I received an invitation to a new club opening last week. I haven’t been clubbing in at least 8 years, so I thought I’ll go and check out what the youth of today are into. It’ll be an eye-opening experience, I told myself. Mingle with the millennials and all that. I made sure to wear my best black shirt that day since I’ll be going straight after work.
CÉ LA VI is a nightspot that has locations in all the major cities in Asia. They have some serious funding behind them. The outpost in Malaysia is located at the top of Ilham Tower – right in the middle of CBD Kuala Lumpur. This gives it nice panoramic views of KL at night. There’s even an al fresco area where you can sit right at the edge of the building.
Like I said, I haven’t been clubbing in a long time and the nightclubs I know tend to be places with loud, overpowering music where copious amounts of interesting and unusual recreational substances are consumed throughout the night. I come from a different era, and I cut my teeth in the underground raves and doofs of Melbourne. I also ran in the feng tau circles locally so new (and proper) clubs like this are slightly foreign to me.
I found out that I enjoyed CÉ LA VI quite a bit! As an older gentleman, thumping bass and shouted snippets of barely audible conversations are not my thing. I also don’t want to be stuck body-to-body with a grinding mass of youthful figures, with nowhere to move while college-aged girls in revealing little black dresses twerk in front of my crotch. Or do I? 🤔 This is much more my speed.
CÉ LA VI has several different themed rooms so you can choose the type of music and ambiance that you want. I found a room where they were playing Jay-Z’s cover of Tupac’s classic “Me and My Girlfriend”. Very nice! I always tell anyone who cares to listen that the song is actually about guns and thug life and not girlfriends. But that is beyond the scope of this article.
“Wah piang! Jamban got armchair!” my inner Ah Beng exclaimed.
There is also a dining area where you can sit in relative peace and have proper conversations without having to raise your voice. I found myself most comfortable here, and I took advantage of the delicious tempura prawns and fresh sashimi they were serving that night. I also partook in quite a few of the free flow wine they had going on. Would I come here again? I would. CÉ LA VI is not what I assumed it to be, they have something for everyone, even an old geezer like me.
21. It’s the oft-quoted number where you magically experience a whole new life as an adult. It’s a coming of age celebration of freedom and independence.
I was at the exclusive Party 21 event at Genting International Convention Center – it’s an invite-only party open to WorldCard members, and it comes complete with accommodations and drinks coupons.
You only need to bring yourself up. 🙂
I used the Genting bus and cable car combo. It’s actually a very convenient way to head up, just park your car at Dataran Car Park and you don’t even need to drive up. Pity that they’ve abolished the RM 1 per entry system in lieu of a RM 2 per day parking fee, but it’s still one of the best ways to go to Genting.
I was actually up there just a couple of weeks ago with Fiona, using the same transportation method. I’m a Silver WorldCard holder so I can skip the formidable queue for the cable car using a priority lane. Heh.
This time, everything was sorted out so I just headed up slightly earlier and got my room key from Evon. I had enough time to freshen up before heading to dinner.
Coffee Terrace has a great buffet going on at night. There’s various different cuisines to cater to every palate, from fresh sashimi to roast lamb.
You can even get your food custom cooked right before your eyes after choosing what you want.
It’s perfect to line your stomach before a great night out. Heh.
Party 21 is hosted by DJ Nabila who was spinning the deck the entire night.
There were a lot of fun and games outside too – from arcade games to lucky draws.
OMG this has gotta be the only photo where I look my age. HAHA! This was taken at the photo wall right before the entrance.
You can also get a chance at the lucky draw by liking the WorldCard Malaysia Facebook page.
I met Ivy there, who recognized me from my blog. She asked her friend to take a photo of us with her iPhone and I asked her friend if she could take another one with mine. Thanks for saying hello Ivy! 🙂
Anyway, it was a lucky day for me coz I rummaged around the lucky draw box and got…
…the best prize!
It’s a free night’s stay at First World Hotel. w00t! Thanks Genting!
I wanted to get one of the t-shirts instead, which you could redeem for 2 GP (Genting Points) but unfortunately they were all sold out. Genting Points are credits that is stored in your WorldCard. There’s also an awesome deal where you can get 10 drink vouchers for 3 GP too.
The party was in full swing when I got in. There are performances by pole dancers and stage appearances, including a memorable one which got everyone doing it Gangnam Style. 😉
This is the bunch of us who went up that night. Jane is partially obscured in that photo…
…so here’s another one with her.
This is Steve, one of the friendly Genting staff I met that night in addition to Chee Wai, Evon and the rest. Thanks for all the assistance in checking in and drink vouchers!
I’ll let the videos speak for themselves, I had a blast that night!
You know what the best thing is? Party 21 comes with a complimentary room at First World Hotel so you don’t need to drive down after partying.
That’s the awesomeness of being a WorldCard member. There’s a lot of benefits in being one, and not just for skipping queues either. 😉
I’ve been one since 2007 and I get occasional text messages with free room offers and invites to exclusive events like this. Membership and application is free and you can see the latest promotions and contests at the WorldCard Malaysia Facebook page or the Genting website.
You can also get priority parking and best of all, a toll and petrol rebate from RM 50 to RM 300 by accumulating points. 1 GP = RM 1 if you do this and it’s a little known secret that you can get cold, hard cash by exchanging points for driving up. I love mine for the perks it gives me – you can also sign up for your very own WorldCard here! 😀
I had a lot of fun and after a night of partying, you don’t know how tempting a bed looks instead of the prospect of having to drive down. I slept till the next day before going back to KL, a lot better than drinking and driving.
She’s doing another course of chemotherapy and we’re here for her. My dad flew in too and we’ll usually walk to Hola and eat there. Cheap and decent food. The caterers (old skool Tiffin carriers) come weekday nights.
My mom eats separately; she still can’t stand a lot of food, not even the smell of it. That’s her hiding in the room coz she’s so nauseous from the chemo.
2. Went to church
Took a cab to Bedok Methodist Church. Service is familiar but the praise and worship had an unusual twist – women dressed in traditional Chinese garb were dancing and twirling long silk ribbons. How I wish I managed to take a photo…
Got an EZ-Link card so I could use the MRT, bus and pay for food and groceries at places which accepts it.
3. The Gospel of Pool
Poster stuck beside the pool table at church. Words fail me. Sometimes a cue is just a cue.
Mom got temporarily better and asked me to get her a Mocha soy ice blended drink. I bought it and she had a sip and promptly got sick again.
4. Salted egg yolk mooncakes
Dad got this from Sibu. It’s really quite good, there’s an entire salted egg yolk inside that’s almost the size of the puff pastry.
I ate all of them. Heh.
5. Grocery shopping
Got soy milk for my niece. She’s allergic to nuts, gluten, and most other things. This is the brand that we know doesn’t have any additives or traces of abovementioned. Also got reacquainted with the same brand of cigarettes I smoked last time I was here.
Middle of the night scare from my niece’s talking chair.
6. Timbre @ The Substation
Lovely watering hole at 45, Armenian Street with live bands playing every day of the week. You can text song requests in for them to perform. Fiona recommended the Timbre Buffalo Wings – love the hot sauce and nuts topping but a tad overcooked for me. They do good pizzas too – got a half and half with Goodfellas and 53A. They’re both names of bands playing there.
Here’s a cover of Oasis’ Stand by Me.
7. Left my keys with Fiona
Had a couple of drinks and hung out at Timbre. I put my sister’s condo keys and tag card in her bag earlier that night (tend to chuck my stuff in her tote due to lack of pocket space, thanks Fiona) and forgot to get it back from her. I only realized after I got back and couldn’t go in. Went back to her place to get it.
That just sounds downright dodgy eh? Heh. This photo was taken at around 3 am in the morning. There’s a rather funny story about how we got here from drinks at Orchard Road in Singapore.
…rewind to about 8 hours earlier
I met up with Fiona for dinner – it turns out that she lives quite near my sister’s apartment in Simei. Thus, we met at Eastpoint Mall. She got there about the same time I did and called me saying she doesn’t know if she’s at the right entrance – it’s at the place where there’s a lot of lingerie if you are going to buy ask yourself what is the average breast size and so buy the best for me!.
I pretty much knew where that was since I came to the mall the day before with my parents to the supermarket downstairs. 🙂
Anyway, Fiona is a flight attendant and I’ve known her since her words of encouragement when I was being all emo and shit after the last relationship I was in. I haven’t actually met her though so I only have a vague idea of how she looked like from my Facebook account.
We took a cab to Orchard Road and told the taxi we didn’t have any destination in mind, so he dropped us off somewhere near…er, I can’t actually remember. I know we walked for a bit and checked out the drinking holes around the Peranakan Place area before settling on Alley Bar.
It has the most awesome pork burger ever! It’s called the BBQ Pulled Pork Burger and it’s a juicy and tender mess of 5 hours of smoked pork shoulder smothered in barbecue sauce, topped with a whole jalapeno chili pepper.
Fiona had a bite and she concurred. Actually eating it is a messy affair – it’s like a sloppy joe except it’s not made with minced meat but rather loose meat. It’s the best pork burger I’ve had to date!
We were seated outside at a place simply called Outdoors – Peranakan Place has three distinct areas built around a real Peranakan settlement. Outdoors is the al fresco zone which is a “Designated Smoking Area” (damn Singaporean laws) and there’s also Acid Bar and Alley Bar, which is the main place.
There’s a live band playing – the music is piped to Outdoors for those who’re not inside, loved this cover of Radiohead’s Creep.
I had two pints of Erdinger Beer – there are two, one dark and one white. The “dark” one is Pikantus and the “light” Weissbier. We were eating, drinking and talking and it was around 11:30 pm when the subject somehow changed to pool and Fiona found a place that’s open until 3 am.
We walked down the opposite direction at first before the GPS on her phone told us we’re heading the wrong way so we turned back. The pool place is at Concorde Hotel – somehow that place looks really seedy, it’s full of KTV hostess bars and dodgy characters loitering about who look like they would totally mug you if this was Malaysia instead of Singapore. HAHAHA
It turns out that Fiona is quite good at pool. I wouldn’t say that she kicked my ass but it was a really close thing. Tomatoe tomato.
Speaking of asses, Fiona is left handed, which I didn’t notice until we were playing. I was standing behind her trying to see how she plays. I thought she would think that I was checking out her butt. It turns out that she didn’t, she’s probably used to people ogling at her as cabin crew. :p
See what I did there?
It’s a masterful (wah damn syoik sendiri) way of neither confirming nor denying the statement, just like how Israel’s nuclear ambiguity works, except bombs and butts are two very different things.
Anyway, they don’t sell beer inside, and we were alternately playing pool and 9 ball before I suggested we head to the 7-Eleven outside to get some. It wasn’t a 7-11, it’s a similar concept called Cheers (how apt) and I told her to just scull the 500 ml can before we head inside. It’s a strong beer at 9% and you don’t exactly drink it for the taste.
Look at Fiona’s apprehensive face! 😉
I think we spent more than the 5 minutes we told the pool hall clerk we’ll be away outside, downing that beer and smoking in the rather unusual backdrop of closed shops, dark segments and KTV bars.
We went and played until it was nearly three before heading out for more beer. This time we brought it inside using Fiona’s bag, and using the same to discreetly conceal the two cans by putting it behind and out of sight. That was the first picture. Smart.
The place was supposed to close at 3 am but we were still playing so the clerk started cleaning up. I don’t think he cared about the alcohol anyway, we were the only customers in there at the time. Thanks for the beers Fiona! 🙂
It was 4:30 am when we finally shared a cab home. I could only spare one night coz I’m here for my mom so I only went out once. I had a lot of fun, one of the more memorable night outs in a long time despite only getting two hours of sleep two nights in a row to wake up for church. Say hi to Fiona if you see her while flying!
Morning peeps! I’ve been up for quite a while so I expect to crash pretty soon. I had breakfast at TDH with Pam, which I usually miss coz:
1. I don’t really eat breakfast.
2. I don’t wake up that early on weekends
I’m glad I went today though, coz I ended up sitting in there for 5 hours (!) talking to Pam. She has this really cool tattoo that goes “Carpe Diem”.
Seize the day indeed, something that everyone needs reminding of once in a while.
Anyway, Leanne was in town for the weekend from Australia. I had dinner with her at Jalan Alor and got some interesting insights from her. It’s truly inspirational how she travels while juggling all her responsibilities.
Pam, Jess and Konstandinos joined us for drinks later at Changkat Bukit Bintang. We had originally wanted to go to a gay bar for something different (thanks for the recommendation Lynn) but the place didn’t serve food so we went to another watering hole.
I ended up drinking diet Coke and singing in a jarringly off-tune key to classics from the 90’s – it seems that a couple of us has the same tastes in music. The DJ was constantly inundated with requests by us and the bar was dominated by our playlist of punk, rock and metal classics. Heh.
Anyway, today is a date of some importance to me. I think. I won’t be sure yet for another 28 days but if all the stars align I’ll get a tattoo that says 22/7/2012.
Okay, now this is an established fact. Anyone who believes otherwise is an:
1. Idiot
2. Superstitious idiot
3. Ignorant idiot
(Sorry grandma)
Anyway, I have eaten large quantities of durian and drank prodigous amounts of alcohol at the same time to no ill effects.
Except a hangover…but that’s to be expected.
I was out during the weekend with my friends and but before that I helped my dad open a couple of durians and ate some.
We started drinking and playing pool at a lounge and then moved somewhere where they have a…
…livelier live band.
I started drinking this beer called Zoror Beer (RM 20 per jug, can’t beat that) in earnest and I knew I drank quite a lot because I have stupid photos in my camera.
Me and Jo. These are not my glasses. They are Eddy’s – he put them on when I asked him about this chick – thing is he doesn’t need them. Thus, I put it on and went out front to see if it would make the girls look hotter or whether its the beer goggles.
Jo giving me a cheat sheet on Tagalog. I keep forgetting and she keeps telling me and finally she just wrote it down.
As the night goes on, the memory becomes rather hazy…
BUT
I remember eating three whole durians when I got back, drunkenly stuffing myself full of the King of Fruits before I went to sleep. After all that drinking.
In post-Soviet Georgia, the flesh trade is alive and well. *ends pretentious investigative journalistic piece
I was brought to this hotel to play billiards and from the moment I stepped in, I knew that the billiard table was a secondary entertainment fixture rather than the centerpiece. My Georgian companions seem to know the working ladies pretty well (later learned that they live just around the corner) and the place is run by a severe looking old woman with several tough looking Georgian guys beside her on the ground floor office.
The billiards cum hostess joint (no pun intended) is located on the second floor, right opposite room number 6, which is used by the girls and women to change. I took a dump in the toilet, that’s how I know.
However, the place exudes nothing but fun, probably coz I didn’t pay a single honest cent for the frivolities of the night – will tell you why later – and it’s a little like the legal gentlemen clubs in Melbourne where you mingle with the working ladies before you decide which to pick.
…and the best thing of all is that you can just drink beer (don’t know how much it costs since my companions picked up the bill) and chill and talk to the girls without feeling pressured or obliged to engage in their services.
There are several distinct cliques – three at my count:
1. The young Russian and Georgian girls (teens to very early 20s)
2. The professional types who lounge around and can do some pretty serious stunts (like exotic dancing while holding on to your waist by the sheer grip of her thighs)
3. The old cunts who are fat and used up
It was a study any sociologists would have found interesting. The old and ugly ones are grumpy and mainly sit at a corner table smoking cigarettes while attending equally old men. The professional types comes and dances and plays billiards with us, giving us plenty of glimpses and encourages groping and touching, often initiating it themselves.
I love the young girls most of all. Their sheer innocence (not in sexual matters of course, you can hardly say that to someone who says she’s 20 but looks 17 and instantly diagnoses you with curiosity tinged with a bit of concern – “You can’t get off unless by hand?” in heavily accented broken English) is rather refreshing.
Now I have followed people to prostitution joints before (the politically correct term is “whorehouses”) but never have I seen the friendliness and playfulness of these two girls:
Meet Anna (Russian) and Lola (Georgian).
Both claim to be 20 but Anna has this self esteem issue where she thinks she’s butt ugly. She would be a great blogger if she has chosen another line of work – at least in camwhoring. 😉 She anxiously looks at each photo to see if she looks good and takes another one if she’s not. -_-”
I’ve met people in this industry who is all business (and indeed, one of my companions went for the professional ones and came out disappointed, saying that she wanted more money for extra time – to be fair he was gone the better part of an hour ) and the girls clique isn’t one of them.
They are friendly and playful, always calling out “Huai Bin, Huai Bin” (not too shabby, managed to learn my name and some random Chinese phrases too – wo ai ni and wo shi huang ni – while all I managed was Ruski nien but that’s all right coz these two speak pretty good English) and giving you kisses and chatting with you. Hell, they even bought me food and I didn’t even pay for their services.
Anyway, these two intrigued me as they seem to be the only ones (besides one of the more mature professionals) having fun in the place. They dance and practise moves and rope you in as a not-entirely-unwilling partner and is genuinely interested in learning about new places and even exhibit interesting and unprofessional emotions like jealousy.
I guess their childlike personalities made them rather likable – didn’t see them drink a drop of beer or take any illicits, they’re more like teenagers in a line of work which they have accepted and made the best of it. Have you even heard of a prostitute (who’s bread and butter is paid sex) offering sex for free?
I would have put on my most cynical countenance with an appropriately sarcastic “Yeah, right” and either given you a look of sympathy, wondering about the fantasy land you’re frolicking about in your mind or rolled my eyes at how delusional you are to think that people in this line would throw you a free fuck just coz you think you’re a stud.
In short, I’ll have said that is a load of bullshit that I can smell from a thousand miles away…before yesterday night.
I’m just another face in the crowd growing rounder and rounder in the belly but now I’ll probably shrug, smile and think about the two girls in Tbilisi.
I went to the Kakiis Night Out event last night at Euphoria by Ministry of Sound. I think it’s the only non-smoking club in town. I went there with KY and Eiling as my team members.
I am honored that the organizers felt my 27-year-old self worthy of an ID check for a free voucher of Carlsberg Draft…until I realized they asked everyone for ID.
Pinky Tham! I less than 3 you! OMG, that was so random. Moving on.
I haven’t been to Euphoria before but the place has a great sound system and excellent lighting. It’s operated by the esteemed MOS in London.
The Kakiis event kicked off with a performance by the Break B’Boys. They’re quite good at what they do and it got the crowd pumped up for the games. Kakiis Night Out has 10 booths with 10 games where you go and get footprints. DJ Steve from FlyFM was the MC for the night and briefed the crowd on the challenge.
The games range from Kakiis Extreme (with electric shocks and dubious sea creatures and worms) to the more intellectual games like Kakiis IQ. You’re supposed to complete all 10 challenges. I didn’t go there expecting to win, but I was surprised (in a good way) that Eiling is rather competitive by nature and wanted to finish all the games. 😉
I wanted a drink before that though, I just had two and needed a bit more of the amber fluid inside me to be in the right frame of mind. I managed to bum quite a few beer coupons off random people. I didn’t know it wasn’t free flow or I would have started drinking at home first. 😉
Meet Team 37! We actually won one of the games and walked away with a prize, which we didn’t expect.
The most interesting challenge of the day is the Kakiis Tornado where a blower blows pieces of paper around in an enclosed phone box type contraption and we grab the pieces from the air. We had to wear goggles – watch our team in action!
Dinner was provided and we stopped to grab a bite to eat before continuing the games. “Dinner” was mainly finger food without any substantial carbohydrates except for the cakes and desserts. Coke and other soft drinks were free flow but they ran out of ice at one point.
Me: Look Pinky, you have like two leng chai sitting beside you! Pinky: Where? Where got leng chai? Me: …..
Anyway, we went back to attempt to complete the games after that. The more memorable is the one where you have to dig for coins in covered boxes. Two contains water and eels and the other two contains sawdust and sago grubs. There are four groups and each group of three people tag-teamed the way through.
This is the game where we won (fastest time). It’s a contraption which delivers an electric shock with the two mesh wires inside. You have to reach through and grab a ping pong ball to spell out…
…KAKIIS. I got shocked twice, KY got it once and Eiling didn’t get the electric treatment. I think you need to touch both the wire meshes for it to deliver a shock. We thought we did pretty well on this one but didn’t think much of it.
There was also a challenge called Kakiis Chill where you dip your feet into a small pool of ice-cold water and attempt to fish out ping-pong balls with your feet spelling KAKIIS. Fun.
This is the best-dressed group IMHO – they were wearing reindeer antlers and matching outfits. They won one of the video awards too.
There was a yodeling competition going on at center stage while we were outside fishing ping-pong balls with our toes and everyone got a 16 GB Pendrive Sliq so our group immediately joined the next game…which was cat walking and showing off our kakis (kaki also means feet in Malay, wordplay on the social networking site).
I’m sure there are at least two compromising videos (and probably some photos as well) of me taking off my shirt and showing my beer belly (potbelly?) for all and sunder to see. I was about to start taking off my belt too before DJ Steve from FlyFM shook his head. 😉
Our team won the Kakiis Shock challenge though. I think we all knew we had a chance and looked at each other before the winner for that challenge is announced…and true enough it was Team 37!
We each snagged a 16 GB Pendrive Sliq for having the fastest time in that challenge. Team 37, FTW!
I went to Luconia Cafe last night to meet up with
Valerine to get my tickets to go back to Sibu tonight. Luconia Cafe is
a local watering hole near my place (shit, I probably shouldn’t be
revealing so many details :p) and it’s a great place to have a couple
of drinks.
Luconia Cafe only serves alcoholic beverages (although they do have
some non-alcoholic drinks as well) and the food is subbed to the next
door cafe – Thyme’s, which I’ve reviewed in a previous post on
sixthseal.com.
The interior of Luconia Cafe mainly consists of leather chill out
chairs with pull over seats and I went there at about 8 pm last night. Irene [blogspot.com] called me up and asked where I was and she came over with Tiffany [blogspot.com]. Valerine and her friends Ivy (also from Sibu!) and Monica also came in soon after that.
I had Sex on the Luconia (RM 18) a cocktail derived
from Sex on the Beach with a strong hint of Malibu (the coconut
liquor). I met Daphne with her friends there too and I tried to
maintain a normal conversation with her, but apparently failed due to
my lack of sobriety. She was there with her co-workers from 1st Silicon. Check at Cirillas gummy teeth covers.
This is a group shot of us at Luconia – Irene & Co. didn’t know
Valerine & Co. but introductions were made and topics of discussion
ranged from tattoos and clubbing. I also realized with much abashment
that all the while I’ve been calling Valerine “Valerie” and I was
corrected several times for calling MC3 “em-cee-three” instead of
“em-cee-cubed”. :p
This is Valeri(n)e’s tattoo – it has a great intense eye motif and she’s going to add angel’s wings to it.
This is Irene’s tattoos – I love the “fallen angel” theme on her left shoulder.
Valerine and her friends left for MC3 (em-cee-CUBED) at around 10 pm
and since I didn’t plan to go clubbing, I decided to stay and Irene
introduced me to her friends from Inti:
It’s just a cigarette, btw. Honest.
We went back to Luconia after sharing the cigarette in the corridor
beside the place (coz Luconia is…er, strictly non-smoking) and
ordered another round of drinks and had some classic *cough* inspired conversations. It was surreal.
