will i am's delayed diary

On a whim, mum and I went to Starling Mall after Sunday mass. A change of scenery from the usual Paradigm Mall, Atria Shopping Gallery, and the once in a blue moon One Utama. Thoroughly scoured the mall and concluded that it's a great place for food, but not shopping. The whole bird theme is really well-executed. The food court cum working space at the top looks pretty good too. If you need a place to work, do check out their food court cum co-working space. While we were there, we bumped into Lifebook and Bless. Been ages since we saw them. Sat down at Two Sons Bistro to chat over .... a pot of mussels! Actually wanted coffee, but there was a problem with their coffee machine. Mussels were so good that we lapped up most of the gravy with the garlic bread. But the mussels could be bigger. Found out that Bless would be returning to KL soon. Yay! Hope to catch up with them again. KH dropped by for dinner at my neighbourhood. Accompanied him for a bowl of curry noodles....

Babysitting continued on Sunday, where we brought the Monsters to mass. Then it was lunch at Ben's , The Gardens Mall. Never did I expect such an impressive interior. One section was dominated by fluffy pillows and tall wing-back sofas that looked like thrones. 'Marble' surfboards was the theme for side section, and there was large part with a tropical theme. Deep inside the cafe was a kid's zone complete with playground and kitchen area. I was surprised that the kids actually killed the time with the activity cards on the table. Little Monster especially liked their macadamia cheese cake. Ended our day out with a caramel macchiato. Back in 2010, I met Jerry in Klang. Eight years later we reconnected again and arranged a dinner at Linda Vietnam Cafe , Equine Park. Should be pretty new since I never noticed it there. Food was decent but the service was kinda sucky. I ordered hot tea but the waitress brought me iced tea. When I corrected, she was flippant and said ...

Once in a blue moon, I would order wat tan hor for breakfast. Something that really sends my 'Uncle Meter' skyrocketing. Once in a blue moon, I get to see Paris Fashion Week at the OUG morning market. That was a babysitting Saturday for mum and I. After dropping The Monsters for their swimming lessons, we went over to Mokka Cafe , Jalil Link 2 to chill. Their signature cappuccino reminded me of a creme brulee, and their Pangkor Asam Laksa was kinda interesting.  Light in colour and had squid. Brought the monsters out for sushi at Washoku , BK5 later that night. Bad idea to let them sit next to the kaiten . Ravenous appetite! Luckily it was only RM1.70 a plate.

The inaugural Japan Expo was held in 2017 at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. That all-Japan event kinda escaped my notice. In 2018, they managed to lure me to the 3-day event with a lucky draw prize via LINE Messenger. I got it after the 7th try. Right after church, mum and I headed to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. Traffic was quite good that day. Starting out at the crystal fountain, we spotted several cosplayers. Can't say that I could recognize any of the characters. Out of those few cosplayers, there was one guy in the Grade A category with great hair, makeup, and handsome features. Youngsters were lining up to get an autograph from him. Can anyone name him? As one of the main sponsors, Oyoshi had several stalls outside promoting their drinks, and selling some Japanese snacks like gyoza and ebiko bread. Air Asia also had their own kiosk to promote their airfare and tour packages. The main hub of activity was the centre court with more stalls and a  performance stage that had back to ba...

Cutiepie arranged dinner with KH, but KH kinda FFK-ed her, so it fell to me to follow through. Mum had a follow up appointment with the chiropractor in the afternoon ( back pain caused by a bad cough ), while I went to get a haircut. As expected, I finished way earlier than her. After her spinal adjustment was complete, we headed to IOI City Mall straightaway. Cutiepie's little daughter tagged along. Our dinner was at Sheng Kee Desserts , where we had some rice and noodles dishes. However, her daughter didn't eat anything except for PAW Patrol candy! After dinner, we went to Coffea Coffee . Not much chance to talk to Cutiepie as her daughter was stuck to me like glue. Spent the whole evening playing treasure hunt with her in the cafe!

Mum had been coughing for weeks and I thought I was immune to it. As she got better after several visits to the TCM at Tai Onn Tong, I caught her coughing bug. By the end of July, the cough had reached a sort of crescendo. My ribs were aching like crazy with each wheeze. Sometimes I woke up in the middle of the night gasping for breath and feeling my rib cage seize up. Horrible! Not exactly in the best of health, but I still attended my stylist's new shop opening at Kuchai Lama. A whole bunch of regulars came over for some makan-makan . Unlike the usual hair salon, he has a cafe at the front serving coffee, cakes, sandwiches, and cupcakes. In the evening, mum and I went to Taman Bukit Jalil for some fresh air. The exercise didn't help my condition. Had a rare vegetarian dinner at Jujube in OUG. Ordered wat tan hor and pan mee . A flour-filled meal. Avoid the pan mee at all cost. Horrid.

No trip to the Saturday morning market is complete without breakfast a my favourite noodle stall. Funny thing was, they got my order wrong that week. They mistakenly put in char siew for me. Makan jugaklah la . Although its the end of the road for Mydin's foray into Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia, that doesn't mean that everything's been settled. Old stock from the stores still find its way to the market being sold at a discounted price. That afternoon, I had the chance to explore the new shops at The Link 2, Bukit Jalil. I had the whole afternoon to loiter there while waiting for mum to finish her meeting. Lunch I ate at Rinjin Shokudo , a Japanese cafe with a limited food menu. Normally two varieties of daily mains are offered, only at meal times. Outside of meal times, one can go for their staples like curry rice. The curry was quite hearty and went well with hot yuzu tea ( quite expensive though ). Phase 2 of my loitering session was continued at Mokka Cafe just...