so i got to dinner at 7.30pm on the dot last night, and found that i was one of two who were there. people trickled in slowly over the hour, and finally, the bride-to-be and her family (mom + two aunties) made it slightly after an hour of the prearranged time. the restaurant didn’t give us a free bread basket, and wanted to do things very formally (take drink orders slowly, then your entree orders and finally, our mains). i didn’t drink a drop of alcohol because i was tired, hungry and didn’t want to risk spoiling my sunday since i had heaps of work to do. we were simply chatting away the whole time, whilst our stomachs growled. we were tossing up what to do after dinner, and there were a few girls who wanted to get a stripper (or see a stripper,i don’t know). well, i personally don’t see the meaning of getting a stripper just because it’s your hens night. i know it’s a supposed “celebrate your being single before officially getting tied down”, but, is that really all that fun and necessary?
anyways, the food started arriving at 9.30. finally! and guess what? they had forgotten two mains! GT and sharon were having to watch the rest eat whilst their mains were being cooked after being forgotten. i would say that the food is only alright, nothing spectacular. i give credit for the ambience and fittings in the restaurant, but the poor service, not-quite-up-to-par food and the fact that the two mains were only served after the table was finished eating was just unacceptable. perhaps that was the plan, to hold you off eating so we’d drink more and order more bread. little did we know that, bread cost $10 a basket! anyways, after fixing up the bill (it was a pain trying to split the bill amongst 14 when everyone had ordered different things + drinks and though everyone had supposedly paid, we were $84 short. it was a nightmare!) and swearing never to go back there, we left and half the party went home.
the “get a stripper” idea fizzled out (good thing, or i would have gone home too), until a girl rang her boyfriend and said, “hey he’s willing to do it for us – but for a small price!” are you kidding me?! of course, it was met by some cheers, but realistically, i think everyone knew it wasn’t going to happen. so the rest of us (7girls left + bride-to-be) decided to walked 4 blocks down to a nice swanky bar. when we got in, the music was blaring. it did not help GT’s migraine, which had started early in the night and was increasingly terrible, judging by the look on her face. plus the fact that her main was forgotten, she was not in the best state of mind to be drinking+dancing. but she soldiered up anyways and decided not to be a party pooper, and tried her best to stay strong. i stayed with her the whole time while the other 5 went dancing, and in 45minutes of getting there, i left (so did GT + 2 of the other people because they came together).
honestly, despite that it was nice seeing some of them, i thought it was kindof a letdown. the food and people did not arrive on time, which makes me wonder why we even had arranged a time to meet. i don’t like when people are late, although, i am late myself at times, i do inform the other party beforehand. and also, service was not good, at all. since i had worked in the service industry before, i think i’ve got pretty high standards of such. i don’t think they even met the minimum requirements last night. how can you forget a main? and if you do, you should bring out something (an entree perhaps) for the people waiting and watching the whole table eat. the wait staff+ management simply smiled as they walked by us. it was bad. then when it came time to settle the bill, it was almost hellish. splitting it up this way and that, and the fact that 2 bottles of wine were shared with most (not all) of the table made is harder to split. it sounds easy in theory, but no (everyone had to add $3.70 to their total!?!). then the bride-to-be’s main was to be split up too, because apparently we were paying for her meal. we were?! oh, clearly i must have had my preconceived notions about a hens night all wrong. forgive me, but isn’t the bride supposed to foot the bill, or perhaps, pay for her bridesmaids meal at least? i mean, sure you’re the bride, but the bridemaids are and have been helping out a lot, and asking nothing in return. that, would be the least expected.
anywho, maybe it’s all good that things had turned out this way. for what reason, i’m not sure. i still wish the best for the bride-to-be and am looking forward to the wedding.
