will i am's delayed diary

On Sunday, we attended Sunday mass at the Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, where mum was baptized in 2000. The pews were mostly unoccupied. Back in the day, my secondary school with the same "Doubting Thomas" as its namesake was also located right next to it. Our breakfast was at La Gourmet Noodle House , a shop that was new to us. Their chu cheong fun is silky smooth, and the curry noodles are topped with fried fish skin which is pretty uncommon. KH and I started out journey back to KL after the heavy breakfast and did not stop until we were at Mentakab. Ate dim sum for lunch at Yuan Man Dim Sum which has since stopped operating. No loss because most of the classic items were not well-executed with the exception of the wu kok .  In town, we were attracted to a beautiful pre-war shoplot with ornate decorative relief. We found a umarked cafe inside that building, located on the first floor. With no obvious signage, its no wonder Si Ji Cafe is also no longer open. It had cl...

A trip to my hometown of Kuantan is not complete without sampling the exquisite Malay food. Breakfast was at the famous Nasi Kerabu Mekla , Permatang Badak with the Y Tribe. Always a great place for a large selection of traditional Malay delights. Then we were introduced to Slow Bar by Kopicat , a cafe operating out of an old wooden house along Jalan Alor Akar. The young baristas with their manual espresson machines make quite a mean cup of coffee.  With our bellies full, it was time to visit the goldsmith. Quite a tradition to buy gold from the shop owned by the Y Tribe due to their honesty and competitive pricing. Mum would always gather her loose or unwanted items for a trade-in. Hours would go by browsing the selection of chains, rings, lockets, and charms. In the end, we found something for Mother's Day.  KH and I slipped away later in the afternoon for a paktor session at The Rolling Dough , a cafe located in the Alor Akar neighbourhood, very near to where I used to stay...

The month of May is reserved for celebrating mum's birthday. In 2024, The Tribe brought my brother and mother on a road trip to Kuantan for makan-makan and visiting old friends. From the photos, it looks like mum had loads of fun at Sungai Lembing and Gunung Tapis. Very surprised that she managed to navigate the rocky terrain at the waterfall. Fantastic sunrise and 'sea of clouds' photos too.  I joined them later due to work commitments and spend some quality time with KH. Started our journey after noon and by 2PM we were at Mentakab. Made a short beverage stop at Rakutea, a bubble tea shop that no longer operates today. We arrived at Kuantan some time before 5PM, and were just in time for a yumcha session at Rasa Sayang Cafe with   the Y Tribe who are our Kuantan hosts. So many goodies on the table -- kopi , roti titab , pulut panggang , tebosa , mango cheesecake, toasted kaya bun, and  kuih ketayap.  The best thing is, dinner ain't gonna be light.  Acc...

On the final day of our Kuantan trip, we got up early to pack up and prepare to check out of the homestay. We met up with Mr and Mrs Y at Wong Ah Jang to visit Mrs Y's bedridden mother for a little while. She was alert, but needed an oxygen concentrator to breathe properly. Ventured out of town for our breakfast. For the best food, one must be willing to travel. Mek La 's scrumptious Kelantanese cuisine is located at Permatang Badak, a village located outside of town. The place was huge, able to accommodate a hundred or more customers. Must try items there are the nasi kerabu , nasi minyak , laksam, and pulut ikan kukus goreng . And they make a great teh tarik too. After breakfast, we ventured back to town for frozen seafood. The original plan was to go to Beserah to get fish from the fishing villages there, but Mrs. Y gave us an easier option. The frozen seafood seller was practically hidden in a stationery shop. One would never guess that there are fish and prawns...

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...

Out of the blue, I received news from ex-Sixers ( Form 6 classmates ) that my alma mater was organising a reunion dinner for old students. My old physics teacher was on the organizing committee, and he spread the word to those who were still in Kuantan. After some deliberation, we decided to attend. Would be good to see how my upper secondary school looks today. The night before the dinner, we received word that there's a theme. Whatttttt?! On my way home from work, I made a stop at Bukit Bintang hoping to find something that fits "Gold and Glitter". H&M was right outside the MRT station, so that was my first stop. Luck was on my side because I immediately spotted a black T with ornate golden decals across the neck. Was in and out of there in less than half an hour. Back home, had a quick dinner before starting my last minute packing. The road trip to Kuantan was joined by SK, Gratitude, and my mum. We started before 7 AM ( just a short stop for a meh breakfast ...

In case you missed it, I grew up in Kuantan. My early education was at a government school with very small percentage of Chinese students. I think there were only about twenty non-Malays in my age group. As a result, most of my friends were Malays. Just this year, I reconnected with most of my classmates. They added me into a What's App group and I was the only Chinese there. Don't get me wrong, I don't feel out of place at all. I grew up with them. Quite enjoyable to 'blow water' with them in a different context. The Malay context. Anyway, we had been talking about a reunion for ages, and it didn't materialize. Since it was Aidilfitri , the head girl took the lead and organized an open house! I went there straight after church and brought along several boxes of ais krim potong . Surely a hit with the kids. Not many of us came, but it was nice meeting the few key people that I remembered. Our host, the head girl had married wealthy husband. She lived in a ...

Although I wasn't happy with the hotel room, I slept like a baby anyway. When I got up, KH was randy and wanted to get inside me. I went to clean-up, then he got me nice and ready with foreplay. As he was poised to enter me, we got a knock on the door! Bwahaha. Time to get ready and have a walk on the beach. So we tucked our woodies into our shorts, combed our hair, and headed for the pool. SK already her morning swim on that dreadfully windy monsoon morning. If the weather was nicer, it would have been great. The beach was clean, but halfway through our walk, we were hit by sporadic showers. Anyway, we didn't have long to linger there as we had a breakfast appointment with the Y Tribe in Kuantan. Breakfast was the famous Mee Calong in Beserah. A fairly new addition to Kuantan's culinary dictionary. Created perhaps a decade or so ago. They brought us to Joe Warung Mee Calong dan Keropok Beserah , an open-air restaurant that's built right in front of Joe's woo...