The Party, Organizer and Vodka

I had a party with my friends in ‘Sea Park’ last week. Basically, I was invited as a guest in the first place but things turned out to be ‘a bit’ different from the nature of a guest. It was an appealing and hilarious experience. Before sharing this anecdote with you all, I have to introduce my pal, who invited me to the party.

She named herself ‘Protocol’ few months ago. Scratching your head now? Ya, me too. According to the explanation of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, ‘Protocol’ carries the meaning of ‘original draft of an agreement between States’ or ‘etiquette as practised on diplomatic occasion’. Don’t ask me why, I am still wondering the main reason for her to name herself this way. What on earth that drives a short girl like her to name herself Protocol? Is it because of the car she drives? Her tanned skin? Or her astonishing body figure? It’s okay. We can put her weird ‘English name’ aside first. :p Ok, Protocol organized a home party. She invited me to HER party as there were not many people involved and she and her housemates needed a person to help them in preparing.

After that, we shopped for the materials in Tesco, which situated in Damansara. All of a sudden, the conversation as below took place:

“Hey, chia, do you know the way to prepare ‘Mah La Guo’ (spicy flavoured steamboat that is famous in Taiwan) or not? None of us know the way of making the soup. We only have a bottle of spicy sauce that was brought from Taiwan. That’s not enough. We must add in something else to make the taste great. Do you know? Can you help?”

My reply was a bit uncertain as I was surprised that none of them know the way to make the soup but yet planning to make it as the core dish. I said, ‘I can ‘try’ to help as my mum is selling all type Malay’s and Indian’s cooking materials for the dishes like: ‘curry’, ‘rendang’, ‘masak kicap’, ‘masak merah’, ‘masak lemak’... but I am not sure if the taste will be great”.

They answered, “ Cincailah, better than nothing. You add in anything you want. It’s ok. We are sure that the taste won’t go too wrong.”

Immediately, I could feel the stress. :P haha. Meanwhile, Protocol was thinking of what to buy for drinks. Then, I suggested alcohol since they were going to have some poker games after eating. (Gambling always comes with Alcohol isn’t it? Though, I was just being cheeky). But, Protocol took it seriously and claimed it to be a great idea. Her only worry was that not all her housemates are able to take pure alcohol.

“Then we mix cocktail lah. What’s so hard about it?” Without any hesitation, I straight away replied her that way, as if I am a professional in cocktail-making. In fact, I only watched others mixed them, before but I myself had never tried before.

Being an alcohol lover and fantastic drinker, Protocol was really in high spirits to hear about it. She gave me the task of preparing the cocktail even after I confessed to her that I had never mixed them myself.

“Cincailah, you just add in whatever you like, I am sure the taste wouldn’t be too queer.” Again, she had her full confidence on me. :&

Next, the story continued in Protocol’s house. Once we reach there, we were busy preparing the vegetables, meats, prawns, eggs and the soup for steamboat. However, at that moment, Protocol told me that, “Chia, I am tired, can I rest for a while upstairs?”

Being a loving and considerate friend, definitely I would allow her to rest. Sadly, she awoke after three hours. Yes, when all the materials are cut, sliced and placed on plates and the living room was overwhelmed by the scent of chilli.

Within the three hours, Protocol’s housemate and I was busying doing all sorts of homemakers’ job in the kitchen. Some more, we did not have enough knives, plates, forks, bowls and stuff like that. Wow! We could feel the pain in our necks. Luckily, after smelling like an oily skunk due to the sweats and oil, I was able to boil the soup successfully with other materials. It was an experiment, but didn’t go wrong. :P after having a good sleep, Protocol approached me with her innocent eyes. She said she was remorseful for her mistake and would do the rest of the job- ‘Take the dishes out and place them on the table’. Hahaha. She looks cute when she is feeling guilty. :p

Lastly, it was the cocktail. Yeah! We bought a bottle Vodka from Tesco, which was 700ml and cost us RM24.99. It consisted of 37% alcohol. Based on the statement of Protocol, it was a brilliant choice because the price was cheap and the percentage of alcohol was high. Hahah.. Obviously, she is very ‘Asoh’.

As I opened the bottle cap, the fragrance occupied my five senses. I was enchanted. I added in almost all of the vodka with some cocktail fruits, mango and lemon juices, until Protocol stopped me. She said it wouldn’t be a wise idea to pour all the wine as the percentage of alcohol is high So, I was left with about 100 ml of Vodka. What should I do? Certainly have a taste of it since the scent was so irresistible. The problem was, after taking the first sip, I couldn’t stop it. Yes, I stored the rest of them in my stomach. :P

Later, when everyone was busying scrambling for the spicy steamboat, I was busying drinking the cocktail as the taste was too wonderful for me. I do not really like steamboat. Maybe things will be different if we are having wintry weather in Malaysia. Anyway, I never find it a great idea to eat hot-water-cooked vegetables or meats under that type of warm temperature. That’s why; my heart was captured by the icy cold cocktail.

The result I gained: Red face +Red eyes +Red skin= Red MoNsTeR. I wasn’t drunk but the skins all over my body was red in colour especially those covered parts as they are the fairest fractions. They are well-protected from sunlight but definitely not wine. :P Besides, I couldn’t sleep for the entire night. I felt myself animated. My body was hot. The alcohol excited my nerves. (Don’t think the other way round, ok?). Whenever I closed my eyes, I felt myself spinning and there were something caught between my throat and stomach. It wasn’t a pleasant experience. At last, I drank water, lots of water and forced myself to puke. :& after vomiting for three times, I felt better. Finally, I could have a nice sleep at 5am.

I would like to apologise to Chloe as I accidentally woke her up with my awful puking sound in the middle of the night. Sorry, I couldn’t help it. :p I learnt an important lesson- ‘never finished up the Vodka all by yourself and stay away from Protocol when she is thinking of ‘organizing’ a party’. :p hehehhe.. Amusing, isn’t it? I was supposed to be a guest, but then ended up carrying the task to take care of the major duty of the party and even demonstrated the way of preparing the soup and cocktail. Haha…in fact, I knew nothing about it. J The party was tiring, but it was fun. A first time experience of being an organizer, fortunately, I had a whale of time with those lovely friends, even though some of them were strangers to me.

What I would like to emphasize here is that, I wasn’t drunk, ok? I was conscious enough to write an e-mail to my friend when holding a glass of cocktail with my left hand. :*$ Can you see it? Mr. Stanhope? I WASN’T drunk. Moreover, the utmost relevant fact is --The party was a decent social gathering for decent people like us. It was a jamboree for friendship-building and relaxation, nothing wild or fishy. Please bear in your mind! :p

Hurray! A great party! Everyone was satisfied with the steamboat and cocktail. I received tonnes of compliments. One of the housemates even claimed that the guy who is going to marry me in the future will be the most fortunate man in this world! J

YaY! Thinking of a party? Maybe I can aid you in organizing! *wink. :p For vodka, cheers!!