To drink alcohol or not to drink alcohol? That is the question. And it’s a question that should be considered when you’re trying to stay awake for about 24 hours straight. You need that sugar rush to give you that extra oomph so you’re not crashing before the party starts. What if you don’t drink alcohol, you ask? You’ll never make it, you say? Pah. There’s plenty of sugar-related products on hand to keep me pushing through. See below.
Pre-lash
You’ve gotta get jazzed up before the main event, right? And what does that entail? That’s right, it’s a trip to Moo Moos milkshakes in the Covered Matket (woooo!). And a Biscoff-flavoured milkshake, no less (double woooo!). Very high standard as per usual, and a much-needed starter for the night. Even if that beverage did involve a mini choking fit that also caused me to lose my voice for a minute or two.
The second round involved a darn fine pizza at Gino’s, one of my favourite haunts. Not quite as sugary as the first round, admittedly, but it was super tasty cuisine nonetheless. Gino’s ftw.
Garden of Sweets
Now, onto the big event. This fella was here at the last ball, and this time they’ve got these kind of tangy Chupa Chups chewy things. I distinctly remember that they had Haribos last time. Disappointing.
No worries. All is not lost. I can still consume a few and bag a few for later. My own bag was already pretty full, but thankfully I had an extra hat to store them in. Always think ahead. This moment also reminded me of my tenure at the university Lego Society (cool, huh?), where I would frequently stash an extra packet of crisps in a hat for later. One can never be too prepared.
Chocolate Fountain
Ok. Mildly sugar heavy now. Yet not nearly sugar heavy enough. To sort out that problem? The chocolate fountain, of course. There was a pretty wide range of delicacies to have the chocolate with including strawberries, waffles and marshmallows, but I’ve never been a huge fan of the latter, so I went for the first two. Very good.
I also noticed there was an adjacent fountain with some kind of alternative raspberry chocolate instead of milk. Yikes. Not a fan. And not many others seemed to be fans either, judging by the comparable queue lines.
Ferris Wheel
Now that I was on a suitable sugar high, the only way to increase that high was…getting higher. Recreational drugs, you say? Good lord no. Besides being thrown out of the event if caught with any such substances, that just ain’t my lame style. No no, what’s needed now is the ferris wheel, which was also here last time (admittedly, most of this stuff was here last time, but I guess there’s only a certain amount of inspiration that you can have in a certain space). One ride in the light of day while I’m still fully functioning, and another one in the dark of night when I’m…less so.
Ceilidh
You’d think some dancing would help increase energy levels to a certain extent, wouldn’t you? Well you’re WRONG. Dead wrong. When a pal decided that they were weren’t feeling it (Art Thou Feeling It Now, Mr Krabs?! Apologies, it’s hard not to do a Spongebob reference sometimes. And, according to this particular post, a lot of times), I too took the opportunity to have a rest and recharge to increase my chances of survival.
Silent Disco
So this turned out to be not particularly silent, as everyone was singing loudly, and not particularly disco-y, as it was too crammed to throw some moves. Also, there weren’t enough headphones to even listen to the songs. Essentially, we just did an Abe Simpson and walked right out again. Sugar levels are still decent enough to get through the night. But a rest is immanent.
Rest Tent
Pretty certain they weren’t called this, but you get the idea. A vague tent structure with beanie cushions scattered around. There was a giant Jenga tower and giant connect four to play with, but most people were too tired. Not me, you understand. All I needed was a couple of power snoozes and I was fine. And me and another awake pal got to listen to drunken conversations of dubious natures, too. Fun.
Photo Booth
We did this earlier in the night while everyone was still functioning, and there were a variety of accessories to choose from. Not much choice was needed, however, as soon as I set my eyes on that Luigi hat. Was it a high-quality Luigi hat? No. Was it a bargain basement Luigi hat bought at a low low price in the event that it would probably be damaged by drunken individuals? Perhaps. But that doesn’t matter. It did the job, and it did that job just fine.
Breakfast
Served at 4am. Woo! Lots of nice stuff, including pain au chocolat, brioche rolls, and cake. I had a fair amount of these, and they were a much-needed sugar injection to make it through to the last round. In summary, nice.
Second Breakfast
Not everyone managed to make it to the ball, so we had some grub in a different establishment instead once everything was over (all the main events basically stopped at around 2am anyway). Just a modest slice of cake and a sugary glass of orange juice are required.
Then, the trial is over. Just another few snoozes back in my dojo, and then I’m back in my normal sleeping routine. Sorted.