Lance's Belated Birthday Dinner & LBC Express' Christmas Party 2012.

The night of Saturday, the 15th December 2012, was a bit busier than usual for me. Dinner was at Lance & Jay's place for Lance's belated birthday dinner - a relatively small group of six couples: Lance & Jay, Johnson & Candy, Miguel & Barbara, Madeline & Ted (I hadn't seen Mads in ages), Lisa & Anton, and Catha & I.

Candy, Lance, Mads, & Johnson in the dining room.

We were the last couple to arrive, joining everyone else at the chic, recently renovated living room (this used to be the family's billiard/rec room where we'd drink during parties when we were still students in the early '80s). It was most pleasant catching up with everyone over flutes of chilled Champagne Laurent Perrier Grand Siècle NV - a prestige cuvée, (generally) a blend of three vintages, named in honor of the reign of Le Roi Soleil, King Louis XIV.

This made much more of a statement than when I had it in the company of Laurent Perrier's other lines on the 21st September 2012. This time, it showed immediate appeal, especially in its fleshier, creamier texture (especially in the middle) with indulgent pastry and nougat notes and fresh, lively acid balance. Very nice, but I purposely stopped at two glasses before dinner as I knew I had a long night and many more drinks ahead of me.

We eventually seated ourselves in the French style at the modern chinoise themed dining room - alternating men and ladies, with no one seated beside his or her spouse. The meal was catered by the Tanabe Japanese Restaurant located along Remedios Street in Malate, Manila.

Anton & Jay

Marinated Salmon & Pickled Daikon Amuse Bouche.

The Sashimi Course consisted of, if I recall properly, Toro, Hamachi (I think), & Ama Ebi - all delightfully fresh, especially the ama ebi. With this was served the bottle of Kinryo Kirameki Junmai Daiginjo Saké which I gave the hosting couple for Christmas a year ago. Kinryo is an ancient saké producer (its history can be traced back 600 years) based in Shikoku, and the Kirameki Junmai Daiginjo is their top of the line saké with the rice grains polished down to 35% (per now Tokyo-based drinking buddy Keiichi Miki). Aside from brewing saké, Kinryo also runs a famous saké museum (Kinryo no Sato).

This saké is one of my favorites. Not available locally, I always ask Tad to pick up a couple of bottles for me whenever he and Chako visit the latter's family in Tokyo. Typically, it is a discreetly complex, elegant saké with slightly off-dry notes of rice, carob and cool rain. This bottle, aged for a year, had the typical, slightly musty smell of aged saké, and a sweetly feminine lilt to it.

Next was the Emperor's Soup.

This is a light, pure and flavorful, complex soup of clear broth of assorted seafood and mushroom. The  old Sugi of decades ago used to serve a wonderful version of this as well. Loved it.

Subtly sweet and smoky Grilled Gindara.

Johnson (far right), this group's source of ever amusingly controversial conversation, was in fine form that night...

...so much so that Candy (far left), I'm sure, wished that she was seated close enough to kick him from under the table.

The next saké served was an aged one, packaged, as can be seen above, in an ornate ceramic bottle. I did not get it's name, but Lance mentioned it was an aged one. The slightly musty note on the nose was also there, and it had a deep, more robust, masculine structure to it - reminding me of the Ibaraki Gekkakow Junmai Daiginjo Ultra Premium Aged Saké that Jim's Global Beer Exchange distributes locally (which happens to be my favorite locally available saké).

Tempura Moriawase

The meat course was a generous portion of luxuriously rich, indulgently fatty Wagyu Teppanyaki. No obviously visible fringes of toasted fat on the pieces, but, in the mouth, it was obviously all inside. Must have been great marbling in there, for sure.

With the meat course was served Anton's bottle of Monte del Frá Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Tenuta Lena di Mezzo - Sorry, I forgot to note the vintage of this, but I'm guessing it the most current release available at Straits Wine Philippines. Served over-chilled, it presented sweetly ripe cherry and whispers of cola on a light-footed, medium body. It gained a material amount of heft, creaminess/spiciness, fruit-forwardness, punch, density, and alcohol viscosity as it warmed up (I hastened the process by cupping the glass in my palms).

As more traditional amarones go (not that I've had a whole lot), this is atypical in that, though the fruit showed more definitive candied-ness (underlying plum and slight cassis emerged as it warmed), it was not that heavy, thick, raisin-like, sweet or alcoholic like amarone as I know it. That is not necessarily a bad thing for me as I prefer moderately bodied, drier, less alcoholic, and comparatively less fruit-forward styles of wine. If I were to buy an amarone locally, this would likely be it.

The sushi was prepared tableside.

Shake, Toro, Anago, Uni & Maguro Sushi.

Noodles rounded off the feast.

Thoroughly enjoyed the dinner, conversation, and company. Thanks again, Lance & Jay! I was the first one to leave (at 10:45pm), though, as I was to catch up with the LBC Express Christmas party at the PICC Reception Hall that same night. The party had a "Rock On!" theme and, having started at around 7:30pm, was in full swing when I arrived at around 11:30pm (thanks to Christmas season traffic in the area).

Dino & Santi with Carlos.

Ver, Joel, Enki, & Juan Carlos.

Miguel & Monica.

Taka-san, Enki, yours truly, & Paolo.

One of several rock bands that night was onstage when I arrived, most everyone in various stages of "happy". I, obviously, had a lot of catching up to do, so I got right to it with tall glasses of scotch on the rocks.

The bands were hot, the drinks flowing, getting everyone dancing...

...Ramon, Kay,...

...suddenly long-haired Miguel...

...and the LBC Remittance Japan contingent as well.

Whew!

Dino on stage.

Rene, Trixie, & Santi.

Rock On, LBC! Merry Christmas! Until the next!

Bert's Birthday Lunch for Edwin.

Last Tuesday, 11th December 2012, lunch was hosted by Bert for Edwin at Hanakazu; and Miguel, Jim, & I were lucky guests at the celebration. I brought along a bottle of special saké for my contribution, picked Migs up at ATC, and, while I was there, did an errand and got a bottle of bubbly as well. After all, what's a birthday meal without a champagne toast?

We were first to arrive, followed shortly by Edwin, with Bert showing up a few minutes later.

We then started with my bottle of (by then) chilled, fresh, lively, citrusy Champagne Veuve Clicquot Brut, offering a toast to the celebrant's continued well-being.

A couple of plates of appetizers then made it to the table.

Jim finally makes it to the lunch, completing our little group.

Happy Birthday, Edwin!

Delicious, fresh, lightly marinated Baby Squid.

Live-Fried Crispy Crablets, fantastic with Macha Salt.

A couple of orders of Daikon Salad w/ Goma Dressing (para healthy).

Toro, Shake, Japanese Uni, Saba, & Hamachi Sashimi (1 of 2 orders).

With the excellent sashimi platters, we moved on to my bottle of Kikusakari Gekkakow Junmai Daiginjo Ultra Premium Vintage Saké - produced by the Kiuchi Brewery (also known for their fine line of Hitachino Nest craft beers). This masculine, deep, complex, sturdily structured saké is made from pure Yamada Nishiki rice polished down to 35%-40% and cold aged for 3 years. Excellent stuff, one of my favorite sakés, and definitely my most favored locally available one.

Jim's Global Beer Exchange distributes various lines of Kiuchi Brewery's sakés, including this top-of-the-line one. It isn't cheap at P4000/bottle, but it somehow manages to get sold out pretty quickly - so much so that it is prudent to reserve one's bottles even before they arrive in Manila as Jim brings in only a couple of cases of it at a time. Like the fast-moving, albeit relatively pricey, Hitachino Nest White Ale, the Gekkakow Junmai Daiginjo shows that more discerning Metro Manila palates are, indeed, ready, willing, and able to shell out more for the good stuff.

With the orders indulgently marbled Wagyu Sashimi, we moved on to bottles of Hitachino Nest White Ales and the above-depicted Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner that Jim brought - Very refreshing, robust, macho pilsner, this was, to me, an excellent match for the luxuriously fatty raw beef. Along with the White Ale, this particular imperial pilsner is a must for me with Japanese meals.

As an added treat for everyone, Bert brought along several bottles of Jim's personal brew Ibaraki IPA which he formulated during one of his trips to Kiuchi Brewery in Ibaraki. Above, Jim poses with two of his "babies".

A somewhat lighter-handed IPA, its hoppiness is toned down a couple of notches yet presents good freshness, definitive flavor, making it also a good match for the wagyu sashimi and the ebi tempura that followed. The Ibaraki IPA was brought in by Jim in limited quantities, and was so much in demand that I had to "make arrangements" to secure even just 6 bottles of it for my stash at home (which my teenagers killed anyway). Bert brought along 7 bottles of this to share. Thanks again, Bert!

Ebi Tempura. Hanakazu does this very well.

There were more dishes ordered, such as Japanese Fried Rice, more Daikon Salad, platters of sashimi. etc., but I was too far gone and having too much fun to remember taking photos of them.

Desserts were fresh Honeydew Melon...

...and fresh Japanese Strawberries. Well, the guys all ordered Mochi Ice Cream as well, but I stuck to the fresh fruits.

Our group, more often than not, has another bubbly (champagne or cava usually) at the end of a meal to "wash our palates". This time, because we were having Japanese cuisine, Jim popped open a somewhat off-dry, sparkling saké, namely, the Kikusakari Kurashizuku Junmai Ginjo Nigori Saké. This didn't last long since we offered a couple of iki (bottoms-up) toasts to the celebrant and the lunch's host.

More bottles were opened, stories swapped, jokes shared, and, into the evening, even more sashimi and tempura ordered and consumed. Lunch lasted until around 8pm, encroaching into the restaurant's dinner service. It's a good thing we're good customers here, else they surely would've booted us out long before.

"Kampai!" from (L_R) Jim, yours truly, Bert, Migs & Edwin.

Great lunch - certainly a most welcome break from a more-hectic-than-expected week leading into the holiday season. Domo arigato, Bert! Happy birthday again, Edwin! Until the next!

Mid-Week 5-Thirsty Craft Beers @ The Bottle Shop.

I'd been looking forward to another session of craft beers with my favorite beer chow and had actually planned a 5-Thirsty get-together with Jim and a few of the LBC boys and other friends since Monday (I actually first heard the term "5-thirsty" from Santi a couple of years ago). Thus, yesterday, the 5th December 2012, I left the Star Cruises office at Resorts World and, with the help of the Skyway, was parking in front of The Bottle Shop (Ground Floor, Tritan Ventures Bldg., Paseo de Magallanes, Makati) within 20 minutes.

I immediately ordered a fresh, fragrant and hoppy Ballast Point Sculpin IPA plus a lightly spiced, fruity, refreshingly carbonated Stone/Dogfish Head/Victory Collaborative Saison du Buff to go with some Chorizo Sisig & Buffalo Chicken Wings from nearby Kublai's Rock - a fantastic way to end a mid-week day.

Tinchu, Miguel, Enki got there a few minutes before I did.

Alex (a.k.a., "Demonio") showed up within an hour, and promptly started bombing us with "Iki" (i.e., bottoms-up) glasses of Kiuchi Brewery's Junmaishu Saké. Tinchu doesn't seem to mind at all as said saké really is quite amiable, smooth, and easy to drink.

Tinchu & Miguel had brought along some new products from Spain that Tierra de España now has available. Delicious stuff the new line of jamón, chorizos, and, especially, the rich, savory sobresada and the nutty, grainy, then creamy manchego.

Like last time I was there, the place was packed...

...everyone having fun.

Young (recently engaged) couple Westley & Claudine celebrate with a few. Congratulations!

Paolo caught up later that night, coming from a family dinner, and was promptly handed a few bottoms-up glasses as a "penalty" for late arrival.

Tinchu breaks it down, 'yo.

Kristine, Gretchen, & Beverly.

Aside from a couple of Sculpin IPAs, a Saison du Buff, and a Unibroue la Fin du Monde or two, I can't remember what else I drank, but I surely drank a whole lot more - as did everyone else.

It seems that it was really the saison du buff at The Bottle Shop that night, as Miguel displays his own imposing physique to body-building and craft beer jamming brothers Westley & CJ.

Primos inter pares (hatiang mag-pinsan)...

Miguel: "Enks, you already finished your half of the Choriburger...
Enki:    "No, I ate your half, so the other half is mine.

The Bottle Shop now has a couple of outdoor tables for those who want to smoke with a brew or five.

Whether indoors or out, however, the good times do roll.

Rock on! Until the next!