I was delighted and surprised to wake up without a discernible hangover. I was a little tired and didn't feel very hungry. I had eaten very rich food last night, including oysters and wood pigeon, which I am not really used to, but I had also drunk more than I have done for a while. So I had expected repercussions. But none had come.
We were heading up to Suffolk for a couple of days to stay in a nice hotel in Ipswich, before heading out to visit Sutton Hoo on Monday. This was my big 43rd birthday plan and clearly I am getting old if that's how I want to spend my time. But you know what? I am getting old.
We arrived in Ipswich quite late in the afternoon and checked into our posh waterfront hotel, and then went for an aimless wander. Pretty much everything was closed, but as we made our way to the park we could hear some Bhangra music in the distance and thought we'd go to check out what was going on.
We discovered that there was a big event going on, with fairground rides and stalls and a big stage set up with what looked like a celebration of Asian music. It was nice that the people of Ipswich had put this together for me for my birthday. There was a duo called Bona Fide who mixed rap and Indian music together who were putting on a good show. I liked the bit where they would shout "Bona" on get the crowd to shout "Fide" back at them (which was pronounced "fied") mainly because the pair were essentially just shouting "Boner" at a group of teenagers.
As we sat there a yellow balloon was blown by the wind right into my lap. I picked it up and looked at it. It said, "Partnership for Older People - for a better quality of life." I was being mocked in balloon form on the eve of my 43rd birthday.
We drank a beer and my girlfriend bought a roast pork roll from one of the vans and I had some nasty chips.
We headed back to the hotel and half watched the boring football before a late dinner. I wasn't all that hungry and we only had a bottle of wine between us. I had a slightly weird mackerel on toast (which was literally just that - a large bit of cold mackerel, seemingly just out of the packet on a small bit of toast) and then for a treat, steak and chips and then stick toffee pudding. I had overeaten and felt full, which is a rarity for me these days.
Still it was my birthday right? What was the harm?
Nothing could possibly go wrong.
