Loads of stuff went on. Such as:

Hit Laos for the second time...

Yup

Alcon rocked da house, all over the media..

The best chocolate / dessert mountain i ever seen, Traders Hotel 5th Anniversary

Did KK..

And Langkawi

Mac Daddy went in for a pimp-up

And Bersih street party

Party Season was heavy.

Did a bush bbq party

Carlsberg had a rockin Oktoberfest, cooler than Where's the Party 2..

Hit Thirst

Threw a morning party for my birthday at El Meson

Popped this bottle

Hennessy had a kick-ass, fat-cat dinner, with amazing surround screens

Chilled at Esquire's contributors rooftop party

Spotted a UFO in Paulie's car

My bro's birthday party..

A girl in a tree..

Rocked it with Grandmaster Flash..

Ended it all in KK, again, tho i doubt am goin back there anymore. Scene has gone downhill/boring

I deserve a break.

2012? Well, who knows watsup. Lots of talk about it being the finale, for humans maybe.

In fact, my column in Esquire this month is about that – how to spend the final day before that doomsday date in December. A one-day guide on how to party-up in style from noon, and basically drink yourself to death at exactly midnight. Check it out. Haha

Brain damage: 8/10

Falls yonder

As usual, finished half d beers on d way there dammit.

We basically had the riverbank to ourselves, and after  a quick dip, set up a spot near a lil beach for the bar n bbq.

Firestarters

The food wasnt that important – more like beer-snacks, so we stuck to some lamb dogs and burgers and mustard n jalapenos n shit. Turned out great.

Our kitchen with a view

The beers were ice-cold, the food spicy, the sun blazing, the river chilly. Perfect!

Baby Keisha in da mix

Those Sarawakians weren’t there tho, unlike the crazy last trip!

Hooligans snatch food

Chillin..

Outta there!

A super Sunday!

Brain damage: 7/10

Was with Eddy, my housemate. Agenda was basically partying, checking out the highlands, islands, and ‘wildlife’.

I’ve basically covered Sabah, inland and off-shore, but dont mind more trips. Not many pictures tho. Camera fucked, n Eddy dont have one. So in d end most pix are of him, from my cheap-ass phone.

First drink of the trip at Irish Bar Shamrock. Not good happy hours tho

Had trouble getting around as Max who was supposed to show us around was in KL. So mostly chilled during d day.

Happy hours at The Loft, Waterfront. Good selection of ales

Got our butts down to the pier, which is downtown. In fact, the sea is downtown. Niice.

Checked out Manukan Island, part of the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park islands. They all lie by KK, just a speedboat ride away.

Had a beer with a giant leatherback turtle

Chilled

Beach, beer, tunes

Some old bombs found on the island. Why did they bomb Manukan with a dick?

At the beach, chilled out with Absolut’s Global Brand Ambassador, Matt Pomeroy. Haha! He was in KK for an Absolut masterclass session, where i met him last year and took him clubbing.

Downtown graffiti

Squeezed in a kid's party

We crashed at KK Times Square, a new spot, which also has a few bars n clubs. like Firefly & White Room. But after-party n sleazier Razzmataz is quite a distance.

Pre-party

Party spot

Harvest Fest Eve @ Bed. The band wore traditional outfits n did d Sumazau. Haha

The cultural village, a venue for Kaamatan Fest

Did a road trip into the highlands. Pretty chilly up there, and u sometimes get a view of the summit of Mt Kinabalu.

Kundasang, foreground, summit background

Paulie, aka JB Paul, made a guest appearance

At Jarrod n Rawlins, our usual brunch spot as it was right behind our hotel

No shit

Ed's first toke of liheng, a local brew. Nice stuff

Outta there!

Brain damage: 8.5/10

Where i hung in Langkawi...

Obviously i love travelling. I have been on an aircraft about 150 times now. Most were incident-free, except for two.

Once i was flying back from Sabah to KL, and bumped into a friend, who’s a doc. “Watsup man?”

He says with a big smile: “Escorting patient to KL General Hospital,” obviously happy to take a few days break in KL. Soon after take-off, there are complications, and i watch as he desperately performs CPR on the patient. Eventually, soaked in sweat, he calls it, and the plane turns back to offload him and the body.

I say to him “No luck eh? Maybe next time then! C ya!”

... for obvious reasons

The other incident was more recent when i was returning from somewhere in China. I noticed some activity mid-flight, and realize that an old man was in trouble. The crew kept paging for a doctor. No luck. I know CPR, but i’m no doc, so i remained seated.

Then i watch as the crew goes around and fetches the man’s family, grandkids, etc who are seated elsewhere. The old man dies.

Most passengers dont notice, and the crew then make it look like he’s asleep for d rest of the flight. Blanket n all.

Kinda weird flying with dead people in the cabin.

I lurv underwater bar stools

On my journeys via 747, I’ve only sat upstairs (the dickhead of the aircraft) twice. That wuz cool. I focused on the champagne of course.

The smallest aircraft i have been in was a 10-seater i think (single propeller), when i did my parachute jumps, twice in UK and once in Malacca.

I love the propeller-run Malaysia Airlines Twin Otters that fly into the interior of Sarawak and Sabah. Pretty small, and u can see the scene and pilots in action in front of you as there’s no door. They need to weigh u before they seat you.

There was even a band to entertain us at d pool-bar

Re drinks, i usually go for wine or cocktails. No thanks to fucking terrorists, there are now rules against opening bottles on board. Asian airlines (I still love MAS the most) obviously have d best service, while the rest of the world sucks. Some crew are real stingy with d drinks. No thanks to goddam drunks who cant hold their booze and start making noise. Dickheads.

Been lucky not to hit any major weather or turbulence. But of course, each time i try to take a piss, there’s turbulence.

For the first time in my life, i was served booze by bargirls in headscarves. Checkitout - Carlsberg AND Tiger draught in d same outlet. Rare.

Its been fun flying around d world. Will upload photos someday if i’m not too lazy. Been to about 30 countries now. Lookin forward to more!

Hit it with my bro & Klang Kenny. As soon as we strolled outta d airport in Vientiane, we were on da road to VV. The three-hour journey took longer due to d many Beer Lao stops, as well as sourcing for bites.

Food over there is consistently great, whether local or foreign. The street-side grilled pork ribs are insane!

Spotted a bbq goin on, so told d driver to turn back.

Dog BBQ anyone?

VV seems exactly the same as it was two years ago, thankfully. Beer Lao, which used to cost 10,000 kip, is still 10 grand, or 4 ringgit. But its even cheaper now, coz we spent mostly in US dollars, whose value has dropped. So a large bottle is only RM3.60 now. Haha!

On d road

One of d many stalls we checked-out had bbq bats.

Decided not to try, coz i dont like d smell of bat shit!

Crashed at our usual spot, the Other Side Bungalows (huts), which lies across the Namsong River, which runs thru VV.

Rickety bridge over wide river

Got up to lotsa activities. Drinking, partying, eating, hammocking, tubing, bacon, kayaking, climbing, biking. My skin got well-roasted.

The bridge by day (left) dat leads to our pad

Chilllin at our 'VIP hut'

Sumtin for d heat

We headed to this great riverside spot that i once went to.

Spot d Beer Lao

A hut for a break

Some of d boys remembered me, so we partied. They brought out some major firepower, ie lao lao. Rice liquor, similar to our langkau.

Kenny waiting for his turn after Thiang to down lao-lao (breakfast)

Buffaloes take a dip, as a hot-air baloon rises over VV in d distance

We went back again d next morning coz they organized a bbq party for us. We had baby birds, freshly-caught fish, wild jungle soup (which was awesome!), and sticky rice, plus whisky, beer and lao lao.

Boys catching our brunch

Babies are crunchy

They caught a few puffer fish, that blow up when threatened

Diggin in. Except for d rice, everything was wild

Tubing (or kayaking if u prefer) is also a great way to spend a day. Ur dropped off several km upriver of VV, then u just cruise down in a tube. There’re loads of bars n party spots on d riverbank, where u’ll be thrown a line n pulled in if u want. A whole day could go by!

Cruisiiin

Climbed this crazy steep limestone hill near our huts

Dipped in here. COLD!

Ready to kayak

Peace

Some dude who gave us free shots of dunno wat

Had to do some fucking-big-centipede liquor shots

Jump off d platform if u dare

The sun sets over Laos

Great place, even greater people. Might even do it again!

.

Brain damage: 8.5/10

I have a policy of not goin to d same country twice, coz there’s too much other shit to see. Gotta make an exception here. Beer Lao, i come!

See yar!

It’s also seen lots of bloodshed. First by wars with the Moghuls, then more recently by battles against India and its fucked-up police n military, which routinely committed brutal war crimes.

On d road

Anyway, went to Punjab’s capital, Amritsar, to the Golden Temple. Altho it was destroyed by the Indian army in 1984, its been restored, and is a beautiful, tranquil place. Its lies in the middle of a lake, with a bridge leading to it.

The main complex area

The front

Inside

On d roof

Punjab means Five Rivers (panj = 5; arb = river), but i only saw one. The turquoise waters come from the Himalaya mountains to the plains of Punjab, and canals channel them to the farmlands.

Fresh water supply

Uncle enjoyin a TB

Havent talked about d booze! The well-known beer is Kingfisher, but Thunderbolt is good. Smooth n strong (abt 7%), i cdnt get enough of it. Easy to drink as carbonation is low.

Their local whisky is good too, and the famous ones are Bagpiper and Blender’s Choice, considered premium.

The default beer on this trip

Transaction at the booze shop

But booze is only available at the designated booze shops, and almost all are just take-away. U wdnt really find ‘em at local restaurants / stalls.

Our host, Hidayet, also took us to his wife’s village for dinner. It was 2 hours away, but worth it. Food n company was great. Met his in-laws n all.

Dinner & drinks in d courtyard

Bobby, a kid who doubled as our waiter/bartender

Sunset, when i was chillin on their roof

Cant recall the name of their village

Clear skies averyday

It has a huge Sikh temple

We headed back to our host village, ready to head back to KL the next day.

Stopped at the ice cream parlour for dessert

The next morning we sere set the nine-hour drive south to Delhi.

Took one last look around.

Kid gettin a morning ride

Kids off to school

Spinach field

Our host Hidayet escorted me all the way there.

Hidayet enjoying a beer at a rest-stop

A typical breakfast - wheat bread with a lil mashed potato inside, white butter, pickled chili

My first trip to India was many years ago. My whole family got sick, except me, altho they were very careful with food/drinks. U know what they say right? Dont drink the water. Only take bottled water, even to brush yor teeth! This time, I DRANK THE WATER. Dont know why.

Not only that, ate at stalls all d time. Somehow escaped any stomach/ass problems. Was hoping to lose some weight. Fail.

Quite an interesting trip, and who knows, i might head there someday to chill (and put on weight) again.

Wuz a lil more fun than i anticipated. Lots of eating n drinking. We landed in Delhi n headed to Punjab further north to check out the ancestral village. Celebrated my birthday there too!

Funny thing is my dad n uncles (four brothers in total) still have some farmland there which they inherited form their dad (who got it from his dad, etc), which me n my bro are supposed to inherit, but they just gonna go ahead n sell it all.

Seeing as how i dont plan to hang around there, i have no objections.

Uncle no 1 + dad

The villages in Punjab are real cool. I luv d houses – they are quite closed n walled up from d outside, but once u enter, there’s always a nice center courtyard to chill at.

And they all have stairs that lead to the flat roofs that i luv, where they chill. And drink. Or sleep in summer. Mexican-style. Haha

Its basically farmlands as far as your eye can see. There’s usually not a cloud in d sky, not good if u get sunburnt easily.

Mostly grains, like wheat are grown in Punjab. It’s India’s richest state and is its wheat basket. Water for irrigation comes from the Himalayas.

Our pad, from d outside

Newly-planted crops, view from roof

D plan was to stay in a motel in d town nearby, but the guy who’s renting the farmland insisted that we stay in his village. Niice.

So we stayed in a spare house. Thank God there was hot water, coz it’s freezing at night, as winter is approaching.

Kids, billy goat and combined-harvester

Uncle chillin

The guy’s name is Hidayet, and the village is Chopkiti. He’s the sarpench in these parts (village head). They all farmboys here. Hidayet’s wife is an amazing cook!

Quite a cute village, with a lil lake in d middle. Took a walk immediately to check it out, and then realized i had a bodyguard following me everywhere. Felt like Michael Corleone in The Godfather when he headed back to his village in Sicily. Haha!

Spinach patch

Kiddies

The local bar

Came across whole lotta shitcakes. More details later

Some new friends

Small kid, big gun

D local Sikh temple

D local clinic. The doctor was in, all by himself, staring into space. Was probably high, cos it's right across the bar

In every courtyard, there'll be chairs and a traditional bed to hangout / warm-up / drink

A fave mode of transportation in these parts

The courtyard in our crib, and that's the morning warm-your-body spot

Our front door

Drinking water, etc, is from underground

Typical local food (restaurant) - baked bread, lentil + kidney bean curry and mashed spinach + cottage cheese cubes

Uncle no 3 havin a drink

The top local beer. On d left is a slow-cook stove, specially reserved for meats and mashed spinach, and the fuel source is wood and buffalo shit-cakes, which works like charcoal

Part 1 of 2 (Next: On da road)

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The top local brew. On d left is a slow-burn stove, used to specially cook meats and d local delicacy, mashed spinach. The fuel is wood and dried cow shit-cakes, which works like charcoal

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Pleasantly surprised with Beijing. It’s clean, very green, and organized. Pretty good for a city with 17 million people! I had heard before that its pretty messed-up place.

The Chinese have cleaned up their act, especially since the Olympics two years back.

Tried all sorts of food, bought all sorts of stuff. The tour didnt really include drinking, so did a lil on my own.

The common beers there are light in alcohol and taste, like Beijing Beer and Tianjin. Prices vary, average 5 to 10 bucks a large bottle, tho i did score a large cold Tianjin for $2.50 from a fruit stall! The ABV hovers around 3.8%. Good for brunch or as accompaniment with lunch.

Managed to tapau two bottles of iced rose wine, a plum wine, a cherry wine and some clear liquid that came in various bottles sizes, up to the five-liter cooking oil-style plastic ones. The percentages varied between 40 and 67%. I went for 42%. Will test & report, but it’s probably like Lao Lao and Langkau. But i think Chinese people dont drink very often. Sure lose to Malaysians.

Hit dis top house club there called The World of Suzie Wong. It’s styled like a big ol opium den for most parts, and a club on the second floor.

Have always been fascinated with the Great Wall, so it was a real trip being on it.

Well here are some of d pictures.

The exterior of Suzie Wong

Beijing Beer, a typical that Chinese prefer. Light & a lil creamy

A very efficient way of cleaning a huge-ass place like Tiananmen Square

Mao's always watching. Entrance to Forbidden City

Backdoor, Forbidden City

Trishaws that give you tours of Bar Street

The awesome lake by Bar Street. Yes, many bars here

An old Chinese mosque

Some street food i had - loaded with spinach leaves i think. The ones on the far side looked like chapatti

A common dish of the Xinjang people from up north, who are mostly Muslims. Everything has shitloads of capsicum in it

View of Great Wall, from Great Wall. Goes on forever. Well, about 3000km

View from d top

It gets pretty steep just to walk, dont even talk bout building it way back!

Damn tourists

Souvenirs. L-R: Rose wine, cherry (haw) wine (2002), moonshine

U get to relearn English

Brain damage: 1/10