will i am's delayed diary

KH kickstarted my birthday celebration in September with a scrumptous lunch at Bref by Darren Chin . Knowing my preference for tentacle porn, KH ordered grilled octopus tentacle, and also duck confit. Strangely, the most memorable item of the meal was not the seafood or the poultry, but the potato pave that was beneath the duck leg. My first time having the deliciously crispy slice of 'thousand-layered' potatoes.  Next was coffee at Kopi & Studio , a cafe so quiet that we could be as lovey-dovey as we wanted. In KH's mind, a perfect date must come with a trip to the cinema, so we watched "A Haunting in Venice". Entertaining enough, but Kenneth Branagh is not a memorable Poirot for me. Later in the evening, we had a mid-autumn party hosted by Sim. Think its my second year joining. Same bunch of of people, but some fresh faces as well. Tapau -ed some pork pizzas from Skippy's , and at the same time took some photos at my old Phileo Damansara office.  Lots of...

Keeping with my BEC's tradition, Malaysia Day is reserved for our local pilgrimage trip. In 2023, we chose Teluk Intan as our destination. On our way out of Kuala Lumpur, we flew past the famous broccoli-like Giam Kanching trees over the Rawang Bypass and stopped at Kuala Kubu Bharu. We participated in a Malaysia Day mass at St. Paul the Apostle Church , a parish that's as old as Malaya. Fr. VA Michael celebrated the mass, and after that he gave our group a special blessing. On the way out, our bus got caught on a telephone line. Luckily we got hold of some long poles and managed to get ourselves out of the kerfuffle.  Continuing on, we had a short photo stop at Sungai Selangor Dam  before arriving at Church of the Most Holy Redeemer , Tanjung Malim for a private mass. The celebrant was Fr. Vincent Paul. We were a tad late for lunch, but luckily Ban Heong was not far from the church. No complaints about the food in terms of taste and portion.  Pushed on to Teluk Intan, a...

It's really no mean feat planning a holiday with friends-- getting everyone to agree on a time, place, and actually getting the flight tickets. KH, SimonLover, ForIHaveSinned, and I passed that phase-- we were going to Phuket during the Thaipusam weekend! Made a cafe date at Mimi Daifuku , and tried to tresh out some of the details. Being old school, ForIHaveSinned had a notebook with him on top of an iPad to organize his thoughts. In the end, I think we membawang-ed  more than any actual planning. LOL. But we were very sure of one thing-- we need a hotel room with private pool or something similar for our hiao photo sessions!

Before flying back to Malaysia, KH and I attended Sunday mass at Church of the Sacred Heart on Tank Road. The community is small enough that the priest actually blessed the September babies, parishioners who had wedding anniversaries, and couples who were trying to conceive during the announcements. The church has beautiful marble altars with intricate inlays, with two side altars dedicated to Mary and Joseph. Candles are lit high on the altar that the sacristan needs to use candle snuffer.  Made lunch plans with Tater at Maguro Brothers , Tras Street as KH is a big fan of expensive tuna. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, and the friendliness of the service. KH was happy with the otoro-don, and maguro ribs was also perfectly grilled. With a little persuasion, the waitress got us drinking out of traditional masu cups. It was such a spectacle, that it influenced the adjacent table to do the same. Haha. And what does one do after getting a little tipsy on...

While we were out hunting for breakfast, I spotted the same tourist I saw at Yakun the day before, having his breakfast at Toast Box. Recognized his topknot, painted nails, and Kodama tattoo on his hand. Guess he's kopitiam hopping for the duration of his stay. We gave kopi and eggs a miss, and went to Albert Centre for prawn noodles instead. Compared to Malaysia, Singapore's version is often porkier with the choice pork ribs or pig tails.  Met up POD, Nic, and Suzy over a delicious Teochew lunch at Sin Chao Gardens , River Valley Road. For the first time ever, I met Suzy's boyfriend. Both POD and Nic were their usual lou fu, lou chai selves, and they always had fantastic tales to tell. Everyone was busy, so we didn't have round two.  As luck would have it, HornyBF was in town, on his way out to Boston. Caught up with him with at Xin Wang , Suntec with a whole different click. The only other person I knew was Nivlac, Azzuro Hyperion's hubby. Being an impromptu mee...

The next morning, I woke up to an empty house. KH and Tater had gone for a morning run, and came home in sweat-drenched running tights. Quite the morning sight. The two lads got freshened up, and we went out to look for breakfast. When in Rome, do as the Romans do-- have breakfast at Yakun . Haha. Tater's favourite haunt is at Fortune Centre. A regular there. That Yakun is also popular with tourists due to its close proximity to several hotels.  Tanked up on kaya butter toast, soft-boiled eggs, and kopi c, KH and I went to Fort Canning to admire the long queue of humans trying to get a shot at the 'tree tunnel'. Not only tourists lined up, but also newlyweds. Quickly left and headed to Fong Sheng Hao at NEX to meet up with Justin and his 'superhero' kid, Sen. There was some good news that he managed to enrol his son into public school despite his complicated health conditions, but his custody battle with his ex-wife was far from over. Sen actually complained to his...