Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2026: Arthur Chang Takes The Title

Nicholas Ng

The Malaysia Best Sommelier Championship 2026 took place in Kuala Lumpur from 17th to 19th July 2026, with Arthur Chang of 67 Pall Mall Singapore emerging as Malaysia’s Best Sommelier. Chang delivered the competition’s strongest all-round performance, taking home the Champion title alongside Best in Theory, Best in Service and the Cepas de Chile Award. Chin Voon Ping, Head Sommelier at Potager Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, finished as First Runner-Up and received the Best in Blind Tasting Award, while Aaron Liew, Senior Sales Executive at Grand Vin Pte Ltd in Singapore, placed Second Runner-Up. The inaugural Best Foreign Sommelier Award went to Daisuke Kawai, Wine & F&B Director of Daisuke Kawai Pte Ltd. Continue reading →

June Check Ins: Monsoon Stays in Singapore and Penang

Nicholas Ng

June settles over the Strait of Malacca as the southwest monsoon takes hold, a season defined less by rain than by heat, with squalls that blow through before dawn and clear skies that turn the afternoons fierce. Travel adjusts accordingly, with mornings spent out early, long midday hours passed indoors and dinner restored as the main event of the day. The four hotels this month, three in Singapore and one in Penang, are chosen for sheltered arrivals, shaded grounds and dining rooms strong enough to make staying in a decision rather than a compromise. Continue reading →

Palace Walls, Peking Duck and Beijing’s Quiet Cocktail Revival

Nicholas Ng
Beijing | Beijing City Guide

Duck skin crackles under the carver’s blade, fat rendered thin and glass-clear, the meat beneath left pink and loose enough to fold into a pancake without tearing. Meals in Beijing move along a straight line the way the city itself does, laid out on a north-south axis that has not shifted in six centuries, palace gates opening onto avenues that lead to altars, markets, and now to private dining rooms hidden behind unmarked doors. Where other Chinese cities build pleasure through contrast, Beijing builds it through precision and hierarchy: duck roasted to an exact number of days, tea poured only once everyone is seated, cocktails built from ingredients that reference dynasties rather than seasons. Few cities carry this much formal memory into something as ordinary as dinner. Beijing does it at every register, from a three-table meat pie stall in a hutong to a three-Michelin-star dining room a few streets away. Continue reading →

May Check Ins: Spring on the Steppe and Heat at the Equator

Nicholas Ng

May rewards a route from the northern uplands to the equator, and the weather changes the brief at every stop. Around Hohhot the air runs dry and the days clear, warm enough to be outdoors yet cold enough at night for a fire and a sky thick with stars, the pull of the canyon country before summer. Beijing hits its most walkable stretch, warm and dry ahead of July humidity, so hutong mornings and museum afternoons hold. Singapore stays hot and storm-prone, turning the right address into a cool base within reach of dinner. Continue reading →

April Check Ins: From Penang’s Coastal Humidity to the Serene Hills of Ipoh

Nicholas Ng

April in Peninsular Malaysia rewards travellers who plan around the heat rather than against it. George Town walks well before 10am and after dusk, Ipoh asks for water and shade through the afternoon, and Kuala Lumpur’s 2pm to 4pm rain window structures dinner reservations and evening movement. The five hotels below address April’s climate not by insulating guests from it but by giving them a workable base within it, with positioning and programming that turn the middle of the day into the most interesting part of the stay.
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More Than Mala: Pandas, Hotpot and Chengdu’s Underrated Bar Scene

Nicholas Ng

Steam rises from a split hotpot, chilli oil sitting thick on the surface while tripe curls and beef slices firm up, chopsticks moving in steady rhythm across the table. Meals in Chengdu run long, dishes arriving in rounds, tea refilled without pause, and the table left intact until the last person finishes eating. Sichuan cooking drives this pace through contrast, chilli heat softened by sugar, numbing peppercorn following later, vinegar cutting through oil, and fermented pastes sitting underneath to hold everything together. Few cities organise pleasure with this kind of structural logic. Chengdu does it across every part of the day. Continue reading →

Chengdu After Dark: Peter Peng on Building a Bar Scene That Refuses to Be Overlooked

Nicholas Ng

Chengdu rarely enters the global bar conversation with the same weight as Shanghai or Hong Kong, yet a quieter shift is taking place on the ground. At the centre of it is Peter Peng, the operator behind five distinct concepts including Chinese Room, each pushing a different reading of what a modern cocktail bar in China can be. This conversation looks at how those bars came to be, what Chengdu gets misjudged for, and why the city’s drinking culture is beginning to demand closer attention.

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March Check Ins: Thawing Out The Last Of Winter in Greater China

Nicholas Ng

March places these cities into a workable band where Chengdu holds steady at temperatures that allow full days on foot around Taikoo Li and Chunxi Road without fatigue, while Lijiang’s elevation drops temperatures enough for cold mornings and evenings that change how the day is paced. Shenzhen remains dry, making movement between Futian and Nanshan predictable, and Hong Kong sits in a period where tables at restaurants and seats at bars can still be secured without extended lead time. The day becomes linear rather than fragmented, moving from late morning coffee into lunch districts, returning for a reset, then heading back out for dinner and bars without needing to account for long transit gaps. These hotels work because they remove distance, manage access, and reduce dependence on transport, allowing time to be spent on food and neighbourhoods rather than logistics. Continue reading →

Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2026: The Chairman Reclaims The Crown

Nicholas Ng

The 14th edition of Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants took place in Hong Kong on 25th March 2026, with The Chairman reclaiming the No.1 position as Asia’s Best Restaurant. The list spans 17 cities, with eight new entries and four re-entries, reflecting a year where regional identity and ingredient-led cooking continue to define the direction of fine dining in Asia. Continue reading →

Seoul City Guide: Fire, Fermentation And Precision In The Glass

Nicholas Ng

Seoul’s reputation travels globally through choreography, cinema and glass towers, yet the city’s credibility is built far more quietly through what it cooks and what it pours. Rustic broth houses and charcoal grills operate with the same seriousness as Michelin starred tasting counters, while a bar scene of genuine regional weight balances technical precision with restraint. The range appears wide, but the governing logic is singular, because whether seated at a gukbap table at noon or a cocktail counter in Gangnam at midnight, Seoul rewards calibration over spectacle. Continue reading →