Sunday, November 12, 2006

double date disaster?

So since that networking event happened, the guy (herein referred to as the Coordinator) that I met had suggested we should all hang out (the other girl being included.) He emailed us and asked if we wanted to go grab a bite and watch a movie. At the bottom of the email he mentions that he's added his friend. Hello? Double date? What the $#@? So I emailed the girl and told her that I would go if she would. We emailed back to confirm and then noticed that he had dropped his friend off the list. So a question and answer later resulted in someone else going. ?? Can you really sub your friends in like that?! That was pretty amusing.

We went. I was the last to arrive. We ordered and shared the dishes. The Coordinator's friend ate less than any of us while the coordinator ended up having to eat his friend's share. I had suggested buying tickets beforehand as the movie was very popular and I knew it had sold out before (having tried to see it the previous week unsuccessfully). Dinner came to an end and I asked how much we owed for the tickets. Coordinator told us so we all forked out the money and split the food bill. The girl grumbled to me later that if they were gentlemenly, they would have offered to pay. I agreed but really, I hadn't come with expectations. The bill wasn't that huge anyway but I suppose would have made for some awkwardness if the Coordinator had offered but then his friend did not. In any case, they dropped their money, the girl paid with her card and I rushed them off to find seats in the theatre. I didn't want to ditch the girl and which guy would I leave behind anyway? So they said they got the hint and left. I suggested making a bet that they wouldn't be able to find four seats together.

The girl's credit card comes back. And so does the dessert. I didn't know our dinner came with dessert! Oh well. Tough luck for the guys. We dug in and she commented that it didn't matter since they didn't pay - and that we didn't have to tell them so we ate and rushed off to catch up with them. I asked her what we'd do if they were holding seats for us in different areas of the theatre. She said we could always pretend we didn't see them and sit together. Hilarious girl.

No such luck. At the theatre, the Coordinator was waiting for us. He told us there was good news and bad news. I said, "You couldn't get 4 seats together?" And he said, "No, we got the four seats, but we're in the second row." What the $?#@ The movie was entertaining enough. Hilarious in fact so I guess it made up for craning my neck for 2 hours.

After the movie they asked if we wanted to call it a night. I didn't care but wanted to make sure I could catch the subway home in time. The girl didn't care either so we went for a drink. Ok, honestly, the conversation was great but it was just weird because we ended up splitting into twos and talking. While it is strictly platonic from our (that is, female) end, I'm not quite sure what the guys were thinking. Coordinator's friend actually picked up the bill for the drinks, which we had to give him credit for. His friend leaves, and Coordinator drops us off - saying we should get together again. A super late night out on the town that I'll be able to look back and laugh on for a long time to come!

Sunday, November 05, 2006

shop til you drop

So in terms of networking, I managed to find a guy who has been very kind to me and offered to drive me around to do some shopping. Which meant hitting a place for dim sum on the Saturday morning, then walking through Pacific Mall where you're accosted the moment you step inside a shop. Or they watch you like you're about to steal from them. Off we went to Bayview Village, then Yorkdale, Costco, Chinatown and we capped it off with a pit stop at Chippy's for some fresh fish and chips. I haven't shopped like this in forever. I think the next big trip may call for a trek over the border to New York!