will i am's delayed diary

When EspressoLab was still in Avenue K, I used to train my eyes behind the counter every time I walked by, going to and from the KLCC LRT station. Why? Because a leng zai barista ( nama manjanya LZB ) used to work there. With his height and broad shoulders, he looked so good girded with the work apron. Ever since it closed down, I lost my cuci mata opportunity in the early mornings and late evenings. However, my disappointed is now at an end, because I found him again! And just down the road from where I work at Jalan Yap Kwan Seng. If you're curious about how he looks ( no spy pics from me guys and girls! ), go check him out at Black Ink No. 6 . It's a perfectly quiet place for a poke bowl and a cup of coffee, while you check out LZB with his daily tasks. There's also a coffee called the Volcano, something that looks like a messy creampie. :P. I shall go back to try that.

Out of the blue, I was summoned to Singapore for a meeting with several of my colleagues. It was about some demo for my Brunei client. The partner's office was in Singapore, so we went down there. Arrived at KLIA2 bright and early. I didn't feel like McDonald's that day, so I went to ToastBox instead. I swung my teaspoon against the large soft-boiled egg and the whole thing just disintegrated in my hands. The table was a mess! Big eggs, VERY thin shell. The flight was uneventful, which is of course desirable. The immigration counter was kinda swamped at Changi, and it was partly due to a whole bunch of Korean tourists who did not know how to fill in their arrival cards. Since the last time I came to Singapore for work, the office had moved to a different building. All glass and modern furniture, with a pantry that looks like something out of Google HQ. The meeting went well and by lunch time it was over. My CEO took us to lunch at .... wait for it .... wait for it ..

From church, mum and I traveled to Kuala Lumpur on a Sunday afternoon to attend a talk on women and politics at Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH). But before that, we met up KH for lunch at Ali, Muthu &Ah Hock at Jalan Balai Polis. It was my first time at that very touristy cafe. Following the trend, it's a retro cafe at a heritage shop lot. Their menu is full of typical Malaysian favourites like nasi lemak , roti kahwin and laksa lemak , all of which were pretty good. Their local coffee is also great. No wonder it's usually packed. At 2:30 PM, we headed to KLSCAH to listen to the talk . Two of the speakers were female lawmakers from the opposition. Mum started yawning halfway through the thing ( and KH could hardly understand 20% of what was being said ), so we quickly left the hall and went coffee hunting instead. KH recommended that we go to Leaf & Co. , right opposite the old Yan Keng Benevolent Dramatic Association building. A

After a long time, it suddenly occurred to me that I should have the famous XO fish head noodles at Kuchai Lama for breakfast. Mum and I headed there after our Saturday marketing, and as usual getting parking there was a bitch. We were a tad early, so Goon Wah wasn't open yet. No matter, we just ate at Kedai Makanan & Minuman Soon Lei instead. The menu is somewhat similar to Goon Wah, but of course they have their own specialties as well. But anyway, one portion of their XO fish head noodles was already enough to feed two, no more capacity for anything else. Fast-forward to lunch, mum whipped up a dish of petite clams that mum frequently prepared when I was a kid. Just chilies, ginger, and some bean paste. Lovely dish. In the evening, mum, SK and I went to Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. The place was infested with little statues of SEA Games 2017 mascot, Rimau. Those little tigers definitely topped the Smurfs in terms of count. It was also the fourth day of KL Fashion Week ( no

On my last day at Colombo, I finally had the chance to have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel. My bosses were having a breakfast meeting with my client's senior management, so I was excused. Tried the Sri Lankan hoppers ( apam ), and milk rice ( kiribath ). Outside the restaurant was a nice pool with swans, ducks, and koi swimming around. Later in the morning, we met another two project counterparts for more fact-finding. Had a quick lunch at Taste of Asia -- local mixed rice. A very peculiar short grain variety of rice was used. The spices used were really alien to me. Our afternoon was spent at the client office again. Tried to retrieve whatever documentation they promised to give us. We waited and waited and waited, but didn't get much. The main contractor met us up for dinner again. We had wine and finger foods at the Colombo Hilton executive lounge. My CEO gave him a summary of all that he had gathered. I sat at the next table, just enjoying the chicken skewers an

I slept like a baby throughout the night. Threw off the luxurious linens and freshened up. Breakfast was served at GRAZE Kitchen , their all-day dining restaurant. Lovely as the spread was, I didn't get to enjoy much of it on the first day. At the restaurant, we met the main contractor of the project and my client's CTO. They were there to socialize and get my CEO up to speed on the baseline of the project, and customer sentiments. That was just the pre-meeting. At 9:30 AM, our client drove us to their headquarters just ten minutes away from the hotel. Not that it was far, it was just the traffic. To formalize things, the CTO kicked things off by introducing us to his project team, who over the course of the day, aired their grievances. Our role was neutral, as we were supposed to listen to all sides of the story. During the lengthy meeting, they plied us with passion fruit juice, an interesting choice. Our client treated us to a quick lunch at Goodies , Cinnamon Lakesi

Work has been taking me places these days. Brunei has not even closed a chapter, and I'm now told to buy a ticket to Colombo! I wasn't aware that Malaysians need a visa to visit Sri Lanka, but thankfully there's no need to visit the embassy as they an e-visa channel. My flight was on Sunday night, 10:00 PM. I was quite surprised that the flight had it's fair share of Chinese passengers. Mostly were from China, but there were some Hong Kees too. Beside me were a PRC couple. The guy kept nudging into my hands although I let him have the arm rest, and his girlfriend really loved to lecture him. Probably because of them I could not sleep on the flight although I was so tired. Ended up watching "Colossal" to pass the time. Truly a quirky movie. Although we flew for nearly four hours, we arrived in Colombo at 11:00 PM, a 2.5 hour time difference. Bandaranike Airport looked pretty retro. While the immigration officer processed my arrival, half of his attention w

Once in a while, KH and I go on weekday date nights. KH was getting a Spanish vibe that night, so we ate at Mercat Barcelone Gastrobar in Bangsar. Not many tables were occupied on that Wednesday night, but still we did not experience their so-called 'attentive' service that many past customers raved about. But we did notice that each table had several orders of their famous gin and tonic. The gin du jour was actually MYR80+ for a double shot which was served in a balloon glass. Expensive right? But we ordered it anyway. Quite a strong drink... no wonder it's so popular. Our dinner was a few tapas and an order of grilled pork ribs. We had the  Bouquerones en Vinagre , which is cured anchovies with roasted peppers. And no tapas dinner is complete without Patatas bravas , KH's favourite potato dish. Both tapas had excellent food presentation and innovative form factor, like dim sum on granite serving slabs. We also had a bowl of Chorizo al vino , chorizo served wi

First world problems: What to have for lunch after church? Some times I would just drive with no destination in mind, and I would suddenly get inspiration. Mum and I ended up at Uroko , which was quite a good choice because it's near my church, and I always wanted to give it a revisit to try the raw seafood on their menu. The sashimi moriawase was definitely worth it. The menu states 16 pieces, but I think we got 20 pieces. Other than that, we ordered grilled mentai prawn, grilled beef, and soft-shell crab salad. There were big, big chunks of crab in the salad... so meaty! Lunch was with mum, so dinner was with KH. Made a radical choice for dinner-- native East Malaysian cuisine, a taste of Borneo. Thirty seven years as a Malaysian, and I never once tried this variety of food although I had tasted food from faraway countries! When we entered Javian Kitchen at Taman Equine, it was pretty quiet. Both of us did not have any experience with this type of cooking, so we just