will i am's delayed diary

On a whim, mum and I went to Starling Mall after Sunday mass. A change of scenery from the usual Paradigm Mall, Atria Shopping Gallery, and the once in a blue moon One Utama. Thoroughly scoured the mall and concluded that it's a great place for food, but not shopping. The whole bird theme is really well-executed. The food court cum working space at the top looks pretty good too. If you need a place to work, do check out their food court cum co-working space. While we were there, we bumped into Lifebook and Bless. Been ages since we saw them. Sat down at Two Sons Bistro to chat over .... a pot of mussels! Actually wanted coffee, but there was a problem with their coffee machine. Mussels were so good that we lapped up most of the gravy with the garlic bread. But the mussels could be bigger. Found out that Bless would be returning to KL soon. Yay! Hope to catch up with them again. KH dropped by for dinner at my neighbourhood. Accompanied him for a bowl of curry noodles....

Babysitting continued on Sunday, where we brought the Monsters to mass. Then it was lunch at Ben's , The Gardens Mall. Never did I expect such an impressive interior. One section was dominated by fluffy pillows and tall wing-back sofas that looked like thrones. 'Marble' surfboards was the theme for side section, and there was large part with a tropical theme. Deep inside the cafe was a kid's zone complete with playground and kitchen area. I was surprised that the kids actually killed the time with the activity cards on the table. Little Monster especially liked their macadamia cheese cake. Ended our day out with a caramel macchiato. Back in 2010, I met Jerry in Klang. Eight years later we reconnected again and arranged a dinner at Linda Vietnam Cafe , Equine Park. Should be pretty new since I never noticed it there. Food was decent but the service was kinda sucky. I ordered hot tea but the waitress brought me iced tea. When I corrected, she was flippant and said ...

Once in a blue moon, I would order wat tan hor for breakfast. Something that really sends my 'Uncle Meter' skyrocketing. Once in a blue moon, I get to see Paris Fashion Week at the OUG morning market. That was a babysitting Saturday for mum and I. After dropping The Monsters for their swimming lessons, we went over to Mokka Cafe , Jalil Link 2 to chill. Their signature cappuccino reminded me of a creme brulee, and their Pangkor Asam Laksa was kinda interesting.  Light in colour and had squid. Brought the monsters out for sushi at Washoku , BK5 later that night. Bad idea to let them sit next to the kaiten . Ravenous appetite! Luckily it was only RM1.70 a plate.

The inaugural Japan Expo was held in 2017 at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. That all-Japan event kinda escaped my notice. In 2018, they managed to lure me to the 3-day event with a lucky draw prize via LINE Messenger. I got it after the 7th try. Right after church, mum and I headed to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. Traffic was quite good that day. Starting out at the crystal fountain, we spotted several cosplayers. Can't say that I could recognize any of the characters. Out of those few cosplayers, there was one guy in the Grade A category with great hair, makeup, and handsome features. Youngsters were lining up to get an autograph from him. Can anyone name him? As one of the main sponsors, Oyoshi had several stalls outside promoting their drinks, and selling some Japanese snacks like gyoza and ebiko bread. Air Asia also had their own kiosk to promote their airfare and tour packages. The main hub of activity was the centre court with more stalls and a  performance stage that had back to ba...

Cutiepie arranged dinner with KH, but KH kinda FFK-ed her, so it fell to me to follow through. Mum had a follow up appointment with the chiropractor in the afternoon ( back pain caused by a bad cough ), while I went to get a haircut. As expected, I finished way earlier than her. After her spinal adjustment was complete, we headed to IOI City Mall straightaway. Cutiepie's little daughter tagged along. Our dinner was at Sheng Kee Desserts , where we had some rice and noodles dishes. However, her daughter didn't eat anything except for PAW Patrol candy! After dinner, we went to Coffea Coffee . Not much chance to talk to Cutiepie as her daughter was stuck to me like glue. Spent the whole evening playing treasure hunt with her in the cafe!

Mum had been coughing for weeks and I thought I was immune to it. As she got better after several visits to the TCM at Tai Onn Tong, I caught her coughing bug. By the end of July, the cough had reached a sort of crescendo. My ribs were aching like crazy with each wheeze. Sometimes I woke up in the middle of the night gasping for breath and feeling my rib cage seize up. Horrible! Not exactly in the best of health, but I still attended my stylist's new shop opening at Kuchai Lama. A whole bunch of regulars came over for some makan-makan . Unlike the usual hair salon, he has a cafe at the front serving coffee, cakes, sandwiches, and cupcakes. In the evening, mum and I went to Taman Bukit Jalil for some fresh air. The exercise didn't help my condition. Had a rare vegetarian dinner at Jujube in OUG. Ordered wat tan hor and pan mee . A flour-filled meal. Avoid the pan mee at all cost. Horrid.

No trip to the Saturday morning market is complete without breakfast a my favourite noodle stall. Funny thing was, they got my order wrong that week. They mistakenly put in char siew for me. Makan jugaklah la . Although its the end of the road for Mydin's foray into Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia, that doesn't mean that everything's been settled. Old stock from the stores still find its way to the market being sold at a discounted price. That afternoon, I had the chance to explore the new shops at The Link 2, Bukit Jalil. I had the whole afternoon to loiter there while waiting for mum to finish her meeting. Lunch I ate at Rinjin Shokudo , a Japanese cafe with a limited food menu. Normally two varieties of daily mains are offered, only at meal times. Outside of meal times, one can go for their staples like curry rice. The curry was quite hearty and went well with hot yuzu tea ( quite expensive though ). Phase 2 of my loitering session was continued at Mokka Cafe just...

Received a notice from my developer that the condo I had invested in with my sister and co. was ready for vacant possession. I was surprised that buyers needed to make an appointment for that. Each session accommodated about ten buyers or so in a small room at the club house that was equipped with a projector. While waiting for the rest to arrive, I helped myself to the refreshments ( cakes and a coffee machine ). The briefing started at around noon. The customer service representative explained the welcome kit which was a folder containing all the keys and access cards. Other topics discussed included the electronic door lock, community mobile app, and the defect and renovation procedures. Once we got all the boring stuff out of the way, they escorted us to our units for the initial inspection. A boring process of counting the electrical points and fixtures. Discovered that they missed out the toilet roll holder in the master bedroom. I had no other complaints about the unit. Th...

During my work commute, it is not uncommon to see  Mormon  missionaries on the LRT. It's very easy to spot them. Male missionaries always wear short sleeved white shirts paired with black slacks, and black shoes. On their shirt pocket is a big black name tag, and they are often seen with ties. So smart and dapper kan ? And they are often very young... and very f*ckable. From my observation, they often work in pairs, targeting individuals. When they make their move, it's like a military manoeuver. For example, you're sitting in an empty LRT car, minding your own business. Their approach is two-pronged. Cutie 1 will sit beside you, while Cutie 2 will sit on the opposite row facing you. Cutie 2 would do most of the talking, while Cutie 1 will provide the support. Not bad right? The same manoeuver can also be used in bed. To break the ice, they would make small talk. But the ultimate goal is to get you to talk about religion, and that's when they whip out the Book of ...

Mum got word that Teresa Kok ( Seputeh MP and Minister of Primary Industries ) organized a Hari Raya Open House at Muhibbah Community Center. Food stalls were arranged outside the hall with selections like chicken rice, nasi lemak , curry noodles, nasi himpit , lemang , rendang , kuih , fried noodles, etc. Guests ate in the air-conditioned hall where speeches and goodie bag giveaways for the needy took place. Khalid Samad also made an appearance, but the most shocking was Bannie Chin, sitting at the VIP table. He's the long time nemesis of Teresa Kok at the Seputeh constituency. A strange sight indeed. The event went about awry towards the end due to some screw ups regarding the charity hand outs. A bunch of people from Kampung Muhibbah alleged that they were 'overlooked' on purpose due to favouritism. A small disturbance but it was ironed out by the organizing committee. Things are so different now with the once-opposition MP having so much resources at her disposa...

Every now and then, the folks from Nalanda organize almsgiving events at the OUG morning market. Commonplace in places like Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, but not in Malaysia. After the event, they leave with van-loads of food products. Hap Tou Sou (核桃酥) is a traditional Chinese biscuit. The aroma and crumbly texture brings back childhood memories. However, the biscuit I bought from the OUG morning market was subpar. Yuck. During a chit-chat session with my ex-primary schoolmate at last week's Raya gathering , she told me that she was looking for an old school spring beater that she needed for her home bakery. She couldn't find it in Kajang, so I volunteered to get it for her. Tembikar Tai Sun really has everything under its roof. The beater at the bottom is from my mum's personal collection. When I was a kid, she used it to make Kai Tan Koh (鸡蛋糕) with it for visits to the Taoist temple. Breakfast was Wantan Noodles from Daniel's stall. That dash of pep...