will i am's delayed diary

When it comes to shopping with mum, Suria KLCC is usually at the bottom of the list. But when one is looking for a fresh experience, it's a good place to revisit. Good thing that Suria KLCC has Isetan, Isetan Food Market, and Zara, places that mum can shop at. Our lunch was at La Cucur . Shared a packet of nasi dagang Terengganu and their heavenly hot teh tarik . We dunked a giant palmier from Marks and Spencer in the tea. Chatted up and old Malay couple who sat beside us. Told us about their grandchildren. One is into e-Sports and the other in e-Commerce. How times have changed. Robinsons was next on my list. Like their sister store in Singapore, the stuff there is too expensive. Could only see rich Indonesian Chinese spending their money there. When it was tea time, we headed to Malaysia Boleh! for kopi . I spied a group of people having curry noddles. Couldn't resist, and ordered myself a bowl! The kopi we dunked with a giant white chocolate cookie from Marks and Sp

If you're ever in Eko Cheras Mall, give Xin Dau Ji a try. The mother restaurant in Hong Kong is a One-Michelin Star establishment. However, finding the restaurant from inside the mall can be quite a challenge. The corridor is narrow and hidden. Felt like I was finding my way in the Mines of Moria. If you ever find it, I recommend that you try their egg tart and lotus rice. Exquisite. Not as expensive as Oriental Treasure, but the portions are a tad smaller. Eko Cheras wasn't enough to satisfy mum's shopping needs. She wanted to go to Jalan Jalan Japan. Brought her to the 1Shamelin branch to see if its any different compared to Subang Sky Park. 1Shamelin is truly a run down place. Kinda like Cheras Sentral Mall, with hardly any business activities in the upper floors. Even the escalators aren't working. A disappointing shopping trip.

Out of the blue, The Tribe appeared at the vicinity of my church during lunch time. Since the timing was fortuitous, we had lunch together at Strangers at Forty Seven . Business was brisk as usual. While I was poring through the menu, a member of the service crew dropped off a glass of orange juice on the table. I thought that The Tribe ordered it. Then Sis realized that they hadn't even ordered anything. Told the waitress about it and she took the drink away. In a flash, she returned with the juice and declared that its on the house. We were cool with that. Remembering that the portion of dessert crepes were small, I kiasu ordered four savoury crepes~ Nasi Lemak , Buttermilk Chicken, Eggcited Over Cheese, and Uncle Salmon. Three came with the exception of the salmon. After checking with the waitress, she confirmed that they bungled up the order, which was fine by us. Already too full. Suddenly, we got a free slice of cake as compensation. The people there can get my order w

On Raya Kedua, mum and I spent the day at IOI City Mall. She couldn't decide on what to eat, so I just chose white curry noodles at Teochew Chendul . From my FB post, Cutiepie discovered that I was at the mall. She buzzed me for a meet-up, and was there in 30 minutes with her eldest in tow. We had a little chit-chat at Original Banana Leaf accompanied by chapati , puri , and chicken varuval . When the puri came, Cutiepie's eldest did the honours of whacking it flat. Many retail stores weren't open for business, but we still managed to do some shopping. Cutiepie's eldest was running all over, hiding in clothes racks and trying on heels. At the end of of our outing, I introduced Cutiepie to the Family Mart sofuto culture. Hokkaido melon ain't one of their better flavours. Too artificial. Stick with hojicha . Trust me on that. KH joined mum and I for dinner that night. Spotted a hidden restaurant called Ker Jia Zhuang at Equine Park. If you're fami

The morning market was abuzz with bakzhangs. The number of bakzhang stalls seems to have sky-rocketed this year. All sorts were on sale~ the usual Hokkien variety, the albino Cantonese variety, the pillow type, and the crystal-like kee zhang . Marketing aside, I also had some chores to run for the Airbnb. An idiot guest had broken the key for the front door, and it's now stuck in the lock. Talked to the St. Guchi customer support representative on FB Messenger, and they advised me on how to fix it. Initially I thought that I had to replace the whole lock set, but I was relieved when I found out that I only needed to replace one of the three components. I gave KH the specifications for the thumbturn and key cylinder profile, and he bought it from the hardware shop that St. Guchi suggested. Things didn't go smoothly. The replacement part actually didn't fit. The 60 mm was too short! I did some comparison and found that it was suited for the room doors, not the

Due to an inexplicable reason, I had been avoiding Pho Vietz at Atria Shopping Gallery. But after I had exhausted all the choices there, I relented. Mum and I shared a bowl of 4 beef pho. The Vietnamese equivalent of the 4 cheese pizza? It was a huge bowl of noodles, and came with premium Australian beef slices. beef balls, brisket, and the more common cuts. The soup noodles didn't "Wow" me, but the steamed rice rolls did. Texture-wise, it's like a cousin of HK CCF. Loved the taste. A great snack. More often that not, Atria had some event going on at the ground floor. That week we were lucky enough to catch the Atria Japan Festival 2019. The children's cosplay competition kept us mesmerized for hours. Among the best was a girl who dressed up as Edea Kramer from Final Fantasy VII. Got goosebumps when she came on stage with "FITHOS LUSEC WECOS VINOSEC" playing in the background. Really brought back memories. Her mother must be a fan girl. She must h

One Utama recycled their giant Christmas baubles into giant polyhedral pigs. Bro treated us to Samsui chicken at Soup Restaurant . "Cobra Commander wishes you a happy Year of the Pig!". Once you generate 10,000 steps at One Utama, it's time to sit down for cookies and coffee at Cookies & Coffee .

My testimonial at BOSS Night paved the way for me to become one of the TR90 Superstars during 2018's last Millionaire Summit. Success Together takes the role of Superstar very seriously because showcasing a transformation well is pivotal to helping at least one person in the audience to trust Nu Skin's AgeLOC technology. The proximity to Christmas influenced the organising committee to choose red and green as the colour theme. In short it was time to go shopping. The choice of clothing had to be vetted by the committee. I borrowed a bright red blazer from KH's sideline, and so what was left was to settle the top and the pants. It was my last day of shopping and I was a little panicked. Had to make the best of the Friday evening after work. I traveled from One Utama to Pavilion, and finally back to One Utama to get the items of clothing that fit the bill. The committee was very tough on the particular look they wanted and I had to hunt like crazy for it. I was on the ve

Believe it or not, Mickey Mouse is already 90 years old! Pavilion Kuala Lumpur marked his birthday with a 1,000 mini Mickey Mouse figurine Christmas tree. On top of that, there's the 100 Go-Local Mickey Mouse showcase, an exhibition of Mickey Mouse re-imagined by Malaysian creatives. The crowd was crazy. One could hardly get a decent photo, and the throng was hardly conducive for anyone to admire the exhibits. Aori Ramen is the latest ramen joint in Pavilion. The earlier hype made it quick impossible to secure a table. Now that the 'new toilet' syndrome has passed, we could finally check it out. Aori Ramen can't decide on their service model, so they a hybrid model. Sit at the tables for normal table service, and if you're alone, head to the Ichiran-style counters ( but it's post-paid instead of Ichiran's pre-paid ). Ordering instructions are found at each cubicle, but there's an obvious problem with it. The instructional board has a picture o

As usual, mum and I were strolling in Paradigm Mall after lunch, and lo and behold, there was a congregation of beefy guys in spandex at the upper atrium! It was actually the Asian Powerlifiting Alliance (APA) Championship. What's powerlifting? The definition I got of the internet says : Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts~ squat, bench press, and deadlift. That's why so many bulging veins, and guttural sounds. It was a visual feast and if I knew about the event earlier, I would have brought my super zoom. Oh well, enjoy the grainy photos anyway. So hot and flustered after all that... had to go have something cold.

Somewhere in an old photo album is a picture of me with my mum standing on the famous steps of Batu Caves. I was probably five or so, wearing a cute pair of bell bottoms ( remind me to dig out that photo ). Can't believe that it took me more than three decades to revisit the famous cave temple dedicated to the Hindu god Murugan. The temple committee's recent efforts to spruce up the place with a rainbow paintbrush finally managed to attract my attention. Mum and I didn't visit during Thaipusam, but chose Deepavali instead. Arrived there at around 9:30 AM with just a little traffic. Doesn't come close to the Thaipusam crowds. Getting parked in the compound was easy. Parked near the temple dedicated to Lord Hanuman, Hinduism's Sun Wukong. Many Indian families came dressed in new clothes ( mostly matching outfits ) to offer prayers during the Festival of Lights. The temple complex looked really cheerful with its multi-coloured hues. And the 140 foot statue of Lor