I haven’t blogged for a while because I told myself that nothing interesting was happening but that’s wrong. Even the most commonplace events, sights or activities have some interest if you look hard enough. I’ve been busy with work and other things so have let the blog go a bit but recently I’ve been thinking about some of the routines of life that are different from home. Drinking, or more accurately, what to drink is one of them.
I’ve worked my way through a range of drinks from the almost undrinkable to the expensively imported in the search for a reliable alternative to wine. I like wine but recoil from the bottles of imported French wine as they are ridiculously expensive. £10 for a rubbish bottle of Van de Paye which would be £4 tops in Sainsbury’s is a rip-off. The local Dalat wine is thin, weedy and sour, borders on the undrinkable but is cheaper at £2 or so. Beer is just lager really so it’s yellow, slightly sweet and generally flavourless. Sapporo, the beer from Japan is the only exception to my general lager rule but still makes me feel uncomfortably full after a few. For all of those reasons I now drink spirits but which ones?
When it comes to the hard stuff my choice is wide. At the bottom end of the market there’s Hanoi vodka. Even as you drink it you can feel it’s bad for you. I get an almost instant headache followed by a general feeling on unease, like I’ve been poisoned, which I probably have. Koreans love Soju, a colourless, odourless liquid made from rice which tastes worse than the vodka but doesn’t seem so toxic. I drink it in emergencies only. Next up from those two is rum from the Philippines. This comes in two colours, white and brown, but only one flavour which I would describe as bland but on reflection, and after trying Bacardi, I now realise that’s what white rum tastes like. For those who are prepared to pay there is no limit to what you can buy but I’m mean and I like value for money.
The other problem I have is supply. There are a couple of decent sized supermarkets in Phu My Hung and lots of small stores and there’s a couple of fancy wine shops too for those with deeper pockets but there is no consistency in supply. For a while now my nearest supermarket only has Hanoi vodka and I’m not drinking that. They used to have a reliable supply of Philippino rum bit that’s run dry so imagine my pleasure and surprise when I saw a small shop nearby selling it. I was so pleased and surprised that I nearly bought two bottles but instead went for one plus a probably fake bottle of Gordon’s gin at the knockdown price of £5.
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Inspired by my luck and the spicy tang of the gin, I wrote this blog entry. Cheers!
