Kyspeaks.com

Like many guys, I have a thing for time pieces. Sitting in my closet are several gateway-drug sort of watches in the form of an Orange Monster, my first mechanical watch, a Citizen ProMaster Eco-Drive Nighthawk, a Casio G-Shock Riseman, and a Suunto D6 I use for diving.

So you can imagine my excitement when I was invited to the launch of 2012 Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante Material & Complication by Bell & Ross, one of my favorite luxury watch brands ever since I first set my eyes on a BR-01.

Bell & Ross Material and Complications

The event took place at Estate, the Intermark KL on 26th July, with the set up of the romantic post-war era of 1950s Shanghai. The ambiance is a throw back to the time of luxurious elegance, timeless sophistication and ethereal beauty.

Bell & Ross also featured a photo exhibition by the celebrated local photographer Vincent Paul Yong who captured a series of photos with the Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante via an exclusive collaboration with Bell & Ross.

photo exhibition by Vincent Paul Yong

Vincent Paul Yong, better known by VPYP, has been a leading photographer in Malaysia, having photographed the likes of British fashion designer Sir Paul Smith, pop singer Mizz Nina, and Brazilian model Lucas Mascarini. The photos were presented at this event prior to them being available to any print media. They were of course, work of art.

Mr Tong Chee Wei (GM FJ Benjamin Luxury Timepieces), Mr SK Teh (GM Cortina Watch)

The two companies, FJ Benjamin Luxury Timepieces and Cortina Watch joined forces to celebrate Bell & Ross’ quest for creating a large complication with original display in the form of Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante.

The night was kicked off by speeches from General Manager of FJ Benjamin Luxury Timepieces, Mr. Tong Chee Wai, and the GM of Cortina Watch, Mr. SK Teh, and followed by a recorded presentation and words from President of Bell & Ross, Carlos-A Rosillo.

model with Bell & Ross BR Grand Minuteur Tourbillon

The models then brought out the watches for guests to examine.

The complications come in two forms – “digital” complication is an unusual display of the digits for hours in a large window at 12 o’clock position, with the hour hand replaced by a rotating disc that jumps instantly when the hour changes.

the new Bell & Ross Vintage WW1 Heure Sautante Pink Gold

Power reserve indicator then, is located at the 6 o’clock position. Since the mechanism triggering the “jump” in the hours requires power, it is thus important that remaining power is easily examined, to ensure a smooth function of the movement.

Bell & Ross presents Materials & Complications

The two complications are dressed in pink gold or platinum, the ultimate high quality material that brings nobility to the timepieces. This is where the “material” in material & complications come into play.

The platinum version also features a second window for the power reserve indicator with opaline grey and silvered dial in 18k gold while the pink gold version has an opaline pearl dial. Both versions are 42 mm in diameter.

Reta & KY, Cindy, Nicholas with the models

The watches showcase Bell & Ross’s expertise in watch-making, they are elegant and brilliantly combine the complexity of mechanical movement with simplicity of a new time reading system.

The WW1 Heure Sautante Collection will be very exclusive, Bell & Ross will produce only 50 pieces for pink gold and 25 pieces for platinum version. They are priced at RM 83,300 and RM 123,300 respectively.

Shanghai based jazz singer Jasmine Chen serenades to guests

We were also entertained by the Shanghai based jazz singer Jasmine Chen while being served champagne, single malt whisky, and finger foods from Estate. Making the night a memorable one.

Vintage WW1 Heure Sautance with Power Reserve

Technical Specifications:

WW1 Heure Sautante Pink Gold

• Movement: jumping hour, automatic winding movement. Blue-steel screws, circular-grained mainplate, oscilating weight and bridges decorated with “Cotes de Geneve”
• Case: 42 mm, Satin-brushed 18k pink gold. Sapphire caseback
• Functions: Hours indicator (windows at 12 o’clock), minutes (central hand) and power reserve (at 6 o’clock)
• Dial: opaline pearl
• Crystal: anti-reflective sapphire
• Water resistance: 100 meters
• Strap: alligator
• Buckle: 18k pink gold

WW1 Heure Sautante Pink Gold and Platinum

WW1 Heure Sautante Platinum

• Movement: jumping hour, automatic winding movement. Blue-steel screws, circular-grained mainplate, oscilating weight and bridges decorated with “Cotes de Geneve”
• Case: 42 mm, Satin-brushed steel. Sapphire caseback
• Functions: Hours indicator (windows at 12 o’clock), minutes (central hand) and power reserve (at 6 o’clock)
• Dial: opaline grey and silvered dial in 18k gold hand-applied guiloche decoration
• Crystal: anti-reflective sapphire
• Water resistance: 100 meters
• Strap: alligator
• Buckle: platinum

For the past 2 years, my family and I have been to Damansara Village at Damansara Jaya for steamboat reunion dinner over CNY, and if a place passes my mom’s taste test, it will surely passes mine.

The restaurant is a venture of the infamous Patrick Teoh, his daughter Melanie and Son-in-law. The original place was, and still is doing so well that they decided to open a branch right at the heart of KL. The new place is aptly named Restaurant Damansara Village at Imbi

indoor and outdoor seatings, the fish pool, and live seafood aquarium

Together with about a dozen other blogger friends, I was invited by Patrick himself for a review session. I am hesitant to be writing about the same place twice (tho different branch), but I was assured that the menu is different. Furthermore, how could I resist a an invitation from a celebrity that is named Patrick Teoh KY?

Yes, the truth is stranger than fiction.

village steamed chicken, bamboo clams

Other than air conditioned dining area (as well as al fresco) and nicer decoration, Damansara Village at Imbi also offer more than just steamboat. Our motto of the day was to sample these offerings.

According to Patrick, there isn’t a chief chef per se at this establishment. Every dish is a recipe from someone’s relative/friend, and every ingredient is sourced directly from some of the more interesting locations.

For example, the village steamed chicken (RM 49 for half) is cooked with 100-day free range chicken from their own farm (usual intensive farmed chicken is slaughtered at about 6 weeks) and steamed only with salt. The texture is quite a lot firmer and I do like the richer flavor too.

The steamed bamboo clam is served with slices of chili, fermented beans, and some spring onion. The combination worked for me, seafood with a dash of spiciness and the saltiness from the beans. I like how there put 2 clams in one shell too!

pork knuckle vinegar, pepper pork tripe soup

Next we had the pork knuckle vinegar. Fatty pork knuckle with glistering layer of fat served in sweet vinegar that is not overly strong. This dish always work for me, I kinda wished I had some sambal and rice to go with it though.

Pepper pork tripe soup (or the spicy soup 辣汤) reminded me of Kien Kee at Seri Kembangan. It was very peppery, fragrant, and full of 3-layer pork, tripes, and other innards. I wouldn’t rate this any lower than Kien Kee to be honest, it was tasty!

steamed snake head, steamed duck

Then come the steamed snake head. Instead of the more common farmed snake head, those served at Damansara Village are caught from the wild. As such, the meat is quite a lot firmer. Call me crazy, but I actually prefer the farmed variety with its’ smoother meat, though what we had was decent too.

For the first time of my life, I had steamed duck! Just like the chicken, this one is cooked with nothing but salt. Though not completely void of the strong “duck smell”, this dish still manage to end up tasting pretty good. However, I will only suggest this to duck lovers, casual diners should stick with roast duck instead.

salt bake crab, village special steamed clam

The seventh dish of the night was salt bake crab (RM 48), another traditional recipe that even I know how to make – kill crab, rub with plenty of salt, throw in the wok, fire up). And sometimes the simplest method is also the tastiest method, provided you have superior ingredients. Though they were a bit smallish in size, the taste more than made up for the size, they were very, very sweet and flavorful.

Steamed clam (RM 20) was cooked with plenty of dried wolfberrie (kei chee), cilantro, Chinese wine, and some other herbs. The clams were juicy, and I liked the combination of the ingredients too.

damansara village steamboat with herbal soup

After the eight dishes, I was already quite full, but Patrick wouldn’t let us go before trying the very dish that made the name Damansara Village famous – the Pulau Ketam style steamboat (RM 18.80 per portion) with additional Chinese herbs (RM 12)

Other than the typical servings of fish ball, dumplings, meatballs, mussels, vegetable, tofu skin, and so on, we also added flower crab to flavor the soup, and some live shrimps (RM 23 for 300g). As full as I was, I couldn’t help but to devour a few more of those oh-so-yummy shrimps. This is a must order add-on.

patrick teoh and the food bloggers at damansara village

After the excellent dinner, we hanged out till way past closing time and had a pretty good time with Patrick and the gang that includes Gareth, Kim, Suan, Reta, FA, Huey Fang, Sue Lynn, Eiling, Yiling, Cumi&Ciki, Meena, and more.

The food was honestly better than I had anticipated, and I think I’ll be bringing mom to the new outlet next year!

map to damansara village at Imbi

Address:
Damansara Village at Imbi
32, Jalan Utara, Off Jalan Imbi,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.144715, 101.717166
Tel: 03-2141 1678

I attended perhaps the most awesome party in 2009 – the second installment of the now rather infamous Malam Tumpang Glamour party, this time by the pool side at Metropolitan Square. I also went to the first MTG a few months ago.

For those who’ve not heard of this strangely named party, it was conjured up by Michael, Elfie, and Reta. The idea is to throw a cheap ass party by getting booze and audio equipments/DJ sponsored, and collect some money to be donated to Furry Friend Farm to help out them poor animals.

In an alternate universe, we’d just eat those animals and save all the trouble, but there’d be no party. Just go to show that you can’t have everything in Vietnam.

KY & Elfie; big party; Elfie, Kelvin, Li Yin w Kendrik, Li Ling; Haze

Anyway, MTG 1 was fun, with a venue that was a bit too hot and slightly too packed, but MTG, man, it was a real party. There were over 100 cheap ass party goers who attended; friends of organizers who brought friends, who brought more friends. The whole 4th degree of separation thing sort of got out of proportions.

I managed to convince Haze the workaholic designer to join us to the party, and thanks to her I made the right decision to go prepared – with a swimming trunk under my “beach wear”. I also brought along the swimming goggle for good measure.

Fiona & Ahfa; a wet Reta; KY & little Kendrik (not my son)

The party started out not exactly quite as fast as we’d like to, so Terence and I decided to get the ball rolling by jumping into the pool. It was GODDAMN COLD! I had to swim a couple laps to warm up. Jack and AC soon joined us.

But a pool party isn’t complete without getting people thrown into the pool. So we did just that, Reta, Elfie, Michael, Yvonne, Horng, Vicky, Haze, Ahfa, Chris, Siao Ling, Eric, Nigel, Nazrul… were among the people whom Terence and I managed to throw/forced into the pool. There were quite a few more whom we don’t remember or never had the time to know. I think we must have done it to at least a couple dozen people.

Terence & KY – we got the pool thing going!

We basically went up to someone random and asked “hi, what’s your name?”, said person would answer, and the next question was “why are you still dry?”. 3-4 people would then gang up and haul the person up, remove all phones/wallet/keys, and throw him/her into the pool.

It was damn FUN!… at least until Terence slipped while carrying Yvonne (I was holding onto her legs), and the poor gal developed a small tower on top of her head from the fall, OUCH. (sorry Yvonne, and nice to have met you)

The party then went on with more drinking, dancing, and getting even more people thrown into the cold, cold water. It was a blast! At the end a very drunk Jack had to sleep in his car overnight and somehow lost the wallet during the party, collateral damage, oh well!

some group photos, and a wasted Terence in the lift

RM 400 was raised for Furry Friend Farm, extreme tiredness for the organizers (thanks guys!), some alcohol induced pre-digested food gathered on the floor, a very drunk Terence who was reported peeing out of a window late in the night, and a tonne of very happy party goers who’re only left wondering what MTG 3 would bring!

The organizers want to thank Carlsberg & Tuborg for the beer, Redbull for the energy drink, 2crank.com (awesome indie music portal) for the venue, and Elfie’s manager Eugene for donating his credit card to charity while being completely wasted.

First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming and made the fifth installment of our annual Xmas Eve Party a blasting success. There were some 40 people who turned up, quite a few bottles of liquors and wines brought by you, and again, Tuborg sponsored loads of free beer with their beer girl Siao Ling joining the party as well. It was awesome.

Due to the hectic schedule a week (including a trip to Singapore) prior to the party, my housemates and I only managed to put up some minor decoration and set up the place in the last 2 hours. I bought some x’mas lights for my two x’mas trees, reuse the deco, got some snacks, mixers, a Coleman huge ice box filled with ice from 7-11 and we were good to go.

free Tuborg beer, and lotsa socializing

The party got started at around 9pm with Terence, Chris, and Anthony arriving first. Sheryl, Cindy, and Simon arrived there after, and joined by Eiling, who managed to fetch Huai Bin to my place despite being already 3/4 drunk before the party even got started.

Erna, Michael, Elfie, Reta, Cindy, KY, Siao Ling, Huai Bin, Mohan, Firdy, Simon

Suan, Alan, and Wei Yi were around when our favorite Tuborg girl Siao Ling showed up with all those beer just as my new ice box was yearning for some attention. We quickly set things up and the party really got started right after that.

Chan, Huey Fang, Kelvin, Sheryl, Terence, Yee Hou, Aireen, Chris Tock

As the resident alcohol pusher, Terence was doing a fine job ensuring everyone a fair chance to get royally drunk by mixing 2 huge glasses of alcohol laden concoction named Life and Death. Erna was very fortunate to have a few gulps and ended up missing half the party by passionately hugging my gate with a really stoned facial expression. Elfie was embarassed that her fellow Sabahan can’t hold her drinks.

Naufal, Gareth, Shamsul, AC, Faye, Kim & chef, Adrian, Alan, Wei Yi, Suanie

There were some new faces in this year’s party, Shamsul, AC, Faye, Chris, Anthony, Rebecca, Jenson, Aireen, Daniel, and Debra are friends of friends or people whom I got to know via the blog but never met prior to this party.

Cindy, Selina, Siao Ling, Tock, Yee Hou, Firdy, Huai Bin, Elfie, Michael, Eiling, Erna, and Zoe are certainly are friends who attended the party for the first time. I got to know some of them via blog, random events, and via other friends.

Chris, Anthony, Zoe, Horng & Eiling, Amanda & Rachel, Enoch & Alice, Jenson, Rebecca, Daniel, Debra, Selina

There are also those who are no stranger to our little yearly celebration, Reta, Naufal, Nicholas, Alan, Adrian, Rachel, Kelvin, and Mohan all came to the party at least once before.

Then there is the group of my closest friends who were here since the get go. My housemate Horng, Suanie, Gareth, Kim, Huey Fang and Chan, and Terence. I am glad that my exgf Sheryl was able to make it after being away in Europe for post graduate studies for the past two years.

some of the more embarassing gift exchange moments

We didn’t actually have a dress theme this year. Instead, the legendary gift exchange has a little twist in it: It has to be something you can wear, and you must wear it after opening. This idea came from Horng, blame him if you were one of the victims.

Some of the more messed up gifts include a purple bra (I hope the size fits you, Elfie), disposable undearwear, a few boxes of condoms (Huai Bin wore one in public, scaring off all the girls), numerous underwear, socks & stockings, headgear, and lipsticks. The gift exchange was pretty intense, very dangerous.

the Heineken hat exchanged hands 5 times, stupid Michael!

The most saught after gift item was this Heineken hat brought by Michael. The hat was snatched up 5 times and ended up back to Michael just because Elfie wanted it (that’s wh4, stupid Michael). I think we should make it a rule that you can’t pick your own gift next year onwards.

some of the things people do when they are slightly influenced

Things got a little wilder after the gift exchange session as the blood alcohol mixture gets a bit out of hand for a few people. There’s this particular “Patrick” who can’t seem to walk properly and ended up passed out all over the place. The best thing was he kept saying “careful! careful! the earth is moving” and “are you guys ok?” everytime right before he passed out. Patrick is seen sleeping in two places with “James” sitting in both places in the collage above.

There were also some toe licking actions by Faye and Huai Bin, Siao Ling was, tragically, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The party was great, and it was only appropriate that we had to end it after the cops came at 3:30am saying we were a bit too loud. Some of us then headed to Ming Tien for an early morning breakfast where Rachel promptly vomit out the wan tan mee after consumption. I think she was eager to join Patrick and James as the third person to throw up.

Again, thanks for coming, Merry Christmas and see you guys next year!

More incriminating photos can be found on facebook.
KY’s album 1, album 2, album 3
Suanie’s album
Horng’s album 1, album 2
Reta’s album
Kim’s album

Merry X’mas to everyone! The 4th X’mas Eve Party we had last night was awesome, I want to thank everyone for coming, and for the few who didn’t manage to make it (eg. my hot chick), hopefully we’ll do it again next year. I hope that everyone had fun and enjoyed the party, if I wasn’t a good host, please file your complains elsewhere cos I’m not gonna give a crap. 😀

There are more photos on my facebook album and flickr set

Gerald, Suan; Kim, KY
Chan, Huey Fang; Alicia, Su Li, Mohan

Like the previous year, we have the regulars and some newcomers. Lets see if I manage to count how many of us were at the party.

• Host: KY (naturally)
• House mates (current & ex):Rachel, Huey Fang, Carol, Chan
• Bloggers: Suanie, ST, Kelvin, Kimberly, Ringo, FA, Reta, TBG, Skyler, Nicholas, Esther, Sew Jin, Penny, Albert, Mohan, Simon, Justin
• Friends: Audrey, Damien, Dree, Jessica, Winson, Jack, Edward, Douglas, Arthur, Alicia, Su Lin, Adrian Low, Naufal, Aysraf, Suertes, Gerald, Adrian (giant sotong), and Adrian Low’s friend (whose name I don’t remember)

That makes 40 even, pretty good turn-out I’d say. 😀

Albert, Ringo; Aysraf, Sueter
Esther, Sew Jin; Jessica, Arthur

The party got started at around 9pm. I had gotten the place ready with plenty of drinks, the few bottles of harder stuff I have laying around, and 3 crates of Tuborg beer that were given to me by this nice lady from Carlsberg after reading the X’mas Eve Party invitation post. I guess everyone at the party was grateful of Mr. Ole, the GM of marketing and Mr. Teh, the Brand Manager of Carlsberg.

Reta, FA; Nicholas, Rachel;
Kelvin, Skyler; Justin, Simon

As the night went along, people were starting to get friendlier, probably alcohol had something to do with it. They started chatting up and doing some camwhore sessions.

Dree, KY, FA, Jack, Naufal; Winson, Damien, Douglas, Dree;
Skyler, Kelvin, Reta, Esther; ST, Nicholas, Esther, Alicia

The theme was Ah Lian and Ah Beng outfit, but most of the guys were not really up to task. Credit must be given to FA, Reta, Chan, and Huey Fang for going the extra mile. Ringo had an interesting harajuku type of outfit though, while Alicia didn’t even need to try, she is from Klang after all 😛

Adrian Low and friend; Arthur, Audrey
Suan, Jack, Reta; Carol, TBG, Ed

At midnight, we started the gift exchange program. This time around, everyone who contributed a gift is given a number. We then draw and call each number from the hat. Whoever has their number called will get to choose a gift from the pile, or anything that is already opened from the previous person. As always, the later you get your number called, the better selection of opened gifts you’ll get to choose for. If you chose a good gift early, someone can snatch it off, as we shall see.

The various gifts we got

Jack, being a noob as usual, inadvertently chose something Carol gave, a packet of adult diapers. Nicholas got a toilet survival kit from Suan. There were also condoms, KY jelly, crayon set, bubble blower, puzzle, CEO cafe, and even a Basic Instinct 2 dvd. I gave away a curry dinner meal with raw fish, prawn, curry powder, and all the vegetables.

the bacon bak kua went through 8 people!

The hottest gift this year was the bacon bak kua from Kelvin. The gift was snatched up 7 times, Skyler was the lucky last person to bring back that delicious bag of bacon. Douglas promised he will bring the most sought after gift next year, like how he did the previous year (a set of keyboard)

The bacon trail: Alicia -> Aysraf -> ST -> Audrey -> Su Lin -> Reta -> Kim -> Skyler

it was a great party, we must thank the Tuborg beers from Carlsberg

I think the whole bacon debacle got everyone excited and police actually came to ask us to quiet down at around 1am. Luckily the uniformed officers were nice (though they didn’t want to take a photo with me when I asked) and just politely asked us to keep it down and end the party soon.

I had a great time, and I want to thank you for coming. See you again next year!