1865

Yep,1865.
That number might signify the year of President Lincoln's assassination-or the end of the US Civil War.
But No!
It's the price of a mug of Tiger at Gypsy Bar after 9pm!!!
That's right, RM 18.65.
For a mug.
You're the mug!
There was a time when Gypsy was one of the best value bars on Changkat Bukit Bintang-and to be fair, you can still get some good deals if you arrive before 9 pm of RM 10 for a mug or RM 50 for 5 bottles of Tiger-But after 9 pm-Wow!
You get punished.
Big time.
It's now one of the more expensive watering holes-more expensive then even Healy Macs, or Havana.
Now, I can understand paying a high price if the surroundings are a bit well, swanky-or if they lay-on a good band or even if the place is full of beautiful people and supermodels..
But, come on ! It's only a bar-nothing special at all.
You can get much more reasonable pricing at Front Page, Sutra, Ceylon Bar, Racks or the two-dozen or so other bars on the street......

Pub Quizzes in Kuala Lumpur.

A good way to spend an evening in KL is to enter a local pub quiz...I've been doing this for about 4 years now and have to say that it's getting more and more popular.
Come as a team of 3 or 4-or play solo.
The quiz scenes has peaks and troughs-and right now it seems to be a peak.
Sometimes it's OK just to sit in a bar and watch someone somewhere in the world hit a ball with a bat on the Sports TV screen ,or even just to admire the local scenery in the bar that you're at-but at other times it's good to have a bit of mental stimulation.
The quizzes vary in difficulty from place-to-place...Usually there is a RM 10 joining fee.
Quizzes usually start at around 9pm Malaysian rubber-time!
Here's a quick guide to a few:

Monday
Sutra Bar on Changkat Bukit Bintang.
Level-Fairly Easy 5 rounds (sports/general/music/entertainment)
Prize-A bottle of scotch! plus  2 beers to share for all round winners.
Overview-I'm not too sure about this Bar...the mostly male staff, although not unfriendly are indifferent at best.
It doesn't get too crowded and the quiz night coincides with their Ladies Night.
Sometimes the music can be so loud that you need to leave straight afterwards.
Beer price RM 11 for a mug

Healy Macs Changkat Bukit Bintang
Used to be 'the daddy" of the quiz scene and now after a few months break, it's back.
Level-Moderate to (sometimes very) Difficult.
5 rounds covering just about everything.
Prize A Bottle of vodka for 1st...2 Buckets of beer for 2nd...1 bucket for 3rd
Plus round winners win a bucket of beer.(5 bottles)
The most generous alcoholic prizes helps offset the rather expensive draft beer (RM 14-16) but only if you are lucky enough to win a round. And then you have the nice problem of what to do with even more booze at the end of the night....
An ideal setting for a pub quiz because , well-it's a pub!

Tuesday
Ceylon Bar Changkat Bukit Bintang
Level-a bit tough  3 rounds plus problems to solve during the quiz (anagrams/dingbats etc)
A bit more academic
Prize-a Bottle of Vodka for the winner-spot questions win individual beers
Overview-Unfortunately the layout means that if you're not sitting at the bar it can be a struggle to view the one TV monitor.
Nice bar though.And Interesting questions.
Beer price RM 14 a mug

Pound Bar TTDI
Level Easy to Moderate
5 Rounds
Prize-a bottle of vodka plus round winners get 2 beers to share.
Individual jackpot question for cash.
I haven't been here yet-I hear it's a bit crowded and smokey- busy and gets about 12 teams.

GridIron Jalan Telawi 2 Bangsar
Level Difficult to Bloody Impossible!
Prize RM 150 for the winner, bottle of wine for 2nd
plus round winners get RM 50,2nd place round winners get a pint of Tiger.
Play as an individual (but you can discuss with the people next to you)
3 rounds-all multiple choice General/Academic Knowledge
Unlike most other places where you pay RM 10 per person to enter the quiz, this one is free!
Beer price is RM 16.25 per mug! yikes....only worth it if you win a round!
A big bar with friendly staff and a TV monitor wherever you look.
One of the only bars left in Bangsar.

Wednesday
Gypsy Bar Changkat Bukit Bintang
Level Easy to Moderate
Prize Bottle of Vodka or sometimes Wine depending on how many people participate.
Round winners get to share 2 beers.
If there are enough participants a final individual jack-pot round wins cash-usually around RM150-200 but can roll-over to accumulate.
Most people who go to Gypsy do not have a pub quiz on their mind-sometimes there are more non-participants and distractions than there are team players.
Every time I come here now, there are at least 2 new male members of staff. Gypsy must have the highest staff-turnover on the street-and seems to be replacing their serving girls with guys!-call me sexist but I prefer a bar staffed by barmaids!Oh,.and at times the draught beer can be almost undrinkable but to be fair, it's been OK these last few visits.
The quiz can start very late,after 10 pm, and seems like the quizmaster is in a rush to finish before it gets too chaotic.
And it can get very noisy
But can be good fun as well!
Beer Price RM 11 a mug (RM 8 for a bottle of Tiger before 9pm!)


Thursday
Front Page Changkat Bukit Bintang
Level Easy to Moderate
5 Rounds
Prize A Bottle of Wine for the winner...Round winners get to share 2 beers.
Fairly laid back and chilled-out most people sit outside.
Nice atmosphere.
It's getting more competitive with around 5 or 6 teams (sometimes some very large teams!)
Front Page is packed when there is live sports on....during the week it's quieter
Beer RM 10 a mug (RM 10 a pint before 9pm!) Best value on the street...I think.


Healy Macs Sri Hartamas
Similar to the Changkat outlet but smaller.
Same format.
Quite popular

Friday
Never Mine Changkat Bukit Bintang
Level East to Moderate
5 Rounds pop culture,music and sport
Prize A bottle of Wine for the winners pus round winners get to share 2 beers,
(Attempts to)Start a bit earlier than the others (around 8.30ish) to make way for live and loud music from 10pm.
Can be a bit sparse of participants as a lot of pub-goers just want to unwind and talk loud nonsense on a Friday (nothing wrong with that!)

Saturday
Moon Bar Plaza Damansara
Level Easy to Moderate
5 Rounds
Prize A bottle of wine or vodka for the winner plus round winners get to share 2 beers.
A very quite place out in the suburbs usually not too many participants,,,but if you're in the neighbourhood-Why Not? Gets a bit too smokey inside and you can't quite see the screens or hear properly if you're outside.
Beer Price RM 10 for a mug of Tiger.

So there you have it-If you're a real trivia fiend you can plan your week using the info above...otherwise just turn-up and see how good/lucky you are.
Remember, there are no hard or easy questions-you either know the answer-or you don't.

Happy New Year 2013!

Merry Christmas 2012!

a

A little more classy this year!
Usually I find the Xmas decor in the Shopping Malls a little,well, over-the-top and the majority of displays look like they have been thrown-in with a shovel.
This year seems that my message has gotten across

either that or I have been here too long and have succumbed to the tackiness of the usual displays but "Less is More" seems to be working for the malls this year... 

Merry Christmas!

Probably the Best Indian Food in Kuala Lumpur

......can be found in the most unlikely place.
Situated just behind a car-park, crowded by construction sites just off Changkat Bukit Bintang, down-a-bit from Somerset Condo is a small stall dishing-up what is probably the Best Indian Food you'll find in Kuala Lumpur.
Local  Malaysian born ethnic Indians tell me that the food is "like my mum makes"
A full (almost over-flowing) plate of rice with a few other dishes will set you back about RM 6.50.
The price has increased a little since I wrote about it here! but not too much.
I would still say that after 10 years of eating here it is one of the best value-for-money lunches to be had in KL.
Simply load-up with rice and then serve yourself from the selection of meat, fish and vegetable dishes.
Friday lunchtimes are a little more "vegetarian" as the choice of veggies widens but there is always some lamb, chicken or seafood to select.
I would highly recommend the calamari-and the "Friday-only" potato cakes.

It doesn't look much-but the food is great!

Parking Problems on Changkat Bukit Bintang

Now,here's a guy who will go to any length to avoid the extortion service provided by the Car Jockeys!

If I drive into town on an evening during the week I can usually find somewhere to park near the offices towards Jalan Raja Chulan...But weekends,forget it..The Car Jockeys "cone-off" every available space on Raja Chulan and surrounding roads and charge RM 10 to "look after" your car.
We all know that this is bloody extortion but they are allowed by those in power to get away with it.
In fact, as the street gets more and more busy..their illegal empire expands....Guess we just have to put-up with it.
I don't.
I park somewhere else.

The mini on top of the "Magnificent Fish and Chip Bar" is actually for "Mini Bar" a new joint that they are opening upstairs...looks a bit "mod"....

Other Developments...

"Finnegans" has shut-down..well, it was the only empty bar on the street at 11pm and has been taken-over by the guys behind "Never Mine" a few doors down and will open in September as a Sports Bar and Grill.
Let's hope that the beer price is reasonable.

Tabla Restaurant, just round the corner from Havana will soon be re-opening as a "Deep Blue Sea" themed restaurant/bar.

Flams is shut for a major refurbishment

And a new bar that supposedly will offer "The best value for money on the street" is set to open shortly opposite the Radius Hotel...

At least there may be a few different types of place to check-out....

Changkat Bukit Bintang

I've written about this street more than anything else and for good reason too as it probably contains the best bars and restaurants and all-round entertainment outlets in Kuala Lumpur.
Thing is,  now I kinda love to hate it.
When I heard that the Green Man had recently celebrated it's 10th anniversary it got me thinking about the rapid and irreverseable  metamorphosis the street has undergone.
I moved into KL about a month before the Green Man opened and it looks to me that they still have exactly the same furniture,bars,chairs tables (and owners attitude!) as they did when they first opened.
It's about the only thing that hasn't changed and has stayed stubbornly and exactly the same on the street in the last 10 years.
However, even The Green Man now has tables and chairs on the pavement....they resisted the idea for so long but have now succumbed.
Old hands like me can always say "Oh, yeah..I remember when there were only 4 or 5 bars on this street-now look at it"-but so what?
It is what it is.
But what got me thinking was this;
If you've been down the street a few of times you will by now have chosen a couple of places that you like
You may not know why you like them-but you do and you tend to gravitate towards one bar or another.
There are too many places to list here but if you go early enough you'll find enough bars/restaurants to cater to your tastes and each establishment has a different feel and a different look.

They all have their own character.
There's now even a sort-of-African Bar down at the end of the street opposite the 7-Eleven so you can't say that the street doesn't cater for a very wide clientele.Spanish-style theme  at the top,then Italian, English, Irish, Japanese, Chinese and local/international all rub shoulders with one another....(I'm just waiting for someone to open an Iranian bar designed to look like it was from Tehran in the 70's to cater to the Middle East tourist market!)

But.....
by around 11pm when things start to get louder and louder and more frantic and over-crowded and the masses descend desperately looking for a good time...well, it all starts to look exactly the same wherever you look.
It doesn't matter what bar you're at. It could be anywhere. They're. All. The. Same.
As many patrons choose to sit outside, the entertainment becomes the street itself and not what's happening inside the bar.
So, it doesn't really matter where you go-you're going to end up with the same homogenized mass-produced night-out wherever you go....
There seems to be a definite lack of imagination from the bar owners.
They come-up with different styles but in a very narrow framework
Maybe because the rents are so high that they cannot afford to experiment or think outside the box....but what happened to all those quirky bars built around funny themes that were around in the 80's or 90's...you know what I mean? Like the Stock Market Bars built around the demand of certain drinks where the price would fluctuate or Sports Bars or Fun Pubs or a Beach-bar or the rustic looking French or Spanish Bar?
These days they all look at bit too 'corporate" like they are all franchises or something...

Right.... grumble over-does, anyone fancy a beer? See you on the street!