POLE IDOL

POLE IDOL is geared to promote pole dancing as the new phenomenon in dance and fitness. This acrobatic sport, undeniably a beautiful art form, has recently captured the interest of many Malaysian women as well as men. This competition is therefore an exciting event for all, but essentially an eye-opener!

The Pole Idol champion will represent Malaysia to compete at the upcoming Asian Pole Summit in Singapore .

Over RM10,000 worth of cash and prizes to be won!

Date & Time

LIVE AUDITIONS : Oct9 & Oct10, 2009 (9pm)
GRAND FINALS : Oct24, 2009 (9pm)

Venue
NEO
(19, Jalan Sultan Ismail - opposite TGIF/next to Wisma KFC)

For those who wish to compete, please contact Maple Loo of The Hanging Garden at mapleloo@gmail.com or TIME-OUT magazine at Tel: +6 03-2166 6650

As for the rest, come and enjoy the show!

NUDE at Mandi-Mandi

26 July 2009 : 4pm to 11pm

A party for the creative community in Malaysia, it was a night for the friends of the arts. This was the 2nd congregation of NUDE, put together by Mushi Mushi. This time in the urban jungle setting of Mandi-Mandi. So there we had it, our own mini version of the rainforest world music fest in our backyard!


The evening was a fusion of indeginous musicians, including digiridoo players + percussionists, integrating song and instrumentation by orang asli women (a special performance with the talented, awe-inspiring Anteras all the way from Magic River)


And electronic dance live music with Haze - flanked by an ethnic-inspired pole dance performance by Maple herself.



The dry pool at Mandi-Mandi was filled with guests chilling out on the deep end, lounging on benches and pillows, with musicians on the other. Guests also feasted from pizzas & pastas to Tom Yam & Thai salads and could have almost every drink under the sky.

Il Tempio was transformed into an art gallery.
Thanks to Brandon, Justin and Manjit for all these great photos!

Look out for the next NUDE party! Send us your email and we shall make you a NUDIST;)

Tamarind Hill's Official Launch Party

FINALLY.... WE HAVE ARRIVED.

After being opened for 6 months, we feel it's now time to throw a big party to officiate our re-opening:) So welcome to Tamarind Hill.


Distinguished guests, our family and some of our closest and dearest friends, many whom we’ve not seen in a while; some have even flown in from Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka.

We can’t thank you enough for choosing to spend this night with us. It was wonderful. Everybody was just so beautiful.

This year Tamarind Hill is 10 years old. What better reason to be back!

A couple of years ago we had to close Tamarind Hill at the old property in Ampang to make way for a housing project.

So we looked and we looked and then we found this gorgeous spot. There’s really no other more perfect place to put Tamarind Hill we thought, to have it sitting on a hill like it should.... Better still, it’s in the heart of KL. Again, we're opportuned to create an environment, an oasis in the city where people can escape to. This is just perfect!

So it wasn't a hard decision to make….we knew we were gonna make this place ours. But then we had to wait. Now finally after 2 years today, Tamarind Hill is reborn.

In those 2 years, Federico and I had spent quite a bit of time in Thailand again, searching, sourcing and researching. Everything from food, architecture and design ideas to people.... in anticipation of a far better Tamarind Hill than it ever was. And this is usually the part we both love most – the process of creation, working the magic.…

During this phase, there was really no place else we’d rather be but Thailand, which we feel so home to and really, Thailand is where our heart is. Plus all the fun! Shopping and eating and connecting with the Thai people... there’s no place like Thailand.So there we have it, we found everything and everyone that forms the very essence and the core of the new Tamarind Hill we have today.

The entire restaurant was designed and built by Federico himself, decked out with my obsession with hilltribe art and crafts, the restaurant is therefore a slice of our personal experience and true passion.

However, the real star of the show really, is our new cuisine. You’ll never imagine Thai food can taste and look like this! 10 years ago, we also brought Vietnamese cuisine to you. Today we bring you Burmese. Guests sampled party portions that night but they shall return to embark on the full-on experience with our Chef Thiti's creations. His cuisine, best classified as Thai with a twist - Thai & Burmese food revisited.

Some of our guests went home with superb lucky draw prizes too! First there were the RM100 dining vouchers then it got better...

Flight-inclusive stay at 3 stunning Relais & Chateaux hotels in Asia Pacific : Bangkok (The Eugenia), Chiang Mai (Rachamanka) and including our very own JapaMala Resort in Tioman.

It was Cyndy's lucky night, thanks a million to www.nesrinmarketing.com for their gracious sponsorship of two complimentary return air-tickets to Bangkok, and of course the world-class boutique hotel The Eugenia for their one complimentary room-night stay:)

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for.....Michael finally got his chance to go to our JapaMala Resort in Tioman. Lucky bugger, we had just opened our biggest, most opulent 2-room villa called The Penghulu's House on the beach and that's where he shall stay for 2 nights! Thank you Berjaya Air, which will fly him and his loved one in for some serious relaxation jungle-luxe style.

How could Stephane Junca be left out.... Stephane is the Director of Development for Relais & Chateaux Asia who had picked out Cynthia for the grand prize!

TADA!!!! Thanks to Rachmanka Chiang Mai, the most exquisite and charming hotel we know in the north. Cynthia gets 2 nights' stay + a day tour to the Doi Suthep temple + an exclusive 'Tamarind Hilltribe' experience too! All paid for, thank you Paul. And thank you www.nesrinmarketing.com for flying cynthia & hubby there and back!
A million thanks to Euro-Atlantic, Calbeck, Cave & Cellar and Riche Monde too for their unremitting support always. There shall be more parties!

Appetizers TO DIE FOR - Il Tempio

If you're dining in Il Tempio for the first time and don't know what to order, try these two contemporary dishes :

Porcini Mushroom cream with Truffle oil, topped with stewed spring onions, pan-fried Foie Gras & Vanilla salt

Beef Carpaccio sandwiched in Parmesan Chips

Tamarind Hill LUNCH ESCAPE

Tamarind Hill - Hillside Rustic Dining Experience in the Heart of KL

WE'RE BACK AT THE TOP!

Tamarind Hill restaurant, one of the first contemporary Siam & Burmese restaurants in the Malaysian dining scene, has made a come-back after a 2- year relocation plan. Marking its 10th year in business, Tamarind Hill is now re-opened on Jalan Sultan Ismail, one the most vibrant areas in KL city.

The winner of the industry accolade for Best Asian Cuisine by The Hospitality Asia Platinum Awards for 2003-2004, today Tamarind Hill is set on one of the most spectacular and exclusive private hill top properties in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. A stand-alone historic colonial house (previously Scalini’s restaurant), diners can ‘walk up an appetite’ along a flight of stairs lit by flickering oil lamps at night.

The design concept of the restaurant maintains Tamarind’s trademarked rustic-luxury dining experience within a green ambiance, against the spectacular backdrop of the modern business building landscape, including the landmark Petronas Twin Towers.

A great escapade, Tamarind Hill allows allowing diners to retreat to an oasis within the city. Natural elements like water and fire are used to create a subtle, understated drama in a contemporary Asian setting inspired by the hill tribes of Indochina, with extraordinary effect.

“Designing and building is my passion and it has helped me drive the different concepts of the Tamarind brand. Growing up in this region has influenced my work and in creating environments of rustic retreats where people can escape and enjoy the food and ambience at a leisurely pace,” said Federico Asaro, Founder of Samadhi Retreats.

From suburbia Ampang to city-dining, the restaurant remains popular for its fine Thai cuisine and continues to tantalize regular diners’ taste buds with high-quality ingredients plus its soft introduction to interesting Burmese dishes.

“We wanted to add a touch of difference to our menu, a modern twist to traditional Thai cuisine which cannot be found elsewhere in the city, especially with our mix of unique Burmese dishes which also comprise some influences from the exotic hill tribes,” said Maple.

An introductory menu however extensive, consists of their signature Red Tom Yam cooked with river lobsters among spicier or subtler soups of sorts, none less Siamese than others yet many are new to local diners. The line-up of Thai salads too includes green-chili-and-lime cured seafood for those who are familiar with it or mouth-watering lychee salad with roasted duck as well as the popular seared salmon & roe salad tossed with shallots and a zesty house dressing.

Curry-lovers will be bowled over by Tamarind Hill’s exquisite curry selection like Steamed Fish Roe Curry with Roasted Rice & Apple Eggplants, Wagyu Cheek Panaeng Curry, a milder Burmese curry called Mandalay chicken and potatoes, and of course the authentic green curry. The array of fish and seafood dishes come steamed or deep-fried and with Thai sauces of sorts; wine or butter and even steamed salted egg yolks.

IMPORTANT DETAILS :

LUNCH – LUNCH ESCAPE multi-course menu at RM35 nett or a la carte menu
DINNER– a la carte menu
BAR - Extensive wine list + creative cocktails & mocktails, imported sodas, flower & herb teas, gourmet coffee
SPECIAL MULTI-COURSE MENUS (launching in March 2009) – Weight-Watcher’s Diet & Healthy-Heart Diet (paired with wines)

Kitchen times :
Lunch – 12 to 3pm
Dinner – 6pm – 10.30pm

Other details :
• Closed on Sundays
• Free WIFI

A Culinary Meditation at Il Tempio

Snuggled at the edge of the jungle just a few minutes from the modernised city of Kuala Lumpur is soothing temple of comfortable blue walls and running waters. Living amongst the peaceful setting, however, are not praying monks but a fine serving of Contemporary Italian cuisine and a Picasso of food that makes the most meticulous food composition for the visiting diners.

Il Tempio means ‘the temple’ in Italian, and it is put together with structural and conceptual designs inspired by elements of Asian temples, an avid love of the owner’s, Federico Asaro.
The restaurant built itself around the natural setting and opens out to the neighbouring tropical enclave.The main dining area is the veranda, which is a replica of the ones available in the Thai temples for monks to pray in. Coinciding with the blue theme are cascading water walls and a staircase fountain, which during Valentine’s Day, waiters set up tables in to serve food to the diners. Il Tempio is also equipped with an open concept kitchen, where diners can watch the house chef Daniele Sarno, going at it with all his live cookery action.Although still considered a young one in the culinary industry, the 28-year-old Daniele Sarno is equipped with vast knowledge from his string of work experiences, covering from caviar and champagne specialities, and nouvelle French cuisine, to brick-oven pizzas and pastas, and fresh meat and grilled seafood.

Coming from a family that travels constantly, Sarno picked up his aspiration to become a chef, and inspiration in his complex food creations.“I like to experiment the different food available to the different cultures around the world,” Sarno said. “With that, I try to work it into the Italian cuisine I have grown up with.”“For me, life is all about being passionate of what you do,” he added.“My philosophy in being a good chef is to love what you’re doing. Be prepared to spend hours – even days – in the kitchen if you must to get the perfect dish right, and don’t be afraid to break traditional boundaries to come up with something better.”

Il Tempio on Virtual Malaysia. Read on. Great writing!