Killing time in malaysialand...

Been in KL for just over a week, most of the time has been spent shopping, eating or just killing time in the hotel room.

Tonight we're at Club twenty-one in bangsar. The crew here is the best so far. They were on time to training, took notes & really engaged with what we were sharing.

Looking forward to getting tonights 2 shows done & dusted so we can get on with the good times...

Tonight my friend Azza Azza (AKA Special K) happens to be in the same country, so he'll be joining us in the revelry, so one thing is for sure - wherever we end up will end up being a great time!

This weekend we'll be in Penang for our last 2 events - then it's back to reality & our amazing ladies!


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Event # 2 - done and dusted...

Second event is down. Crowd and crew was very different at 7atenine then at Ecoba. A little education, training and passion goes a long way as I discovered when hanging out with the boys from 7atenine. They are a very good bartending crew, they know how to mix, flair and work as a team...

Having said that I am a big fan of the peoples bartender. The kind of bartender that builds relational credit in 30 seconds, the bartender that engages with the customer, has a laugh with them and shows them a great time - something the less organized crew from ecoba probably did better... most of the time.

The culture and clientele from both venues is very different. Ecoba punters are very down to earth and relaxed, whereas the regulars of 7atenine were very prententious and less inclined to engage with those who serve them.

Secondly the bar set up at 7atenine was very unusual. A round bar with tables that jet out from every angle. Every table has their own waiter and the bartender never actually engages with those in his venue - in short the bartenders here are pretty much glorified service bartenders, built for speed and efficiency, rather then for customer engagement and service.



Bit of a waste if you ask me because the boys could probably make a heck of a lot more money for the venue and tips for themselves if they had more opportunity to unleash their mad skills on the general public.

As for the show tonight - it went okay. I dropped alot again and really struggled to see the bottles because of poor lighting, but other then that we met some great people and had a great time throwing the bottles and making some good cocktails that ended up selling for over $70aud each with the proceeds going to the local bar crew...

The next 4 days we have off before our next event at club 21.

First Event done...

Andy and I did our first training session, series of 4 flair shows and media interviews at Ecoba in Kuala Lumpar yesterday... it was a long and emotionally draining day but the promoters, Absolut representatives and the local bartenders were all very happy with what we provided them.

Andy and I both struggled during our performances as the bottles and equipment we were provided with were not what we had asked for and this made it difficult for us to flair well, however what we lacked with crazy bottle skills we made up for in showmanship.

All in all we were glad to get the first day out of the way, we met some great people and had alot of laughs - hopefully we'll iron out some of the kinks and make the next 4 events even better then the first.

Malaysialand adventures...

Night one in Malaysialand was spent half asleep at a great little whiskey bar called... The Whiskey Bar.

Andy and I ordered a couple of Old Fashioneds and some food - one hawaiian and one duck breast and mushroom pizza - and settled in for a couple of hours of good conversation.

The Old Fashioneds were okay, but they didn't stock my bourbon of choice, Woodford Reserve, so it wasn't fantastic. The pizza was unreal and we both devoured a couple pretty quickly.

We decided to stick around after the bar crew hooked us up with some free sangria... although it was probably the worst Ive ever had, we appreciated their kindness and hung around long enough to enjoy a hit of 15 year old glenfiddich served over an ice ball...

It was what we needed after the flight and the briefing from our promoters / babysitters was over and I can tell you that I had no trouble sleeping once my head hit the pillow.

Today we spent the day shopping, bought us some shoes, haggled with a few taxi drivers, [and watched about 15 minutes of some crazy eastern eye martial arts film with one of 'em], went over our training and performance notes and called our wives...

Tonight we'll be hanging out with the owners of ecobar here in KL, along with their bar crew, our promoters and probably some of their friends. I am looking forward to some good food, good cocktails, good company and the creation of some good memories...

Malaysia here we come!

Andy & I are in the big yellow taxi heading toward Malaysia for Peak Bartending's international debut.

We will be performing 5 flair shows over 2 weeks for absolut vodka as well as hosting some bartender training for some of the local talent.

Bon voyage!




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