I just came back from the Golden Arches in Dresden with where I had a beer for 1.99 Euros (about RM 8). I just wanted to go for the heck of it, Germany is the only place where you can grab a beer at McDonald’s. Heh.
There’s also a bubble tea craze going on right now in Dresden. They’re selling it at McCafe for 2.69 Euros. Nigel had it and he commented that the bubbles isn’t the sago pearls usually found in bubble tea in Asia.
I tried it and sure enough, the “bubble tea” has been localized to an extent where there is no milk and and the pearls are made of something which pops in your mouth – it’s a sphere filled with liquid instead of being semi-solid.
The popular McRib (where aficionados in the US have been known to drive hundreds of miles for) was alright but I was too full from dinner to fully enjoy it. It’s a flavorful pork sandwich slathered with BBQ sauce.
However, that’s not the point. The point is drinking beer at a McDonald’s. Heh. It comes in a 330 ml plastic cup and conforms to the German beer brewing purity law but to be honest it was nothing special.
…but hey, I drank beer sold at a McDonald’s outlet! 😀
Have you heard of Express Christmas? No? Well, it’s when you can’t celebrate it on the day itself, so you wing it, gather a bunch of friends and celebrate it in advance.
…and that’s just what I did at Sid’s, TTDI.
You can’t have a proper Christmas party without some beer…
Buckets of Heineken to spread the festive cheer. I figured Heineken would do the trick nicely – it’s a cool and refreshing beer perfect for our climate. It doesn’t exactly snow here so mulled wine and warm eggnog doesn’t provide the same satisfaction.
There’s this trick where you try to blow a distorted cap into the bottle. It can be done, just like that balance-the-coin-on-the-lemon-suspended-in-liquid tipping jar. It’s just close to impossible.
Samantha tried it.
Kim tried it. Both to no avail.
Oh, speaking of which, say hello to the newly-weds. 🙂
Lainey had this reindeer thing on her head. That’s me with the Santa hat…drinking on the job. Rudolph go! 😀
Heineken Jenga. I built this slightly (actually very) unwieldy contraption with a bit of help from everyone.
Rules: Everyone pulls one bottle and the person who makes it fall drinks. Kids, do not try this at home or at all. 😉
You wanna come sit on Santa’s lap? 😉 I can’t grant you a wish but I do have…er, lollipops to give out.
Kim also pulled this trick on me. It’s really funny, ask her to show you.
Christmas is all about good company. I’ll be in Bali for Christmas so I’m glad I got the chance to celebrate my own Express Christmas with my closest friends. 🙂
Yes, it’s that time of the year again! It’s like Christmas for adults. It’s…Oktoberfest!
Okay, maybe that sounded a bit anti-climactic considering it’s the title, but still, it’s great beer, good food, awesome fun – what else do you need to have a blast? It’s a celebration of the amber fluid that unites! 🙂
Malaysia throws a damned good Oktoberfest bash every year! I make it a point to join in the celebrations each time, soaking up the food, fellowship, and of course, the suds.
There are events going on all over Malaysia. Check out the listings here. Here’s just a couple of them.
Camberwell Club (Bukit Damansara)
17 October
Jarrod & Rawlins (Bukit Damansara) D’ Fortune Club (Dataran Menteri)
18 October
Laundry (Curve) Lava Restaurant & Bar (Kota Kinabalu)
19 October
QE II (Penang) Oktoberfest Special (Changkat Bukit Bintang)
20 October
Golden Sands Resort (Penang) The King’s Arms (Kuching)
21 October
Cold Storage (Gurney Plaza) Terminal One (Kuching) Havana Café (Kuching)
22 October
Ming Cafe (Miri)
23 October
Deutches Gasthaus 5 (Bandar Manjalara, Kepong) Mewah Club (Klang)
24 October
Switch (Kota Damansara) Neptune Club (Petaling Jaya)
25 October
Odeon Club (Kepong Baru)
27 October
Regalia Ritz (Sibu) KGK Annex Club (Kota Kinabalu)
28 October
KK Waterfront (Kota Kinabalu)
29 October
There also will be a Bavarian style Oompah band playing. The video above shows the celebrations during Oktoberfest last year, this time Die Dorf Fest Kapelle will be performing for the night!
The HUGE 1 Liter Oktoberfest Mug that everyone wants will be making a return as well – this time with special Oktoberfest 2011 embossing. I remember collecting all the limited bar editions and the generic ones last year – I still have it! 🙂
I am also truly excited about sampling the exclusive Oktoberfest beers like Hopf Ice (and others like Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier and 111 Zwickl). Paulaner Oktoberfest Bier is a special brew for Oktoberfest that weighs in at a slightly higher 6% alcohol and I’ve been hearing lots of good things about it.
Enjoy happy hour all night long for any of these draught beers:
Tiger Beer
Guinness
Heineken
Kilkenny
Strongbow
Paulaner
It’s all on draft, at happy hour prices, all night long! 😀
However, one thing that I’m doing a wee bit out of the norm this year is to head up to Penang to party! w00t!
Why Penang, you ask?
Why not? I love the place, it’s the food capital of Malaysia! I can head out for a nice plate of char kueh tiaw (with extra blood cockles, and oh, a duck egg on top) to soak up the nights’ drinking before going for another round the next day!
I’ll be drinking by the beach in our very own Pearl of the Orient in a next week! I’m celebrating Oktoberfest at QEII (20th Oct) and Golden Sands Resort at Batu Feringgi Beach (21st Oct). Come and join the Oktoberfest celebrations at various places around the country! Check the Oktoberfest FB page for the full listing.
I can’t wait to try the exclusive Oktoberfest beers! Oktoberfest in Malaysia has come a long, long way and you’ll feel like you’re in Munich with all the beer, German expatriates and the oompah band playing in the background.
Where will you be celebrating Oktoberfest this year? 🙂
It was a hot and lazy Sunday afternoon – my girlfriend just came over to work in KL the night before and we stayed up late to unpack. By the time we hit the sack it was already dawn. We slept in and the clock blinked 2:00 PM when we woke up. I was famished!
The problem with finding food at 3 pm in the afternoon (after showering and all) is that a lot of places are closed for lunch, and dinner hasn’t started yet. It’s the period of limbo between the two main meals of the day when most places just hunker down to weather out the heat.
I decided to bring her to Island Cafe in SS2. It’s one of those HK style restaurants which offers everything from lamb chops to fried noodles and peanut butter toast in between. It’s open at odd hours, it’s near to my place and they serve beer. In my books, that makes it a great place. 🙂
Nothing beats a cold bottle of beer on a hot afternoon to go with your lunch.
I ordered my usual – Pumpkin Cheese Baked Rice with Pork (RM 16.90). I love this dish coz it’s slightly different from the regular run-of-the-mill cheese baked rice other places offer – it’s baked and served in an actual pumpkin.
I love pumpkin – it’s an acquired taste, I hear, coz a lot of people don’t like it. It’s sweet and the Pumpkin Cheese Baked Rice is made in such a way that the sweetness of the pumpkin is infused into the rice. It’s topped with two pork chops and melted cheese. You can even eat the pumpkin flesh if you dig into it with a spoon – the “bowl” is a real pumpkin.
I noticed that Island Cafe has Kilkenny in bottles. I didn’t know they serve Kilkenny over here! I usually drink Kilkenny draft from pubs. I thought it would be nice to get a bottle to go with my lunch, considering the heat.
Jeanie had the Bamboo Rice (RM 15.90) which is basically fried rice served in a bamboo container with chicken wings on the side. However, it tastes surprisingly good with Kilkenny. I like experimenting food pairings with beer. It’s more common with wine but the more flavorful beers like Kilkenny goes well with certain dishes too!
Jeanie also had a glass of the Irish beer with her rice. She thought it was rather unusual but novel to drink Kilkenny outside of a bar. She loves Kilkenny too but like me, her experience is limited to bars. I just found out that it was only recently that Kilkenny produced bottles for sale in certain modern food courts, cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars that does not already serve Kilkenny Draught.
I think it’s great! The taste is pretty similar (although Kilkenny on tap tastes a bit smoother) and it’s nice to have the option of ordering an ale instead of the usual lagers while out eating local food.
I reckon it beats the hell out of the Mango Snow Ice (RM 8.50+) Jeanie had for dessert. I’ll prefer another bottle of Kilkenny as dessert. 😉
There’s nothing better than an icy cold, sweating bottle of Kilkenny in your hand while eating a long lunch during weekends. It’s good to see it come out of the pubs and into modern food courts, cafes and restaurants so that I can drink it when I crave for local food. 🙂
Lainey is not a beer drinker. She’s a liquor and wine kinda person. I have drinks with the bff regularly and the only thing even close to a fermented drink she’ll have is a Snakebite (Strongbow cider with beer – half and half).
I personally like my beer. I used to read Beer Connoisseur and I suspect it’s the magazine that made me a bit of an arrogant drinker. I started drinking bocks and ales right off the bat just to appear more sophisticated. Heh!
…but you know, it really grows on you. I started to appreciate the taste and complex flavors that goes into a fine ale.
Anyway, whenever I go out drinking with Lainey she’ll be drinking something other than beer. It was decided that last Friday’s watering hole would be Jarrod & Rawlins in Damansara Heights. She works in that area and I live in Damansara Heights but I don’t think we’ve ever been here together.
We usually go to watering holes in MidValley or TTDI so we headed somewhere different this time. I love Jarrod & Rawlins coz it’s a nice and chill place (and it’s very close to where I live – I could even walk home if I was so inclined). I also like the food there and their toilets are awesome.
Yes, their toilets. I know a lot of places have air conditioned toilets but where else have you seen a self contained unit inside the toilet? Not many places right?
It’s awesome. You can take a dump in peace in a place like this. Comfort max.
It sounds a bit wrong to segue back into food after that bit about water closets but I’ll do it anyway. 😉 I’ve already eaten so we shared a plate of stew and mash. It was then that I noticed they have a lot of tent cards on the tables promoting Newcastle Brown Ale for RM 19.
I have fond memories of my two recent trips to England so I ordered one to try. I ended up drinking 3 bottles. Heh! It is really good. It has been around since 1927 – an unconventional ale brewed by Colonel Jim Porter in (you guessed it) Newcastle, England. He was looking to make a unique ale that’s full flavored yet easy to drink.
An ale is a man’s drink, I’ll like to think. I had a lot of ale when I went to England. They really take pride in their beer over there. It’s a lot harder for new and young drinkers to palate since they tend to gravitate towards the lighter lagers. However, Newcastle Brown Ale bucks the trend by being smooth and easy to drink.
Predictably, Lainey won’t drink the Newcastle Brown Ale. I insisted she try it – I told her to forget all the preconceived notions of beer she has and just sip it like a “blind taste test”. She did it for me, although I could tell she didn’t want to. If you know her, you’ll know she doesn’t drink beer.
I was half expecting her to spit it out or even grimace but surprisingly she had some good things to say about it.
Lainey’s take on it: “It’s a lot smoother than beer, goes down a lot better and it doesn’t have a weird aftertaste.”
Now, if you know Lainey that is VERY HIGH PRAISE indeed since she doesn’t even like light lager…and Newcastle Brown Ale is (obviously) an ale.
Beer is serious business to the British. The Newcastle Brown Ale available here comes in bottles, and contrary to popular belief, you can bottle an ale and have it taste like draft beer too. There’s this ale called Kings Table Real Ale that’s only available in the Tower of London. It tastes just as good and fresh as the ales in local pubs.
I like the fact that Newcastle Brown Ale doesn’t have carbonation – it’s an authentic ale. The ales and beers in England doesn’t have carbonation too – it’s pulled from a pump like device – at least the local brews are.
It tastes real smooth and it reminds me a lot of England…sitting down with a pint and just relaxing. Newcastle Brown Ale will appeal to both new drinkers and the more sophisticated beer lovers – it’s easy drinkability will appeal to the younger crowd while the full body and flavor will find affinity with ale purists.
Newcastle Brown Ale comes in a 330 ml bottle with an accompanying glass and pours well with a golden honey color topped with a puffy white head. It’s 4.7% which is lower than what regular drinks over here weighs in at but about the same as British standard drinks.
I found it slightly sweet and I love the caramel aftertaste too. Just drinking one allows me to revisit the nice memories of going into a local pub in England and drinking a pint of ale…while in KL.
Try pairing Newcastle Brown Ale with cheeses, olives and deli meats like salami – all available at Jarrod & Rawlins. This ale also complements dishes like smoked salmon.
It truly deserves the title of The One and Only. I just wish it comes in a larger pint sized bottle coz I’m used to drinking pints instead of half pints. 🙂
It’s that time of the year again! The time where shopping malls are decked out with Christmas decorations and refrains of Hark the Herald Angels Sing echo through the centralized speakers. My friend Mel dropped by KL this weekend and we decided to have dinner at Finnegan’s.
I bumped into Jolene there who sagely commented that I always seem to have a beer in my hand whenever she sees me. Heh! It’s true, I’ve grown quite fond of Kilkenny lately and they have a RM 50 for 3 pints promotion going on in some outlets.
Dubbed the Cream of Irish Beers, Kilkenny has an interesting history – it didn’t originate from a traditional brewery but from the holy cellars (I presume) of St. Francis Abbey in the 14th century. Put simply, it was Franciscan monks who started making this particular beer.
Interesting, eh?
Kilkenny is an Irish cream ale that’s smooth and rich – qualities which I rate highly. I’m a huge fan full bodied beers and stouts. It’s perfect for the festive season, although we don’t get very cold weather over here.
We shared a stew, open sandwiches, and a pork knuckle which nearly killed us (too much food for two people). I guess overeating is also part of the festive ritual.
Kilkenny promotions are available at selected outlets throughout the country. I’m going to try my hand at “Cooking with Kilkenny” (has a nice ring to it, eh?) next! I plan to use Kilkenny in a recipe to see how it goes.
Find out more about Kilkenny here. I have a feeling this beer is going to be big in the coming years! You can get it at most Irish pubs (Finnegan’s, Delaney’s, Malone’s) and it’s also available at on tap in WIP, Sid’s, Royal Oak, Bulldog, Laundry and Jarrod and Rawlins. Here’s to more festive seasons with Kilkenny!
The legendary festival in Munich, which is a celebration of the amber fluid in Bavaria, Germany is originally not about beer at all. The first Oktoberfest was a sombre (I think la, I wasn’t there since I wasn’t born yet) affair to commemorate the union of two royalty whose names are now relegated to the annals of Wikipedia (and historians).
However, it soon grew to become the beer festival we all know and love today! =D
Oktoberfest was relatively obscure except to the ones who had more exposure but in recent years it has come to Malaysia and in a big way too!
It is not just about beer (although that is a main and important part of Oktoberfest) but the celebration of life! It has been a custom that Oktoberfest starts with a 12 gun salute and the tapping of the first beer keg to be presented to the Mayor.
Oktoberfest is all about entertainment, beer and more beer and I’m glad to see that happen in Malaysia now (so I don’t have to travel all the way to Germany to experience it).
I went to Souled Out for the first Oktoberfest celebration by GAB in Malaysia and it is a celebration that I’m proud to be part of – faithful to the Oktoberfest experience in Munich.
The best thing about Oktoberfest in Malaysia is that they have Paulaner! =D
If you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past 6 years, Paulaner is the #1 German wheat beer in Malaysia and it’s all imported in all the way from…MUNICH!
Yes, the birthplace of Oktoberfest! It’s also one of the official beers of Oktoberfest.
I’ve had Paulaner a number of times during Oktoberfest and the best part about it is the taste. If you’re a beer connoisseur, you’ll appreciate this brew – it’s not meant for the mainstream drinkers, but the more premium and discerning consumers.
The Oktoberfest event that I went to also had Munich inspired food which is always a good thing. Gotta line your stomach lest you become a bierleichen. There were sausages, pretzels and German food on offer – perfect to recreate the Oktoberfest experience.
I’m glad I managed to drink a real Munich produced beer during Oktoberfest in Malaysia.
Paulaner is an ale so if you’re a common Joe lager drinking person, it’s an acquired taste. I love ales since I’ve been studying abroad since I was 15 so I can appreciate a good one. Beer aficionados take note, Paulaner is going to be the next big thing!
Bia Hoi is a unique cultural experience in Vietnam that I thoroughly enjoyed. Fresh draft beer is delivered daily to bia hois and stored in a HUGE container. It’s served by the glass and each glass only costs VND 6,000 (RM 0.90). It’s icy cold and has a low alcohol content (reported to be around 3%), which makes it perfect for prolonged drinking sessions.
I was lucky to find an real bia hoi where all the locals in the Old Quarter go to just a street down from the place I was staying at. The best thing about the place is that they’re not used to foreigners – I got a lot of puzzled looks when I sat down and people started asking me where I was from.
One other interesting aspect is that office workers would drop by during lunch and grab a quick glass of beer before departing again. I think this has something to do with the American occupation and the cultural vestiges left after that but I’m no sociologist so take this with a pinch of salt.
Anyway, they were very surprised at the amount of beer that I can drink and on the second visit on my first day, the owner sat down with me and bought me a beer. This is a friendship that would last throughout the trip, sometimes I just sat down and he waved my money away. He was interested in me and I guess they don’t get a lot of tourists coz he was asking me a lot of questions.
He also had two peculiar traits – a fondness of working ladies (which he claims he can get for VND 30,000 but I never verified since I didn’t take him up on his offer) and an equal enthusiasm for photos (he kept wanting me to take photos of him) but he’s a really nice guy. He actually saved me from being pick pocketed – someone on a bike pulled up and discreetly opened by my backpack and he shouted at the dude in Vietnamese before I realized what happened.
Bia hois in Vietnam is places where the locals congregate to drink and shoot the shit. I managed to meet a lot of the locals there – from dodgy people of dubious career paths to real deal old communists complete with Viet Cong tattoos.
I also learned a method of smoking which is like the Tim Tam Slam. Basically you dip the filter of your cigarette into the glass of cold beer and suck up the amber fluid through the other side. I was surprised that it would light at all but it did and the end result was a cigarette that tastes cold and you get a sip of beer with every puff.
I cannot stress the importance of visiting a bia hoi when you’re in Vietnam. It is where you meet the locals and talk to them. Communication barriers abound but after a few glasses you’ll be using a mixture of gestures and basically speak the same language.
The bia hois are usually adorned with the stools and tables common in the Old Quarter of Hanoi and it’s a great place to hang out before and after you’re done with the day. The fresh beer comes in right in the morning so be sure to catch that batch – it’s a refreshing breakfast to start your day!
I also learned how to smoke their tobacco pipes in the local bia hoi. I was sitting with this bunch of people passing around a communal pipe and one of them offered me the pipe. It’s not like smoking a bong at all – the trick is to inhale and sorta blow out the excess burnt tobacco and inhale again.
The tobacco pipes is filled with…you guessed it, fresh beer and it’s guaranteed to make your head spin after a couple of hits if you’re not a heavy smoker. Heh!
If you’ll ask me to name a place where I felt most at home while on vacation in Hanoi, Vietnam – it would be hands down the local bia hoi. No contest.
13.8% alcohol. I stared at it in the 24 hour convenience store. I was getting some detergent after a late night at work and thought to myself: “Hmm…I don’t mind getting shitfaced tonight, since it’s a Friday and it’ll be a reward for the long hours I pulled the past two days”. It is the highest proof alcohol I’ve ever seen in a readily available beer – it’s actually “more than 13.8%”.
I opened the can, gulped down a few mouthfuls, grimaced and looked at the label. Made in GuangZhou, China. It tastes like rice wine mixed with beer. It doesn’t even have carbonation! Rice wine in China can be in excess of 40% alcohol with a few renowned brands weighing in at an impressive 70-80%. 95% alcohol is the highest proof alcohol possible in non-laboratory conditions before the ethanol starts to re-dilute itself from the moisture in the atmosphere back to 95%.
I’m talking crap. I drank without eating dinner. Supper beckons.
This is the (in)famous Hoegaarden 5 liter glass of beer available at Brussels Beer Café. It’s so huge, it takes no small amount of effort to even lift it. The size and girth of this “glass” is staggering! It holds 5 liters of the good stuff and it made me wonder…
…can a person drink (scull) 5 liters of beer?
I’ll just preempt you by saying it’s possible, but not recommended. You’ll live to regret it. :p
TGIF people! w00t! It’s been a super long week for me since I’ve been working my ass off. I’m thinking about paying homage to the 5 liters of goodness after work. 😉
