Copial Tuak rice wine review

copial tuak shelves

Copial Tuak is an attempt at marketing tuak
(traditional Iban rice wine) towards the premium market. It retails at
a staggering RM 11.90 per bottle and is adorned with minimalist but
aesthetically pleasing design placements.

copial tuak rice wine

I saw Copial Tuak for sale in Demak Laut, Kuching (tuak is
a Sarawakian product) in a standard 330 ml long necked beer bottle
(similar to the alcopop bottle sizes) and it comes with the tagline
“The authentic rice wine”.

copial tuak demak laut

Copial Tuak is a sanitized and quality controlled product aimed at
disassociating it from the traditional Iban longhouse homebrew
production methods. Tuak is a rice wine served during the Dayak
festival of Gawai and it can be deceptively potent.

copial tuak rice wine drink

The Copial Tuak I got standardizes the alcohol content at 15% which
makes it higher than most wines and it comes in a 330 ml bottle. I have
no complains about the taste – it’s slightly sweet and it tastes like
genuine Iban tuak.

P/S – My apologies in advance pertaining to bouts of disturbing phallic imagery that any of the photos induce. πŸ˜‰

McDonald’s Prosperity Burger Chicken and Prosperity Desserts

prosperity burger chicken banner

McDonalds’s is having their inaugural promotional burger – the Prosperity Burger
to commemorate the Chinese New Year celebrations. The Prosperity Burger
is an elongated burger with a beef patty (chicken this year) saturated
with black pepper sauce and onions.

prosperity burger chicken stand

The Prosperity Burger 2006 now implements a chicken
patty instead of a beef patty, which makes sense from a marketing point
of view – a chicken burger would have a larger demographic compared to
a beef patty (missing out on the Hindu market).

prosperity burger chicken menu

Everyone eats chicken except vegetarians and vegans, but those
people shouldn’t be going to McDonald’s anyway. πŸ˜‰ The recent years has
watched a shift in the Prosperity Burger set from just the burger
itself to the introduction of curly fries (first debut in ’94 as a side
order with the Sambal Burger, and yes I’m such a McDonald’s geek :p).

prosperity burger chicken 2006

The past two years has also witnessed the introduction of the
tagline “Enjoy the Many Tastes of Prosperity” with the whole range of
the Prosperity Burger set as well as “Prosperity Desserts”. The Orange
McFizz (Sprite with Minute Maid OJ) comes standard with the meal and
there are orange themed desserts – the Peach Orange sundae and the
Peach Orange McFlurry with come under the banner of Prosperity Desserts.

prosperity burger chicken twister fries

Twister Fries replaces the standard fries in this
Prosperity Burger meal. It’s a twisty version of fries that seems like
it has been dunked into the deep fryer more than once, giving it a
crispy outer layer. It’s great, especially when you bite straight
through the spiral, spawning multiple mini Twister Fries. πŸ™‚

prosperity burger chicken orange mcfizz

This is the Orange McFizz – a relatively recent
introduction which sees the mixture of Minute Maid orange juice with
Sprite. It tastes surprisingly good (and it has Vitamin C) and it has
earned its place in McDonald’s permamenu. It’s now paired with the
Prosperity Burger meal to complete the orange themed spirit (Mandarin
oranges and orange = gold = wealth).

prosperity burger orange sundae

This is the Peach Orange sundae (RM 2.80) which
comes in an orange swirl of colors, with the abstract orange syrup
adorning the entire circumference of the sundae cup and with the
presentation topped off with Mandarin orange pieces and peach chunks.

prosperity burger orange mcflurry

The Peach Orange McFlurry (RM 4.50) is the McFlurry
version of the Peach Orange sundae. It tastes the same and also has the
orange and peach pieces blended into the concoction, giving it the
distinctive orange hue.

prosperity burger chicken

This is the main feature of the meal – the Prosperity Burger
(RM 9.88). It didn’t come in the Prosperity Burger wrapper coz it’s
probably too early on and I berated them for not having it yesterday
even though they were advertising it (partly due to the fact that I had
to search for a parking space and thus, I took it out on them ;)). The
burger didn’t look too good, and there must have been a mess up
somewhere coz I KNOW for a fact that Prosperity Burger has always had
onions – raw onions at that, that’s why I love them.

prosperity burger chicken onions

The Prosperity Burger didn’t have the thick slathering of black
pepper sauce that was in all the previous iterations of the Prosperity
Burger and the square cut chicken patty looks so familiar it evoked a
strong feeling of dΓ©jΓ  vu…and then it clicked! It’s the EXACT same
patty used in the McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Foldover [sixthseal.com] that tanked! They’re reusing the exact same patty for the Prosperity Burger!

prosperity burger chicken bite

Dammit McDonald’s, you McSwindled me… :p

Levi’s Red Tab Jacket Lot # 71361

levis store sibu

I was walking around the shopping centres in Sibu today when I noticed that a Levi’s store has opened up in Wisma Sanyan. I’m in Sibu now coz I have a work related project to attend to tomorrow morning.

levis store sibu interior

I’m not usually inclined to go shopping and that wasn’t the agenda
when I drove out, but somehow, I ended up buying a whole lot of stuff.
I saw this Levi’s Red Tab Jacket that I liked instantly and it turned out to be a perfect fit so I got it.

levis store sibu red tab

There were Red Loop jeans but to be honest, I’m not
a big fan of Levi’s, preferring my denim to come from Quiksilver. The
jacket I got is made of a non-denim fabric that strikes the perfect
balance between insulating and comfort.

levis store sibu red tab jacket

This is the Levi’s Red Tab Jacket (Lot # 71361) that I got for RM
270. I like the slight weight it generates when it’s worn. It’s a great
jacket.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me…

cherie xmas me

…no, not a partridge in a pear tree. Cherie
(which means “Love” or “dear one”) gave me the black Stussy shirt that
I’m wearing here. I’m not sure what happened to my hair, but according
to witnesses, it was the Santa hat I was wearing previously that
tousled my hair.

cherie xmas me stoned

This is another one taken soon after that (with the hair malfunction
managed). I like this photo; it kinda captures what we are. I swear
that we are not stoned, it’s just how we look all the time. πŸ˜‰

cherie xmas gift

Cherie also gave me two other T-shirts which is great – she knows
the limitations of my wardrobe coz I always turn up in the same
clothes. Thanks Cherie!

cherie xmas drinking

I celebrated Christmas Eve early, perhaps a bit too early from the look on our faces, but it’s all good. πŸ™‚

cherie xmas turkey

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Sean’s birthday @ Mambo King, Travillion

sean birthday mambo king

Sean was celebrating his birthday last night at Mambo King
– it’s a cafe with a liquor license in Travillion. I went there with
Cherie, Irene, Owen, Ee Fen (which despite my poor memory, I could
remember coz she’s doing Pharmacy at IMU and her name is a
concatenation of Ecstasy and the Chinese word for heroin ;)).

sean birthday interior

Mambo King was packed with people when we arrived there after having
a couple of drinks at Luconia. I recall hearing a passerby mentioning
that there’s a “St. Theresa gathering in there of some kind” which was
funny in hindsight. St. Theresa is one of the biggest all girls high
school in Kuching.

sean birthday food

There were finger food served on a table in the middle – there were
plates of calamari with dip, garlic bread, chicken wings, crinkle
fries. Liquor was on the house as well – beer and Johnnie Walker Black
Label was available. I think we started drinking at Luconia, then at Mambo King and ended up at Mojo, but it’s all good – we’re all having fun here, right? πŸ˜‰

sean birthday joyce dru

I saw a couple of familiar faces in there too – Joyce and Dru were
there and there was a social faux pax when I mistook one for the other.
Jesus Christ, I think the binge drinking is taking a toll on my
cerebral faculties coz I keep on forgetting all sorts of other stuff as
well…but fuck it, we’re all having fun here right? That’s my mantra
anyway to hide my self-destructive behavior. πŸ™‚

sean birthday us

L-R: Irene, Huai Bin (me), Cherie, Sean

sean birthday sean

Happy birthday, Sean! Cheers!

Tambun Biscuits from Macalister Road, Penang

tambun biscuit penang

Tambun Biscuits originated from Penang, Malaysia
and I remember having them during my trips over there when I was young.
I haven’t had authentic Tambun Biscuits from Penang ever since and
Freddie was kind enough to show up at my workplace with a bag of Hoh Heong Tambun Biscuits from 100 Macalister Road, Penang.

tambun biscuit bag

There were two transparent packages of individually wrapped old
skool Tambun Biscuits in the bag. Freddie travels a lot and he dropped
by to pass these to my on his Kuching trip. Cheers mate! πŸ™‚

tambun biscuit wrapper

The Tambun Biscuits are wrapped in slightly translucent cream
colored packaging with red script. The contents are listed as: Flour,
Sugar, Caramel (?), Onions, Salt, Oil, Molasses and “Lenga”, the last
of which totally stumped me. What is “Lenga”?

tambun biscuit whole

This is what the famous Penang Tambun Biscuit look
like – it’s covered in flaky pastry which will totally fall apart as
soon as you bite into it and get into the hardest to clean nooks at the
first opportunity like the keyboard. πŸ˜‰

tambun biscuit bite

Tambun Biscuits have a sugar based center and it tastes like caramel
mixed with onions. It sounds like an odd combination but it really
tastes great! My coworkers who had the Tambun Biscuits pronounced it
“Good” as well.

…and now our office has pastry flakes all over the carpet.

Flaming Lamborghini a.k.a. “I shouldn’t drink all through the night!”

luconia drinks

Note: Videos are in .3gp format which means you need QuickTime.

sixthseal.com is doing a special on ethanol based drinks this week, coz apparently alcohol is legal.
In a similar vein, I’ve also heard that the sky is blue and that grass
is green, but I cannot confirm the veracity of those claims, unlike the
former.

hb cherie 3gp

Download: Huai Bin and Cherie [sixthseal.com]
This me and Cherie doing Flaming Lamborghinis in tandem. Jimmy and Ghana were mixing the drinks.

jo 3gp

Download: Jo [sixthseal.com]
This is Jo doing the Flaming Lamborghini

hb 3gp

Download: Huai Bin [sixthseal.com]
This is me doing the second flaming for the night (had three in quick succession)

cherie 3gp

Download: Cherie [sixthseal.com]
This is Cherie doing another one again (she also had three)

Personal drinks count:
2 x Gin and tonics
2 x beers
3 x glass of red wine
3 x Flaming Lamborghinis
1/4 bottle of Korean wine

Totally random and unrelated photos from the previous night:

me jo 1

This is Jo….from the previous night, or last night, or the night before, I can’t remember…

me jo 2

One piece of information which might or might not interest you – Jo
brought me to do my second tattoo on my first week in Melbourne.

me jo photos

“OMG, did we take that many photos?”

luconia me ericka

Ericka turned up at Luconia one day, but I forgot which one, coz my memory is like, totally fucked.

luconia drinking

“I drink to get fucked up”

santa me cherie

This is me with Cherie wearing matching Santa hats. It’s actually Luconia staff issue. πŸ˜‰

More Santa hat pictures:

santa me
Huai Bin

santa irene
Irene

santa cherie
Cherie

I’m doing all this is the name of science – I’m on a personal
research mission to find out exactly how long the average human liver
can take a nightly barrage of alcohol before it shrivels up and dies. πŸ˜‰

Irene, and God Bless Her Soul, managed to wake us up at 6:35 am as promised. She’s amazing, I think she’s superhuman.

Royal Pain in the Ass

jo steph

This is Jo with her Royal Pain in the Ass top – I’ve known her since
’99, we go way back from Sibu, Melbourne and now Kuching. I just bumped
into her at Luconia and was surprised that she was in Kuching.
Apparently, she’s been here for a while, and called me twice when she
knew I was here but unfortunately I was so fucked up on meth that I
didn’t know. My bad…

jo karma

She’s got this really cool tattoo at the nape – it’s Karma in Tibetan script.

Valerine’s birthday @ MC3

val birthday me

Valerine + some guy with a Santa hat. Santa hat courtesy of Cherie from Luconia.

val birthday mc3

Her birthday was held at MC3 starting 10 pm – seats were reserved
and boxes of beer distributed. The one is the middle is Val’s sister,
who’s a really nice and friendly person, though I don’t think she was
amused by the non-alcoholic Substance Which Shall Not Be Named which I
supplied. πŸ˜‰

val birthday flaming

This is Val drinking a flaming cocktail – composed of several liquors and a ring of licking flames…

val birthday drink

…and I don’t have a caption for this one coz I’m too scattered.

val birthday sister

Val with her sister – wanted to get a shot of them together.

val birthday wishes

Happy birthday, Val! πŸ™‚

Choya Umeshu (Plum liqueur) cup container review

choya umeshu isetan

Isetan in KL has a wide range of sake and shochu
in unique containers ranging from personal cup style containers to
cardboard packages that would look more in place in the milk and dairy
products aisle. It’s one of my favorite destinations when I was working
in KL due to the wide range of sake and shochu (distilled Japanese
style “vodka”). It’s a great place to browse when you’re feeling
particularly adventurous and have a hankering for a different alcoholic
product or if your wallet is somehow weighing you down real bad. πŸ˜‰

choya umeshu cup

I was particularly interested in Choya Umeshu when I was in KL a couple of weeks ago. Umeshu is Plum liqueur
and this particular product is made by Choya, one of the biggest brands
for Umeshu and it actually has a plum inside. This is one of the more
interesting shochu (which should not be confused with sake) containers
– the personal cup container. It costs RM 26 for a small 200 ml cup
style container.

choya umeshu text

The text on Choya Umeshu states that “The added natural fruit is
called UME in Japanese. The organic acid of UME balances the beautiful
taste of CHOYA. CHOYA will satisfy your taste buds till the last drop”.
Choya Umeshu is made from Fresh Japanese Plum, Alcohol and Sugar and
the full name seems to be Choya Umeshu 160. The product is made in
Osaka, Japan and not only has one, but two plums inside the drink.

choya umeshu open

The personal Choya Umeshu cup container has a plastic lid,
presumably for the benefit of those who does not opt to enjoy the
umeshu in one sitting, thus allowing resealing on the container. There
is a soft metal lid beneath the plastic cap and it peels back easily
via a ring mechanism to open up the umeshu (plum liquor) without any
other opening implements. The seal states that Choya Umeshu contains
160 ml of 15% alcohol plum liquor with the plums taking up 20 ml (which
is equivalent to 20 mg) of the drink.

choya umeshu plum

Here’s a closer look at the Choya Umeshu cup – there are two plums
inside, infusing the shochu with a strong plum taste. The liqueur is
clear colored and comes in a green tinted glass container. The plums
are slightly wrinkled but retain the springy texture of preserved
plums. It looks like the plums used to make plum drink at coffee shops
over here – the old school establishments have a huge jar of similar
plums soaked in brine.

choya umeshu plum closeup

Umeshu tastes great! It’s best served as an aperitif (apologies in
advance for using this pretentious wine snob term ;)) due to the nice
acidity that the plum infuses the shochu with. It tastes like plum
infused alcohol – it’s hard to describe the tang of sweet acidity that
hits the tongue, followed by smooth distilled alcohol ending with a
plum aftertaste…

…oh wait, I just described it.

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