Hi there i want to share this story with all of you as an example of a new trend I am following with some CD friends whenever is possible, please feel free to comment or add new ideas for our next time. I posted this story in some Asian forums already for local CD, TV, TG etc and surprisingly i got many fans
, plus an invitation to publish this on a well known TG magazine, the bottleneck for my ok on that is that i need to publish my picture as well, I am not ready to do that yet.
I hope you all will enjoy the story cheers.
Veronica heeling in Asia
Last week was one Veronica's incredible adventure around Shanghai,
After few experiences out and about I must say that this one is actually the best, so i will try to include all the details as far as i will remember.
Everything started with some emailing from Stephanie.
One day, after checking my emails as regular, I got this email of someone saying she was familiar with Shanghai City but looking for a safe place or area where she can try to go out dressed up. The moment I read that email i felt it was not an usual posting from the yahoo groups but actually i knew it was someone with the same questions i was asking before when i just relocated to China few years ago, I felt to respond to him with my best generated and well evaluated ideas i was working on since many months ago but i never put them on practice because i never had the guts to do it alone.
I don't know if it was what she was looking for at that moment but it looked like she was up to try them up together, for that i got the good feeling of something new was going o happen to me and to how i see life and this hobbie of dressing up.
I started to plan over 3 days the entire trip, how to reserve the hour by hour schedule. I was feeling really bad to not being able to tell this adventure to my family and friends, but another dear TG friend "Catherine Churchman" opened a little my eyes and she asked me the question how important is this to you ? and if i will get another opportunity again? based on my answers i think i made a immediate decision, past opportunities I let pass and i regret deeply, and about when i will do it again, it is impossible to say, because each opportunity will never appear again the same way, maybe will get others but this one in shanghai is unique for now.
I must say that this experience is also dedicated to the beautiful Michelle from NZ who has gone through this and many other experiences here and there, and who has gave me many suggestions and helped me out to understand what this hobbie means to me.
So finally i went for it confirmed my assistance to Stephanie (coming from overseas), i made reservation at a service apartment one block from hers rather than in a hotel as i think i will have trouble to pass the lobby and entrance wearing a s woman, i was not really prepared for that as i never got the experience to go out in front of people on any given day or night besides Halloween, I went ahead and carefully locate the hotel of my friend, plus the places of interest we wanted to go, which were a cd photo studio and a lounge club where only women go.
I selected a big service apartment (50sqm) in the central area of shanghai near Nanjing rd area, walking distance from the hotel of my friend,
I also confirmed a reservation and gave notice to the studio to receive us first around 5-6 then i had to change at 730pm, they were very friendly and made our way very smooth in order to go with the process, it was a great and sane experience.
At the same time I was in contact with my dear friend Charlene who is activist in the Shanhailgbt community she already gave me good advise before on places to go etc, sadly i haven't met her in person yet, but we are in contact, etc, well this time she nailed it as no one did on my entire life, Thanks Charlene!!!, she refer me to a lala bar known as "BABALA", and told her dear friend, owner of the place Carmen that we were coming on that night and etc, It was i nice touch, because i was worrying to go all the way dressed up with my friend coming from overseas and have to face a complication at the entrance, well in fact everything went better than perfect, first the people at the entrance were very professional and very nice, they saw us and first smile at us and let us in, then all the adventure on that location begun, i will tell later the details.
Back to the time i was booking everything, that day i felt i was doing something forbidden, it is what every dresser felt and will feel before the first and maybe the second time until the feeling is assured, i still have to feel the next time a similar thing but im sure with less intensity than this time, but excitement is and will always be there. For some people when they already got used to dress out and about the excitement is less intense to none, i am afraid to find my self on that case. therefore i need to enjoy every step i do now.
I planned my journey, Saturday afternoon, i arrived to the service apartment, it was already 5pm, i was late, i was suppose to connect in messenger to talk to my wing man then, "Stephanie" as by then he was at her hotel room, but the first unexpected thing happened....there were no internet at my room!!! dammit, so i desperately needed to connect from any other location before steph will think i was a complete scam, well i did connect from the reservations office of the apartment hotel, they were also very kind and let me do my thing.
Fortunately i was counting with a patient and very excited Stephanie popping his fingers at the other side of the chat, i felt great!! this is real...i just could send her an email and took her phone and room number where she was staying, i was thinking she was going to prefer to keep her real id a little confidential but indeed she had confidence to let me know that by email before knowing each other, for that i reciprocally felt i could trust as well.
I called him, and surprising to me he sounded very friendly and outgoing, when i was expecting someone also like me a little scared or shy, that positive attitude was essential for the whole experience, because it made me feel good and trusting we were not going to have awkward moments.
He came over to my apartment complex, I suggested to meet him in the front so it was easier for him to locate the entrance of the tower, so we met in the middle of the sidewalk like two dudes who were friends since many many years, like if both friends knows stories not told about each other, something valuable in life that both lived before. I though regardless on what was actually the personality of steph, to elaborate an ice breaker to know each other as much as possible respecting limitations naturally, so i suggested to cross the street and go for some drinking supplies, to tell the truth it was decades i haven't went for emergency drinking supplies as i normally drink beer or not drink at all, so i felt the need to maybe invest on a vodka or a nice liqueur bottle, ..after some minutes on looking here and there, i saw that maybe i was worrying too much about a simple drink, so i continue asking steph about his choice, he told me nothing concrete like it was up to me, then he told me he was already carrying something already, well so i needed to take something to mix with, then i did, he was carrying a vodka bottle at 2/3 of its contain, of course it was enough and thank god the vodka was nice. he confess he already got some...really? i knew he was very calm and not showing any nervousness, don't forget he already went out on many occasions but never in shanghai. for him that day was his international opening day.
Once at my apartment, we started to have a nice conversation about our nature and how we feel about it etc, we also talk about personal stuff and what we wanted for that night, respect as two men was always present, maybe this was the best of this friendship.
We ingested more than half of the bottle of vodka and left at 715 from my apartment, we were carrying a suitcase each , with our gear of course, it was like a movie, getting out from a hotel with a suitcase each as if we were gonna do a job somewhere, hahaha. the difference of that similarity with the movies is that inside were dresses, garter belts, hoses and heels, and in the movies anything but hose items of course!! we went ahead took a taxi to MAYACDER studio,
We arrived to the location which is on a nice residential complex, once we arrived our friend "Apple" from the studio came down for us and took us to the venue, which is a 3 or 4 story town house on one of the towers,
I have to confess i was very nervous about it i never though i was going to dress up with other people and even go and take pics, am i crazy? well i was already there, i never felt like turning around and leaving so that was a good sign,
I must confess once we entered the venue i felt good, secure and with people that were very experienced with cds, also the opinion of steph helped me out a lot to feel better. i think i would never be able to go there alone.
Our friend "Apple" who was the only one English speaker took us to the last floor where all the dresses, skirts and shoes are, he told us to pic up what we needed and liked and gave us an explanation about the costs and prices of lingerie for sale etc, i got to say that stage in the process took about 30 minutes, but they were very nice trying to be clarify every detail with us and making us comfortable on anything we needed to ask etc, even other gurls came over upstairs to help with the translation.
I took a look over the shoe rack first, and steph took a browse over the mini dresses, he loved them all, and was showing me one after another etc, it was very fun seeing someone actually interested on something i like to do and all my life i though it was weird or maybe wrong.
I tried 4 pair of shoes, they were not the best but at least different from what i already have. i wanted to dress as a Chinese traditional lady and take pics with traditional poses, i thought that a studio in shanghai deserves me to do something like that and if i have a second chance to go i can do something more casual or sexy as i can do it in another studio depending the geographic location.
So i went for a red Chinese gown "cheongsam" with red ankle stiletto pumps 4inch high heel, they were very uncomfortable but fitted my dress very well, also i don't have any red pumps at all i wanted to try how they look over black fishnets, the pattern of my fishnets were roses and all the people who saw them told me they were so pretty, i must say i haven't seen anything like it here in china funny but true, other patterns but not that one.
It took me maybe 30 minutes to arrange my padding, my corset and bra, etc, and then fit the dress over and close it, the gown was a little big for me, i didn't care as i think if it is too tight it would look small in the pic and will show my shoulder too wide etc, even if they will make photo shop effects on the selected pictures i was going to choose later.
Stephanie fell in love with a pink mini mini dress very nice color and material and of course taste, she likes a very sexy look, and that's very good as i like that too, cause if in the future we want to go out as two slutty gals i have some one to team up, but i don't have the guts yet to go half naked hahahaha.
she was quick i didnt see much when she was getting ready there in the same room, i think she just went straight ahead put on new hose and her wig and here own shoes, she was quick i must say, by the time she was already going downstairs for her make up, i was still wearing on my bra.
I kept trying other gowns but my original selection was the best.
Suddenly i heard a big slam downstairs and people saying huhhh, i though something like a box fell or broke, later on Steph told me it was her with her heels when going down the stairs, i felt so bad, fortunately she didnt broke anything only a bruise that next day he felt hurting a little. so the experience of heels with half vodka bottle in china style stairway is not a good combination!! Fortunately Steph is a very strong girl and could keep ongoing with the plan.
I finally got my outfit on with my shoes and gown was very nice red with gold, I look to my self in the mirror and said "here we go" and went downstairs to join the others, I have to say that there were other dressers doing the same as us in other rooms, i think this studio has many other services, and is like a cd club where people mostly locals get together and mingle in heels and hose. Later we found out the do activities, trips, get together etc, is a nice place for people that cannot find where to dress up at home or are willing to meet other like minded people with nothing more than friendship, admiration and of course privacy.
Once I arrived to the first floor i saw Steph getting ready with the make up, she was awesome, i could tell that lady was the guy that came with me minutes ago, simply incredible the artist was a real artist her name is Kitty and she did a really nice work there with Steph, she appeared to me like a celebrity as soon as she stood up on her heels everybody there wanted to talk with her and i guess she made one or two cd Chinese friends. I was hearing all kind of questions to her and she seemed to enjoy the curiosity of the people around, I mean you can get questions for the objective of motivation, admiration or simply to learn more, and we all want that. I must say i learn a lot that weekend from her and from other people.
In the meantime i was taken care by Kitty, doing my face, she did a very dramatic look, on my opinion she put my face with a very light color suitable to the Chinese gown "Cheongsam" and used very red blush, i think the effect with the camera was more like a Chinese style rather than a casual one, i like it, she put also fake eyelashes with rhinestone on it, and made my lips bloody red with a shiny layer, it was very sexy, the best thing was how she made my natural eyebrows, she hide the extremes of them and defined them very thin, I was another person the moment i saw my look thru the mirror, even without a wig, then she put a straight black hair wig on me, arranged it and i found my self like a real doll, that was fun, i though this is not what i want to be but this is really fun, i though also this nite will be a good nite like the song.
By the time steph finish her shoot i was trying some jewelry, Chinese style that goes with the dress, minutes after I was ready to go onstage they also did nails on me, red of course, steph said "why i didnt get those too?" i said "please go ahead tell em are very easy, they put them on in 10 minutes these are stickons, easy to remove after wards." I must say they were prepared with all kind of things, nothing was missing at the venue.
I was asked to go to the front and pose, first with a Chinese fan, different positions, i was a little stiff, i realized i needed to look more natural anyway that was a game for me and was supposed to be fun, !...so i started to make use of slutty and feminine poses against my nature, just to see how it goes, well i think some positions i did them better than Beyonce, hahaha
I tried later an umbrella and other different things, the photographer knew the best positions according to the style i choose, that was a plus, so i stay on stage longer and enjoyed more i think.
after the shoot, Steph and me were asked to come with all the people that were there with us for clubbing but we already had plans with Carmen at BABALA waiting for us, surprisingly they were going to BABALA too, so we were going to meet them in a bit, also we needed to leave our bags at our hotels in order to enjoy more the night and worry less, my plan was to come back to my place and leave both bags there, take two shots each and go as we were already dressed to BABALA, but we needed to take two taxis one for going to hotel and another one to go to the club, the challenge of crossing the lobby entrance of the apartments in heels and mini skirts was done twice!!!, well we did it, and that was fun,
We, Steph and I never stopped from talking to each other and never felt awkward in front of people listening our male masculine voices while our aspect was like a hooker, I think and i liked it, even when we were getting out from MAyas. while out getting out from Maya studio another expat was lost in the complex garden looking for the exit, and he asked us for directions, Steph answer back quick with no sign of nervousness, she is used to this, with his male voice, i was feeling wow this guy will have the best story for the night when he will join his friends, and thanks to us, i felt very shy, and admit i hid my face a little.
Steph seemed to be very sure of her self while enfemme mode, she looks like a super model of Las Vegas, that was a nice moment and it was very fun.
Then we ran to get a taxi, there were two taxis, one was taken by that foreigner we met two minutes before he run to it , i guess he felt very shy to stay around us. and the other came behind, i crossed the street and everybody around us were looking, even the guy behind the cab made comments in Chinese, i remember well, i had to bend over to put my suitcase in the trunk I am sure i flashed all the guys behind us, for sure steph did that too,
we went into the cab, and gave directions to the driver, he was very happy to have us there and respectful at the same time.
The adventure was getting more and more fun and exciting, we were talking and talking about the experience there at mayas and what we like the most and what we should try next etc.
Once we arrived to my place the cab dropped us just in front of the entrance, and again i had to get out from the taxi, male style, i have no experience sorry, flashing even the birds, and going to the trunk and take my suitcase as all the world were looking at us.
I got to mention that is normal that everybody were looking at us as i was wearing a tiny tiny mini skirt over fishnets in flowers with a 4.5 very thin high heel black pumps, plus a reddish long hair wig and Steph was wearing a shiny, luminescent mini dress, that was actually hiding nothing but the underwear, on shiny hose, and a nice pair of DD in front of her showing the personality, not to mention that her look is of a very hot tall blond with nice thin features in the face. with blue eyes.
So two tall foreign "females" dressed like that at 10pm were not gonna be invisible in the middle of Shanghai, and less when they look like hey look is she a man? I mean..... i have to say that what are the odds to be passable? not much...not here? .. not in china lets be realistic. Also we were not hiding the male attitude at all, we were who we are and well if we look straight to the people outside and wearing lingerie, well sorry to include this to the universe , this really exists and don't ask us why? the point is that we were having fun.
We went upstairs to my place i felt so relieved, but that was just half of what was happening that day.
I open the door of the apartment ....Straight to hit the vodka bottle, we served all the rest of the bottle asap and we felt like new and full of energy, amazing!!!!!!, ...i changed shoes because my first pair was not what i though, and was not comfy, dont worry i kept on 4.5 inches high heels strapped shoes with back zipper on the back of the shoe, nice black silky material, conic heel very sexy. I already worn those once out, but never like that night.
We then went downstairs again, ahhh yes the guard was just watching us entering the lobby!!!, and when we went back to the front door he salute at us, ..., we were laughing in the cab about that, I remember we answered to him in a deep male voice whats up!!, or something like that. he smiled back.
When we were calling a cab to stop i noticed that a foreign couple eating at one of the Chinese fast food bbq at the corner of the street, kept looking at us and the girl more than the guy was the one that was most impressed about our aspect,
Why are girls who have to evaluate first what one is wearing? i felt like if she was jealous about how my skirt looked on me, i dont blame it, honestly... as a guy i think it look far much much better than many girls out there. but maybe she was not actually looking at me but at my friend as she was wearing a very sexy brilliant pink halter mini dress completely tight, maybe was that and i think it was really really sexy.
We made the stop finally to one driver who very happy was willing to takes us, it was not a problem to ask him directions. Once we arrived to BABALA club, he made a stop on a very dark street, i was wondering if that was the correct address the driver seemed to be sure of that, we ask him to enter the street, and check if we can see the place or something like what we were looking for, and there it was...in luminescent sign "BABALA" i felt excited.
We approached the door there were many girls around very welcoming and smiling to us, I felt very good vibes, and though this is a place i wanted to go since always, we paid a normal cover to get in around 30rmb per person, we haven't said we were looking for Carmen, and some one hosted us to get inside, i asked after wards for Carmen, as soon as we pass a thick curtain in the entrance there it was a stage and many seats full of people all girls of all kind, all having fun together, they saw us coming thru and many tgirls and gg's went to welcome us and invite us to dance, it was so quick and so to the point, (me as a guy when i fetch a girl to dance actually takes me time and maybe making the move if/ when sure) this was actually instantaneous those girls and tgirls really wanted to dance with us, at the stage, i was really confused on what was going on actually too many things to focus, i never had that feeling, never nervousness nor shyness, actually i wanted to see what was going on upstairs and to get a drink urgently, my friend had the same reaction. One thing was for sure i was happy and very excited.
So we turned down the dance to the girls down there in a nice way of course with promise of coming back to dance with all those girls, sadly we never did, i guess the time was too short. I definitely will take a shot to dance a whole nigh with all those crazy, sexy, happy, friendly crowd next time.
So we were going upstairs in a thin stairway, and there she was Carmen with much more crowd, there were many tall tables and chairs, a pool table, many sofas and private areas as well and the place was packed of ladies and tgirls and all kind of ftm mtf etc, it was crazy and fun, the best was that everybody were happy friendly, RELAXED, and trustful to the people there, i even left my purse somewhere and didnt mind that someone was going to be interested, that doesnt mean you dont need to be careful with you belongings at a public place just for avoiding confusions or misunderstandings.
So there we were, Steph and I, taking looks all around and commenting to each other one time and another, "wow", "nice environment", "how fun", "how nice"," look at those girls", etc, we were invited to sit on a table with many other people, they were very friendly, they told us there it was a party going on, i said really? and sarcastically respond well it doesn't look like, there were i think more than 20 tgirls around dancing sitting, drinking, talking walking around us and talking about us to their friends around, other ggs were also around mingling, and having fun with all the crowd that was at that moment on that wing of the venue, i hardly can tell how many people i met, and what were their names as i was actually registering already too much info etc,
When we sat down, i was asked first to go ahead and take a sit on the sofa around the table and scoop a little to let others fit as well, i was trying to keep my legs together and not flash no one as my skirt was really short, well i noticed that everybody there were not caring about that as they had the same challenge all were in mini skirts or dress, when i reached my place a guy scooped from the other side of the table, it was a man around 40, maybe one of the only male figures in the place, he saw me and smiled big time to me, i felt extremely weird, and following his smile he put his hand over my lap, and said something, i got the feeling of how the girls feel when us as men go ahead and make a quick and aggressive move to hook, i never though it was gonna be on me one day, i nicely smiled back and said wowowowowowo, and then laugh after he took his hand off me, i never meant to be unfriendly but i was not actually going to give the wrong message, well keep on giving the wrong message because my look was saying something else right?
After a while we made friends there and chat for a while with all the rest of the girls, while i was sitting there and the guy next to me he scooped a little to his left side in order to leave me space and feel better, he was very gentle indeed, soon after that my friend steph came along and sat next to me on my left without knowing what was going on with that guy, i was talking with another tgirl to my right and her friend both were looking gorgeous, i mean they arranged very nicely and sexy, they look to me supper passable if i were in the street i was not having trouble to think they were girls, but generally speaking most Chinese tgirls are very natural and look very nice with the Chinese fashion, minis and tights of different pattern etc, i love that.
After a minute Steph told to me, "hey, this guy is holding my leg" i laugh because it just happened to me few minutes ago, i told her what happened to me, and said to her, i think he is a nice person, and told steph what i did for him to get that im a straight guy too, i don't know what she did after but i found her talking with him for some minutes and then other tgirls came along to sit with her and chat too, i mean we were really busy talking with many people at the same time, other girls came over and took pics with us etc, it was really special for all the people there that we were attending that night there, i really appreciate that and i am very happy all went that way.
After finishing our drinks we got a free cocktail pitcher on the house what else can I say?, i spent quality time with many people and of course with Carmen and toasted many times that i lost the account until the drink was gone.
I played pool, two games with a gal there, she was a good player, i was the sexy chick in heels flashing everybody when it was my turn, it was a special feeling, i was really putting much attention of not falling or bending too much rather than making an accurate drive, maybe that's why i lost two time in a row, ehem.
It was around 4 am and we had to leave, actually everybody there were gone, we were among the last ones to stay, for me it was too short i wanted more party!!!! , but it wasn't unless we were to go to another place that is actual for general public, not very interested to show my self on that look. why to ruin an amazing moment and an amazing experience?
So we went walking down a long street for a taxi, i enjoy walking and like the different type of surfaces in the streets of shanghai, even that i enjoyed.
We got one cab and got in, we asked him to take us to the Bund, i had the crazy idea to go take pics there walk around for some time before heading back to the hotels.
Once we arrived, we noticed it was terribly windy and cold, i must say that i was really enjoying the feeling of the wind around all my body mostly my legs, and seeing how my skirt was weaving by the intense wind continuously, i made a little walk there, while Steph was freezing, we took pics, and off we left to get again another cab.
This time we call the night and went back to the hotels, Steph picked up her gear at my place, I think we toasted one more time and called the night as amazing and with intention to be repeated for sure. she changed her dressed and decided to walk back to her hotel as it was 2 blocks from mine. I offered to walk her half way, for her not to fall or get lost at the exit of mine and also because i wanted to feel my shoes one last time, one block around my apartment over Nanjing street is a nice feeling i must say.
When finally coming back there were some workers in the street, staring at me, at that time i didnt mind and i felt sure about myself, my walking, my look and the environment.
To finalize the night i took a couple of pictures of my self there at my hotel and went to bed thinking about my next plan.
I got my pics by email one week later, when i saw them i had no words but "wow" i loved the look and honestly i cannot recognize myself, i will do this adventure again soon, just thinking about my next selection.
Hoping that this story was a nice reading to you and can help you out with other ideas to go out and enjoy the hobbie.I also want to thank all the staff at Mayacder and BABALA for the nice and professional service, privacy and friendship. To Catherine Churchman and Charlene thanks for your golden suggestions and i hope to meet you in person soon. and of course the coop from my wing man for and accomplice for this adventure, "Stephanie", thanks a lot, and lets do it again!!!
Have fun you all !!!!
Veronica Morph
