It started innocently enough.

Here I was planning on a low-key birthday celebration (i.e. doing nothing). Then on the weekend, Carol said that she was going to take me out so I figured dinner and a couple of drinks, maybe a game or two of pinnies and Bob's your uncle.

This is what actually transpired:

We met up after I finished work and proceeded to Rue Bebelons on Little Lonsdale Street. There, after a little bit of guesswork and math, we worked out that it was exactly my birth time in Winnipeg. So we had a couple of drinks and a shot to celebrate.

From there we moved on to 7-Eleven where Carol purchased a disposable camera to capture the evening. Stupid me forgot my digital camera but in hindsight, I think that was for the better.

After 7-Eleven came The Lounge on Swanston, where we temporarily quashed our urge to play pinball by indulging in a few games of some bizarre circus-themed pinball machine. We also had more drinks, a couple of shots of something that wasn't quite Chartreuse but just as deadly (thanks, Suzanne), and the world's largest serving of chicken parmigiana.

By this stage, we had decided bowling would be fun so off we traipsed to Strike Bowling at QV, taking the scenic route through the food court and up to Russell Street, only to discover that we went in the wrong direction. We eventually found Strike, had a bit of a wander around, decided it just wasn't going to happen there and felt a drink was in order. We also left a historical etching in this general area.

Next stop, Troika Bar on Little Lonsdale Street. Once we worked out how to get inside, we had a beer and shot.

Crown Casino was our next destination, more specifically, Kingpin Bowling, seeing as Strike was such a flop. There we were delighted to discover that Tuesday nights are Tight-Arse Tuesdays so it was 2 games for the price of 1. We ended up playing 4 games and my wrist is paying for it today. More alcohol was consumed here as well. I won't say exactly how much but by this point, someone should have been practicing their Responsible Serving of Alcohol.

Then we hunted for more pinball machines but the ones at Galactic Circus and Barcode are very boring.

Finally, we went for one last drink at The Melbourne Supper Club on Spring Street. This was also our major rehydration point where we re-acquainted ourselves with water. After a glass of some Hungarian dessert wine, we called it a night. Note that this is the only venue where we didn't have a shot. Apart from 7-Eleven.

Pretty good effort for a couple of 32 year olds on a school night, eh? And... I made it to work on time too!

Thanks, Carol!!! *loves*