Leading the wild into the ways of the man…
iichiko mugi shochu is a 100% barley shochu from Japan. Japanese shochu is usually made from either sweet potatoes, rice or barley and though it’s difficult to differentiate between the three, I tend to prefer barley fermented drinks.
iichiko mugi shocho weighs in at a respectable 25% alcohol and in the new format of alcohol reviews, this is done vlog style, complete with fake Japanese accent. 😉
I dropped by Cheesie’s condo earlier this morning to pick up the carton of Marlboros that she had gotten for me duty free during her recent trip to Shanghai. It’s the first time I’ve been to her place and it’s a really nice condominium unit with great security. I’m thinking of getting one myself once my paycheck stabilizes – it’s just about what you would pay for rent, except you get to own the property at the end.
A big thank you goes out to Ringo, who has kindly contributed to my chances of getting lung cancer. 😉
Kidding. I less than 3 you.
Remuneration issues tend to be rather sensitive and most people employ the “Speak no evil” approach to surveys on wages. “The wages of sin is death” and all that aside, I’m very curious about the market rate around KL and Klang Valley (including other states in Malaysia). How much are you getting? Please state your chronological age, gender and profession if you feel comfortable divulging that information.
I’m happy with what I’m getting right now, but it’s just like the itch you can’t scratch. I’m just interested in the market trends for different professions.
Sharing is caring. 😉
(Curiosity also killed the cat, and I’m using way too many idioms in this post)
Skol Super Beer is a new product line from Skol that lays claim to “The only 9% alcohol super strong beer”. The statement is not inaccurate – it is the King of Lagers (in a fiefdom of mostly 5% alcohol standard beers). Certain fortified beers like Carlsberg’s Special Brew attempt to challenge the sovereignty of Skol Super Beer, weighing in at a respectable 8.8% – close, but no cigar.
The extra 0.2% alcohol in Skol Super Beer crowns it as the current king of all beers (measured by ethanol content). It is by far the highest alcohol content lager among all the other brands over here. I picked up a 3-pack at Jusco for just RM 12.80 (the special introductory price), which works out to about RM 4.20 per can. Skol is of Brazilian origin and considered a less premium brand than Carlsberg Special Brew, but it’s cheaper by a few dollars and has the potential to capture the middle income, non-discerning ethanol consumer market.
The interesting trend with beer nowadays is the introduction of the 3-pack. The six-pack beer packaging is a very established tradition, and to go against that convention would be considered heretical by beer aficionados. However, I have noticed several advantages to the 3-pack retail mechanism – it’s at the right price point for the consumption habits of the majority of casual drinkers.
Skol Super Beer – A very strong lager of the highest quality.
Rallying all sixthseal.com readers!
Remember the post I made about mountain biking down a flight of concrete stairs? It’s now available at outdoyourself.com.my under the Extreme Sports category. You can vote for the video here.
My ranking is now a respectable 6.3 points but I suspect that’ll change very soon since it’s the only video in the Extreme Sports category. The other one is a sample video. Now, I’m sure you can do better than me, so start filming yourself doing the Me Against the World Challenge.
You can do Sports, Dance, Extreme Sports or Lifestyle videos. It’s no fun being the King of the Hill if I’m the only one on the hill so get off your respective posteriors and challenge me!
I like how my blurb goes – “Taking the challenge and through cuts and bruises, this tough guy shows us just why fear is not an option when in a challenge”. I’m sure you can do better than me so let’s bring it on – strut your stuff! The contest is open to everyone!
The Me Against the World Challenge energized by 100PLUS is going on a college roadshow tour with JJ & Rudy of Hitz.fm Morning Crew fame making a special appearance at HELP University recently. Note down the dates of the college roadshows:
(All the below events run from 9 am till 6 pm)
20th of October at – Taylors College
21st of October at – KBU International College
22nd of October at – ICOM College
23rd of October at – TAR College
24th of October at – KDU Smart College
28th of October at – Cineleisure (scarlet)
29th of October at – Taylors ADP
30th of October at – HELP College
31st of October at – Dasien College
3rd of November at – Sunway College
4th of November at – Cineleisure (scarlet)
5th of November at – Segi College
6th of November at – The One Academy
7th of November at – TAR College
Challenge yourself at the college roadshows or upload a video of yourself doing something challenging in one of the four categories to win prizes from Nike, Sony and Topshop.
Not so keen on mountain biking down concrete stairs? Well, you can always register as a voter and vote for your favorite videos. You get a chance to win Nike vouchers worth RM 50 every month. There will be 5 vouchers given out per month so you stand a pretty good chance at snagging one of those by just voting.
Voting for me, of course. 😉
Project Bleeding Heart started off innocently enough – my girlfriend found a heart shaped sugar piece on top of a cookie during Hari Raya and (forcibly) inserted it into my mouth, saying that she has metaphorically given her heart to me. Thus, I was coerced to reciprocate in kind and she insisted on me personally making an edible heart for her during our second monthsary.
I guess she didn’t know how far I would go. Be careful what you wish for…you just might get it. 😉
You will need:
Field Song Egg Pudding Powder
Arnott’s Tim Tam Love Potions – Chocolate Mud
“It’s love at first bite”
Arnott’s Tim Tam Crush – Mocha Hazelnut
“It’s one Crush that’s sure to end in love…”
Nestle Reduced Fat Cream
Nestle Milo Grab N Go can
Win Vokda Ice Purple XS
Heart shaped molds
Optional:
Razor blade
A few drops of blood from your veins
The first challenge was getting the heart shaped mold. It was much more difficult than I thought. Heart shaped molds should be everywhere, right? It’s just about the most common design! I thought it would be everywhere. Unfortunately, actually finding a heart shaped mold took us to three (3) different places, to no avail. We found molds in the shape of stars, triangles, circles, and even weird oblique designs…but no hearts.
The closest we got was this HUGE heart shaped non-stick baking pan…a bit of an overkill for this project. Plus, I don’t think I would be able to bleed enough to fill the pan. I would probably pass out from blood loss or something before the colossal pan filled up.
We finally managed to get two (admittedly) cheesy Barbie knockoffs molds from a Chinese specialty import outlet (the retail industry prefers the technical term “Cina Mari shop”). It’s made of melamine infused plastic and has a Barbie look-alike imprint, but it was heart shaped and for all intents and purposes, it was sufficient for the single-use, disposable nature of the project.
The Arnott’s Tim Tams were procured in New Zealand. My sister just came back and brought back a box of the stuff. I went for the two romance-themed special edition Tim Tams for the project. Tim Tam Love Potions and Tim Tam Crush (as in infatuation, not demolish) are limited edition Tim Tams that I decided to use as a garnish for the pudding.
The directions for making the egg pudding were pretty straightforward – the contents of the packet is to be mixed into 500 ml of boiling water and stirred for an unspecified time. I just poured in a little more than a small 500 ml mineral water bottle (to compensate for evaporation) into a saucepan and added in the pudding mixture when it started boiling. The mixture was stirred for about a minute or so before I turned off the heat.
Next, comes the interesting part. I took a razor blade and made a small incision on my left hand at a particularly juicy vein and allowed the blood to drip into the Nestle Reduced Fat Cream – the topping for the pudding. This is of course, rather unorthodox (not to mention unsanitary for consumers who are not already exchanging bodily fluids with you ;)) so it’s a highly optional step.
I also took the liberty of scooping up more blood from the gash and managed to harvest about half a tablespoon of the red stuff in total.
The blood is mixed into the cream by folding it with a spoon before adding a bit of Milo Grab N Go (a RTD – Ready To Drink malt concoction) for flavoring. The cream will acquire a tinge of pink before turning a chocolate hue. The cream topping is set aside…
…while the pudding mixture is poured into the heart shaped molds and left at room temperature for 15 minutes. Field Song Egg Pudding Powder sets extremely rapidly. It started solidifying after just a minute in the mold. It still requires refrigeration though, so we transferred it to the fridge and left it in there for 30 minutes.
The egg pudding turned out to be a perfect heart shape! =D It came out easily from the mold due to the high density of the pudding. It just plopped down when the mold was upended. I added several dollops of the patented Bleeding Heart Topping (TM) on top and garnished it with Arnott’s Tim Tams.
This is Project Bleeding Heart – made with blood, sweat and (manly) tears. 😉
Heineken is running an online contest on the UEFA Champions League. However, this is not your standard run-off-the-mill contest where you fill in your particulars and tick a few easy to answer questions. Heineken Be Prepared is actually a fully interactive online Flash game!
The Heineken Be Prepared game has three stages/games – I’ve just completed the first game (Beer Delivery) and found out that I need two other players to complete the remaining stages. I must applaud Heineken for this campaign – it’s very interactive and social, the next wave of online content. The game even has a nice ending video clip to reward you!
The Be Prepared games are not about football (soccer) so you don’t need to be a football fan to enjoy it. There are three games – Beer Delivery, Mexican Wave and Beer Slide, which are all arcade style games. I played Beer Delivery, which required me to memorize a map and then guide a Heineken beer truck to the supermarket.
I’m not good with memorizing stuff so I need someone who can do that as a team partner. Heineken Be Prepared requires three (3) people to play so I need two more players.
The second game is described as Mexican Wave, where someone who is good in DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) type games would come in handy here.
I will be playing the third stage/game – Beer Slide, since it requires a steady hand and fast reflexes, both qualities that I possess (though not at the same time ;)).
I need two others players to complete the games. The fastest combined time wins and the prize is three (3 – so all of us gets to go) tickets to Heineken Star Final, an exclusive UEFA Champions League final viewing experience on an exotic tropical island (!).
All right, in order to do this, the first two comments (please leave a valid email address in the comment itself) will get a chance to play the game with me for the prize. Please leave your email address in the comment and an indication that you want to (seriously!) join the sixthseal.com team for this endeavor.
I’m very keen on winning the grand prize. I mean, just look at it – three (3 – so all of us get to go) tickets to the UEFA Champions League Final viewing party on an exotic tropical island!
Please, refrain from drinking while playing the game, since we do need the fastest time to win.
Three friends. Three games. One Prize.
Off to the exotic tropical island! =D
Palacio Restaurant & Lounge is located at the prestigious Asian Heritage Row district in Jalan Doraisamy. Palacio means Palace in Latin and the establishment serves a fusion of Southern French and Spanish cuisine. I went there with my girlfriend to celebrate her (very substantial) salary increase. I promised to buy her dinner with just the two of us, which was a bit tricky to arrange since I had meet-ups with a lot of people during the short trip there.
Asian Heritage Row is a quaint lane that somehow organized itself into a place renowned for its fine dining, nightlife and entertainment. The history behind the establishment of the dilapidated shop houses along Jalan Doraisamy into a one of the trendiest strips in KL is very interesting transformation that I was fortunately privy to, having worked in KL when it was first proposed and built.
Palacio is divided into three (3) distinct dining experiences – there is an al fresco area in the Palacio front garden, a laid-back cozy arrangement on the ground floor and a fine dining area on the first floor. I wanted to go up to the first floor, but the air-conditioning has not brought the temperature down to a comfortable level yet so we settled with the ground floor ambiance.
The seating arrangements at the ground floor is warm and inviting, with lots of wood fittings. There is a lounge at the side for a more relaxed social gathering. The place serves beer at very reasonable prices – it’s RM 35 per jug for local draft beef during Happy Hour. The service is impeccable too – the waiters are very attentive and attuned to your every whim and fancy.
There is a wall motif running along the length of the Palacio that is almost holographic, due to the ingenious placement of lighting fixtures. The length of the ground floor is bordered by a long couch with regular chairs on the opposite side of the tables. The effective use of mirrors increase the spatial perception of the size of the restaurant – it’s a common interior design technique to make a place “look” bigger.
Foie Gras (RM 48)
This is served with tempura asparagus, caramelized onions and mango chutney on a toasted baguette slice. Palacio is a French and Spanish cuisine establishment and this is one of the specialties of the house. It has multi-cultural influences, and this dish turned out to be a great fusion of unique flavors.
The foie gras (duck/goose liver) is tender and comes in a single, intact portion. This French delicacy literally bursts with juicy goodness with every bite. Highly recommended, despite the price and small serving size. I could eat the entire thing in a single mouthful!
Cinnamon Black Cod (RM 40)
The Cinnamon Black Cod is served with sides of sweet mashed potato, mango mojo, citrus cabbage and red capsicum sauce. The “mango mojo” is the sauce and goes surprisingly well with the cinnamon marinated cod. The black cod was excellent, maintaining the natural moisture of the aquatic creature inside. It certainly hasn’t lost its mojo. 😉
The portion is a little on the small side though, but I guess “fine dining” is synonymous with tiny portions for the more refined diners amongst us. Doris thought it was just right, but she doesn’t eat much and cannot be used as an accurate gauge for the appetites of regular diners.
Braised Lamb Shank (RM 40)
I had the more reasonably portioned braised lamb shank for the main dish. It’s served with tomato and grape chutney, mashed potatoes and rosemary sauce. The serving is indeed quite large (even for my standards) – a full lamb shank smack dab in the middle of your plate with rosemary sauce and tiny mushrooms.
The braised lamb shank is delicious and the meat turned out so tender, it practically falls apart from the bone with the slightest gesture of the fork. 😉
Palacio Restaurant and Lounge also serves beer-based drinks I dubbed “beertails”. Beertails instead of cocktails. I was elated at the fit of inspiration where I thought I had coined the term, but a quick Google search revealed that the word has been around for quite a while. 🙁
Palacio Beer (RM 20) is the green beer which is a cocktail (beertail) of Midori, Malibu and beer. The Bloody Beer (RM 15) is a beertail made with watermelon liquor and a shot of Absolut Raspberri. It tastes good, but it’s definitely not a drink for beer aficionados and purists from the Holy Trinity of Hop, Malt and Barley Church.
We finished off with a dessert of Palacio’s Mississippi Mud Pie (RM 15) – a sinful concoction of chocolate cake, cream and ice cream. The Mississippi Mud Pie came piping hot and the contrast with the cold ice cream is a match made in heaven!
Palacio is a great place for a casual dinner at the Asian Heritage Row. The foie gras was memorable, the beertails interesting, and the service impeccable. The bill came up to a total of RM 244.95 which is not very expensive for the occasional indulgence. The Palace is located at:
Palacio Restaurant & Lounge
Asian Heritage Row
Jalan Doraisamy,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
The FBI (Farm Bureau of Investigation) is using sixthseal.com to send out an APB to all readers – there are two fugitives wanted for crimes against duck-kind. You can help bring these criminals to justice. There will be rewards for finding the two outlaw ducks. Calling all duck hunters!
The two mug shots above show what the ducks look like. This APB (All Points Bulletin) is meant for all vigilante readers. Keep an eye out for the Super SMS and Super FnF Ducks.
The Super FnF Duck
Height: 9 cm
Weight: 0.2 kg
Skin Color: Yellow
Identifying marks: Tattoo on rear right flank – “FnF” in a brown circle.
Behavioral traits: Incessant quacking.
Known accomplices: The Super SMS Duck
Crime: Talking cock.
Last known address: The Super FnF Duck has recently been sighted together with the Super SMS Duck in various blogs on the net.
The Super SMS Duck
Height: 9 cm
Weight: 0.8 kg (with cell phone)
Skin Color: Yellow
Identifying marks: None
Behavioral traits: Constantly texting on a cell phone. Frequently seen with a glass receptacle with the label “SMS” on right wing flap.
Known accomplices: The Super FnF Duck
Crime: Excessive texting.
Last known address: The Super SMS Duck has recently been sighted together with the Super FnF Duck in various blogs on the net.
The FBI first noticed the Super FnF Duck dialed *112*1# and further investigations revealed that the Super FnF Duck has been talking a lot of cock at only 15 sen / minute to 15 friends on ALL networks.
This led to the discovery of the Super SMS Duck odd dialing pattern to *112*2# at the same time. Additional surveillance discovered that the Super SMS Duck has been texting so excessively due to free unlimited SMS with just RM 0.50 usage!
You can register as an official Duck Hunter at the DiGi Wanted Ducks website and start by getting a hint to decipher the first clue to track down the renegade ducks. The ducks are suspected to be hiding in various blogs on the net and you can bring them to justice by clicking on the ducks you see in the blog and pasting the code into the contest form.
There was a mass prison break at the farm so you’ll have to do a headcount of the ducks left on the farm after bringing the ducks in. The Top 10 Duck Hunters will be rewarded by the FBI (Farm Bureau of Investigation) each week for your efforts:
Week 1 – 10 x Sony Ericsson W880i
Week 2 – 10 x iPod Nano
Week 3 – 10 x Sony PSP
Week 4 – 10 x iPod Touch
Week 5 – 10 x Sony Ericsson W850i
Bonus Week – 5 x Sony PS3
Come back to http://www.wantedducks.com.my to check out the winners list. The winners will also receive an e-mail and a phone call.
Please play your role in bringing the fugitive ducks to justice! The FBI is counting on YOU!
Absolut Akimbo! I managed to get two (2) 1 liter bottles of duty-free vodka goodness from my sister and her husband traveling back from NZ. I wanted Absolut New Orleans and Absolut Los Angeles (the two new city themed Absolut vodka flavors) but my sister couldn’t find it…or couldn’t be bothered to look for it, I’ll never be sure. 😉
She couldn’t find Absolut Pears (to complete my Absolut-ly Fabulous liquor collection) either, so I settled with Absolut Ruby Red, which I already have and thus have earned the right (in my twisted rhetoric) to drink…
…and Absolut Mango, launched earlier this year for my collection.
I’ve been trying to find the elusive Absolut 100 (2007) in the black bottles that weighs in at a respectable 50% alcohol but it’s apparently not available at our fine KLIA duty free retail experience. Oh well…
Happy monthsary, dear. 🙂
