrounded by guys who talk about javascript and ajax all day. Nonetheless, I still had my fab snacks and ocean views. I even figured out how to VC into a meeting in Mountain View. Yay!

I met up for lunch with Cindy at California Chicken Cafe in Venice. I love this place, but this was the first time I've been to this location. I usually go to one of the valley locations. We talked about boys and work. It was a nice mid-day convo. We parted ways and I went back to work...

So Cal Post 1: The Abbey & Buddah Lounge (Sat. June 2, 2007)

As many of you know, I made a kinda last minute trip to So Cal last weekend (June 2 to 5). I made it home around 6pm after leaving the Silicon Valley via car around 1pm.

I convinced Kenny to go out to West Hollywood on Saturday night (after about 30 minutes of begging... lol). I haven't seen him in forever. We've never actually hung out on a weekend night before because he's never in Nor Cal on a weekend. But we've hung out plenty of times in Nor Cal on weeknights. We met at the Abbey and grabbed some coffee. Neither of us drank, but we caught up with some convo.

Later in the evening, Simeon and Paul came and met us. I've met Simeon a few times before but this was the first time I've met Paul. So far I haven't met a friend of a friend I haven't liked. After chilling at the Abbey, we made our way to the revitalized Buddah Lounge LA at Ultra Suede. Apparently it was the poppin' gaysian club back in the 90's and early 2000's. After 5 or so years of being away, it's back. It's basically a 21+ version of GAMeBoi on a Saturday night. I had a great time there.

Kenny bounced a bit early. Simeon left around 2am. I stayed and talked with Paul for a bit. Then he was kind enough to drop me off to my car which was parked way down Santa Monica Blvd. I liked the white Apple logo on his Honda Accord. I knew we would get along. Haha. Paul was kinda excited to see Madonna's choreographer at Buddah Lounge. He was a bit star struck. Lol.

Buddah Lounge LA - June 2, 2007

Dragon SF: Fri. June 1st, 2007

I ended up going to Dragon (held at Club Eight) last Friday. I was kinda talked into it by Ty and Devon. I had a pretty good time and met loads of new folks. I also ran into some familiar faces, that being Kelvin and Ronald. The photos can be viewed below:

Dragon SF

Fun Week Ahead

So the next week or so will be great. I'm looking forward to a few things in particular:

• Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards stops by the headquarters of Google in Mountain View, CA today.
• The grand opening of Hunters Nightclub in San Jose on Friday.
• Driving to Los Angeles on Saturday morning. Just a random weekend visit. You can probably catch me roaming WeHo at night.
  
• Possibly meeting up with my old US Chamber of Commerce boss, Brent, in San Diego this weekend. I haven't seen him in about a year.
• Working from the Santa Monica Google Office on Monday 6/4/07 so I don't have to use a vacation day. I love this office!
• Going to the Spanish Art Gallery at the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA for the annual UCR Highland Banquet on Monday 6/4/07.
• The John Mayer Concert at the HP Pavilion in San Jose on Tuesday 6/5/07. Ben Folds 5 is the opener. Yay!

H&M Comes to the South Bay; FuZ in Sunnyvale

Strolling at Santana Row

Last Friday was a random night. I ended up going to get dinner at Santana Row in San Jose. It's a nice place to just stroll and chill. It reminds me a lot of the Grove in Los Angeles. I ended up eating at Plutos, my favorite place to get Google-esque food without paying a high price. It's basically customizable salads and healthy sandwiches. Interestingly enough, the had better toppings than the one in downtown Palo Alto. Soy nuts... yummy!

When strolling around, I noticed massive amounts of posters for a new H&M! I'm so excited! I have a strange feeling this might be a female-only H&M. If it is, it will truly be a sad day. It's opening in the Fall. My biggest pet peeve is driving to San Francisco for 1 store. Because that's one of the few places that SF has that the South Bay doesn't.

But who knows... maybe I'll move to SF later this year? Ooooh.... the mystery.

Clubbing in Suburbia

I was going to go to my co-worker Jackie's bday party on Polk Street in San Francisco. I was going to carpool with Steph K., but she didn't feel up to it. I didn't want to drive alone, so I decided to stay in the South Bay. I totally forgot that it was FuZ (hosted by Downelink) on Friday in Downtown Sunnyvale at Abyss Nightclub. I still felt like dancing, but not driving.

So I drove a whopping 2 minutes to Downtown Sunnyvale. The cover sucks at $10-$15. But it's a club in suburbia with mostly 18-20 year olds... so it's to be expected. It was the third time I went. It does feel a bit like High School, but I do like the layout of the club and the music. I also like the 21+ area upstairs. Also, the dance performers they usually have are fun.

Funny enough, I ran into Ronald. I went on a few dates with him after I met him at Dragon in 2006 (at Club Eight in San Francisco). He's a good guy. I'm still interested in being friends, because he truly has a nice heart. I saw him again a few months ago. He had a lot of pluses, but he also had some minuses (smoking).

We took pictures, but they're on his camera. So... I don't I'll ever get them.

Where's Will?

Sadly, I stand out because I'm so sweaty in this random picture found on GameBoi's Website. Can you find me?

Cinco De Mayo: From Being Productive To Being Attacked

Yesterday was productive and fun. The first half of the day involved working out, doing laundry, and getting my hair cut. I also tried to catch up on some TV.

At night, I met up with Alex in the city. We haven't had a hang out session in a while now that he moved to SF. Earlier in the day, he went on some drunken Cinco De Mayo scavenger hunt that was intense. He was pretty tired, but he was still willing to grab dinner and go to a bar. I know how tired he was, so thanks!

I picked him up at his Pacific Heights apt, we drove to the Castro and got dinner at Fuzio: Universal Pasta. At first I was trying to figure out why the place looked familiar on the outside. It was because there was one near the UCDC center in Washington DC in Dupont Circle. (Although I hear it's closed now) It's a tiny chain, with fewer than 10 locations. I ended up getting the Classic Chicken Parmesan and a Blackberry Cosmo. The food was cheap and good. Although the drink was nearly as costly as my entree. It was a nice twist on a Cosmo though. I liked how the entree came with a bit of pasta and some spinach. Nice touch.

After Dinner, Alex and I went to the Cafe. The people who go are kinda sketch. The music was okay. I mean we've been before, but Alex didn't want to go to Badlands because he was tired. I think we should have went to The Bar instead. While there, there was the Jose Cuervo promoter who gave Alex and I sweatbands. He also gave me a free shot of something. I think it was something peach flavored with Cuervo. Not bad. After the Cafe, Alex decided to leave at midnight because he was uber tired.

I decided to stay a bit longer and head to Badlands. I haven't been in a while. The line was super long, but It didn't take all that long to get in. The music was really good. I had a pretty good time just releasing energy. Interestingly enough, I ran into JESSE from WORKOUT on Bravo. I saw him last Thursday in LA at the Abbey. It felt like a bit of LA right in San Francisco.

The weird moment of the night: A guy at Badlands attacked me from behind during 'I Will Always Love You' by Whitney Houston. He would not let go of me. I tried escaping several times. I decided to just dance with him and bounce right after the song. He slow danced like in High School... putting his head on my shoulders. He tried to get fresh with me and I totally wasn't having it. That was my cue to leave Badlands. Haha.