The first time I ever consciously knew that I was drinking a Macallan whisky was last year, when we opened 2 bottles of it during a colleague's (now ex-colleague) leave-do. Fast forward a year later and here I am at the "Toast The Macallan" event held at Marina Bay Sands Convention Hall. I went to the 12.30pm session on Sunday, 18 Jan 2015.

Thanks to Weekender, I won for myself a pair of tickets (worth S$38 each) to this interesting event that walks you through how a Macallan whisky is made as well as a whisky tasting session. You're first greeted by a Macallan 'model' dressed in a little black dress with The Macallan logo and their hair done up in a French twist. Every attendee was given a complimentary whisky cocktail - The Macallan Gem Sour:

That is how much I was given and I was really bummed about it because the others got more. They said that theirs was more simply because the ice had already melted but my cocktail tasted a bit diluted so...blah. That said, the Whisky Gem Sour was good and I think I might try to replicate it at home one day.

The highlight of the whole event has got to be the whisky tasting session so I'm going to jump straight to that.

We were led to another section where there were several tables with 4 small drams of whisky and a glass of plain water. I was immediately impressed by the set up and had to mentally tell myself NOT to calculate cost of the whole event (guesstimate is 100k).

The hosts for the evening were Randall Tan and The Macallan Brand Ambassador, Kieron Elliot, who was really hilarious!

Every good whisky, we learn, starts right from the type of barrel used and for The Macallan, they highly regard the Sherry Oak used in their handmade barrels. We managed to see 2 actual barrels and even sniffed it! The oak trees take about 100 years to mature before they're felled so if you think about it, the journey of good whisky is more than a century!

First up was The Macallan 12 Years Old whisky, which we learnt that all Macallan whiskies are naturally coloured from the oak and has no added colouring, unlike some other whiskies. Also, the darker the whisky does not mean the longer the whisky is aged because it depends more on oak barrel and how much sherry it absorbs during the sherry process.

I really liked the thoughtfulness of this diagram. It tells you basically what taste notes to look out for and its respective intensity. The though went through the organisers' minds when planning the flow could also be seen from the 'scent bar' located in the main exhibition area where attendees could smell the various scent notes and then be able to accurately tell the taste notes as described above.

The Scent 'Bar'

We were also taught that unlike wine, one does not swirl whisky because the alcohol content of whisky (usually 46% abv) is enough for the scents to evaporate in room temperature. Instead, one should first hold it near one's chin to get the first whiffs before sticking your nose and smelling in the other scents.

We were later each given a piece of Godiva chocolate and this was then paired with The Macallan 15 Years Old. I was really pleased with this pairing because the fruity 15 year old went really well with the chocolate and when I tried to pair it with the 12 Year old, the 12 year old Macallan tasted like straw. The 12 Year Old is the palest of all 4 whiskies and like how white wines tend to be, this whisky was significantly fruity and floral compared to the 15 Year Old.

My favourite whisky of the afternoon was the Macallan Whisky Makers' Edition. This is a special edition whisky that's only available in airports...so anyone flying into Singapore soon? Also, as the name suggests, it's a whisky that Macallan's distillery manager made to his palate and is a mix of whiskies from sherry and bourbon matured oak. The result is a delicious smooth whisky that is a bit spicy and sweet without it being too fruity.

Last up was the Macallan 18 Years Old. It is distinctively the darkest of all 4 whiskies and Elliot told us that this is from the oak as the distillery manager would choose the darkest oak barrels to house the 18 Year Old Macallan.

Compared to the other 3 whiskies, the 18 Year Old was mellow and full bodied. It swirled a lot better on the tongue and was the most interesting to taste. Although I still prefer the Whisky Makers' Edition. However, I'd drink this in a heartbeat.

As a door gift, we each received a 5ml bottle of Macallan 12 Years Old (S$10) at the end of the tasting session. We were ushered off to the gift shop and bar where we could ogle at the bottle of the world's most precious (ie. expensive) whisky:

A bottle of the 'M' was recently auctioned off for US$628,000 (it went to charity) and a dram was selling for S$250 that day...and that's the "special" price. In case you're wondering, a dram is 1/8 ounce but for scotch, it is about a finger of whisky. I joked to my friend that one day, that M is going to stand for Melissa. LOL.

The 'toy' that I was really interested is this full copper thing in the image above. It's the Macallan Perfect Sphere. The Japanese created the carving of a spherical ice to drink with whisky with the idea that a ball has the least surface area touching the whisky and thus, will not dilute the whisky while still keeping it cold. However, not all of us are able to carve balls of ice from a cube. Thus, this contraption was created. It's a heavy full copper bell-like instrument that uses pressure and gravity to press/shape a cube into a sphere. Pretty cool huh? It comes with an equally cool price tag of S$1050.

Happy smiles fuelled by alcohol on an empty stomach

Overall, it was a well-organised and well run event which was fun! It really helped with the branding of Macallan and does set it apart from others as it showcases its unique qualities while showing that it's a premium brand that is still attainable by us mere mortals normal people.

Oh...if you're flying into Singapore...do let me know how much a bottle of the Whisky Makers' Edition costs! :)

On our 2nd day of our Spring holiday, we went to Kyoto for a 1-Day sightseeing as well as to meet up with a friend whom I haven't seen in over 2 years!  Kyoto is definitely not a 1-Day touring city.  You'll need at least 2 days and a good pair of walking boots.  I also highly recommend getting the bus travel pass although our concierge didn't recommend it.  However, after walking for a day, you DO NOT want to walk back to the hotel/ train station/ wherever.

Arriving in Kyoto, the scenery is very different from Osaka. Older, more quaint and subdued.

We were greeted at the station by the statue of the supposed founder of Kabuki theatre, who was a woman.  Highly ironic that women were banned from Kabuki during the Edo period and only men were allowed on stage.

Across from the station and statue was the kabuki theatre where you can pay a hefty ticket fee to watch a 3-hour kabuki play.  Would love to be able to do that one day but alas, my pocket is empty and my time is filled.

The first tourist spot that we headed to was the Yasakasa Shrine, which is one of the 3 temple routes to the mountain (I forgot the name) and is also one of the oldest shrines in Kyoto.

I just love how there are so many old buildings in Japan that may not necessarily be used but they still stand and the juxtaposition against modern cars is just great!

Wishes, anyone?

Companies or individuals can donate various sums of money to the shrine and if you hit certain amounts, you can have your company name or name written on lanterns/ lamps/ tori-gate etc.

Pathway to the mountain

(Above) Why is there 1 special name written in blue??
(Below)  F-1? Well...not the Grand Prix.  It's just the name of a Pachinko parlour in Kyoto.

Got a bad lot? Tie it and leave it on temple grounds

God of binding fate?

After visiting the shrine, we headed off to Kiyomizu-dera, which is a temple that I had visited in 2005 but never went in. This time round, I simply HAD to go in.  I highly recommend taking the walk from Yasakasa to Kiyomizu-dera because there are a lot of things to do and see (plus eat) on the way.

Old and narrow streets of Kyoto

This woman dyed her poodle's hair hot pink!!

The last time I came to Kyoto, I didn't manage to see any maiko (geisha trainees) but I finally managed to catch some!!

Maikos at a photoshoot

On our way, we passed by the first pagoda in Japan.  Again, something that you wouldn't see by taking the bus or train. So it's worth the walk up the hill/mountain...depending on how tired you are.

The view at the crossroads towards Kiyomizu-dera

What do you do when you're tired and at a pseudo pit stop towards Kiyomizu-dera?  Why, you eat of course!  We started off with a Tofu Manju (JPY200) which comes with a cup of hot green tea if you sit down to eat.

The filling was really subtle but yet quite yummy.  It's not the usual tofu but the whey of the tofu that has been cooked with other savoury stuff.  It's also eaten in some traditional Japanese breakfasts with rice.

That's me enjoying my manju

When we walked further up the slope, there was a Croquette specialty shop and the special was their Monaka croquette.

As you can see, it is a normal beef croquette sandwiched between 2 wafers and a special cream sauce and cooked black beans.  When closed, it resembled a dessert but it's really a savoury food party that bursts into your mouth.  The beans are slightly sweet and this mixes with the savoury croquette and all is tied together with the creaminess of the sauce. 

We also ordered a normal beef croquette which was simply delicious eaten hot.  I don't know why but the croquettes that are sold in Isetan, Singapore, do not hit the same spot as these babies.  Alas, I only took a photo of the 1st character of the shop (as seen in the photo below)...so happy hunting.  Would it help if I mentioned that they ONLY sell croquette? *sheepish smile*

 
Walking even further uphill, we reached the major crossroads where the buses were offloading tourists and Japanese high school students on tour.  Just in time for lunch.  I spotted a noodle specialty shop that's on the 2nd floor and that's where we went to savour soba.

Name of the shop = Menkuroudo

My cold duck soba set

Siew mai's ten don soba set, which was the special of the day

I shall leave you with the photos of the food for this part as on my actual trip, this was where we took a well deserved rest before heading off, walking around the half of Kyoto.

Mel has been hit with the Olympics fever!

Man....are athletes hot or what! Especially the swimmers and the gymnasts! My attention was caught the whole of today by the very cute Tomita Hiroyuki of Japan. The French gymnast who won bronze also looks like a rock star but anyway...back to Tomita-kun....


That's him on the pommel horse and he was excellent. He wasn't performing that well today though. He fell off the rings (his hand slipped) and he fell again after the vaults. His fall from the rings looked painful and that might've affected his mood during the vaults.

I went searching online and found this old video of an interview of him. Check out his hot bod!! He's quite endearingly cute. The interviewer asked him whether he uses gym machines, he replied, "No. Only gymnastics." They then went on to test his fat percentage. According to the narrator, normal men have about 20% of body fat while athletes have about 10%. When Tomita-kun held onto the machine, an error message turned up!! Haha....this meant that he has close to 0% fat! To which, his reply was: I have some, I think.....

Tomita Hiroyuki Video

Anyway...pls check out the video and let me know whether you agree with me or not.

Now now...before you start bashing me about being shallow and viewing the Olympics not for the sports but for the oggling of fit bods, this is what I have to say: STOP KIDDING YOURSELF and STOP BEING THE POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK!

I was talking online to a guy friend while he was watching the female diving and he kept going "Guo JingJing's hot!" So...this only goes to show that there is a percentage where we DO watch the Olympics for the sheer love of watching of the sport but we do love to see their fit, lean bods. Women oggle at men, men oggle at women. Of course, if your gay, you'd be oggling at men and lesbians at women. Now...I think bisexuals are really at an advantage! They'll be watching and then go, "Oh that man's hot! Oh wait...that girl's cuter. Ooohh...that guy is droolsome!"

Wahahahaha.....ooh...I love the Olympics!