the breeze that tickles my spine

SEA BREEZE
- a vodka based cocktail with a fruity sour taste of cranberry and grapefruit juice

- a drink best served during the scorching heat of summer because of the refreshing
effect brought to cocktail because of its fruit juices.

- a classic example of balance of the strong (alcohol) and weak but sweet/
fruity flavor( fruit juice)

- the original recipe used gin (base) and grenadine (cranberry juice).

SEA BREEZE # 1

4 oz cranberry juice

2 oz vodka

2 oz grapefruit juice

cubed ice (for serving and mixing)

lime wedges

fill the chilled high ball glass with ice cubes.

pour in the cranberry juice.

in a shaker, put the vodka, grape juice, cracked ice and mix.

pour mixture into the glass and garnish with lime wedges. serve with 2 long straws

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as i checked my old stuff looking for my ITR, i came across articles that i cut out from a newspaper a couple of years ago. these articles used to..and...uhh...continue to give me goose bumps whenever i read them


Article 1: MOONLIGHT DRIVE

coreen was a senior transfer student at a school in Augusta, Maine. being the only child and a virgin, she used to do a lot of things with her parents: malling, fancy dining, sundae treats, biking, watching movies and other things friendless nerds would do. luckily, unlike what was expected, she didn’t have any problems fitting in to a good crowd. she easily blended in and became friends with the school's bitches, (varsity cheerleaders) and became very close to the mother whore(cheer captain) patty.

one time at the gym, the mother whore caught the nerdy virgin checking out on jake (the varsity quarterback). the bitch then told her that jake was well hung and if she wants hookup with him, she needs to go to the party on friday night. being an inexperienced virgin who cant control her libido, she gave in and said that she will just make an excuse for her parents to permit her.

having known their kid as very open and honest, coreen's poor parents immediately gave her the permission to spend the night at patty's place to do their "physics project", although her mom got so emotional because this will be the first time their daughter will miss the "movie house friday" bonding, she still… with all trust and stupidity, permitted their daughter to go.

the rumor spread like fart in a warm room and it didn’t take long before jake smelled/knew that coreen was a virgin.(i meant that she had a crush on him). so he went to the party and decided to nail, i mean accompany coreen.

Everything was perfect, nice crowd, music, finger food, and the company of her crush..coreen never got this "excited" before. they went to the bar and jake offered her something to drink(to make her tipsy and warm inside) hehehe...being a doll and all, she let jake decide. he ordered her a Sea Breeze. (and as expected, he asked the bartender to double up the measure of vodka in the drink and hide it by adding a tablespoon of sugar syrup). 2 rounds later, she came.......

...to a point that she wanted more, but decided to play tipsy. Jake grinned...and asked coreen if she wants to have a dose some fresh air. they both decided to have a moonlight drive.(coreen chuckled because jake thought his game was all set. he never knew that coreen used to drink her grandfather’s brandy and whiskey collection, straight up, when her parents are not around)

jake already had heroin that time, and was so stoned. inside the car, he started kissing coreen, and being a virgin, didn’t like what he was doing to her, so she tried to stop him. jake, disappointed and dissatisfied stepped into the gas and increased their speed. Coreen was frightened and asked him to stop and let her get off. this aggravated jake further so he went on. for some stupid reasoning she had in her head, coreen decided to distract jake by taking the steering wheel off his hand. as expected, the car collided with the vehicle in front of them.

***NOW HERE IS THE SERIOUS AND NUMBING PART....

coreen woke up a day after the accident. she saw her nurse talking to the other nurses and overheard that the driver was dead on a arrival. the passengers of the other car died too.

the doctor, confirmed the bad news to coreen. this made her cry especially when the doctor said that she has a few days left. as a tradition, the doctor asked her if she has a death wish. Coreen with all her strength asked the doctor to do one thing. Apologize to her parents for her as she lied to them. this was her first time to lie and she felt so bad about it. she also wanted to apologize to jake's parents, for if it wasn’t for her, he would still be alive.

coreen died a few days after. the doctor had to attend the funeral. patty who overheard, the doctor's conversation with coreen before she died confronted him during the funeral. She asked him why didn’t he grant Coreen's death wish. She was so sad and fell into tears. after a moment of silence, just as the four coffins were being brought down the grave, the doctor just said...

" i cant grant her wishes. for one, Jake was abandoned by his dad a long time ago. He lives alone as the only relative he has, his aunt who is in Montreal. For Coreen, definitely, there is no way for me to apologize for her as her parents were the ones in the other car."


that ending gave me goose bumps. but made it worse was the note from the author:

****notice that there are four coffins brought down the grave...that was because the father who left jake when he was little was coreen's dad. It was discovered as Jake's aunt, (sister of coreen's dad came in a day before the funeral).


i guess i've used a lot of words for the first story...ill just have the second article on my next post.

far better than gatorade

DAIQUIRI- [dahy-kuh-ree]

-a rum-based cocktail drink with lemon/lime juice and sugar syrup
blended with crushed ice and any available fruit in season.

- a drink that was accidentally invented by the bar host due to the shortage of gin.

-the drink basically evolved due to abundance of sugar and lime

-a name of a beach in Santiago, Cuba

Banana Daiquiri

2/3 of a banana
1/2 oz. lime
1 1/2 oz. rum (or light rum)
1 tsp. sugar syrup or crème de banane

crushed ice

mix all ingredients and blend until smooth. pour into a chilled cocktail glass.
decorate the rim of the glass with a slice of banana.

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shakes have been part of my childhood. my dad worked in the middle east so he used to pester my mom about a lot of things: our studies, extra curricular activities, especially the food that we eat. i remember when 7-eleven introduced their "Slurpee" which drove me and the other kids my age crazy about this frozen cola that gives you the "brainfreeze". for some reason, this changed my eating habits and was eventually brought to my dad's attention. one saturday morning, we received individual letters from my dad. one line in that letter said:

"I ASKED YOUR ATE TO BUY SOMETHING THAT WILL MAKE YOU GO HOME EARLY AFTER CLASS"

that afternoon, Ate (my mom) and i went to automatic center (cubao) to buy a blender. we went to farmer's market and bought some fruits right after. That night, i had my first meeting with mango-banana shake. the time just stopped. until my sixth grade, im wondering what fruit shake will my mom prepare for lunch.

high school senior year, i was introduced to mocha frappe. that started my caffeine addiction. The one good thing that helped me cope with the stress of the graveyard shift. a very expensive part of teenage lifestyle. i can still remember that one coñotic friend used to say, "the coffee that you drink, are like the clothes that you wear". (did she mean: "for you to look like a yuppie, drink starbucks frappe...but remember to sip just a little at a time..so you can stay longer in the coffee shop"). The last time i heard, she still always spends her time in starbucks, waiting for friends/officemates who she texted and aksed to give her a treat of her favorite...a grande mocha frappe.

then came the point where my belly was oriented on its other purpose. that time he met the bitter but soothing taste of ice-cold beer. Then came the gin, and rum… and brandy…then vodka. i learned that the chaser can be any drink that you take after a straight shot. that a dash of cigarette ash on your drink will knock you out on the first round.

for the longest time, i was looking for a different taste…a taste aside from a gulp of chaser, mule or vodka cruiser. something really cold and refreshing… something that would knock me down hard without leaving me that bloated feeling. after a few months of thirst for something good, my friend jd (a bartender) to his newest addiction…MIXOLOGY. I then rediscovered one of the greatest inventions of man…the DAIQUIRI…and the rest was history.



postscripts:

• i still love to stop by 7-eleven to buy a large slurpee
• my good friend kim irish manapat made me realize that “extra joss” goes well with beer.
• my younger brother broke the glass pitcher of our old blender when he used it to grind the pork lungs and heart for “bopis”