Am I a high maintenance woman?

I don’t think so!

My trusty friend Michael thinks so though.

Argh.

We had dinner a few days ago.

He said, “Every time a guy takes you out, he’d want to take you to those really nice, not-so-cheap places. You’re definitely high maintenance!”

I protested that it was their choice to take me out in these restaurants. I was equally happy eating a NT$100 meal, than I would a NT$1,000 one.

As my mom would say, cheap or expensive food, the result is still the same.

But Michael shook his head in disbelief. He said that he was happy eating dumplings in the street, but every time he goes out with me, he usually spends a lot more. You see, we usually eat NT$200 meals on the average.

I told him that dumplings were not my favorite, but if he’d like to try out porridge, I’d be more than willing to get that with him.

It wasn’t my fault that the guy am seeing likes to eat well. As a result, I’ve been eating well too. In fact, I’ve been eating so well that I sometimes imagine my waist expanding.

“See! You’re high maintenance!” exclaims Michael.

Ahem.

First, most of the restaurants are his choice. He has his favorites, and I can’t help it if the meals there are pricier than NT$100.

And second, I have always insisted on paying… even if he always refuses. For him, it’s the guy’s duty to always pay for the woman. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do.

I secretly paid once when we had brunch at NY Bagels.

Boy, he wasn’t very happy.

Seeing his uncomfortable face, I vowed that if it makes him happy to pay, then I would oblige.

I treated Michael on that dinner though. He shouldn’t be complaining about expensive meals then.

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“I need to exercise,” Michael moans.

He has just broken up with his ex, and wants to play the field for at least six months before even considering of entering into a new relationship.

He has just gotten out of two long-term relationships, one after another.

Hence, he wants to play.

He needs a dose of self-esteem though. He doesn’t think he’s attractive enough to get women. When I saw him the other night, the first thing he talked about was the need to go to the gym and buff up his body.

I insisted he looked fine. And he does.

As a Caucasian who speaks decent Chinese, Michael would have a lot of Taiwanese women chasing after him.

But he needs more confidence. Girls are extremely attracted to confident men.

I know I am.

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“Dating is extremely expensive,” Michael groans.

We had just finished talking about my being high maintenance. And he is now complaining that he doesn’t have the money to chase after women. He had just taken a quite-expensive trip to Hualien which sucked a lot of his savings dry.

To prove his point, he used me as an example.

He said that if I compute the amount of money the guy am seeing has been spending on me this month, it would easily surmount to NT$10,000 (Php 15,000).

I then told him that there are women who were “cheap dates.”

I am actually one.

It doesn’t really matter if a guy spends NT$1,000 or NT$10,000 in me. The most important thing is that I enjoy his company and that he cares for me as much as I care for him. And I believe the guy I’m seeing satisfies these qualifications.

I am not with him for his money.

Frankly, I couldn’t care less.

To illustrate, when I used to go out with my ex, since I was working and he was merely a student, I would usually pay for our meals… or sometimes, we’d go dutch. But I was a cheap date. He didn’t really spend a lot on me.

And I didn’t really mind.

But Michael insisted that a guy cannot be a cheapskate especially on the first date with a woman. He then went on to relate how much money one can spend for dinner… then coffee… then a walk in the park… then breakfast, if you last that long.

His point is, if you save on a woman on the first date, hell would freeze over before she accepts a second date with you…

Personally, I think that either he’s looking for the wrong women (I think girls who place much importance on money are quite shallow), or he needs a tremendous surge of confidence (There’s more to guys than money!).

I must admit, money is important to a point. But one doesn’t have to spend a lot to have fun.

For my second date with my guy, we had a lot of fun walking around the streets of Taipei. And on one of our outings, we just sat on the steps of the CKS Memorial Hall and talked till 8:30AM.

Money is important to a point… but the other person’s interesting company makes the date a memorable one.