Not so long ago, a dozen beers in Korea would cost me no more than 30,000won (about £15), and a few thousand dead brain cells. These days, the same beers cost me an entire day in bed and expulsion issues from every oriface. So dramatic has been my change of lifestyle, that a few beers really put paid to the following day. Beer drinkers here in Korea will unanimously attest to the fact that Korean beer is atrocious. Popular brands such as 'Hite,' 'Cass' and 'O.B,' should read 'Shite,' 'Gas' and 'O No!' Cheap? Absolutely. Good? Absolutely not. This though is just one of my problems. Another is middle age. As I edge nearer to half of eighty...I simply can't utter the dreaded words four zero...I am devoting more of my time to activities other than drinking, for so long my favourite, and some might add, my only pastime. Thus, my tolerance for the amber nectar is at an all time low. It isn't even so much during the drinking session itself. In fact bystanders may be unaware that I've even been drinking. But as for the next day; well goodness me. I once took a cricket ball on the head at 60mph. It hurt. A lot! This was how my head felt all day on Sunday. In regards to drinking, I have probably utttered the pointless words, "never again," a hundred times. Most of you can relate to this I am sure. However, despite drinking being an extremely rare event for me these days, this time I may just be sincere. The occasion of my session last Saturday, the Rugby World Cup quarter final followed by a friend's leaving party, was fun enough, but like so many things in life, a balance between pleasure and pain is needed. This latest in a long, long list of horrendous hangovers has finally tipped the balance. Four hours of reasonable pleasure does not compensate for ten hours of crushing, tear inducing pain. Was it worth it? For two decades I would have answered with a resounding 'YES.' Nowadays? Not even close.And to top it off, the beer guzzling English got demolished in the rugby by France, a nation of wine sippers. It wasn't one of my proudest weekends, and as England's world cup challenge came to an abrupt and inglorious end, my tee-total challenge is off to painful start.