will i am's delayed diary

The Year of the Dog in 2018 was celebrated with much feasting as tradition dictates. And to feast, one must make preparations. Since the morning of the eve Chinese New Year, mum, Bro, and I were out of the house sourcing for the freshest ingredients. Mum showed me a picture of a cute dog-themed lou sang that she received via What's App, so we decided to recreate that for reunion dinner. Drew up a list of ingredients and went shopping at AEON Taman Equine. Got all we wanted, and then proceeded to the nearby Fun and Cheer to complete our CNY decorations. Dog-themed stuff were already going for 50% off. Back home, mum started on the cooking, and I figured out how to assemble the lou sang . As usual, we had 3 dishes per person: Snoopy Lou Sang Stewed sea cucumber with shiitake mushrooms, pig tendon, and pig stomach Pak cham kai Fried Threadfin Salad Pan-fried prawns Steamed pomfret Stir-fried garlic chives Lotus root soup Just a little bite from every dish would

At the last minute, mum and I went hunting for CNY flowers near OUG. The weather was absurdly hot, making the visit to the flower nursery a real enjoyable one. I had no qualms getting out of the car with my hoodie on. For the benefit of the CNY shoppers, the nursery 'augmented the assets' of the plants to ensure a maximum 'prosperity attraction' index. Baby pineapples with gold wrapping; bamboo pyramids topped with choi san ; flower pots with all sorts of lucky charm embellishments... You get the picture. Although there were a whole lot of varieties there, we left with the classic chrysanthemums. That short trip for flowers nearly melted the scalp off our heads. so mum suggested that we go for some cendol . Found a decent food truck under a tree, and we got our hit of ice shavings in syrupy santan soup. Couldn't resist ordering a plate of rojak as well. Ah, bliss.

With just less than a week before CNY, the  OUG morning market was a hive of activity. Even BN Seputeh tried to 'show their concern' by organizing a community event on Jalan Hujan Rahmat 2. They commandeered half of the road to put up a stage and many tables. The displaced market vendors must have been so pleased. Hampers were given out to elderly residents and those with disabilities. And of course there was free food for the public. Senator Datuk Mustapa Kamal also 'turun' padang to distribute free reading glasses ( bet they can detect fake news ). He tried to help mum to get a suitable pair but none they had were suitable. Countless cameras were clicking with his every 'charitable' move. Come evening, I joined SK at a party with her ex-colleagues. A pot luck with lots of food. There was grilled chicken wings, char siew , vinegar pork knuckles, savoury rice, and a birthday cake.  And booze too. Someone brought their kids along, so we even had an 

Of late, KH and I never had much time together due to busy schedules. Whatever the case, one must always make time for each other. Used Valentine's Day as an excuse for dinner at  Tanzini . I got off work pretty early, so I roamed around Avenue K. When I had exhausted all the outlets, I slowly walked over to G Tower to continue waiting. I nearly fell asleep on the sofa at the lobby. Haha. Such the epitome of a patient hubby. Impressed? :P. Finally at 8:25 PM, we were shown to our table. No hangri-ness that night because I was pretty well-fed in the afternoon. My colleagues had organized a pre-CNY lou sang lunch at Restoran Makanan Laut Zhen Liew Siang , a popular haunt for working adults in the KL area. If you know the place, you'd be no stranger to their oily and 'super-flavourful' signature dishes. After stepping out of the elevator on the 28th floor, we were greeted by a friendly waiter who asked whether we had a reservation. Luckily, they had a table for a

Many do not realize that the actual start of a Chinese zodiac year is 立春 ( lap chun / lì chūn ). The technical start of spring. For the year of the Dog, it fell on the 4th of February. Back in ancient times, it was a time to start farming. But so what right? The fact that one can balance eggs upright is a way cooler fact about 立春. I gave it a try, but I didn't manage to do it on the floor of my living room. Not sure if doing it on the carpet is considered cheating though. I missed the timing perhaps. Can try it again during the Dragon Boat Festival. P.S.: Wonder if can do it with my teloq ? XD  

Once it hit February, the Chinese started going nuts and thronged the OUG morning market. The crowd had started to hit its peak. Additional seasonal human traffic caused my favourite wantan noodles stall to run out of char siew ! Hebat ! I had to settle for wantan . SimonLover organized a dinner that night since HornyBF ( SimonLover's Instagram hubby ) was in town ( Khatijah and ForIHaveSinned also joined us ). The venue was Grub by Ahong at Section 17. Been ages since I went to that part of Section 17. Nearby where I parked my car was a field. And what caught my eye was several migrant workers who were playing cricket there. Such a rare sight in Malaysia. Grub is positioned as a no-frills restaurant. It's mostly self-service, where you make your order, and get all the cutlery yourself. All the waiters are migrant workers who can't communicate very well. Just pray that they bring the correct order to your table. Only the chef is local-- Ahong, the 'friendly fat m

CNY was just a couple of weeks away, so I made good use of the day off to get a haircut. Finally, my stylist decided that I no longer need a hair style that 'lengthens' because I had rediscovered a sharper face shape. Before heading home, I bought some CNY decorations at Parkson. Mum cooked lunch, a simple soup of tung ho ( some people call it roach veggie due to the taste ) with minced pork, and some fried pomfret. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing spring cleaning and other preparations for the coming festivities. Janvier met KH and I for dinner that night. Since his office was in PJ, he didn't get to enjoy the Hari Wilayah day off. At least we chose a location that was close to him-- Topshelf at TTDI. Although he was swamped with work, it was great that he found the time to meet us. The pork ribs that I ordered was super huge ( French cuisine? ). Nearly OD-ed. I had to outsource my ribs to Janvier and KH. Dinner was on us since it was Janvier's birth