will i am's delayed diary

One by one, my friends announced on social media that they are now wearing multi-focals. The fifth today. Actually, I need a pair too, but I'm just in denial. Can hardly read product labels anymore, and the even the smartphone screen can appear blurry at unoptimized distances. More often than not you can spy me looking over my current pair of spectacles, or pushing my face towards the laptop. The big four ooooooooooooooooo, 

Been a while since I met Mei and MiniMei, so KH and I organized dinner with the pair. KH recommended a new shop in OUG called Zhuji Spicy Soup . Don't be misled by the name, they actually specialize in pepper pig stomach soup, not the type of spicy soup popular in Kajang. Mei looked so fabulous when she walked in because she made her face, and had eyelash extensions put in! The food was pretty nice, but it's kind of hard to share food there due to the seating arrangements, and the type of the food. The pepper pig stomach has a nice aroma or peppercorn ( but a tad salty ), and I also recommend their shrimp paste fried chicken wings. Crispy and moist. MiniMei walloped 3 pieces by herself.    Super hard to talk at the dinner joint, so followed up with coffee at Morrow ( previously Doors Cafe ). Although MiniMei didn't take any coffee, she was pretty worked up, giggling all the time. Maybe it was sugar from the cakes ( she liked the rum and raisin... like mother, like daughter...

On Hari Raya Haji, KH jio-ed me to breakfast at Birch , DC Mall. It was a breakfast gathering with three other guys whom I had never met before. They went to the same school as KH, Lasallians all of them. Very chatty people, with lots of playful banter. I just had a cup of Americano as I already had my breakfast at home.  I couldn't relax in the afternoon because I suddenly had work to do. Bloody proof-of-concept for a prospect. They kept changing the requirements. Was supposed to take a tour of MaisonSK 2.0 at Desa Petaling, but I had to FFK her the last minute. By dinner time, things were settled. Finally could unwind, and enjoy a Vietnamese dinner at Banh Mi Cafe , Jalil Link. After dinner, I brought SK to 6Yi Cafe for coffee and cakes.  The biggest surprise of the day was a packet of Hokkien bihun from GrabKH for supper!  

Towards the end of July, mum and I registered to attend Sunday mass. A week before the date, I registered through an ever-changing Google Form. Once we received the confirmation e-mail, we knew that we were good to go. Rules were enforced, an amalgamation of parish. archdiocese, and government SOP.  Entry to the church compound will be prohibited half an hour before the mass time. Maximum seating for each pew was two parishioners. Due to that arrangement, the church was running at 30% seating capacity. No choir, only pre-recorded hymns. Parishioners aren't allowed to remove their face masks, except for a brief period during communion.  No hugging and shaking of hands during the "sign of peace". Communion by hand only ( there are Catholics who are not happy about this ). No lingering in the church proper, and on the church compound after mass is over.  The mass went on without a hitch, but I couldn't help notice that the parish priest was very stressed out when giving ...

OUG morning market finally updated their SOP by implementing a "no mask, no entry" policy. So funny to see mahjong tables used at the temperature checking and registration checkpoints. The management tried to limit entry to these checkpoints by using barricade tape, but it's obviously a very porous border. Well, better than nothing. At least I didn't see any Karens making a fuss. On top of that, they tried a one way traffic flow as well.  Mum and I went to Taman Desa for breakfast. A very unlikely vegetarian breakfast at Kuchabe . Wouldn't be there if not for the buy one, free one promotion. Their curry noodles is super thick, and bursting with coconut milk. The local coffee is also great ( a not so local price of MYR5 ), and topped with foam.  

Ever since the start of the pandemic, I had stopped taking the LRT and MRT to work because Prasarana did not do any crowd control. Basically, once you're in the train, you are at risk of being crowded in. If you follow @askrapidkl on Twitter, you can see passengers Tweeting about "no social distancing?", and the official answer would be "we are running at full capacity, and it is the responsibility of the passenger to maintain social distance". I know the reality is that those inside won't get out because the train is too packed. And those outside will still board if the train is already like a can of sardines. So, it's basically ride at your own risk. Since I have the option of driving, I started doing that. And the good thing is, I could share the parking because I have a colleague who stays nearby, and we are actually on alternating teams. At the end of every week, we would pass each other the parking disc. But driving definitely comes its own set of ...

Gratitude was going through some relationship problems, and was feeling a bit down. But he had the secret to happiness, which was of course through the stomach! He invited us over for crab dinner. For  weeks he had been praising the freshness of the sea crabs which was sold near his house in Klang. To showcase the natural sweetness of the seafood, he prepared a platter of steamed crabs as the main dish. We were not disappointed! The crabs were paired with fragrant saffron rice, kerabu , clams in superior soup, and curry chicken. We toasted to a better tomorrow with a bottle of sakura-infused Chinese white wine.   After dinner we sat down in the living room, and Gratitude put his moka pot on the stove. The whole house was filled with the aroma of coffee. Our chat was often interrupted by the newest member of his family, a kitten named Kody. A very feisty, and playful cat. Lanky, with a tail that looks more at home on a civet cat. Kody flies around the house, full or energy...