stumbling upon the good life – savoring food, discovering wine, and exploring places
From the category archives:
I’m not yet ready to add my voice to the heated online debate being waged over Tippling Club here in Singapore. I’ll do a full-on food review soon, but for now I’d like to focus on the drinks… because one, I don’t think we have enough drink coverage on the site and I’d like to start changing that. And two, the drinks here are damn good.
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Friendly and knowledgeable family-run tea, spice and honey purveyors
I have gotten into tea since moving to Asia. No longer a die hard coffee drinker, I enjoy herbal teas, black teas…hot or iced. Something about it feels lighter to me in this climate. And when I travel, I am fascinated by the various tea cultures that exist in Asia and like to take part in as many as time allows whether in China or Japan or Nepal. On a recent trip to Nepal I was excited to try the local Nepalese Milk Tea, or “dudh chia.” It is something reminiscent of an Indian Chai but with a Nepalese twist. We had enjoyed some in out hotel in the morning over breakfast and thereafter I was on a mission to acquire said milk tea and learn how to make it. Lucky for me, I stumbled upon Sagarmatha Tea House where we spend a better part of the morning learning about Nepalese tea culture. [keep reading…]
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Hey all,
Next week if you’re feeling up for wine tasting or event of some kind, why not do some drinking for charity? Our good friend Chris from PengWine is organizing a fund raiser to help out with the recent damage done by the 8.8 richter scale quake in Chile. The proceeds from the event will go to help less fortunate children through VE-Global in Chile.
Those who attended our last event at El Toro know what to expect – the great food, generous tasting portions, and refreshing Pisco Sours. For everyone else, do yourself a favor and come out and enjoy yourself while doing a small part to help out with Chile. Haiti is receiving a lot of attention these days, and rightfully so. But it’s good to not forget about other countries recently effected by tragedies… those that don’t have international singing sensations raising funding & writing charity songs for them 
Click here for info on the event
Paul
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Experience a Chinese tea ceremony in this eclectic old teahouse
In the heart of historic Old Town in Shanghai and in close proximity to the famous Yuyuan Gardens lies the Old Shanghai Teahouse. In fact, Old Town was the first area of Shanghai to be settled – originally, a place for locals only and where foreigners never ventured. Today, with the Old Town Bazaar and nearby historic gardens this is hardly the case as a mix of foreigners and locals can both be found shopping and generally whiling away a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. And in the midst of the market frenzy, the Old Shanghai Teahouse provides a welcome, if slightly eclectic, respite. [keep reading…]
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I’d walked past Brussels Sprouts many times on my way to Epicurious or other places on the Quay in Singapore. I thought it was possibly a vegetarian restaurant. It always seemed busy, a good sign in Singapore, but for some reason I never visited. Thankfully some friends of ours invited us to join them for an after-work dinner. It’s a simple concept executed well.
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Ah Bia Hoi. No trip to Northern Vietnam is complete without at least a couple glasses of the stuff. Forget Saigon, 333, or any of the other local beers. Look instead for a small, street-side shop selling locally brewed versions of this light drink.
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Bubbly wine tasting debunks the ‘has to be expensive’ and ‘has to be French’ myth
We were invited to a blind bubbly wine tasting by our friends at The Local Nose. The idea of the event was to taste both champagnes and sparkling wines of all price points and from various regions to see if one could discern the difference between champagne vs. sparkling wine, and expensive vs. inexpensive. [keep reading…]
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Howdy Yall,
To commemorate my travels around Texas and the states I’ll be doing a short series of “Texan Epicurean Concepts” over the next few weeks. These concepts will hopefully help you more fully enjoy your next trip to Texas.
First up is a childhood favorite of mine – Sweet Tea. [keep reading…]
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Enjoy a cocktail at sunset overlooking the former residence of the Chinese Emperor
The Yin Bar at the Emperor’s Hotel might just be the best rooftop bar in the city of Beijing. The hotel itself is one of the Design Hotels of the World, a list we often respect when we are hotel hunting in a new or familiar city. It usually stands for cool, hip, well-located, boutique hotels in exciting cities. [keep reading…]
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Know the difference between apéritif and digestif? Know which one comes at what point in a meal? Ok, the picture above probably gives away the answer to the second question. Why do we have these drinks? Do they really work?
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