We woke up hearing someone knocking the door.
- Hi Andy. - I said.
- Hey Fer. I just saw this chocolate cake and bought the sparking lights for the party. Do you think he will like it?
- Sure. Who doesn't love chocolate?
- But where we will go now? He needs to decide.
- I will ask him and I let you know okay? Hide the cake!
- Okay, let me know!
- Fer? - Joe was calling me.
- Yeah? It was Andy asking us where we would go.
- Let me do a research. Hmmm... Bar Brazil. That serves german goodies. Sounds interesting. Max Huang would love it.
- Did I tell you that I wanna meet the cast of the film? Max killed it as Kung Lao. And Jessica McNamee was awesome as Sonya Blade. And Ludi Lin made one of the most pretty scenes of the whole film. Fire Dragon! Oh, Lewis Tan kicks butts too.
- I will try, because their projects are very apart from mine, but maybe one day, maybe a year after the premiere we'll do a meeting. I don't know.
- Which premiere? The asian, american, brazilian or japanese?
- The april 23rd one.
- Oh, okay. Bar Brazil. In Lapa. Oh, the girls from the baile funk... They will be there I'm sure. Andy won't be confident to talk with Victoria again.
- Oh damn. I forgot about that. But I liked this bar! I'll find another one. Better not try the luck. There is this one, called tunemai.
- What? Let me read... Ah, it's Tô nem aí.
- Right. I liked the food and the drinks. And it's in Ipanema. We can sit on the beach and talk bullshit while drunks.
- Okay Fer. Let's go. I'll put my clothes on. I would do the same if I were you.
- I'm texting Andy. "Place decided. Ipanema, bar with cool mojitos and good food. Get dressed rn. See ya. Fer"
- I'll grab my cool tee with Sub-Zero on it. What do you think?
- Fits you well. I'll go with this dress all loose on the waist, it's black and it fits any place. Are you thinking about going to a club later or not?
- Not really.
- Don't change your mind. I'm going with heels. And I won't use any make-up except for a lipstick and blush.
- Your parfum is good. What are you using?
- Armani Code.
- I'll use this one. It's called Sauvage.
- Dior. I love this one. It's sexy just like you. - I got closer to him and had a kiss.
- Ready?
- More than ready. I'll shut the windows and the roof of the car. It's getting cold.
- Let's go to Andy's room.
We knocked at his door and he was ready. Now I like it better - he is using a fancy white shirt with long sleeves, black pants and some fancy shoes.
- Do I look cool now? - Andy asked me.
- You look like a warrior. Let's go! Don't forget the cake. And the sparkling lights.
- Cake? I will have a cake? - Joe said
- Yes you will. Now go go go.
Got into the car, now with a roof and windows closed. Let's go.
We arrived at Tô nem aí, the bar was almost full but we grabbed a seat for three. The next conversation is in portuguese.
- Hello, welcome to Tô nem aí. What's your name, lady?
- Fernanda. And yours?
- I'm Francisco. Are they brazilian or gringos?
- Gringos. - the boys started to laugh.
- Why are they laughing?
- They know the slang. Well, sir Francisco, do you have a menu?
- Yes, Fernanda. And it's in english as well so your friends can understand.
- Take it here. These are appetizers, sandwich, our famous sausage with cheese, and some drinks or draft beer. Enjoy and call me whenever you need.
- Thank you very much.
Now we're back into english mode.
- Guys, what do you want to drink?
- I'll go with draft beer. - Andy said.
- I'm kinda scared of drinking alcohol again but well, a draft beer won't make me feel so bad I think. - Joe said.
- I'll go with this blue drink. And this meat sandwich with fries because I am starving!
- Oh I'll try the sausage with cheese. - Andy said.
- I'll ask the same as Andy. - Joe said.
I called mr Francisco and gave him all our orders. Took some 15 minutes or less and everything was on our table. The smell of the sausage was fantastic.
- Let's make a toast? - I asked and the boys nodded.
- To Joe's forties! - BLING! There we go.
Some people stopped and stared at our table. I think they recognized Joe or Andrew. A very young lady called Veronica asked for an autograph. She told me that Sub-Zero is her main in all MKs, except MKX where she plays with Kung Jin better.
- Veronica, I main Mileena in almost all MKs but my fave in MKX is Kitana.
- Oh, I like to play with her sometimes but Sub-Zero is my favorite of all. I'm very happy to see Joe Taslim here in Rio!
- Veronica, let's take a picture? - Joe asked. The girl nodded and I took the photo for her.
- Today it's my birthday and I could not be happier!
- Oh, mine is tomorrow! - Joe said. - Happy Birthday Veronica!
- Have a nice day dear! - Andy said.
- Feliz aniversário querida (happy birthday my dear).
- Great! Happy Birthday for you too Joe. Now I gotta go, my friends are waiting for me.
- Isn't she lovely? - I said.
- Yes. Thank God my fans are not crazy.
- Like the BTS ones! - Andy started to laugh. And I remembered a meme from Brazil that is on the trend right now.
- Let me show you this meme. I'll translate later but look.
I showed them the meme of a puppet saying that it its young and it will listen to k-pop because of it. Then someone called Guilherme tells her to stop because she is a millenial (someone born between 80's and 90's I guess) and start to throw all the truth for her, for example, she reminds of some old brazilian songs and remembered when Lorde was singing sad songs. And she kept saying that she was young. They laughed even don't understanding because the puppet is hilarious. But when I explained they laughed even more.
- So what am I? At my 40's I'm older than a grandpa for some people.
- Yeah, but not for me. There are people in Brazil that are grandpas or grandmas before their 40's. It's sick.
- Yeah, in Indonesia too. I hope my oldest daughter don't do this to me right now.
- She is smart just like her father - I winked at Joe and he smiled at me.
- Oh, this beer is good. I want more Fer. Can you call the man? - Andy asked and I called mr Francisco.
- Another draft beer for him and for my man as well. Can I ask you something mr Francisco?
- Yes ma'am. Go on.
- At midnight can we sing all along a happy birthday to Joe? In english if its possible.
- We'll do it in portuguese because it's way more fun. Just wait and see.
The beers have arrived and I still had my drink in hands. We started to talk about their projects and all, and when we realized it was midnight.
- Andy, grab the cake! THE SPARKLING LIGHTS NOW!
- Alright!
I even had a microphone to announce - mr Francisco gave it to me. Then I started to talk in portuguese:
- Guys, it's Joe Taslim's 40th birthday! Let's sing all together right? 1,2,3...Happy Birthday to you...
In portuguese is like this:
Parabéns pra você, nesta data querida
(Congratulations for you, in this dearest date)
Muitas felicidades, muitos anos de vida!
(Lots of happiness, lots of years of life!)
Joe and Andy were clapping but not understanding the lyrics. It was funny!
- Woo-hoo!! Thank you guys! Joe, have some words in portuguese.
- Ok... Obrigado Rio! Amo o Brasil! Eu sou Sub-Zero! Te amo Fernanda!
- What? - Everyone said AAAAAWWWWW and I blushed immediately.
- Terima kasih hatiku (thank you my heart) Joe. - I kissed him and some people started to scream like crazy. I heard some applauses. And I wanted to run from there because that was insane. Andy was only laughing and applauding.
- Let's cut the cake! Joe, cut it from upside down and make a wish in your mind. Don't tell anyone. That's our tradition.
- Cut the cake from upside down? - I grabbed the knife and his hand, so that he could cut it properly.
- Like this. Made your wish? - I asked him.
- Yes I did.
We started to eat the cake. It was small but for three it was okay. There was a piece left and then we gave it to mr Francisco. He didn't even ask for a tip. Andy and I split the check and Joe didn't pay a thing.
- It's your birthday bro. You don't have to pay for nothing today! - Andy said.
- Yeah. True dat! - I said.
- Let's go to our rooms, I can't wait to celebrate! - Joe was so happy, we could feel it. He wasn't drunk and the beer didn't cause anything on him. That's great news.
