hic!

i know, i know. been away too long.
yes, i have been. haven't been writing, just drinking.
a bit of tweeting. a lot of drinking.
a lot of photos too.
soon. i promise.
came across beerbeer.org. seems a bit decent of a blog that has been around since may last year.
just about the time i left malaysia actually.
it is completely about beers and pubs in malaysia and has a list of places from cambodia down to singapore.
well, if you are interested.
and i promise i will write more.
cheers.

summer beers

nothing like a cold one to wick away the sweat of a sunny day. a bitter brew to sweeten in the shade, so to speak.
well, the good folks at beeradvocate.com have come up with the american craft beer fest this june 20 and 21 in boston, the united states of america. so if you have nothing much to do and would like to spend the summer solstice cooling down with a brewski, you know where to go.
the fest is at the seaport world trade centre in boston and aims to be one of the east coast's largest celebrations of US craft brewers.
the fest includes three sessions with some 300 beers poured by 75 brewers. the organisers expect some 15,000 people to turn up with tickets already available on sale online.
cheers!

the singapore swing

am miles and weeks away from my singapore swing last month but managed to squeeze in some drinks between work. and in the process, nearly lost my passport at holland village.
but a kind gentleman found it and returned it to me.
yes. there is honesty in singapore. and more than that, there are a few party places in the shopping mall with a united nations membership.
the first stop was muddy murphy's irish pub at the orchard hotel shopping arcade - just opposite orchard towers which is known informally among expatriates and locals as the four floors (or is it six) of whores.
but that was not what we were there for, were we? nope!
'twas the pub that was the prize.
interesting enough, the pub was designed and built in dublin, irelend before it was disassembled and shipped to singapore in six 40-foot containers and re-assembled by 15 specialist irish pub fitters.
well, trust the irish! and the singaporeans.
back to the pint at hand, the pub serves irish staples of guinness and kilkenny on tap and some excellent irish food.
as i was with some friends from jakarta who had a hankering for the black beauty, we ordered the guinness draught and some fries instead.
the guinness draught was stout enough to slake my thirst after running around for work in singapore. did you know that it is supposed to take 119.5 seconds to pour a perfect pint.
and of course, the bubbles form a creamy head that might have a shamrock outlined on it in ireland but not really anywhere else.
but once you get to drink in the bittersweet stout and the cream forms a moustache above your lips, you are in ecstasy despite just having 4.2 percent alcohol by volume. it's the taste and the after-taste that gets you.
yes! it's that fantastic.
also revisited brewerkz, the micro-brewery in riverside point that has now expanded to have some sort of fine dining restaurant with a wine cellar. the few of us there were just interested in the beers.
there is a smorgasboard of beers brewed in brewerkz but we settled for the crowd favourite - indian pale ale.
the pale ale with 6.0 percent alcohol by volume has a strong malt and hop flavour that went well for the night. we had a couple of jugs as conversation flowed and ebbed like the tide along the singapore river as the rain whipped around us.
we had some buffalo wings - in hot but not suicidal sauce plus some chips to keep the beer and us company. it came with some blue cheese dip and that helped to balance the spiciness of the wings.
brewerkz has a slew of other food that i have tried over the years but the buffalo wings remain a favourite. guess the spiciness goes well with the bitter beer.
those interested can drop at brewerkz riverside point, 30 merchant road, riverside point or brewerkz indoor stadium, 2 stadium walk, singapore indoor stadium.
brewerkz has also opened up at the changi international airport, making it the first on-site airport microbrewery. brewerkz brew pub is a full-service restaurant with a 3 hectolitre microbrewery at changi terminal 3.
cheers and happy new year!

londoner in bangkok

i know, it has been some time. well it has been some time this past weeks. been drinking, travelling and working - not necessarily in that order.
maybe. but more of working and travelling.
was in bangkok a few weeks ago, and am supposed to be there next week, for stag holidays as some friends have/are walking down the aisle and what better way to celebrate that than drinking and partying in the city of angels.
in between the single malts sacrificed for the stag, a few of us managed to go to the londoner brew pub for some grub, grog and girls. well the last bit was not available.
the londoner has a microbrewery inside the pub with the fragrance of the hops wafting through the premises, enticing one to try both the pub-brewed beers - the london pilsner 33 or the londoner pride cream bitter.
didn't ask them the alcohol volume of both the beers but the pilsner is light, fresh and tasty and went along famously with the crowd i was in.
i thought the bitter was better but no one bit or bought that. the fresh bitter brew slaked my thirst and whetted my appetite further for food despite it being just hours after lunch.
we had some food with the beers - nothing thai but all things western. it was more than decent and kept the hunger pangs at bay.
the londoner brew pub is similar to the couple of microbreweries in singapore but i dare say, has a better ambience with the real feel of a london pub. which is a good reason to visit london, and now of course, bangkok.
for those making their way to bangkok, the pub is located at soi 33 along sukhumvit road.

mmmm... beer!

caught the simpsons movie last week and that whetted my appetite for beer a few days later.
so made my way to izzy's, a twinkling of a distance from the gsc gold class seats in midvalley where i had seen the movie.
they serve weihenstephan, the nearly millennium-old beer from a german monastery brewery of the benedictine monks.
yes, spirited and spiritual in a pint of beer that was first brewed in 1040 and is still being brewed today. how about that for longevity.
the wheat beer has a wonderful aroma and a bittersweet taste that makes a hot day great, in the sense that you look forward to sizzling days just so that you can enjoy the chilled beer better.
with 5.1 percent alcohol by volume, the lager beer is easy to drink and before you can actually pronounce the beer, you'd have ordered a second one.
we were so enamoured with the beer that we just ordered some beef tendon in a heavenly broth. more on that later.
the beer was filling enough for the five of us there.
prost!

beers galore

cheers! went to east timor for some work and came away feeling that it is beer heaven!
and seeing that single malt of any kind would be wasted on a tropical isle like east timor, i decided to sample the variety of beers available on the duty free island.
starting with the cascade premium lager from australia's oldest brewery.
with a 5.2 percent alcohol by volume content, the chilled crisp flavoured beer refreshed the hot afternoons and nights that were du jour in the east timorese capital dili.
cascade's brewery is located in tasmania, which is also home to the j boag lager i had imbibed last year.
then it was time for a traditional australian favourite, victoria bitter or vb as its famously known, made by fosters.
the 4.9 percent alcohol by volume bitter lager is one full flavoured brew.
had more than a couple of cans of the lager which had a fruity aroma to balance the suprisingly sweet malt and bitter after taste.
coincidentally, apart from the watery fosters lager, vb is australia's most famous beer export but i dare say the other beers especially made with the pristine waters of tasmania are a sight and taste better any day. or night.
from vb i made the short journey in the eski to melbourne bitter, another offering from the fosters group.
the rather robust beer is a full strength lager with a lesser 4.6 percent alcohol by volume than its victorian counterpart but more than made up for it with its malty notes and a pleasant if not slightly dull body.
the bitterness however came through and made it a must - once chilled - for the sizzling of days in east timor - the kind that cooks an egg in a matter of seconds.
from down under, i made the beer run to portugal - once colonial masters of east timor - with its offering of super bock classic beer.
the frothy lager, with a 5.6 percent alcohol by volume content, is rather refreshing especially with the seafood dinners we had along the dili beach.
we had copious draughts of the chilled super bock which balanced its robustness and bitterness just right to make us order more.
that's it. beers galore. east timor.
what more can one say except head over there for more!

bilking saint valentine's day

everyone will see red and pink today. not just for the lunar new year around the corner but because it is also saint valentine's day.
who would have thought of such a hoo-ha over one day in the year? flowers, candies, chocolates, diamond-related jewellery and what-have-you for your loved ones. and that's just for the womenfolk. that's crass commercialism and consumerism there.
one friend received a smart-tag device for her car. told her the guy no longer wants a touch-and-go situation but wants to go whole hog. what with it being the year of the pig and all.
so on that note, please continue to bilk and milk all you can from saint valentine's day 2007.
which brings us to this snippet from reuters yesterday.

Japan liquor shop churns out beer from milk

TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Great news for beer and milk lovers: A liquor shop owner in Japan's largest dairy farming region has stopped crying about local spilt milk and started making beer from it instead.
"We came up with the idea after hearing about surplus milk," said Chitoshi Nakahara, head of the Nakahara liquor shop on the northernmost island of Hokkaido. Milk consumption has been declining steadily in Japan, and Hokkaido disposed of nearly 900 tonnes of milk last March due to over-production, according to the Japan Dairy Association.
Nakahara's new brew, "Bilk" -- a combination of "milk" and "beer" -- is about 30 percent milk. It also contains hops, and the production process does not differ much from that of regular beer, he said.
His shop started selling Bilk, which apart from a slight milky scent looks and tastes like ordinary beer, on Feb. 1 after spending about six months developing the product with a local brewer.
Bilk is only available at six local shops or by mail order, but Nakahara is currently out of stock due to heavy media attention.

meanwhile, maybe just maybe a few of us will end up just having beers today. such, as they say, is life!

whisky galore

whisky galore - there is just so much to write about whisky this week.
friends in kuala lumpur went for the chivas 18 whisky tasting while the enthusiastic zeal of the freshly-converted-to-single-malts in djakarta ensured a steady supply of whisky for me.
also, there is a remake of an old film based on a Sir Compton Mackenzie book which i have read called - whisky galore! and guess what, surfed the world wide web and found that there is a beverage afficionado who has made a videocast of tastings called the beverage review.
the latest videocast - with host michael lam in his christmas cap - is on the macallan cask strength single malt.

meanwhile, after a couple of weeks in djakarta, my single malt enthusiast-friend amazed me by getting his brother come over from kuala lumpur with more single malts.
a surfeit of single malts to delight us all.
apart from the half bottle of 15-year-old french oak reserve the glenlivet, our choice expanded to the bowmore cask strength and the bowmore darkest.
the host had the privilege of choice and he chose the bowmore darkest.
good choice and we imbibed it with care, this time with an ice-cube to release the serpent that coiled out sinously like a belly-dancer jiggling her way through the floor.
a bit of toffee, some cinnamon and the oily peaty finish in the bowmore darkest made us finish a fair bit of the bottle. i had three tumblers of the darkest and left for home satisfied.
considering that we had some beers and sake earlier during a superb meal at the hamako japanese restaurant in blok m, djakarta. the salmon was firm and fresh and went well with the wasabi.
might post a review of the restaurant if i do make a return visit there.
merry christmas and a happy new year folks!

think drink

think drink and what do you get, more of drinking actually.
back from singapore a couple of weeks ago and got into the thick of things in kuala lumpur, drinking with friends from near and far.
the drinks ranged from the usual beers of either carlsberg or tiger beer to rounds of kilkenny beer at the various pubs in kuala lumpur. as you would already have known of this beer with 4.3 per cent alcohol by volume, its a reddish irish cream ale.
nice and creamy and available on tap at a few pubs in kuala lumpur and penang, the beer was first brewed in 1710 at the st francis abbey in ireland. now it is brewed by guinness in kilkenny and dublin.
away from that, had lots of rounds of whiskies - most of which have been drunk and reviewed by yours truly. this included the 15-year-old glenfiddich solera reserve and the 12-year-old glenfiddich.
the 15-year-old glenfiddich solera reserve - which goes for 55 ringgit a pop in parts of kuala lumpur - is a sweet speyside whisky with hints of chocolate and honey on the nose.
the 40 percent alcohol by volume honey gold whisky has a certain spiciness that grows with every sip. an evenly balanced whisky, the sweetness is balanced by the oakiness inherent in this wonderful water of life.
i however failed to pick it as my top three whisky during a recent blind-tasting test.
the results of that test will be published in the flavours magazine printed by the star early 2007.
on that note, read about the rare 43 per cent by volume laphroaig at intensecure - another whisky fiend in kuala lumpur - and immediately searched high and low for it in kuala lumpur.
am glad to say that i found one last bottle at single and available sdn bhd, bless their souls for having a great range of whiskies. am eyeing a few more there for christmas and the new year celebrations.
having said that, am planning a few single malt sundays with friends as the year draws to a close.
and that is what life is all about.
cheers!

the beer run

have been on the road for the better part of the month, hence the lack of postings. be that as it may, have been having beers for the better part of the month.
they are the usual bottled beers and draught beers available in the market of which most are familiar with but also some found and brewed in some cities across the region.
no photos okay, not that things got hazy and drunk but fishing out the camera and snapping away in a pub is not exactly a pukka thing to do in civilised and even uncivilised company.
and i am not the generic foodie blogger armed with camera, with a hunger for action and a thirst for adventure in the realms of gourmet cuisine and beverages.
back to the froth and foam that is the beer run.
the first stop was paulaner brauhaus in singapore, the microbrewery at millenia walk specialising in german beer and food.
was expecting an array of beers but all they had was the munich lager and the munich dark that they brewed in house.
according to notices around the pub, the signature beers are strictly brewed according to the "the german law of purity" established in 1516 by duke wilhelm. nothing at all to do with incidents in the first half of the 20th century.
anyway, the amber liquid comes in 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 litre mugs.
it was happy hours and we had one for one of the 1.0 litre mug of munich dark. with a rich dark golden colour reminiscient of library rooms of old, the beer slashed in with an intense malt flavour and a full body with a hint of sweetness in the bold bitterness.
it was strong and it was very nice though with 4.8 percent alcohol by volume, it did not really give that much of a buzz initially and prompted a wolfing down of sorts to chase and catch the particular beer high.
the second mug repaired the situation quite well and left a few slightly sloshed.
the rest of us walked away hungry for curry. but that is a story for another day.
from singapore, made my way to bangkok for a few days and found myself in the londoner brew pub along sukhumvit soi 33. of course there was a military putsch but that did not stop the partying in bangkok.
expatriates and locals were out in full force and the phrase "i love you long long time" entered my lexicon too as ladies of the night went looking for company and coition. figure that out!
back to beer time.
the londoner brew pub serves ales brewed in-house among the other beers available in an ornate traditional english pub in the middle of sukhumvit. the pub grub looked inviting too but we stuck to the beers, particularly the pilsner.
its called the london pilsner 33, in honour of the soi or lane running by the pub. cold, fresh and light, the beer tasted just right in the early hours of the night.
had a couple of pints before leaving to explore the rest of bangkok and its array of bottled beers.
not much to report on that front as the sights and sounds of one night in bangkok is quite familiar to all.
cheers!

perilous drinking in perth

there is news and there is news.
apparently this blog made it to tvsmith's mycen. under the party heading. what possessed him, apart from a shared taste in whisky and beer, is beyond me. doesn't mean this blog will see regular updates, i can tell you that.
be that as it may, after months of going to work - for a lack of a better term - decided to spend a week in perth, australia. the details are unnecessary but it is not an ordinary visit.
and what better way to visit the most remote of cities in australia than drinking a wee dram at the start of the journey.
no choice really! the flight out of klia was delayed. and i crossed paths with an old friend on his way to austria. so a quick check at the friendly duty-free, a hasty appraisal of new choices and before you can say whatever-it-is-one-says on occasions like this, a bottle of glen ord 12 years old made its way into my hands. of course, after the appropriate travel documents was shown and money given.
the first thing to hit you about this single malt, with just 40 percent alcohol by volume in a handsome boxy bottle, is the sheer sweetness. this is beginner's single malt. the bouquet is reminiscent of fruitcake - not too rich but dry like the ones made by a malaysian bakery years ago.
and the malt is just palpable with a hint of smokiness and peatiness. enough for a shot of courage but the finish is light caramel/vanilla/orangey like a cup of designer joe in your neighbourhood coffee chain.
having said that, finished a couple of rounds in paper cups at klia. and it does say in its label that its perilously drinkable. i guess that means it is about drinkable. just about.
took the rest of the bottle to perth and finished it with my hosts there, the same day i landed. goes to show that we either liked it that much or we just wanted to kill the bottle. glen ord is available at the klia dutyfree but more importantly, there is a wider range of single malts available there now. more on that when i travel again.
but what about perth? after glen ord, my wonderful hosts brought home a six pack of australian reds from the de bortoli sacred hill range. the pack contained three bottles each of the cabernet merlot and the cabernet sauvignon 2005 vintage, all 13 percent alcohol by volume.
the wine, from the riverina region in new south wales, was young but kicked in after a while. let's just say at least two bottles were sacrificed to the altar of good hosting nightly.
at A$4.99 a bottle or A$4.49/bottle if bought in dozen packs, this wine is more than fair value. its 2004 vintage won a trophy at the respected sydney royal wine show for the best wine under A$20 last year, along with other accolades from australia’s wine press.
the great australian alcohol revelation for me was a fantastic draught beer from j. boag and son which is based in tiny tasmania. apparently the pristine waters of tasmania's highland rivers add to the rich full-bodied lager with its smooth hop bitterness and a rather crisp, refreshing aftertaste.
the draught, in standard 375ml bottles with 4.7 alcohol by volume, was only released nationwide in australia in 2004. which explains why a lot of mates have not heard or tasted this beer.
its a beer that is definitely worth your time in perth or any other parts of australia.

famous penang food

with a heading like that, one would expect the entire range of famous penang food.
apologies, i was only there for under 24 hours, most of it spent quaffing pints to cool off after the lazy drive from kuala lumpur.
and seriously folks, most penang food is famous - as the photo would show and the hawkers shamelessly proclaim. and some are infamous.
anyway, this was a trip that i have made many times years ago, a quick dash to ipoh and penang for good food and good company. i had both again this time around.
first, made a pit stop in ipoh for its famous nasi ganja, a corruption of nasi kandar. its the only shop along jalan yang kalsom but more on this in the future. suffice to say, eating it is far better than describing it.
it was a rather quick one-hour trip from ipoh to penang after lunch, notwithstanding the deluge that cut most of the visibility and slicked most parts of the highway. took the bridge and made my way along the jelutong highway to penang road for either pints, plonk or penang food.
walked past line clear, that very very famous nasi kandar joint. here's a tip, either have lunch or early breakfast, say 4am, when the food is freshly cooked and rice is steaming.
skipped it this time as the nasi ganja was still in the system.
but line clear does have an excellent range of curries, fried meats - not forgetting gizzards and fish roe - that will tempt the most stubborn of tastebuds or diets.
as is standard for nasi kandar, which basically describes rice meals that were carried in big baskets and balanced on a pole, steamed rice is the base for the variety of curries in the restaurant or stall or basket, as the case may be.
the old wives' tale is that the pots used to cook the curries are never washed but used immediately to make a fresh batch of curry. that could be why the curries are absolutely heavenly tasty.
some hundred metres away from line clear is lebuh keng kwee - famous for its famous chendol and famous penang assam laksa. chendol is a cool dessert of basically pandanus flavoured flour noodles in coconut milk and generous lashings of palm sugar. variants include red beans and other pulses or glutinous rice to the mix.
assam laksa is rice noodles in a soup of tamarind juice and fish with mint leaves, prawn paste, pineapple and cucumber slices, onions, ginger buds, and can include lettuce leaves as found in a stall in the joo hooi cafe in lebuh keng kwee. it is arguably one of the two famous penang assam laksa joint in penang. the other is at the market in air itam.
it is also arguably the best assam laksa ever. period. that's it. no arguments necessary. got my bowl, snapped a couple of shots, inhaled the fragrance of the mint and the fish/tamarind soup, and dug in. the noodles were more than al dente, the fish, pared and without any bones, combined well with the tamarind and prawn paste and the usual condiments for a hearty treat.
the bowl was dry when i left the place.
met up with friends at soho freehouse in penang road. the pub, located in the peking hotel, has a great selection of beers on tap but the food has taken for the worse. then again, good food in penang is always a few steps away.
and so, my friends took me off the beaten track for most of us non-penangites. we headed for pulau tikus, an area between penang road and gurney drive, and thus called as opposite it is a rather small island full of rats.
we ended up in mohd raffe restaurant, a nasi kandar joint quite famous for its fish head curry. i waited to be surprised as i surveyed the pots of bubbling curries and the spread of dishes available.
the wait was 20 minutes and it then appeared, fleshy-cheeked fish head covered in sprigs of fresh mint, ladies finger that looked like they were clamouring for the dish, and red-hot curry bubbling underneath. all other dishes paled in comparison.
the fish head curry went in 10 minutes and my spice-addled brain was too slow to even record the magnificient dish. all that was left was some curry and lots of bones and cartilage in the plate of the ronaldo-teeshirt-wearing dude.
the fish head was fresh, the flesh was firm and juicy like the ladies finger, and the mint made it all the more zesty and might i add, piquant.
a few other dishes attempted to compete with the fish head curry and only the beef stood up to the test. tender chunks of beef in a thick spicy gravy that went well with the fish curry.
the honey chicken, mutton curry and cuttlefish curry was standard stuff found in most restaurants in penang. having said that, the selection was good and better than most of the restaurants that pass off crap as indian food in kuala lumpur.
and so ended the quick trip of famous penang food. will be back for more.

a vodka moment

budget day in malaysia came and went.
we didn't get hit much this time. just 9 percent up for alcohol and 13 percent more for the smokers in the circle.
guess we can manage on our crummy stagnant pay by eating and drinking less outside the house. not that we did that last night.
the post-budget party was at 18-20th century restaurant in taman tun dr ismail, now under new management that had opened up the first floor for some funky fusion food and dynamic drinks.
anyway, we had an absolut raspberri bottle and the only bottle of stolichnaya elit in malaysia, or so the word was at our table. anyway, was too busy to take a photo of it, so can only offer my hoard of vodka.
first off, the absolut raspberri smelt and tasted like cough syrup but after liberally splashing in some sprite and a couple of ice cubes, it turned out to be a refreshing thirst-quencher and a great party drink.
several tumblers made its way past my lips, for sure. it was nice but i was looking forward to something better.
and after all that, food was the only thing on my mind. a quick look at the extensive menu - that spans dishes from all parts of the world and a combination of cuisines - pointed me the only thing that i love - beef.
sizzling ribeye in garlic olive oil. that sounded scrumptious and soon, it made its way to me on a hotplate. with the usual garnishing of cilantro, the thin slices of ribeye combined well with deep-fried garlic flakes and olive oil to provide a tantalising and appetising dish.
it whetted my appetite enough for me to order a mee siam. simple and nice. and spicy too.
the spotlight then went on to the star of the show - the stolichnaya elit or fondly known as the stoli elit.
introduced in october 2004, stoli elit comes in a tall torpedo-shaped bottle that contains a premium vodka similar to others that have appeared in a club near you.
the makers say stoli elit is filtered at sub-zero temperatures to help release impurities and just like other other premium vodkas, it is clearly smoother than traditional vodkas.
still, it gave a creamy kick down the gullet despite just having a standard 40 percent alcohol by volume. every drop and drip of the little water was a dewdrop from heaven. well, quite like it anyway.
the night continued and we decided to see what else 18-20 century restaurant could offer us. out came bottles of coopers sparkling ale beers that made the laconic loquacious for once.
18-20 century restaurant is at 52, jalan datuk sulaiman, taman tun dr ismail - that's the main road perpendicular to plaza ibm in taman tun dr ismail.

no small beer too

cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeers!
a cheery and beery dusk to dawn. liverpool fc won the uefa champions league trophy early today, beating ac milan 3-2 on penalties (they were tied 3-3 after full time and extra time).
watched my favourite team lift the cup after 21 years in a well-known liverpool supporters' pub in section 16, petaling jaya. great atmosphere but a bit of a mystery as they were serving tiger beer and not liverpool's sponsor carlsberg.
jugs of beer kept us awake and funnily enough, sober as well, as the match culminated into a nail-biting penalty kicks phase to decide the champions as the crack of dawn illuminated the city skyline.
the cheers had begun at dusk as more beers from down under made their way to my hands and lips at a Australian barbecue in a tropical drizzle.
the rain stoked the humidity and a glass of crown lager was most welcome, though it was light in colour and slight in taste, the 4.9 percent alcohol by volume beer is quite reminiscent of its more famous australian cousin, the watery fosters lager that i detest.
aussie pride was saved with the first bottle of hahn premium lager that i had. a refreshing strong golden beer that perked me up though it is only 5 percent alcohol by volume. strange, must have been the fresh taste that got my attention.
its sweet, not bitter, and that whetted my appetite as the sausages and lamb chops sizzled on the barbecue grill. quite a nice beer.
the third beer on offer was a cascade premium lager, also from the fosters family. the 5.2 percent alcohol by volume tasmanian beer was straw coloured but had no impressive taste. one bottle was enough and rinsed my palate with another bottle of hahn's for good effect.
but that soon finished and all that was left were crown lagers.
having said that, had a couple of cans of oranjeboom pilsner over the long weekend. the bitter 5 percent alcohol by volume beer stirred the tastebuds as i had already quaffed five mugs of tiger draught before the oranjeboom made its appearance.
that's enough on beer. on to a more spiritual path. hic!

no small beer

hic. 'twas a cheery and beery week.
in between some wines, beer cooled an otherwise sultry week in kuala lumpur this past seven days, from local brews to some fine amber liquid from down under and the caribbean.
started with a carlsberg draught - the mild and sweetish pale lager and ended with bottles of tiger beer - a bit bitter but insipid, could be the bottles. then again, maybe the fa cup match between manchester united and arsenal was far better.
that was that. let's now enter the chamber of the amber.
plonked - hey! another usage of the word - my butt down at chinoz in klcc and ordered an ice-cold bottle of bucanero fuerte. the head disappeared quickly but this full-bodied cuban export - with 5.4 percent alcohol by volume - kept its promise to chill the evening.
i could taste the hops but sweetness dominated the palate, understandable as it is brewed with fine cuban sugar, the major ingredient for rum - the major drink in that region.
the next beer was cuba's cristal beer. it was pee-yellow in colour and the head disappeared as quickly as it came. at 4.9 percent alcohol by volume, the beer was very light and almost shandy-like in taste with citrus notes dominating the malt. finished it in double-quick time and sought a carlsberg to maintain alcohol volume in the body.
men at work - the band, not the phrase - came to mind as bottles of australia's coopers beers surrounded our wine glasses last friday.
i was thinking of a snatch of the lyrics - i come from a land down under, where beer does flow and men chunder, can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder? you better run, you better take cover. - from down under when the first bottle popped open.
the first bottle was the coopers pale ale and it looked like an albino but the cloudy appearance suggested in-bottle fermentation. google-driven research revealed it as the burton-on-trent style fermentation.
that explained the need to roll the bottle before opening it. it was light and fruity, and had some head to whisker the lips. at 4.5 percent alcohol by volume, this ale was just a precursor for a heady night.
the next beer is called the coopers sparkling ale but it not only sparkles, it packs a bitter punch too. again, we conducted the bottle rolling ceremony to stir the cloudy sediment of this beer, first brewed in 1862.
the dark gold beer - with 5.8 percent alcohol by volume - kept its head and taste throughout, leaving a filligree of lace as i slowly sipped and savoured the taste. more was to come.
we were on a roll, so to speak.
night was falling and out came the coopers dark ale. performed the standard bottle-rolling and opening act, and creamy beer foamed at the glass like the sea, disappearing soon after.
hot chocolate and coffee came to mind as the dominant taste as we quickly quaffed the 4.5 percent alcohol by volume beer.
it was time to join the dark side by the time coopers best extra stout came to view. the force was pretty strong in this one as the blackness spread through the glass with a bit of head making an appearance.
a good stout effort that tasted like carbonated coffee, albeit a strong and robust espresso but a shade less than the best irish stouts. still, a satisfying stout, bitter to the end at 6.3 percent alcohol by volume.
that's enough beers for the week, i guess. cheers!

kallianees - kerala cuisine in kuala lumpur

there has been a number of indian restaurants opening in kuala lumpur of late, particularly in bangsar and the business district. here's one of them with many more to visit and catalogue.
kalliannees at 16, lorong yap kwan seng is just down the road from the suria klcc shopping centre down jalan yap kwan seng, past the kampung pandan restaurant on the left and next to the jaguar showroom. the double-storey restaurant has a balcony and grounds with a view of the 88-storey petronas twin towers.
kalliannees, which opened for business in early april 2005, prides itself on serving authentic kerala food, the famed cuisine from the west coast state in india. several young chefs from kerala handle the kitchen and the results are pretty good, if the simple dinner i had was anything to go by.
a plate of deep fried fat anchovies started the dinner, quickly followed by plates of sizzling kallianees special prawns - a recommendation from the manager as it was not on the menu. the prawns were superb - a spicy marinade combining with the sweet prawns that made the mound of rice flatten out quite quickly.
a plate of spicy mutton and sauteed okra together with one of the best raitha - onions and cucumbers with green chillies in yoghurt - rounded off an excellent dinner.
the dishes are slightly pricey but the food was worth it.
pity that the beverages were not too good. all the waiters - dressed in traditional cream jippas - had to offer was instant coffee and standard draught and bottled beer.
not really the way to end a good dinner near the giant banyan tree complete with its stone and water feature, watching the petronas twin towers illuminate the night sky.
the consolation is a small corkage for either wine or liquor brought into the house. let's hope they improve and serve some quality beverages soon.
call +603 2161 0616 for reservations. kallianees is open between 11.30am and midnight everyday with limited parking space. major credit cards are accepted.