Ice, Ice Baby

When I get a fountain pop (foreign words over here) from the 7-11 in the States, I get the big cup, fill it to the top with ice and then fit Diet Coke into whatever space is left. I then get a reserve bottle of Diet Coke and when the cup is empty, I refill and still maintain the excellent ice to soda ratio.

Rachel warned me about the scarcity of ice here and its not like I haven't seen this 'problem' in other countries -- but before I was always 'just visiting' and in a week or two, I'd have the wonders of the American convenience store at every corner. Not this time....

To make things worse, last night we noticed that the big stores don't have bags of ice in a cooler by the cashiers. But is there hope?


Check this out: ASDA sells rolls of plastic ice-making bags for about a 1 pound (2 bucks) for ten bags. You fill them up at the tap and they self seal (English magick) and you pop them in the freezer. A few hours later, you bust open the plastic bubbles and "voila!", you've got ice. This morning, I poured my self a tasty Coke Zero with lots of ice. Ah, true refreshment.

When our giant American refrigerator arrives (we bought a European voltage fridge in Chicago - it was half the price of the same fridge if we bought it here), it has the built-in ice capability so my ice woes should be short-lived. Of course, that assumes I can get a water line to it but that will no doubt be another story.