A Close Call - Beer-related

Speaking of beer, I went out for dinner on Friday night with the lady and had a single beer. Just a little something to relax and enjoy my meal with. We took our time eating, went for a little bit of a stroll after dinner (well, more like a walk to Beard Papa's and then a walk to the parking structure) and by the time we got back to the car, what little effect the beer had had on me had worn off. I decided to drive us back to our place (only about 2 miles away) and took the usual route home. We got on the main road and suddenly, we hit traffic. The local police had set up a sobriety checkpoint!

Now, I wasn't worried because 1) I'd only had a single beer about 2 hours prior and 2) I'm no lightweight to begin with (and I felt absolutely lucid). That being said, I *was* worried because I get that goddamn Asian blush thing going the moment my lips touch alcohol. But, as we sat in line, I saw them waving cars through by the handful, so I figured we were going to be on our merry way. No dice. For whatever reason (my usual bad luck, karma, whatnot), we are randomly selected from the group and get pulled off to the side (it wasn't because I was pink or anything because they waved us down from *really* far away). I pull up to the stop sign, the cop greets us, and I offer my driver's license and the biggest smile I can muster, "Good evening, officer." He shines the light in my face and probably sees the pinkness. My heart skips a beat. The fiance has tensed up in a manner not quite unlike Han Solo frozen in carbonite. The cop asks me a series of questions and then makes me follow his finger around with just my eyes. Luckily, he smiles, hands me back my license, then tells me I can go on ahead.

As I pulled away, I get a sudden head rush as my heart finally started beating again. Now, I know drinking and driving is no laughing matter and should be taken very seriously. Had I had *any* doubts about my ability to drive, I would have passed on the keys to my fiance (as I usually do). Nevertheless, a harrowing experience to say the least.

Beer!

Since foomfoom is feenin' for some beer, I'll go ahead and kick this thing off with 2 reviews of beers I've recently tried.

First up:

Franziskaner - Made in Germany, it's an import beer that you can find at some major supermarkets (I've found it at Safeway on occasion, as well as Whole Foods), though they only seem to carry the hefeweisse. Being an unfiltered wheat bear, it's a very heavy beer, but given the full flavor and sweetness of these types of beers, it's one of my favorites. This beer in particular has a thick, sweet taste (almost honey-like) with just a hint of bitterness at the end. Given that it's an import, it probably has its fair share of preservatives in it (which might account for the bitter aftertaste... or I might just be on crack) - but I hear that there are some local bars that have this on tap!

Until now, I'd primarily been drinking the Widmer and/or Pyramid hefeweizens (both solid beers), but I've found that the Franziskaner has a much deeper flavor. This one gets two thumbs up!


Next up:

Grolsch - I picked up this beer (Dutch import) just based on the cool bottle design. It has a pop top that can be opened without a bottle opener, and can be resealed. Pretty nifty. That being said, it's a pilsner beer (a pale lager) that has quite a bit more body than most pale lagers found in the US. Even my not-much-of-a-beer-fan fiance took a taste and could taste the different layers to the flavor (the initial bitterness, followed by a light wheaty flavor, which ends with a really sweet finish). It was a pleasant surprise and while it doesn't have the same impact as a good hefeweizen, it was much lighter and more suited to drinking alongside a meal (whereas a hefeweizen can be a meal in itself o_O).

One and a half thumbs up! Not quite as rich as, say, a Yebisu lager IMO, but one of the better lagers I've tried in the US.

Note to Self

I'm leaving this as a marker for myself to start blogging about the various wines, beers, and other drinks that I try over the years. I realized that I've been trying a lot of different drinks, but rarely remember the ones that I really like. So, I figured I should just start blogging about it all and add a few labels for easy finding.

I've recently tried a couple of red wines, 2 new beers, and a moscato d'asti, but I don't remember the names right now. I'll grab the corks (and bottle) tonight and write up a couple of reviews!

Points of View

So, I've been posting on this chat forum that is for hapas. I came across it by chance and I've ended up meeting a few of the members - they've all been extremely nice people and I'm glad I met them.

But, there's been an interesting bit of drama on the boards. Two of the members met with another one and told her that she had "an endearing Japanese accent" (or something similar). She was born and raised in England, so she was annoyed at the comment, but they tried to clarify by saying, "No, it's cute, really." That simply infuriated her more. Also, these two other members began talking on the boards (I don't know if it's intentional or what) in a mock-Japanese accent by replacing their Rs with Ls, so the other girl got pissed and left.

She came back recently and explained why she left, and how she was even further annoyed that several other unrelated members took to posting in the mock Japanese accent. I stuck my head into the conversation (perhaps where it didn't belong) and explained that while I don't know/understand the start of the drama, I was pretty sure that most of the other people were doing it simply because of the irony/humor. Many of the hapas on the boards grew up in western countries speaking both languages, and several of them have encountered some discrimination because they look Asian. I explained that much like how the term "hapa" was reclaimed by people of mixed heritage to be a source of pride, perhaps these others were using the fake accent to simply be ironic (in that they are perceived as being Asian and expected to speak that way, so they are hamming it up).

She responded by saying that it is offensive to hapas that grew up in Japan who don't speak English well, despite the fact that to full-Japanese people, they look foreign and therefore should speak perfect English. No matter how I tried to explain that we all have different experiences and people cope in different ways (and despite the fact that I said that I know that it isn't necessarily the intent of an action, but rather the result that is most important), she still claims that other people don't have a right to make light of the situation...

I understand that some people have more baggage than others. But does that mean nobody should be able to poke fun at themselves? I understand the struggle, but perhaps it is my own lack of serious baggage (or my willingness to make fun of myself so often) that I simply can't understand why she gets upset about people making fun of themselves. The initial issue - sure, I can understand her being upset. It was patronizing. But the other situations? That'd be like someone telling me I can't make fun of my own thumbs or my huge noggin because they had issues dealing with it growing up.

Maybe some things just aren't reconcilable.