Tanduay Ice

Doesn’t the Tanduay Ice bottle remind you of something?!?  ….Yup you got it! It totally reminded me of Smirnoff Ice or one of those alcopops! It tastes just like it too! Not bad at all Tanduay! It’s something you might wanna try if you are in the Philippines.

It doesn’t say though what exact alcoholic beverage it is made of. We know that Smirnoff Ice is made out of Smirnoff Vodka of course. However if you read the label of Tanduay Ice it says, and I quote, “it is made from premium quality triple distilled spirit for that smooth alcohol kick.”

Does that matter to me? Not really. Tanduay Ice has 5% alcohol and it tastes so much better than beer and it’s only Php 20 per bottle. Or less than USD 0.50!

Man, now I am missing the Philippines. Alcohol that’s Rp 5,000 (USD 0.50) is unheard of here – my Indonesian friends eyes widen with disbelief when I tell them! A beer in the supermarket here will probably cost me more than Rp 20,000 / Php 100 / USD 2. Heck that’s 5 bottles of Tanduay Ice already!

Drinking here costs a fortune because of the “sin” tax imposed since drinking is against the Muslim religion.

DID YOU KNOW?

• You can only find beer in the supermarkets (unlike in the Philippines wherein you can find any kind of alcohol from beer, to alcopops, to wine, vodka and rum in any supermarket, 24/7 convenience store or liquor store)
• So if you see something that resembles a bottle of wine in the supermarket here, it is probably a bottle of grape juice. Waaaaaah! I always feel like I’m seeing a mirage when I am at the grocery… maybe, just maybe that’s a bottle of wine?!? TD always brings me back to reality.
• There are only a few wine shops like Social House wherein you can buy a decent bottle of wine for say Rp 400,000 (Php 2,000 / USD 40) and it might go on sale for about Rp 250,000 (USD 25). Dude you can get a decent bottle of wine in Barcino for Php 800 (USD 16). *Please note  that I am not a sophisticated wine drinker so decent for me, will not be decent for you experts out there!
• Only diplomats can buy at the Duty Free shops. It’s cheaper than Social House but the collection is so limited and if I am not mistaken they have a quota per month so if they’ve reach it already they close shop. We rarely find 1L bottles of vodka in the Duty Free shops here, except the ones in the airport. And they are so strict, like while you are still getting off your car they are already asking you for your Diplo Card before you enter the store.
• Other expats have to bring in a bottle every time they come from a trip abroad. Upon entering Indonesia, each person is entitled to bring ONE 1LITER BOTTLE of alcohol.

Though TD and I are much more mellowed down (comes with age!), we know how to drink and have a good time. This post is totally cramping our style when it comes to going out for drinks. They have super fab drinks in bars here (like this), as they should be coz they charge about USD 8 – 12 a pop in a nice bar here. (In the philippines drinks average USD 3-5) But if you ask me I’m happy with a normal scotch-diet coke/vodka-sprite and I don’t need that expensve arte girly drink!

One last thing… the Smirnoff Vodka and Smirnoff Ice that’s sold here in Indonesia is made in the Philippines. Cool!