expat

The Story of My Complex Relationship With The Old Fashioned

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There was a time long ago (2-3 years ago) when I did not like the taste of a good old fashioned  . Let’s call that time in my life BOF (Before Old Fashioned). I recall ordering one or two at bars and not really liking them. Then one January a few years ago on our anniversary M and I went to Jean George’s. I remember the night because I got there early or on time. M and I were both coming from work so we did not travel together. Side note the subway was messed up and M does not give herself any leeway in travel time.  Those factors and the fact that I generally am too early to things added up to me waiting about 20 to 30 minutes before M joined me.

While I was waiting at the bar I figured I was at a three-star Michelin rated restaurant so I assumed they can make pretty good cocktails. Up until that point I have had bad luck with old fashioned’s. They just didn’t taste quite right to me.  I did want to give it a few tries before I made my decision on if I like them or not. So I ordered one and drank it while waiting for M. The verdict was I still did not like it. At the time that last bad experience settled the drinks fate. It was off my list of things I would drink.  Or was it?

Flash forward a few years and I tried one again. My memory is fuzzy on the circumstances. I think it was we were at M’s friend Joe’s in Maine. The prior year he made me a fantastic Manhattan. So much so that I started making them myself the way he did it.  Wow those are strong but yummy.. The next time we saw him I believe he made an old-fashioned.  When he made it for me it was really good and I enjoyed it. So much so that when I was out with friends from work I started trying to order them again. It was still hit and miss in the beginning but after that I got really into them.

I started mixing them at home. The old fashioned are more complex and time-consuming to make than my favorite sidecar. I made them anyway. The first time I ran out of the ingredients to make the old-fashioned I forgot what it was that I originally had bought. I turned to the Internet to see what good bourbon to use for the drink. I found a couple of review sites that talked about the best bourbons to use in the drink. I then took the two top suggestions and went to the local liquor store to see if they had them. They had both options however for some reason I said I’m gonna buy the second best one. I can’t remember why.  I think the description better suited me.. It wasn’t like one was that much better than the other. They just had different reasons for liking one over the other. And that’s how I started mixing drinks with the Four Roses.

When I would be out and ordering an old-fashioned at a bar some of the better places would ask what I wanted it made with. It used to be I never knew a good answer for that.  Then I started asking what the suggested options were. That’s when I realized I had picked a delicious choice because many of the places I went to with good bars would have the four roses as a choice. After a while when asked what I wanted the drink made with I would specifically ask for that.  Then every so often i would get a “good choice” reply.  It was nice that something i liked made me sound like i knew what i was talking about.  I really do not know what I am talking about.

Somewhere along the way in my old-fashioned drinking experience I was introduced to the maple old-fashioned. It was super delicious. It basically replaces the simple syrup,  sugar, and water of a regular old-fashioned and replaces it with maple syrup. It was a simple Google search or in my case duck duck go search and I had the ingredients and how to make the drink. It was significantly easier to prepare and almost more delicious.

I thought I found a new goto drink that i could make at home.  Side Cars are good and easier than a regular old fashioned however if i do it the way i like it with the sugar on the glass it gets messy and takes a little longer.  To have an easier option would be great.  I made a few of the maple old fashioned at home. In the same general time frame I was waking up with migraines now and again. That’s rare for me. I was curious what the trigger was. After a little while I thought the trigger might have been the Maple old-fashioned. It is a lot of sugar. Some foods can be trigger so I got really scared.  Migraines are not something I mess around with so that stopped my buying or mixing this cocktail cold.

That didn’t stop me from making or buying regular old-fashioned. I just make them less often since they are a pain to do.  When we got to to London I didn’t have the same ingredients to make the original ones I liked the cube sugar that M had bought so I at the time thought stupidly to roll the dice and had M get some maple syrup. After the first attempt i was ok.  So i tried them again.  I was still ok.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could drink them and be okay. No trigger made me very happy so I was back on making these delicious beverages.

This brings me to what inspired me to write what turned into this very long post. I had a finite supply of Four Roses.  A big positive of London vs New York is you can go anywhere and get liquor.  The local market we use has.  Getting a good selection of higher end liquor is more of a challenge.  Some suggestions given to me did not pan out.  I turned to Amazon almost just to check for funzies.  Turned out they had what i wanted.  Amazon had a decent selection so I not only got the Four Roses I wanted I now have a new goto place to order any nicer stuff i may want to buy.

Next up for me is finding a new cocktail to master.

That Story Where I Write A lot About Tea Kettles

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Since way before I met her M has had an old-school metal tea kettle. She uses it to heat up tea and hot water for her coffee funnel. It’s as basic a solution as you can get. It also works surprisingly well. In the past year or so I’ve started to use it to heat water for my French press.

The thing with boiling water on a stove is that it can take a few minutes. I never thought anything of it. It was just how long it took to heat water. When we got to England we needed to heat water for coffee. I can’t remember if we brought our kettle in our luggage and the stove didn’t work. Or we simply did not have our kettle. In any event our stove was not working when we first moved in. We needed coffee. That meant we needed to buy something.

I knew about existence of electric kettles. I even remember my friend “A” who came from England to the US talking about how bad they were in the states. At the time I didn’t quite understand what he was complaining about. American electric kettles if I recall take around the same amount of time to make hot water then boiling it on a stove. If I’m wrong on that that is my recollection. I don’t really have direct knowledge on it. Going into this situation however that was what I was thinking. Electric kettles are slow.

I made one of our several trips to the local Sainsbury’s those first few days and picked up a cheap electric kettle. Once I got home I set it up and started to make enough water for 2 cups of coffee. I remember turning on the kettle and preparing to go do something while it heated the water. I got distracted talking to M for a moment. By the time I got back to realizing what I wanted to do the kettle clicked off indicating the water was done. At the time I thought something was wrong with it because it took maybe 1 to 2 minutes at most. I poured the water into the filter and sure enough it was the perfect temperature.

For what I am told the high-power quick teakettle is thanks to a more powerful power grid in England. I know everyone talks about the fact that the US is 110v and England is 220v however to see it in action was pretty interesting.

The electric kettle was so effective that M even agreed to get rid of her vintage stovetop one. That was a major development in our house.

The lesson here (if there is a lesson to learn) is even if someone explain something to you sometimes it doesn’t fully click until you experience it yourself.

It Is Setting In That I Do Not Live in NY Anymore

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airport display boards

I think it is starting to settle in that I live in England. When M’s The other parents were visiting we were discussing our plans to visit New York area next year. They asked if we were going to fly in Philadelphia due to wearing New Jersey we were going to go. I was about to say a course were going to go to JFK then I realized I don’t live near there anymore. We’re just visiting we can fly into whatever the closest airport is.

Such a minor thing to discuss however it is something like that that my brain clicks and it is like oh yeah.

My 221st Day in London Update

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Many of my British friends or people we meet out and about ask me how do I like it in London? They may instead ask what’s the biggest difference between England and America? I feel the answer to both of those questions are kind of related. They are also not really answerable in sentence or two unless I want to wildly generalize. As I start to write this entry a British friend of mine who I’ve known for years asked me how I was liking the country while we were at a pub the other night after work. That question turned into a 15 to 30 minute conversation about it. It also inspired me to want to write and address the question. It may be a complex answer however it’s a great question to address.

At the time of this being published we have officially been living in England for 221 days. I’ve said it a few times to multiple people that either we are still in our honeymoon phase of adjustment or we are already adjusted to life here. The reason is I haven’t really felt a huge amount of stress over adjusting.  It feels like it is a short amount of time to be adjusted already after everything I’ve read. That is why I sometimes think were still stuck in the honeymoon phase however there were rough patches early on so maybe we are adjusted already.  I bring all this up since my answer to this question may obviously change over time especially if we aren’t fully adjusted.

The short answer to the question how do we like it is we’re loving it (so far). The longer answer is that we are generally loving it, however it’s different. It is hard not to compare everything you experience with your prior experiences. That means everything I do I end up comparing it to New York.  In reading about adjusting to a new country they tell you not to do that. I am not saying that’s a good thing to do however it’s what generally happens. When I do that comparison some things are better here.  Some things are not.  Most are just different.

A good example of what is better is our house.  We have a garden with lots of space for the kid.  We are on a good tube line very close to the station. My commute is about the same from New York.  We loved our neighborhood in NY.  Were we are in London is much more suburban feel yet it is basically the same type of area. The house and neighborhood wins out in London over NY.  In general the work life balance in London seems much more relaxed.

There are things that were better in New York.  For us we had a lot of family and friends that we just can’t see anymore. My mom saw the kids twice a week.  We spent a weekend or so a month with M’s parents, etc. We will always have more family in the states however over time we are making friends here.

Then there are things that are just simply different. Maybe marginally better or worse.  They are really just different. Those are the hard ones to explain since my mind immediately tries to rate if it’s better or not to New York or the United States. The reality is it’s all about personal preference. I might love something that someone else might not. For example I’m a relatively fast-paced person. When I lived in Louisiana and I would get behind someone who is writing a check to pay for their groceries I would have no patience when they  stood there for five minutes writing it. London is definitely much more laid-back than New York. It’s still a global city however things are not as fast-paced. Younger version of me who had to deal with the slow of Louisiana likely would be very frustrated by London. Me today however is enjoying that slowdown.

When I think about that abstract that things are slower and more relaxed it is hard to describe. What pop’s into my head is sitting in a café in a museum.  The kids eating scones while drinking coffee on real China. In New York everything would be so rushed and everything would be disposable paper.  In London over the winter we went to the museums a bunch of times and relived that scene I described.  M more than I. Everything is all about the context. The subtle differences would have annoyed me in the past and I actually enjoy them today. That doesn’t mean there better or worse. It’s the differences that were trying to experience and enjoy.  Thankfully for now those differences are favorable to us.  In a year, or 5 years in the context of the example I gave will I return to my old impatient self?  Who knows. I hope not but you never know.

I can write so much more on this topic.  It is likely best to pick up at another point in time.  I will say for all of our friends in the States curious about how we are doing we are having a great experience.  It is harder than it looks however the rewards are totally worth it. It boils down to a Simpsons quote I like to use.  If you ask me am I enjoying life in England.  The yes or no answer is “Yes with an if, no with a but. Leaning towards yes…

A Regular

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I achieved a major milestone today. I officially became a regular at the Canary Wharf Starbucks I goto when going to the office in Canary Wharf. The lady taking orders remembered my name. You could see her struggle a bit trying to guess my order but then she knew my name. Another lady taking orders has been almost remembering for a week or two. You could tell by her facial expressions that she is trying and then is like a ha when i tell her what i want to order.

I guess we have been here long enough that I earned this nonsensical milestone. I am still proud.

It Is Late July And Summer Vacation Starts Now

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Today is the first day of the girls summer vacation/holiday. They get seven weeks off until school starts again in September.

This is one of those little things that are just a bit off in my universe and need adjustment. It’s late July and my kids were still in school until last Friday. Growing up for me school ended in June. The girls spent the Fourth of July at school. My memories of the Fourth of July is visions of watching fireworks at camp when i was old enough to goto sleep away canp or when i was working at one.

There’s arguments to be made for either system. I do not feel one is better or worse than the other. It’s just different enough that it takes getting use to. So here I am on 23rd of July and it’s the first day of my girls summer vacation.

Finally Cooling Down

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Sidecar

It was hot (hot for England) at like 27 Celsius today. That is like 80 something in that Fahrenheit system that I used in the US. After the kids were in bed M and i decided to go out to our garden and relax. It was nice i whipped up some cocktails and we read. It was a nice relaxing end to the week.As we were sipping our drinks it started to get windy and cool. We both looked at each other and said it might be time to go inside. Then i looked at my watch and realised it was 9:40 PM. It wasn’t daylight but it isn’t dark. I am still fascinated at how different enough the weather and day/night times are here than NY. By 9:40 PM in NY during any day of the year it would be dark and cold. Here it is light enough that you can still read and it is still cool but not cold outside.

Independence Day or In England We Call It Wednesday

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Happy Birthday America.  Pictured in this post is me prior to moving to England.  My brother in law bought me that shirt since he wanted me to remember the country I come from.  At time of writing this post I am not sure if i am going to wear this shirt today.  That is the plan however.

Now I need to find a good place for BBQ for lunch.  I am pretty sure there will not be any fireworks for us today.

Underground vs Subway Showdown Part 2: Reliability

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I am a tech guy so of course in part one of my Tube vs Subway showdown i was going to talk about Payment systems. In Part 2 I focus on reliability or how bad can a system get. Let’s find out.

The New York City subway is not what most people would call reliable. I remember countless mornings where I would take the local train after dropping the kids at school because the express train was taking as long or longer. On the local I would at least get a seat. Other times I would count 5 to 7 trains in one direction before the train I needed showed up. This was in Penn Station and not some remote location mind you. In many other cases sitting in a tunnel for 30 to 45 minutes with no explanation as to why. Then doing that again the next day. And again a few days later. This was a regular thing when living in Forest Hills. Hopefully for those not living in New York you get the point. The subway is slow, and prone to incidents. How can anyone explain to me why an express train regularly is slower or maybe equal to a local when the express skips 5 stops?

Besides the delays there was the construction. When I lived in Long Island city for 8 to 12 weeks of winter I wouldn’t have a train on the weekend direction. That might not fall under reliability category however it wasn’t available when I wanted it so….. I also know that the underground may be similar in that there are sections that get shutdown for construction. Thankfully for now i have not experienced this.

Local friends in London have said I should be wary of the underground with regards to service and reliability. We were looking for a house in November we had to radically change our plans to get to the airport because one of the underground lines was down. Besides that incident and a few other minor ones I have not had as many issues as in NY. I cannot stress enough how regular the issues were in NY. In London so far the train arrival time boards seem relatively accurate. I just don’t feel like I’m stuck in a tunnel as much on the underground.

One area unreliability that I do have an issue with the underground is strikes. For this arbitrary comparison i will put strikes in the reliability category. Twice so far I’ve been living here.DLR has not been running for a few days due to strikes. I’ve also experienced an underground strike when I was here for business a few years ago. I will say this that the strikes are relatively orderly. They are pretty frequent compared to the New York City subway. The subway on the other hand does not strike very often. When it does it’s terrible. You also don’t know when it will end.

Score another one for the underground. It’s just more reliable. This isn’t even a close one.

That is it for Part 2 of my Underground vs Subway showdown. In Part 3 I talk about all of you people when I complain, um I mean compare the crowds in each system.

This Is 10:14 PM

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I know this is normal in London. I am just not sure if I will ever get used to twilight at 10:14 PM. Or dawn at 4:30 AM or whatever crazy early hour it happens now a days.