03-NOV - Sun - The party

And so it arrived, the day of the black-tie party! First of all one has to physic himself up to wearing a suit with jacket and bow tie in a tropical climate. The only thinkable option is to get oneself ready by taking a cold shower with the intention of trying to bring one’s core body temperature down, set the air-conditioner on “arctic” and add one item of clothing at a time, with intervals. Easier said than done… The Swiss lad still ended up having sweat trickling down his back; glasses slowly meandering southwards on the nose’s slippery, sweaty surface; sweat beads forming on the upper lip; such a fantastic sensation to be having a private, intimate internal shower whilst fully clothed and in pleasant conversation with the other party guests! We arrived fashionably late, to make our grand entrance at the Carrington’s mansion, rainbow flags illuminated by spot lights, courtiers opening limousine doors (and our little taxi’s), music playing as we walked the red carpet to the main foyer and there he was, Mr Birthday Boy himself! We were given a glass of champagne and whisked ourselves up to congratulate him, cheering him and have our picture taken for what is going to be front page news in all of Bali! The night was a hoot! We mingled with the other party guests, were constantly introduced as “the boys just bought bungalow 109” or “I’m your new neighbour” and similar, quite funny, quite glamorous! For once we soaked in all the attention! We even got a mention by Mr Birthday Boy, during his speech… We are climbing the expat ladder fast! We settled in a corner with perfect 180 degree view over the party, with another couple of similarly aged guys and themselves owners of a property up here, to have a great old time, talking about our past experiences in setting up this venture. Moreover Bali being Bali, gays being gays, it was inevitable at a VIP party like this, not to bump into some old friends from the motherland, it is a small world after all! Should have known we would bump into Bali Bob, turns out he’s an old friend of Mr Birthday Boy and a regular guest at the hotel complex! We drank, we laughed, we danced, we gossiped, we bitched, we complained, we sang. We enjoyed performances by male gogo-dancers, and a most amazing and stunning male belly dancer! We had a special one-off performance by Whitney Houston - she’s back! - making her grand entrance to the stage, followed by a less grand performance by Dame Shirley Bassey and the night declined from there, with more and more random and obscure music. At some time in the early hours of the new morning, we bid our farewells and descended into a vodka and Bintang soaked sleep!