Prologue
The last few years I’ve felt that same feeling that I felt for most of 2012 - a little lost and confused; ready to take the next step but not sure when or which way to do it. 2012 was when I was applying for accounting jobs and going for interviews every 3 or 4 weeks; the last few years I have been doing the same but instead of interviews it has been dates and I keep getting it wrong.
Since I got back from Bali in March, work has been busy and I’ve
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I’m running late to the airport and I’ve definitely cooked it a bit this time. I still haven’t recovered from my sickness and this has affected my judgment/preparation and now I’m on the train sending Stu pics of my suitcase so that he can show the woman at the airport and she can print off the flight tags for my suitcase. When I’m finally within reaching distance of the airport train station I read my messages from Stu and they say that he’s got the tags so I might be ok but the third message says “I’d be running off the train too” which makes me feel a bit of pressure like I could actually miss the flight.. I walk up the stairs of the station next to a Chinese woman and as soon as I tag off the train I sprint passed her with my two suitcases over my shoulder. I keep sprinting and use the travelators, I get to the lift and wait for it so I can get to the ground level. When I make it down I keep sprinting again and eventually reach the door to the airport, when I go through there I see Stu waiting, he takes my hand luggage and I run to the check-in and go under the ropes and go to the very front. I am panting and sweating hard and the lady is confused but when I show her that I have the flight tags she grabs my bag and checks it in and says I should be ok. It is about 754 now and the flight is scheduled to leave at 820/830.
We go into the departure lounge, I go o the bathroom to clean all the sweat off. We sit down and Stu tells me the flight is delayed anyway so we’ve got a bit of time. The flight doesn’t leave until about 10 past 9 because the pilot called in sick. The flight is fine and I am mainly watching this Canadian summer college girl drama tv show on this woman’s tablet in the row in front of me and also I play a bit of Sudoku.
We arrive probably about 230pm Melbourne time and the airport is pretty busy. Very multicultural at Melbourne airport. We are waiting for the luggage, Stu sees his but I am waiting there for ages but I can’t see mine. By this time everyone else from our flight has left. I go speak to the baggage services, the lady checks for luggage and finds out that it is not in Melbourne and they will contact me when they have more information. Not the first time that I’ve had an incident at this airport and not the first time that it was my fault either. Anyway we catch an Uber to our hotel in the CBD.
Driving through the CBD there are definitely a lot of people from Asia and some from the south Asian countries too. There are a lot of trams and traffic so it is pretty busy but eventually we make it to our hotel and it is pretty flash. I have the complementary cocktail and we upstairs to our room. The room is definitely pretty modern and is flash too, lots of red, purple and some black too. I turn on the tv and the Aus v Bangladesh cricket is on so I’m happy. Anyway Stu & I go out exploring to find a supermarket.
It’s a Friday afternoon so it is starting to get busy, we find a Woolworths so I go in and buy some cereal and bananas and the prices here are more expensive than Perth. We go back to the hotel and go upstairs to the pool to meet Davo and the others. Stu stays up there for a bit but I go back to the room because I don’t really have any board shorts, I only have gym shorts, so just stay in the room and watch some cricket.
Just after 6pm
We head downstairs to the lobby, the lobby is really flash and head outside to go to dinner. I’m still wearing the same outfit: just grey track pants, a light brown hoodie and white shoes which I’ve had since 2009 and have been wearing hard since I injured my back last year. We are heading east through the Melbourne CBD, it is starting to get cold, just as I remember from long time ago, the CBD is so packed as well, way busier than the Perth CBD. We finally get to one of the main streets Elizabeth St and head north-ish to this Thai restaurant that Fraser had booked. We arrive and walk in and it’s called “Cookies” and then I remember that there was a nightclub/bar here from my first two trips called Metros Cookies that we tried to get into but were never successful - very funny. This Thai restaurant is busy and we sit down and one of Davo’s mates, I think Sheldon persuades everyone to get the chef’s special meal deal where everyone pays about $70-$80 and we get entrées, mains and desserts - I know this is risky but go with it anyway.
We are all having a drink etc and then the food starts coming out and there’s heaps of it and I know we are not going to finish all of it unless I go all out - luckily I have barely eaten all day and haven’t eaten heaps during the week. There are so many plates of food (all of it really good too) and I am finishing everything off so it doesn’t go to waste and everyone is looking at me. Im hindsight I should have gone for the take home containers options but because I was still a little sick I wasn’t thinking as well as usual, I must have eaten enough for three normal adults/guys - and pretty much we don’t leave any food left because of this except for some of the ice cream and I’m not a dairy person so this was always going to happy. We have been here for close to two hours, eating and drinking etc and then eventually we leave to go upstairs, Fraser tips the waitress $50 - I also noticed that Melbourne men are a lot different from Perth men and how they dress - different ends of the sprectrum.
We walk upstairs in this building for so long, I’m not sure where we’re going but we finally make it to the rooftop bar on the top of the building and this is really cool, lots of people in their 20’s here but we are still allowed in and I’m surprised that I’m still being let in to these places with the clothes that I am wearing, especially because I didn’t get in to a lot of places when I came back 18-17 years ago and I was more dressed up then. It is really cloudy in Melbourne and the view on top of this bar is so good, it reminds me of Batman as some of the tops of the buildings are being covered by cloud but the lights are still shining through. Az buys about 4 espresso martinis and I have one even though I know it might make it hard to sleep. I’m still so full from the dinner and know if I have take in too much more I might need to go to the bathroom. This place is cool and even has a burger food truck. After a few drinks here we go downstairs and end up about the second storey of this building which is a dimly lit bar with dance music so I suspect there will be many 20 something year old people heading here shortly - there are already a few but luckily it’s not too busy yet and again I am shocked that I was allowed in here wearing a hoodie, track pants and 17 year old white sneaker. Kind of reminds me a little of Geisha Bar in Perth.
We have a couple of drinks here and the bar area we’re in is pretty small and more and more young people are coming in - it’s getting crowded quickly, kind of like a flood of people are coming from downstairs and through the entrance. It must be about 10pm now and we push through the crowd and head out of the entrance and down the stairs, passed all of the young people. We make out to Elizabeth St and it is still so busy - seems so surreal when compared to Perth. We decide to head west towards our hotel and eventually stroll across some underground jazz bar down a lane way. It is smallish but very busy here, we find a booth here and stay here to end our night.
About 90 minutes later.
It is getting close to midnight now, the upper parts of my legs are starting to sweat a bit because we’re sitting on this leather couch in the booth. Everyone has kept on drinking here except for me, partially because I’ve been a little sick and I’m pretty tired, and partially because my stomach is getting pretty bad I’m going tk need to go to the toilet if I drink anymore. Everyone else has been drinking vodka/beer/cocktails etc so they are all reasonably drunk but thankfully it’s time to leave so we all head outside. We’re standing by the road now and the consensus seems to be that we will head home which is a relief to me, but Davo has different plans. Midnight on a Friday night in a different city on a bucks party, the inevitable happens and stripclubs become the topic of discussion. Jaiden & dad are tired so they opt out… I’m leaning towards going back to the hotel but then I realize that there are a lot of stripclubs very close to our hotel so I decide I’ll stay on and likely make a quick exit. I’m trying to push for Bar20 and Google directs Davo across the river and passed the Crown to Kittens. The remaining 6 of us jump in a maxi taxi and head south; Fraser is pretty drunk and says a few humorous things. After we drive over the river it gets pretty quiet. We arrive but Davo gets told that he’s not allowed in because he had neck tattoos so we are left stranded. It could finally be time to make it back to Bar20 which we went to 17 years earlier but we head nearby to The Men’s Gallery. Davo pays for everyone and we head inside. We sit down between the bar and the main stage and we are rearranging chairs so that we have six in a row all facing the stage, it’s like we are in school or something and some people are probably looking at us.
It’s not too busy, there’s a lot of space, there are quite a few women around. It is about 1225 now and I finally feel like I can relax because I know I can go home after this. A lot of women come up and talk and ask if we’re interested in lap dances, if my stomach wasn’t so bad maybe I would have said yes. I probably should have said yes. It’s getting close to 1am now and two of the group have gone for a dance, it’s starting to get busier and Stu and I think it’s probably a good time to leave. Sheldon says he will stay to make sure Dave & Az make it back alright, I ask Stu if we should ask Fraser if he wants to leave too but he doesn’t look to be budging as he’s in a drunk stupor. We head outside and it is raining lightly, there’s still plenty of life and we head down King St and then take a left and we are back at the hotel. Was a good night and our room is pretty flash too but I have trouble sleeping because my earplugs are in my suitcase and it still hasn’t arrived yet. Eventually I fall asleep.
The following morning there’s a knock on the door and my suitcase is here - I can finally change out of my track pants, hoody and old white shoes.
