In Which John Has More Birthdays Which Make for the Best Weekend Ever

The week was just spent doing stuff and things and shopping at malls and stuff.

On Friday, Taylor and I got ready for a birthday party. It was Disney-On-Ice themed, so we had to dress up as Disney characters, and then go ice skating. I went as Lumiere and Taylor went as Babette the feather duster from Beauty and the Beast (Abby was originally supposed to go as Babette, but homework came up). Our costumes were pretty good, and the fact that we came as a pair helped with the awesometicity.

This was the first time I've been ice skating since kindergarten, so I was really shaky at first. But I eventually I learned to stray from the wall and skate without looking at my feet. I only fell down when we started a chain of skaters and it got a little hectic.

Afterward, we went to a Japanese karaoke bar. This was amazing. We got our own room where we could sing as loud as we wanted to. The songs were pop songs, but the videos that played were generic Japanese music videos that were either live dance performances or tragic love stories or racing car video games. I was the first person to get a schor of over 90 points with "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," but the best part of the evening was right at the very end where the birthday girl (and everyone else) sang "Under the Sea" and we got a perfect 100.

Saturday was going to be a big day. We had plans to go to the Glebe Markets, eat at Pancakes on the Rocks, and spend a night at Luna Park. It was supposed to be a huge event with the whole theater dept, but only me, Abby, Andrew, Taylor and two other theater members came. At Glebe, we ate in a cafe, and suddenly Taylor proposed we sing a song. We're theater people, so there is nothing unusual about that request. But then she started counting down for us to start singing, and I realized we hadn't picked the song yet, so I thought we were just supposed to "know" what we were going to sing. As it turns out, the other 5 already picked the song. It was Happy Birthday.

The day turned into my belated 21st birthday celebration. I had expected that we might do something like this, but I didn't expect it for today. So I was surprised. It was my first surprise party. I've always wanted one.

We shopped around in Glebe for a bit, and I ate some of the best candy ever. It was called licorice, but they were sour fruit flavors, softer, and very long strings.

We then walked all the way to Pancakes on the Rocks, which I've heard plenty about, but was expecting an IHOP type place. Pancakes were involved in almost every menu item. There were the desserty pancakes as well as dinner crepes and meals. I got Potato Pancakes, expecting latkes. Instead, I got buttermilk pancakes with potatos and spices...inside the batter. They were glorious.

At this point, the other two theater members left, and there were just four of us. We had to walk to Luna Park which was on the other side of the Sydney Harbor. Thus began the most magical evening ever.

The four of us walked along the Harbor Bridge. The view was spectacular. We made a pact to return to the center of the bridge every 10 years. I hope we stick to that.

On the other side of the bridge, we became a crew. We got new names. Andrew was "Blade," Abby was "The Moonchild," and Taylor was "Sister Nightmare." I have reasons for picking all these names, each of which relate to something from back home. I was dubbed "Professor Lightning." Together, we became "The Thrill Seekers."

Luna Park was magical. I acted like a little kid the whole time. We rode on various spinning rides and ate ice cream and failed at carnival games and explored the Coney Island Funhouse. And even though the Ferris Wheel closed before we could ride on it, we did sit on the harbor and watch the boats go by. It was just perfect.

(My camera stopped working, so all of the pictures from Luna Park are in Taylor's albums. Friend her and enjoy. There are so many I wish were my profile pic.)

We then went back to Abby and Taylor's for Funfetti cake with cream cheese icing. And we watched "Reefer Madness: The Musical."

And I loved my friends and appreciate everything they did.