For those who thought that this would be a holiday post about the island off the Caribbean sea - sorry, I deceived y'all. Aruba is a restaurant/beach club overlooking Bournemouth beach and pier. I believe it's open to all ages up until around 8-9pm when it turns into an over 18 club, but up until then, it's a nice place to chill and drink over-priced drinks whilst looking out to sea.
The reason I said that this was my first so-called 'proper' time here was because I had previously gone there once before with my Spanish Class but we were all so intimidated by the over-crowded bar that we didn't order anything. We had walked up the stairs, sat on the sofas for 10 mins in a confused and flustered manner, then sneaked out in pairs to not look too suspicious and in case anyone realised that we had not ordered anything... I'm ashamed to say that this was less than 3 months ago.
Thankfully, this time was a little less awkward. It was my close friend Mae's* 18th birthday and we had booked a table in the far corner overlooking the sea (which I thought was kind of pointless as it was already dark when we had arrived and the doors let in an unwanted draft..but this was besides the point).
Above is a picture of my Aruba Caeser Salad with anchovies & Parmesan cheese, Crisp Cos lettuce with seasoned croutons (£8.95). I also got a cheeky bit of shredded chicken on top for an extra two quid, but I was quite disappointed in this as you can see it was just dumped on top of my salad very ungracefully. I would have preferred it to look a little nicer, and my friends' salads (Summer Salad, £9.95) weren't that aesthetically pleasing either. And, yes, we are those annoying white girls that go out to restaurants to eat and order salads.
We stayed on a bit after we finished our meal and gossiped over Mae's birthday cake (first photo). Whilst at our table, this balloon artist came over and after some of my friends rudely questioned how much he would charge us for his unwanted service and sexual innuendos, he produced a lady bug headband for Mae! I asked him about himself and he said that Aruba paid him (and not us - phew), and that he used to just make balloon shapes as his 'party trick' but his friends encouraged him to start charging people as his skills developed and he became more proficient. At first, he dismissed their comments as he never really believed that anyone would pay for them, but then when he started to charge a small fee, his name got passed around and how he goes to different bars and clubs around Bournemouth. I really like finding out how people got into the jobs that they are in, and Balloon-Guy is just one example of someone who managed to turn his passion into a business!*All names in this blog are fake in order to ensure the privacy of my friends and conceal their identities. However, the characters are all real people and the events actually happened
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