DEC 31, 11 .. NEW YEAR’S EVE DAY .. ARAMBOL BEACH, INDIA

By Cap Chastain December 31, 2011 Arambol Beach 2011/12, New Years

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012 .. may it be a great year for you in all aspects .. I wish someone would tell me where 2011 has gone .. and 2010 .. and 2009 .. and ..

It is 7PM New Years Eve here in Arambol Beach in Goa .. and as I was sitting down here at the computer .. the owner .. Anthony .. gently tapped me on the shoulder and asked me .. “Will you be at Church this evening ?” ..

Now I will .. Anthony told me they have a Mass similar to Christmas Eve .. with fireworks after the Mass .. a special evening .. I was planning to attend Mass tomorrow morning .. but this will be it .. IF it is like Christamas Eve Mass .. I will be getting home about 2AM ..

I really feel good about Anthony going to the effort to be sure I knew about the service later this evening ..

I do NOT associate New Year’s Eve with a HIGH MASS ..

Let me go back to the last writing .. specifically about the OLIVE OIL SNOB ..

In FWIW..  95.. I have written that I purchased a 250ml bottle of CIRIO brand  extra virgin olive oil .. 250 ml is exactly one fourth of a full litre which is 1,000 ml  ..  my 250 ml bottle of CIRIO olive oil cost me (U.S. Dollars)  $5.80 .. they are NOT giving this away .. and it came in a DARK GREEN bottle .. good stuff .. it is flawed math to say that at $5.80 for 250 ml .. a full litre at this rate would cost $23.20 .. I say the math is flawed because you do get a price break buying the larger quantity ..

Well I am out of olive oil .. as of yesterday ..  I had four more full days plus Wednesday morning left here in Arambol Beach .. so I decided to buy more olive oil .. and I went price shopping .. and I found a deal ..

I found a full litre of extra virgin (first cold extraction) olive oil for (geez only) $10.23 .. at this rate .. 250 ml would cost me only $2.56 and NOT $5.80 that I paid for the CIRIO brand in a DARK GREEN bottle .. imported from Italy by a company in business since 1856 ! 

Prior to making the decision to buy a full litre .. I spoke to the owner of my apartment building .. and I asked him IF he used olive oil .. he said ..  “Yes but sparingly because it is so expensive .. we use a little in cooking..” .. and when I asked him IF he used it on bread he said .. “Oh no.. too expensive..” .. 

So I told him .. “I would like to offer you a deal .. I will purchase a full one litre bottle of olive oil and I will give it to you free as a gift ..” .. and he smiled .. then I added .. “BUT .. here is the deal .. I will give you the new bottle of olive oil so you can open it up and see it is new .. never opened .. THEN I will ask you to pour some of it into my 250 ml bottle so I can have some for the next four days .. you keep the rest ..” ..

Such a deal he couldn’t believe ..

So off I went and I purchased my full one litre bottle of extra virgin olive oil ..

Now to OLIVE OIL SNOBBERY ..

This will slay you.. I smile just thinking of it .. 

The one litre bottle of olive oil has a brand name ..

It is  LASER brand .. oh c’mon now.. LASER  brand ? ..  like a laser to zap things in the dark .. YEP ..  LASER  .. (what’s that Zilla .. WHAT ? .. you have seen it at Wal-Mart .. figures .. ) ..

And it is in a pure clear bottle NOT in a dark green (proper) bottle ..

And it is made .. in the E.U.  .. this means in the European Union .. so much for Italian with a heritage back to 1856 !  Being made in the E.U. means the olives could come from who knows where .. just from the E.U. .. so my LASER  brand olive oil has NO heritage .. olives  from all over europe .. 

Now IF I had told the lady at the train station over in Pernem about the LASER brand olive oil.. in a clear glass bottle .. with NO heritage .. costing only $10.23  a full litre .. 

I would have fully understood her SNOBERY ..  but not over my PREMIUM CIRIO brand ..

BUT it looked good.. read .. a first cold extraction will be DARK in color NOT light .. evidently the LASER executives WANT you to see their DARK olive oil in its clear bottle so NO dark green bottle ..

I just giggle over the name .. LASER  ..

So with some trepidation I took it to the owner and he opened it up .. I said that I could never give him an already-opened bottle and thanked him for going along with my plan.. 

Then back to my apartment I trotted with my half-full 250 ml dark green CIRIO brand bottle HIDING my LASER brand olive oil inside .. (I could hear the dark green CIRIO bottle say to me .. “Dad .. what is this stuff you put in me ? “) ..

Out came some bread with my sharp knife .. out came the special bowl I put olive oil in to  dip and into it went some LASER brand olive oil ..  out came my wood chopsticks to firmly grasp and work the bread into the olive oil .. into the LASER brand olive oil went my bread .. then judgement time was at hand .. into my mouth went the bread soaked in LASER brand olive oil ..

IT IS ABSOLUTELY .. AND IT IS POSITIVELY .. WONDERFUL .. IT IS PHENOMENAL .. I LOVE IT .. 

So IF you see LASER brand olive oil at Cost Plus .. or Wal-Mart .. or Trader Joe’s .. or .. buy it IF it is extra virgin .. 

Actually at $10.23 a full litre it is cost- wise comparable to COSTCO premium olive oil in a dark brown bottle that costs a tad more money ..

But why-oh-why not call it ..  LASERIO  .. ANYTHING but LASER .. say  .. “Made from the finest olives we could find throughout the entire European Union ..”  .. spend a few pennies for a DARK GREEN / BROWN bottle ..

oh yeah i am having fun here in arambol beach in goa on the west coast of india 360 miles south of bombay .. much joy for a happy and joyous and sober new year 2012 .. cap ..

Patti how am I doing about closing it up at the bottom of a post to minimize a bunch of blank space .. love .. cap ..

for a color photo of the two bottles .. go to ..  http://bobbacaps.blogspot.com