The Clean-Up Protest

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.

Anyway, check dis shit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SM5E7y6tJRc

Uniformed mob!

And this:

This video will definitely cross half a million views. Good.

I hope the next protest will be against the goddam pigs, who were excessive n uncivilized. I’ll be there.

At least, the gas cleared my hangover and dead brain cells.

 

Brain damage from CS gas: OK la, still coherent

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…. And it’s back

It’s time for Sunday sessions – Thirsty Sunday is here again, part 4.

Lagers & ales (like Kronenbourg Blanc) for $5 and $10 a pop.

There’ll be food too. And so-called Malaysians who havent had toddy can break their virginity too, with Coco Cabana toddy.

Daylight sessions. I like

Goes on from 2.30pm to 7pm, this Sunday at bakita in Changkat Bukit Bintang.

I might bring some of my Baad Apples Cider™.

Shd be as chilled n friendly as before; am planning to make it four outta four. Coz Thirsty Sunday’s always fun.

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More Grimbergen ales arrive

Grimbergen, a Belgian ale, now has several varieties available. The launch was at the Belgian ambassador’s residence in Ampang. Quite a pad.

Tents were set-up in the garden.

Fancy tent

It was quite an event.

There are three varieties now, in lil 250ml bottles – the Blond (gold, abv 6.7%), Blanche (white, 6%) and Amber (dark, 6.5%). I’m impressed with the alcohol levels. The Blanche is also available in draft.

One of many

The Blond is an easy-drinking ale, light-tasting and a lil sweetish. Good for most situations. It’s been available here since April last year.

The Blanche has a fruity nose, some citrusy notes even, and in the mouth its light and clean, with no hints of bitterness at all. Refreshing.

Mad Max losin it

The dark guy, Amber (aka Grimbergen Double) is also an easy-going ale, and considering its colour, it’s only a light malt, and a sweetish finish.

Super colour

The beer is served in a chalice, to add a barbarian touch.

The fathers at the Abbey of Grimbergen founded by St Norbert in the village of Grimbergen near Brussels logically used the hops and barley that grew around the abbey to make beer, which was consumed by travellers at the attached inn.

The phoenix logo is actually the abbey’s coat-of-arms. The Carlsberg Group has acquired its license to brew.

Garden gig

The beers are brought in by Luen Heng, and the RRP is between $20-25 at selected bars. Brussels Beer Cafe definitely has them.

The sprinklers almost went off

Brain damage: 7.5/10

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Why cocktail bars fail

I’ve seen ’em come, I’ve seen ’em go. And go…ooze.

Cocktail bars in KL tend not to do too well, tho they start pretty ambitious. I have several explanations for this. (U can also read this post about my observations on how bars can make customers consume more.)

The main one is the pricing system in this country. On top of the govt tax, bars and clubs mark-up their drinks 100% easy, and many even mark-up 200%! And that’s just for regular booze.

Cocktails? Probably 300%.

Why mark-up so highly? Because they do. And anyway you’d probably blame the government for the high prices.

(If they use cheap-shit alcohol, mark up is 1000+ %)

Cocktail culture? Not yet. Maybe not ever

Hence, people prefer to buy bottles of spirits – more bang for your buck. Higher ROI. If everybody bought individual drinks all their lives, all drinkers wd be broke by now. Cocktails? Double-broke.

So we’re so used to keeping things simple – a bottle of whisky, a pitcher of Coke or water. Done deal. Vodka? Orange or cranberry. That’s as complicated as the cocktails get for the general population.

Cocktail orders tend to be limited to sangria, margarita, mojito

Another major factor is the local F&B industry have really fucked things up. Many bars are stingy, and instead of using regular spirits in their cocktails, they use cheap-ass moonshine from Klang, meaning the cocktails taste like cock. Malaysian have gotten used to crap cocktails because of this, and so are not into it anymore. Besides shit taste, u could earn yorself a good hangover.

So-called popular bars do this too, so better check next time ur there. And many bars also use crap mixers, even if they use premium spirits. What’s the point?

U wanna pay 20-30 bucks for a piece of shit?

As for me, even tho i’m all over the  goddam place, i’ve  rarely come across really good-tasting cocktails, even by good bartenders using good shit. 80% are unbalanced and not smooth. Most are too sour, many are too sweet. One sip may be fine, but then finishing the whole glass is a different story. It can be a struggle!

What a waste of alcohol. And a waste of hard-earned money.

I think these bartenders need to drink their own cocktails a lot more, and not dip a skinny-ass straw into it and have a tiny sample. Of course most cocktails taste fine like that. Drink the whole glass. Or three.

Some bars even hire clueless foreigners! But i’ve already talked about this before.

I usually reserve cocktail-making for my house parties or travel or my blog parties.

Yea baby!

I’ve done a better job than some of these guys if i say so myself, with my Kelapa Rock (coconut water-based cocktail) and Brown Brown (Milo-ais based cocktail), among others. Easy, tasty.

At the moment, the better-known cocktail bars are View Bar, 21 and Tate. Be prepared to pay high prices.

One of the longest-living and coolest cocktail lounge was Chill. It was real smooth. Great cocktails, reasonable prices, great chilled Ibiza and Hed Kandi tunes in the afternoon/evening (and soul/funk house later at night, courtesy of DJ me!), funky decor, cool guys, and hot chicks. It had a good four-year run, but was ahead of its time.

Like dumb blondes, some only LOOK good

I look forward to cocktail bars for mainstream drinkers, with good mixers, normal-standard spirits, reasonable prices, balanced-tasting drinks, cool decor, and innovative bartenders. O yea, solid tunes too.

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