Catch-up session with the gang

These days, the world just got smaller without borders anymore. You could be at one place in the morning and another by noon and fly over to another destination for the evening. In fact the saying goes of having breakfast at A then late lunch at B before proceeding to C for dinner could actually happen all thanks to the convenience of air travels and globalisation. So the world is really small.

A few weeks ago, we had a gathering of different people from different part of the globe. Malaysians who have been residing in Hong Kong for years, or Shanghainese who calls Singapore her home or a Japanese couple whom traveled endlessly I don't really know where their homes are.

Ellen who enjoys her wines as much as her travels :))))

Madame herself who's half Korean half Japanese but really a globe trotter. I can't recall how many languages she speaks. MW Maho plays golf from beautiful Provence to Nordic Sweden and then back to hot humid Malaysia before flying off to Tokyo to check on her houses. But she doesn't reside there.



Again, Chef Takashi was in his top form again - creating NEW dishes and some of his iconic signature dishes too. I really don't know how he does it, by keeping tab of a database of recipes vs his clients....wat the clients had and their comments + tasting notes. So 80% of the time we'll have new dishes. It's not helping that we are there at least 4 times a month, he must be scratching his head.


This one was special....MW Maho alwiz managed to surprise us with her "Surprises" it's always not what it seems....I know she's wicked. Being a MW - Master of Wines, she has all the access and knowledges to procure stunning wines and basically all the good stuffs which were unheard of. Let's keep it that way to keep the prices down.


A guest brought this beautiful 1982 bordeaux. Considered to be a young label though the history dated from 1725. It was once split into 2 families through generations of inheritance before being re-united again. Again due to globalisation and commercialisation, it is no longer own by the same family. These days, it's hard to find companies being own by the same family after so many generations of savoir faire.


Cote Rotie from the beautiful Rhone Valley :)))
brought back memories of our trip there 6 months ago.

I know, we are really blessed with all these experiences.
of amazing friends, good health, beautiful journeys that we brushed through everyday :)))) Whichever way it is, you yourself gotta make it happen. Agree?

Fat plump japanese rice, served with lobster and a special secret sauce. Being Asian, I need my carbs. hehehehehe.

None of us are really sweets person, so dessert is usually simple and refreshing.

Look at all the contended and happy faces :))) Hahahaha But most of all, everyone was still feasting on the wines at the end of the meal. I look forward to our next catch-up, which is errr...tonite? hehehehehe.

Kung Jung, PNB Darby Park

 

Burn baby burn....
the amber fr the charcoal fire was extremely hot, the sliced garlic were bubbling in the hot oil. For those who doesn't fancy fresh garlic for its spicy pungent nose and taste, this is definitely for you. After the bubbling process of coz. It has a very sweet nutty taste.

Last Friday we congregated for an early birthday celebration for Wenda. It was an informal celebration minus the cake!! where's the cake??? I guess she'll be blowing many many candles in the next 2 weeks and have as much cake as the Queen herself, hence we spare her calories with more meat for this gal.

Marbling of the beef was so beautiful that I had to snap as many shots as possible...despite the heat!!! it was really hot but thankfully at Kung Jung, the waiter will cook every morsels of food for you to your liking. 

MW Maho has got her favourite head waiter, and he knows exactly how we like our meat. Problem was we were eating too slowly, he had to remove everything off the griller once it's done, even took effort to place the individual pieces into our platter...almost had to feed us...hahahaha.

the peeps were too busy discussing bout the blind tasting we were having that evening. Again I did not snap pic of the beautiful rare bottles that we had.

MW Maho, Monkey and Wenda
As usual, the Master of Wines brought all her wine gadgets and peripherals for every dinner. Same goes to JS, his favourite wine opener is a beautiful handmade Laguiole wine opener. This group of ppl alwiz have their wine openers in their pockets.

MW Maho also bought a beautiful Swarovski white wine opener as a congratulatory pressie for Monkey on her new career. It's so pretty with a white leather box I didn't wanna use it!!! Too pretty to be used. But things are meant to be used right? So very soon I m gonna have Ms. White with me inside my handbag at every dinners.

What's that? it looked like kim chi!!! Seriously I am a terrible at documenting pics bcoz I left so many other pics behind, from all the yummy sides and different types of kim chi served here. The above pic was definitely not kim chi *though it may be marinated with one*
 

 It's lovely squid!!! yumsss, spicy sweet and tender.....
Head waiter had to remove the entire griller off the heat to stop further cooking, and we were again bz yakking away bout the wine regions that we were not familiar with - Languedoc. Okie into our next travel list. Gosh so many places in France that we've never been!!!!

Beef Ribs...we have so much of these, from original without marination to different types of marination. There's nothing in the menu that we ordered. So the next time if I am here on my own, I won't know wat to have, prollie this blog serves as a good documentation, I'll just pin-point the pics to them then....hehehehe

MW Maho is half Japanese half korean. For someone to say this place is good, it has to be really good!!! Kung Jung even received international Korean diners like the hensem good looking Rain. :)))

Wenda the meat eater was so eppy to be treated with different cuts of beef. I am sure this was better than birthday cakes huh? :))))

Finally some soup and beef and greens.

and bcoz we were perpetually hungry, we also ordered some ginseng chicken soup which was extremely yummy :))) There were oso omelette and other side dishes such as toufu with fermented kim chi.

 Monkey and Wenda

Happy Birthday Babe!!! enjoy your trip and till our next makan adventure :))) and yes I am scheduling a slot to go to ur roof top garden to harvest watever that u have planted for the last few months!!! Safe trip there.

Thank you to Papa Bear and MW Maho for dinner :))) *hic* and the outstanding wines of coz :)))

Kung Jung
Lot 3.1, Level 3,
PNB Darby Park,
Jalan Binjai,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +603. 2166.7181

Chateauneuf du Pape - New Home of The Pope

WAHHHHHH ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh WEEEEEeeeeeeeEEEEe

screamed the hobbits!!!!

Yeah my dear minion Hobbits....we are at the golden valley of Chateauneuf du Pape, then followed by more waahhh weeeeee, this time by yours truly. We were finally here!!! yeaaaah~~~

JS -_-" shoke his hand in embarrassment.
Our chauffeur was laughing hard and commented that we have a big "family" which he didn't realise until they came popping outta my bag.


the unmistakable iconic medieval ruins on top of the hill of Chateauneuf du Pape or short CDP. Chateauneuf du Pape is located just about 12 km away from Avignon, the medieval city which we were staying put for a few nites. The reason why we headed all the way down to Avignon was bcoz of CDP and little did we know there was so many things to do, see, eat and learn in Avignon itself.

The broken bridge of Avignon alone already impressed me so much and at that juncture, we have yet to step foot into the Palai des Papes - palace for the popes which looked more like a fortress instead of a glorious palace. Definitely nothing like the Vatican at all.


I could stare at this for as long as I want. Now where's our picnic basket, this would be the best moment and place to pour ourselves glasses of CDP wines.



The view from up here is simply magnificent with a view of Mount Ventoux. It was made famous all thanks to cycling...yes cycling...the gruesome scary climb up to this steep windy mountain - Tour de France.

Ventoux means windy and in fact the entire part of Southern France is exposed to the famous Mistral wind, which is also very important in wine making in this part of France. Mistral wind could go up to 320km/ph, I will speak more of Mistral in the future postings - we experienced it on our last day in Marseilles and it was so strong, I clung onto the bus stop bcoz it was the nearest and sturdiest structure available then!!!
 

dearie Hobbits~~~ u guys ready to go up to the tower?

Later I realised, it's not just a tower, but the remains of Pope John XXII's castle which was built in 1317. It served as a defence castle and also a vacation summer palace for the popes.

This tower was all that remained, the rest of the 14th century buildings were gone due to neglect after the departures of popes when the seat of power has been relocated back to Vatican. Actually it's not even an entire tower, just part of its walls.

JS and his camouflage jacket. He lurved everything camouflage from pencil case to shoes to clothings and bags. I know wat u gonna ask next...and to answer you, nope he doesn't have any boxer shorts in camouflage, prollie that would make a nice secret santa pressie LOL please make sure it's from Prada, my dear brand concious housemate. 

Then we headed for our wine appointments and started with Chateau La Nerthe. The majestic properties that was already there since the 12th century.

Our Chauffeur, Monkey and hostess at Chateau La Nerthe, speaking amicably about the characteristic of their wines, made for the aristocrats and the popes since hundreds of years ago.

Monkey clasped her hands in glee~~~~twirled around in circles, beaming with smiles and danced a little in here.

I want this cellar~~~ I want this I want this I want this

Dear Santa, I've been a really good notti monkey this year, would u just please grant me this?

The Gallet of Chateauneuf du Pape. It plays a very important role in creating the micro climate unique to this terroir. The gallet store heat in the day and release heat at night to assist the ripening of the grapes. It was our first time staring at such rocky soil.

our white haired genial chauffeur climbed faster than we do~~~~
GAH!!! wait for me old man!!! it must be your diet for u to be this healthy
and the answer was more wines from this region of CDP. Wuahahahahaha

this medieval town that produced one of the most outstanding wines from the Rhone valley is actually really small. As we walked, we are back at the broken tower again. Hmm this trip had been about broken bridge and broken tower...what's next?

JS answered me: "Broken bank account...."
Monkey >.< 

I wanna climb this really old wall that's pretty much exposed over the hundreds of years.

JS: "Monkey pls don't damage the wall, it may be some UNESCO site ok? Go and climb some trees."

Bohohohohohoho Monkey was crying, even genial Chauffeur was pacifying me.

"Don't cry my dear child, I'll take you for a excellent lunch down the road."
He was so kind to carry all my stuffs :D
I wanna have a permanent chauffeur now heeeeeeee

then as we descend down for lunch, a green window caught our eyes. Could it be? Nah it can't be......but...so out kepoh-ness we walked to its door. The main plague confirmed our curiosity.

indeed it's the home of Chateauneud du Pape's legend.....yes he's a legend!!!!

JS ran towards the door and beamed a million dollar smile to me.

"It's him!!! it's him!!! his home!!!!!"
Monkey and hobbits -_-"
yes....there's a plaque there, we all can read don't we?

Mr. Bonneau is very old now, born in 1938, and it's extremely difficult to have an appointment by him, not to mention a visit to his cellar which was just underneath this door, criss crossing underground around this town. Lucky and privileged editors and merchants who've visited his cellar said it's like a catacomb underground stretches miles and miles. One could just get lost down there!!!

JS is so in lurve with Mr. Bonneau that everything is soooo about him.

"If we have a daughter, we should name her Celestins."
after the great wines of Mr. Bonneau.
"What??? I didn't see this coming."

it's only a If, anyway we are not planning to expand our family of hobbits and Monkey and a housemate. It's sufficient. Since we are not gonna have a daughter or a new toy to name her Celestins, we will buy more and enjoy more. 

In conclusion, finally we really do have a broken bank account for Henri Bonneau wines are one of the most top range and most expensive on Planet Earth. Even if u have all the money, to get access and have your hands on these bottles are difficult. See I told ya, money can't buy you everything.

Maybe we should have knocked on the door and asked for internship. 

Then we found Pegau down the street. Memories of our dinner together with the winemaker a few years ago in Malaysia came back. Laurence Pegau wasn't in CDP, she was travelling in Asia for some wine convention.

To read bout our dinner with Madame Laurence Pegau *click here*

It was a very educational trip down to CDP. Would love to come back again for more appointments with wine makers. There's so much more to be learnt. Hence we should really seek some kind of internship here but again I don't think I can work at the vineyard. It's all hardwork out there!!!!

JS said we better off enjoying all the hard labour from the vine to the glass. Let's work hard on wat we are good at instead. That's very true. You think so?