Living the VIP life in Abu Dhabi

Well like most social affairs in Abu Dhabi, the evening started out of with some light cocktails and sophisticated conversation over a game of backgammon.

In reality, Steve L got things going by telling me all about his favorite parts on the female body. As you can see by my reaction, I am quite amused and so enthralled by his argument, that I later subscribed to his weekly newsletter.

Be that as it may, it was my birthday.

My wife made some calls -- because she's smooth like that -- and set up a festive evening that was complete with delicious fare, strong rum drinks, bottle service at one of our favorite clubs and three different birthday cakes. Yes, somehow three cakes were involved. Crazy.

The cocktails at Trader Vic's at the Beach Rotana Hotel were strong and plentiful. We had a 20-person group so the good folks at the restaurant separated us into two big tables.

"I had no idea you were so popular," Steve said when we sat down.

"Oh, most of the guests were hired for the evening," I joked.

Steve's eyes lit up with anticipation as he started to straighten his eye brows.

"No, not that kind of hired guests," I scolded. "Get your head out of the gutter."

The strong rum drinks were starting to get on top of us just before some tequila shots decided to sneak into the party. 

My good mate Liam got me a shot glass for my birthday -- yes, I just turned 21 -- and right after the server took upon himself to fill up the skull-engraved shot glass with Jagermeister is when the night really started to get wild.

This was also about the same time our hired photographer also started to feel the effects of strong alcohol, as evident by his blurry photos. So after the restaurant, he just tried to keep up the best he could, as we ventured to the Intercontinental Hotel for our VIP reserved tables at the Yacht Club.

Getting bottle service at a club is always a great time. I wish I could do it every time I went out but that would put me straight into the poor house. 

Most of our friends did not know of our "VIP" plans and were pretty shocked when they saw the reserved tables and the bottles of vodka waiting for us. Champagne and cake were also involved.

It sure did put a smile on Steve's face.

As you can imagine, the evening quickly elevated to rockstar status. Miranda is the most amazing wife in the world because she set the entire thing up. I love that woman. 

A few people asked me why we went big on my 34th birthday, suggesting that 35 should be the milestone. Well, we looked at it like we wanted to see what a VIP birthday in Abu Dhabi could bring and we found out. It was an easy equation: Good friends, good food, strong drink and lots of dancing is good for the soul.

Miranda wasn't done there. The last part of the equation was recovery time and we got that when she surprised me the next day with a little getaway to St. Regis Hotel on Saadiyat Island. It was a beautiful place to spend quality time with with my lovely wife, drink plenty of water and recover.

I guess I'm getting old.