French beer Kronenbourg 1664 wants us to get our butts off from working too much and get straight to drinking.
A great idea.
It recently launched, over many drinks, “Taste the French Way of Life” at Stratosphere at The Roof, which is a call to merge our culture of hard work and the French one of taking time off.
Party time
A sundown outdoor BBQ? On a grassy 360-view roof of a skyscraper? Perfection. To top it off, generous amounts of chilled beers were making their rounds.
It felt like we were chillin at a resort.
The series launched
There was also entertainment by a band, fire-eaters and poi performers, and you could release some stress by slamming a giant hammer in the Mr Hammer game. And loads of grub. And of course, free breeze.
As Henrik Andersen (MD of Carlsberg Malaysia) says, “Together we will champion the art and beauty of work-life balance by simply treasuring good conversation and company.”
Saya sokong.
Slam it Henrik!
It was a nice evening out by Kronenbourg, pampering its guests very well. And fortunately they have six more events comin up! Including a comedy night, dining in the dark, and a Broadway show. Sounds great.
A dog that had me as his caretaker, died last month. Homey (aka Homes, aka Homer, aka Homeboi) came out of nowhere barking at me one morning a long time ago. And we been hanging out since.
He’s been with me through the best years of my life.
He was with me for 13 years, from the time he was a gangsta stray pup. No pix of his puppy days tho, but he was definitely the cutest around. Hence, his many girlfriends (human n dog). He was shagging human legs from age 3 months, and bitches at age 6 months. Am pretty sure he won one of the year’s MVP.
Homeboi was obedient, playful, loving, and fierce against unwelcome people. He was the Chief of Security at our pad. We could leave the front door unlocked without worry. He was always alert.
He also pissed on dogs that he didnt like, usually on the face.
Friends who were afraid of dogs have gotten over this phobia, thanks to Homey.
His birthday parties? Legendary. I still bump into random people who say they been to my place, for his birthday. Haha
Homey died of bone marrow cancer / leukemia, and it appeared suddenly. Doc mentioned chemotherapy. I said sorait. Let it be.
Otw to KKB
Thankfully he didn’t suffer much. The doc gave him a few weeks or a month tops; he hungout for two months, and ate mostly ham in that time. Nice. He was also allowed into the house.
Otw to Janda Baik
Otherwise, he was a fit n healthy guy, and could have lived to 18 or more. I was kinda hoping he could meet my future family assuming i have one, but sallgood! Haha. In a way its good that he died healthy rather than when his bones were creaking n shit. I always wondered how we would die. I think he had a decent death.
And it was great when my close friends showed up when they found out. They helped me bury him. There were even flowers. And they hungout after that to drink n party.
Joyce showed up out of the blue, and also wrote a tribute.
King of these streets
I also am thankful for my housemates, who had to takeover the task of giving him his daily steroid injections when i was travelling.
In Chilling River
Homey – seen it all
The boys did a blues tune about him some time ago, which was recorded spontaneously in my hall one Sunday afternoon in 2012, in one take. You can even hear Homey bark in the background.
There’s even a music video for it! Homey smiles at the end.
And here’s one of him during shower time. He’d bitch if the water was too chilly.
Well, he had a good run, travelling n shit. But i never got his licensing sorted out. Haha. In fact a coupla years ago i permanently removed his collar. He was nude 24-7.
I wanted to allow him to become a dog. I also gave him more real food and tried to avoid the usual factory-produced dog food, which is probably dog meat. Maybe dat shit causes cancer, who knows.
He’s had it all. Bryani, roti canai, char kueh teow, cakes, desserts, ice-creams, booze, lok-lok (regular), and even magic mushrooms – no thanks to a friend of mine. I was pretty pissed about it. Homes was tripping for 3 days!
Funny, on hindsight.
But i took him out nightly, so he worked those calories off. I remember doin a calculation – i’ve walked 2,000km + with him.
Kinda miss the night walks.
I also went alone with him once to KKB. We did a trek all the way to Chilling falls. That was the first time he had seen a forest, and a body of water, and his first swim. Across rivers. I was forced to teach swimming the quick way – throwing him into the river. Didnt do too well.
His battery was 3% by the time we got back, coz we had to ‘jog’ out due to failing light.
Waiting at the border for his morning cream crackers
Am sure i’ll open my house to another stray, someday. (I don’t buy pets)
He was the closest dog i’ve been with, and there’ve been many over the years. I’ll remember Homes till the day i join him.
One brother’s down, for good. Fortunately i have nine more around me. You know who you boys are.
Good lookin out ma man, and am sure you still lookin out for me.
Legendary producer of chilled beats series Cafe Del Mar, Jose Padilla is back in the music scene after a break of coupla years, teaming up with Marini’s on 57 to produce a special album based on the outlet, called Sunset Hours (Marini’s On 57 Vol 1).
Jose himself was at Marini’s for the album launch, a half-day affair starting with the PC in the afternoon, followed by drinks at Marini’s, and finally Jose juggling the decks later that night for a house set. But i had to miss the last one due to another engagement.
Cool bar
Jose Padilla is world-renowned for being a sunset-tunes DJ at Cafe del Mar, a bar on Ibiza, and popularized electronic chillout, specifically the Balearic variety. The first Cafe del Mar compilation was released in 1994, and there have been 18 since. Jose’s Mixcloud link here.
1,000 pieces of the new album have been initially pressed. This one has 14 tracks from all over the world; it would have been great if we had a KL artist in there as well.
Close neighbour
The theme is chilled of course, being Sunset Hours n all (aka cocktail time!).
There’s one exclusive track, which Jose co-created, while the rest are other artists. The compilation is more electronic than his usual stuff. And quite serious.
A couple of tracks stand out for me. Dragonflies (Cantoma Remix), a chill house tune by Jose Padilla has a solid, jazz-funk-inspired bassline, topped by the seductive, minimalist and ethereal vocals of Scottish chick Kirsty Keatch.
I Hate Hate (an oxymoron of a title) is a laid-back, housy track of about 90bpm, by Razzy Bailey. It’s got that ol skool vibe, with vocals by a male, a rarity.
Jose and Modesto
The album is available at Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, music stores in Europe and several other online sources. The CD itself should be available for sale here once approvals are got.
Represent! In NYC’s Times Square
The outlet’s founder and owner Modesto Marini launched the album to coincide with the beautiful outlet’s two-year anniversary, which is also the highest F&B spot in the country.
This is an interesting marketing strategy to put Marini’s on the world map. In fact, it joins iconic brands such as Café Del Mar, Pacha and Hotel Costes which have their own internationally-recognized music albums.
