will i am's delayed diary

Kenji's stint in Malaysia came to end after a year of perseverance. He decided to head back to Canada to pursue his new-found interest in fitness and nutrition. And also to reunite with his cute corgi! Gave him a simple send-off at Rinjin Shokudo, and said our goodbyes. Perhaps KH and I will visit him in Canada again one of these days. 

Silence was the keyword for my second day at the Fraser's Hill retreat. During the night before, we were already told to start a silent reflection after a dinner. Well, after ranting about how little food was prepared, we tried our best to not speak, and keep things quiet. The following morning was misty, and each one of us went around looking for a place of our own to reflect and pen down our thoughts. I took the chance to explore every inch of the grounds. Actually that didn't take long. Haha. In the end, I settled down near the entrance of resort. Once in a while, my peace was broken by playful monkeys, or bicyclists zooming down the slopes. Meal times at the resort were also stressful because there wasn't enough food for everyone. The organizing committee often had to request the kitchen to prepare more food on the fly. Even the cheap vegetables like cauliflower seem to come at a premium at Fraser' Hill.  The evening's 'entertainment' was a screening of ...

Out of the blue, my church organized a lay leaders' retreat at Fraser's Hill. Due to the fact that it had been many years since we had such an event, I felt compelled to attend the 3-day, 2-night event. Carpooled up with several BEC members and church's assistant parish priest. Thankfully, I wasn't behind the wheel because we basically traveled from Seri Kembangan to Sungai Besi to Bandar Puteri Puchong to Kelana Jaya. At 11:00 AM, we were still in KL having lunch! At 1:30 PM, we made a short comfort stop at the sleepy town of Kuala Kubu Baru to buy some snacks. The cramped grocery store that we stopped at really rekindled memories from my childhood. Even the smell was familiar. Even the KFC was located in a pre-war shophouse. Could smell the aroma of fried chicken from across the road. Been a long time since I experienced that.  At nearly 3:00 PM, we arrived at The Pines Resort , a very old resort built into the side of a hill. And because my unit was on the highest fl...

In early March, mum attended the International Women's Day celebration that was jointly organized by the DBKL, the Seputeh constituency, and Taman Desa Resident's Association. Located at the commuity center, among the activities lined up were health checks, cancer screenings, aerobics, and some talks. The queues were quite long, so we went to the nearby Bakeroni Cafe for breakfast. I remember the place from when I started working at Faber Towers some twenty years ago. The lady boss was a real nagger. And too bad the coffee tasted just like hot water. Went home to freshen up after lunch to meet up with KH for his birthday celebration. He looked handsome in a floral batik shirt ( the older he gets, the more he favours loud prints ). Before dinner, we had coffee and cincalok fried chicken ( one of his guilty pleasures ) at Yunshu Coffee . The dinner venue was at Checkers , that was recommended by Janvier yonks ago. When we arrived, we found a party of ten in the restaurant. The g...

Ever been to a play that's 7-hours long? Should such a play be allowed to exist? No, it should not. But through some glitch in the matrix, such an abomination happened, and I had the 'privilege' of sitting through it. Definitely would like to reclaim that 7-hours of my life. It all started with a pair of free tickets to The Symphony Theater's  "The Butterfly Lovers"  matinee show from my church member. When she told me that the duration, I thought she was joking. After church, we headed over to GTT Main Hall, which is actually short for Glenmarie Table Tennis. Hmmmm. Surprised to find such a place in a light industrial area. Upon walking in, there was a reception area or perhaps I should say box office. On one corner, the wall was full of past and present posters of plays. There was one recurring theme-- Jessie Chung, Malaysia's most famous transexual businesswoman. I suspect that Symphony Theatre is her personal platform to excel in the performing arts. A...

In the middle ages, did knights wear chainmail underwear? They probably didn't. But the designers at Modus Vivendi thinks that the modern man should don a pair for battles in the boardroom. Once again, SimonLover enriched my underwear collection with such a unique piece. Donning it makes me feel like an extra from the movie "Immortals"  or perhaps a video game character in sexy impractical armour. Unfortunately, the underwear is a tad delicate being made out of metal mesh. Each time I put it on, I find some broken links on the floor or on the bed. Definitely not for daily use. Time to get some gold armlets, and cosplay as Zeus perhaps?

Seems to me that more and more places are becoming pet-friendly to attract the fur parents market segment. For those who are not in the muslim-friendly segment, have to resort to tapping on pet owners (from my observation, its more about dog owners). Cafes started this, and it has now spread to malls.  Megah Rise is one such example. Upmarket places like Plaza Arkadia and Desa ParkCity Waterfront had an earlier start, but they are more like shopping arcades rather than a shopping mall. Pets are allowed at the common areas, elevators, escalators, and most of the food and beverage outlets also allow pets inside. Even the flea market outside was pet-themed. With more and more people opting for fur babies instead of kids, I guess this makes sense for the more Chinese-centric areas. Anyway, the mall is pretty ho-hum is you discount the whole pet-friendly policy. The only reason I visited was to try the beef noodles at Lao Mao Cafe . Quite good, but the seating is really limited and they...

Arranged a rare Saturday with my ex-colleagues from the TPM workplace . Basically just to get an update from everyone. Met up at Foliage in Taman Desa, where the cafe is basically located in a plant nursery. The girl from the QA team was still with the team, but with little or no QA work because there wasn't anything new going on. The Chinese programmer who reported to me was still there, but I was happy to hear that he had found a job, and would be leaving soon. He was in the midst of handing over, and there was basically no programmers left. Big gap there. But at least his personal life had normalized after getting hitched with a new girl. During the past year, he had trouble getting over his ex, and was basically drinking every night because he had severe insomnia. Really don't know how he afforded that kind of binge drinking on the meagre salary that my ex-CEO was paying him. The other Malay developer was doing well at a German technology firm, so I was very happy for him....