Christmas 05:The Party of Five

I am so exhausted...

Last night was our (high school girfriends) annual Christmas celebration. So this year, we have decided to stay at Rialto hotel (part of Melbourne's heritage listing building) for the night and dine at '1884' Fine dining restaurant on Little Bourke towards Exhibition St for dinner and basically soak in the city night life.

Linda came to pick me up at my place at around 6pm. Off we went heading towards Collins St where the Hotel was. It took us exactly 1hr during peak hr to reach to the city. We cleverly snuck in 5 girls in a 2 bed room. Chai, Wongie & Cam have already checked into the room. So all Linda and I did was to give our car to the valet officer and tell him our room number which Chai rang to tell me and both of us met the rest of the girls in the room. We all got looked drop dead gorgeous (and all wore similar halter neck tops all by coincidence!) and waited for Linda to put on her make up. Chai gave me my belated b'day present which was a really nice silver necklace! I absolutely love it! (A girl need her accessories!) Then we all sat down to exchange our Kris Kringle present. I guessed it was Cam (last year I got her as my KK and this year she's got me! ha) cos it was a box of Lancome fruit juicy lip gloss (a set of 5) it's so glossy! love it! and Chai loved my present to her.. which was a white hand bag as well as a set of Revlon cosmetics. Linda got Cam lingerie and Wongie got Linda a whole set of make-up as well as red handbag. While Wong got from Chai a nice jade necklace, which Wong absolutely adored. So all in all, everyone were really happy with their gifts.

So off we went, took a tram down Bourke St and walked to our restaurant. Everyone had steak cos that restaurant was renown for their steaks. All the girls got Rib Eye while I got my scotch Fillet. I must say Rib Eye was much better! We drank two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Had a dozen of oysters for entrees and this hot fudge choc cake and banana ice cream as dessert. It was absolutely divine.

The highlight of the night? When we were getting the bill and we handed over our 2 entertainment cards to our waiter who was really nice. However, he scratched off the panel for our 2cards and yet only took off $40 when it shoulda been $80. So I told the girls, don't worry, let me settle this one. So I basically said it very nicely but firm that we should have been given $80 d/c. The guy said no cos it's never been done etc. I argued with him and at the end of the day, I finally negotiated with him by saying if you don't believe me, I will bring you the book next week to show you as well as the receipt with your signature and a note that says you have scratched off 2 cards. He agreed. Then went away, came back and just said 'actually, to make life easy for all of us, I'll just give you the $80 d/c'! HAHAHA! It worked! Cos he knew by the tone of my voice that I was absolutely serious about coming back to get the rest of my d/c etc. and he didn't want to make a big fuss in front of his mgr who will be in next week. So he finally gave us the d/c!

Anyhow, after that we hopped to European bar where Cam and I drank our Hoegaarden German Beer (while the other girls had tequilla shots). The beer tasted really good. I can't drink beer, but I must say, this was an easy drink! From there, we went onto Amber Lounge where it's Asian night RnB. However, the line was sooo long that it will take us at least 2hrs to get in. I did know Tammi my friend who works as the door bitch so she gave us admit one tickets to go in but it was another 1/2hr wait. So I just couldn't be stuffed. Saw my old old friend Lincoln whom I haven't seen for 2yrs now! Gosh, I can't believe he still goes clubbing every weekend! man boys will always be boys..

Our final destination was then at Schokolat which had really really bad music. But, we were just there for the bar and the company of each other really.. By the end of the night, i had 4.5 glasses of wine, one glass of beer, a Cow Boy shot & 1 glass of bombay saphire and orange juice (cos everyone bought a round of drinks each)And? I didn't feel drunk at all.. I was just sooo tired to be tipsy.

The topic of conversations for the night were:
*Boyfriends (Current & ex), wedding plans & hens night for Wong, our work in general, Girly talks, gay & lesbians > is it acceptable? future holidays, and educational night on frequent flyer points scheme taught by me to the girls! the world of negotiations btw a supplier (me) vs buyer (Wong), Some sad homeless stories told by Cam (cos she's a Youth worker), plans for the future (Chai will be planning to go to UK to work for at least 2yrs in 2007 with Guarren, while as for me, it will be to go to Singapore by 2008 for good unless things change otherwise..., Wong on the other hand will be happily married with kids! hehehe.. Linda and Cam will still wants to stay put in Melb)

The night ended at 4am and Chai and I crashed together in this king sized single bed (which was still much smaller than a double bed). It was good fun.

We've already planned our next Christmas. I told the girls I will organise for an apartment in the CBD with a spectacular view for the weekend!

Until then, here's kissing the old year goodbye and an even better year ahead!