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| What's old mate Nosferatu doing here? Read on... |
For
those of blissfully unaware of the workings of inner-city Sydney public
transport I'll quickly explain the ins and the outs. On weekdays would-be
passengers catching a bus in the CBD between 7am and 7pm must purchase their
tickets before boarding a bus. This ruling is employed apparently for the
benefit of the commuter with savings, and efficiency promoted as the key
motivators.
Whilst it is true that buying a 'Travel Ten' is cheaper than buying tickets
individually, the cost of taking the bus in Sydney has gone up 15% since the
scheme was introduced. Efficiency is the also the exact opposite of what has
been created too. Drivers with a till and ticket machine in front of them will
march you off the bus if you don't have a ticket despite them being perfectly
able to sell you one on the spot. This often means you will be forced to miss
your bus and queue in the rain with other scorned and weary travelers at a
ticket booth operated by one surly, arithmetically challenged, retailer during
peak hour.
I ask
you who the prepay system benefits? Sydney Buses and their employees? Most
definitely. Tourists, infrequent service users and commuters? Most definitely
not!
My
last horrific bus ordeal on a stormy autumnal Sydney evening saw me not only
miss my bus and get drenched whilst waiting to buy a ticket, but also took 1 hour and 15 minutes to get from Circular Quay to Pyrmont - on the other side of
Darling Harbour! Understandably by the time I got home I was in need of a
drink. I felt I had earned one.
Being
in the middle of my Parched March charity bar odyssey, I ended up going to a
few bars. My 'excessive brand loyalty' to the Parched March cause did cost me
the morning after. I was in need of a remedy for last night's indulgence and it
was with this in mind that I created the PrePay Cocktail - available only on
weekdays between 7am and 7pm. And only to those who have paid for their efforts
from the night before the morning after.
Admittedly The PrePay Cocktail is a simplified adaptation of the Bax Beet Pinot. Individually bottled and served in a Burgundy glass, Tippling Club's (Singapore) creation is an earthy mix of fresh beetroot juice, the indomitable hangover cure Fernet Branca, Antica Formula vermouth and lime juice.
The PrePay Cocktail, deliciously sanguineness, is served in a rather Gothic over sized chalice representing the the life sucked out of us all by the vampirishness of bureaucracy that has us following rules, regulations and codes as opposed to common sense.
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| The sanguineness PrePay Cocktail |
45ml Fernet Branca
90ml Biotta Organic Beetroot Juice
30ml Gently hand-squeezed pink grapefruit juice (to avoid bitterness)
Stir as best one can whilst bleary eyed. Strain the blood red mix into a chalice. A few of these in quick succession will revive the corpse, dust the brain and open the eyes.
