Rum

My poison of choice is rum. I like a good scotch, especially if I have a good cigar to go with it. But my first love was black rum. Not white rum, it tends to be shite. Amber ... ok. Spiced, good at Christmas. Black rum. now that is good drink. Goes well with cigars too.

Growing up we used to eat molasses from time to time. Mom would give us some molasses in a bowl and a few slices of bread. Mmmmmmmm. My brother liked, well still likes, it on his pancakes. Good black rum should have a molasses flavour to it. It always reminds me of the childhood treat.

It is hard to get good rum in Korea. Hell they consider Bacardi to be a quality rum! Bacardi!!! Good god you know someone has been deprived of good rum if they think Bacardi is a quality rum!!!

There is some palatable rum to be had. Cheaply too. In Korea I would recommend Captain Q. It isn't bad. Quite palatable. But it is hard to impossible to find Captain Morgan or better. I could find good rum in China and Japan. but not Korea.

Now that I am home I still get goosebumps when I go to the liqour store. The choice of rums is great in the regular LC. In the big stores it is AMAZING.

Just take spiced rum as an example. There only used to be ONE kind of spiced rum. Captain Morgan's Spiced. Now there are at least 8 different kinds I have seen. Regular dark rum? Great googily moogily! There is SO much choice now. The big LC has a shelves running down one side of the store that is all rum! And I want to try it all. :)

My favourite rum, since I was first introduced to it, was Goslings Dark Navy Run. It is GREAT with ginger beer. When mixed together the drink is called a dark and stormy. I am imbibing one as I type. :)

The eerie sound of silence and smells of spring.

I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before but it bears repeating. One of the things I find myself still getting used to is the silence. Even if it isn't completely silent the sounds of the city/suburbs are so much lower than in Korea that it may as well be quiet.

I am sitting in my apartment with the window open. It is 3:40 in the afternoon. Kids are going home from school. Yet it is fairly quiet. I can here some kids in the distance, probably at their school. In Cheongju I would be hearing cars, people, loud speakers. I don't miss that.

I cut the lawn the other day and it rained after I finished. When I went out that evening I just had to stop, shut my eyes, and breath in the air and silence. It smelled so good. I must have stood there for a good 10 minutes just soaking it all in. Sometimes it is just a simple pleasure like that which we miss the most. One of the reasons why it is good to get out of the city in Korea once in a while and enjoy some fresh air.

Deliver me from slowness.

As I wrote on What the kimchi? I am having withdrawals from the speedy delivery service you get in Korea.

It only took the boxes I mailed 5-6 days to get to Canada. The most expensive box cost about $68 and the cheapest about $36. The $36 box was about the size of a shoe box and full of dvd's. Compare that to the cost of a shoe box care package my mother mailed me. It cost $80. From Korea 5-6 days. From Canada 10-14 days.

The reaction of the mailman when he dropped them off was hilarious. He was gobsmacked by the speed the boxes got to Canada. His jaw hit the floor when I told him how much it cost to mail them. Considering they use the same airlines to send the stuff it does make you wonder just how badly we are being gouged.

I had to get a new pair of sneakers Friday. It will take them 5 days to have them sent from another store about 100km away. FIVE fricking days!!!! I got stuff here from Korea in that time!!! In Korea I would have them the next day.

I find myself missing the great delivery service I found in Korea.

Drivers

It has been hard to get used to driving here. I am so used to drivers in Korea ignoring the rules of the road that I am continually being surprised by drivers here obeying them. People actually stopping at the stop line at red lights. Drivers actually stopping for pedestrians!!! What the hell?!?!?!

I never understood the Korean aversion for stopping at crosswalks. Often they will drive right through while people are crossing. I always stopped for them in Korea. Often the driver behind me would get pissy and start blowing his horn. I would, as a friend so eloquently puts it, would signal them that they are Number 1 in sign language.

And there is a noticeable lack of horn blowing.

It is nice ... but kind of eerie. It will take some getting used too. :)

What the .... price gouging?!?!?

I lost the USB cable for my camera. Odds are it popped out on the plan. No big deal I just picked up a new one. The CHEAPEST one was 24.99 PLUS tax!!!! What the kim errrr Maple Syrup?!?!?!?

Then I got one of those little plug adapters to put over the prongs of the korean plug. Not a converter just a plug adapter. They cost a whopping 50 cents in Korea. Here 9 fucking dollars and 99 fucking cents!!! PLUS tax!

I know prices are higher here but that is INSANE. With tax it cost me $45.17 for one USB cable and one plug adapter. Jesus H MF Christ!

I knew I would miss the cost of living in Korea but I didn't think it would hit THIS quickly. Prices here are insane.

The sounds of silence.

After being home 1 full day and change I have to say the strangest thing so far is ... the lack of noise. In the evening or at night I can step out onto the back deck, breathe in the air, and hear very little. Compared to Cheongju it is silent.You can hear the odd car off in the distance and some kids and their dogs faintly. But by Korean standards it is quiet. Even during the day it isn't as noisy. It is both nice and eerie at the same time.

I was going to post some travel pics but I managed to lose my cable to hook the camera to the computer. Mind you I am NOT complaining. If that is all that got lost in transit that is a good thing. I will pick up another one later today.

Tonight will be game 7 of Montreal vs Pittsburgh. I should have been home in time for game 6, which the Habs won! Go Habs Go!!! Thanks to the fickle finger of fate I wasn't. But I am here for game 7 baby! Good cigars, rum, family, and hockey. Life is damn good. :)