A time of firsts

Well this month has been a month of "firsts"!

1. Something very personal which only one other person in the world knows about. In any case, an experience to learn from, and move forward from! :)
2. Conducting my first training session in Cantonese. Yep, I know it's old news, but it's a massive milestone in my life. Let's just hope that the feedback won't be too bad....
3. Meeting my ex-big-boss in HK + actually having an awesome time catching up with her about non-work stuff over dinner. Ahhh, sometimes it's just nice to see a familiar face ain't it.
4. Getting to meet the other colleagues in both the local and regional teams, during the farewell/retirement party of our Regional boss. Got to chat with a few other faces and a new colleague...and I have to say I manage to make an impression (I do hope it's a good one and not the reputation of my drinking tolerance...but then again, that's a plus point? haaa)on quite a few of the Regional + Country heads. And with good wine and laughter, what's there not to enjoy!
5. First time having cocktails that literally blew my mind. My friends and I were actually hanging out at The Lab where they had special concoctions with Ginseng, Luo Han Guo etc. And that was already pretty good...but when we were brought to Isono @ PMQ, where we were met by Nic (who's apparently the grandmasters of the mixologists back at The Lab) and got to savour his mixes......phew! Mind-blowing, and like my friend said, "He really takes cocktails to a whole other level". I couldn't agree more - he mixed up two rounds of cocktails for us after learning about our preferences.
• Round 1: Took a sip and we were like 0.o. Goes down so smooth but doesn't taste like it has alcohol (there is alcohol in there if you were wondering). None of the overpowering alcohol content or unbalanced sugary aftertaste.
• Round 2: This round of cocktails were stronger and more advanced. Friend 1 had a drink that smelled like whiskey but contained none of it. Nic challenged us to guess the ingredients....of which I got the major one correct! Friend 2 had a drink called Jungle Fever (which is totally delicious), and I got all the flavours correct! Ok, with a little prompting from the Grandmaster himself...I myself, got a drink called Poison which is a blend of 7 spirits. Nic enjoys creating cocktails where no one actually can tell what goes into it...so I was feeling a little accomplished from his challenge haa

By then we were almost done with our drinks and our chat, and Nic with his work shift, we were invited to grab Tom Yum shots and Sour Plum Shots at Topiary (another bar) with him. And yes, I identified the ingredients behind the Tom Yum ones (not cos I know the ingredients of a Tom Yum Goong recipe but I could really taste themt)...and Nic said I can be a sommelier since I'm rather spot-on on the tastes/ingredients!!

-let's just pause to enjoy the moment of me leaping over the moon.=D.....-

Ok, that aside, it was really refreshing to hear someone sharing his experiences, story and philosophy (yes there is philosophy behind cocktail-making). A really humble person with interesting anecdotes....I'll be back to Isono for more of his drinks and chatting! And I'm totally bringing my future boyfriend for him to have a look so he can screen his personality with his X-ray eyes ....