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Boddington's Pub Ale, in particular. This is an orangey bitter ale hailing from England, which means, since its inception in 1778 to date, it had probably fuelled numerous pub brawls, foolish acts of Dutch bravado and embarrassing admissions to NHS hospitals.

And when I say bitter, I mean tongue-gripping, lip-dessicating bitterness. It goes smooth on the throat, but again - the bitterness is so overpowering it masks the flavours of the beer, making it little more than a medicinal brew. I guess that's how some Brits love their beer, but it just isn't my kinda thing. But if you want a mean Made in UK beer, look no further than Carlsberg Export.

In any case, having a cold, after-dinner beer while unwinding is sheer pleasure.

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Spent the greater part of my afternoon at Sim Lim Tower buying replacement 3.5mm headphone plugs. Settled for a cheaper gold-plated one from some random shop as the branded ones LHS sells was nickel rather than gold plated (and I'm pretty wary of nickel plated contacts nowadays).

Recap: I bought an all-metal plug the other time for an extension cable, which proved rather disastrous as it didn't really fit the jack on my Acer notebook, therefore not muting out its speakers.

This time round, got a cheaper plastic one. Went home and soldered it up, but the first one was a painful mess. Totalled the first plug, prolly not salvageable.

Learning points:
1. Stranded enamelled wire is best stripped of its coating by slow tinning, not razing it with a flame.
2. Always remember to thread in the housing before soldering the plug. AUGH.
3. Have a continuity tester and a multimeter handy to test t3h 1337 soldering skillz.

The solder job was good, it fit the iPod Nano well after I shaved off some of the excess plastic at the end. But alas, it didn't fit the fussy jack on the Acer notebook again. It's usable, but it cuts in and out at certain positions. AUGH.

I should have gotten the branded plugs from LHS.