The Good Time Restaurant (Summer 2016)

YARP hello from Isabelle!

Okay, this is it! My mother tells the taxi driver.  The car comes to a sudden halt. It was my friend Tatev’s birthday party. Apparently she was spending it at a restaurant called Good Time. I didn’t know this at the time, but indeed, I really would have a great time. Anyway, the building looked pretty promising, but, never judge a building by its looks. So I held my breath and walked inside.

This seems exciting! The floor of the building was tiled and it seemed like we were on the second floor of the place. As we walked in, I recognized Tatev at once. She looked very excited to see us.

“Okay, whoever wears one of these bands, will be a team leader. By the way, this is not a race,” said Sona, Tatev’s mother. I held my breath, I don’t want to be a team leader. “Okay, Tatev, you can be a leader…” And I couldn’t really  hear what she said next because I got carried away looking at the decorations on the wall. Then Tatev’s cousin Nouneh said, “Do we have to split up?” Everyone agreed that we should stick together.

Our first stop was bumper cars. In case if you don’t know, bumper cars are basically miniature cars. The goal of bumper cars is to “have fun” and bump the other cars. Normally I would be excited but now I was a little nervous. As I chose a bumper car, I noticed two handles on the side. They each said “tornado” on them. I realize this is silly but I was getting really nervous. While the operator was explaining how to work the car, I noticed that not everybody was driving a car. I wondered what would happen if I offered them to drive my car. And then I heard a siren signaling the start. Too late for that chance now! Since I was not listening while the operator explained how to work the car, I did an experimental push to the left handle. The bumper car moved  backwards while sliding to the left.  Now I understood how to work the cars.

“That was fun”, I said as we were getting out of the cars. There was not even a spark of nervousness left in me. But as soon as I realized what was next, it returned. The next event was an enormous bubble where one or two  or sometimes even three people get inside the bubble and move around. I had done this before, but the rule there was one person per bubble. After the first group was done with their turn, there was not a pang of nervousness, but this time there was also not any curiosity either, so I skipped that activity. (The first group looked like just a bunch of hamsters in a wheel anyway).

“Okay, since both of our birthday boys are interested in hip hop, we will do a little hip hop dancing!” said the master of ceremonies. Yes, there were three birthdays going on at the same time. One of them was Tatev’s. On the big screen appeared a group of teenage boys and girls dancing hip hop. Apparently we were supposed to copy whatever they did. Wow. I think I’ll pass. … Too late for that. The master of ceremonies  herself walked up to me and made me dance.

“This chicken is bland” I said, but I really liked the french fries and the salads. The lemonade tasted like a bunch of lemons and limes with no sugar at all, but plenty of something I can’t really put my finger on. Thank goodness when I heard the master of ceremonies  yell “All children, come for another gaa-aeme!!!!!!” This game was no better than hip hop dancing because you had to guess movies and I wasn’t too good with movies. And, they didn’t have The Martian!!!

My heart stopped beating when I saw the 6 year old little girl jump off. I was looking at the activity where a staff member straps you to some ropes and gives you a helmet. Then you jump off from about 12 meters high drop. It was scary just looking at it!!! Then I literally thought I would faint when only the helmet came back up. Was the girl okay? Then I heard something on the stairs and thank God it was the girl. Apparently you jump two floors. When you land, another staff member on the floor where you land, catches you, and clips your helmet to the vest you wear. Then he sends the helmet, vest and all, back up.

“Is there enough money in your band for me to ice skate, too?” I asked Tatev. She answered my plead. “There is only enough for one person in mine, if I had enough for two people in mine I would gladly let you try, too.”The ice skating wasn’t real ice skating but it still looked fun. You skated on something very similar to ice but not exactly like ice. I watched as they glided and slid on the ‘ice’. Oh well.

“Oh geez” I said as I watched Tatev sit on the moon. Good Time had a big silver moon that birthday children sit on. Then the moon went up to the ceiling and let them make a wish and then bring them back down. Thankfully Tatev quickly made her wish and they brought her back down. The cake was strawberry flavored. It was pretty delicious.

“Hmmm.” I sighed. “Thats a nice wall.” Then something blurry slid down the wall. My heart stopped beating for about two full seconds. I realized it was a person who slid down the wall. I think Tatev noticed the surprised expression on my face because then she said “I’ve never ridden that slide in my life” Yes, she said SLIDE!! Oh, it’s only a vertical SLIDE!!!!! I’m never riding that in my life! “And did you know, Noone’s birthday is at the Water World! (A park of water)”. Gulp!