will i am's delayed diary

Over the weekend, KH and I had two visitors from out of town. Firstly was Mei and MiniMei. Met them for dinner at Gluttony , Taman Desa for dinner, and the main event which was a round of stout at Mamamon . Secondly was Zemien and long time boyfriend, Paige. Both of them were in KL for several weeks, working out of a serviced apartment at Star Residences. Back when I was working at Megan Avenue II, the towers were still under construction, so it was nice that I was presented with the chance to take a look inside. Zemien gave us a very professional tour, so much that I thought he was selling us a unit. We had a look at the pool, the gym, the urinal with the unobstructed view of Kampung Baru, and the rooftop with the biggest mosaic mural wall in Malaysia.     The boys wanting a very local experience, so we brought them to Chuan Kee for some old school Malaysian Hakka cooking. I had never been to that part of town, and judging by its looks, it's really old. The place was full, so the

For the first time ever, a Merdeka mass was celebrated at St. Ignatius Church. Parishioners were encouraged to dress up in traditional costumes. Mum dug out her baju kurung , while I went with a red top I bought for CNY. The East Malaysian parishioners were the most impressive. The church was decorated with the Jalur Gemilang , and mini flags were distributed to everyone ( surprisingly provided by the town council ). Before mass began, there was flag raising ceremony with everyone singing the national anthem.   Was supposed to have a double date with Terrance and Phillip at Palilos , but Phillip caught a stomach bug, and FFK-ed us. Already our second time there, don't think will be going back again. Expensive, slow, and hard to book. Not very satisfied with dinner, we made a stop at Super Boring Club just a few doors away. The 3-for-2 cocktail offer called to us ( not like we didn't have sake earlier ), and we had a plate of grilled kimchi octopus, and Korean garlic fried chic

Terrance and Phillip organized a small mid-autumn gathering at their home. According to the invitation, everyone should bring a mooncake. I was thrilled to see that because there was a deluge of those traditional sweet cakes at home. Terrance had just inadvertently turned his party into a dumping ground for mooncakes. Bwahaha. Before we made our way over, KH and I had dinner at Omega Pork Noodles in Sri Petaling. Don't see what the fuss is about. Couldn't care less about their RM7 unlimited drinks bar. After dinner, we had a dessert at The Hungry Lab . A simple lava cake came with plating, and a dramatic dry ice fog. At 8:00 PM, we made our way to Phillip's condo, and only then did we realize that dinner was provided. LOL. Must have missed the memo.          The lights were dimmed, a few lanterns were up, and golden oldies were playing in the background. As the guests streamed in, the pile of mooncakes on the dining table grew larger and larger. Terrance and his sister mad

Early the next morning, Mei followed KH and I to Church of St. Henry ( St. Henry the Exuberant, Holy Roman Emperor ) for 9:00 AM mass. Her last visit to the Catholic church was during her godmother's funeral. Many years had passed in between. The architecture of the church is really quite unique, with a bell tower rising in the middle. Frankly, reminds me of a surau. The congregation was small and very friendly. Coincidentally, the parish priest was celebrating his 60th birthday, and we were invited to join in the fellowship. As we had plans to eat with Mei's parents, we politely declined. Breakfast was at Sin Tian Tee Food Court , but Mei also bought a packet from dry duck noodles from Restoran Ledang for us to try. Super spicy, and I don't have any recollection on the taste of the famous braised duck.   Our tour of Batu Pahat continued with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, a grand historical building in the middle of town. All white with beautiful balconies and balustrad

Mum's pilgrimage buddies from East Malaysia planned a trip to Cameron Highlands, and she joined them. KH and I took the opportunity to go on a little road trip of our own. Batu Pahat was our choice I had never been there ( KH went there with some guy years ago ), and it was a great opportunity to visit Mei and MiniMei. Before leaving KL, we had breakfast at Cotta , Bukit Damansara. Perhaps you can guess that their specialty is ricotta cheese. The owner's morning energy was a little painful for me to watch, even with a long black in hand.   The drive to Batu Pahat was pretty smooth, but we were a bit spooked by a route that Google Maps chose for us-- a single lane road with palm oil trees all around. Our timing was pretty good because her class had just ended when we arrived at her doorstep. She gave us a short tour, and she drove us out to lunch at Kampung Segenting, a fishing village nearby. Parked outside, and walked in. The main attraction here is the Lover's Bridge, whi

Sensing my mood from my recent work troubles, KH brought me out for a night out at Rivercity, Jalan Ipoh. We were a tad early for dinner, so we stopped at Curio Coffee Roasters first. A very small cafe located atop some spiral stairs. Saw a very familiar face. See if you can recognize this cutie from social media. Google Photos definitely did a very good job for me. Managed to match him from sexy screenshots from donkey years ago. The wonders of technology. Curio closes at 6PM, so we had no choice but to head over to Artisan's Playground . From what I gather, its a food court for restaurants, but the vibe was amazing. There's an option to order from a McD-esque kiosk, but I don't know why people use it when there's a online ordering option. The waiters are all robots, but they still have flesh and blood waiters on standby in case things go wrong. We had a wagyu burger, and apam with mutton curry. And I caved when I saw the cute Yoda cocktail.  Started the date with mat

The old man with the cute corgi whom I visited a month earlier passed away peacefully at his home. Mum and I attended the funeral mass. When we arrived at church on Saturday morning, a pair of newly-weds had just finished their wedding mass. Before they cleared off completely, the casket was already being pushed into the church. Life and death, side by side. Mum followed the family members to Xiao En Memorial Park for the cremation, but I didn't join. Lunch boxes were compliments of the earlier wedding since there were lots of leftovers.   Joined KH to meet his boi boi friend at  Hide and Seek Coffee . The cafe is unmarked, and you need to be buzzed in. Pretty much an art space with coffee and cake. Neither do they have a proper menu, nor a cash register. The boi boi had just finished his internship and was job hunting. A regular at Chin Woo swimming pool, he has a lot of interesting locker room stories.  JJ invited us to to Bunny's birthday dinner, but we had a couple of hour

Mum was off on a trip, so KH and I went on a staycation in the heart of KL Tried our luck for early check-in at Stripes Hotel but our room wasn't ready. Ok lo, so we went for lunch at Kwong Cheung Loong Kopitiam , a pet-friendly kopitiam / cafe / bar. The lines are so blurred here that the guy next to us was having nasi lemak with his Golden Retriever at his feet, sipping a cold beer. Halfway through lunch, the front desk called to inform us that our room was ready.  The room was pretty nice, but the view was obstructed by the red brick facade that gives the hotel its distinctive look. The pool is located at the roof top and provides a view of KL Tower. Managed to squeeze in a swim. Our dinner venue was back at Heritage Row-- Kappo Takebayashi . Actually, we spotted the Japanese chef during lunch while he was walking his Shiba Inu. His cute doggo was staring longingly into Kwong Cheung Loong, hoping to join the other canines in there. Uncommon items on the menu like sea eel, but th

Trekking and hiking is more up KH's alley. The timing of his trips are usually not compatible with my schedule because it would clash with Saturday market and Sunday mass. Finally he found something that fit both my timing and fitness level. The place is called Mars Hill, and is located in a palm oil plantation in Sepang. It was organized by a bunch of millennials, and were just tagging along. The meeting point was at a dragon fruit orchard ( so many of them along the way, no wonder the market is flooded with draginfruits! ) in Sepang. Unfortunately, the bunch of kids could not be punctual. The stragglers delayed the trip from 4:30PM to 5:30PM, wasting precious daylight. Lots of girls on the trip. Those who took the time to put on makeup, and bra tops were given a rude shock by how unforgiving the late afternoon sun was. On the hand, I came prepared with umbrellas and arm sleeves.  The terrain was mostly flat, with lots of cow pies scattered on the paths. Our guide for the day prov

Not long after my run-in with COVID-19, KH organized a trip to his friend's durian orchard in Melaka. Both our mothers joined us, so it was an interesting bonding session. Located at Durian Tunggal, the orchard was pretty easy to get to as it wasn't far from the highway exit. The durian trees are planted sporadically, interspersed with other fruits like rambutan. More a retirement project than a commercial undertaking, there's plenty of flowers on the grounds too. Also spotted some bee houses, probably to aid in pollination. Freshly-gathered durians were collected at a shed, and we made our picks there. Well to be exact THEIR picks, I was just there to watch.  Another interesting thing about the orchard was the three-storey homestay that was built on crest of the hill to tap into the ecotourism market. The top floor provided a great view of the surrounding terrain. Got a few lunch recommendations from the host, and we left for Melaka town. Once we had cleared the hundreds o

One of Kenji's many food cravings was Klang BKT. KH recommended Links , a weird name for a BKT restaurant. A family-operated place with limited servings. Much of everything that we wanted was sold out. Argh. Garlic pun takde . Cannot brain. Just took whatever they had. Then it was shaved ice desserts at Queen of Spades , a random choice. Left Klang with some takeout-- mui choi bao from Klang Food Center , and Angcle Peoh 's assam laksa .  KH was nursing a sore throat and he still went for heaty BKT, and ice desserts. He had already complained about a scratchy throat during our Friday dinner date. Other than that, he seemed OK. On Sunday, mum and I attended a Corpus Christi procession on the church grounds. The last procession we had was before the pandemic, and the route involved public roads and the adjacent housing estates.  On Monday, I too had a bit of a scratchy throat. Didn't think much about it, and met up with Tater and Ray for dinner at JJJ Ya . The ice-cold Suntor

Made a visit to a church friend who lived nearby. His father was a Parkinson's patient whose condition was deteriorating. Once he returned home from a stint in the hospital, we decided to pay his father a visit. His dad looked frail, but was still able to get up and about for short periods of time. Things were kept lively in the house by their cute pet Corgi, who seems to understand Hakka. Drools all over the place as his tongue seems permanently lolled to the side. And he goes crazy over tissue. Literally, crazy.   In the evening, it was date night KH. Hubby made reservations at Palilos , a Spanish fusion yakitori restaurant. The place is so popular that one needs to book months in advance. To avoid any traffic weekend traffic snarls during the weekend, we arrived a little earlier. Went to Elephant Republic for an iced coconut latte. Another IG-worthy cafe, but I can do without coconut milk in my lattes.  Palilos is one those places that you avoid if you're hangry. Great amb

After years and years abroad in Canada, Kenji has finally relocated back to Malaysia. The usual scenario-- to help out in the family business. Long before his return, we had already been discussing what Malaysian food he would like to gorge on. Picked him up ( still not braving the Malaysian traffic ) from his new place in Shah Alam, and brought him to dinner at T.J.K. Little Wok . Not exactly a famous place, but KH chose it because of the proximity, and variety. Kenji looked well, but he wasn't exactly thrilled about his homecoming. Hopefully he would get a hang of things soon enough.  No makan-makan session would be complete without dessert. Deliberated with Sharky and found that Subang was the closest option.  Soypresso piqued Kenji's interest because he has a weakness for those taro and yam balls. Why stop at one dessert place, right? Before calling it a night, we went to Roji Monster Ice Cream . They seem to put googly eyes on everything, but imagine my disappointment wh

Lady Luck smiled on my brother when my neighbour ( the metal detector hobbyist ) passed me lemang and beef rendang on the second day of Hari Raya Puasa. When we split open the bamboo sheath, the fragrant aroma of creamy glutinous rice wafted out. Frankly, I think my brother enjoyed that more than the modern Italian dinner we had at A.zeta Kitchen to celebrate Mother's Day. Not to say the restaurant's mediocre, just that my brother is not lacking for choice of great Italian restaurants in Singapore. But lemang is a different case altogether. Beggars can't be choosy yo!