Day 56 - My Birthday!

Caught in the rain

June 3rd, 2015

I am awoken to my phone exploding. Some of the people from home were call/messaging me, and I know I only have a small time frame to speak with them before they pass out. Good news from the RCMP: they can process the fingerprints within 1 day, if need be (which it very much does), once they get my prints. Hope! I am currently on the waiting list to get finger prints, with the latest time being next Friday. Fingers crossed! Though it is unclear if it has to be digitized or if physical ones will be good enough. Awaiting reply.

The gym hits me, reaching a personal record for deadlifts since dropping the weight and reworking my form. Woot, 120kg (No, not very impressive). Today is a good day, made all the better by how shitty yesterday was! Yin and Yang, brothers and sisters.

I shower and call Yuzu to see if she wants to get groceries for the promised dinner. She agrees, and we have to run to catch the Blue Cat (free bus) into town. Perfect timing, and it can be fun to just barely make it in time for something. We get off, stopping at Dick Smiths for the keyboard I ordered online ($9! Click and collect: pay online, gets there next day! no shipping fee!) but I had sent it to a different store than the one I thought.

Birthday Okonamiyaki!

We stop at the Reject Store to get something quick and cheap that indicates its my birthday. I settle on this flag, as it’s the only thing wearable that says “Happy Birthday!” on it. We race to the other Dick Smith. I don’t get the shop times here. It’s a weekday, and everything closes at 6pm. What if you work 9-5? You have one hour to travel to peruse and pay for your stuff? Raw deal.

We go to Woolies for groceries, then have to wander around in search of an asian food store. Yuzu led me to one that is on the far side of Northbridge. Its about here that the sky split open and dropped its watery contents on us most of the way to my abode. Thor was buying a dessert for after the meal, arriving just after I finished typing up the events of the day in point form. He showed me the upcoming DJ event that he was destined to be his birthday extravaganza. Honestly, I’m thanking god that I actually like the sound of it. I’m sure I can find a way to have fun even if I hate the music. But I’d rather avoid a 6+ hour event of disliked music. In case you're wondeirng, the DJ is Kolsch. 

The Tattered Banner

We ate okonamiyaki, the dish that yuzu prepared with some substitutes. I’ve never had it before, but it was superb. She really downplayed her cooking ability. Master chef Yuzu! We have some of the leftover cake that Shimou had so generously provided, complete with the ice cream that Thor had contributed. Time to suit up! My jeans have dried enough after the downpour, and I’ve invited the guys who are around the house. I'm reminded of my toga days, combined with how I used to lazily tie my Judo belt, draping the birthday banner around my waist and shoulders. Nice.

To Mustang! It’s close by, no cover, and I like it. Eat it, snobs.

The place is packed, and I hear that pitchers are on special. Thor buys the first one to split between us, but it’s $21 because we’re too late for the $13 pitcher deal. Pff, and they say they’re not allowed to promote irresponsible drinking. Bah! We dance around, talking with people, and it’s kind of a blur. After going out alone, depressed, sober and doing alright, it’s like having super powers when you start off drunk, happy, and with friends. Throw in the mix that I’m wearing a flag that says its my birthday and everyone is your friend!

First Pitcher!

I go to the washroom, joining in on a tall man convention taking place in the most inconvenient of places. Hidden perk of being tall: it’s some sort of social glue for other tall guys. After returning to Thor’s domain, I start talking to these Japanese girls. Insert memory lapse which leads to chatting with various people and not remembering too terribly much of it. Back to the Japanese: the only phrase that Yuzu taught me that I still remember is “Kah-Nay Dah-Sey” or however you’d spell it. It means “Give me your money!” in a rude, mugging sort of way. The follow up is “Hai-yah-coo” which means “quickly!” Oh man, it’s such a kick to be joking around and tell them only to say that and watch their faces. “No! That’s bad!” they say. I keep repeating “Hai-yah-coo! Hai-Yah-Coo!” Good fun. Some chick started pulling at my banner, ripping off flags and pissing me off. I practice my blocking and deflect her hands. Some time later, I ran into her again and she tried once more. This time, a random 50+ year old guy thought it would be a fun thing to join in. I try to knock off his hat, miss. Pointing my finger, I tell him to back off and he immediately does. Enough time spent on these idiots.

French Thomas, the neighbour, shows up with his friend Catto(?). They’re both pretty cool, and Thomas buys me a couple pints. They start wall flowering, so I pull them over to the Japanese/Italian group I had met. We laugh, dance, and sing until the girls say that we should come with them to Connections, the lesbian mud wrestling place. I decline; I’m having too much fun here.

Arriving at Connections

It’s about this time that Aki, another Japanese girl I had met a short while ago, was coming to meet us here. I wanted to introduce her to Yuzu, hoping they could help one another. Aki said she had some tutoring jobs to teach people Japanese, and a possible 'in' with a Japanese restaurant. We talk out front with Korean Yang Suni (from the hostel) and his friends, who leave just as Aki arrives. The line is rather sizeable. I wait with her, though they’ve switched to Japanese and I can only catch the vague meaning of what they’re saying.. sometimes. I pass the time with the Irish guys in front of us. They were all pretty cool. Strike what I said about only meeting Irish women at Mustang, I guess.

Back inside, I lose Aki immediately as she's assaulted by several guys. Little fuzzy here, I think I wandered with this giant Aussie guy named Roscoe. I couldn’t help but think of Bosco, George’s password from Seinfeld. Then the lights go on. At 1am. Apparently that’s end of the line for Mustang on Wednesday. Connections it is! What birthday is complete without lesbian mud wrestling, after all?

Thomas bails, leaving Catto and I to walk over. We arrive just in time for the wrestling to begin. I say hello to Indonesian Dista and Christian. Dista is disdainfully watching the wrestling, complete with a look of absolute disgusted. I laughed.

As appealing as “Lesbian Mud Wrestling” appears on paper, I actually really don’t like it. The drag queen announcer makes really rude, catty remarks and seems like a detestable person. The wrestling itself is just sad. The scene makes me sad.

I wander a bit as Thor seems to be getting somewhere with a girl. It’s 2:30 now, no idea where the time went, but I’m beat after all the walking, exercising, dancing, and drinking. I walk home, make a grilled cheese and pass out.

What a great day.

From the Horseshoe Bridge