Pandemic Atlanta Lockdown - Week 26

Thunderstorm at Hunting Island Beach

This week went fast as Monday was off with the long weekend. During the weekend, I made an Everclear hot cocktail drink inspired by Glögg (Finnish Christmas hot spiced alcoholic drink). I tried Glögg first time in 2013 when we visited Helsinki by a cruise from Stockholm. 

 

Today, I first made the non-alcoholic version following the food.com recipe except that I added sliced and shelled almonds as it should be in the original recipe (following the quantity suggested in the Norwegian alcoholic recipe). Then I filtered the drink, mix Everclear to the glass, and top it up with sliced and shelled almonds. 

 

I also used vodka, absinthe, and whiskey in place of Everclear for the drink in 3 shot glasses. The vodka version tastes precisely like the Finnish Glögg. A Finnish person may say no. But I cannot differentiate much. Everclear one is a bit too strong. Absinthe has tints of Anise flavor, which should not be strong in Glögg. The whiskey version interestingly tastes sweeter. This drink has heat properties because of all the spices and herbs for the cold winters. I am drinking it on a hot summer day. I am stupid.

2nd step: Filter the hot drink. That gives us basically a non-alcoholic Finnish Glögg (grape juice instead of red wine and other liquor). Recipe found online from https://t.co/IhrraSis4h pic.twitter.com/P5wpUAMPC0

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) September 12, 2020

The *Everclear on Fire* drink I made myself tasted good. 10/10. Very satisfied compared to some of my previous failed experiments (such as cooking eggplant with Everclear + chicken with root beer).

Now, the negative side. I am not hungry anymore. Planning to skip my dinner. lol. https://t.co/nEgsI9UGjT

— Pradeeban (@pradeeban) September 13, 2020

~~ Memories of long travels..

M/S Silja Serenade, returning from Helsinki to Sthlm

Sometimes people amuse me by their linguistic abilities. I remember, during my cruise to Helsinki from Stockholm, the bartender said, "Namaste". He also did not fail to notice that I am not that impressed. But then that happened, "Eppadi Sugam? (means, How are you, in Tamil)," he asked. It is interesting to see some Scandinavian speaking Tamil. He replied himself, "I should reply, 'nallam (means, good, in Tamil)'. right?" Big smile. :D

This time in Shenzhen. Not many people speak English. But then a few shopkeepers in the shopping districts - they were trying to greet me in multiple languages, probably including Hindi, Bengali, and many other regional languages. I was in a shop confirming two phones are identical. The lady replied, "Same phone thaan (means, they are indeed the same phones, in Tamil/English mix)". These people know how to sell the stuff. :D

The trip to Shenzhen was remarkable. It was a long journey, and included a 12h30 mins non-stop flight from Amsterdam to Guangzhou airport. The last time I travelled this long was for the Mentor Summit at Google HQ. It included a 17 hours of flight: Los Angeles <-> Dubai.

This time I was watching 3 - 4 movies each trip (going and return). So when I reached the destination, my eyes were red. I do not recommend watching too many movies on the flight. :D Usually I don't remember the movies I watch while flying, specially because I watch movies from the languages that I don't understand - with English subtitles, of course. However, this time, I was able to remember one movie (Miss Granny, a Korean movie), and find its songs online. I really liked one particular song - you may like it too.

A cruise to Helsinki

In the cruise back to Stockholm

This was my first cruise, from Stockholm to Helsinki using Tallink Silja line (M/S Silja Symphony to Helsinki and M/S Silja Serenade to return, though both are identical cruises and they look the same). The wave was strong as there was a storm. Planned acrobatic activities on the cruise were canceled due to the bad weather during the return trip which was on Christmas day. Shaking cruise made me a bit uncomfortable - but that was a comfortable sleep with the rhythm, once I got onto the bed. :D

I also made a mistake assuming the Helsinki weather will be similar to that of Stockholm, based on the temperature predictions. Helsinki was much wet and windy, which made the weather more unpleasant. Consequently, I was suffering from runny nose during the whole trip. That was also a wet Christmas - not a white Christmas!