When I was extended an invitation to celebrate the official launch of the all-new shiny and curvaceous bottle of Hennessy VSOP, I could hardly contain my excitement! 

Witnessing something of such grandeur – especially the evolution of the World's #1 cognac, a new Hennessy bottle – meant a lot to me as my family (dating from the days of my great grandparents) frequently open bottles of their favorite cognac, Hennessy for all family occasions.

My plus-one for the evening & I 

Which goes to say that I've seen previous designs on the older bottles belonging to my grandparents, all displayed beautifully in the cabinets of our bottle collection. 

Cannot wait to put this spanking new one beside its predecessors! 

Here, I arranged all the 4 different types of drinks I had

We were served Hennessy's signature long drinks upon arrival

There were (L-R clockwise) Hennessy Soda, Hennessy Apple, Hennessy Ginger & Hennessy Berry

My favorite one of the lot was the Hennessy Apple! 

Loving the distinctive taste of Hennessy VSOP cognac with a hint of sweet, apple flavour 

We were ushered to the foyer to mingle about before the event began.

I was told by the awesome team behind this party that the celebration will be divided into two parts :

The WHITE Room & The BLACK Room

But before that, some photos of my friends & I at the foyer sipping on delightful Hennessy VSOP cognac!

There was so much merriment in the house!

Catching up with my friends & having a drink of Hennessy VSOP cognac with more lovely people totally set the mood for the evening

We were served an array of finger-food to complement our drinks too!

Good god, those miniature pies were delicious!

But not as delicious as my favourite Hennessy Apple, of course! 

The beautiful Hennessy girls then ushered us into The White Room to witness the launch of the new, elegant Hennessy VSOP Cognac bottle and new packaging design! 

More food & drinks were in store for us too!

The peeps behind this event sure know how to keep our tummies happy & satiated huh 😛

Drinks were served in abundance and I must say, how could I resist? They were simply divine

The bartenders were friendly and entertained me with their bartending stunts before making my drink!

Theboyf and I in the White Room

Outfit of the Day! TheJessicat wears :

Dress by Dorothy Perkins

Belt from Bangkok

Netted long cardigan by Jaspal

Bag from an online boutique

Peep-toe glass wedges by Aldo

Upon settling down at the table, I caught sight of 2 very familiar bottles on stage.

How time has passed! Hennessy's unchanged personality has been enjoyed for almost 2 centuries now

Hennessy's old bottle designs!

If you didn't know, the legend of Hennessy VSOP began on 7th October 1817 when the future King George IV of England requested the great French cognac house to supply him with a very special cognac described in the record with the words "Very Superior Old Pale".

Legends are shaped over time. And for a premium cognac that has been celebrated worldwide for 7 generations, their secrets of selection, aging and blending has been passed down over the years till today!

With an old buddy, this charismatic lad, Will Quah 

He's the emcee of tonight's event as well!

Will welcomed us all and made a celebratory toast to Hennessy VSOP's newly launched designs.

He then announced that we were going to have a very special guest appearance……

?

ANY GUESSES ON WHO IT IS?

None other than the MAN behind these gorgeous new Hennessy bottle designs!

If you're into cars (especially BMWs) you would recognize him with just one glance. The Hennessy V.S.O.P new carafe is his first masterpiece outside the automobile industry. 

Chris Bangle, from the United States of America, was flown in specially for a guest appearance & to give a (simplified) LIVE demonstration of his work.

Chris Bangle and I

We were pleased to have designer Christopher Edward "Chris" Bangle, the legendary figure in the automobile world, of BMW and Rolls Royce fame, to commemorate the evening with us 

He is best known for his daring design and far-reaching influence in his works as Chief of Design for BMW Group, where he was responsible for the BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce motor cars from 1992 to 2006

The mastermind stood beside his brainchild and spoke about his experience behind this bottle design.

"Designing for Hennessy gave me the same sensations as working on

designs for fast BMWs or a great Rolls Royce.

It is that experience of a unique emotion,"

– Chris Bangle

He demonstrated LIVE on big screen before our very eyes,

how he redesigned the contours to emphasize its sleek silhouette

A presentation was held to showcase Hennessy VSOP's new bottle design & packaging.

Guests witnessed its appearance in awe 🙂 It was simply exquisite. Here they are!

Introducing a more refined & dramatised new look of the Hennessy VSOP Cognac

I will share more secrets & beauty of the bottle in my next blogpost! 😀

After the presentation in The White Room was over,

we were ushered by the Hennessy girls to adjourn to The Black Room

Wow. 

Just.. wow.

Here in The Black Room, it was Hennessy's own private party thrown for us in celebration of their new bottle!

The spacious room with amazing surround sound & bass, defined a clubbing experience with Hennessy, complete with comfy lounge sofas, free flow of Hennessy VSOP long drinks, a dance floor, a 360 camera photo-shooting raised platform, 2 DJs dropping electronic dance music for us party people and more!

Are we ready?

Me at my umpteenth number of Hennessy Apple! 😛 😛

Renowned local DJ, Eva T dropped the bass for us with great mash-ups and remixes of epic EDM tracks

Chilling by Hennessy's circle wall which proudly displayed all the new bottles & new package designs!

So Lionel tried to photobomb me but I caught him in time.

Still, can't help but to publish this photo though. It's kinda funny! 😛

We posed and had so much camlovin' at the one-of-a-kind Hennessy 360 camera!

Props were given, theboyf & I chose the electric guitar and as many new Hennessy botles we could grab

We saw ourselves at the LCD television display!

There were also interactive games for guests to entertain themselves – if they weren't entertained enough

But just my two cents : seriously, how can anyone ever be bored at a party like this? 😛

Mad love for fluffy red pillows strewn all over the lounge sofas! 

Bring it on! 😀 I had tremendous amount of fun and we were only halfway

More photos of my friends & I having a ball of a time at the Hennessy VSOP new bottle launch party!

The music of the night was spun by not one… but TWO DJs!

This was the next DJ that brought the house down with lots of electro, house & dubstep for us 

Keep it going down!

By the end of the night, I think I was a wee bit out

Some instant photos I tweeted whilst at the party

I managed to sober up in time before the party ended.

Drink responsibly! 😀 😀 

With buddy Ash at the photowall just as the party ended

Taking my last shot with an artistic piece of King George IV

It was you, who begun the works of the finest cognac ever! 

The evening ended in full swing, just as it did when it begun

Warmest words of congratulations again to Hennessy for a successful launch of their more modern & futuristic 21st century new bottle & packaging design!

Check out Hennessy Malaysia's Facebook page here and show 'em some love! 

Woots! Today is the 3rd day of Chinese New Year.

Have you guys had your umpteenth CNY reunion dinner yet?

If your family is anything like mine, I can bet you've probably have sat to a few (if not many) dinner get-togethers thus far.

There are altogether 15 days of Chinese New Year according to the Lunar calendar so get your chopsticks and ricebowls ready, for it's dinner lou-sang sessions with the family, friends, workmates, ex-schoolmates, blogmates, campusmates and so many different groups of people!

i was at Tong Yuen in Hilton Hotel last week to taste their auspicious set menus and CNY delicacies

Right after work, I thought it would be wise to head straight to Hilton to skip the impending traffic gridlock. Typical evenings in PJ *rolls eyes*

But strangely I was wrong. The roads were traffic-free and I arrived Hilton almost 2 hours before dinner time! 🙁

I know I was too early. But hellooo hellooo anybody home!?

*sniff*

Thankfully, someone was inside and the gates were opened for me! 😀

First thing I saw as I stepped in:

Mandarin ducks, money frogs and china teapots

The hostess was kind enough to offer me some warm Chinese tea to accompany my wait.

It's gonna be a long wait, that's for sure

But I hope it's worth it 😀

I soon got bored and I had about 1 hour left to kill.

So I got up and started taking pictures of this very impressive, spacious and lavish Chinese restaurant.

I know right. It had so many sections and areas to dine!

Oh and I also learned that Toh Yuen is adjoined to the al-fresco and swimming pool area

Pretty good idea for weddings to be held! Nice place to entertain guests and throw the after-party too!

Separated only by a huge glass door 🙂

I then took my time to walk back to my table. But still, not a single soul to be seen yet.

So I made use of the glass mirrors they had all over the walls for some self-absorbed entertainment

ohai. Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Alright, time to go back to that private section 🙂

It was almost 7.30pm by then. Perfect! Looks like time flies when you're actually occupied.
 

See those 2 circular entrances?

That's where our tables are

This is how it looks at our table… before everybody fills it in 🙂

Yay! Finally I have some company. Elaine from Marketing & Communications took the seat beside mine and gradually, the other guests began to arrive one by one 🙂 Ivy from FOOD and her colleague came pretty soon too.

Eelaine and I

Kelly (my plus one for the evening) and I sipping on some Chinese Tea

After catching up and chit chatting, it was time to bring out the food

Toh Yuen's Yee Sang specials was the highlight of their Fatt Choy (fortune and prosperity) menu selections

Crackers represents happiness, peanut and sesame symbolizes harvest, oil represents wealth,

pomelo means good luck, raw seafood symbolizes life and longevity.

Yee Sang comprises of assorted condiments, which differ in their auspicious meanings as illustrated above

After the warzone of tossing and mixing the ingredients and

dressing with chopsticks, it was time for the feast to begin.

I especially loved their Sliced Abalone yee sang. It was fresh, tasty and had that tinge of sweet-sourness in it. The abalone came in abundance and it was very delicious and chewy too (I initially thought it looked like chicken slices before I had a bite of it! LOL)

The 2nd course that arrived was Braised Shark Fin Soup with Crab Meat and Roe.

Trust me, I've eaten this since my childhood days and there isn't really a complete Chinese dinner without it.

Served hot right outta the pot, it was just as good as what my tastebuds imagined it to be. You can never go wrong!

3rd Course : Deep Fried Chicken in 2 Flavours

Now this one was rather outta the ordinary 🙂

This poultry dish came with chicken – cooked in 2 different styles – encircled around each other. Yup, it was plated in a very pleasant way! The chicken with the darker sauce stayed in the middle while the whiter chicken surrounded it.

I loved the darker chicken while some of the others preferred the whiter one. Ohwell, looks like both of it were popular among us anyway; seeing that this dish was finished in such a jiffy!

After chicken, came the fish

4th course : Steamed Fish Pomfret with Soy Sauce

This fish fanatic is at it again. White pomfrets are one of my favorite types of fish, apart from Salmon and Snowfish. It was so fresh that I reckon it was just caught right off the sea yesterday! 😛 None of that stinky stale stench that some fishes tend to have.

The flesh was tender and was made right for our palate.

5th course : Stir Fried King Prawns in Pineapple Sauce

Now if the fish dish didn't exist, this one would most definitely fall in line being my favorite of the lot!

The prawns were really soft and succulent to the last bite! Kinda the type that melts in your mouth 😀 The tangy natural flavour of the pineapple complemented this dish very well too.

More tea anyone? 😀

The next course was something less meaty. Think veggies!

Just for the record, my favorite green vegetable of all is broccoli. And wa-hey! Look what's on our plates:

It IS broccoli! 😀 😀 😀 Do you spot lotsa mushrooms too?

A very happy me + Kelly

I like how most Chinese chefs cut up lotsa random things that their instincts tell them *might* just make the perfect dish and voila! It DID end up perfect after all.

The broccoli came cooked with so many other ingredients and condiments that it was bursting with flavour 🙂

6th Course: Stewed Sea Cucumber, Mushroom and Broccoli

7th Course: Sauteed Seafood Fried Rice with X.O Sauce

When I had a spoonful of the fried rice, I reckon it tasted kinda different though.

How come it didn't taste as usual or bland as the common Chinese Fried Rice?

Struggling to eat rice with chopsticks from a bowl

(I eventually requested for a spoon instead)

Since my younger days, I was never good at 'em two sticks. I don't know how you people do it. Hat's off to you!

Anyway, so why did my fried rice taste so unique? When I looked up the menu, I found my answer "... with X.O Sauce"! 😀 😀 Woots! Now, how's that for a twist? No wonder it was delish

While waiting for dessert!

Was told that the dessert was gonna be unexpected.

But then again, I thought how UNEXPECTED could a course of dessert be?

So I excused myself to the ladies' for a short while and when I returned, I saw a huge bowl of thick, white substance – of which I assumed to be some creamy delicacy 🙂 Looks yummy to me!

Since I was away when the discussion was made, I had no clue what this dish was

Tasted it and loved it! The honeydew was responsible for the sweet, fruity flavour. It also had this very mild, ice-cream taste and the texture was very gentle to the tastebuds... except for a very, very slight bitter aftertaste once you've swallowed it.

I honestly wondered what it was!

Must be some form of ice-cream or some form of creamy extracts, I pondered to myself.

The Head Chef came out of the kitchen to have a chat with us

That's Shian seated, also from Marcomm

And it was then I found out that the dessert, our final course for the evening, was none other than Hasma!! *gasp* Alright I bet you don't know what Hasma is. Neither did I, initially… before I had it down my throat, of course.

Hasma is a Chinese dessert ingredient  made from the dried fallopian tubes of frogs,
typically the Asiatic Grass Frog. The Western pharmaceutical term is Oviductus Ranae.

How's that for an exotic meal?

Hey don't freak out just because it's made of an odd anatomy of an amphibian. Admittedly, I did too at first but it tasted exquisite. Really! It was once served as royal food to the Chinese Emperors okay! 😀
 

This Chinese New Year, I am proud to say that I have ate animal organs! (something that I've avoided like the plague all these years for no explicable reason)

So, thank you Hilton for giving us this new and rather surprising experience at the end of our meal!

But if you want out on eating this exotic dish, you can always opt for the 'Happiness Set' where Chilled Sea Coconut with Ginseng and the 'Fortune Set' that satisfies your sweet tooth with Braised Red Bean and Glutinous Dumpling.

Our set for the day was 'Longevity Set' FYI 😀

So go have your next CNY meal here or even your company's 'sau kung' dinners or lunches! Their CNY set menus and festive a la carte Chinese delights promo will run until 28th Febuary 2011. 🙂

GONG XI FA CHAI!

Okay so last night at Phuture @ Zouk was another night of mayhem!

My best friend and her other circle of friends were in the city yesterday, and we definitely hit Zouk again for some all-out partying 

(photos up tomorrow!)

Calvin and I was supposed to drive back after partying but obviously we were too intoxicated to drive all the way back, and even IF we did make it safely back, we would fail the breathalizer test again 🙁
 

So all of us bunked over at Doubletree Hotel by Hilton nearby. Beautiful rooms and king sized beds too! But that's besides the point.
 

The POINT that I'm trying to make is this – what would you do for the sake of friendship? Till what extent?
 

So the very next morning, I woke up with severe gastric while everyone was hungry too. But unfortunately, we were only provided TWO complimentary buffet breakfast for two from the hotel.
 

Obviously, my gastric rendered me eligible… and the rest (although hungry), weren't as hungry as Calvin.
 

So off Calvin and I went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast.
 

But we felt bad because we got the chance to go for a sumptuous buffet breakfast while the rest of our buddies didn't 🙁
 

So they asked if we could help sneak back a wee bit of food for them, just so they don't die of morning starvation and hangovers.
 

We agreed. Just for them!!! 😀
 

Here comes my PUBLIC EMBARRASSMENT. Figured it was so funny after it all, I just HAD to share!
 

So I took lots of food back to our table on the pretext of having to eat it all, but instead, I dropped them stealthily into the Zara shopping bag. So Rambo style zomg!!
 

Puff pastries, croissants, muffins, pancakes went into the bag one by one – when no one was watching of course.
 

But that was what I thought 🙁

While I was taking the food to-go in a clandestine manner, I was vary of my surroundings.  My eyes darted from side to side ala criminal in the making to be sure I wasn't caught red handed by the waitresses.
 

Look, I had to! My friends have to eat too, right?
 

Besides, the hotel had prolly too much food to worry about a silly girl taking back a tiny bits and pieces for her friends. Well, as a matter of fact, I *could* and *might* have that big an appetite of 4 people too, right right? 😀
 

Anyway, in the midst of doing that, I failed to realize that a Japanese lady was watching me in confusion the entire time!!!!!!
 

HOLYYYY SWEEET MOTHER OF GOD.

My face turned red of sheer abasement and I sunk into my chair with a deflated ego.
 

I guess I portrayed an image of "a greedy Malaysian who steals back food to her room for herself to eat even after a heavy buffet" Oh goodness gracious no!! 🙁 Either that, or I might've been mistaken as a "typical Asian with a kiasu attitude in having everything all to herself"
 

So I couldn't take it anymore and made Calvin finish up the embarrassing task 😛 😛 😛 YOUR TURN!!!!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIPnaEJA1aE

Well at LEAST he had some credit in assisting me!
 

For the love of God and my own reputation I swear I'll never return to that hotel again.
 

Not forgetting the fact that I was clad in nothing but smeared mascara and a hotel bathrobe! I couldn't possibly wear last night's tight fitting cocktail dress to a MORNING BREAKFAST. It would be highly inappropriate.
 

BUT THAT WAS NOT ALL

(Sorry honey, just figured this photo of you with my hairbow befits the caption) 😛
 

Shrouded in embarrassment, it didn't help that Calvin and I spotted a CCTV strategically pointed directly at us FML caught on camera in a 5 star hotel doing very comical things ohnoes hahahaha
 

LOOK GIRLFRIENDS, YALL BETTER APPRECIATE WHAT WE HAVE DONE FOR YOU OKAY!!!!

JOYCE, CHIAU YIN, RHENHUEY AND CHANSEY!

This is my first and LAST time doing this ridiculous thing! Ugh! hahahahahahaahah
 

And on another note, NORWAY IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY AIN'T IT