ZoukOut, my very first beach party, was incredible. I wasn't sure how it'd go, because other than Nick Warren, there really wasn't any other DJ I really wanted to see. But then again, because I haven't had many opportunities to celebrate my 25th birthday, I figured ZoukOut was as good a chance as any. Thanks so much to my usual clubbing bunch for bringing champagne and making something out of it. It's nice to be loved. :)

Yesterday night was something truly unexpected. As it is with clubbing friends, you usually don't talk all that much as you do with your regular friends. As in, when you're clubbing, you don't talk, you just groove with the music, or buy one another drinks. Instead, I found myself actually talking to some of these new friends on our way to Sentosa, and also over Ben & Jerry's, such that the next time, I'm not going to call them "oh, one of the Zouk crowd" which I do, because I can't remember all of their names!

We reached Sentosa around 10.30 pm or so, chilling by the beach opposite the main stage, outside the ZoukOut area, with kegs of beer, chips and a bottle of champagne, listening to the great tunes Sonny was pumping out. My friend and I managed to bump into Nick Warren while walking to Rasa Sentosa to use their restrooms... not that either of us would have recognised him had Aldrin not been escorting him.

Right after that restroom break, J., invited me (at my request, heh) to join him for a Ben & Jerry's break (tied for my favourite ice-cream brand in terms of taste with Baskin Robbins, but wins out in terms of packaging and sheer cheeriness), which resulted in us getting into ZoukOut at a respectable time of 12.45 am in spite of the incredibly long queues. J. was a master at queue-cutting and without him, I would definitely have had to queue for at least three times longer than we did. Apologies to all for being so inconsiderate, but... erm... well, I really only do this kind of thing at these kind of festivals. Heh.

Nick Warren's set was incredible, far better than the Way Out West set he played at Zouk earlier this year. Armin's was so-so, although it began to pour like crazy in the middle of his set, and I, having been dancing in a bikini top and shorts, was soon starting to shiver. My top was in a friend's bag, and he had vanished shortly before NW's set ended, so I ended up borrowing a new friend's, M's, shirt because I was just so cold. There were some highlights during Armin's set, such as when he played U2 - New Year's Day (Oakenfold remix?) but as J. called him, "Armin van Boring" tends to play the "Mambo of trance." It's either that or trance really isn't doing it for me anymore.

Sven Vath's set was 65% to 75% good. I don't usually listen to techno. In fact, it may have been the first techno set I've attended. I was dancing throughout his set, which is usually a good indicator that the pace is kind of fast and kind of hard, the way I kind of like it. :P

Aldrin's sunrise set from 7 am to 8 am was pretty okay. He pretty much dropped some of his usual tracks, but I didn't have any complaints. I don't think I'll ever be sick of tracks like Underworld - Cowgirl. I was jumping barefoot on the sand for the longest time when it kicked in (yes, the Energizer Bunny of the Zouk dancefloor can still hold her own, even if she won't be around to renew her title at the end of this year) and almost skinned the soles of my feet! His set could definitely have been better, which even Aldrin admitted, but still, it was a nice way to end the night... or begin the morning!

I got home around 10.20 am, after retrieving my top and after breakfast with J., T. and another guy at the HarbourFront McDonald's. I fell asleep reading the Sunday comics before managing to drag myself up for a shower and passed out right after that, only waking up at 2 pm to let our part-time cleaner clean my room. So yes, in spite of being on three hours sleep, I've managed to write this long, admittedly rambly and a little disorganised post. I'm so proud of myself.