We won a contest

Hey ya'll... is that how you spell it? Erin, who is right next to me helping me write this, says that's right. I believe her and you should too.

Alright so the other night... Taylor and his sister were still here and Erin, Diana and I all decided we should head out to the Cheeky Monkey Bar/Pub/Nightclub for retro night. Who know's what retro night means... but I dressed up in 80s garb, or the closest I could get to it. I had my little green swimsuit and my bright yellow shirt I bought with Skinner in Melb and my chucks. Erin, Diana and our then roommate Andrea all went to the place at 7pm because they have $5 meals. Erin said "it was delish" and "they gave us free facepaint". Erin and Diana did the painting and Diana painted in Erin's eye, literally. She's fine - don't worry. They got a free glass of champagne so that may have something to do with that.

I was hanging out with Taylor and his sister post-nap and then the ladies came over after their dinner was finished. We were all sitting around talking and enjoying eachother's company so much we almost forgot we were going out! We realized it was 9:56 and if we didn't want to pay the $5 cover we had to get there before 10pm... so what did we do? We Ran! Now, it's only 4 or so blocks from the hostel where we were, but we were moving fast. On the way there some guy started running with us.

Regardless of the running, we made it before the cover kicked in. It was a fun time for a while - dancing and whatnot, but then the DJ/Hype Man came out with the microphone and started giving things away. Some girl won a trip to Fraser Island in a drawing (Erin entered but her number didn't get pulled). Other people won things like T-Shirts and corny things and then it was time for, as the DJ described it, "THE REASON YOU ARE ALL HERE TONIGHT!". I don't know about that... but he asked for 8 people and 8 people ran up there. Erin and Taylor said "Jesse, get up there." So i raised my hand and just went up. DJ man loved how i was dressed so he didn't kick me off the stage.

Now is where the fun begins. The contest involved retrieving items from the crowd, the first of which was a champagne flute. Thankfully it was Diana's drink of choice that night and we successfully got up there (I was the 7th person up there out of 10 and the 3 after me got eliminated... way too close). Ok, so 7 people remaining. All of the rest they just eliminated one person at a time.

7 people test - get someone else's t-shirt. Before the hype man even finished talking taylors shirt was off and i was back on the stage waving it around. Domination... we had really hit our stride now.

6 people test - Somebody's ID or passport. Laura's passport and hop skip and a jump later and I was moving on to the next round.

5 people test - short drinking straw. Now this one was a bit iffy... as none of my immediate friends were drinking cocktails. I started running throught the crouded bar, scanning frantically for somebody who could help. Some girl took hers out of her drink and I sprinted back to the stage in time... crisis averted.

4 people test - somebody's bra. Faster than you can shake a stick (who says that?)... Erin's strapless bra was off and in my hands. It's almost as if she planned to wear a strapless bra that night. Legendary.

3 people test - Pool Ball. Now I had no idea where the pool table was, but I knew were it wasn't... so I ran away from there. As soon as I saw some fools playing pool in the distance I sprinted for it, grabbed a ball and started to make my way back. The other two people still in struggled and I was halfway back when they were still on their way. I was feeling pretty cocky so I danced a bit on the way back and on the stage as they fought their way back.

The final test... me and some other dude. - retrieve a Cheeky Monkey Staff Member. I have erin and Diana to thank completely for this. They were talking to some good-looking staff member for a bit that they knew from before (they had painted his face - relax, his eyes are fine). They grabbed his arm and I ran to him and man-handled him up onto the stage. He was a big dude, but no match for Jesse on a mission.

WE WON!!! HURRAH!

the prize - I didn't even know what i was playing for! I got down off the stage and said "Taylor, what did we win what did we win?" He says "Dude, you just won like $300". In reality I had won a 3day - 2night sailing adventure trip in the Whitsunday Islands up north. So sweet.

I wish I could keep typing but my internet is running out as we speak so this is where I leave you. I know you were all rooting for us in your hearts and for that I thank you. Love you all.

Erin says hi!

- Jesse "I love winning" Meredith