red

What's the best thing you can do on Mondays? Get liquored-up!

So it was probably my third or fourth wine class but the first one I'd actually paid for. (The others had been for work as the former paper had quite a few of these for readers)

The class at Cafe Amigo was a two hour one and featured six different wines - a sparkling white, two Chardonnays, a Merlot-Grenache, a Pinot Noir and a Gewuertztraminer.

I came out of it not knowing any better about wines but it was a good two hours spent with friends and alcohol, although a bit of a hungry one as I'd not had dinner before that - the seven of us polished off the bread and cheese offered and when class was over, even grabbed those off the other tables.

After class, eps, char and I went to have a look at Balcony, which was nearly full upstairs, despite it being a Monday night. With a lack of chairs at the small table, we had to sit around this pathetic little jacuzzi which was probably just a bubbling cesspool of bacteria. Managed to find seats along the side later, although a giant red velvet curtain sorta blocked my view of.... hmm... the streets below I suppose.

Our calamari took ages to arrive and when it did, it tasted like something out of a frozen packet.

But when all you've had since 7pm is a couple of miserable California rolls out of the sad sushi display at Centrepoint. and some slices of baguette and teeny cubes of cheese, frozen calamari with tartar sauce will do. (ok so I also had a latte and half a chocolate cake slice at BloodBros at about 4pm). Oh and of course we didnt just go there to stare at bubbles and eat frozen battered squid! I had a gin and tonic. We were by this time more concerned about filling the stomach than getting a fancy drink so I named the usual. Plus the drinks list was a little grotty looking, despite the new-ness of the place.

I'm not sure if I'll go there again. If I'm in the area and am hankering for the alcohol, I think I'd rather go try my luck up emerald hill. then again, they do one-for-one drinks (if I remember correctly) until 9pm....

Oh, and I suppose some people already know this, but I didn't until today.

Alcohol Flush Reactionis a condition where the body cannot break down ingested alcohol completely, due to a deficiency of an inactive enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) which is normally responsible for breaking down acetaldehyde, a byproduct of the metabolism of alcohol. Since acetaldehyde is a toxin, it accumulates and causes flushing if the human body can't break it down. Approximately half of all Asians have a sensitivity to alcohol due to this condition and there is some evidence that this condition exists frequently in people of Jewish descent as well.

So when my face turns red, it's because I don't have enough ALDH2.