Beer Journey#001 Why is that day's beer unforgettable?

1. An unforgettable glass

Is there a glass of beer that you find unforgettable?
It's not necessarily the most expensive beer, nor the most delicious one you've ever had.
It's a glass that, for some reason, I can still remember even now.
This is the story of my own unforgettable glass.

2. Saigon Special drunk in Ho Chi Minh City

The temperature was around 30 degrees Celsius, and I was walking around looking for a place to have lunch in the humid, Southeast Asian heat. A swarm of motorbikes raced along the road. When the traffic light changed, the sound of engines overlapped as they all surged in the same direction at once.

My sweat gradually increased, and the lightness in my legs, which had felt refreshed from a massage earlier, slowly faded, becoming heavier with every step I took.

It was past 2:00 PM.

The lunch peak had passed, and some shops had already started their afternoon break. My anxiety grew, so I continued walking for another 10 minutes, deciding to just head in the direction where there seemed to be more shops. I had even started to resign myself to the idea of just having an early dinner if things went poorly.

Then, a little further ahead, I finally discovered a shop that looked like it had a nice atmosphere.

It was a local eatery with a great vibe along the road. The afternoon sun shone into the shop, and a quiet atmosphere flowed through it. There were few people, and thinking I could rest slowly here, I was drawn into the shop.

The staff smiled, said "Hello," and guided me to a seat of my choice. They took the English menu from my hand and replaced it with the Vietnamese menu on the table. The variety of items was surprisingly rich. It was a shop that put effort into its own original dishes while incorporating some tourist-friendly elements, such as vegetable soup rarely seen in other shops and pineapple fried rice reminiscent of Thai cuisine.

I worried about various things, but since I had already eaten pho for breakfast, I ordered a rice dish and a soup containing pumpkin.

And the most important part: the drink.

I thought about quenching my parched throat with lemongrass tea or iced tea, but
the word "Alcohol" caught my eye.

This time, I was traveling alone.
I had no particular plans after this.
I was free to do whatever I wanted.
I didn't need to accommodate anyone else.
I didn't need to worry about the time.

Usually, I'm always thinking about wanting to be liberated from being chased by work.
But during this trip, I was free.

In the name of a moment of liberation, I ordered the "Saigon Special" listed on the first line of the alcohol menu. Of course, by the bottle.

3. The reason it's unforgettable wasn't just the taste

The beer was brought to me immediately.

Wonderfully, the glass was perfectly chilled. You rarely find a glass chilled this well even in Tokyo. Even if you did, it would only be at a very high-end izakaya.

The bottle was just as cold. The fact that the beer being poured from that cute-sized bottle was mine was the greatest happiness of all.

I grabbed the cold handle of the glass filled with the beer that had been poured smoothly, and the temperature began to drop from my palm. The lifted glass slowly approached my lips, and finally, it flowed into my mouth.

"Ah."

That was the only word that came out.

I had no plans today or tomorrow, the freedom to do whatever I wanted, a body soothed by a massage, and a cold beer poured into a body that was sweaty from walking around in the humid heat. It washed away the humidity and the fatigue along with it. It made an already fulfilled state even more complete.

That day, I was free.
"I wish this moment would last forever," I thought from the bottom of my heart.

The beginning of Beer Journey

Beer Journey is a trip to find the glass that completes the best.
For you, what kind of glass was the one that completed your best?

See you on the next journey. Beer Journey🍺