will i am's delayed diary

One power nap later, KH and I were ready to start our Penang adventure. First order of business was dinner. The Tribe and my mum were already waiting for us at Lorong Baru , which was just a short walk away from our hotel. Plenty of good food at that open air night market. Before I tucked into those Penang goodies, I started with curry noodles that my sister packed from Kuala Sepetang. Who would have thought that a pack of cold curry noodles could taste so good? Imagine when its piping hot! According to my mum, the curry is made from a seafood stock that's full of prawns! Then we started on the yummy Penang food~ Char Kway Teow , Lobak , ABC ( the syrup they use is out of this world ), and the vile Heko CCF . And it was such a small world that we bumped into Sol at the makan-makan place. We still had time to kill before midnight mass at Our Lady of Sorrows, so went searching for dessert. Mama Bang was a mistake. After we had cam-whored at the shop, we took one look at the menu, a

I remember Easter 2021 as a very hot Sunday. The air or celebration was subdued because we couldn't linger around the church compound after mass. And there was a marked absence of Easter eggs ( hot cross buns were also missing from Good Friday ). The Sunday school kids had their Easter egg painting contest via a Zoom call.  For lunch, we ventured to The Central Kitchen  ( previously Lima Pulo at Heritage Row ) at Taman Shanghai. Former-model Alan Yun transformed a corner lot into an old school Peranakan cafe, featuring its award-winning Nyonya laksa . The place is just a stone's throw away from Restoran Choon Sun  with its famous fat chef. Although it was sweltering, many chose to dine al fresco under the foliage of an old tree. Mum and I opted for the air-conditioning. The laksa was pretty thick and not lacking in spices, however I must complain that its pretty basic with some shredded chicken and egg. The volcano kopi c ( some assembly required ) was pretty fun. Pour the te

Compared to last year, the Malaysian Catholic Church was allowed to celebrate the Paschal Triduum, the most important celebration of liturgical year. And of course with strict SOPs in place. In pre-pandemic times, the church would be flooded with parishioners. This time round, we had limited seats for registration. If not for the fact that I was volunteer for the SOP team, I wouldn't have gotten a place. Couldn't secure a place for mum because the seats were snapped up so quickly.  Maundy Thursday proceeded without the characteristic Washing of Feet. And the Altar of Repose was moved to a corner of the church, where parishioners prayed at their seats. On Good Friday, the altar was veiled and the tabernacle was empty. Usually, the Veneration of the Cross would see the faithful approaching the cross and kissing it, but obviously that was not allowed this year. During the Easter Vigil, the lighting of the paschal candle was witnessed by the cathecumens only. The rest of the congre

Before the pandemic, my church gave out red packets to parishioners who attended the CNY mass. At the end of mass, everyone would get two Mandarin oranges, a bible verse, and MYR2. The pandemic dashed those usual plans, but my church still went ahead with the preparation of red packets. A whole bunch were distributed to BEC leaders for internal distribution. This year, the red packet was extra large because instead of money, it contained a CNY-themed surgical mask! I was part of the team, so I distributed to families in Puncak Jalil and Bukit Serdang. It was a great chance to catch up with each other after a long absence. Became a mini CNY visitation of sorts. Haha. Talked so much that I was a bit late for my romantic dinner with KH!  Rushed home to shower and change, then zoomed over to Sri Petaling for dinner. My bad for being ten minutes late to our belated Valentine's Day and 14th Anniversary dinner at  Passione Ristorante Italiano . Before it became an Italian restaurant, it w

Once a year, my BEC organizes an outing. In the pre-pandemic days, we would usually have a day trip. In the past, we had ventured as far as Melaka. In such restrictive times, we settled for a small gathering at the Bukit Jalil Recreational Park. Bright and early, we had a socially-distanced warm up session on a grassy field. Then some of us went for a jog, while the rest opted for a Taichi session. At the end of the gathering, we had a breakfast potluck. For the first time ever, I had mooncakes for breakfast.   At night, we had a Japanese dinner at Zakuro , Bukit Jalil. Food there was pretty good, and the owner was very friendly. Then KH went to buy a whole burnt cheesecake from Say Cheese Cafe . After that, we had a short grocery shopping trip to Super Seven. Stopped at Nyonya Platter for a yumcha session. Their sets were so attractive we abandoned the idea of just ordering drinks. Ended up with teh tarik , sirap ros , asam laksa, and kaya butter toast. As though we weren't stu

Towards the end of July, mum and I registered to attend Sunday mass. A week before the date, I registered through an ever-changing Google Form. Once we received the confirmation e-mail, we knew that we were good to go. Rules were enforced, an amalgamation of parish. archdiocese, and government SOP.  Entry to the church compound will be prohibited half an hour before the mass time. Maximum seating for each pew was two parishioners. Due to that arrangement, the church was running at 30% seating capacity. No choir, only pre-recorded hymns. Parishioners aren't allowed to remove their face masks, except for a brief period during communion.  No hugging and shaking of hands during the "sign of peace". Communion by hand only ( there are Catholics who are not happy about this ). No lingering in the church proper, and on the church compound after mass is over.  The mass went on without a hitch, but I couldn't help notice that the parish priest was very stressed out when giving

For the first time ever, we celebrated Palm Sunday from our living room. Thankfully, we could harvest palm branches from the garden, and use them during the YouTube live Palm Sunday mass. The only thing was that palms couldn't be blessed, unless holy water could magically be sprayed out of the TV! Haha.  Later in the afternoon, mum did some spring cleaning. She pulled out a cloth baby carrier that was given to her when she gave birth to my eldest brother. A tradition from my maternal grandfather's side of the family tree. Mum told me that she never used it.  Also found some crochet pieces that were wedding gifts from my paternal grandmother. Forty nine years later and the thread is still in good condition. Decided to drape the crochet table cloth on the sofa, giving it a vintage feel. P.S. : The teddy bear is wearing something that belonged to me. 

  Been a long time since mum and I visited Holy Family Church in Kajang. On the first Sunday of March, went there for the Rite of Election for the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur. Catechumens from the Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, and Terengganu congregated in Kajang for the important rite. It was presided over by Archbishop Julian Leow. Think that was the last big gathering for the Roman Catholic Church before the MCO. The rite ended at 4:30 PM, so it was kind of alang-alang ( neither here nor there ). Didn't want to waste the trip to Kajang. Decided to stay back for dinner, but we had a few hours to kill. Nearby was a new cafe named Shijian Canteen which looked pretty interesting. I ordered a hipster iced tea dubbed "Feeling Taste". I didn't know how to feel about that. LOL.    At 6 PM, we made our way to Kedai Makanan Wan Fatt which is located behind the Tin Hong Si Temple. Being one of the early birds, we easily secured a table at the famous r

The first day of the Lunar Chinese New Year is always a tiring day for me. We'll be at church bright and early to help out with all the preparations : Moving a few hundred kilograms of mandarin oranges into place at the side of the altar. Arranging extra chairs outside the church. And make preparations for the Rite of Commemoration of Ancestors after mass proper. Here's an excerpt from the Herald :  Since giving respect to the family’s ancestors is also vital to Chinese New Year, the Rite of Commemoration of ancestors began after the final blessing. First an introduction on it was given, detailing why departed relatives are remembered with great  respect — because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the family. Honouring the ancestors on the first day of Chinese New Year is a way of fulfilling filial piety. It is a tradition of the church to offer special prayers to our departed loved ones during Mass. The rite of commemoration of the ance

As it was the end of the year, the Majlis Perwakilan Penduduk Wilayah Persekutuan ( this was during the PH days ) had organized a "Back To School" event for the needy. They distributed schoolbags, school shoes, and school uniforms to the B40 residents of Muhibbah PPR, single parents, and orphans from the House of Victory. Mum and I helped out from morning till afternoon. In the evening, we had another event in church. In 2019, the theme for my church's appreciation night was "The Wild Wild West". All members of the church's various ministries were invited to attend a night of dress-up, feasting, and fun. Although mum is not a member of any ministry, I managed to secure a ticket for her via my BEC. A month before the party, I started planning our costumes. Sourced everything from mainland Chinese suppliers. The only worry I had was that the items would not arrive in time. Main components were the cowboy hats and paisley wild rags. For myself, I further

Once a year, my BEC would organize a special event that breaks the monotony of our usual monthly gatherings. Over the years, we have had outdoor events like family days at the park, or pilgrimages to churches in other states, or outreach programmes for the needy. For 2019, we visited the Handicapped and Mentally-disabled Children Association of Selangor, located at Banting. Two of our members frequent the place, so they acted as our liaison for the whole event. Days before we went there, some members were mobilized to buy basic necessities that were requested by the supervisor. They bought a truckload of stuff, ranging from cleaning agents, to adult diapers. The center was actually pretty well-maintained, clean, and had decent infrastructure. Much of it was contributed by the Lions Club headed by Puan Sri Chelsia Cheng. Lunch for the day was sponsored by us. Meals were bought from KFC and McDonald's. At the canteen, we divided up the burgers, fried chicken, buns, and french fri

On Sunday morning, we attended mass at St. Thomas Church, while Gratitude went to have a leisurely breakfast at Kuantan Kopitiam ( the sign is so faded that you will never guess its name ). He picked us up after mass ended, and we went back to Kuantan Kopitiam! At that late hour, the place was quite chaotic and crowded. Thanked our lucky stars that we bumped into Kit there. He had just finished eating, so we took the table he vacated. SK swears by the curry noodles there. For his second round, Gratitude wanted kaya butter toast, but they had surprisingly run out of bread. Stock was so low, that some people didn't even get their curry noodles, causing temperatures to rise. Once we had finished eating, we went to Chen Hing to buy dried seafood products. A short distance from the shop in Jalan Besar is Kuantan's latest attraction~ Laman Teruntum . Its a waterfront of sorts along Sungai Kuantan, with Mercu Teruntum observation tower as its focal point. The tower isn't op