It has nothing much to do with the dinner dates I have these days, but I have to say that the arrangements for things to happen did remind me about back in those days when I could still command some market value and would require a personal assistant to schedule my dates (cough, bullshit, cough).
These days, they are regarded as “meeting up with friends” for reasons possibly to do with age, mentality, and just an adverse fear towards the male species.
I mean, c’mon chaps, you think I will still fall for those unpolished moves and clumsy words you speak forth? Ha!
Fishball eyes? Out.
Touchy hands? Don’t let me break ‘em.
Boring conversations? I have more interesting things to do in my life, like having some me-time and doing things that don’t require me to have any conversation.
So yup, the safe precaution I take ended up to be meeting up with people whom I already knew for quite some time… or should have caught up, but just hadn’t got the chance to, and er, well, sometimes you just have to wait for them to gain permission (or freedom) to be able to catch up again.
And I realised with a few dinner dates with different chaps this week, reminded me of some part of dating I actually miss, though they might not be classified as dates, per se.
Like, say, I totally adore it when guys take charge.
They are gentlemanly enough to ask what do you like, and even if your answer is an annoying “Anything”, they are quick to suggest, “Japanese? You like sushi?”.
Now, it shows he is in charge, but at the same time, your opinion does matter.
Dinner time and place was set.
I am really the kind who is indecisive, and I like it when I throw the decision making to the chaps, and I will decide if I like it or not. I know lah, a bit whatever since I already said ANYTHING yet it doesn’t really mean ANYTHING. Say if the person says fish head curry, I probably will give a quick “Woops, I don’t take fish!”.
So if I really do not mind Japanese, but yet I don’t eat sushi, I will say, Japanese sounds great though I don’t take sushi, but I love teppanyaki and tempuras and the likes.
Another dinner kaki planned for a belated dinner with me, and ended up asking me what would I like to have.
After weeks of table-tennising, and plenty of “CAN YOU GO AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT?!” (Piscean men, I TELL YOU!!!! Smack them ah!), and endless of “You go think about what you feel like having“, I know this kind of men, tsk, so I ended up telling him two magical words, “Pasta, town“.
Perhaps we have been chums for more than a decade work wonders, that I didn’t mind telling him to MAN UP in between rolled eyes.
I mean seriously.
But nonetheless, credits to him, to my utter pleasant surprise, he set the time and place upon the cues, so brownie points to that!
But I really find men to be such wusses when they keep asking you what you would like, and even when you blow your top with absolute frustration to tell them to BE A MAN and decide, they still ask you “what you feel like eating?!“.
It is. A.N.N.O.Y.I.N.G.
Can’t you bloody take charge?! Do you want me to decide that your underwear should be PINK colour?!
ROARRRRRR!
The thing I miss about dates is also the dressing up to the occasion, or the need NOT to. I don’t know, but there are some friends, even though just as friends, who you want to dress up for.
I have had girl dates before, and we go to a nice restaurant and just enjoy each other’s company with the fine food and drinks, and we totally dressed up for it, and the thrill of it beats any hot dates.
There are some chaps which you feel so comfortable that you dress down just so you could feel stripped bare before him. NOT LITERALLY, but you know what I mean.
And there are some where the dressing up is the highlight of the evening, where you just wanna impress someone, cos you bother to.
And then. The nice thing about dates is the element of surprise.
It is an absolute pampering when you turn up and realise how much research has been done to choose a nice restaurant tucked away in a special location, and it is somewhere you have never been to before.
It is no longer one of those franchised restaurants you frequent, or the eatery that has became a frequent joint because of your recommendation, because, hey, the man took charge here!
I always live for the experience, and thus, a brand new experience, and a brand new place might just be the refreshing change I need!
The lights, the ambience, and the anticipation of the food which starts you churning out blog reviews in your mind, and telling your friends how fabulous the place is, though sometimes you have to add in “Pity about the date though“.
End of the day, despite the bad date, a fabulous place and a new gem of an eatery discovered, is still a fruitful date, and it feels like some effort and research had been done to make you feel special (Say, Ting, have you been to Restaurant ABC?), though the restaurant probably recognizes him for the different dates he brings.
But most of all, the things you discover during dates, like the elements to the character of the guy sitting before you, as his impression builds, and how you slowly find your comfort level before him, the bantering, the giggles, the easy conversations, the casual flirting, and the slight blush….
.. Or even the pom pom tiao feeling.
That would set pace for a much longed-for after-meal drinks, or the lack of would mean me finding excuses to scoot off to spend time in bed, online, or just indulge in ample me-time.
Ah… bliss. 
***
It has been a while and I have found the words that I used to be so familiar with hardly come out as freely as before.
I finally have some time to start writing again, though the process of backlogging is going to be a tedious one with 1/4 of years of my memories becoming a tad too hazy.
Still pretty much a half-hearted effort, but slowly, but surely
