zazdorovyeh!

i was told that's how russians say 'cheers' when drinking and if i remember it correctly, it has to come out like "zazdo-RO-vyeh!", stressed on 'ro'...this was how andrey, a former officemate (who is russian) painstakingly taught me to pronounce it...

when it comes to the vodka i love, i'd always remember andrey because it was during his birthday celebration when he gave a dinner treat in an authentic russian restaurant, wanting us to learn more about russian cuisine, AND, brought with him (because he made sure he introduced it to us the proper way) bottles of genuine russian vodka, apparently straight from the russian town supposedly known as the best producer of such in the whole of russia - the kind of vodka which should be pure, high-quality triple-distilled alcohol, drank straight-up with nothing else, so much like tequila-style...we knew we drank so much of it but nobody suffered any hangovers the following morning and he explained it was because of its purity and the manner by which it was distilled...no wonder it costs a lot and is considered a rare find anywhere else in the world...although there was a big discussion that night regarding the origins of vodka (of course andrey insisted vodka started out in russia, some of our colleagues claimed it's poland), we all still agreed that this pure russian vodka he brought was the best we've tasted...it may have taken me the 4th shot to drink it without wincing, a couple more beyond that it became easy, smooth even...he surely wasn't joking when he said earlier in the night that i won't just see stars after having a taste of his vodka, it'll fly me to the moon and back, thankfully still in one piece...

but, sans andrey-the-supplier-of-pure-russian-vodka, i now content myself to the next best thing - absolut vodka mandarin...it was another colleague, armi, who introduced me to it (she spent a couple of years in sweden and was practically spending her time discovering various swedish products, including caviar-in-a-tube, packaged like toothpaste and way much affordable :-) anyways, i used to just have, and was actually happy with plain absolut vodka blue with tonic water and lime but when i had the taste of vodka mandarin, i decided this was indeed the next best thing...you can do away with the tonic, and the lime, take it straight-up over some ice and again, no hangover the following morning...

talking about vodka, someone emailed me this joke...

SIPPING VODKA

A new priest at his first mass was so nervous he could hardly speak. After mass he asked the monsignor how he had done. The monsignor replied, "When I am worried about getting nervous on the pulpit, I put a glass of vodka next to the water glass. If I start to get nervous, I take a sip." So next Sunday, he took the monsignor's advice. At the beginning of the sermon, he got nervous and took a drink. He proceeded to talk up a storm. Upon his return to his office after mass, he found the following note on the door:

1. Sip the Vodka, don't gulp.
2. There are 10 commandments, not 12.
3. There are 12 disciples, not 10.
4. Jesus was consecrated, not constipated.
5. Jacob wagered his donkey, he did not bet his ass.
6. We do not refer to Jesus Christ as the late J. C.
7. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are not referred to as Daddy, Junior, and the Spook.
8. David slew Goliath, he did not kick the shit out of him.
9. When David was hit by a rock and was knocked off his donkey, don't say he was stoned off his ass.
10. We do not refer to the cross as the "Big T."
11. When Jesus broke the bread at the Last Supper he said, "Take this and eat it for it is my body." He did not say "Eat me".
12. "Omitted"...I'd have burned for that one :-)
13. The recommended grace before a meal is not: Rub-A-Dub-Dub thanks for the grub, yeah God.
14. Next Sunday there will be a taffy pulling contest at St. Peter's, not a peter pulling contest at St. Taffy's.

hahaha zazdoROvyeh!