will i am's delayed diary

Chap Goh Meh Year of the Dragon started of with a late lunch at Ni Kizoku  in the old part of town. The quaint restaurant reminded me of western style cafes in Japan. Pretty food presentation with hits and misses. Couldn't brain the Ram-bu-tan cocktail which they served me at room temperature. Although the streets were sweltering, we still did a bit of exploring at Jalan Sultan. Didn't take us long to stop for iced coffee at Stellar Coffee though.  To escape the heat, we boarded the MRT to The Exchange TRX . My virgin visit. Just another mall really. The only thing that interested KH was the hamachi sashimi at Seibu . Gathered at a friend's house for a potluck to celebrate the end of the lunar new year. A fun group of people who meet once or twice a year. A few days later, mum and I helped put with Seputeh Parliamentary district level Chap Goh Meh celebration. We were responsible for the 'tang yuan' stall at Salak Sou...

The Year of the Dragon was the first year that mum didn't cook reunion dinner. Instead of slogging in the kitchen, together with SK, we ate at Rinjin Shokudo , Bukit Jalil. The Japanese restaurant offered special dinner sets complete with lou sang loaded with salmon sashimi. The rest of the food came mostly from their regular menu with some special add-ons like fresh oysters. No need to stress about cooking and cleaning.  The first day of the lunar calendar was celebrated at church with a special mass. Unlike the other zodiac animals, the dragon is shunned so it's not used in the decorations. The most tiring mass in the whole year, having to deal with all the people who do not balik kampung  or are already in their kampung and the 3,800 mandarin oranges that needed distribution. Fun fact: KH helped out with the mandarin oranges preparation, removing the packaging and picking out the bad ones.  CNY lunch we had at De.Wan , BSC. Was so glad to plop myself on the cushioned...

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 ...

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...

Saturdays were usually reserved for cafe-hopping with KH. He brought me to Yasumi , a cafe that didn't look like a cafe. Even the signboard was non-existent, except for a narrow plank at the entrance scrawled with artliner. The past life of that shoplot was retained as here were glass display cabinets that reminded me of stationery shop from my childhood. And the white-tiled bathroom was so very reminiscent of what I grew up with, down to the water tub and the hole in the wall that allowed for two rooms to be lit at the same time.  Later in the afternoon, we had massage sessions at Relax Two Brickfields which was operated by the blind. Would have enjoyed the massage more if the masseuse didn't use that massage stick on my feet. Really hate that. Lots of interesting and old buildings near the massage place. The Sree Veera Hanuman Temple is an ornate place of workship dedicated to the Hindu monkey god and it even features a pair of Sun Wu Kong statues flanking the entrance.  ...

December was a month of meet-ups. Apollo topped the list with two dinners, one for an omakase dinner at Hisho , and another later in the month to celebrate an early Christmas. I wasn't particularly impressed with the Japanese food, but I was really stuffed at the end of the course. The Christmas dinner was a home party to jointly celebrate the Winter Solstice as well. Fortunate enough to have Mei join us. The kids had a great time making tang yuan , while the adults sipped on sweet wine, and nibbled on loaded fruitcake. In the run up to Christmas, I managed to meet up with Cutiepie at the Gardens Mall. And as luck would have it, reconnected with a Form Six classmate whom I had not seen since finishing STPM. Out of the blue, I also had coffee with an ex-subordinate of mine because he wanted some career advice. Then there was another Japanese dinner with Janvier and his hubby. With Janvier, its always more of a drinking session. Breezed through the first half, stay tuned for the seco...

Tater was in town in early November, and as usual it centered on conversation over comfort food. Lounged in his room at The Westin first, and admired the complimentary KLCC Twin Tower chocolates that were compliments of the house. Once Tater freshened up, we crossed the road over to Starhill to visit the cafes there. COME True Cafe  looked the most attractive so we sat down there. Nearly every table had a plate of creme brulee souffle pancake on it, so we naturally also jumped on the bandwagon. Three of us broke our Eslite virginity after catching up over a couple of pineapple americanos. Our dinner at  El Iberico  centered on their signature aroz, and of course Tater wanted dessert. The churros were a great way to end the meal. Before we called it a night, we had more coffee at Feeka . Tater had a fun time flirting with the barista while he ordered his sticky bun latte. Maybe someone wanted to get some sticky buns that night. :P 

Checked out from The Tudor early the next morning, and headed to Chang Jiang for breakfast. An old  single-storey bungalow serves as a cafe, and coffee retail space. Business was really brisk. I don't recall the food being very memorable, but I can say for sure that the instant coffee is more expensive at the HQ than in KL! Ridiculous. Mum and I attended the 10:30AM Sunday mass at St. Michael's Church. Anyone approaching the church would first be greeted by the Catholic cemetery flanking Church Road on both sides. The main church has two towers, and has a bronze statue of St. Michael Archangel at the entrance. Churches usually have a Marian grotto, but at this Ipoh church, the statue of Mother Mary is located in an oriental pavilion.  The moment we left the compounds of the church, our Ipoh food hunt officially started. KH gave me strict instructions to get his favourite kaya puffs from Sin Eng Heong . BIL dropped me by the road and I hopped into the store. A man with a full ...

KH kickstarted my birthday celebration in September with a scrumptous lunch at Bref by Darren Chin . Knowing my preference for tentacle porn, KH ordered grilled octopus tentacle, and also duck confit. Strangely, the most memorable item of the meal was not the seafood or the poultry, but the potato pave that was beneath the duck leg. My first time having the deliciously crispy slice of 'thousand-layered' potatoes.  Next was coffee at Kopi & Studio , a cafe so quiet that we could be as lovey-dovey as we wanted. In KH's mind, a perfect date must come with a trip to the cinema, so we watched "A Haunting in Venice". Entertaining enough, but Kenneth Branagh is not a memorable Poirot for me. Later in the evening, we had a mid-autumn party hosted by Sim. Think its my second year joining. Same bunch of of people, but some fresh faces as well. Tapau -ed some pork pizzas from Skippy's , and at the same time took some photos at my old Phileo Damansara office.  Lots of...

Keeping with my BEC's tradition, Malaysia Day is reserved for our local pilgrimage trip. In 2023, we chose Teluk Intan as our destination. On our way out of Kuala Lumpur, we flew past the famous broccoli-like Giam Kanching trees over the Rawang Bypass and stopped at Kuala Kubu Bharu. We participated in a Malaysia Day mass at St. Paul the Apostle Church , a parish that's as old as Malaya. Fr. VA Michael celebrated the mass, and after that he gave our group a special blessing. On the way out, our bus got caught on a telephone line. Luckily we got hold of some long poles and managed to get ourselves out of the kerfuffle.  Continuing on, we had a short photo stop at Sungai Selangor Dam  before arriving at Church of the Most Holy Redeemer , Tanjung Malim for a private mass. The celebrant was Fr. Vincent Paul. We were a tad late for lunch, but luckily Ban Heong was not far from the church. No complaints about the food in terms of taste and portion.  Pushed on to Teluk Intan, a...