will i am's delayed diary

It was a Saturday afternoon, and Simonlover jio-ed KH and I to meet up with JJ and Bunny at The Bons Cafe , just outside Atria. I parked my car in the mall and walked out. Couldn't find the place, but found an empty post office instead. Took the chance to renew my driving license. Hehe. Unfortunately, the ugly and puffy face from my new identity card has now been transferred to my new driving license. KH and I were the latest to arrive. The early birds had already started eating. I ordered the pasta lemak, basically nasi lemak with the rice replaced by spaghetti. Having said that, the spaghetti ain't cooked in coconut milk. In my opinion, it just didn't jive. The cafe is cosy, with cute-sy decorations. And the owners are also very friendly. A good selection of cakes here. Got SimonLover a slice to celebrate his belated birthday. Attended sunset mass with mum, then drove all the way to Bandar Saujana to join SK's ex-colleague's birthday party. Years ago, we...

The circular pendarfluor light at my living room has started blinking, so I went hunting for a replacement. Little did I know that I was going to be a wild goose chase. Giant didnt have stock. Not on the shelves of AEON either. Turned up empty at two branches of Mr DIY. No luck at Mr Hammer too. Went to a light fixture shop at Equine and they shook their head as well. Conclusion, it's obsolete technology. A quick search at Lazada gave me the answer. Online sellers carried what I wanted, but I saw something more interesting~ LED replacement. The idea is to fit a LED board over the original fixture and fasten the thing using magnets onto the base plate. Sounds easy right? I was sold. I put in my order and waited patently for my package to arrive from China. In preparation, I removed the circular light and ballast. And when it came to mounting the LED board... well it just wouldn't fit because there's a big ass bunch of wires coming out in the middle. Everything woul...

After months of being bed-ridden due to a stroke, my uncle ( mum's eldest sister's husband ) passed away at his home at Bagan Sungai Burung. Heard that it was due to an infection from a bed sore. Quite a shocker. When we got the news from my cousin, we immediately arranged for a trip to the fishing village. The Tribe went along too. Thanks to my Airbnb Superhost perks, I booked free lodging at Sungai Besar. The place was spacious and could fit 10 adults. When we arrived at the wake, the Taoist rituals were already ongoing. While waiting for the intermission, we ate dinner at the wake. In line with the kampung style, much food was prepared for guests. Right after dinner, hot fish porridge and fried bihun with curry chicken was served, together with steamed bao, kuih, loh mai gai , and siew bao . Many ate and chatted, while some had a boisterous gambling session with dominoes. The rituals were performed in Teochew, and I was surprised to see that they had a LED board...

Two weeks away from Malaysian food really made the visit to the Taman Puncak Jalil Bazar Ramadhan really an amazing experience. Nearly everything looked delicious. Pulut panggang ~ KL's style isn't quite like what I'm used to growing up, but I'm not too picky. Kuih bakar ~ the original 'burnt cake'. Haha. Cream-filled berliners~ a modern addition. So multi-coloured that it reeks of industrial colouring. Banned! Nasi Briyani ~ feel like overdosing on carbs? Cucur udang ~ crispy and fragrant! Laksam ~ a specialty from Terengganu. Rolled rice sheets in thick fish gravy. What's your favourite from the break fast bazaars?

Started our day with breakfast, then morning mass at the hotel function room. Then it was off to Amman Citadel located on Jabal al Qal'a, one of the seven hills that make up the old city. It provides an amazing vista of the city where houses cover the hilly terrain like white moss. Sami says that there is a law, that states that buildings in the area must be constructed from white stone or painted white. From up there, we also got a great view of the Roman Theater , a landmark from the 2nd century. Historically, Amman Citadel was occupied by several great civilizations. The Romans left the ruins of the Temple of Hercules . There's also Byzantine ruins, and an Umayyad Palace . Next was a visit to CityMall for some shopping, but the mall was pretty dead. It was 10 am, but no shops were open with the exception of Carrefour. We spent most of our time raiding Bzuriyeh, a shop that sold premium dried fruits, nuts, and spices. Bought more Medjoul, figs, and macadamia. We...

Morning mass was celebrated in the hotel function room. Then we set out to Petra . Halfway there we had a toilet stop at a souvenir shop that sold really pretty trinkets, intricate mosaics, and furniture. Then we had a short visit at Wadi Musa , purportedly where Moses struck a stone with his staff and water gushed forth for the thirsty Israelites. The spring was enclosed in a small building, and it was extremely cool inside. Locals come to take water from it. Not too sure about the cleanliness though... I spotted rubbish in the spring. Our lunch stop was at Silk Road Hotel where we had typical Middle Eastern fare with flatbread. From there we headed out to Petra Visitors Centre on foot. Our priest and several who were unfit, stayed back at the hotel. When we arrived at Petra Visitors Centre, the sun was shining brightly. We patiently waited for Sami to settle our tickets which were at USD50 a pop. Petra is actually a large archaeological park, but we only had time t...

Sherry bid us farewell at the Allenby / King Hussein Bridge border crossing. As I had the best grasp of English, I got off the bus to answer some standard questions. A hunky Israeli soldier in aviator glasses asked : - Do you have a weapon? - Did you notice anyone else carrying a weapon? - Did anyone ask you to bring anything into Jordan? Wouldn't mind him performing a body search and disarming my 'weapon'. The immigration process between Israel and Jordan was much simpler compared to when we came in from Egypt. Our passports were bulk processed by Jordan immigration, and we didn't even need to offload our luggage. When we got back our passports, it wasn't stamped. All it had was a small barcode on the signature page. In Jordan, we got another Mandarin-speaking guide who went by the name Sami. He worked in China for more than a decade and married a Chinese woman who happens to be a practicing Orthodox Christian. All of us were surprised that his wife didn...