BOTTOMS UP #2

CHEERS! All hail Caesar! In my previous blog post, I boasted Canadian Club as my drink of choice at home. I felt it necessary to also pay homage to Canada's national cocktail, the Caesar. It originated in May of 1969 in Calgary, Alberta. The recipe for a traditional Caesar is:

1 oz vodka
2 dashes of hot sauce (tobasco)
4 dashes of Worcestershire
salt and pepper
5 oz Mott's Clamato juice

The glass is rimmed with celery salt, and both a wedge of lime and a stalk of celery are placed in the drink as garnish. Over the years, there has been some variation to the drink, adding a variety of garnishes and upping the heat factor. For those outside of Canada, the drink is similar to a Bloody Mary (which uses tomato juice). Since it's May and the anniversary of the Caesar, give it a try!

YUM SENG! In Singapore, English is widely spoken, so you can still say 'Cheers!' or use the Cantonese equivalent 'Yum Seng,' which translates to 'drink good.' The national cocktail is, of course, the Singapore Sling. The drink originated in 1915 at the Long Bar, which is located on the second floor of the famous Raffles Hotel. For $16, I sipped on the gin-based, pink drink while snacking on peanuts and chucking the shells on the floor. This is the only place in Singapore where littering is acceptable. Although this particular drink is not something I'd usually order (too sweet and I try to avoid gin), the experience of sitting in the charming Long Bar was worth it.

MOT, HAI, BA, YOOOO! In Vietnamese, this translates to one, two, three, cheers! The most popular drink in Vietnam is beer, and it's usually served with ice. Vietnam is extremely hot, so I was thankful for the ice, especially when the beer was served warm. I met up with some fellow travellers on the road, and we stopped for a night, deciding to go for food and drinks. We started drinking beer as usual, but as the night progressed, we were in for a surprise. The owner wanted to treat us to Snake Wine. The entire snake is infused in rice wine or grain alcohol. It's said to improve both health and virility...

After a few shots, I was pretty much done for the night. Thanks to my companions, I made it back to the guest house. Waking up the next morning, I had little recollection of anything after the snake wine, and it did nothing to improve my health!

SEREFÉ! I spent a short amount of time in Turkey when I was travelling in Greece. Since consuming alcohol is against the Islamic faith, drinking in Turkey is not as common as in other European countries. The national drink is called Raki. It's extremely potent at 80-90 proof. Raki is an unsweetened anise-flavoured drink and commonly referred to as 'lion's milk' because of its colour.

Like the snake wine, I was not prepared for the potency of this drink. Luckily, I was able to make it back to the boat returning to Greece. When you can no longer feel your teeth, it's time to call it quits.

CHOK DEE! One of my favourite places to visit in Southeast Asia was Thailand. Drinking is relatively inexpensive, and most people drink either beer or Thai whisky. My favourite beer was Singha. There's nothing more refreshing than an ice-cold beer on a hot day. And it's always hot in Thailand.

I love the beach and spent quite a bit of time on Koh Samui Island. Located on the east coast of Thailand, Koh Samui was a nice get away from the bustling activity of Bangkok. In the mornings, I would enjoy a banana shake for breakfast but at night would switch to a banana colada. Sipping on this delicious drink, lounging on the beach, listening to the waves, and watching the moon rise in the night sky was a perfect end to a day in paradise. The bananas also helped keep my potassium up!

With the Swiss boys Adi and Rene, Koh Samui

Travelling provides a chance to try something you normally wouldn't. It also gives the opportunity to meet and talk with people whose paths you likely wouldn't cross. I had a number of great encounters on my journeys. Whether it was sipping on Lao whisky while tubing down the river in Vang Vieng, clinking wine glasses in Venice while yelling SALUTE!, or drinking beer at an outdoor cafe in Budapest, the bonds I formed, even for a short time, were memorable. Looking back, I wouldn't have done anything different (well, maybe avoided that snake wine).

Drink responsibly. Don't drink and drive...even on a bicycle...call Uber!

~MT

BOTTOMS UP

When you clink glasses with a fellow traveller, you are solidifying a bond, whether just for the night, the duration of your trip, or, if lucky, for an entire lifetime. You share tales of your adventures, your past, and where you want to travel to next. Like food, drink is an integral aspect of culture in most countries.

CHEERS: Being Canadian, I hold a fondness for Canadian Club, a whisky that originated in 1858 by Hiram Walker. They had great marketing (seriously, check out their ads), plus they hid cases around the world. To this day, some of them still haven't been located. This is the drink of choice for Don Draper in Mad Men. I prefer to drink my CC mixed with Diet Pepsi, which my friends and I refer to as a RIOT (rye + diet).

CC+DP=my drink of choice

KAMPAI: In Japanese, this means to empty your glass. However, the custom when drinking with others is to never let your friend's glass empty completely. It's standard to serve one another, which is a bit of a problem as you never really know how many glasses you've had. Although sake is the national alcoholic drink, most people only have a glass or two of the rice wine, and beer is the more popular drink. It pairs well with edamame, salted boiled soybeans.

Drinking is an important role in Japanese society and widely accepted. There are vending machines everywhere; you can drink on public transportation, in parks, and even while riding your bike. Alcohol is sold at every convenience store, and they are open 24/7. It's customary to go out for drinks after work, and for those on a budget, there's nomihodai, all-you-can-drink for a fixed price and period of time. After living in this country for 6+ years, I'm surprised my liver didn't explode.

Beer Festival-KIRIN 

Although Kirin was my preferred beer, when I travelled to Sapporo, I had the chance to visit the museum and brewery there. They had nomihodai, and for 120 minutes, I sampled Sapporo beer while playing century club (a drink a minute for 100 minutes). Budget boozing at its finest. Asahi and Suntory are the other popular beer brands in Japan.

PROST: For a country that invented Jagermeister, a 70-proof liquor, you know that Germans take their drinking seriously. They are very proud of their beer and have a strong opinion about which is the best one. Oktoberfest is celebrated annually in Munich, Bavaria, and more than 6 million people attend. I was fortunate to partake in the festivities back in 2014.

A delicious amber brew

Hofbrau Festzelt

Lederhosen worn by most

Oktoberfest was definitely one of the better festivals I've attended. There are amusement rides, games, pretzels, and beer. Lots and lots of beer. The 16-day event is extremely well organized. I was most impressed with the waitresses carrying around 10 1-litre steins at a time!

SLÁINTE: Guinness used to be given out to new mothers in maternity hospitals. That practice has since ceased, but this particular beer is a meal in a glass and an acquired taste.

Look closely; you can see the shamrock in the foam

I'm not a huge fan of the beer, but I do like Jameson, Irish whisky. If you'd like to sample a bit of the Irish favourites, try an Irish Car Bomb. This drink features a half-pint of Guinness, with a shot of Jameson and Bailey's Irish Cream mixed together. The name is offensive, referring to the troubles of Northern Ireland. The drink is essentially unheard of in Ireland. Most would find it distasteful to mix Guinness with anything.

Stay tuned for the next installment, which will feature drinking snake wine in Vietnam!

~MT

NOM NOM

Finish everything on your plate or no dessert. Eat your veggies. Just a few more bites. Eat it, it's good for you. There are kids starving in the world so eat those brussel sprouts. Your sister finished hers (this usually was in reference to peas as my sister Jennie would always eat hers but I detested them). 

These were common phrases heard around the dinner table growing up. With four children sitting down to eat, my Mom did her best. Most days we would eat what was put in front of us. The rare time we refused, we felt the burn. My brother had the nerve to say he didn't like custard which resulted in my Dad throwing the bowl at him, just missing his head. My brother quickly grabbed his spoon saying he loved custard now! I wouldn't eat my meatloaf one night and my Mom told me I couldn't leave the table. I sat there until 9:00 when she told me I could go to bed. Where my parents mean? Not at all. They simply knew the cost of feeding a family of six wasn't easy and didn't want food to go to waste. There was one cookbook in the house. Remember it?

Nowadays, there are numerous cooking shows and a designated T.V. channel just for food. Recipes can be found online and downloaded. There's a plethora of restaurants to visit in any city, satisfying whatever suits your mood. Without traveling abroad, you can have Thai, Indian, Chinese, Italian, Japanese or Brazilian food by jumping in your car and driving for 10 minutes. If you wanted sushi when I was growing up....well, you just didn't. We didn't even know what it was.

Traveling has opened my eyes to different cultures and also to different foods. Japan has some of the best seafood I've ever tried. It was where I first tried eel, octopus, and fugu. You may wonder why I would risk eating a pufferfish that can be lethally poisonous. I was advised that the chefs are extremely well trained and knew how to remove the toxins. Trying it one time was enough! Here are some favourite foods I've experienced while traveling.

1) JAPAN: One of my favourite dishes was okonomiyaki which translates to a Japanese pancake. The dish is made with batter and cabbage, and filled with seafood, meats, sometimes noodles, and topped with sauce, mayonnaise, dried seaweed and fish flakes. It's crispy on the outside and soft inside. A must try in Japan.

2) ITALY: I think that the country speaks for itself. The food is delizioso!

After eating pasta and pizza here, it's hard to enjoy it back at home! My only complaint was peas in the pasta. Like a child, I picked them out and left them on my plate.

3) IRELAND: Fish and chips in Dingle, County Kerry. I have never had better fish and chips.

4) CANADA: We are known for our maple syrup, butter tarts, peameal bacon and Montreal smoked meat. I had poutine in Montreal, Quebec and couldn't believe how tasty it was.

5) THAILAND: I could do a whole book on Thai food. I visited the country a number of times and took a couple of cooking classes. The food is phenomenal. Bangkok is well known for street food and if you are a little adventurous, you can sample some fried bugs.                

                       Local market in Chiang Mai, northern Thailand.

                        Shopped for fresh ingredients. 
                                                                                                                                                                   Here are the dishes I made:

                        Pad Thai- a very common noodle dish.
                           

                        Green curry coconut soup- I made the mistake of
                        rubbing my eye after touching a hot chili pepper.
                        Couldn't wear my contact lenses for 2 days!

                          Spring rolls. Note the fancy rose and petals made
                          with vegetables. I haven't attempted it since!

Looking at these photos is making me hungry. I will post "Part 2" soon!

~MT