Pret-A-Partay: The night we partied like rock stars...(title coined by Jessica)

Jessica whom I haven't seen since 2004 when she visited Toronto, was heading to Stereolab on a Saturday night when she pinged me and asked if we wanted to head there as well. I thought why not, we've never been to that place and we haven't seen her in ages.

With a 25 age limit, the place guarantees that it is NOT a crawlin' with young teenagers. It apparently is the seen and be seen place-to-be with a very creme de la creme exclusive guest list. The management is confident enough to say they want to be able to pick who gets in so that they have the 'right people' in their club. They don't even promise entry into the club if you're oh-so-lucky to get a ticket, that was of course their delusion BEFORE the club actually opened. The cover charge of $38, inclusive of one drink kinda put us off at first. I mean that's pretty steep for a cover, doncha think?? Well, looks like the hype for the newly opened place has died down considerably.

Da Bi and I pulled up at the Pan Pacific Hotel at 11.45pm and the place was crawlin' with more doormen and valet parkers than partay patrons. There were three lines outside the club - VIPS, regular club guests and reservations - and they were all empty. Talk about exclusivity, we were whisked right by to the ticket counter. We were in for surprise - $23 for women and $28 for men, inclusive of 2 drinks!! SCORE! Another sign that the club isn't doing as well as they like if they lowered the $38 cover charge to that.

Once we got our tix, we saw a sparse group of people standing around, in front of big double doors and it turned out they were waiting for their membership cards to the place. TO THIS PLACE?? Ok, whatever, if people wanted to wait in line, let them wait in line. We were once again whisked right in. Boy, do we feel like the creme de la creme now.

What greeted us disappointed us, empty cushy seats and tables and the people standing? I could probably count them on my hands if I made 2 rounds of the place. What happened to the 'smiling faces' and people feeling the music (as advertised) in this place? I saw a few women in ball gowns! YES, ball gowns! Some grandpa in a white blazer and a whole lot of unfriendly, disinterested people with pretentious, shi shi attitudes.

The music was indeed interesting though, a bit of soul, a bit of jazz, a bit of funk with electronic beats, not sure if it's our cup of tea. I just can't dance to endless thumping beats and electric sabre sounds all night.

We couldn't find Jessica and friends, turned out they were chillin' in the Stereolounge, another room that didn't require patrons to pay to get in! Damn, jibbed again!! The lounge was a bit fuller but no means a busy area. Met another secondary school friend, Weisan! She has not changed one bit, still cute as a button. All of us grew up and matured but not her, she's still the vision of a baby! Obviously, someone has the fountain of youth piped to her personal faucet.

Met a couple other peeps, like Jess's colleague, Natasha, Weisan's very young looking boyfriend and some others.

2 bottles of Moet champagne later, we wondered if we could utilize our drink tickets that we got from our cover charges. The waitress informed us that we could not do so in Stereolounge, only Stereolab and we couldn't bring our drinks over. I thought that was kinda ridiculous since we paid to get in while everyone in the lounge didn't have to. I told the waitress that she should tell management what a bad policy I thought that was. She was polite and apologetic and we were resigned to our fates. 5 minutes later, she came back and told us she would take our tix. Now, that's what I call customer service!

Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to keep us there. After the 3rd bottle of champagne, we decided we were gonna party like rock stars, actually Jessica decided. :p She was adamant to paint the town red and all of us were happy to oblige.

Chillin' with Jess, Natasha and Greg at Stereolounge.

That's Jason, Weisan's b/f and Weisan, flanking Da Bi and I. Speaking of young looking...seriously, just look at them! The minute I was introduced to Jason, the first thing I said was 'YOU LOOK LIKE A BOY!' to which he chirped in goodnaturedly, 'I AM A BOY!'

I turned to Weisan and said, 'Good for you!' She is 3 years older than him and that is not an issue between them which I think is great! I mean maybe he is THE secret to her youth, yes??!

This prompted a short conversation about women dating younger men. Maybe this is what is needed. A youngER man who can keep up and why shouldn't that be the case? For years, men have been on the prowl for younger, more energetic, more youthful women to be eye candy and trophy g/fs and wives so what's if this was reversed? Younger men want to please their women more because they know their women have had more experience, more life, more things to compare to. They want to measure up, they want others to know how their strong-like-bull stamina keep their women happier, lovelier and how they get less of those silly tantrums they put up with if their women were younger. They know their women are confident and have no hang ups about being seen with younger men. They own confidence is pumped because they make their women look so attractive and they know it too.

This not so new trend is breaking down traditional barriers and gaining mainstream momentum. Women today are no longer with men for reasons of yester-eras. They don't need men for financial security as many surpass them on the same corporate ladder. They don't need men for emotional support as they are more in tune with their needs and know what they want and what they can get. Heck, they don't even need men to have babies anymore. They want an equal, someone to make them laugh, live and love. Women who date younger men are the new confident lot! Not that there's anything new with that, just look at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon and Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry.

Is age really such an issue? Only if you make it out to be. I mean, seriously, imagine the kinda young, fun, wild, crazy sex these couples have! Ok, now, stop imagining.

The boys...man we feel so old around them...but they were tons of fun! That's Rash (??), Laurence and Jason with their godfather. Muahahahaaa...

Next stop: Butter Factory at 1 Fullerton. Da Bi and my first time there as well. The entrance was jam packed full of people, mostly younger folks, some glamourous, some trashy, some indie types, but mostly trendy. Since Jess had made reservations, we bypassed all the sorry blokes and were whisked in again. The cover charges were the same as Stereolab.

The club has 2 rooms, one playing trance and the other hip hop. We obviously headed straight to the hip hop room and stayed there for the rest of the night. The DJ was pretty good, even his amateur beat boxing was passable for a local Chinese dude. The only thing that mattered was that he got people on their feet and hands in the air. The only problem with this place was that it was waaaay too crowded. If it had a bit more dancing and breathing space, it would've made for a more pleasant clubbing night. We'll come back here, if we're feeling ghetto fabulous.

We had way too much fun outside the club. We actually contemplated not going in and just hanging outside as we went snap happy.