Glenmorangie threw a coupla cool parties for single malt fans recently, starting with the Orange Night.
D party went down at The Pool, this new joint that features…. a pool.
Party on
It’s part of its current campaign, with Glenmorangie described as Unnecessarily Well-Made. It’s a single malt whisky from the Highlands area in Scotland, and is the number one single malt in that country.
It’s a special whisky as after being matured in bourbon oak barrels, some variants spend additional years is Sherry casks, imparting complex and unique flavours. It pioneered this extra-maturation process.
Eh?
The Pool party was very orange, titled Retro Funk. There was also a special mix of Glenmorangie with orange peel. (glenmorange’s taste profile includes citrusy notes) – the Zest Serve, a sculptural serving stand which creates an infusion of orange zest with the whisky.
I prefer it as it is.
Zesty
A couple of people including the MC got dunked into the pool! Dats why u have a pool-side party – u gotta have some swimming.
Turnout was good. Malaysia’s Glenmorangie Facebook page was also launched.
Drinkin n spinin. Fun
This was followed by another gig a few weeks later – the Soundform Fluid Bar Showcase, @ the North Atrium of Gardens. The specially-designed bar by architect and interior designer Philip Michael Wolfson is supposed to represent the flow of sounds when Glenmorangie is poured into a glass.
It’s a striking design, with built-in speakers that really kick some bass.
Fluid Bar
Mixologist Ben Ng was in the mix, giving tasting sessions. It was strange but nice drinking in d middle of a mall, among shoppers.
Ben in action
The party soon moved upstairs to Vertigo, where a couple of guys in NASA suits were on decks, Manufactured Superstars. They rocked d house, the crowd had a blast.
Slick
Glenmorangie is actually the best-awarded single malt in 2011’s International Wines and Spirits Competition (IWSC). Their whiskies have won a grand total of 18 ‘Gold Best in Class’ medals over the past five years at the IWSC.
The Golds went to Glenmorangie Original, Nectar D’Or, 18 Years Old, Quarter Century and Signet. Quite a wide range.
No wonder it’s a popular Scotch, and now with its rockin parties, pretty cool as well.
Checked out a restaurant in Damansara Perdana, MacLaren’s.
Its newly-opened, so not fully decorated yet. It’s set-up is simple and casual.
Restaurant+bar
Food is British and fusion, and chef Scott is a local Eurasian boy, who’s got skills.
One of the favourites here is the Pork Ribs ($25.50 nett), which unlike most joints, here they oven-bake them.
Flashy
I think the significant factors about these ribs are the tenderness, and interesting flavours. Scott marinades d ribs in spices & ….. Coke! Then bakes it and adds an Oriental BBQ sauce.
The sauce is sweetish, with hints of spices while the meat… goddam its tender, skidding from the bone with a little effort. But dat dont mean u shd use cutlery.
Goes well with a Guinness.
Not dicks. Pigs in Blanket - large & juicy
Had to do the Pork Vindaloo ($25.50). It’s made with pork belly. Being a vindaloo, it gives a medium-low glow in the mouth on the spiciness scale, thanks to the loads of various spices and other condiments, including vinegar, making the gravy quite grainy and thick.
Piggy
Eaten with bread or rice, it’s gotta a sour-peppery tinge. Unusual and pretty good.
The Apple Lamb ($25.50) is another a curry-like dish, which is sweeter, and medium-spicy at d same time. Loaded with raisins, chunks of apple, and cashew nuts.
Sumtin different
The lamb is tender, the gravy flavoursome, and altho sweetish, does complement the meat. Could use more meat tho.
I had no space to shove dessert in. I should eat slower. But had one eye on an item called Braised Apple Compote, which contains apple braised in wine, with homemade basil & raisin ice-cream.
Everything at MacLaren’s is made from scratch, nothing out of bottles or cans, so food quality is pretty good.
Some of d items
Some of the best-sellers here are the Double Whammy (burger – double patty of your choice, bacon egg & cheese, $22), the Oxtail Soup and the pies (like Shepherd’s, Steak & Kidney, Beef Onion). The burgers are good value, beginning from $11.60, and 4 animals are available (pig/goat/chicken/cow).
Laid-back
Menu is pretty wide. There’re also sandwiches, Devil Curry and Fish ‘n Chips of course.
Tried a whisky for the first time – Glengrant. I gotta say, its very smooth and easy, with a decent bite just after d end, leaving a pleasant light burn in your mouth.
Yea. Only $232 nett a bottle here
Rick, the owner, is a Brit. So a projector screen is comin up for football n such.
Headed into the city Saturday morning to make a point, with a light hangover.
Unlike the last protest, we didnt have to go in a night earlier, as there was no city lockdown. Cops finally realized how futile and dumb dat is.
Trains were packed
Walked in from Central Market station via back streets. A bunch of Greenies were coming from the opposite direction
Dined on pork n beers for d long day
While we were eating in Chinatown, as we were early, there was a huge roar outside, along Jln Bandar.
To the right...
To the left
The Chinatown sector had started their march to the rendezvous. And they kept pouring. For about 15 minutes. Probably 15,000 or more in this group i reckon.
We (a group of 7) walked out soon after, and made our way through some back roads, headed to Merdeka Square.
Full n ready
We went from Chinatown, to CM, to Tun Perak by Masjid Jamek
There was a huge crowd on Tun Perak. From the junction of Merdeka Square all the way to Puduraya and beyond, all 4 lanes were choked with people. Maybe 50,000 here. Further than the eye could see.
This turned out to be the biggest, and quite a hardcore group later.
Everyone just chilled, listened to speeches, chanted, and some sat. We found some space to chill on Jln Melayu, n put on some reggae tunes.
After about an hour, we stood up and our small group were discussing our next course of action, such as happy hours, when i felt a familiar taste in my eyes.
“I think it’s gas.” i said. Weird, cos there was no sign of trouble, and bored people were about to leave. In fact, some had left as we were told to do so about 10 minutes beforehand.
The music stopped.
I moved up to locate the source, as everybody was still chillin n there was no gas visible, nor were there any sounds. A few seconds later, the crowd rushed in our direction, coughing and crying. The gas had kicked in, and from where we weren’t sure.
Anyway, many were first timers n panicked, squeezing into Jln Melayu. It got messy. They were trying to get away, but it was too congested. They panicked even more. The gas really started to kick-in.
Then we heard there was no exit on Jln Melayu! Some climbed over the railing and jumped onto the riverbank. Which was risky.
Stretcher crew n medics from Civil Defence. There were many ambulances in action from Red Crescent speeding around. Good job guys
I rounded d crew n decided d safest option was to head against d crowd, towards d gas, back to Tun Perak. Just before we got there, several gas canisters landed in front of us. Dat was a surprise, coz we never saw any riot police / FRU.
We decided to dash thru them anyway, and got onto Tun Perak, rejoining the main group at Jamek . It was a relief.
Some so-called protestors disappeared and went home crying after the first taste of gas. Haha. Amateurs. But at least they showed.
Mask helped a little, but its d eyes that get hit
From then, it was non-stop gas. The FRU would fire, we would suffer / throw canisters back / wash-out the eyes, then regroup. Many times. The Tun Perak group still stretched all d way to Pudu, but where we hung was d frontline at Jamek.
Everyone helped each other by providing water, salt or antacid-water mix. They gassed us for an hour, but we were goin nowhere. Then they sent in d water gun. Bad news.
Good news? A guy who got drenched shouted “Air biasa!!”. We laughed at the ‘fire truck’ and moved forward again. They were outta chemicals.
We weren’t really doing anything when we were attacked, hence we had no reason to leave when ordered by the cops.
Anyway they probably broke the law by attacking places other than Merdeka Square.
Squeezed in one posed shot, with BBQ goin on @ the Jamek LRT
After countless canisters, they sent in a large arresting team, which came charging with cable-ties. We dispersed.
A few hardcore guys again regrouped at Jamek, battling till 6pm.
Back to Chinatown, and we spotted a guys selling ice cold beers. Grabbed a few. Soon, i spotted gas. A small group were being harassed by the FRU. We joined them. Some tourists too. Showed the FRU countless ‘affectionate’ signs after they fired horizontally at us.
Satisfied, we finally got d train back.
There were quite a few posers at d event, posing n taking pictures at every opportunity, like it was some sorta fuckin bloggers event or sumtin.
Home. And thirsty!
Anway, hit 42 East for drinks around 6pm. Got gassed so much my eyes were still tearing a little, 2 hours later. The other souvenir i got was a gas canister. Its quite retarded to fire one of those directly at people. Someone who found the shell said it was made in Israel. Great.
Trample all over us, why dont u
All in all, an exciting day.
Somehow had beers on three separate occasions that day.
Problem was, many SB (Special Branch) were disguised as protestors (as seen via many photographic evidence), and they were the main trouble-makers, trashing stuff, beating uniformed cops n shit.
D cop on d right sure looks like d protestor on d left
D Bangla cop sure looks like d protestor who's kickin a traffic cop. Real scumbags eh
Awww, cant take your own gas? The macho pig from the first picture is actually a little babyyy. Wail away boy
Checkit - there were even phone jammers to disable our communication. Where are we, Libya??
Crowd this year were younger and older. Also, in wheelchairs, one-legged, blind, makciks, grandpas, etc
The police also beat-up many Press photographers – who were clearly on the job. Dats as ridiculous as riot police beating regular cops coz they were there. They also deleted photos / stole Press cameras.
When the law enforcers regularly break d law, dont expect regular citizens to respect the law. The cops also removed their badge numbers!
If there was a little ‘rioting’, my guess its by the crazy cops, not the cool protestors.
