Wine Fiesta - Wine for Asia 2011

Date: Oct 29, 2011

The Wine for Asia 2011 is a 3 days event.  The first 2 days are for traders.  And the last day, namely "Wine Fiesta" is for general public and wine lovers.  I went with my family, and have to beg them to allow my 2 boys to go in.  Terrence is still in US, so, he sent his wife Amanda to go.

The first stop is to stop by the Wine Buffett.  According to the label, all these are "award winning
" labels in the Wine Asia.   There are hundreds of bottles for you to taste.

Even white wines, rose are available.  All the wines are from the rest of the world... Mostly new world.

Jay Jay is exicited, as he has not seen so much wine before.

Hey, that's Roderick.  He is Renee's friend in KL.  I think he is the cheif Sommelier for Hilton.  I once drank with him at Vintry Jaya33, KL.  And I learned a lot from his guy.  :)

One of the very few bottles that I like from the Wine Buffett.

I like this Pinot Noir too.

This big Fella Chardonay is nice too.

I told the ladies not to waste too much time at the Wine Buffett.  Yes, there are a lot of wines, but not so nice.  So, I brought them to The Great Bordeaux 2008 Tasting Booth.

They appreciate the Bordeaux wines a lot after tasting a few bottles.  And immediately, they found the differene between the old world and the new world wines.  It is the aroma that left in the glass that amazed them.

Oh Ya... I drank this one, not too bad.

After these fantastic wine, we went to the Garlic Restaurant and eat our big meal.  :)  NO WINE though.  ahhaha

The ticket is $30 per pax.  And you get to choose a door gift, either a award winning wine or a book.  So, after looking at 3 random bottles of wine, I decided to get 2x Books.  Coz the book cost about S$70 and the wine, I don't know... may be $30-$40?  The book is by Chng Poh Tiong, it is a wine pairing book with Chinese Food.

It is this thick!

And the content is quite OK.  It's in English and Chinese.  And Lots of photos.

It's a good gift to give people too.  :)

 

 

128 Great Years of Bordeaux Dinner Singapore (Wine For Asia 2011)

Date: Oct 28, 2011

I was not suppose to be in Singapore.  I had to cancel my Bangkok trip because of the flood.  That is why I was able to make it to the Wine for Asia 2011 yesterday and attended the Bordeaux Wine Master Class.  It is there then I fell in love with Bordeaux wine.  The wine tasting was lovely.

Malcolm saw me, and asked "Why I am in Singapore?"  I explained to him, and then, he said, in that case, you must sponsor the Bordeaux dinner.  I said OK and I requested for 2 tickets without hestitations.  I asked my lovely wife to come along.

Again, this dinner is special.  Only at such a great wine dinner that you have the whole table full of glasses.

This is sort of a Gala dinner from Bordeaux wine owner/vinyards.  Therefore, most of the wine are sponsored by them.  It is cheap to do this, and they have to give away these wines because all their wine they brought in are duty free because of the exibitions.

The MC is Chng Poh Tiong.  He was the moderator in the Bordeaux Wine Master Class yesterday.  He was a very funny man.  And he speaks with some French accent.  I felt amazing about him is the way he describe the wine.  He is a writter, and he usually writes on Lian-He-Zao-Bao, and all sort of magazine.

He is also the author of this fantastic book.

The menu for the dinner has a nice back cover.  I guess it is sponsor from The Wine Review.

This is today menu for the food and wine.  Yes, all the wines are from the top 5 wineyards as presented yesterday in the Bordeaux Wine Master Class.  Those 2007 are very lovely to drink.  And each dish is cooked by different chef.  Almost all the master chefs in Conrad has been deployed for this dinner.  And it is carefully paired witht he wine brought in by the wine makers.  4 main dishes and 1 dessert.  Starting with champaign, followed by 2 wines for each meal, and a sweet dessert wine for the dessert, and lastly followed by an Macallan 18 Years Single Malt Sherry Oak to clear your mouth.  hahaha

Wait a minute!  The wine was the same as yesterday in terms of name and vineyard... but the year, WOW.  2005, 2003, 2000, 1999.  We are thrill of this, we will be drinking wines that is of these years.  So, they also brought in wines that is older vintage.

These are the makers for the wine today... I love the white from Domaine de Chevalier, very crisp, easy to drink, moderate acidity, fruity, and the nice fragrant in the empty glass after finishing it.  But most of Bordeaux wine will have such a feature, leave a long lasting aroma in your glass.

Not sure why there is a Macallan 18 years here, but this one is kept in Sherry Oak.  Must be special.  Because those people who sits beside me were talking about it.  They are a bunch of wine lovers from various industries, not from the wine or F&B trade though.  It was very interesting talking to them, sharing wine opinions, etc.  They drink Bordeaux wine every week to the extend that every one bring a bottle and then blind fold to drink the wine to guess what wine, which vintage, etc.

I like both Chateaux Figeac St. Emilion, and the Barton's wine.  Very lovely wine.

The Chateau Suduirant's Sauternes is a very very nice sweet wine.  It is the same bottle as yesterday I drank at the Master Class.  This is one of the nicest Sweet Wine I have ever drink.

My wife was so happy to be here.

Here is the first two wines paring it with Steamed Prawn & Scallop in Golden Fried Beancurd Skin Topped with Crabmeat & Crab Roe by Dim sum Chef Yiu Kit Lam.

Domaine de Chevalier White 2005 - 2005 is a good year for Bordeaux wines.  It is one of the best year in 25 years of 2005.

& Domain de Chevalier Red 2003

OK.  The pair of this is a bit wierd as the white wine acidity was a bit up after the food in your mouth.  However, if you drink the soup sauce, and then follow by the red, it taste differently, and it was smooth and easy and frangrant.

My wife was happy sitting beside this young lady and her sister (not in picture).  They are from Bangkok.  Tomorrow going home and they want to buy as many instant noodle back as possible.  As you know food shortage in Bangkok because of the flood.

Her dad runs a candy shop.  Huge business.  And she and her sister runs Corner Stones in Thailand, and she is the MD.  They are responsible for 90% of the wines brought into Thailand hotels and resorts, etc.

I am glad that my wife got people to chat to during the dinner.  I am glad that on my side are those wine lovers.  I introduce and strongly recommended them Malcolm's wine course at Singapore Poly.

The next lovely dish is Twice Cooked Pork Belly with Pickled Mushrooms & Buttered Cauliflower by Chef Kenny Fong.  WOW.  I don't know why they need to cook the Pork Belly twice, I love this dish.

It is paired with Chateau Petit-Village 2004, and Chateaux Branc-Cantenac 2003.  Both are light crisp red wine, so, it goes well with the fatty food.  Again, after you finished the glasses, you just can't stop smelling your empty glass as the aromas are still there.

They name each table by a variety in France.  We are glad that we sit on a table called Bordeaux.

The third dish is Braised Duck with Spring Onion, Leek & Whole Garlic in Rick Brown Sauce by Master Chef Ku Keung & Team.

The wine is Chateau Figeac 1999 & Chateau Leoville-Barton 1999.  It is a pair of 1999 vintage and it is definitely lovely, and no words to describe it yet.

She definitely love the food and the wine.  Well, she has to drink lesser as she is the driver tonight!

This dish has a big name.  Smoke & Seared Angus Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Celeriac & Artichoke, Caramelized Baby Onions & Herb Parmesan Crust.  By Chef Bernard Bernade & Team.  OK Beef!

The wine paired is Chateau Pichon Baron 2003 & Chateau Montrose 2000.

Yes.  She was forced not to finished every glass as she is the driver.  hahaha

Pear & Lychee Charlotte Served with Marinated Wild Berry Ragout Infused with Anis by Executive Pastry Chef Bruno Philippe & Team.

And certainly this goes very well with the Chateau Suduirant 2007 Sauternes.  Very nice.

And lastly, to wash your mouth, with ... Macallan 18 Sherry Oak.  (I don't quite like it though) hahaha but its for the men.  hahaha I drank a little.

Now I know what's the reason Chng Poh Tiong always thanks the chefs and the waiter/waitress after every event.  Because he has to be nice to these people so that they can serve and cook lovely food for him to critic mah. hahaha

Also we thanks these lovely wine makers for lovely wines tonight.

How To Optimized Apple TV2 for Air-Play Mirroring

Date:  Oct 28, 2011

AirPlay Mirroring is actually a big thing.  It allows you to mirror your iPad2 screen or iPhone 4S screen onto your big screen TV.

To do that, you need a Apple TV 2.  It is cheap!  Only US$99.  It is worth it if you buy this for only doing AirPlay for your office or at home.  It ties to an Apple-ID.  So, if your Apple-ID is Singapore based, then, you will not get the movies or shows.  You can only use it for Slide Shows or your own converted MP4 movies.

But a lot of people forgot about Apple TV 2 will need Wireless to perform AirPlay Mirroring.  So, your WiFi at home must be solid in order for it to have optimal mirroring.  Means, no lagging.  I used to hook at my Apple TV to my network cabinet which is 10 meter away.  But the performance is lagging.  After troubleshooting… I found out that it was my Internal cabling from the network cabinet to the TV console area SUCKS big time.  So, I did the following Network Improvement Plan.

 

As you can see, I actually placed my AirPort Extreme just beside the Apple TV2, so that both of the devices are connecting using Gigabits Network with just a Cat6 cable.

And from the Apple TV, you actually hook up your TV using HDMI.

So, now, with the AirPort Extreme running 802.11n Wifi, it can pump up to 300Mbps max (in theory).  So, you are sitting in front of your TV, and you now can use your iPhone 4S or iPad2 (with A5 Chip) to do AirPlay Mirroring.

IMPORTANT NOTES

You will only allow iPhone 4S and iPad2 to connect to your AirPort Extreme.  If you have older Wifi devices, such as a very old laptop, or a old Internet Radio, DO NOT allow them to connect to this AirPort Extreme.  As these devices probably has 802.11b or 802.11g Wifi protocol.  And AirPort Extreme will downgrade its Wifi tech to match these protocol.  So, if you have one single 802.11g there on the network, all your iPhone 4S or iPad2 will be dragged down by this culprit with slower Wifi Speed.

After I have done these changes I no longer see the lagging on Real Racing 2.

In future, there will be a lot a lot of AirPlay Mirroring game available.  With its Gyroscope movement to play the games, you will be having a different experience playing games on TV.

Your son now can play Angry Birds on iPad2, and projected it to the TV.  So that every body can see what he is trying to do, so, playing games now longer a one person job.

You can use AirVideo Server, to play movies stored on your PC/Mac or NAS.  Very cool.  This is how I watch Movies now.  On Youtube, the screen will automatically optimize to full screen.

There are much more to do.  :)  Think about it!