will i am's delayed diary

Warehouse Wendel was spotted at a branded clothes warehouse sale at Atria Shopping Gallery. From far away I had caught sight of his bulging biceps which he showcased so well in his white wife beater. The nerdy hunk came with his girlfriend, misusing his muscles to carry random pieces of clothing. If only he wasn't wearing long jeans, then I could check out his quads as well.

Are you familiar with Cycads? I'm sure you've probably seen them, and think they are palm trees. Cycads have hard and pointy leaves growing out of a crown. Catholics in West Malaysia often use Cycad leaves during Palm Sunday ( ironic because they aren't palms ) to commemorate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem. The couple of Cycads in my garden had always been doing well until recently. Fresh shoots from the crown all fell prey to little caterpillars, which turns out to be larvae of the Cycad Blue Butterfly. Before the shoots have enough time to harden, the voracious little critters would have munched on them all. I tried neem, physically picking them off, but there was just too many of them. So annoying! Any ideas to get rid of this infestation?

During our yearly body check-up, the general practitioner suggested that my mum go for a follow-up ultrasound of her kidney. He wrote us a referral to Columbia Asia at Bandar Puteri Puchong. The whole visit took several hours, and thankfully the radiologist reported that there was nothing wrong. On the way back home, we stopped by at Akka Nasi Lemak , the viral ( the hype had long died down ) nasi lemak stall at Puncak Jalil. Just a short queue, nothing explosive. I chose the less spicy version, and still found it pretty hot! In general terms, it was really nothing to shout about. In the evening, mum made yam cake for Big Monster's 15th birthday. The kid never liked traditional birthday cakes.

Once in a few years, a district level Corpus Christi procession is organized as part of evangelization. In the Petaling Jaya district, my church is relatively the most suitable because it is in the proximity of residential areas. The whole activity involved several churches, and the logistics were quite difficult. Held on a Sunday evening, I felt that the turnout wasn't very encouraging. Many came to serve, but in the end, there wasn't much to do. During the procession, the Sacred Host ( on a 4WD float ) is exposed at five strategic spots, and there would be prayers and hymns along the way. As usual, there weren't many curious onlookers ( KL-ites prefer to hide in their homes ), but as we passed the Mayang Oasis Food Court, some guy got very agitated and started shouting. Stirred up by the Holy Spirit perhaps. Five kilometers later, we were back at church. Food was served, and a tonne rubbish cleared up. A long and tiring Sunday. 

KH brings me to the most interesting cafes for our Saturdates. Shan Mu is one such place. The cafe is located in Cheras ( KH was in his Cheras phase ), and the shopfront is not obvious at all. No signboard, just a small wooded plaque beside a closed wooden door with the Chinese characters for "mountain" and "wood". Look out for a clump of bamboo trees out front. Mismatched furniture-- mostly timber and driftwood furniture. Drinks are unique, but some are misses. Whatever the case, do try their vanilla choux. This brings us to an interesting topic of our paktor routine. More often than not, KH would complain that he is stressed trying to figure out where to go every weekend. He claims that I cannot visit a place more than once. Paired with my demanding tastes, and pickiness, he has to crack his head regularly. Frankly, I am not THAT demanding, but since he puts it like, I now just play along. Bwahaha. At least I am guaranteed a constant stream of places to review o...

QueerRanterD's birthday was around the corner, so his new boyfriend, Bran arranged a hotpot party at his home. Bran has a beautiful home in Bandar Utama, and he tastefully decorated it in a black and white theme. Previously, Bran worked in the States, and his company gave him a placement in Malaysia during the MCO period. Personality-wise, they are quite different, but they seem pretty compatible. Yin and Yang at work. The party was an intimate one, just KH, SK, CK, and I. The soup base Bran bought from HaiDiLao, and of course we had a vegetarian option for QueerRanterD. Great selection of fresh meat,  seafood, and vegetables. He even prepared a sauce station! The birthday cake was a tiramisu from a home baker, and we also had some keto chocolate cookies that the host baked. And no party would be complete without some Riesling. Let's do it again next year!

I took leave on Tuesday to settle a few chores. Did my annual health check-up, and collect mum's passport at Plaza Glomac, Petaling Jaya. Earlier on, I had some unnecessary drama trying to submit mum's online passport application. Finally went through when I realized that I had keyed in the wrong old passport number. I actually keyed in the passport from two renewals ago. Blur.... Luckily the process was painless for senior citizens. Bumped into a BEC member of mine, and he told us that he skipped the online process by just walking in.