will i am's delayed diary

Covid put a two-year damper on my BEC outing plans. On Malaysia Day 2022, we were finally able to organize a short 2 day-1 night trip to Kuala Sepetang, Kuala Sangga, and Taiping. Surprisingly, two of my neighbours joined because they were intrigued by the itinerary. It didn't take long for our registration drive to fill up one express bus. On the morning of the 16th, we left KL a little late due to some stragglers, and encountered some congestion on the highway. An expected situation considering it was a long weekend. Lucky for us ( some would disagree ), our tour guide was a chatty fellow, so he could really talk and talk and talk. When the tour guide wasn't talking, we had onboard rosary prayers and KTV.   Arrived at Kuala Sepetang at 1 PM, so the bus directly dropped us at Xin Seafood Restaurant . Strategically located on the banks of Sungai Sepetang, we got to a great view to go with our seafood lunch. Once we had our fill of fish, cockles, prawns, calamari, crabs, and cl...

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 fu...

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 frie...

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 hi...

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...