will i am's delayed diary

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...

In August, I took one week off work to accompany mum on a pilgrimage to Bali. Yes, quite shocking when I heard about it because Bali is predominantly Hindu. During my last visit in 2009 , I didn't notice anything other than Hindu temples. For some of the participants, it wasn't their first trip out there. One lady told me that it was her 6th trip to Bali! The flight out was at 9AM, so we were out of the house by 5AM. The tour was organized by 72 year old gentleman, by the name of Uncle Jacob. With the help of his daughter and son-in-law, he had helped us get the boarding passes and luggage tags before we even arrived ( don't know how he did it ). All we had to do was use the self-service baggage drop.  Thank goodness there weren't any delays because Air Asia is often sucky these days. Ngurah Rai Airport's new terminal was really impressive. It did take a while for us to get out because the immigration officers were really 'not into it'. Also wasted more time...

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...

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!  

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...

Arranged a rare Saturday with my ex-colleagues from the TPM workplace . Basically just to get an update from everyone. Met up at Foliage in Taman Desa, where the cafe is basically located in a plant nursery. The girl from the QA team was still with the team, but with little or no QA work because there wasn't anything new going on. The Chinese programmer who reported to me was still there, but I was happy to hear that he had found a job, and would be leaving soon. He was in the midst of handing over, and there was basically no programmers left. Big gap there. But at least his personal life had normalized after getting hitched with a new girl. During the past year, he had trouble getting over his ex, and was basically drinking every night because he had severe insomnia. Really don't know how he afforded that kind of binge drinking on the meagre salary that my ex-CEO was paying him. The other Malay developer was doing well at a German technology firm, so I was very happy for him....

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...

Sixteen years together is no easy feat. Although KH and I had already spent so many years together, we can still say silly things to each other. Poke fun at each other about subjects that have origins from when we started dating. Our inside jokes. Does it mean that we have not progressed? I would like to think that we still maintain the same innocent love that we have for each other. To mark the occasion, we had a wonderful lunch at Entier French Dining located in Alila Bangsar. We had a table with a view, and the natural light really makes the food porn photos pop. A memorable dining experience complete with anniversary cake compliments of the restaurant.  Mei and MiniMei were in town, so we took the opportunity to catch up with them at Chye Seng Foo Coffee in Cheras. Perhaps MiniMei was exhausted from all the social events that her momma dragged her too, so she was a bit sulky. Nothing a little bacon fries couldn't solve. With Mei, she updated us on her situationship and life b...

On the second day of Year of the Rabbit, we made a trip to Bagan Sungai Burung to visit my maternal cousins. Did the usual visiting at the fishing village. For the first time ever, my cousin brought us to the nearby beach. The mind-blowing thing was that it was just a stone's throw from the old house. Just a short walk. Guess we never went there because it isn't a particularly beautiful beach. The government fortified it with stones to stop erosion. According to my cousin, its popular for wedding photography among the Malay community. That beach is close to the estuary of the Bernam River, so once in a while there would be tourists waving to us on their boats. Being a fresh spot, we took quite a number of photos. Would have taken more if not for the sweltering sun.  With the touristy things out of the way, it was time for a hearty home style seafood hotpot. Anticipating our arrival, my cousin laid crab traps at two in the morning, and brought home loads of flower crabs when the...

Ticket to Korea is one of my favourite Korean fusion restaurants. The menu is small, but the few things on it will get you hooked. Even if the food ( the cheesy ribs are recommended ) doesn't attract you, perhaps the K-Boss with the American accent will. P.S.: At the time of writing, the outlet at SetiaWalk is temporarily closed :(   

Tried my level best to catch up. Finally I'm blogging about 2023, although its 2024 in just a couple of days. No parties, no raves for New Year's Eve. Typical for me to spend it at church although in recent years, there's no fireworks or fellowship. Just the mandatory mass, and "Year in Review" video.  In the first week of 2023, there was already a wake service for a fellow BEC member. The death statistics have been higher than usual. On a happier note, the year started with a gathering at Apollo's house. His mum cooked up a storm again, and we had good bitching session. In terms of the Lunar Chinese New Year, preparations were heating up everywhere. The morning market was flooded with new year goodies, and students peddling calligraphy. Along with it, the signature traffic gridlock. At church, decorations were also in full swing with help from various Mandarin BECs. All sorts of design ideas were thrown around, and combined with a mash of whatever we could fi...

Christmas 2022 was memorable in the sense that there was a water cut on the 24th. Many a Christian housewife nust have been pissed with SYABAS. Christmas morning mass at church experienced a windfall turnout, no doubt bolstered by the seasonal CEO ( Christmas & Easter Only ) parishioners. Met up with the Tribe for a meh lunch of quinoa nasi lemak La Juiceria Superfoods . Then it was a 40-minute wait at Oomph Bukit Jalil, for a crazy noisy dessert session. Frankly, the lack of noise dampening at the place really annoys me. The kids were much more interested with the opening of the Christmas presents back home.   Later that night, I pulled on my red jockstrap, and  red Tartan pants to attend Terrance and Phillip's Christmas potluck. Lots of food ( KH decided to bring pizza much to my chagrin ), fun, drinks, and coffee. For some reason, the party is always segregated into the dining table gang, and the living room gang. And among the guests, there will be a midnight ga...

Before 2022 ended, KH insisted that we have a BFF gathering. Managed to round up Janvier, The Chief, Jaded Jeremy, Bunny, SimonLover, and ForIHaveSinned to join. Our dinner location was at Seppia & Polpo at Starling Mall. Having happened nearly a year ago, I really forgot my opinion about the food. And I forgot to leave a Google Maps review. In addition to wrapping up the year, it was an impromptu birthday celebration for ForIHaveSinned. Although he is my senior, his plump and perky ass puts many young boys to shame. Coincidentally, we bumped into TummyFull at the mall, as he was hosting some 'interest group' friends from out of town. The heavy rain outside limited our choices for dessert to the cafe inside Book Excess. Hang in there, I should be blogging about 2023 before 2024 arrives!

At the end of 2022. my neighbour's daughter got married, so mum and I received an invitation to their wedding reception. Been a while since I've been to a Malay wedding, and I must say that times have changed. Back when I was a kid, the typical Malay kenduri ( banquet ) was not done in a buffet fashion. Guests dined in quads, where when four guests sat down together at a long table, food would be served. Following the theme, there would be four dishes with a washing jug in the middle ( food tastes better when you eat with your hands! ). Typical dishes are ayam masak merah , rendang daging , acar , and papadam . And of course there would be rice, usually nasi minyak . At my neighbour's wedding, some of the traditional dishes were present in the buffet spread,  but there were many added bonuses. like an apam balik station, cendol station,  curry noodles station, and  roti jala.  Also the traditional door gift of bunga telur  ( hard-boiled egg decorated like a fl...

With not much planned for the day, we had a leisurely breakfast buffet at the hotel, and later did some exploring of the grounds. One could really wear a tuxedo with pin tails, pair it with a top hat and walking stick, and not look out of place at The Majapahit. But then, you could be mistaken for a poltergeist. My favourite spot is the Cafe 1910 with its grand stained glass windows, and antique furnishing. Too bad we didn't have time for the pool.  Later in the morning, we took a Grab to Masjid Cheng Hoo , a Chinese-Muslim mosque that looks like a Taoist temple with its red Pagoda-like design. Its namesake is Admiral Cheng Ho, who had traveled to the  Malay Archipelago to trade and spread Islam. The mosque is actually pretty small and located behind a basketball court ( many Chinese temples in villages also have a basketball court ), so we were quite baffled when the Grab driver told us that we had arrived. Finished looking around in less than 30 minutes, and we were off to R...

At midnight, Pak Sulaiman drove us out to Paltuding , which is the nearest stop to the Ijen crater. For 2 hours he navigated pitch dark roads, while we dozed in and out of sleep at the backseat. Unlike Bromo, there isn't much decent infrastructure in the vicinity of Ijen, hence tourists have to stay at Bondowoso.  Everyone would wait at the many waroeng s near the carpark, sipping thick local coffee. Met up with our local guide who gave us a couple of 3M respirator masks, and headlamps for our impending trek into the sulphur fumes of Ijen. The hike up was 4KM over a tarred road. Our guide knew every bend of the road, and would update us about how easy or difficult the upcoming stretch was. Such intimate knowledge was picked up from his decades of mining sulphur in Ijen. His shoulders are scarred from carrying 70kg baskets of sulphur in and out of the crater daily. If your legs fail you, you cam pay to use modified carts ( the locals call it 'medicine for the knees' ) that t...