Canine CNY I: Church and Chow

Bright and early on the first day of the Lunar New Year, I put on my new red Private Structure briefs, red gingham shirt, and a pair of black slacks. Went downstairs to greet my mum and brother with Chinese New Year greetings, and got first few packets of ang pao. We got to church a bit earlier than usual to help out. Mum was with the liturgy group preparing for the Rite of Commemoration of Ancestors, while I was with the hospitality group, getting ready for the distribution of mandarin oranges. The turnout was huge too, so we added many chairs outside of the church. With the cooperation and coordination of all the ministries, the mass went smoothly, and it ended with a lion dance at the entrance of the church.











We went looking for lunch at Midvalley Megamall because most of its shops are usually open, even on the first day of Chinese New Year. As it was already late, and we just chose the first restaurant that looked decent-- Enoshima, along the boulevard. Not expensive, but the portions were kinda meh. But I did like their Iced Coffee Cendol. Sounds weird, but is actually pretty good.



Next up was cam-whoring with the CNY decorations. Midvalley's centercourt was decked out with giant flowers, birdcages, and oriental gazebos. The Gardens Mall on the other hand always went with the multitude of dioramas stretching the whole length of the mall. There were so many of them that even mum got tired of snapping a photo in each of them. That aside, their creative team really did a good job as usual. Also managed to catch a lion dance performance on stilts.





And thank goodness that mum found a suitable qipao at Robinsons for her upcoming Huazhong CNY event. Definitely a daunting task to find the right outfit at the right price, especially when its something so seasonal like the qipao.

Apollo and his mother met us for dinner that night at Impressoul Gastrology, Sunway Pyramid Hotel West. An obnoxious name if you ask me. The brains behind the restaurant are two Korean chefs. In the menu, Chef S.K. Choi is touted as a handsome Iron Chef (Hottest Chef in the Kingdom 2013 whatever the heck that is). The story goes that he used to be a prize-winning bodybuilder before injury dashed his dreams and led him to pursue a career in the kitchen. Anyway, he wasn't at the restaurant. Probably in Thailand opening another noodle bar. The restaurant was dark, with a modern flair. My biggest dislike was the cowhide chairs that were really itchy. Nothing much to say about the food. Mostly Korean-Japanese fusion.



SK wanted dessert, so we walked all the way to Snowflake at Sunway Pyramid, going through some weird areas that I've never visited. Didn't know that Sunway Pyramid had a huge retail space dedicated to toys and edutainment. Pretty dead, that place. Funny thing happened at Snowflake-- SK put in the orders and took the UFO beeper back to the table. When the beeper started flashing, she went back to the cashier to collect. Rolling my eyes, I went to the collection counter to get our desserts. The cashier told her, "Your son has already collected.". Ketawa sampai pecah perut! Even the staff started laughing when they realized the faux pas. That really put me in a good mood. LOL.