Continuing from my last post, I went to an Irish bar with Chiyo on Monday. It’s where my boss plays trad music with a few guys and I wanted to show her a little bit of Ireland so I invited her out. She wore the most adorable polka-dot dress with matching shoes and looked totally out of place there, but she had a good time and the way she looked at how the bar was set up and what drinks they were selling reminded me of how I look when I go into a big electronics store. On the way we passed a Scientology building and there were two ladies at the door who asked “would you guys like to see a movie?” as we approached.
“No thank you, we’re on our way somewhere,” I replied without slowing down.
“Where are you going?”
Annoyed with the question, I replied “my thetan levels are fine, thanks. Have a good night!” and we walked around the corner, out of their field of view.
In the Irish bar there were a few advertisements for Oysterfest, and I guess this got Chiyo thinking about oysters, so I asked around at work and Jason, who knows everything about eating out in this city, recommended a place in the Castro. We decided to go there on Thursday. Didn’t it happen that that very morning, the California Supreme Court made a ruling which lifted the ban on same-sex marriage, and with the Castro being the gay centre of San Francisco (and San Francisco being the gay centre of the world), it was a little crazy. People who were queuing for the oyster bar were talking about registering for their weddings the next morning and all.
The oysters were pretty good. There were two types and I much preferred one to the other but I have no idea which were what. All I know is they were raw and I had no problem eating them. I’d eat raw oysters over a salad any day still. I just can’t get used to vegetables but if it was never attached to roots I can pretty much eat it, so oysters, steamed clams and prawns were all a-ok.
We left the oyster place and I looked down the street and noticed some movement in the distance. As we approached, I saw that half of Castro street had been closed off by the police, a huge sound system had been set up, and a whole lot of men were dancing to the techno music. We walked around a bit and I managed to spot a few straight couples but not many. We were clearly in a minority and one guy came up and asked us if we were lesbians. Another guy passed by and said “ewww”. A lady was wandering around with a “available for marriage (great catch!)” sign taped to her. Lots of balding middle-aged men popped and locked together, shirtless, in the street. I held Chiyo as close as could… I don’t know if I’d have the courage to get so close to the crowd without her!
