Septième Anniversaire

Noodles to Start the Day, swiped from williamnyk on Flickr.

It was the last weekend before CNY and I brought mum out to do last minute shopping for groceries and fresh produce. As expected, the roads were jammed and the crowds were crazy. Parking was also sparse. Our first stop was at the Jalan Hujan Emas 8 market. The narrow bi-directional road was made narrower by inconsiderate shoppers who stopped their car by the road. When cars came from both directions, they had to squeeze their way through. Matters were made worse by the fact that many who shop there drive large, luxury cars out. :S. Why drive out an unwieldly Chevrolet Colorado out to the market where there is no proper parking? Really baffles. Saw tensions rise a bit when an old lady in a Kelisa slowly but surely scratched the side of a red Mercedes B class. Fortunately, the aunty did not ask for compensation and just sulkily drove off. Rushed over to the Nissan service centre after that. Now that I had bought the warranty extension, I have to make sure that my maintenance checks are on time to avoid voiding the cover. By the time I finished registration, it was 11:00 am. And I had not had breakfast, no wonder my perut berbunyi! Randomly chose Wen Tong Wantan Noodles at Puchong Jaya. Above average prices for their 'artisanal' noodles. So so only. Drove over to the furniture shop after that to drop off some defective drawers. Zero QC these days. Nails were actually poking out. Perhaps they thought my mum purchased a bed of nails. Just as I was leaving, Nissan called to say that my car was ready. Took just a little under forty minutes. Makes a world of difference when you forgo the complimentary car wash.



Was already running late. KH and I were to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Sweet KH had made plans from lunch till dinner. By the time I picked him up, it was already 1:30 pm. He looked handsome in a short-sleeve gingham shirt and long pants. Pecked me on the cheek and off we went to KLPAC. Traffic was nuts all over the place. Took us a bit longer than usual to get there. Poor KH was hungry, so we quickly got a table at Richard's Bistro. Cozy little place with red and white tablecloth. We had the whole place to ourselves (I'll just imagine that KH booked the whole place lol). Just ordered a coq au vin to share as I had a late breakfast. KH first surprised me with a card. What he wrote was very sweet. He described how things had changed after returning to Kuala Lumpur. I was surprised to see him write that he felt that he had opened up more and held less things back. His card made me realize that I had forgotten to bring out mine. LOL. And it also made me realize that I had counted my anniversary wrongly. I know for sure that we started in 2007, and yet I kept thinking that it was our 6th anniversary! Grrrr.... Stuck in 2013! Secondly, KH whipped out his cock a photobook of our various trips together. Knowing how slow and awkward he was with all that design work, I was really suprised. And it looked great with a good selection of photos. Been a while since I saw those photos and they brought back many sweet memories. I sat next to him and we flipped through the book together.





It was already nearly 3:00 pm, so we collected the "Best Of" tickets from the box office and made our way into Pentas 1. My first time watching a monologue. Wasn't sure what to expect. I just warned KH that I might fall asleep. LOL. To my credit, I actually stayed awake throughout the 60 minute tirade about a Singaporean Malay woman's struggle in life. Just through simple storytelling, she goes through heavy topics like Syariah law, the prison system, divorce, women's rights, marriage, love, familial ties, loss, frustration, cultural stereotypes and racism. Good thing is, it all gels together and flows well. We even sat through the Q&A session after that with the director. We waited outside for a while because KH wanted to shake Siti Khalijah Zainal's hand, but she didn't turn up. With some time to burn before dinner, we went to the STUD warehouse sale at Plaza Damas. No signboard for the office at all but we were lucky enough to have found it on the first try. Went upstairs and found that it was devoid of customers. Nothing much caught my eye. And the price wasn't that attractive. But for the heck of it, I bought a Baltic brief. Attracted to its complicated construction with four different colour panels. Jonathan Cheng was manning the cashier. Still as maintains his good looks. Only when we left did another two gay lou come up.





Decided to jalan-jalan at Hartamas Shopping Centre since KH had never been there before. Mum worked there for a short a stint during its early days. Many shops were open there but the human traffic was quite sad. Our exploration didn't last long with no shops of interest. Stopped for some yutiao and hot soya bean instead. With nothing much else to do, we went to our dinner venue a little earlier than scheduled. KH found a cute little French restaurant at Jalan Raja Chulan called La Vie En Rose. Baffled as to where it was. On our first pass, we overshot it. To get to the restaurant one had to make a sharp left up a slope. Kinda nuts. Definitely a challenge for my car that has a large turning radius. Only managed to get there on our second try. Went all the way up to Bukit Ceylon and down. Ugh. Francois Mermilliod, the chef met us at the door and apologized that his valet attendant had not arrived. We dined at the outdoor terrace with a view a slightly elevated view of KLCC and KL Tower. However, it also overlooked Jalan Raja Chulan and a row of dilapidated shoplots. Haha. For starters, we went for the weird foie gras crème brûlée with toasted brioche. A savoury and sinful 'dessert'. Yummy. My main was veal kidney (flambé with Armagnac, mustard sauce) which Francois praised as being oh-so traditional French. But he reassured KH that his duck leg confit with coco beans stew was also a classic. LOL. Both dishes were good, but KH didn't quite like the kidney. An acquired taste I guess (he described it as urine taste!). The texture is actually chewier than pig's kidney. Our meal came with complimentary lentil salad and something that looked like mashed potatoes. We toasted our years together with a couple of glasses of red.





During the course of dinner, KH and I had a very grown-up conversation regarding his current job hunt and satisfaction levels at work. Rarely have mood for such topics. Haha. Eating didn't quite stop KH's sneezing spell. The poor dear looked so drained. Shared something sweet before we left-- cold strawberry soup, basil sorbet, and almond crisp. Quite a topsy-turvy dining experience... dessert as starter and soup as dessert. Hahaha. The bill wasn't exactly cheap, but fair considering you're served Evian when you ask for still water. :X. I asked KH whether I should send him home since he was a bit flu-ish, but he wanted to spend a little more time with me, so I suggested coffee. LOKL was nearby, but it was already closed. Went to familiar ground and drank at My Character De Coffee, Kuchai Lama instead. Feeling a bit nip-ish, we ordered fried chicken wings (this is what happens when you go for fine dining and not gorge on enough bread LOL) to go with our matcha latte and avocado juice. Sex would have been the cherry on the cake, but we didn't manage to make love. But we always make do with some naughty business in the car. Definitely left us wanting more. That would have to wait. Happy anniversary dear! I love you lots!