Phillip Hong
28 October, 2007

It took a trip down to Niagara Falls and a store in suburban Toronto to realise how thirsty I regularly get.

I was on a family trip down to Niagara Falls the other day, playing the tourist card once again to an attraction a far car ride away, when we stopped by a travel information centre for some refereshments.

Beside the somewhat crude man-made indoor waterfall under pine roof, I bought a routine large cup of steeped tea for Tim Hortons, a cultural icon.

Around ninety minutes later, we reached the Falls and the group of us went to get some lunch at the Wendy's restaurant that sat atop Clifton Hill.

I'm not much of a connoisseur; as my parents say, I eat just about everything save for the occasional bowl of pig's blood a family member always orders at the local store.

As I talk quite a bit in my daily life, it seems impossible that I would ever quench my thirst.

So it wasn't too surprising for me to receive a refill of the extra-large size Barq's (root beer) that I was nursing from. THe amount of liquid I drank was more than anyone else at my table.

"Oh you have such thirst," my visiting uncle from Edmonton remarks with quite the chuckle.

Course, you and I already know that fact studying from the observations and notes.

So, what to do? A man with such insatiable thirst requires a mechanism to dispense potable liquid that can be easily carried around.

Enter the "Bubba Keg".

Over the weekend, I stopped by the Bass Pro Shop over at Vaughan Mills, a popular mall for tourists an occasional hotspot for locals like myself.

I didn't literally look for the Bubba Keg out of a search for thermoses, but it was like fate directed me to this kind of mission.

The Bubba King may look like one's travel size thermos but its unusual size would theoretically keep those with higher than normal thirst hydrated.

The company behind the "mug on steroids" claims that it'll keep hot liquids for three hours and cold liquids for twelve.

Considering that it carries one full litre of liquid without the constant re-filling, I decided to pick up a keg.

The price was sensible: $9.99 plus tax.

Hopefully, no one calls me "Bubba" because of this.

Phillip Hong, a Woodbridge resident, is a co-host and reporter on Centre Street, our current affairs programme featuring alternative stories and interviews.