will i am's delayed diary

March is the season of Lent and also the celebration month for KH's birthday. Birthday eve lunch was with JadedJeremy BunnyBan, QueerRanter-D and his boyfriend. A triple date of sorts. Right before the lunch, I had come from a funerary training at church which touched on emotional subjects on grieving, acceptance and moving on. On the practical aspect, the session also explained about the funeral mass with Xiao En Memorial Park providing a full setup including a casket!  Pretty subpar food at the fusion Japanese restaurant - Fugu . Stuff like charcoal soba with goma dressing and sashimi have no right to exist. After a coffee break at Provisions , we had a chance meeting with Lewky and his mum. His mum exclaimed that we should swing by more often. In truth, the old gang had changed dynamics and formed separate, smaller cliques. From then onwards, it was just the two of us. The teatime stop at Nichole's was quite memorable because we were serv...

2024 marks the seventeenth year KH and I declared our love for each other. After 17 years together, KH is so much better at sensing my mood, but he is still clueless as to what triggers me. After 17 years, KH has resigned to the fact that he is the planner, and I am the spouse who 'just turns up'. After 17 years together, there's no need to fight over who 'right', or who has the last say. Being together should be simple and joyful. Just enjoying each other's company, and being comfortable enough to show our weakness, and being silly around each other. 2024's celebration was on Hari Wilayah, and well into pre-CNY season. During the day, I brought mum to the Balik Kampung Fest that was held at Pavilion Bukit Jalil's Piazza. A pretty well-thought out event highlighting the many new villages around Selangor, combining arts, history and culture through a socio-economic lens. Each new village had their own 'pavilion' to tell their story, each with a ...

The last day of our Phuket Trip also marked the 17th anniversary of KH and I getting together. A remarkable milestone to be able to put up with each other for so long. Hehe. With KH, I find that things are never too difficult to resolve. His patience smothers all of my tantrums, and his actions reflect his genuine feelings.  First things first, mark the occasion with morning sex before breakfast. Then go refuel at the buffet. In between packing up, we still found the time for a short skanky photoshoot at the canal outside our room. All the sisters together in our matching gear. Ate an early lunch nearby and Grab-ed to the airport.  At the airport, we reflected on our short trip, and found that there were many things on our itinerary that we didn't do. Perhaps we need to arrange a revisit. While heading to the boarding gate, ForIHaveSinned realized that his passport was not on his body. A short panic ensued, but was quickly reunited with his travel documents because a good sama...

Sea, surf, and sand holidays are not my cup of tea, so it's no surprise that I had never visited the island of Phuket. The hiao trip had been planned in the last quarter of 2023 with KH, Simon Lover, and ForIHaveSinned. It required me to take only 1 day of leave across the Thaipusam weekend. In my current job, annual leave is very precious as I only have twelve days a year. Please donate me some if you're feeling generous. Packing was done pretty last minute, and you won't believe the amount of skimpy items that I brought. Well, you know, to counter the hot Island weather.  On the day of departure, I left my home at 6AM via GrabCar and met up with the boys at KLIA. Purposely avoided AirAsia due to their recent reputation for flight delays and cancellations. Put our money in Malaysia Airlines. The Aerotrain was still out of service so we took the bus to the terminal. The little time to burn we had to burn before boarding time we spent at the newly-renovated Plaza Premium Lo...

Once in a while, my paktor sessions with KH will drift to something arty. In January 2024 ( don't groan ), we explored five floors of Asian art at UR-MU @ Bukit Bintang ( short for Urban Museum ). Each floor had a theme, but I won't bore you with all that. Just enjoy the curated pieces that I handpicked for you.  Dinner was with SK and CK at ZK Restaurant , an old school Chinese stir-fried joint with some uncommon dishes like mixed seafood in pumpkin. Also had tong sui after that at Restoran Ruby , another blast from the past. The owner takes the time to create tong sui art very much like latte art. I really don't care for it. I want my tong sui hot, not lukewarm. Did we go home after that? No. Last stop for the night was Desa Park City to look at the year end light show that has somehow become a new year light show. The whole landscape was transformed with lights running through the fields, and plenty of Christmas trees. Loud and cheery Christmas carols accompanied the...

Finally, it's 2024 at Will.I.Am! On the first day of 2024, Sam ( KH's art lecturer friend ) invited us to participate in the Alfa University College New Year Art Jam event. For 14 years running Alfa University College had invited people from all walks of life to create folk art revolving around the Chinese zodiac. In the afternoon, we went up to Alfa University College at SS15. A bunch of people were already there huddled in the only room with air-conditioning switched on. Before we officially started, Sam gave a briefing on the project, and what we should do. The project is actually a composite mural made up of many A3 sheets. The idea is to get many different individuals to complete each sheet with their own style and creativity. Congruency is not required at all. Mum, Big Monster, KH and I worked on our sheets with various degrees of speed. Art supplies were provided, and in addition to the usual paints and inks, we also worked with mixed media like red packets and bits of q...

While we were out hunting for breakfast, I spotted the same tourist I saw at Yakun the day before, having his breakfast at Toast Box. Recognized his topknot, painted nails, and Kodama tattoo on his hand. Guess he's kopitiam hopping for the duration of his stay. We gave kopi and eggs a miss, and went to Albert Centre for prawn noodles instead. Compared to Malaysia, Singapore's version is often porkier with the choice pork ribs or pig tails.  Met up POD, Nic, and Suzy over a delicious Teochew lunch at Sin Chao Gardens , River Valley Road. For the first time ever, I met Suzy's boyfriend. Both POD and Nic were their usual lou fu, lou chai selves, and they always had fantastic tales to tell. Everyone was busy, so we didn't have round two.  As luck would have it, HornyBF was in town, on his way out to Boston. Caught up with him with at Xin Wang , Suntec with a whole different click. The only other person I knew was Nivlac, Azzuro Hyperion's hubby. Being an impromptu mee...

The next morning, I woke up to an empty house. KH and Tater had gone for a morning run, and came home in sweat-drenched running tights. Quite the morning sight. The two lads got freshened up, and we went out to look for breakfast. When in Rome, do as the Romans do-- have breakfast at Yakun . Haha. Tater's favourite haunt is at Fortune Centre. A regular there. That Yakun is also popular with tourists due to its close proximity to several hotels.  Tanked up on kaya butter toast, soft-boiled eggs, and kopi c, KH and I went to Fort Canning to admire the long queue of humans trying to get a shot at the 'tree tunnel'. Not only tourists lined up, but also newlyweds. Quickly left and headed to Fong Sheng Hao at NEX to meet up with Justin and his 'superhero' kid, Sen. There was some good news that he managed to enrol his son into public school despite his complicated health conditions, but his custody battle with his ex-wife was far from over. Sen actually complained to his...

Over the long Merdaka weekend, KH and I made a trip down to Singapore to visit friends. Looking back at my passport, my last visit was in 2019, a few of years before Covid. At KLIA2, I actually bumped into my church member. Such a small world. We arrived at Changi way past lunchtime, so the hubby was understandably hangry. Randomly picked Tsui Wah at Jewel, and it was KH's turn to bump into someone he knew. I was amused by the way his ex-colleague's children were eating their lunch-- they sucked up strands of wantan noodles draped over their hands.  I'd have a fit.  Along the way to Tater's place in Bugis, we passed by all the memorable landmarks, Bugis+, Bugis Street, and Albert Centre, to name a few. And since it was the 7th lunar month, the spaces around OG department store showed signs of activities from the Hungry Ghost Festival. When we arrived, we were given the customary welcome bear hug, and peck on the cheek. That night, we didn't have dinner with our hos...

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...

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...

During the Raya holidays, Tater balik kampung  to visit family and friends in Kuala Lumpur. Kampung Westin to be exact. KH and I met up with him at the hotel, and even had a morning swim. One of those rare times that I actually put my sexy swim trunks to good use. The highlight of the day was actually the gay matinee show at KLPAC. We had invited Tater to watch "Happy Fest" , a typical production from William Yap. As expected, Tater was the only potato in the village. Quite unexpected to see ang mohs at these Chinese productions although subtitles are provided. Can't say that I remember much of the details, but Jason Yau was in the cast to provide the much needed 'skin factor' ( I didn't bother to take photos although it was allowed ). Some topics 'covered' in the play was drug use, throuples, mental health x suicide (?), a Daddy's interaction with his mother-in-law. Douglas Wong's ( not too sure why he's wheelchair-bound ) portrayal as 塔塔罗...

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...

Some months back, we bought some early bird tickets to Van Gogh Alive at Pavilion Bukit Jalil. After Chap Goh Meh, we just tried our luck to walk-in, and luckily we managed to get in. The exhibition is basically a multimedia art installation of the life and works of Vincent Van Gogh. Through the use of high tech projectors, we were able to see how his art evolved over the years together with his mental state. There were also some physical exhibitions, like a mock up of his "Bedroom in Arles", and also a field of sunflowers which he was so fascinated with. Although it happened more than a year ago, but I still remember that I showed my black face to KH for being a lacklustre Instagram hubby. Hmmph! 

February 1st is Federal Territory Day, a holiday which commemorates the transfer of Kuala Lumpur to the control of the Federal Government. Prior to 1974, Kuala Lumpur was under the governance of the Selangor State Government. KH and I took the opportunity to paktor  at Petaling Street, the historic heart of Kuala Lumpur. Had no idea about lunch options, so we were lucky that the lady boss from Wu Li Tou Drunken Clam Noodles was very persuasive. The stir-fried noodles were quite flavourful with decent wok qi .  The restaurant was at Jalan Sultan, just a stone's throw away from REXKL, the old Rex Theatre. The theatre was rejuvenated into community and arts hub, and also houses a very Instagram-able BookXcess. The place has the feel of a bookstore maze. There's a food court on the ground floor, with some hipster cafes as well. Further down the road, we found a tong sui shop with some great options called Zhaoji Desserts . The ginger milk pudding comes with a mini hourglass to t...