Date #6: Annie Nigma

The Dove Parlour was the location and it’s definitely a romantic first date spot. But it was Sunday night and the place was empty. On the plus side, this allowed us to have our pick of tables and to get drinks easily from the friendly bartender. On the down side, I felt a little like we were on a TV show soundstage.

I had just spent what felt like the whole weekend in Chinatown (including a little Flight of the Conchords walking tour), so when Annie told me that she lived there, we had a lot to talk about from the get go. I’ve been interested in the idea of living down there for years, so it was pretty encouraging when she dispelled the myths of it being too dark, dirty, and smelly, telling me that her apartment was actually bright and had great views of downtown. Most amazing to me, she didn’t even eat in the neighborhood that often! That would be one of my top reasons for moving there, although I guess I’d probably get a little sick of eating that stuff if I lived there to. Familiarity breeds contempt and all that.

After the Chinatown talk, we got into the fact that she grew up in Asia (she’s from Taiwan, spent high school in Thailand) and I went into show-off mode, trying to find the right moments to talk about which Asian countries I’d visited, where my roommates were from, and saying “I like beer” and counting in Mandarin. I left out the fact that I had a Korean ex-girlfriend. Didn’t want her to think that I had an Asian fetish, which so many people are so quick to think if, god forbid, you’ve both dated one Asian girl AND been to Asia at some point. No one would say anything to me about having been to Israel and dating one Jewish girl, or Paris and one French girl, right? It just means I’m open to anything. I tell people that I have a smart, funny, pretty girl fetish. But I digress.

I also found out who designs the layout of the booths at massive trade shows (e.g. Auto Show, Consumer Electronics Show), namely her. She used to be an interior designer, but transitioned over to this work, which is sort of like massive interior design. In addition, we both like walking around New York a lot (a common meme on a bunch of dates it seemed) and think SoHo would be a weird place to live.

That last paragraph was a little random, but that’s how these conversations go. Nothing is planned out and stray thoughts could lead anywhere. We’ll see if that continues to be the case tonight on my last date of the week!

@2 years ago