The Time Out KL food awards is touted as the only food awards in the country that are completely nominated by the public, and 100 percent independent.
The 3rd installment of this awards was held at KLPAC on the 23rd Nov, and I had the privilege of attending the event with quite a number of fabulous familiar faces from the food blogging scene – kampungboycitygal, awhiffoflemongrass, masak-masak, bangsarbabe, cumidanciki, alilfatmonkey and more.
the party with plenty of booze and too little food
The invitation stated 7pm, but the official event did not start until 9pm. Though there were finger foods and plenty of wine, champagne, and other drinks to go about, it was still not exactly the right path to Vision 2020 if we keep treating every event like a Chinese wedding dinner.
This tardiness problem has simply got to stop. Starting the event late = wasting the time of those who arrive on time.
- end of ranting.
the hosts were Dominic Lau and Daphne Iking
The actual event itself was rather swift, less than 45 minutes in all. The shortlisted restaurants/person were announced and asked to be on stage, and then the winner announced.
I thought it would be nice to give a bit of description and perhaps let the winner say a few words, but it was just a hasty few photographs and moved onto the next category. I wasn’t sure if this was done to avoid finishing the event late, but that 2 hours spent waiting could probably be used more productively.
Some of the results are pretty suspect, but it is by public votes, so in essence, a popularity contest. There’s nothing wrong in using this method, but I thought there are several things that could be tweaked.
But first, the results: Read the rest of this entry »
I finally got to meet one of my favoritest personality on TV – Samantha Brown of TLC. For those of you without the privilege of satellite TV, she is one of the most cheerful and bubbly travel hosts there is.
Originally from Dallas and now residing on Brooklyn, Samantha Brown has covered Latin America, Europe, China, and – Asia. Naturally, her latest travel show is appropriately named Samantha Brown’s Asia.
Samantha Brown of TLC, and yours truly
Samantha Brown’s Asia premiers every Monday at 10.00 pm on TLC (Astro channel 707) beginning 25th July, 2011. The episod on Malaysia falls on July 29 with a special airing on the Sunday of July 28, 7:00 pm.
In the show Samantha Brown travels across Japan, Hong Kong, and all throughout South East Asia seeking experiences usually not found on everyday visit. For example, she went to an orang asli village near Ipoh, I didn’t know we even have orang asli in Perak.. oh well..
So don’t miss the brand new show especially if you’re a fan.
Samantha Brown’s Asia, on TLC (Astro Channel 707)
We had the opportunity to have a short chat and some photo sessions with her, and in real life, Samantha Brown behaves pretty much exactly as you see her on TV, very lively, funny, and full of smile. She’s the type of person you would want to have in any party, even one without alcohol.
There was a quiz at the end of the night, together with Helenness & another dude, I walked away with a pair of X-mini speakers after correctly answering her question. Yey me!
Asian dinner served by Hilton KL
As for the dinner, we were served foods from all over Asia – started with som thum from Thailand,summer roll from Cambodia, and sushi from Japan; then pho from Vietnam, soft shell chili crab from Singapore, dimsum from Hong Kong, tempura from Japan as mains; and Sago gula melaka from Malaysia, Lapis legit from Bali, and mini egg tart from Hong Kong as desserts.
It was a great concept, but execution was another manner altogether. The tempura was good (from Iketeru I bet), chili crab was alright, and the rest didn’t live up to the standard you’d expect.
But hey, meeting one of my favorite persons and winning a pair of speakers made it a plenty great night!
MTV World Stage is back again, this is the 3rd year in a row that Xpax brings MTV World Stage to Malaysia.
The concert this year will be held at i-City, Shah Alam with all new line up of - Thirty Seconds to Mars, the new international sensation Neon Trees, Korean pop group Beast, and our very own Pop Shuvit. If past year is any indication, this year’s party will be another pure entertainment pleasure.
Before we talk about how you can get your passes to this awesome concert, lets look at the line up a little closer.
Thirty Seconds to Mars:
Fronted by Jared Leto, singer/actor. If you’ve seen Fight Club, you’ve seen Jared Leto, he’s that blonde guy that got his face really whacked. Little did I know that he is also a rock star. Check out their current hit Kings & Queens on the youtube video above.
Neon Trees
An alternative band from Pravo, Utah, with their first hit single “Animal” (video above) that has over 10 million views on youtube. Check it out.
Beast:
South Korean band made up of 6 members and originally named B2ST. Their first mini album had over 20,000 in sales.
Hit single “Fiction” : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAzWT8mRoR0
Pop Shuvit:
Our very own and one of Asia’s premiere Hip Hop act. They’ve worked with international acts such as My Chemical Romance, The All American Rejects, The Wu Tang Clan, and more.
Latest single: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWmMQjFtFEo
With these line up we can expect a concert that will surely never disappoint.
Now the most important question is, how do you get a free pass to this gig, right? Well there are more than one method:
Reload:
First, check out xpax.com.my/promo_mtv.html.
From 16th June till 15th July 2011, just reload with Xpax, U.O.X. and S.O.X. & stand to get 2 passes! Just follow these simple steps:
i. Register by sending MTV to 28881
ii. Wait for confirmation SMS of successful registration
iii. Reload RM50 (cumulative)
iv. Receive a mobile voucher for redemption of 2 FREE passes to MTV World Stage Live in Malaysia 2011™
The passes are available on a first come, first serve basis and while stocks lasts only.
Facebook Challenge:
Go to www.facebook.com/xpaxfb, “like” the page and join the contest.
i. Select the act that you’re most excited to see
ii. Come up with a creative reason why you think that act rocks.
iii. Get as many people as possible to “Like” your creative entry.
The top 5 entries with the most “Likes” will be given 2 free Xzone passes to the event for an exclusive, money-can’t-buy experience.
“SCREAM YOUR WAY TO MTV WORLDSTAGE” Promo:
Record your most creative scream of “I want to go to MTV Worldstage!!” to stand a chance to win 2 FREE normal passes to MTV Worldstage 2011.
Dial *52925 and scream your lungs out!
50sen/recording
Channel X Promo:
Go to channelx.com.my to find out about “I Want to Meet Neon Trees” Promo and “I Want to Go to MTV Worldstage!” Promo too.
Good luck and hope you get your way to MTV World Stage 2011, it’s gonna be a blast!
A week or so ago I was invited to the launch of Weissbrau’s new menu at Pavilion KL, the German restaurant that is partly owned by a friend whom we used to play badminton with in like, 2006.
Five years later he runs this German restaurant that serves a variety of beer and pork, while the rest of us.. well..
Good food, awesome beer, and one lousy band
The launch of new menu was a pretty rowdy affair, there were the usual suspects – Reta, Elfie, Gareth and Kim, Michael, Cumi & Ciki, BangsarBabe, and more. Heck, there were even some Russian models.. who were probably just there for some free noms & booze, but did contribute to the overall almost-European ambiance.
it’s all about the beer – Carlsberg, Erdinger, Leffe
There were plenty of good beer to go around, there’s Erdinger, Leffe, Franziskaner, Hoegaarden, and more. For those who prefer local stuff perhaps due to budgetary constraints, there do have Carlsberg and Tuborg too.
plenty of good German food to go around
And yes, food. We were served buffet style so the presentation here isn’t exactly the best. There were the usual suspects – classic Frankfurter, meatloaf, pork burger, and even pork neck. The salads were pretty awesome too.
The new menu can be found on their facebook page, including prices.
fun time is what we had!
The kitchen is headed by a Swiss German chef, and has been pretty good on my previous few visits there.
As for this launch, we had a great time, and could have been better if the band was any good. They call themselves Mad Sally, a word play of sort since the members are all whites, or almost white, I think.
In any case, they play pretty good music, but both the vocalists can’t sing for nuts. It was only on the 3rd hour onwards that we started to enjoy the music, when there were enough alcohol in our system to render a much greater tolerance in acoustic quality.
But hey, it was still an awesome party!
Last weekend I was lucky enough to score a couple tickets to Deadmau5 LED Concert at Sunway Lagoon. To be honest, I was almost giving up the passes for someone else initially, then I went on youtube to check out Deadmau5.
5 minutes later I knew that this is a party I couldn’t miss! Thank you BRANDTHINK and Carlsberg Malaysia for the passes!
KY & Haze at Deadmau5, Sunway Lagoon 2011
Here’s a photo to .. well, document the fact that we were really there!
There were a couple DJs on stage prior to Deadmau5, and luckily there were pretty good bringing up the crowd to the raving mood too. However, I do kinda feel a bit bad for the DJ prior to Deadmau5 when people started chanting “We want Deadmau5, we want Deadmau5!”.
Haze and I decided to squeeze to the front of the stage for some hardcore raving when Deadmau5 came out, and it was intense! The video above was taken using my newly acquired Sony Ericsson Arc, I hope the short video at least conveys the mood of the party. (sound was a bit broken cos I guess it was too loud for the phone’s mic to handle)
The full LED stage was impressive! It was literally like if have a giant LCD screen and drap it all over the stage in 3D. Something you have to be there to appreciate.
Deadmau5 himself also worked the crowd very well, and of course, we had a great time and a good session of sweating of course.
Remember the previous post on ESPN Castrol Football Crazy’s Longest Pass launch that I went to? Here’s the “official” video of my longest pass attempt.
This was done in only one take, of course I did it conservatively with no fancy moves. After all I was wearing the Malaysian jersey and one should not embarrass the national symbol, right? hehe
Remember to participate and be on TV! Your video will be featured on TV as well as Castrol Football Crazy Facebook page too. Make it happen!
