Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Of Fine Wines and Champagnes...

And so, we were at it again.... more champagnes and wine instead of beers... another big one bites the dust...

The super large champagne bottle on the table...




...and before.... the MOETs we popped....






Penfolds in line.....



Fine champagnes and wines, fine dining... recession? What recession?.... by the way, think this time, my days are numbered in the Philippines. I just received a call from my former boss requesting me to firefight in Cambodia... and I have just rejected his offer.

We'll wait and see what prevails later...

Sunday, February 01, 2009

Domestication

I find myself in a rather peculiar situation this year… a word I find amusing yet, serving as a wake up call, or rather… NOT. The word is… ‘Domesticated – accustomed to home life’ OR ‘Domestication – a process of accommodation to domestic life’ which originates from the word ‘Domestic’.

Two years ago, as far as I can recall, everyone was within the reach of phone calls, anytime, anywhere… this year, I cannot say the same anymore. Wild card entrees are not accepted anymore. J Meeting everyone now was like to have a reservation made at The Ivy in London…. 6 months advance, and yet, seats are not guaranteed. J …. And what does this tells you? You go figure…



Anyway, the year started off fairly good but in quick succession that I didnt even realize its passing. CNY's preparation came and went by, and before we knew it, we were tossing 'yee sang' on the 3rd day of CNY.




Since it was the year of the Ox, we had to honor him.


Not to mention the sumptuous meal prepared by my Mom. Yum yum... all my favorites + imported beers!



Before and During 'Yee Sang'



Anyway, I am not all good as well because I think without me realizing it, I am slowly becoming ‘The Ivy’ myself even though I am not ‘Domesticated’ yet…. Going out is so ‘a-thing-of-the-past’ already. I’d rather sit quietly tucked in the corner of a coffee shop and watch time pass by. Just the other day, a bunch of my friends from KL and neighboring cities, drove to Ipoh for a small get together. I was excited yet thrilled, and I had prepared a list of ‘to-do-things’ and ‘places-of-interest’ for our binge one day session including dim sum the very next morning. And so, we were off to Riverbank Sincero at Sunway City Ipoh to start off the evening at 5.30pm and without wasting time, a bottle of Gordon Blu was on the table.




Early Drink to start off the binge session. This was 5 minutes into the action... 1/4 gone.


However, after the solo bottle on the table, our plan had to be abandoned because it was a white wash, most of us were already tired. Probably because age was catching up. We went home thereafter.

Not withstanding which, the tone of drinks these days seems to be maturing. Last year, I remembered I was still on beer, but end of last year and this year, fine tuning of the palate seemed to have changed from that to fine wines and champagnes.




Both of them are my counterparts in Philippines.... and I am not talking about standard champagne bottles... big ones... sometimes two at one go.




I think the community should thank us for spurring the economy further since no one was spending. Anyway, Let's just hope the year augurs well for all... and sorry for the update. I thought I could have posted this earlier but to my surprise, I couldnt. Will work on that...


Now back in the Philippines and I am already in the thick of action. Phase 8 has started, the only difference is, I have 2 more assistants and I can start working on other aspects of the project which I should have last year, Cost Management and Risk & Value Management. :-)

Happy CNY to all!