Missed Connections

Is it possible to find love in the most unlikely of places? From coffee shops to gyms, to bars and dating apps, not that these are considered unlikely. I guess in my situation I wouldn’t call it love but definitely a feeling that made me yearn for more. Let’s take it back about 10 years to when this story began… It’s the weekend and I was out with a friend at a club downtown. And there she is. Just glowing in my eyes. The aura that she carries around her just ever so naturally. Standing out in front of everyone else (at least to me). As she glances my way, I give her “the look”. She then proceeds in my direction and introduces herself. “Hey, I’m Daisy!” From there we conversed for a little bit then I went out for a dance with her. She had on what I believe was this silky light brown sweater and one of the cutest smiles I’ve seen. Now, because this was around 10 years ago, I don’t remember exactly what happened. All I know is not long after our dance we parted ways, and I would never see her again. There is one thing I left out though… Daisy was a dancer at a strip club. Which brings me back to the unlikely of places on finding love. She was really sweet to me and might have been the best $20 I’ve ever spent. After hindsight has kicked in, I’m sure her being sweet and nice to me was just part of her job. But I refuse for that being the truth. So, Daisy (if that’s your real name), I just want you to know that it was more than just a dance. And hope you’re doing well with your life, considering Lady Godiva has been shut down now for some time.

VIP

I had just recently turned 21 and down the road from where I was living at the time was a nightclub. They were fairly new to the area but would only be opened for so many years. Seems I have a tendency to shut down clubs… literally. Anyway, we were celebrating my brother’s birthday. He likes to do things pretty big, and we most certainly did it big. I’m talking VIP and bottle service big. So, there I am with my friends and family making memories. I wandered around the club for a while (mainly because I got lost), and when I ended back up on the dance floor, I found people I knew and just started dancing. Looking back to this day, my cousin’s baby daddy was a really good wingman because he pulled me in to dance with this girl he was originally dancing with. She must have liked what I had to offer because we were getting down, and these hips don’t lie. We were making babies on that dance floor! And I remember what Will Smith’s character Hitch would say, “women relate dancing to sex.” It got to the point we were kissing right in the middle of the floor. One of the wildest things I’ve ever done in public. Afterwards, we left and started talking very briefly. I mentioned to her how my brother got us a VIP room in which I had no idea where it was. She would tell me how she was with people that were doing the same thing. This is where the alcohol blurred my memory a bit because something was said, and she gave me one last kiss before walking out the main entrance. It didn’t occur to me that that’s where we were at. It was so confusing being in the club that night not knowing where anything was. I always wondered if she was expecting me to chase after her or if she was just having a bit of fun. I guess we’ll never know.

Clueless

Maybe love just isn’t for me. Or maybe I have to be patient and just let everything fall into place when it has to, or I’m just not ready. Whether this is the Universe teasing me with potential mates or somebody Good Luck Chucked me, I don’t know what else to say. And on the rare occasions (and most likely this one) I’m just really clueless most of the time, for over the past decade at least. I’m happy to say I’m slightly more aware now! But before that, when I was at an amusement park with my old roommates, I yet again blew another opportunity. Heading into the day my friend’s girlfriend had a friend she wanted to introduce me to. So, at this point I was given the notice. After spending a couple hours already at the theme park and some time at the water park, my mind went blank for a moment. Because when I was finally introduced to this sexy young thang, our meet and greet was short lived. I had forgotten that I was there to meet a possible future ex and in the great words of Billy Madison and the guys from South Park would say, “YOU BLEW IT!” I sure did. My life in a nutshell. Although, I will score a touchdown from time to time, I seem to be better at handing the ball off… or fumbling at the goal line.

So, what can I take away from these past experiences, other than my life can be summed up by memes and gifs? Opportunities are always going to happen. How we handle a situation builds our characters as individuals. Pretty much makes us who we are today, why we have the friends we do, and how our family sees us. But who’s to say we can’t find love from a dancer at a strip club? Or grinding with a sexy little minx at a nightclub. Probably most people. But that’s not the point! Even though for me that feeling is felt more towards my crotchural region. It doesn’t deny the fact that we could find love just about anywhere. From any situation. Even if you’re shaking it for dollar bills (which I have done in the past myself). It’s not where or how you meet your potential, rather it’s getting to know each other along the way. No matter what the outcome may be, at least you’ll have one great story to tell.

First Plane Ride & Airbnb Experience

Introduction/Wedding

Planes, Airbnb and a wedding. None of this would have been possible if not for my friends Vincent and Eddie. If I went at this alone I’m certain I would have been lost at the airport and my flight would have left without me. With that, I would have missed out on a friend’s wedding and a hidden nightclub to say the least. So, to tell this story we’ll have to go back to 2015…

A friend of mine, Wae, recently moved to Texas and was soon to be married. Our history, he is the brother of my sister’s baby daddy. We knew each other already but when I got a temp job, not only did I work at the same location as him, but we ended up working in the same department. So that brought us closer together. Wae was a big influence during my early fitness days. He got me to workout with him at the gym he went to. And as we like to call it, we were getting “swole!”

So it was a traditional Lao wedding. An event that I believe goes on an entire week. But probably ended up being 2 days maybe. From preparations to having monks come and blessed those who are soon to be, and of course, the reception. Now, you know it’s an Asian wedding if there’s Remy Martin, Hennessey, Heineken and Corona involved. So, this wasn’t one of my most proudest moments, but when I was at the venue of the wedding sitting at a table, I noticed that the servers bringing out the food was wearing the exact same thing I was. A simple white button-down shirt with a black vest and tie. One of the guest at the wedding mistaken me for a server too. I’m sure they weren’t the only one. How embarrassing for me. Eventually, after a few drinks I was able to look past that and still managed to have a great time, even though I knew almost no one.

Posing before heading off to the wedding. (Photo by Eddie)
Sangria bar?
Art inside the Dallas museum
Candy shop with a bouncer?
Hidden nightclub. (All other photos complimentary by Vincent)

My Experience

Going back to the flight, I probably wouldn’t have even gone if I was by myself. Fortunately some of my friends wanted to tag along and experiencing the city of Dallas. The worst part about the flight for me was descending. Every time I flew my ears would pop, even when I would chew gum or tried plugging my ears. So the flight was taken care of for me as I set-up the Airbnb, which was a nice cozy apartment. Only like a 5 minute walk from downtown. Thank you Natalie for the listing! I would definitely stay there again if I find myself back in Dallas.

A lot of what we did was checking out dive bars, eating a really large pizza because, well, Texas. Found a nice Mexican restaurant with cheap margaritas, checked out the museum and a couple nightclubs. And I can’t say exactly how it happened but we somehow found ourselves inside a pretty cool nightclub, which was hidden behind or underneath a candy shop. Overall, it was a great experience for me with plenty more stories like this to come. Stay tuned!