will i am's delayed diary

I Love Phuket. You Love Phuket. Don't We All Love Phuket?

On a Sunday afternoon after church, mum and I went to volunteer at MPPWP's Karnival Kuih Bulan that was held at the OUG basketball court. We helped out at the drinks station which was enjoying brisk business from the youths who were also there for the Piala YB Seputeh lion dance competition. Among all judges, one guy stood out from the majority of uncles-- Lion Dance Luke . As you can see, he has great skin, with a cute Aaron Kwok hairstyle framing his boyish face. At the end of the event, he approached me to ask for some directions. Oh ho ho.  The Mid-Autumn carnival started in the evening with quite a number of performances and activities. The night concluded with a lantern walk that was accompanied by lion dance and dragon dance. 

  What do you think of Edward's eggs? Would you try a couple for breakfast? This celebrity was spotted at the iconic Pasar Pudu where the award-winning movie "Abang Adik "was filmed. Not my go-to market really, but went there on a whim. 

KH kickstarted my birthday celebration in September with a scrumptous lunch at Bref by Darren Chin . Knowing my preference for tentacle porn, KH ordered grilled octopus tentacle, and also duck confit. Strangely, the most memorable item of the meal was not the seafood or the poultry, but the potato pave that was beneath the duck leg. My first time having the deliciously crispy slice of 'thousand-layered' potatoes.  Next was coffee at Kopi & Studio , a cafe so quiet that we could be as lovey-dovey as we wanted. In KH's mind, a perfect date must come with a trip to the cinema, so we watched "A Haunting in Venice". Entertaining enough, but Kenneth Branagh is not a memorable Poirot for me. Later in the evening, we had a mid-autumn party hosted by Sim. Think its my second year joining. Same bunch of of people, but some fresh faces as well. Tapau -ed some pork pizzas from Skippy's , and at the same time took some photos at my old Phileo Damansara office.  Lots of...

Keeping with my BEC's tradition, Malaysia Day is reserved for our local pilgrimage trip. In 2023, we chose Teluk Intan as our destination. On our way out of Kuala Lumpur, we flew past the famous broccoli-like Giam Kanching trees over the Rawang Bypass and stopped at Kuala Kubu Bharu. We participated in a Malaysia Day mass at St. Paul the Apostle Church , a parish that's as old as Malaya. Fr. VA Michael celebrated the mass, and after that he gave our group a special blessing. On the way out, our bus got caught on a telephone line. Luckily we got hold of some long poles and managed to get ourselves out of the kerfuffle.  Continuing on, we had a short photo stop at Sungai Selangor Dam  before arriving at Church of the Most Holy Redeemer , Tanjung Malim for a private mass. The celebrant was Fr. Vincent Paul. We were a tad late for lunch, but luckily Ban Heong was not far from the church. No complaints about the food in terms of taste and portion.  Pushed on to Teluk Intan, a...

It's really no mean feat planning a holiday with friends-- getting everyone to agree on a time, place, and actually getting the flight tickets. KH, SimonLover, ForIHaveSinned, and I passed that phase-- we were going to Phuket during the Thaipusam weekend! Made a cafe date at Mimi Daifuku , and tried to tresh out some of the details. Being old school, ForIHaveSinned had a notebook with him on top of an iPad to organize his thoughts. In the end, I think we membawang-ed  more than any actual planning. LOL. But we were very sure of one thing-- we need a hotel room with private pool or something similar for our hiao photo sessions!

Before flying back to Malaysia, KH and I attended Sunday mass at Church of the Sacred Heart on Tank Road. The community is small enough that the priest actually blessed the September babies, parishioners who had wedding anniversaries, and couples who were trying to conceive during the announcements. The church has beautiful marble altars with intricate inlays, with two side altars dedicated to Mary and Joseph. Candles are lit high on the altar that the sacristan needs to use candle snuffer.  Made lunch plans with Tater at Maguro Brothers , Tras Street as KH is a big fan of expensive tuna. We were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food, and the friendliness of the service. KH was happy with the otoro-don, and maguro ribs was also perfectly grilled. With a little persuasion, the waitress got us drinking out of traditional masu cups. It was such a spectacle, that it influenced the adjacent table to do the same. Haha. And what does one do after getting a little tipsy on...