Sunday, September 12, 2010

Habu Sake gets rowdy at the Portland Dragon Boat Race



This year's Portland Race was Saturday and Sunday at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on the Willamette River. Habu shared our time at this beautiful venue with about 66 other teams and the Portland Marathoners. Here's the link to the race website - they even carried the races live!

http://www.portlanddragonboats.com/frameset.php

Habu had a great time at this race which was the culmination of hard training all spring and summer. Bested our team record for the 500 yard race and came in third in a "consolation" division. Almost beat the Navy team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me doing a team sport?
Me doing anything athletic?

Great team bonding time and also great quality time with hubby. Jim was there cheering, giving tips to improve my performance, purchasing a team shirt for me and making a list of sports equipment I should have. He had so much fun he wants to give it a try in the spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

About the rowdiness mentioned in this post title? Well, let's just say that the team wasn't named after a type of alcoholic beverage for nothing! From SakeUSA.com:

Habu Sake
Habu sake, despite its name, is actually not a type of sake. Instead, it is what is known as an awamori. Though both alcoholic drinks come from rice, awamori is created through distillation, rather than brewing. This type of drink is unique to its place of origin: Okinawa, Japan.

Even among the different types of awamori, habu sake is a very special drink. It is made using the venom of the highly poisonous habu snake. The snake is said to have strong medicinal properties. For instance, some believe that it is good for back problems, arthritis, and removing toxins from the body.

The alcohol within habu sake neutralizes the poison of the snake. In addition to this, many different herbs are added to increase health benefits. While individuals generally purchase a bottle with just the mixture, more expensive bottles will also include the snake.

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