From Berlin with a Twist: Wax On Brings Berliner Cool to Borneo’s Hottest Rooftop ON23 Sky Bar
Monica Tindall
If you’ve ever wondered what happens when Berlin’s edgy cocktail ethos collides with the sultry tropics of Borneo, the answer lies 23 floors above the bustling streets of Kota Kinabalu. For two electrifying evenings this May, ON23 Sky Bar at Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu hosted a takeover by none other than Wax On — the Berlin bar that’s not just riding the wave of global mixology acclaim but actively stirring it.
Ranked No. 29 on The World’s 50 Best Bars list, Wax On is a cocktail haven where minimalism meets magic and where every drink is a distilled manifesto. But this wasn’t just a pop-up. It was a cultural collision, an experiment in flavour diplomacy. Think techno soul in a tropical body. Jungle heat with a Berlin cool front.
ON23 Sky Bar Kota Kinabalu
High Spirits, Higher Expectations
The venue? ON23 — a rooftop bar so perfectly perched it might have been carved by cocktail-loving deities. Designed by Japanese starchitect Kengo Kuma, it’s all clean lines, warm woods, and whispering breezes from the South China Sea. Usually, the view does most of the talking, but for these two nights, the bar had something even more compelling to say — in a German accent, no less.
Since opening, ON23 has been subtly reshaping Sabah’s bar scene—favouring craftsmanship over gimmicks, and flavour over flash. Here, the bartenders take their bitters as seriously as their banter. So when word got out that Sam Orrock — the mind behind Wax On — would be helming the bar, the city’s cocktail cognoscenti raised a collective eyebrow… and then promptly booked out the bar.
Meet the Alchemist: Sam Orrock
If there were a philosopher king of cocktails, Orrock might just be it. His drinks are clever without being cryptic, complex without being overwrought. A Wax On menu tends to read like an essay in restraint: a few ingredients deftly combined, allowing each element to sing rather than shout.
For his Malaysian debut, Orrock brought a curated clutch of his signatures — each a quiet riot in a glass. The Matcha Martini was an exercise in elegance: grassy, silken, and just a touch earthy, like a forest bathing ritual with a juniper twist. Meanwhile, the Sesame Old Fashioned seduced the palate with its toasted depth — think smoky jazz played in a Tokyo speakeasy. And, of course, the Espresso Martini, an oft-abused staple, was here restored to dignity, with clean lines and a roasty resonance thanks to peanut butter (yep!) that lingered like a knowing wink.
Even the House Sour, often the wallflower of any bar list, was given a moment in the spotlight — bright, bracing, and underpinned by the sort of nuance that suggests you’re not just drinking but thinking about drinking.
Ink, Intellect, and Atmosphere
The night wasn’t all stirred spirits and shaken glassware. A coterie of international tattoo artists made unexpected cameos, adding an extra layer of subcultural cachet to the affair. The connection might not seem obvious — until you remember that both tattoos and cocktails are, in their purest form, expressions of identity, of story, of style – and, well, we were in Borneo … land of both lihing (rice wine) and ink.
That’s what made this takeover more than just a novelty. It wasn’t a gimmick flown in for the weekend. It was a conversation. A riff. A kind of freestyle jazz session where ingredients, ideas, and aesthetics danced together high above the rainforest canopy.
Borneo’s Bar Scene Comes of Age
The real story here goes deeper than Orrock and Wax On. It’s about the way ON23 — and, by extension, Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu — is helping to put East Malaysia on the map for discerning drinkers. Where once travellers might have considered KK a layover en route to climbing Mount Kinabalu or diving Sipadan’s depths, now they might linger just a little longer … for the cocktails.
This is the global bar scene in miniature: collaborative, cross-cultural, and increasingly adventurous. It’s no longer enough to have a view and a vaguely themed drinks list. Drinkers — especially the sort who know what bar sits at No. 29 on any given year — are after authenticity, originality, and a touch of audacity.
And ON23 delivered.
Final Sip
To witness Wax On’s takeover was to see what happens when mixology is treated not as mere beverage service, but as a form of cultural exchange. Berlin’s philosophical precision met Borneo’s lush sensuality. And somewhere in the clink of ice and the gleam of glass, a little bit of cocktail history was made.
So, if you missed it, well, that’s what regret tastes like.
But take heart: if ON23 keeps shaking up the scene with this level of ambition, there will be plenty more opportunities to toast the unexpected.
Reasons to visit ON23 Sky Bar: awesome views, serious mixology, and a world-class cocktail program.
ON23 Sky Bar
Hyatt Centric Kota Kinabalu
18, Jalan Haji Saman, Pusat Bandar Kota Kinabalu
88000 Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia
Link to ON23 Sky Bar on Google Maps
+6 0154-874 1234
www.hyattcentrickotakinabalu.com, email
[email protected]
@on22_on23 #meetmeON23
ON23 Sky Bar Hours
Daily: 12 pm – 12 am
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