This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 4, 2017

3 foodie favourites

Swap the usual afternoon tea for craft cocktails at Coppersmith’s hi-tea offerings. Priced at RM198++ per person, this perfect weekend wind-down is available between 3pm and 6pm at the sleek bar at Troika Sky Dining. The decadent menu includes food such as scallop tartare, the option of abalone risotto or wagyu croquette and a dessert tray, all coupled with artisanal cocktails. Coppersmith, located at Level 23a of The Troika, 19 Persiaran KLCC, Kuala Lumpur, serves innovative cocktails using craft spirits and house-made syrups. For more information or to place a reservation, log on to www.facebook.com/coppersmithattroikaskydining or call (03) 2162 0886.

Agak Agak located in the hip APW Bangsar has a new menu this month, giving patrons another reason to pay a visit. The new lunch menu includes an array of sandwiches, mains like kacang pol and duck rice, not to forget plenty desserts like limau nipis bundt cake, earl grey milk tea cake and pulut hitam cheese tart. For lunch, there is the signature chili pat mee, braised beef brisket and tortellini masak lemak, and a range of desserts such as bunga kantan friands and ice cream garam.  Agak Agak is located at Art Printing Works, Jalan Riong, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. Visit www.facebook.com/pg/agakagakcommunity or call (03) 2788 3590 for more details.

Early risers can enjoy a leisurely dim sum brunch at Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur, which starts at 10am and runs until 3pm throughout the weekend. Make your way to the hotel’s Celestial Court restaurant and enjoy its Imperial Dim Sum Brunch that offers a wide selection of the best of the Cantonese tradition. The brunch promo starts from RM158 nett per person and RM69 nett for kids (nine to 12 years old). Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur is located along Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Log on to www.starwoodhotels.com or call (03) 2717 9988 for reservations and more.

2 Merdeka-themed events

Twenty-five-year-old visual artists Mawar Artworks and Fay Ulrica are working together for a weekend of art, live music and poetry showcasing at a weekend-long event called Dem Malaysian Vibes. From the best of East and West Malaysia, their work and installations aim to highlight and remind viewers of the little details that are not often cited but make Malaysia truly Asia. Admission is free and the gallery opens for viewing from 3pm onwards at the Minut Init art social, 29A & B Jalan SS21/37, Uptown Damansara Utama. Log on to www.facebook.com/MawarArtworks for the full schedule of all the performances.

Kick-start the celebration for the month of Merdeka with an all local-focused edition of the Sunny Side Up Market. Come support local, buy local, wear local and eat local delights at the market that will be featuring more than 35 home-grown local businesses and brands born and bred in Malaysia. Market-goers can look forward to originally designed silk screen prints by Bingka, bold and funky jewellery by Medea Treasures, as well as curated batik pieces from Malaysia and Indonesia by Batika by Hudaa. The Sunny Side Up Market: Merdeka Edition will take place from 11am to 6pm, today to Sunday at Slate at The Row, 46-48 Jalan Doraisamy, Kuala Lumpur. Visit www.facebook.com/sunnysideupmarket or call (012) 365 6856 for more information.

1 fun-filled convention

Visit the mega entertainment convention, History Con Malaysia, from today to Sunday. Get up-close with celebrities from popular shows where you can catch exclusive cooking demonstrations by MasterChef Australia judge Matt Preston, learn to airbrush cars with Mike Henry from Counting Cars, classic car displays and immersive virtual reality experiences. Local attractions include fascinating exhibits from the National Museum, POS Malaysia’s personalised Setemku activity and rally car legend Karamjit Singh who chooses daring audience members to ride as his passengers in a rally car stunt show. There will also be a History Maker Awards that honours 10 Malaysians who have made significant contributions to the country. Tickets priced at RM20 can be purchased via www.airasiaredtix.com. The convention will take place from 10am to 9pm at Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang, Persiaran Mardi — UPM Serdang. Log on to www.historyasia.com for more information.

1 show to catch

Irish comedian and radio presenter Cormac Moore will take the stage at Crackhouse Comedy Club Kuala Lumpur, in a show featuring Rizal VG. Moore is an entertaining, witty and captivating storyteller who has a natural ability to engage with his audience. His sharp observational style and excellent crowd work mean that no two gigs are ever the same and has broken Irish radio records by broadcasting for 27 hours straight. Tickets for the 9pm show today and tomorrow priced at RM30, RM40 and RM160 (table of five) can be purchased via www.peatix.com. Crackhouse Comedy Club Kuala Lumpur, is situated on the 1st floor of 24A Lorong Rahim Kajai 14 Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Log on to www.facebook.com/crackhousecomedy or call (017) 260 3654.

1 festival for model car enthusiasts

The first-ever MiniCar Festival Powered by Tarmac Works will be in town tomorrow. Among the model car pieces that will go on sale are the HOBBY64 1/64 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X JUN edition, HOBBY64 1/64 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Final Concept 2017 Hong Kong Toy Festival special edition and HOBBY64 1/64 Audi R8 LMS 2015 Macau GP 2017 Hong Kong Toy Festival special edition. Rare and special-edition models will go on auction whereby all proceeds from which will go to a charity organisation that benefits children in Malaysia. There will also vendors selling Tarmac Works, Tomica, Kyosho model cars. The festival will take place at Ilham Tower, No 8 Jalan Binjai, Kuala Lumpur, and admission is free. Log on to www.facebook.com/tarmacworks for more details.

1 reservation to pen down

Dorsett Grand Subang has teamed up with World Chefs Without Borders (WCWB) for a charity dinner themed An Evening of Silvery Glam with World Chefs in aid of Selangor Cheshire Home (SCH) — a non-profit organisation dedicated to creating opportunities for individuals with disabilities towards an independent life. The result? A specially curated five-course dinner menu which includes smoked salmon of sphere filled in crab meat, lobster bisque with cream accompanied by baked lobster cake and the option of pan seared beef fillet and braised beef tongue, and cheek or sous vide free range organic chicken with turkey. In line with the hotel’s corporate social responsibility, six youths from SCH who are currently attached to the hotel’s culinary department will be assisting fellow world chefs in the preparation of the dinner. Dorsett Grand Subang is the first hotel in Malaysia to provide a three-month on-the-job training for the disabled to enhance their employment opportunities. To date, the hotel has trained 223 youths, out of which 67% are employed. Priced at RM288 nett per person and RM498 nett per couple, the event will take place at Jalan SS 12/1 SS 12, Petaling Jaya. Visit www.dorsetthotels.com/malaysia/subang or call Stephanie Hendroff at (03) 5033 7477 or Noriah Ali at (03) 5033 7479 for reservations and more.

1 book to pick up

A deeply moving memoir with its share of humour and vividly colourful figures, Hillbilly Elegy is the story of how upward mobility really feels. JD Vance tells the true story of what a social, regional and class decline feels like when you were born with it hung around your neck. The Vance family story begins hopefully in post-war America where Vance grandparents were ‘dirt poor and in love’, and moved north from to Ohio in the hopes of escaping the dreadful poverty around them, raising a middle-class family and eventually their grandchild (the author) would graduate from Yale Law School, a conventional marker of their success in achieving generational upward mobility. But as the family saga of Hillbilly Elegy plays out, we learn that this is only the short, superficial version. Vance’s grandparents, aunt, uncle, sister and, most of all, his mother, struggled profoundly with the demands of their new middle-class life, and were never able to fully escape the legacy of abuse, alcoholism, poverty and trauma so characteristic of their part of America. Vance piercingly shows how he himself still carries around the demons of their chaotic family history. Hillbilly Elegy is available on malaysia.kinokuniya.com.