Sunday, October 31, 2004

Sushi, Beer and L.A. Parties

This was one crazy night that had it all.... sushi, beer...costume parties!!

It was Friday night, and my roomate, Dan along with his friends that were visiting from England to attend a Neuroscience conference in San Diego, invited me to join them to dinner. So I tagged along where they went to TODAI, an all you can eat sushi restaurant a few blocks from our apartment.

Dan's friends - Baz, Jules, Amy and Jaime were the neurological lab technicians who I was dining out with. I have never been to an all you can eat sushi joint before. This place was nice. All sorts of sushi -- some I've never seen before, were all available for me to sample.


Jules (left) poses while Amy (right) takes a picture

After dinner, we took a bus up to 11th Street in Santa Monica and walked up to Montana where we went to get a drink at the Father's Office. Its a real nice bar, that is more of a lounge with all sorts of specialized world beers. We had the intention of going in and finding a table and chatting while the smooth music played in the background, as previous visits I've had there. But this time, that was not the case. The place was packed, with almost not a seat to sit at. We did find a little space at the back of the bar. We got drinks, and just chilled. As to Baz and Jules' surprise, the establishment does not serve any vodka. None. So they decided to go back to the apartment and pick some up at the store.

The rest of us hung out drinking lagers and met up with our other friend, Roberto. We were hoping for my roomate, Alex to meet up with us at Father's Office, but he was at a company costume party.

I met 2 girls who had a table who mentioned that they were from New York. One was quite outspoken by it by wearing an "I LOVE NY" t-shirt. When I engaged into conversation with her, she was more of a FAN of NY, while her friend was the real New Yorker hailing from Brooklyn and now living in LA.

Later in the night, our friend, Oscar came by and met up with us after finishing his work shift. He told us that there was a party that we could go to after we finish our beers. A "french" party actually.

Yes, where all the people spoke french.

So we all packed into Oscar's Honda and he took us there. At the front there was a security dude making sure that we all know to keep our drinks inside the house. We go into a private residence where this party was happening. Half of the people dressed in costume, the other half not. As I moved my way through the people following the music looking around for where the liquor is, I greeted everyone bouncing between english and french.


This is a pic of the kitchen area of the French Party

The party was definitely bumpin'! Lots of cool people. I made it to the dance floor (the main living room of the house) and saw the DJ doing his thing from a desktop computer. I ventured back towards the kitchen and found the dining table had all the drinks and snacks. So I made myself a drink. Jaime was the only one close to me, so we stuck together looking for a place to chill out. After getting our drinks we headed back into the main area so I could meet some more people.

I was talking to some girls, who looked like they needed someone to hold thier digital cameras and take snapshots of them. So I offered my assistance. After that, they returned to dancing, as I joined in. I met some guys from Germany, Denmark and France. I told them how I was Canadian. They responded how much they love Canada and wish they could live there. Nice to know.

Well, the party went for a while. I had a great time. Then somewhere in the mix, my roomate Alex makes it there and meets up with us. That was fun seeing him there. We left that party and Oscar drove us to another party back in Westwood.

A girl named Tiffany was holding her own little costume party at her residence. There wasn't much happening there, but there was a lot of liquor and food. On her TV, she had the "GOONIES" playing. So some guys and I were on the couch watching that.


The guys on the couch at Tiffany's Party

The night dwindled down and we called it a night. What a fun Friday. My English friends totally had a great time.