My love affair with wine began when I was fifteen years old. I have always been enthralled by the mystique and romanticsm surrounding wine and wine-making processes. I am amazed by how the same grapes yield totally different products when exposed to small variations in climate and time....and of course, human actions! The way fruity, floral and mineral aromas blend to produce a bouquet is pure magic...Wine is such a complex and intriguing nectar...each mouthful brings new undertones and nuances that prove previous impressions wrong! Each region has its own wine tradition and culture...and it is simply mind-boggling to understand each and every one of them.

I have never had formal wine appreciation training. I gleaned most of my tasting practices from drinking with friends and reading wine books. My thirst for knowledge eventually brought me to Tommy Lam's The Champagne Room, adjacent to his Wine Amigo cellars near Somerset MRT station. I attended a tasting session conducted by Tommy one Saturday afternoon and left with an even greater thirst for wine knowledge.

We sampled Pinot Noir, Merlot, Muscat, Champagne and Chardonnay...What surprised me was the sharp contrast between two Chardonnays...One bottle was from Chile and the other from France. The Chilean Chardonnay had a woody and spicy bouquet that was worlds apart from the peachy and fresh bouquet of the French Chardonnay. We later learnt that Chilean wine is much more intense in flavour because the Chardonnay grapes absorb more sunlight than the French ones, thus building up sugars within the fruit itself! Fascinating!

The wine-tasting session was indeed an eye-opener.

Went for my first Latin Fiesta on Friday night...Really swept away by the Salseros...so envious of those who can groove confidently to the salsa beat. I guess my problem is stiffness...and if I can somehow learn how to loosen up a little, I'll be a better dancer. For lonely guys out there, salsa clubs are a great place to meet new gals...hot gals too, if I may add. However, you gotta be very confident of yourself, cos you are expected to lead! The gals are just following your motions, so it is important that you have a clear idea of how you are going to groove. The worst impression you are going to end up leaving a girl with is that she is dancing with Frankenstein ( after he has had a tequila liquid buffet!)

Went to The Balcony after shopping that day...Totally unimpressed by the joint. My friend and I were shuffled to an obscure corner that smelt of deep-fried animal flesh and carbon monoxide. The raucous traffic from the streets was VERY audible from our cramped alfresco spot. Worst, the bloody waiter placed us under an industrial-strength fan, which was whirring at the volume of a chainsaw...Mysteriously, the fan was emitting some kind of water vapour unto the patrons below (i.e. us). The Maitre'D had a condescending air around him...He had a smile that was oilier than an oil slick and regarded us as we might regard seacucumbers or amoebas...Rui wanted to slap the waiter's face with credit cards...just to prove that we were not, as the waiter thought, "people with low purchasing power". Just as we were about to order our cocktails, the irritating waiter requested to check our ICs (probably because of me lah.)! I am already used to these kind of actions, because everyone at every bar I go wants to check my IC...but Rui blew his top.

We left in a huff. I was thinking, "wtf did he not check the ics of the other patrons? Why only us?" The waiter probably thought that I was some kid and wanted to jit seow (disturb) a bit...Anyway, I was appalled not because he wanted to check, but because he had a damn condescending look on his face...even the disgusting mole-like thing in his nostril was looking at me with an air of conceit...gross....

Anyway, I vowed not to return. So what if they have one-for-one during Happy Hours? By the way, if you read the words next to the asterisk, this promotion only begins in November hor...