This weekend has been a relatively slooooow one for me. Aside from a super wild rave party last Saturday, everything was pretty slow.

First, last Friday, a friend and I tried out the two-year old Olala for some delicious French cuisine. Touted as one of the favorite restaurants of expats here in Taipei, Olala’s service was terrific and the food was divine!

Upon recommendation of chef/owner, Paco, we tried a sampler dinner. Starting with a spinach and leek soup and hot goat cheese salad, we were served a main entre of foie gras, veal fillet and sirloin steak.

My dinner companion was sick, so we declined the extensive wine list. Bill-wise, it’s quite up there with Ruth Chris, as our bill was almost NT$3,500 for two. Nevertheless, it was definitely a nice dinner and a place worth trying again for… though only for super-special occasions!

After the dinner, we headed down to the Brass Monkey for some jazz fun! Unfortunately, the crowd wasn’t really too much to my liking. Mostly, coming from LA (no insult intended), they were acting like “wannabe socialites” so I had this sudden urge to leave.

Good thing I decided to stay because after I sat down and started to socialize, I met this pretty cool 27-year old woman (who looks 16) who’s also interested in heading towards Egypt. So in case I continue on my plans, I can give her a call and go there with her!

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As for Saturday, we had to cancel our paintball event due to the rain.

As a result, I had one of the slowest Saturdays in a looong time, just sleeping till 11:30AM, waking up to eat and watching “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow”, and then sleeping again till 5:30PM and watching this B-rated alien in Mars film in HBO — a big change where I usually have 3-4 activities planned.

Regardless, I made up for my slow Saturday by dressing up and heading out once again to a wild birthday party in Peitou! Full of Roteract members and salsa dancers, it was a fun party where various types of liquors were just flowing (though you’d have to mix them yourselves) and lots of interesting characters to meet…

There was Brian, a playboy wannabe, who admitted that he was a bisexual (he had a one-year experience) but insists that he’s now interested in women… and proceeds to kiss the birthday boy just to prove his point.

There was Jocelyn, who was so in love with Brian that she got so wasted when she realized he wasn’t into her, and proceeded to get drunk the whole night, and forced Brian’s friend to take care of her…

There was Yan, Jocelyn’s friend, who had to take care of Jocelyn half the night, and earned her ire when Brian was paying too much attention to her (what’s it with jealous Taiwanese women?!)…

There was Yaya, who spent almost a decade in the US, but most notably, a year in Bali learning how to do a Balinese dance (she gave me a demonstration). She had this intrinsic capability to “feel” and was extremely sensitive to everything around her…

There was Sean, salsa extraordinaire and is a doctor at NTU doing a study in zebra fishes and his beautiful research assistant Celine, who at 27 years old is planning to do her PH.D. in the US…

There was Chiah who was a junior at National Taiwan University and will head Roteract in June… which is impressive since she’s so young…

There was Andrew, the birthday boy, who was the butt of jokes since he had to join this hilarious kissing game, with interesting consequences (e.g., guest kisses his nipples, or eats a seafood strip from his butt)…

And so much more!

Since we had to mix our drinks ourselves, I’ve also discovered a really nice alcoholic concoction! If you guys have a party, try this:

* A shot or two of Kahlua
* Coconut cream
* Calpis – Japanese yoghurt drink for that special fizz
* Lots and lots of ice!

Call it the Raven’s Refreshing CocoSpecial! ;-D

Try it, it’s delish!

All the people who tried it told me it was the best drink they’ve tasted in ages!

“Tastes like a Pina Colada without the pineapple,” they said.

But if you do, please credit me, all right? 😀

Afterwards, we headed towards Nankang 101, where we checked out DJ Tiesto, hailed as the #1 DJ in the world, do some spins. There were over 3,000 party-goers there and it was really wild! I even bumped into my friend Jason in the entrance!

I’m pretty sure there were a lot of drugs in the house, though I didn’t see any. Water was pretty expensive though at NT$100 a bottle. Not a big deal considering the tickets were around NT$1,200 (NT$1,500 at the door).

The beats were still thumping at 3:30AM when we decided to go home. Music-wise, though DJ Tiesto may be the best DJ in the world, I still prefer DJ Paul Van Dyke who has more memorable beats. Regardless, I’m glad I went… at least, now I know what type of beats are well-received right now.

Here are some pics of the event to share:

The crowd… more than 3,000 at least!

Weird costumed alien characters who gave away free glowsticks to everyone (Yeah, baby!):
The one who opened (whom I felt was way better than Tiesto):

DJ Tiesto himself…

And in the center of the venue, lies this really weird sight:
Okay, so DJ Tiesto’s so boring, it can put you to sleep…

Rock on… rock hard!
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As for Sunday, woke up really late at 1PM (but hey, I did sleep really late the night before!) and sped to the Sherwood Hotel to have champagne tea with a friend. We were discussing about the prospect of my organization and their company to do a project together.

As a result of two glasses of bubbly champagne, I had a really bad headache for the whole afternoon. Regardless, it was a good afternoon as I got to touch base with a potential friend.

I then met up with my girlfriends and had dinner with them at Herbs Villa.

Big sigh.

It was, “Let’s sermon Raven…” time…

First off, they were concerned of the recent changes in me.

Mary Anne was especially troubled on how callous I’ve treated BFF Michael after I let him down. She said, “The old Raven wouldn’t do the thing you did. She would’ve called him up and immediately apologized.“

Karen was concerned on the effects Ex#2 had with me. She said that being with him is unhealthy and I’ve been spoiled of nice dinners, had higher expectations with men, and hanging out with the wrong type of crowd.

Both were bothered on how I need to schedule my week to the fullest, always trying to do something everyday.

“It’s as if you can’t stand to be alone,” Mary Anne said.

They said that I’ve become more self-centered, superficial, materialistic, unhappy and lost. And because they were my good friends, they were becoming more concerned.

Big sigh.

First Ex#2, now… my best girlfriends…

How will I react to this?

I’m still processing it and finding out if their claims have merit.

Yes, I do agree that I’ve been quite unhappy lately. It seems that as if my qi has been out of whack these past couple of months and I’ve been like a ship without an anchor. Definitely, I’m less bubblier than I was before…

Regardless, I don’t think I’ve changed THAT badly.

Nevertheless, I’d like to process these further and try to see if what they said have merit, and if it bothers me that these things bother them.

I’ll get back to you on these.

Anyway, almost time to get off! Hope you guys have a great Monday afternoon! C’est La Vie!