A multiple venue night

[This was actually Friday night, but I was too busy having fun to moblog it. Technology still has a ways to go to make moblogging seamless so I don't have to hunch over my phone for 5 minutes and ignore the person I'm with...]

I met up with Joy. She did move to Tokyo, and now is back! It was difficult for her since she really loved living in Tokyo and wanted to stay longer. She had to come back for work.

We've discussed this business of living between SF and Tokyo a lot. We went to high school in Tokyo (ASIJ) together, but our childhoods are different. I grew up in Tokyo thinking I was Japanese but treated as a foreigner. She grew up in the States, but also felt as an outsider since she is of Japanese descent. I discovered SF and love the freedom it gives me to be myself. It matters less here that I'm racially mixed. For Joy, Japan allows her to feel more herself than SF. So although we identify with Japan and the US differently, the issues are similar. Being able to talk to her and hear her perspective is always so helpful.

Anyway, our first stop of the evening was dinner at Olive (743 Larkin Street). After snacks and a Ginger Martini, we went to the Bambuddha Lounge (Warning: if you click on the link, it plays loud music). Definitely a cool looking place, but the crowd was boring. Lots of wandering eyes trying to get the attention of others. But the pool outside and the decor was worth it. But I didn't like the fake bushes of plastic grass they had.

Then we headed to the Odeon Bar since it was recently announced that it was sold and will be closing. Unbelievable news so I'm trying to go there as much as possible. Sean and his friends were there too. Sean blogged about the closing.

Then we stopped by one more bar before finally ending up at Joy's. I didn't know, but her grandfather is a great potter and she had some beautiful pieces of his. Sean marveled at the perfect bean cushion chair Joy had brought back from Japan, the guys tinkered with her sound system so we could get it running (notice the ipod?), and we were challenged by her gas-enabled pop wine opener, which worked great once we figured it out. Conversations went onto the wee hours of the morning...poor Joy dozed off in the corner while we were all yapping like there was no tomorrow. Total fun!