After one night on a train from Chaing Mai to Bangkok, a day spent in the city, another night on a plane from Bangkok to Sydney, and another day spent doing work, my third big night hinged on a friend's 21st birthday party. 21sts in Australia are big, important deals, which is funny because it's the same age our big party is, but ours is because we can finally drink! And their drinking age is 18...

Usually, there's a theme, and a huge party ensues with lots of drinking, eating, and being merry. After everyone is sufficiently tipsy and very nearly drunk, close friends and relatives stand and give speeches. The tradition is that the parents' speeches are sweet and loving and sentimental-- their baby has just reached his or her early 20s! And then come the friends' speeches.... filled with dirt and grime, accusations and realizations, friendly reminders and sometimes cruel kicks, the birthday girl or boy has to realize it all just falls under the category of "paying out" and it's all in good, loving humor. Sometimes, the parents have to realize this even more so than the one in the hot seat!

Cicily's birthday last night was an entertaining one. It was my first (and probably my last) chance to witness one of these infamous rituals, and it was a blast. Benny gave a speech with Tom, using hit song titles from 1984 onward to bring up the things they love about Cicily as well as to shed some light on the somewhat more secretive parts of her life. Lucy, her best friend, dropped a few things that made my jaw drop-- it was quite the spectacle. Everyone was dressed to greater and lesser extents in the Moulin Rouge theme-- true to my nature of procrastination as well as wanting to have the perfect costume (Daddy knows this all too well from my senior year Oscar the Grouch costume), I successfully procrastinated yesterday by wandering down to the Beads, Sequins and Feathers store in Newtown to spend a bit of money on some feathers and sequins to make a little hairpiece.

A few raspberry champagnes, some M&Ms, pizza and a Heineken later, the remnants of the crowd danced and sang a bit, enjoying each other's company and restoring the victim of the 21st speeches to her original (?) dignity. It was a perfect night, and everyone's moods seemed to express excitement that spring is peeking around the corner!!

Finally, a picture of Ben and myself to show you folks! The ecstatic pair matched, black outfits with a tinge of rouge - red feathers to red tie. There were a few moments last night (during the speech) when his cheeks also matched the tie and feathers. I probably shouldn't mention the point where he called Cic Lucy in the midst of telling her how special she is...