My pal was having a housewarming bash and asked me over. I hadn't seen her for quite a bit so I had to go over and see her new diggs. As is the rule when one is going for these things I had to carry some form of alcoholic beverage. My first stop was Woolmatt on the corner of Mama Ngina Street and Wabera Street . It's not like I have any beef with any of the other major retailers Uchumi, Nakumatt and Tusker Mattresses (Tuskermatt). I can see that now Tusker mattresses is one of the major retailers from some literature that Visa the card people have produced. They tell us one can win points if one goes shopping in Nakumatt, Uchumi or Tuskermatt. Way to go Tusker!

However, the reason that I love that Woolmatt is quite simple. Number one is location. It's right opposite 20th century plaza on my way home and near the cyber I use. Two is some to die for ndaos they sell that are amazingly reasonably well priced called Joy super snacks. Those babies are priced at 20/= and go down well with anything. My mission today however was not to buy cheap snacks but hard liquor. I was looking for something that was not going cost me an arm and a leg yet would give the right impression. So I walked in and headed straight to the booze section and considered my options.

I wasn't going to buy any lager of course. Tusker and Castle cans may be going for 69/= a piece. However, what impression would I give if a dude walked in with a six pack of Tusker then went on to drink each and every can himself. Hell no!

There was always the option to buy spirits. Famous grouse was retailing at 2,495/=. Definitely out of my budget. Grants and Bacardi were slightly better at 1,495/= and 1,595/= but that was still quite pricey for me.

There was always ol faithful... Smirnoff. They launched a new look bottle a few weeks ago at Carnie. (By the way kwani EABL is launching a new look everything? Malta Guinness only recently did theirs.) I looked at the price tag and slowly nodded my head. The one in the blue bottle was 695/=. The one in the red was 565/=. It was ideal. However right next it was Safari cane retailing at 299/=. Yaani nothing personal but the ulevi from the two brands was basically the same no? I almost picked up the Safari Cane right there and then till I remembered the point. I didn't plan on giving a mimi ni mtu wa peni mbili impression. There had to be a better way.

There were the non-lager, non-spirits beverages on the shelf so I had a look at those. There was this Chablis (what the heck is Chablis?!) called Carlo Rossi in a mtungi like bottle going for 949/=. I could buy it and go to the bash lakini that thing looked kidogo heavy. Its smaller brother Carlo Rossi Californian white wine looked easier to carry and was only 349/=. Looked perfect but...no. As I was looking through what was I to see but Amarula? They had a smaller bottle at 815/= and the bigger one at 1595/=. I really thought long and hard about that one. The problem was that the big bottle that would give the perfect impression was too pricey. The smaller bottle just wouldn't do.

I drifted back to the non lager, non spirits brands and continued my exploring. Baron De Valis 259/=, Pacific Coast 349/=, Kumala 525/=...They were looking real nice till I sighted the perfect bottle. It was 499/= - right within my price range - the bottle was nice and it looked just perfect. The brand was Wild Vines Peach Chardonnay. Enough contemplating! I picked it up and headed to the counter and off to the bash.

I got the right reaction. The only problem is my lack of knowledge of these drinks. I was given a sip of the stuff I had brought and I nearly... lets just say that the stuff was just too sweet. Man! It was like drinking sugar espresso if there is such a thing. Maybe that's what chardonnay is supposed to taste like... or maybe Tuskers have ruined my taste buds...