my 25th birthday: that shit cray!

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"We should never forget our birthdays or the birthdays of those who are close to us. Birthdays keep us childlike. They remind us that what is important is not what we do or accomplish, not what we have or who we know, but that we are, here and now. On birthdays let us be grateful for the gift of life.”-Henry Nouwen

Birthdays are my chance to plan something outlandish and my friends will have to do it. I absolutely love planning parties, dressing up, and doing something I've never done before and I use birthdays an an opportunity to do that. Year 20 was a trip to the Exploratorium in San Francisco, where we acted like kids, and had a party back at the dorms. Year 21 was the H party where I introduced beer pong to Europeans and everyone dressed in a costume that started with the letter H. Year 22 was The Peter Pan Party where we dressed like characters from my favorite childhood movie, played beer pong, and I attempted jungle juice for the first time. Year 23 was The Superhero Party in Australia where we had a pinata, MORE beer pong, and the infamous "Bridget Jones Diary" present. Year 24 in Korea was a ropes course and a night on the town dressed as our favorite alcoholic drinks. Obviously year 25 had a lot to live up to, as I realized I had a reputation of doing extravagant birthdays..

I decided this was the year to stop with the costumes. At least for now. I had never gone out in Gangnam, the trendy and expensive area of Seoul, so my birthday seemed like the best time to go. Keep it simple this year, I thought, just some fancy dinner and drinks. It wasn't enough though, I needed something big. I pondered renting a limo to take us to and around Seoul while we partied like rock stars, but that was too expensive and a pain. I'd been telling Jason my dreams of doing something decadent and he found a hotel suite at Hotel Nox. It took up a whole floor, had a pool, sauna, hot tub, singing room, and kitchen. It cost 1 million won and could fit 20 people. It was excessive and it was perfect. This is most likely my last year in Korea and I'm not low on cash. So why not? We booked it and I figured if we couldn't get 20 people, I'd pay the difference. Luckily, my friends were more than willing to stay in our sweet suite 😊 Dinner was originally going to be at a mid-range Thai place, but knowing that many of my friends were low on cash, dinner was bought at Costco at 5 dollars per person. Pizza, sandwiches, chips and salsa, cheesecake for me to blow out some candles on, and muffins and bananas for the morning. Piro, Jazz, Amy, Janette, Ruben, Sohee, and I struggled through the masses at Costco bearing our load of food and alcohol The wind outside was whipping, as taxis constantly ignored us, and our arms begged for mercy. Finally, we managed to wrangle two cabs and headed to Hotel Nox.



The smell of chlorine greeted us, as Ramsey opened the door to let us in to the suite. The pool sat up high in the middle of the room, beckoning. People were already walking around like they owned the place, drinking, and squealing over the pool and the large stone tub that we immediately started filling with hot water. The fire alarm kept going off, silent but with red lights flashing, which lent a a club like charm to the place. The place was exactly what I wanted and we put "Fantastic Baby" by Big Bang up on the big screen for a celebratory dance. The music kept with a definite Big Bang and Kanye theme for awhile, until Ramsey got ahold it and started playing weird gangster shit like "Vibrate" and Selena Gomez (okay I made him do that). Jess also made us re-watch the Kid Cudi rap in "All of the Lights" because she thought he looked hot. The music played, for better or worse, as we dug into the pizza, feeling famished. Soon wine, vodka, beer, and Bacardi 151 littered the kitchen, as people drank and chatted. Beside the kitchen, Jason smoked a cigarette and took swigs from his flask on the side of the pool. Most of the boys were shirtless or in the robes given to us by the hotel. The girls were doing their hair, faces, and discussing their outfits for the night. It was a bit like a poor mans Playboy Mansion.

I was in the other room when I heard "Happy Birthday" being sung. My first thought was "WHY are they singing it without me??" I ran in the room and found Jasmine coming at me with the cheesecake. After blowing out the candles (and being jeered at for not "blowing hard enough") Jazz proceeded to throw some of the cake in my face. I screamed "Not my hair, my new dresssss!" and ran into the bathroom for safety. Margo followed me in and asked with concern "Did she get you?" I started to respond and she slammed it right in my nose. I stood in shock and then yelled in anger and chased her around the kitchen, throwing a piece of cheesecake at her head but hitting the fridge instead. We finally calmed down and realized other people needed to eat the cake...

Cake was destroyed so off to Club Answer where our names were on the list. Margo and Piro didn't follow because Margo needed an asthma pump and had to go to the hospital. That's how hard we party. Turned out Sohee and I weren't on the list but all of our friends were! The Korean guy checking names at the door was completely rude and kept acting like we were trying to sneak in, even though the event coordinator told him we had been put on the list. After waiting in line again and taking his shit, we got in to a smoky club with lights shining every which way. The place was fairly crowded with Koreans and foreigners. The drinks were pricey, as people say, but I was able to get Vodka/Crans for 10,000 which is okay. Hongdae is definitely a better place to get more bang for your buck but you can't beat the style in Gangnam. Everyone looked pretty good, there were even guys in suits and bowties. We took "Playgirl shots" which were Bacardi 151+ Peach+ ?. That was the description...I don't even want to know what that question mark stood for but I had some inappropriate guesses..

We danced through the smoke, had bathroom girl talk, chatted with strangers, and watched a robot shoot flames in the air while covered in neon lights like a futurisitic Christmas tree. It was finally time to go home..AND PARTY MORE. I got back to the hotel and half of my friends were in the pool, whooping, and drinking. I shed my club wear for a bathing suit I'd bought in Laos and opened a bottle of wine. I jumped on Ruben's back and called for a chicken fight with Phuong and Michael. If memory serves, Ruben and I got served. I blame Ruben. Or maybe I blame the wine.

Around this time, Margo fell and hit her head on the slippery floor, so to the hospital AGAIN. She was the gangster of the night. By the time she got back, most people were out of the pool and in the hot tub or winding down. A few of us had some deep drunk talk in the hot tub, at too loud a volume, as most of our friends now wanted to sleep and were angry at us. 6am came around and so did slumber. I woke up to Theresa yelling and someone shoving a muffin in my face. Theresa spooned me violently and coffee was placed by my head. It was a bit frightening and I have never been more hungover in my life (luckily no throwing up for me though!). It was my 26th and last birthday in Korea so I'll forgive myself for that. I looked around and announced, "This place looks like there was 20 Kesha's here". Empty bottles and food lay everywhere. Clothes from various people were thrown about the bedroom and most of us were groaning from hangovers. Definitely the signs of a successful party. We spent the rest of the day eating Mexican food and sipping on drinks, which was truly lovely. I am a lucky girl to have friends who will go along with my out of control plans. Later that day, I learned that my grandma had passed away. So even more than usual, my birthday was about celebrating the gift of life and remembering the good times I've had with the special people in my life. We're lucky to be here, so live it up! Cheers to year 25!

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Comments

[funsherpa]

San Francisco birthday gifts
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