Ping Pong Ball in Kilkenny Beer Can

If you find a ping pong ball in Kilkenny can, don't worry. It is inserted into the cans by the beer makers. When I first heard the sound of an object in my can of Kilkenny, I got worried. I wondered if it was some machine parts that dropped by accident into the can during manufacturing.

Then I did a search and voila - the object (a 3cm plastic ball) was inserted in for Kilkenny and Guinness beer cans so as to manage the characteristics of the beer's head, i.e. the foam that adds to the creaminess of the beer. See the small white ball thru the can hole in the picture below? The ball is nitrogenated and releases nitrogen into the beer when the can is opened. The nitrogen helps to form smaller bubbles and triggered likewise reaction for the rest of the beer.

So next time if you find a small plastic ball in Kilkenny cans of beer, don't worry - it is meant to enhance your drinking experience!

Canned Cocktails - Marks & Spencer

Ever fancy a ready made cocktails to be enjoyed n the comfort of your home? Voila here comes Marks & Spencer's canned cocktails. I saw these nicely designed little cans at the Vicocity and I was wondering what products were these. I was pretty surprise when I saw words like 'Gin & Tonic', 'Cosmo' & 'Bloody Mary' on these cans. There were 5 or more different variety of cocktails.

These little cans cost $9.90 each (cheaper than what one gets at hotel lobbies or bars) and apparently they were packed in Belgium I believe. The Sunday Times (12th June 2011) also has a short para showing these cans of Marks & Spencer cocktails in the Lifestyle section. So one can now enjoy a cocktail party at home, lazing in comfortable couches without any hassle to worry about driving after drinking.

Suntec - Carrefour Wine Fair 20 - 30 May 2010

The Carrefour at Suntec (Tower 3 & 4) is having its wine fair again. I was passing by Carrefour today when I saw the banners and displays of wine bottles.

One could always find various good bargains at the Carrefour wine fairs. The discounts are alright (not too much actually) and one gets to choose from a wide variety of wines. When you buy above a certain amount, they will be glad to offer free delivery.

Getting the wine accessories at discounted price is another draw for going to the wine fair. So for those who want to stock up their wines for the year, do visit Suntec Carrefour from now till 30th May.

Malibbu with Mango or Pineapple

After my previous try using Malibu and carrot juice, I decided to try Malibu rum with mango and pineapple. Yupz, one of this blog's readers had suggested Malibu rum with pineapple and I must say that it is a great combination!

Here's the pictures of the drinks. It is a pity that I don't have proper ice crusher equipment and a cocktail shaker or else I am sure the drink will taste better!

Here's the full glass of the drink. Malibu with mango is not as great as Malibu with pineapple though. I think it is because both are sweet in taste and thus lacks the contrast that makes cocktails interesting.

I think Malibu with pineapple is sufficiently good that my dad actually asked about it many days after trying it. :) The proportion is two parts juice and one part rum. Add ice or chill the drink. A can of pineapple juice is actually quite cheap ($0.60 - $0.80) for two servings of cocktail, and so it is great value for money for a home made Malibu cocktail.

See also:
- Malibu Rum & Carrot Juice

Carrerfour Wine Fair @ Suntec 21-31 May 09

Carrefour is having a wine fair (again) at Suntec, starting from 21st to 31st May 09, right outside the Carrefour supermarket.

I was passing by the area when I saw a large group of people, who were already shopping within the wine fair. I believe it was the Wine Night preview or something similar, for those folks to have a privileged shopping experience. I think Carrefour also typically throw in some lucky draw for such preview event when they sent the invitation card.

As usual, there is some form of discount to entice wine buyers, and one could also get the other related wine accessories, e.g. wine glasses and openers at the fair. Normally they will also sell cheese, but I am not sure this time round.

What is more interesting is that Carrefour has also thrown in free delivery with conditions. Those who purchase above $150 worth of wine or other stuff at the fair, can ask for a free delivery of the products. If the total purchase is less than $150, just add $8 for the delivery charge. Saves the trouble of lugging around 4-6 bottles of wine, i.e. about $150 worth of wines.

So for those wine lovers, do drop by Carrefour @ Suntec and take a look! I am likely to grab a bottle or two over the next few days.

Afternote: I popped by the fair, and took a picture of these flask like apparatus. Each flask contained a paricular smell / aroma associated with wine characteristics. Quite interesting to personally experience the 'smell'.

Malibu Rum and Carrot Juice

A couple of weeks ago I realised that I had a bottle of Malibu Rum hidden in the closet. Worrying that the coconut based rum (see Wiki on it) would be spoilt over time I decided to open the bottle of Malibu to try.

To my surprise it tasted quite good! Somewhat sweet, the clear rum is quite smooth and easy drinking. The bottle suggested that Malibu be mixed with pineapple juice. Since I didn't have any I tried using the Pokka carrot juice instead.

The end result if so-so. Perhaps I mixed in too much carrot juice, i.e. the whole can. Malibu's website has many other suggestions of cocktails, including a mix of 3 parts apple to 1 part Malibu. So I guess I had really added in too much carrot juice. The other cocktails on the website, including Malibu Sea Breeze, suggested 3 parts juice to 1 part Malibu.

Take a look at their website, the animations and history part is pretty entertaining.

Wine Fair @ Suntec Carrefour

Was passing by the Suntec Carrefour on Wednesday and decided to pop by the Wine Fair for a look. I think generally the bottles were on good discount. There were also quite a number of samplers for those interested. Since I was driving, I didn't really 'sample' too much.

Over the years, Carrefour @ Suntec has been holding a number of these wine fairs on a frequent basis. Personally I think such events are a great opportunity to try out different wines. I tried the South African Nederburg wines during one such fair, and have bought easily 8-9 bottles on various occasions.

However, after the wines are introduced and gained popularity, the prices start to go up. Nederburg late harvest used to cost like $18++ a few years back. It is now retailing at $26.90 per bottle (top centre bottle in picture below) at a supermarket (not Carrefour) in Bugis. At the Carrefour wine fair, the discounted price is about $22 or so.

Last year at the Carrefour wine fair, I tried Greek sweet wines, and thought the wine tasted good. We bought 2 bottles for our office events. So this time round I bought another of the Greek wine which cost about $34 or so. The Greek wines are really sweet, meant more for after meal consumption I suppose. For those interested, you could try them out since the wine fair is till 12 Oct, or if you miss it, do try at the next Carrefour Wine Fair (both Suntec and Plaza Singapura outlets hold them frequently).

Hestan Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon - 2005

We had a bottle of Hestan Vineyards's 2005 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the wine is great! While I know it is a great bottle, my taste buds are not so sensitive enough to tell the difference between this S$180 bottle versus other S$100plus bottles. This bottle is retailing over the Internet at US$100 (before any tax). The wine is full-bodied, with a bit of smoky and intense taste, good for those who like full bodied red.

Lolz, a bit wasted some would say, but at least now I know the upper limit for my taste buds (in dollar sense) is about S$100 bottle. Anything more expensive and it would be quite wasted on me. In case you are wondering, nope I didn't buy this bottle; it was a treat from one of the bosses for many nights of over-time work.

We had a few cakes from Bakerzin to go with the wine. About 10 of us shared this bottle, and so each got less than a standard glass of wine. Guess it is more for tasting. :)

Exploding Sparkling Wine

Originally my colleague planned to have a bottle of sparkling wine (with strawberry pulp inside) yesterday, but cos' quie a lot of folks are not free thus the event was pushed to today.

In his haste to chill the wine, he left the bottle in the freezer... yesterday! When the event was pushed back, he didn't remove the bottle. Lolz, and since it is a glass bottle with gaseous liquid... the bottle exploded! According to the cleaning untie, she heard some 'sound' from the fridge this morning... and in the afternoon she has to clean up this mess. Think she was quite angry abt it...



Not sure if it is because the liquid expanded and 'broke' the bottle, or cos' the gas escaped and buildtup a pressure that broke the bottle... bet some physics students out there would have the answer.

Red Wine and Bak Gwa

Heh it's the time of the year when bak gwa (bbq pork slices) is the favourite food of the mth! Chinese New Year must have bak gwa else it is sort of incomplete. Today I bought 500g of it from Bee Cheng Hiang and guess wat? It's almost gone by the end of the day! Here's the pic of the bak gwa. It's just sliced pork and not the bacon version.



Lolz... cos we opened another bottle of wine and the bak gwa became the natural tidbits to go along with it. This bottle from France is quite good... lolz. Seems to be from some St Joseph region. Here's a pic of it, and since I don't speak French I don't exactly know what the label says. There is some award thing for the wine too. Wonder if anyone ever try the concept of wine pairing with traditional asian food, should be interesting!

Wines ...

Had another wine session on Friday with abt 6-7 of us finishing a bottle of red. 1 bottle for that many people is not a lot, but I guess it's just for chill out. Before the session, was thinking which bottle to consume for that day... and here's the options:

End up we choose the Wyndham Estate Bin 444, a red Cabernet Sauvignon from Australia. Not bad :) Guess I shld note the wines that are not bad and we could get more of such bottles next time. Just realised that his bottle cost only less than 10 pounds on some websites and about US$8.99 on others... can't recall the retail price locally.

I still have that quarter bottle of sake... and dunno what to do with it actually... use for cooking? Lolz... that day the cleaning lady walked over to me and asked 'Can I have some alcohol?' I was like 'huh?!?!' for a long period of time until she explained that she was cooking some steam fish at the pantry and the vinegar she used is not that great, so she thought to get some alcohol from me...zzz... I got no rice wine for cooking, so gave her a bit of the sake instead... dunno how the fish taste like cos' I didn't dare to ask muaa haa haa.... (do I look like alcohol supplier?)

881 + Baileys = many many thoughts...

Listening to 881 soundtrack now... yesh it's finally back with me... listening to this soundtrack with Baileys in my hand is somehow... hmm hmm melancholic experience... lolz

hmm not much of updates over the past weeks... hmm make a few decisions here and there... make a few observations here and there... and well... life just goes on...

cooked pasta last weekend... so so... cos maybe I didn't get full cream milk... thus the whole sauce tasted a bit salty... and yesh I'm now a partial facebook addict.... lolz... i also got exercise a bit... lolz... not much... but for those who know me... this wld indeed be a surprise...

do think that age 30 is indeed a turning pt age...somehow this year i make more decisions than i do compared to past many years... well... nothing earth shattering... but all pretty 'personal' decisions... and yah 2 mths plus till end of year... dunno what will happen next... guess there are points / junctions in one's life where a person decides ... wah... it's already 11 Oct lolz...

Was chatting with a fren... and I mentioned that life has regrets... well it's only how an individual faces the regret... face it, let it go, smile at it... and move on... hmm to elaborate, it means...
With unlimited wants and the limits posed by reality... there will be regret......regrets that I shld not have eaten fatty oily stuff that caused me to have stomache for example... so it's more of a matter of regretting something?... then learn to face it... then let it go. While we recognise that it is painful... but well when the times comes we must let the 'regret' goes as well.

Hmm dunno why am I speaking like an old man... lolz...

Alcohol at my cubicle

mua haa haa... yesh I got a lot of alcohol at my cubicle... and a great variety too. Beer, sake, red wine, white,...etc. Hmm we do drink after work typically abt 730ish... rant a bit about work, more of community bonding...but less nowadays cos busy bah i guess...

Fish noodles... and my own fried rice...and wine at cubicle

o.k. intro a not too bad fish noodle place near Bugis. It's just opposite MoS Burger side...but to the left of it...near a place with car park. Hmmm but some pple dun like it... I find it o.k. leh...can eat. The fish head hotpot also o.k... here's a pic.















Now.... here's a pic of a fried rice... i fried myself at 12 midnight de... also got fish...canned salmon... muaa haa haa...taste... hmmm can eat lah... not too bad... oh...just to complete the 'makan' thingy... here's also a pic of the wine at my office cubicle...contributed by various people Different region de..