will i am's delayed diary

KH brings me to the most interesting cafes for our Saturdates. Shan Mu is one such place. The cafe is located in Cheras ( KH was in his Cheras phase ), and the shopfront is not obvious at all. No signboard, just a small wooded plaque beside a closed wooden door with the Chinese characters for "mountain" and "wood". Look out for a clump of bamboo trees out front. Mismatched furniture-- mostly timber and driftwood furniture. Drinks are unique, but some are misses. Whatever the case, do try their vanilla choux. This brings us to an interesting topic of our paktor routine. More often than not, KH would complain that he is stressed trying to figure out where to go every weekend. He claims that I cannot visit a place more than once. Paired with my demanding tastes, and pickiness, he has to crack his head regularly. Frankly, I am not THAT demanding, but since he puts it like, I now just play along. Bwahaha. At least I am guaranteed a constant stream of places to review o...

QueerRanterD's birthday was around the corner, so his new boyfriend, Bran arranged a hotpot party at his home. Bran has a beautiful home in Bandar Utama, and he tastefully decorated it in a black and white theme. Previously, Bran worked in the States, and his company gave him a placement in Malaysia during the MCO period. Personality-wise, they are quite different, but they seem pretty compatible. Yin and Yang at work. The party was an intimate one, just KH, SK, CK, and I. The soup base Bran bought from HaiDiLao, and of course we had a vegetarian option for QueerRanterD. Great selection of fresh meat,  seafood, and vegetables. He even prepared a sauce station! The birthday cake was a tiramisu from a home baker, and we also had some keto chocolate cookies that the host baked. And no party would be complete without some Riesling. Let's do it again next year!

I took leave on Tuesday to settle a few chores. Did my annual health check-up, and collect mum's passport at Plaza Glomac, Petaling Jaya. Earlier on, I had some unnecessary drama trying to submit mum's online passport application. Finally went through when I realized that I had keyed in the wrong old passport number. I actually keyed in the passport from two renewals ago. Blur.... Luckily the process was painless for senior citizens. Bumped into a BEC member of mine, and he told us that he skipped the online process by just walking in. 

Once in a while, mum would get hold of some random charity dinner tickets due to her connections with people who have close ties to Chinese-based associations in town. This time round, someone passed her a couple of tickets to Persatuan Kebajikan Yee Aik Sungai Buloh's charity dinner. According to their Facebook page, their focus is on filial piety, Chinese culture, and charity work. The dinner brought us to an unfamiliar part of Klang Valley~ Kampung Baru Sungai Buloh, some 30 KM from home. On the way there, I drove past the spanking new Menara EPF. The dinner was held at the event hall of SJKC Sungai Buloh, and the sheer number of guests that were invited practically choked the small new village roads. I parked my car at the nearby market square and walked over. Every guest was welcomed with a lion dance. They had the familiar Southern style and the more unique Hakka lion which looks like something out of Minecraft with its square jaw, and a Flower Horn forehead.  The event was g...

Mother's Day was pretty fun in 2023. Sunday mass as usual, then we headed to Pavilion Bukit Jalil for lunch. Treated mum to a freshly-piped Tiramisu at Et Cetera . Pretty, but that was about it. Haha. Some aimless wandering in the mall brought us into Dulu Kini , and that turned into a mother-son Batik shopping spree. Both of us found some pretty items at half price. Mum got a beautiful top in the Mega Mendung motif, while I found red Batik shirt in an oriental style. A steal. Dinner was at Ho Vietnam , but I think it doesn't exist anymore. 

In anticipation to our Bali pilgrimage tour, mum had to renew her international passport. Photo studios are now few and far in between. Found one in Happy Garden, just half a shop really, but the guy was good. The amount of photo editing he did was impressive. Stray hairs, asymmetrical face, earrings, deep wrinkles, all did not survive his Photoshop selection tool. That night we started a series of makan-makan to celebrate the May Babies-- mum and Little Monster. First it was House of Petai with its 'vomit beans' in every single dish, and its singing chef. Second was a shabu-shabu buffet at Wagyumore because Little Monster liked the spaghetti at the salad bar. Mind-blown. Third was Euro Deli  which was also right up Little Monster's alley. Let the kids try some lager, and they didn't like it!  

Once a year, my BEC would have an outdoor activity. In 2023, we chose to have a picnic at Taman Bukit Jalil. A simple affair of fellowship, food, group exercise, qi gong , and silly games. Towards the end of the outing, a security guard came over to let us know that we actually need a permit to have such an activity. Opps. Since we were wrapping up anyway, he didn't kick up a fuss. Funny thing was, he started trying to sell us products. Got to admire his entrepreneurship.  Although I was pretty drained from the morning activity, paktor with KH on Saturday afternoons is mandatory. Visited Pause Cafe which is located in a quaint part of old KL. They bake a nice Blackforest cake that doesn't taste like Blackforest cake at all. LOL. The second cafe of the day was BaoBao Cafe back in our corner of the woods. Basically, they took over from Bui Bui, and even acquired the recipe for their Japanese toast. Not recommended to visit the place during heavy downpours because the one and o...