I’ve been a lazy blogger this year but just because i didn’t write anything since Feb 2009, it didn’t mean i had a boring year!I’ve got tons of pictures and lots to tell but it will have to come in bits and pieces as i digest my 2009 and start to look forward to an exciting 2010!I am really thankful for the blessings given to me in 2009:

• i was back at my fav city London (the city with the jazz) 3 times this year
• i visited Spain once, France once, and Italy twice
• i had a great 2 week break in Thailand
• I made 4 trips to Singapore, mainly for business but managed to squeeze some wine tastings in it!
• learnt new photography tricks at a special trip to Sukau, Sabah
• Met global entrepreneurs in Hong Kong
• took tons of pictures at Angkor Wat, Cambodia which left me in aw and wanting more.

2010 promises to be a year of CHANGE, and more updates coming along!Have a great Christmas break and don’t forget to drink good wines - life’s just too short for the crappy stuff.

I decided to take it easy today and join the Sud de France’s organised tour. The highlight of today would be the Pont du Gard, one of the finest and best preserved part of the aqueduct built in AD 52 to bring water from a spring near Uzes to Nimes. The water crosses the Gardon at the height of 48 metres (and we went up and walked across this area)

A thousand men worked on the site using more than 50,000 tonnes of stone. It’s amazing when you think of it. Today we take construction of things like this for granted but in AD 38 when construction started, I cannot even begin to fathom how they managed to lift the stones and place them in the correct position. No cement was used to join the stones, and it’s all just precise architecture holding it.

This is on the Unesco World Heritage list, and it deserves to be on it!

These 2 pictures were taken from the top of the Pont (where the water used to flow across). I did a very amaterish job of combining the photos to give you a better representation of the view which I appreciated today!

We then went for lunch and then to Nimes, a place which I already went to yesterday. Tomorrow we begin proper business of meeting wine producers and doing further tastings so I better take a good rest tonight. More later…

I’m now in France at Sud de France wine tasting in Montpellier town. The weather was not too bad when I arrived (sunny at about 7 degrees Celcius) although I pity the people who were affected by the storm - about 1 million people around this region were affected and are living without electricity now. I pray that things will be back to normall soon!

First day at Sud de France. I was overwhelmed when I walked into the hall. Some 1500 wines are available for us to try - just look at the rows of wines.

I found a few interesting wines - at least label wise. This one says “Croak Rotie” - obviously a Rhone wine maker with a sense of humour. Tried it, it was nice for the price but doubtful that it’s a Cote Rotie…probably why it’s “Croak”

1+1=3  I like this concept!

Great looking art on the label. These wines are bio dynamic wines and I must say, I quite like all 3 of them. Mainly Syrah, Grenache, Carignan blends of different proportions but it’s fruity, has a nice jammy note to it, and leaves an impression in your mouth.

I decided to go spend a night with Chateau Mas Neuf the next day since there was not much going on at the show. We will be back to serious business in 2 days time.

chateau Mas Neuf is distributed by Wine Cellar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Luc the owner and winemaker was kind enough to allow me to spend a night at their guest house.

The guest room I slept in

Nice little kitchen and dining area

There is another guest room upstairs

After breakfast today, I decided to take a walk around the vineyards just surrounding the main house.

Some old vines - it’s winter now so you don’t see much

Well pruned vineyards waiting for spring to bud.

The kind of “soil” for the vines. The more stress it creates the better the wines.

They also have 1 hectare of olive oil - totally forgot to taste it! Darn! Luc, remember to bring me a bottle on your next trip to KL!

There is a lab inside this building which tests the wines.

The numerous awards and accolates given to Mas Neuf. It’s true - I can verify it for all of you my valued customers. Luc wasn’t lying when he came to KL and told you guys….

The tasting room area. I noticed that there were some wines we do not carry and did not have information about (see top shelf, last 4 wines on the right corner). The sweeter wines which Luc told me later that they only do once a year (about 400 bottles only) and it’s different each year. Nice!

We had lunch nearby at a nice restaurant which offered such a good value lunch at Euro14. And the chef uses only what’s fresh for the day hence offering only 2 choices respectively of each course (starter, mains and dessert). It was scrumptious!

Some barrel tasting after lunch - all I can tell you is expect to have some kick ass wines coming your way when it’s bottled.

Time to go - Luc dropped me off at Nimes, a smallish town of 300,000 people or so. I walked around a little before taking the 8pm train back to Montpellier.

The Arena like the one in Rome and Verona (dejavu). But this one had the matador statue in front. From what little I have heard here, they quite enjoy playing games with the bulls. And the bulls have an appellation system (AOC) where their breed is controlled strictly - not everyone is authorised to breed these bulls.
 

I’m back in London again…a city I really enjoyed during my uni days and still enjoy now!  Some cities have what I call “the jazz” and besides Melbourne, London is also on my favourite list. My 1st day back started off with quite an exciting drive. Little did I expect to be cruising along Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square and Piccadily Circus in a Lambo! Anyway, I’m not complaining. I can’t begin to describe how exhilirating this car is all 500+ horse power that is, and it has the works inside from TV, GPS, DVD player, heated seats and everything you need. I don’t mind selling my house for this!

what do you do when you visit a new place? try their alcohol of course! I just got back from Shanghai and Hangzhou and was quite suprised to find their locally brewed beer in hangzhou.

Picture taken from Bar Rouge - a great view from the Bund! Unfortunately, it was not conducive to sit outside that night as temperature were around 2 deg Celcius

The west lake of Hangzhou in the background. Temperature was quite friendly at around 8 deg Celcius.

I enjoyed this very much as I like fruity and fresh style beers. This beer had a nice fruitiness to it and is a great refreshing drink to start  or end your day! haha….

It’s also the first time seeing a “free from formaldehyde” label on a beer can. There is an ongoing debate on whether Asian breweries use formaldehyde as a clarifying agent in their beers. And yes, formaldehyde can kill!  There are some reports on the use of formaldehyde by small Chinese breweries. Thank goodness I chose one which had this label on! Anyway, if it’s really true that some breweries use this as a clarifying agent, the owners should be shot - how can one knowingly add this substance which can cause leukemia and brain cancer.

dear friends…i hope to write more blogs in the next 4 weeks as i have done tons of tastings of new wine arrivals, and also interesting wine matching theories.  i’ve been a little occupied with 2 new businesses lately, namely my venture into e-fulfilment & total logistics management in a company called Emery Worldwide (www.emeryworldwide.co.uk). But at least Marcus (my UK partner) and I managed to enjoy a bottle of Amarone when he was here recently!It’s also a very bz time at P.O.D. Education as the Cambridge ESOL exams are going on now and we are also preparing to start facilitating a SAP training session in Jan 09 so this has been heck of a bz period for me. No wines here yet but I’m going to rope in some partners into this!In the meantime, I hope all of you have lined up your best wines for the end of the year! There’s always opportunity during a crisis so don’t let all that depressing news bring your spirits down.I’m looking forward to our G8 grand dinner at Sage soon where a lot of top wines will be showcased!cheerio mates… 

Wine for Asia is held each year in Singapore, and the highlight of each year would be some tasting by a key person (like Stephen Henschke this year) and Poh Tiong’s booth. Being the Bordeaux ambassador he is, you can always expect to have a great selection of Bordeaux to taste at his booth. This year the theme was 2004 Bordeaux and there was a selection of 30 Bordeaux wines for us to try. I managed to do about 26 of them, and it was a great start to the day.(Poh Tiong and myself at his booth “The Wine Review”). He is also publisher of 3 wine magazines: The Chinese Bordeaux Guide, The Wine Review & Asian Sommelier Guide.Some of the Bordeaux wines waiting to be passionately savoured by me. Chateau Malartic Lagraviere 2004Region: Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, FranceAromas of sweet flowers in the midst of berry fruit flavours. Sour cherries, bitter chocolates, with very faint hints of sweet spices. Great length on the finish.(87/100 RK) Chateau Smith Haut Lafite 2004Region: Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, FranceGamey and leathery aromas intertwined with cassis.  On the palate, meaty notes, mushrooms, hint of truffles, bitter chocolates and very faint hint of fruits. (88/100 RK)Domaine de Chevalier 2004Region: Pessac-Leognan, Bordeaux, FranceAromas of sweet toast with concentrated blackberries. On the palate, sweet black fruits with nice vanilla hints and toasty finish. (87/100 RK)Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande 2004Region: Pauillac, Bordeaux, FranceElegant perfumy aromas of cassis, cherries and white flowers. On the palate, blackcurrant flavours, bitter chocolates, sweet spices which last a long time in your mouth.  Chateau Phelan Segur 2004Region: Saint-Estephe, Bordeaux, FranceStrangely some citrus orange peel notes, cassis, floral, and some green herbaceous aromas. On the palate, sour cherries, fresh fruits, hints of vanilla toast88/100 RK Chateau Branaire-Ducru 2004Region: Saint Julien, Bordeaux, FranceElegant notes of flowers, ripe cherries and cassis. On the palate, a little tart with berry notes and a short finish.84/100 (RK)  Chateau Petit-Village 2004Region: Pomerol, Bordeaux, FranceSweet vanilla, milk chocolates, blackfruit aromas. On the palate, cherries, hints of earthy notes, flavoured cigars, but slightly diluted and short on the finish. Smells better than it taste.83-84/100 (RK) Chateau du Tertre 2004Region: Margaux, Bordeaux, FrancePerfumy, nice ripe berry fruits. On the palate, chocolatey notes, sweet cherries and elegant tannins.88-89/100 (RK) More notes coming in the next post!  

thank you everyone for your concern and help…Eddie decided to come home at 1am+ last night.  

for some stupid reason, my auto gate opened whilst i was out today and both my dogs went missing….one of them came back when it started to pour this evening but Eddie, the younger of the two is still MISSING. Those of you who live in Bukit Damansara, Bangsar or Bukit Bandaraya may see him wandering around…please call me if you see him. My number is 012-2897777. Thank you!

CLICK HERE FOR AN ENLARGED IMAGE

it’s the time of the year again when i have to ensure i eat properly, sleep properly and run properly. Yes, run properly. I’ve paid (and it’s not cheap) for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon run and it’s in 60 days (yikes!). I’ve been training for the past month or so but I’m getting pretty fearful. 42 km seems pretty far (even on a car what more on foot!)

 I was at Max’s kitchen last night enjoying a great 3 course meal but had to opt for the Portobello mushroom salad, the Cod fish and half of a Chocolate souffle. And guess what I drank?  I had Sole mineral water!

I guess it makes you focus - considering I have 4 official dinners to attend next week all revolving around wines, I am going to be put in a very difficult position to refuse good wines!

Wish me luck! And I would like to also welcome anyone out there to join me in this run!! Go check it out on their website:

http://www.singaporemarathon.com/en/