Holding the Reins of the Runaway Extrovert 2013: Day 173 - Happy birthday Ingo!

On a night bookended by drinks at The Bank, and filled in the middle by an unexpectedly delicious birthday dinner at Thai Pothong, which is more of a food factory normally than a restaurant, we celebrated Ingo's birthday along with many of his friends who were uniformly delightful and great to talk to.

It was a thoroughly enjoyable night, if a little wet - OK very wet, pouring in fact; we were going to walk to Newtown but chose to jump in a taxi near Waz's a very wise move indeed.

Hands Full of Glitter and Tofu : 2011 Day 288 - A Bounty of Birthdays 1

My lord what a big day of celebrations!

First up was the celebration for our friend Graham. After a burst of frenetic rain that morning, the day cleared up beautifully, and while we almost died from sweat carrying everything across to the Herb Garden in the Botanical Gardens, it was so worth it - the location was perfect (many jokes, naturally, abounded the location of any illegal herbs), the company was brilliant, and the food bountiful! We even roped in passing American honeymooners to take the group photo. The only downside was having to rush off at 5 pm to make it back to Erskineville in time for the next big birthday event - Waz's big night out (running into old friends from church days, Jim & Melissa, on our way back to the car was a real treat)...

But we did make in time! After a rush shower, my gorgeous guy and I got to Warren's not too long after we were supposed to be there, had drinks with Fahmi, and him (poor Peter had a migraine and couldn't make it), before walking up to The Bank hotel for more pre-dinner drinks with another friend Steve, who's is rugby mad, which meant we had to sit within view of the Wales v France match on the TV. Our rugby fix attained - well Steve's anyway - we walked a whole block up King Street, and walked into the joyful cacophony of Thai Pothong, a massive Thai restaurant which specialises in group bookings. While I must say the canvernous size of the place would put me off having an intimate dinner with my guy there, it is perfect for big events, and apart from two or our three entrees going MIA in the kitchen - they were found eventually - the service was flawless. Balloons on the table, attentive waiter service, delicious food, and complimentary desserts to make up for the wandering entrees.

We had a  lot of fun, but I began to feel the effects of rushing around all day and was flagging a little as we walked down to the Imperial, a gay hotel in Erskinville made famous in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. We stayed there for about 1 1/2 hours, and were going to go dancing in the down stairs section, but my gorgeous guy was feeling very tired so we headed home and hit bed about 1 a.m. Not quite the night of raging I had planned for Waz but he loved it, and that's what matters...