Insta Weekly: 3 weeks in Summary

Argh. I've been terrible I know. 3 weeks and no Instagram summary. Even if no one reads it but me, the point of this segment was to record my boozing experiences. It's been quite a crazy past 3 weeks and I keep forgetting I'm no longer 18 - so sustaining strenuous days (nights) mean more time is required for recuperation - something I keep forgetting. If you're in your mid 30s and enjoy your night life and spirits as much as I do, please share with me your secret for your endurance.

Anyway,  3 weeks in summary by events, bar visits and booze imbibed begins now :

Events: Yamaguchi Fish Market & Gekkeikan Sake Launch - The Glenlivet Pairing with Vom Fass Edible Oils - Tiger White Wheat Beer Launch - Blue Elephant Turns 1 - Whisky Live Singapore 2015

• Tong Woh took the opportunity to officially launch Gekkeikan Sake in conjunction with the opening of Yamaguchi Fish Market restaurant. Fresh seafood and sake? Makes perfect sense. Try pairing one of their top 10 recommended food items with a Gekkeikan Kin No Shichi Fukujin Meguri Sake for an additional sense of luxury - this honjozo (sake with additional alcohol) has gold flakes!
• The Glenlivet Guardian recent event (no longer a monthly event as they now have about 700 odd members!) paired the whisky with edible oils from Vom Fass. Mingling with fellow like-minded people and sampling delicious food = fun. 
• Tiger launched Tiger White - the first locally produced wheat beer. It's supposed to have "hints of clove, coriander,  & orange peel", and yes it's Tiger's response to the other 2 "fruity" tasting wheat beer that we're familiar with. I'm interested to know how they've decided to price themselves -  stay tuned. 
• Blue Elephant celebrated its 1st anniversary with a big boozy bash. I wouldn't call it a cocktail bar with a "speakeasy" concept. With its loud music, tiny service bar and strobe lighting, it seems more to me like a hidden clubbing place.

• Whisky Live Singapore 2015 happened 2 weekends ago. I did the crazy thing by taking a bus on Saturday,  then headed straight to the event, then hopped on to the bus home next day. Mad but what a great experience! There were some grouses by veterans who have gone for at least a couple of years - but for this first timer, it was great. I'll get around to putting down my thoughts about it on a post-event report soon. But am looking forward to Whisky Live 2016 already. 

Visited:  #CocktailTrailKL at P&C Bar, The Bar by Sam, 44 Bar & Dr. Inc - Sinhalese Bar & Snow Beers @ Ipoh - Whisky Fling @ Single & Available - Ojos Bar - Ikki Bar

• Popped by P&C Bar, The Bar by Sam & 44 Bar on the #CocktailTrailKL. FYI - due to popular demand, it's been extended to the end of the year. So it's not too late to get on the trail!
• Paid homage to Sinhalese Bar in Ipoh - it's one of the oldest bars still in operation.  Nothing fancy, it feels like any other old  kopitiam with its marble tables, cement floors and wooden ceiling, offering your usual beer fares and a handful of spirits. Just that being in this place makes me feel like I've touched a part of history, somehow. Also had  the infamous Snow Beer at Kafe Yoon Wah. 2 large Carlsbergs for RM30. It's a novelty not to be missed, especially when paired with roast pork.
• Single & Available Whisky Fling featured Benromach Whisky 10 years, Glenfarclas 15 years, Kilchoman Distillery Loch Gorm - All sherries. Personally like the Glenfarclas most as the other 2 had some smoke going on which isn't my thing. 
• Was invited to check out Ojos Bar @ Jaya One. Initial thoughts about this new spot inspired by the Taiwan cocktail scene: a good looking cocktail bar, has interesting signature cocktails, a lot of effort is put into making each cocktail look super pretty (a gimmick which might still be necessary for this young cocktail market). Cons: pricey, most of the bartenders and maitre de speak very little English (coz Taiwanese!). 
• Also received a kind invite to check out Ikki Bar @ TREC KL. This 60-80 pax seater place is no tiny little bar. It's a HUGE hidden lounge that happens to have a beautiful looking "Great Gatsby meets East" cocktail bar which is capable of dishing out some really exciting cocktails. A shame that the frequent patrons prefer to open Japanese whisky bottles instead - which the bar has a decent range of. If you're one of them and have chanced upon this entry - let me implore you to try their cocktails for a change! Osmund, the head bartender, isn't one of Malaysia's Diageo Worldclass Finalist for no reason. 

Others:  Ikea Raskog Bar Cart - Balvenie Madeira Cask 17 years old - Hibiki 21 - Black Velvelt - Grapefruit GnT

• Randomly participated in KampungBoyCityGal's Ikea giveaway contest in conjunction with Ikea's Cheras outlet launch and won myself a Raskog cart yeay! Now I can fulfill my dreams of finally owning a little mobile bar cart at home. :)
• Made 1) Black Velvet - equal parts of champagne and stout. It's a legit cocktail ya, not something I made up! 2) Grapefruit gin & tonic - Just toss in fresh grapefruit slices in place of lime. Bruise it a little so that it infuses with the gin = GnT with add Vitamin C! (please note that this is in no way a form of legit medical advice).
• Drank other generous people's 1) Hibiki 21 Years Old - Sigh. My favourite but not only it's getting more and more difficult to get your hands on them, with prices that have skyrocketed so much that it just doesn't make sense anymore. It's going to be at least another 20 years before the hysteria finally wears off and the liquid is replenished. :( 2) The Balvenie Madeira Cask 17 years old - oh my. I think I like all my whiskies in the Madeira cask. Smells like delicious toffee with a great mouthfeel. Why do I like all these limited edition stuff. :/

Until next week, drink safe!

Insta Weekly is a weekly summary of boozy updates from my Instagram.com/fireangel80 with the hashtag #angeltini. Feel free to follow me if you enjoy daily updates on booze, food and other random stuff by a girl from Malaysia. Cheers!

Insta Weekly: Soju - Hexa Lounge - The Great Beer Bar - Sangria - 44 Bar

Last week was a relatively quiet week. Nice change actually. Too much imbibing feels a little... indulgent and unhealthy. So when my body nudges me to take a break, I do take it. :)

Chum Churum soju by Lotte - do you like this stuff? I don't know how to.

I've never liked Soju. Tried it again last week and I find that..... I still don't like it. It's basically a Korean version of vodka, usually distilled from grains or starch with some sweetener added into the final product and Koreans drink it like their lives depended on it. HOWEVER - when soju is mixed is baekseju to become osipseju it is a whole different drink together and I LOVE IT. I wrote about this mix 2 years ago here and I highly recommend you to try it the next time you have Korean food. Take care though, the end product is a total of 2 x 360ml bottles so best to share among 3 or more pax. Definitely NOT for the weak hearted. :)

Insta Weekly: Gyukingu's new outlet - #CocktailTrailKL - Crackhouse Comedy Club - #MyTigerBites Finale - NewMan's #Cpa2015

Hoo boy. We've just come into the second week of November and it already feels like the end of it. Expecting a mad rush of parties and events towards the end of 2015 (to meet sales targets or to use up the allocated A&P budget I suspect, hehe). Here are 5 to start with:

Gyukingu Japanese BBQ's New Outlet + Wine Pairing 

Congratulations on the opening of the second outlet in Hartamas (just next to Old Town Coffee)!

Insta Weekly: Maruhi Sakaba - The Great Beer Bar - #MyTigerBites - 44 Bar Promos - Neroteca Brunch - DIY Old Fashioned

Last weekend, a good friend proposed that I should consider migrating from blogspot to wordpress, because it's more flexible and the layout allows me to come up with a very sleek, magazine-like feel.

He showed me a test site, which I really like. But I'm not sure if I have the time/energy/intelligence to toggle around with the coding. Wordpress, while is infinitely more moudable than Blogger, requires quite a bit of HTML knowledge to mess around with. I find myself not having enough time to even update this blog more than once a week (which I should because I have quite a few feature posts in the back burner argh!).

But I know that with Wordpress, readers would enjoy my blog more simply because it will look better, plus there are even more awesome, cooler usable widgets that comes with it. Oh man. How do I account for the opportunity cost of time vs traffic?

Let me mull over it for a bit more. I'm a really slow thinker. Meanwhile, here, the weekly update which I make myself to commit to (at least!):

1. Maruhi Sakaba - an Iazakaya that doesn't break the bank. 

Insta Weekly: Strongbow Red Berries - Glenfarclas Tasting - 44 Bar @ Dr Inc

There were more updates on my instagram last week actually, but I'll only be featuring a select few which I feel is worth re-sharing here. If you'd like to be spammed daily and in bite sizes, feel free to follow me on instagram. :)

Strongbow Apple Ciders Red Berry

Insta Weekly: 44 Bar The Row - DIY Cocktails: GnT, Manhattan & Jungle Bird - Janice of O+A - Labuan & Kota Kinabalu.

Oops. Last week's insta weekly report's late because I spent the last weekend travelling across Labuan and Kota Kinabalu, which I'll tell you about once you get past my other equally-exciting boozy adventures of the week, hehe.


1. 44 Bar's Found a New Temporary Home @ The Row, Kuala Lumpur

Left: Juicy fruity Tango Mango. Middle: Kick-ass Bottle Aged Cocktails. Right: Potential crowd favourite: Donkey Kick

The 44 Bar that we know and love (previously ex-APW) has popped up at The Row along Jalan Doraisamy. The Row may sound unfamiliar to you - but how about its former name - Asian Heritage Row? That's right, The Row IS a souped up ex-Asian Heritage Row filled with new third wave cafes, quaint eateries and other instagram-genic shops that hipsters would love.

Insta Weekly: Jagermeister remedy - Angostura Fling - Matusalem Rum Party - 44 Bar & BBB event - Beer Day - JW Gold - Singapore Sling

So as soon the the raya festivities ended, the parties came back. I don't suppose a long introduction is needed because last week was quite a happening week, so prepare yourself for a long update ahead:

1. Jager Hot toddy

Insta Weekly: Kaffir Limes - Glenglassaugh Launch - TDH Live @ Oasis - 44 bar feat. Chester Low - Paired @ Sheraton KL - Oktoberfest @ Brotzeit - ASEAN Jazz & Percussion Festival

Weirdest thing happened to me some time back which I can't figure out. Maybe you can help me?

I was with a group of people, enjoying ourselves at a bar when we were all hankering for a bit more to drink before leaving. Suddenly one of the guys insisted that I chose the next drink - specifically a bottle of whisky. Now I don't know this guy very well, but he was part of the group and we had just met that day. Further, this bar isn't particularly known as a whisky bar, so you can imagine the whisky options were rather sparse.. and even if they had any single malts, they were entry level whiskys.

I couldn't make myself to choose anything that I was willing to drink and pay a ridiculous sum for, and asked someone else to do it instead. However, this guy was insistent that *I* chose a bottle. I insisted that I couldn't. This went back and forth for awhile until I literally forced someone else to choose. Later that night, the guy who insisted I chose a bottle suddenly showed me his phone to reveal my blog on his screen.

I'm not sure what that was about. Until today, it still boggles my mind. It was all very odd, I thought. How would you have managed that situation?

Anyway - a lot happened last week!

1. Kaffir limes

Post-event Report: 44 Bar & Taps Beer Bar Presents Beer Bourbon Bacon!

10 August 2015 was the Beer Bourbon Bacon event jointly brought to us by 44 Bar and Taps Beer Bar, held at Tap's Mont Kiara branch.

First up - HOW FREAKING COOL IS IT THAT TWO AWESOME BARS GOT TOGETHER TO HOST AN EVENT?

Sorry about the caps, but this kind of collaboration hardly ever happens in this market, if ever. If you can name me 3 - you win liao loh! But as far as I can remember, ZILCH.  But I digress, as usual.

Anyway, using extensive research methods (Googling), I deduced that this event is inspired by annual festivals of the same name held all over America. Imagine a giant pesta with loads of craft beers, bourbons and all kinds of food with pork.

If you were thinking - Ya right, no way an event where you need to pay RM88 would draw any crowd, it's sooooo expensive. Well, I hate to say this but you're wrong from the sheer fact that Taps Mont Kiara was maximum packed (which is unusual for a Sunday afternoon) with locals and mat sallehs alike. Even the floor upstairs was opened and the seats were filled up!

So what went down that day? Read on!

Insta Weekly: 44 Bar has moved - KL Oysters Festival - Mortlach launch - Heineken Sundown Party - The Good Batch - Cocktails of 2 weeks -

I know, I know I've been tardy last month. Got too caught up with some crazy offline commitments. But after this week, things will go back to normal again. This I can promise all 5 of you. Without further ceremony:

44 bar has moved!

44 Bar said goodbye The Row @ Jalan Doraisamy and said hello to Dr. Inc @ Bangsar.

Until December 2015, check them out at their new location for your American craft spirits, bespoked gin tonic happy hour sessions and bottle-aged cocktails (truly special stuff) fix. There might be more stuff coming once they have properly settled down - if there is, I'll definitely let you on, on it.

Insta Weekly: Stuff to Try & Places to Check Out.

Give the Hoegaarden ice-cream @ Rekindle ss2 Cafe a go
Sounds a strange but not a bad experience at all.

Hoegaarden ice cream. The moment I saw this I knew I had to have it. It tastes like hoegaarden (wasn't sure what to expect) ! But a creamier, milkier, yeastier, coconutish hoegaardenish ice cream. Not unpleasant, just... odd. Goes so very well with their long back (we tried) though. Maybe can make into affogato of sorts? RM10 (ouch). Here's an idea : why not try making ice cream stout next time! Or kahlua! Or bailey's! Coffee here is excellent and there's a huge variety of cakes. 100% will return to try. #angeltini #fanomz #coffee #cafe #cafehopmy #klcoffeespots #pjcafe #pjcoffeespots #cakes #dessert #pastries #ss2 #petalingjaya #selangor #Malaysia #klcafe #malaysiancafes #icecream #beer #hoegaarden #rekindless2

A photo posted by Fireangel (@fireangel80) on Dec 29, 2015 at 7:41am PST

Insta Weekly - Past 2 Weeks in Summary

2 weeks in 1 post this time okay? I was away all of last weekend and by the time I got back it was already mid week. Thankfully, it won't be a long update so don't be daunted and just read on. :)


1. Single & Available's Monthly Wednesday Whisky Fling - Glenglassaugh

Oh man. This monthly thing at Single & Available is getting more and more packed! Not sure if it's because it's a new flight of whiskies to taste at only RM20 per flight of 3 or the monthly whisky fling programme is gaining traction by you drunkards. :) Either way, it was a good night. If you missed it, well, you can read about the new whisky on my most recent post here > CLICK!

Insta Weekly: Cosmo - Nikka Coffey - Asahi - Vom Fass Whiskies - #MyTigerBites - Longrow - Beer Bourbon Bacon - 1K on Insta

Another happening week last week. So much so that I'm already getting a back log of event posts which I haven't  publish... oops! So without further ado:

1. The Best Cosmopolitan I've Ever Made

SATC made the Cosmo super popular way back when. It's actually not too difficult to make. All you need is some vodka, cranberry, cointreau and lime juice and an orange peel for its citrus scent. I prefer to put in a touch of sugar syrup for some viscosity. Also, if you don't have an orange peel around, 1-2 dashes of orange bitters work fine too.

Launch: Inch (and Plates) @ Jalan Muntri, Penang

So, I mentioned in passing on my Insta Weekly update that I was invited for the official launch of Inch (and Plates) over a couple of months ago to check out their new place. Let me give you a quick tour of the place before we dive into my favourite topic - their beverage menu.

Located at one of the popular tourist / backpacker areas, 44 Muntri Street in Penang; Inch and Plates (which are sibling restaurants conjoined by the bar), are the newest ventures by one of the owners from The Bee, Adrian Yap.

As you can see from the entrance, it's a pre-war shop lot and is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can't miss its striking red door against its pretty sky blue painted walls. They took the effort to maintain quite a bit of the original structure - especially the wooden bits. I suspect that the tiles at the entrance is also an original peranakan design too (correct me if I'm wrong).

The Bee's Heart of the Run Whisky Festival Post-Event Report

One of The Bee's event posters which I thought was cute and deserved a repost. :D

The Bee held (what was probably) the first (and biggest) whisky fair in Malaysia just last Sunday, 8 March 2015 at their Solaris Publika outlet.

If you had any interest in whisky at all and weren't there (without a good reason), kindly proceed to give yourself a nice good kick in the behind. And then read on while I explain to you WHY you deserved that nice good kick.

Insta Weekly : Happy 58 Years old, Malaysia - Keep Your Peels - Arran Whisky Fling - Junior @ #tikitakeover44 - Taps' Better Beer Festival

Long post ahead! So no need for a filler introduction! Just go go go!

1. Jungle Bird for Merdeka #58

I've made the Jungle Bird quite a few times already just to practice. Practice practice practice makes perfect! If you're a true blue Malaysian  then this is one cocktail you should learn to make (and perhaps an Old Fashioned) to impress guests or a date, because if there are only 2 things that we are all unitedly proud of, it's our F(ood) and our B(everage).

Launch: Nikka Coffey Series in Malaysia

If you're into whisky, I'm pretty sure you're aware about (and contribute to) the hype on the sudden and terrible shortage of Japanese aged whiskies.

Nikka has been in the limelight quite recently for this reason too. Hearts were broken as selected Taketsuru, Yoichi and Miyagikyo expressions were phased out (and prices increased by a gazillion percent). While these are stuff of legend, what really set Nikka apart from the rest of the clutter (for me at least) is not their aged single malts (because everyone and their grandmother makes single malts), but their NAS blended and grains.

If you follow me at all, you'll know that I've professed my love for the Nikka From the Barrel, Taketsuru 12 and Nikka Coffey Grain.