The Best Guinness In The World Out Of Irelend

I’ve not been out drinking for a while especially since I’m retired from clubbing. But last Friday, Charlotte The Clown was in town and we went for dinner and drinks at The George and the Dragon. Food was okay (except for Paul’s pie which he said it’s horrid so I didn’t even try it) and the Guinness was so-so but the environment was pretty nice. Very English indeed. And we were seated outside at the balcony which added to the environment for al fresco drink and chats. I even bumped into Chetan who promised to organized drinks the following weekend since we've been saying this for the past 4 years.

And on Monday, Sue Ann and I met for lunch. We’ve not met in months so it was a catch up session for us. We wanted to eat pasta so she looked for a random Italian restaurant on the net and made a reservation for two. We both arrived in Taman Tun at the same time and were driving round looking for the place but to no avail. So we said screw it and I brought her to Sid’s bar. Good old Sid’s place. Good food, good drinks and always a friendly Sid to greet us. I had the Full English Breakfast and she had the Pacific Cod and Chips (together with mushy peas!.... which we both didn’t like the taste of but liked the concept of) which was totally yummy.

Then we went back to work which is never fun.

And at night when Paul and I were having dinner at The Curve, Sue Ann calls and said that she’s in Sid’s ….. again! She liked it so much that she brought a friend there so Paul and I joint her for a pint of Guinness.

Sid was there as usual and come over every now and then, bought us a round, told a joke, left us in hysterics (volume of laughter increases according the number of pints consumed) and walked away!

It’s a joke I’ve heard before but it’s still funny! Or maybe it’s the way Sid tells it.

Here goes.

There's a big conference of beer producers.

At the end of the day, the presidents of all beer companies decide to have a drink in a bar.

The president of Budweiser orders a Bud and the president of Coors orders a Coors.

Then the waitress asks Arthur Guinness what he wants to drink, and to everybody's amazement, Mr. Guinness orders a Coke!

"Why don't you order a Guinness?" everyone asks.

"Naah. If you guys are drinking soft drinks, so will I”

(Sid walks away and we continue to laugh and continue our conversation while drinking more Guinness).

He comes back and tells us that Guinness Anchor Berhad Malaysia won the award of the best Guinness brewed out of Ireland. And everyone started saying that Sid’s pub has the best Guinness in Malaysia.

So doesn’t that make the Guinness’ at Sid’s the best in the world out of Ireland?

I sure agree. Go try it for yourself:

SID'S PUB, 34 LORONG RAHIM KAJU 14, TAMAN TUN DR, ISMAIL, 6000 KUALA LUMPUR Tel: +603 77277437

www.sidspubs.com

Saatchi Is Making Me Ill

Saatchi is making me ill. Literally. There’s been a lot of work since work on the pitch started. And a lot of Xploring (a proprietary Saatchi research tool) are ongoing for various jobs. The latest one involved going from one coffee shop to another looking for random 35 – 45 year old Chinese men who drink Guinness and showing them some creative work to get their feedback.

The last time I did that, I finished work at 12.30am after roaming the streets for 5 hours. We didn’t have time to eat and we had to endure men who were drunk, sarcastic and / or stupid.

And I end up with a massive headache and cold sweat the next day. Paul’s mum was so sweet to make me pork and dried scallop porridge which Paul delivered to my place last night. I went to bed at 9pm and after 12 hours of sleep, I feel much better today.

Sometimes I feel so stressed in my job that I just wanna say ‘fuck it’ and throw my letter in. Maybe I’ll just quit and go work in Starbucks. I spend a lot of my time there anyway and I’ve always wanted to be a barista. That’s also the only way I can get the Starbucks apron ‘cos you can’t buy it with money. Plus, I’ll get 30% off the products.

Sure it’s not a lot of money. Full time staff get RM1,100. And part time staff get about RM800+. That’s before tax & EPF deduction. But I get those perks as mentioned above and if I work part time, I’ll have more flexible hours. The small money I earn plus my savings will just tie me over if I wanna quick Saatchi and work in Starbucks for a few months. Maybe I should do it just before the wedding so that I won’t be so stressed out and I’ll have time to go for many spa sessions too.

Hmmmm …. I was about to post this when my boss came up to me and gave me a long hug. I asked him if he was drunk (we just had a Creative Review which involves 30 mins of looking at the latest ads followed by 3 hours of drinking). To which he replied “No-No. You’re on FIRE!”

Okay. Either he really was drunk or he knows how much stress I’m in over the past few weeks.

Anyway, there’s more Xploring tonight (different from the one we did at the coffee shops) and it takes place at Somo. It’s about men and masculinity. I’ve got my strategic planners from Singapore, some bosses, colleagues and friends attending. There will be a few questions asked and dozens and dozens of Guinness pints downed.

I hope I survive the night tonight.

The only consolation is that tomorrow’s Xploring involves Ashley going for a Brazilian wax due to a bet he lost to Paul. I thought that it would be an interesting idea to get my strategic planners to meet with Ashley and talk to him about his experience. Ashley is still trying to wrangle his way out of it.

Will definitely blog about it! Read more here. Till then, have a great weekend everyone!

A Great Week - Guinness, Ming Room & Vila Manja

This has been a great week!

Monday started and ended without a hitch.

Tuesday was the Guinness St. Patrick’s Day media launch so the Beer Girls were partying with the client at Pulse Ultra Club and having free flow of Guinness Draught.

Wednesday was a belated CNY dinner with the clients at Ming Room where we had yummy shrimp in mango sauce, fried soft shell crab, Monk Jump Over The Wall, cod fish, sucking pig and more.

Thursday had no plans so it was a good chill out day and night.

And today, Friday, the Company Trip Organizing Committee are only working half day so we can spend the other half at a spa! We’re going to Vila Manja for 5 ½ hours of wraps, steams, soaks, rubs and massages. We’ve booked the place for ourselves to have a Manja Indulgence Party! And the best part is that it’s paid for by the company as a reward for planning the company trip!

Next week, is going to be hell at work. But it’s been a fantastic week so I really can’t complain.

I’m off to the spa. Have a good weekend everyone!

26 years old and like beer? Buzz me!

Who's up for a free drinking and makan session at my office in exchange for a 1 hour chat with you on your views on beer? We even have Guinness Draught in the office now!

The sessions will take place on Wed, 31 Oct and Thurs, 1 Nov at 7pm onwards.

In order to qualify, you need to be:

- Male

- 25 - 27 years old

- Blue and White collar

- Non advertising / PR / Media and alcohol industry related work background

- Chinese and Indian

- Heard of Guinness brand, tasted the drink but Guinness is usually not their first choice of drink. (We are not looking for regular Guinness drinkers in this instances).

If you meet the criteria above, please send me a note or buzz me.

If not, please pass the word to your friends. I'm sure they'd thank u for telling them about free beer.

I need names by tomorrow, Tues 30th Oct. please. Thanks!