WhyNot: Birthday extravaganza in Vietnam! Jiiihaaa.

I'm not so keen on celebrating my birthdays all though I have thrown a party or two. When I turned 18 I went for a couple of beers with one of my best mates and that was it. When I turned 30 I didn't even plan to have any party but on the actual day my friends called my and demanded to at least visit me. I'm actually happy they did since we ended up having a nice evening at my place. Then, I guess it was my 34th birthday I, for some reason felt like throwing a major party and I did. Last year in Malaysia I went for two beers with some fellow travellers but for some unknown reason I felt like partying this year and it ended up being quite epic. It seems that people here like to congratulate you at midnight when the day turns to your actual birthday. It was totally fine by me since I was doing some protective alcohol consuming anyways so that the taste of alcohol wouldn't come as a surprise on the actual day. I heard it's a Russian way to start drinking one day beforehand. I think we Finns know something about it since we usually celebrate the eves and not the actual day. Christmas eve, midsummer's eve etc.

Anyway, my gig at the bar I play turned out to be a no-gig since we had no customers. Me and Bob (the vocalist) didn't mind that. More time to do preventing drinking. We closed the bar early and headed to a "rival" live music bar where our mutual musician friends were playing to a full house. Damned! ;)

Me and Bob interrupted the show rudely just to show off our skills on stage! (No we didn't, our mates actually asked if we could play something...well actually they asked if Bob would sing something so it was me who wanted to show off...bugger, busted). Wed did a couple of songs and once the day finally changed into my actual bday (1.6) the owner of the bar showed up with a bottle of vodka. (He's Russian....not to enforce any stereotypes....). Here's couple of pics from that evening.

Don't mind the dude on the right. Damn photobomber ;)

Me, Bob, Vinve on my right, Mr Long Ding in the front and
...hmmm..actually can't remember his name on the
far left. :D

Preventive/protective drinking is not for amateurs since it can quite easily get out of hands but as a professional that me and Bob are, we called it a night just in time. (To be totally honest Bob might have over done it just a bit according to his condition the next day...;)

As a boy scout I was ready for the actual bday extravaganza. I ate good, bought a bottle of nice sparkling wine and headed to the Escape bar. Ahahahaaa and it was a lot, A LOT, of fun. First of all, as the bday boy I had the power to choose the songs that we played. Sweet! Thank you Bob =)

But there was also a cake and presents. Holy cow! Not to forget the silly hat! (which was a my own idea though..Why I asked myself several times that night) And not to forge the fact that it was also a birthday of a volunteer girl working in Dalat for the owners of the Escape bar. I think the pictures say it all.
Thank you all once again for making this particular bday an unforgettable one. I felt like I've done something right in my life to deserve this. This kind of made me want to celebrate my birthdays more often :D