My flight touched down in San Francisco just after 10pm. After picking up my checked baggage, I took the Bart to Civic Centre to rendez-vous with Peggy at Hotel Whitcomb. She had arrived in the city in the early afternoon. Even before I got some late dinner, we decided to find ourselves a lounge/club to go to – after all, we were in San Francisco, on a Saturday night, old partners in crime…
We went to Bambuddha Lounge, hoping to have some Asian fusion late night nibblies, whilst listening to a little house music. When we got there, food service had stopped and the lounge had stopped playing house 3 weeks ago. Now they play hip hop and we all know that hip hop and I go together like chalk and cheese.
One of the door guys recommended Ruby Sky, a venue that plays house, but my tummy had to be placated before we went any further. After gnoshing on pizza across the street, we found out that Vancouver offers an even better nightlife than San Francisco. All clubs close at 2pm and there’s practically no after hours here.
But all was not lost – the Bambuddha doorman told us of an after hours place that is quite insider; a little hard to find and only those in the know know. Ooooh! The place is called Insomnia and it’s located on Sketch street, between Skeevy and Down and Out. (or Mission between 8th and 9th, but you didn’t hear it from me). It’s located down an unlit alley; a non-descript building with a black door and 6’7″ doorman. Exactly how it used to be in the good ole days!
Peggy and I felt a wave of deja vu as we ascended the steps and into a huge white Warholian warehouse space; only this time, there were designer couches, loveseats, sectionals, ottomans, round beds as places to sit. Sweet!
The music vacillated between club hits, gay anthems and some house. The crowd was neither young, nor old, and everyone came with good vibes from nearby clubs. The scene was going to 6am, but we left at the respectable time of 330am, as we’d like to wake up at a respectable time (by noon, at least), set loose on the streets to hit the shops hard and do some serious damage to our credit cards.
It rocks to travel with your bestest pal.
View more pics of my trip on my Flickr album.
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