The Weekend!

The weekend was pretty bland. Since I now have to work alternate Saturdays, It was also pretty short. I finished Splinter Cell :Pandora Tomorrow. I gotta say the Spinter Cell games are damned cool. The Covert Ops Counter-Terrorist gameplay and plotline is very immersive. I really liked the line in the game where someone said my character "is the unknown author of most world changing events". Can't wait for the 3rd installment, more great gameplay and music. Supposedly some guy from Ninja Tune is going to make the soundtrack for it. Speaking of game soundtracks, I actually like Max Payne 2 theme song a whole lot. Sometimes, I sit in the dark and put it on repeat.

My flat-mate had a BBQ last night down the pits at my place. Him and his colleagues. Well, that was a pleasant event since I was allowed to tag along for a free meal. It was a non-alcoholic kinda party so it was mostly sit, eat and look around. I made some idle chatter and ate a whole lotta chicken wings, though the food pales in comparison to the "Food Fests" I host where the food is prepared by this guy. There was this cute girl there (21 - young and innocent - so she claims) whos face resembles a rodent (mouse). Well at least there was some eye candy while I ate my fill.

Today I managed to sneak a peak at the 'so called' International Beer & Wine Fair at Raffles City shopping center. It was at the ground floor setup in a circle. The cashier counter was placed in the middle and the vendors arranged around it. It was a dismal affair, 10 minutes and you'd have seen everything.. There weren't many vendors to start with. There was also only 1 beer vendor of note, Erdinger (I was tempted to buy this as they were offering this really cool Mug if you buy 4 packs. But $120+ for a mug.. No Way!). Since this was supposed to be an "International" fair, I would thought to see more exotic beers, NOT the usual Tiger or Carlsberg you can get anywhere off the street.

I did however, find a gem. It's a alcoholic sparkling apple cider drink (thats a mouthful) called Sydney Cider. I've never actually seen this on the shelves (although it's maybe I don't really look hard at these kind of drinks). But, apparently it's quite new. You can get it in Cold Storage and I think 7-11s. So what drew me to this drink at an obscure corner displayed beside Japanese sake? They have a "new" ad campaign called "lose your head" with pretty neat posters. The enthusiastic sales person was telling me they use juice apples and not cider apples (apparently there is a difference between the apples we buy to eat and the ones used to ferment into cider) so it isnt sout or tangy. They also use champgne yeast for fermenting (I Google'd it and clicked on the first link I saw and apparently there are different types of yeast) which gives it the "bubbly" feel. So I tried it out. True to his word, it was sweet and light. When I say "light", I meant it's virtually non-existant alcohol taste and smell. I think casual drinkers won't even notice it and this makes it a great social drink. Beware though, it actually packs quite a punch with 7% acl (that's more than your average draft beer). Innocently swilling a few bottles can get you to that happy place real quick.

The kind salesman also gave me some coasters with their funky ad campaign prints I talked about and a little pamphlet with some cocktail recipies (Their website has more). Most of them involve vodka and this intrigued me more since I'm partial to vodka. Grabed 2 packs back home to try. Another thing, It doesn't seem to freeze either. I've had this bottle in the freezer for 4 hours. Drink it right out the freezer.... Awesome! Great find I must say, and cocktails aside, it makes a good general mixer too. Forget Coke, Sprite or 7up. Liquor + Sydney Cider = Highway to Happy Place.

Hmm! Looks like the weekend wasn't so bland after all.

EDIT : Apparently it DOES Freeze up sooner or later, So don't leave your Sydney Cider in the freezer overnight.