Monthly Archives: September 2014

Oktoberfest time

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Yup, that time of the year, which also indicates that Party Season 2014 is fast approaching.

Cool set-up

Cool set-up

Guinness Anchor Bhd’s Oktoberfest kicked off in style at The Tavern, the brewery bar. The Tavern’s been pimped up recently, and looks & feels a lot better.

Guests were treated to various drinks under the GAB stable, including Smirnoff Ice, as well as good German grub.

The spot

The spot

Take your pick

Take your pick

Sumtin called food

Stall scene. Fun

There was a Oompah band in action, and some games.

Oompah

It’s all about the horns

Beer mug-sliding game. Too easy

Beer mug-sliding game. Too easy ja

German stuff

Sipping German stuff

The tent

The tent

The highlight of the launch was the unveiling of the country’s largest fibreglass beer mug. Am not talkin bout a mug that’s the size of a bucket.

Let’s just say if filled with beer, it would knock out a neighbourhood. The mug’s gonna go on a nationwide tour too, for the “Guess the Litre” challenge.

The top 5 participants that provide the correct or closest estimated volume of liquid the mug can hold, win a year’s supply of Tiger Beer.

Hmmm. How much beer is that?

Yup, you could tread beer inside

Yup, you could tread beer inside

It stands at 2.6m high and 1.72m wide. These are its tour details:

Oct 2: Festival Walk, Ipoh
Oct 3 and 4: Setia Walk, Puchong and Auto City, Penang
Oct 10 and 11: Scott Garden, PJ and Upper Penang Road
Oct 16: Desa Sri Hartamas
Oct 17 and 18: Changkat Bukit Bintang and Jonker Street, Malacca
Oct 24 and 25: Sunway Giza, PJ and Sutera Mall, Johor Bharu

You can score the regular one-litre version as well. Details here.

Prost!

I 'made' a new friend at the bar

I ‘made’ a new friend at the bar

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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Sunday wine lunch @ La Bodega

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Yea, it’s one of those – a relaxing wine n dine session where u don’t need to worry about the bill, and kick-back.

Place to be

Place to hang

La Bodega in Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) (2287-2768) has just started its Sunday chillout called El Corazon Del Vino (The Heart of Wines), where guests can enjoy free-flowing wine of the month and food from noon till 4pm.

Different wines from La Bodega’s cellars take the stage monthly, and there was even cava served during my visit. As well as whites & reds. (These are random weekly bonuses tho.)

The deal is very reasonably-priced too, at $60++.

Pepe & friends

Pepe & friends

The featured wine was a sherry, Tio Pepe from Jerez, Spain. White sherry reminds me of sweet tuak.

This is the wine of the month for September.

The bar made various cocktails using Tio Pepe, but the welcome drink was an Aperol Soda. A light intro to the session. Aperol is a Campari-like aperitif.

The drink is lightly-alcoholic, with herbal scents and a hint of vanilla.  And refreshing in that it does wake you up.

We have lift-off..

And we have lift-off..

My buddies dug into the food soon after. The spread each person gets is impressive. Enough to get your stomach to chill, and entertain the booze you’re feeding it.

Paella leads the way

Paella leads the way

The canapes platter served to each guest was good; it contained Paella Valencia (with prawns, clams, chicken and mussels), Croquetas Bacalao (cod fish croquettes), Pinchos Morunos (chicken on toast), and Calamares Fritos (deep-fried calamari rings). While for dessert, we each got some stuff.

Stuff

Some stuff

Among the cocktails we had was sumtin that looked like late breakfast – a martini consisting of Tio Pepe and Martini Bianco shaken and strained into a glass – with smoked salmon rolls on a stick swimming inside.

Fish got drunk

Fishy got too drunk

I was neutral about this; my friend liked it. “Bite the salmon then take a swig” was the insight.

I dig the Garden Sprite.

G

Aint no Sprite

This baby has Tio Pepe, lychee liqueur, strawberry puree, orange wheels and mint leaves. It’s like a fruity rather than tangy mojito, but with sherry flavours.

The Citrus Cup is a goblet of oranges made with Pepe and a dash of Drambuie.

Refreshing with a fruity sweetness

Refreshing with a fruity sweetness

Other cocktails served were Toffee Apple, Oceanic, and Aperol Sour. However, all drinks had Tio Pepe as the base, which can get a little too much, as its flavour is prominent.

Points for colour

Points for colour

I enjoy long-ass, slow dining over some wine. When i was travelling in the Basque country (Northern Spain), my lunches were always two to three hours, as that’s how the locals cruised, with the fruity local white wine txakoli always around. Awesome. (And of course the traditional ciders you pour straight from barrels, but dats another story.)

Chill indoors, or at this cozy patio area

Chill indoors, or at this cozy patio area

So this one at La Bodega? Am gonna hit it again for sure.

Probably the best Sunday wine brunch in KL right now.

 

Brain damage: 8/10

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Glenlivet unveils a new whisky

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Scotch producers Glenlivet recently blessed planet Earth with a new expression, labelled the Guardians’ Chapter, a limited edition.

It was unveiled at an outlet of the oldest barbershop in the world, Truefitt & Hill, in JW Marriott, KL. Guardians were entitled to a complimentary service at the outlet – The Royal Cut, or The Ultimate Shave. Nice.

Obligatory

Obligatory

The Exotic is the result of a special voting process by thousands of Guardians spanning 37 countries including Malaysia. Master Distiller Alan Winchester created three whiskies (single malts) to choose from –  Exotic, Classic and Revival in Sept 2013.

In the domestic market, the Guardians’ Chapter will be available only to the Guardians for purchase at RM398 a bottle, or at selected travel retail.

Mall party

Mall party

The Exotic is rich and luscious. I find it velvety smooth as well, and almost Cognac-like in it’s hints of sweetness, making it easy to drink.

It’s cool that they went for a high ABV of  48.7%, but you’d never know it – you wouldn’t feel any burn, at least when enjoyed with rocks.

I recommend it.

Incoming

Incoming

Sluuurp!

Sluuurp!

After several delicious whiskies, I went for the Royal Cut. Quite a detailed process, considering my hair was pretty short to begin with. It was a relaxing 45-minute experience which i enjoyed. Fortunately we could drink during the session. And then the party moved to Omakase + Appreciate.

Hard at work

Hard at work

Truefitt & Hill hails from an era of craftsmanship, with a history that began in fashionable Mayfair, England, in 1805. Patrons have included  Oscar Wilde, Frank Sinatra, Alfred Hitchcock, Fred Astaire and The Thirsty Blogger. There’re several outlets here.

Fondling men's hair for 200 years

Fondling men’s hair for 200 years

Says Pernod Ricard Malaysia’s Angelyn Gan, “Taking our Guardians on a little trip back in time to experience such classic old world grooming services is what the Guardians programme strives for with each event.”

Good job there PRM. Some of the previous events have been cool too. Something i always look forward to!

Hey Monkey-Man. Need a leg-shave?

Hey Monkey Man. Need a leg-shave?

Brain damage: 8.5/10

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Heineken and Guinness rock on

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Heineken has launched a new label for some of its bottled beers, featuring six cities of the world. It’s a global campaign aimed at inspiring people to get out of their routines and start exploring their cities. A good idea.

Fortunately KL is one of them, so there was a cool party called Cities of the World to introduce the Cities bottle and campaign. It went down in an industrial zone in PJ, and the set-up (from scratch) was really good.

New Heineken Bottles.

Getting to the bar / music area required some navigation, and it felt like a maze, and i opened quite a few dud doors. There were exhibits and all along the way, and some salsa thing goin on.

Trippy.

IMG-20140901-WA0004

Goin somewhere?

The main room featured an island bar and DJs on ground-level decks. Among the performers were Goldfish and Blink, as well as Hulkas. The boys from Hulkas rocked it. Awesome house set.

Hulkas in action

Bust a move

Heineken says that the campaign aims to “inspire people to move away from their usual habits and discover more within their own backyard.” It would be interesting to see how they plan to do this.

Salud. (pix by @juzliv)

Salud (pix by @juzliv)

There’s a website that’s been built to give people a look into interesting locations around them. Not very impressed with it though. Lack of content.

I’ve seen a lot of my city, but coincidentally i plan to see more of the inner city soon, by booking a couple of days in a hotel downtown. And explore.

New Heineken Bottles

Drinkers will find a unique code under the cap of each limited-edition bottle, which gives people a chance to win prizes, including an opportunity to unlock worldly adventures in New York. You can checkout the site here.

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GUINNESS meanwhile has launched the Amplify campaign, one that’s based on music.

With this, the Arthur’s Day seems discontinued. Amplify seems more focused on local talent, and more personal as opposed to Arthur’s Day’s mega gigs.

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Launch in session at a bar in PJ

It’s a platform for extraordinary local musicians to showcase their talent alongside international stars, and will feature fourteen of Malaysia’s best acts including Kyoto Protocol, Paperplane Pursuit, OJ Law, Froya, and An Honest Mistake. International act Howie Day will be joining the party on Sept 6 at The Bee, which is the kick-off.

4. Guinness Amplify Live Tour Listings

Admission to the 6 shows in the Guinness Amplify Live Tour will be free of charge and on a first-come, first-served basis, and will feature special promos on Guinness throughout the night. More details here.

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