Micro-exchange, Sonia's Party & Other Stuff

MICRO-EXCHANGE

Two Thursdays ago, Shirley and i planned to go to Harvey Norman's at the Homemaker City in Fortitude Valley a.k.a. Chinatown to drop the microwave off for repair after Shirls' accident slash crisis slash "smart move". She gets back after work and we leave the house. Why Thursday (four days after the "eggsplosion")? Because normally the shop closes at 5pm which is the same time Shirls finished work, plus Harvey Norman is open til 8.30pm on Thursdays only.

I called for a cab, 5 mins later it arrived, we got on, we reached our destination, Shirls paid, she insisted, i felt bad. All the while we took turns carrying the microwave... It was quite funny.
We walked into Harvey Norman's without dropping the microwave, i think by then we'd switched (carrying the microwave) more than 6 times.

The guy at the counter was really nice. He said he could give us another microwave in exchange, instead of leaving the egg-ed one there for repair (another guy said this the other day, can't remember when, it was the day we went to ask about it). Sweet!! A new microwave... But he needed the receipt, okay, no problem, i took it out of my pocket, then he told me it was the wrong receipt, that was the receipt for a vacuum cleaner bought at the same store, Dang! Then he offered to search past receipts on the computer, "Is it under Cash sales or Credit?" Oh man, i didn't remember, that was such a long time ago, i said cash. He checked and couldn't find anything. I then recalled buying a mixer with it, i searched a section of the shop for the model of a mixer, found it, showed it to him, he searched the Cash Sales database again. Found it. Phew... A new microwave, cool. It wouldn't be the same one, it'd be a cheaper model, so i got $25 in cash back. Cool...But that messed up our plan- leave the microwave for repair, have dinner with Shirls, go back in time to watch Lost at 8.30pm. The plan had to accommodate the new microwave; we didn't expect to carry a new microwave around the city. The guy at the counter, named Alex (name tag) smiled to himself as he listened to our conversation about how we would go to dinner with the microwave, which bus to take, how to get back in time etc. It was a funny situation.

Plan A- take a bus back with the microwave first, then go back to the city for dinner, try to make it back for Lost.

Plan B- take the microwave to dinner with us (carry it around the city), get back in time for Lost.

We decided on plan B. We thanked Alex and left. Once again, a relay. The microwave was our baton. Tiring but funny. Great experience. Good bonding activity. Good story to tell the kids. We kept changing over from time to time, setting little goals for ourselves- "I'll pass it to you when we get to Subway", "No, let me take it! Okay, okay, yeah, i'm getting tired. Here...", "Coffee Club! I can make it!", "Kangaroos! Kangaroos! At the bench!", "You're getting tired aren't you? Give it to me." Those were just some lines from our conversation throughout the night. Hilarious. Good fun, really. We had a nice, fillling, affordable dinner at this Korean restaurant in Elizabeth Arcade (no mom and dad, not the one i took you guys to, another one). This one has always had good business. We tried the other day but couldn't get a spot. It was packed. This time we were lucky. Our microwave sat on the floor. Shirls and i actually discussed if we should answer "three" when asked how many people. Hahaha... Cracks me up.

While waiting for the bus, Shirls popped out an idea, "Why don't we watch Lost together? I've never seen it, i've only seen parts of it here and there, you could explain to me." Hmm... I thought about it, if i agreed, i knew she'd come into my room, this would be the first time she actually fully saw my room. Hmm... thinking, thinking... "Yeah, okay, but i'll only explain stuff during the breaks," slightly reluctant, still contemplating. Too late now, already gave her an answer. Hmm...

You must be thinking, "What's the problem?" I have this thing when i watch movies or tv shows or whatever, i prefer watching alone, unless i'm in the cinema. I don't know why, i feel like i can catch more when i watch alone, i like to be in my own world when i watch stuff. My preference. People are just noisy most of the time, just a distraction. I get annoyed.

Anyways, this was inevitable (her coming into my room). I guess it would happen eventually. I was just afraid it'd become a habit, a routine, a cycle. I really need my privacy. But it turned out fine. She opened a packet of M & Ms to share. Yeah, she still distracted me from Lost. As usual she couldn't stop talking. Haiyo... It's natural i guess. But it was okay, we hung out, had fun.


SONIA'S PARTY/GATHERING/WINE & CHEESE SESSION

Sonia is one year older than me, but she is really an OLD SOUL. Why? She likes Led Zeppelin (i know (nothing wrong with that...), the Doors, Bob Marley, I mean, she wanted a wine and cheese session for her birthday... Old... But that is a new thing to me. Honestly, i think she's a great friend, she stands up for everyone and speaks her mind all the time, this gets onto Shai's nerves sometimes, but we're all cool.

Everyone was at Yuka's place at 6pm, but Martha was at work at the Gabba (a footy stadium)from 6-10pm, Sonia as the birthday girl wanted to be fashionably late, Ali wanted to be late to be cool and I wanted to be late, yes i wanted to, because i had important school work to do. I didn't want to waste half the day at Yuka's place doing nothing but eating, chatting and doing nothing. That was just a waste of time. So the 4 of us met up at 10pm plus at the Cultural Centre bus stop. Ali and i were supposed to meet up first in the city because Martha wanted to go to Sonia's place to get ready before meeting us and taking a 30-minute bus ride to Carseldine. I was late as usual to meet him, as i got onto the bus and was walking to my seat, a hand grabbed me on my arm, gave me a shock, i looked over to see who was grabbing me... It was Ali... Phew... relieved... Then we met up with Sonia and Martha at the Cultural Centre bus stop. We just made the bus... but it was the bus back to the city... I was confused, i just followed them around. Turns out we had to buy Vodka cos the guys at the house were asking for some. So with three bottles of wine (Sonia), a bottle of Jack Daniels (Ali) and 5 bottles of Pale Ale (me), we walked around the city and found a bottle shop, bought a bottle of Vodka so now we all were holding some sort of a drink. Funny sight, we walked pass a group of on-duty policeman and they stared at us.

So we had a bit of trouble finding the right bus and getting there on time... But we didn't miss the bus. We got on and called Kannan, asked which stop to get off and stuff. Earlier that day Alan rented a car to help his girlfriend move to their place temporarily til they she found a place. So he would come fetch us at the bus stop. By then it started drizzling. Talk about being fashionably late... we were SOOOOOOOOOO late... we got there at 11.45pm. Alex, Azlan and Shai were lying on Sue's bed listening to music in the dark on Shai laptop by the time we arrived. I had to switch on the lights to get attention. Lots of stories to tell about this night. But i'll just tell you what we did. In chronological order:-

1 I didn't have dinner, so Alan, Chewan and Kannan went out to get pizza from Domino's. By then everyone started drinking wine and eating cheese. But i didn't drink. I only ate the cheese. Smoked cheese is pretty good. Martha kept eating them.

2 We played charades. Split into 2 groups. The group i was in lost. But we lost with style and we had more fun than they did... In a way we let them win. It was hilarious. Major ab workout that night. Martha kept getting more Vodka with juice. But she doesn't get drunk easily, on the other hand, the birthday girl kept pouring herself wine, i think she drank 60% of 2 of the 3 bottles of wine she brought. So she was making toasts and singing. But til this day she still insists she was very tipsy and not drunk...

3 We slept at 5.30am. Yeah, we had a good time.

In case you're wondering, I didn't drink at all that night. I was tempted at times. Martha kept drinking in front of me. I did take her glass once or twice just to smell the vodka. But i never took a sip. So mom and dad, don't worry. Like i said, i'm off alcohol. I can't even drink wine anymore. Gosh... sad really. But oh well. Plus i wanted to prove to myself that i wasn't going into an alcoholic phase or anything. And i wanted to keep my word. Martha said that it's impossible for me not to ever drink again. She said that i was just saying i wouldn't drink again, ever... and that i would break that rule. But i proved them all wrong. Muahahaha...

Here are some pics from the party. Finally now you'll have a face to go with the names i've given you. But i couldn't post all the pictures... Blogger is crappy with pics as usual... Will post more in time.

Alan and I :

Shai

Yuka