Second Homecoming: Part One

|
KL Return, 30th April to 5th May.

Just got back from my 2nd trip back to KL, and what a trip it was. I managed to do most of the stuff that I wanted to do, which was to watch ‘Iron Man’ on the big THX screen (you can never get this in Labuan!!!), finally tasted the deliciousness of ‘DELIcious @ Marc Residence’ restaurant that everyone seems to be raving about, tried-out the newly opened ‘Wendy’s’ at Sunway Pyramid and even managed to pay Melaka a visit on a 1-day trip. Oh, and yes, I managed to get my J.Co donuts too, and not forgetting a steaming hot cup of ‘Hazelnut White Cofee’ at ‘Oldtown Kopitiam’. For more details, kindly read on my dear friends!!!

P.S. I’ll be splitting the post into a few parts as I think it’s going to be waaaaaaay too long for a normal decent person to digest it all at one go. So, for the first part it will be ‘Day 1 and 2’….

Day 1: Wednesday Night

I still remember the day when I touched-down in Labuan, fresh from my 1st trip back to KL that another journey to the capital was going to the a long and hard one. But would you know it, before I got time to feel home-sick and all that, a month had passed and my second journey to KL is now upon me once again. While packing my things for my 5-day home trip, I could not contemplate that I am actually packing for a trip home, and not for work. I could not feel excitement; I could not feel the thrill of heading home. Why was that? I could not answer you, probably because I am now so used to the life in Labuan, or my last trip back to KL was just a short distance back. Or probably I was just dead tired that day from the rush to complete my work. And that was how I felt when I boarded the plane.

Tugging all those “excess baggage” of chocolates, alcohol and souvenirs had become a big burden too, as on my left hand there was a big bag containing 10 bars of ‘Cadbury’ chocolates, 3 bars of ‘Meiji Rich Strawberry’ chocolates and bars and bars of other chocolates that I had no memory of buying, and yet its in my bag. How come??!! Then on my right hand was a bag for alcohol; 1 bottle of ‘Dom’ and another bottle of ‘Chivas’ (‘Dom’ is considered medicine so I think I am entitled to cross customs with another bottle of alcohol). Then there was my backpack which contained my laptop, a few stuffed bears as souvenirs and a few loose cans of imported drinks and beer (which I think is illegal as I am already bringing over 1 bottle of ‘Chivas’, but what the hell). And the sad point is, all this stuff is not for me but for silly friends that are so demanding. See how good a friend I am??!! When I die I want my ashes to be kept in a jar inside all of your rooms!!! Just joking ;)

Upon touch down in LCCT airport, I coolly walked straight out of the gates to avoid any custom checks (but nowadays I hardly notice any customs officers anymore) and the first thing I see is….no one I know. Crap. There was no one to fetch me from the airport back to my Subang home. Sigh. My friend can only fetch me from ‘KL Central’ (which is probably a good idea as my friend was a girl and I didn’t want her to drive all the way from Ampang to LCCT at night all by herself). I bought a bus ticket to ‘KL Central’ and the bus was conveniently parked a few feet away. Just as I was sitting down, the bus departed nicely on time. Perfect. Around 40 minutes time I arrived at ‘KL Central’ and my friend was already waiting, my first contact of KL life for over a month.

We didn’t head straight back to Subang as I was feeling hungry. So, since we are so near to KL and it is KL that I had not seen for over a month, we drove straight into the heart of KL itself: Petaling Street. At this infamous street known for its right and wrong reasons, pockets of eating stalls lie along it with offerings of bountiful delicacy. No, there are no fried crickets or cockroaches to be had, here lies gifts of ‘Lo She Fan’ (very famous not only among the locals that reside around Petaling Street, but famous throughout KL in general), ‘Tai Chow’ (ever popular with the late-night eaters) and humble offerings of porridge. We sat ourselves at the ‘Tai Chow’ corner and tucked-in a big plate of ‘yee mee’ cooked in Hokkien style. This stall was not a stall in particular, but its actually a restaurant that had extended its cooking area onto the streets, I guess to appeal to the ‘Tai Chow’ eating masses that ‘Tai Chow’ should always be cooked out-doors and not in-doors!!!

After that satisfactory late dinner we headed back home to Subang and I had my rest for the next day…

Day 2: Thursday

The next morning I woke-up feeling very puckish for hot mouthfuls of ‘Dim Sum’. SL was around to accompany me to satisfy my body-burning desire for buns of the pork variety, so I suggested we go to a restaurant that had recently expanded its reputation for not only providing good and fresh baskets of ‘Dim Sum’, but also dishes of Chinese delicacy that is not only tasty but plush with variety. The place was ‘Reunion’ at ‘Bangsar Shopping Village 2’, and when we arrived, it was packed and we were placed on a waiting list. No matter, a man that looked like the Captain of the restaurant wrote my name and hand-phone number down and politely asked us to walk around the mall while waiting for their call when seats become available. It was a good idea at that time, so we walked. And walked. And walked until my stomach was rumbling. We went back to the restaurant and asked if there are any seats available but they gave a shrug of disapproval. However, I did notice that big crowds were going into the restaurant quite regularly but a table for 2 persons for me was not yet available. And why was that? Is business for 2 persons not profitable enough for this restaurant? I do not know, so we walked off and gave up on this place. So remember guys and gals out there, they do not serve groups of 2 and below as I guess it is not profitable enough for them, so don’t waste your time there as they are hungry, money-minded parasites gunning for nothing but your $$$$!!!!

Anyway, we headed downstairs and decided on another place to eat and ended up in ‘Marmalade Café’. I’ve heard a few good things about this place so we decided to have a try. Ambiance-wise there wasn’t much to shout about but I have to say that the place was bright with adequate sunlight coming into the café so it gave the patrons a sunny spark to eat and chat enthusiastically.

So this was what I ordered:

Spaghetti Cabonara: Not so good, I’ve tasted much better. Not creamy enough!!!

Spaghetti Funghi: This is much better as the taste of garlic and mushrooms was nicely blended, not too heavy and not too light. The best dish of the afternoon!!!

Salmon Frittata & Chocolate Oreo Mint Shake: The drink was very nice (how can you go wrong with Oreo’s?) but the Salmon Frittata however was disappointing. It was not salty enough and the salmon was just too hard to find!!!

The bill came out to be around RM70 for those few dishes so this place can be quite expensive!!! I mean, I don’t really mind the price as long as it is worth my money. So, as a warning, do not simply order and check prices first before messing with the waiters as not only are the dishes kinda expensive but not all dishes tastes good. As a better and safer bet, go to ‘DELIcious’ just downstairs of ‘Bangsar Shopping Village 2’. Prices are about the same but MUCH tastier, and most of the time you cannot go wrong with the dishes you order (which means most the dishes tastes good lah).

P.S. I didn’t go to ‘DELIcious’ this time because I was saving it for Saturday at Marc Residence, KL. It will be in next post soon!!!

With my stomach filled up, we walked around the mall and bumped into a ‘FJ Benjamin’ clearance sale inside the mall. If you don’t know what ‘FJ Benjamin’ is, they are a fashion apparel supplier of top brands such as Guess, GAP, Raoul, La Senza, Banana Republic, watches from brands such as Nike, Victorinox, Nautica, Bell & Ross and many more.

This sale was by invitation only or if you have a HSBC credit card, you are allowed to enter. Luckily, me being a guy filled with debt and have to rely on credit cards to survive (haha), I whipped out my HSBC credit card and was politely whisked into the sale. The place was packed to the brim with people, but fortunately the air-con was powerful enough so shopping was a breeze. I saw a GAP khakis that I really liked, the color was greenish-greyish and the cutting was semi-baggy and was not too straight. Perfect. But the price: RM 250. CRAP. Isn’t this supposed to be clearance SALE??!! I was really tempted but decided not to buy it as I am saving to buy a new handphone soon ;) I saw so many nice stuff there, simple good quality ‘Guess’ T-shirts was selling at RM 40 and ‘Guess’ jeans was going for RM 100. The design and style may not be the most current but for casual branded wear, I think all this stuff are a steal!!! But I didn’t buy anything haha.

However SL went berserk on the buying and bought 3 ‘Raoul’ shirts, 2 ‘Guess’ T-shirts and nearly bought a ‘GAP’ bag. Total bill for the spurge: RM500. Omigod, I can eat so much with RM500!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AAGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily I didn’t pay for the bill so I’m safe kekeke….

We spent almost 3 hours inside there, looking and testing out garment after garment of apparels. After our shopping was done, we were dead tired and wanted to go somewhere to drink and chill. ‘Coffee Bean’ was packed so we left the mall and crossed the road to ‘Mango Mania’. We were chit-chatting about the things I’ve missed since I was away from KL and suddenly another group of people that had done their shopping at the same clearance sale sat beside us. They noticed we had bought something there as well and politely asked us what we bought. Wow, I didn’t know people can start a conversation with strangers just by asking on what we bought at the same place!!! They looked like friendly people so we compared stuff and chatted on when and where will be the next clearance sale. At the moment, with all the shopping and chitchatting about clothes and sales, I truly felt like a 40-year-old auntie. God, what’s happening to me??!!

On the next post (Day 3 & 4), shopping and eating at a pasar malam & dining at DELIcious @ Marc Residence, KL. See you then!!!

Back with Prezzies...

|
Before heading back to KL for the weekend, there was a bombardment of calls asking me to buy this and that (ciggies and alcohol tops the list). I got calls from people I know, and calls from people I still have no slightest clue who they were. Someone even called me ‘Rashid’ and asked for a carton of ‘Marlboro Lights.’ What, I’m now the ‘Labuan Pimp’ or something?! Anyway, went shopping to get those stuff you guys requested (see how good a guy I am? Bank money into my account NOW). Here’s what I got:

So many chocolates for SL: Want 'Cadbury's' Turkish Delight flavour? Or Peppermint flavour? How about Black Forrest? So many to choose, all for you ~~~ Only RM8.50 each, KL is selling for RM16.50 I think...

More chocolates for SL's sister, MM: Rich Strawberry chocolates and choco bombs from popular Japanese choco & shacks maker, 'Meiji'. Only RM7.50 each!!!

Japanese plum drink for QT: Sweet and sourish taste, but VERY nice to drink!!! Must try, must try ~~~ but its RM4 per can. But I think it's worth it!!!

Taiwanese (I think) beer for Dav.Q: Dunno nice anot ah, you said you wanted something unique, so I got this. Don't kill me if not nice ah !!

And of course, something for my mum and dad: 'DOM Benedictine Liquor'. It's medicine but it has 40% alcohol. Hmmmmm, now i know why it's so 'good'....

I think thats all I can bring over back to KL, I think anymore I'll be shot by customs officers. So, Jaq, Greg, BT, TK, Pique and the rest, but worry your 'Chivas' bottles are safe with me...for now.

The 2nd Coming...Back to KL That Is....

|
It’s the time of the month again (no, not those girly periods) but it’s time to head back to KL again!!!! 1st of May is Labor Day and it falls on a Thursday, so why not take leave on Friday and also Monday to get a super long weekend? The plan makes perfect sense to me and hence, air plane tickets are booked, annual leave are booked, and ¾ of my brain are already in KL thinking of what to do (and eat) already. Only few days to go, so see you guys in KL!!!

Arrival: 30th April, midnight.
Departure: 5th May, 6:00pm.

JCo donuts here I come againnnnnn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Videos & Photos of KL Freeze in Unison @ Pavillion, KL

|
I’ve done something that I regret terribly. I should have been there, but I couldn’t. I would if I could. How can I be so useless? I’m so sorry. On Sunday, the 13th of April, it happened. It happened and I wasn’t there. It became one of the biggest regrets of my life…I didn’t make it to the ‘KL Freeze in Unison Gathering’ @ KL.

If you don’t know what this is, it’s basically “where human beings get together to do something in unison, without speeches or reference to their age, color, sex, beliefs and background.” In this case, we just freeze and stop moving for a certain time, in a public place and humiliate ourselves silly by being public art pieces for normal people to ‘admire’.

Jason, KT, Josh, Katie and BT were really into this bizarre idea and were dragging me into it. We heard of this freeze thing looooong time ago and really wanted to do it in KL (I know Josh did it in Singapore). I myself was going ape-crazy with this too, I even followed the whole thing on ‘Facebook’, where the whole ‘event’ started. From a simple invitation to join and to the actual revealing of the gathering date and place, I followed it all over ‘Facebook’. But sadly, as some of you would know, I’m still in Labuan (crap!!!) and couldn’t make it.


I heard the freeze location was at the entrance of ‘Pavillion’. Sorry guys for not being there. I wish I was there, really!!! Hope to get your pictures and reports on it soon!!! In the meantime, I share with you videos of what unfolded that day, thanks to ‘the Zestful One’:


















So cool so cool. For pictures, click onto randomalphabets' website.

Anyone else out there froze their butts in this event?! Lemme know, I would love to know you and to get more info on this amazing (if not daring for Malaysians) experience!!!

Jom Ketam !!!

|
Back to my memoirs of Labuan life, yesterday I and a few of my SLB buddies decided to go out for dinner, and one of them suggested KFC. Good God in Heaven, WHY??!! I mean, considering we had a car and all, why not go somewhere far from our usual hotspots (i.e. Financial Park & town area). I suggested seafood (naturally) and lo & behold (I’ve been that a lot lately. I wonder why. “Lo & behold, it’s 5pm and time to go home. Lo & behold, I found that piece of sock that went missing since last century. Lo & behold, it’s time to shit. Etc, etc, etc. I’m just simply using for the sake of using it. Genius at work, obviously), anyway, a local buddy had a light bulb moment and we ended up in ‘Anjung Ketam’.

So where is this ‘Anjung Ketam’ restaurant you ask? I don’t have the slightest clue, mate. I asked the driver on the location, and all I got was some vague directions and heard ‘Tanjung Aru’ somewhere in between his sentences. Ring any bells? Not mine, nope. But I noticed its kinda near to the airport, so there you go, go crazy searching for this place, just don’t end up on the airway strip.

Upon arrival, the place just hits me with a sense of nostalgia. It’s similar to restaurants in Port Klang, where the eatery is on a wooden platform extended onto the sea, so the view as you guessed it, is mesmerizing. If you are lucky and arrive early, you will catch views of fishermen mending their nets and glimpses of their catches for the day, catches that would probably end up on your dining table if you are eating there. Hence, freshness is guaranteed.

Looking around the place and I noticed that this place is packed to the brim with customers. A chat with my local buddy and he mentioned that this place is so popular, it requires customers to place table bookings at least a few hours in advance, otherwise be prepared to wait for long periods. That being done will not even guarantee you getting a table; you will need to book ONE DAY in advance to be on the safe side!!! Blimey, it’s like Christmas Eve in KL everyday for this place.

I noticed the place is packed with locals (coz they speak with a certain dialect) and lots of ‘semenanjung’ people (coz they just can’t stop talking about comparisons between Labuan seafood and Semenanjung seafood), and also a few foreigners that successfully found their way to this place.

My local buddy, being the ‘happening’ and well-connected guys that he is, managed to convince them to give us a table and we ordered steamed crabs, curry crabs, ‘ikan bakar’, steam fish, and a few local fish dishes that I can’t remember the name. 30 minutes pass and lo & behold (here it is again) the food arrived and it looked…...ordinary. Hahahah. Maybe my expectations were WAY high considering that you need to book tables to eat here and all walks of life come here to eat y’know. No matter, good food ain’t about the looks right? I stuffed my mouth with my first bite of the curry crab and OMIGOD…it tasted…ordinary hahahah. Seriously ordinary. In fact, everything tasted ordinary except for the steamed crab, although plain, but it tasted yummy as any freshest crab would taste. But besides this, everything else was normal tasting dishes that you can get anywhere in KL really…

Later the local guy told me that why the steam crab tasted so good and the curry crab doesn’t is because they used crabs caught from the sea for the steam crab dish. As for the curry crab or any crab dishes that requires lots of cooking, they use crabs caught from land, swamps, lakes or whatever. And I told the local guy that as long as it’s not from some ‘lokang’ with a river of piss running though it, then it’s fine by me!!!

Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to snap many photos, coz for one I didn’t bring my digital camera and two, I will look silly taking photos of food while eating coz remember, people from this part of the world aren’t used to blogging yet. But I really felt like needing just one shot of the food, just one. So, I sneakily pretended I was texting someone with my handphone and ‘curi-curi’ captured one photo:

Normal leh? Sadly, it is…

Spent the night chit-chatting and one of the SLB guys within our group who is also from KL agreed to what I said about the crabs being ‘so-so’, “the taste biasa sajalah, tapi bezanya ia memang fresh saja” (the taste is normal only, just the difference is that its really fresh). So there you have it, folks. Although this is just one of the many seafood outlets in Labuan, I’m sure there are other places that are better than this….perhaps?

Until next time.

Only in Scotland...

|
I heard this from a friend in Britain and he swears that this is true...It was even shown on TV during those talk shows over there. I dun have the video but this is what happened:

Bono, lead singer of the rock band ‘U2’, is famous throughout the entertainment industry for being more than just a little self-righteous.

At a recent ‘U2’ concert in Glasgow, Scotland, he asked the audience for total silence.

Then, in the silence, he started to slowly clap his hands, once every few seconds. Holding the audience in total silence, he said into the microphone:

“Every time I clap my hands, a child in Africa dies.”

From the front of the crowd a voice with a broad Scottish accent shouted and pierced the silence:

“Well f**king stop doin’ it then, ya evil bastard!!!”

Only in Scotland…

Darth Vader's Comeback Vid After Retirement

|
I'm in a movie-ism mood this week, and as I was surfing the terrains of digital fun at youtube, I bumped into this video which I found to be absolutely hilarious: no, it's not another baby dropping moment from Britney 'Blondey' Spears, but IT'S THE STAR WARS GANGSTA RAP video!!! WOooordddd up my Vader BRotHEr from AnotHEr MoTher (and planet)!!! :




May the BIATCH be with you!!!!!!!!!!!

Iron Man in Full Flight !!!

|
A new movie clip of the upcoming ‘Iron Man’ movie starring Robert Downey Jr. had surfaced and OMG, I think this movie is gonna kick-ass. It shows Tony Stark aka 'Iron Man' testing out his new iron suit in full aerial flight. BUT, as usual with Hollywood these days, whenever movies initially seem to be cool, it screws as up big-time with the actual movie and leaves us with a pile of shit in front of our faces for us to ponder (i.e. ‘Cloverfield’). Check it out anyway:




Here are some happy snappy snaps from the actual movie. Sure looks pretty, hope the final product rocks….

'Transformers 2' Movie Details!!!!

|
Somebody asked me why there ain’t no more movie updates or stuff like that. Well, stress levels are dramatically rising, and my seat at ‘Schlumberger’ is getting hot. Really hot. Close to boiling point actually. As such, I didn’t had the chance to update my blog as much as I like to. But no matter, whenever I get the chance, this blog will surely be updated.

And that chance is now. No, not another ‘what-I-have-done-in KL’ post, but an actual movie post (this is for you, Nik, JoL & SC). And it’s not just another movie, it’s a movie with big bad freakin’ robots and it’s none other that Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers’. The sequel, in fact. Yes, ‘Transformers 2’ is already penned and soon to be in production. Although yet to be finalized, audiences will expect to see something more massive than what they have seen in the first movie, something huge, something freakin’ big is coming to town!!! :

Actual movie studio rendition of possible look for ‘Devastator’.


‘Devastator’ will be on the big screen!!! If you don’t know anything about the ‘Transformers’ universe (shame, shame on you!! Slap yourself silly 100 times!!!) it’s a giant robot merged together from other robots called ‘Constructicons’, as in the cartoons namely ‘Scrapper’, ‘Bonecrusher’, ‘Scavenger’, ‘Mixmaster’, ‘Hook’ and ‘Long Haul’.

It will be interesting however to see what Michael Bay and his bombastic gang of explosion experts will be calling these new robots, as they had screwed-up the correct name of 'Brawl' instead of 'Devastator' (‘Devastator' is by right supposed to be the robot in the above picture, not a tank as in the movie). Will Michael Bay gets his facts checked and straight in time for round 2 of more metal bashing goodness? Only he knows.

No ‘Dinobots’ are in the sequels, however it is rumored that a robot transformed from an aircraft carrier will be in the movie too. My memory is not as good as it used to (although it was never good in the first place), but I don’t remember an aircraft carrier robot in the cartoons. Maybe it’s a creation from the comic book universe, and Bay wanted it to be merged with the sequel? Anyone knows if there’s an aircraft carrier robot to be found in the ‘Transformers’ comic or toy universe??!!

Besides the newcomers, the regulars of ‘Optimus Prime’, ‘Starscream’ and ‘Bumblebee’ (YES!!!) will be back, and of course, Megan 'Foxy' Fox will act as nice fillers in between the robot action. New human characters that will appear are such as:


CHUCK - Sam's roommate at Princeton that runs a conspiracy theory website. A funny guy that is shocked to see his conspiracy theories come to life.

PROFESSOR COLAN - Sam's physics professor at Princeton. An arrogant intellectual who compares himself to Einstein and also wears leather pants to school to look cool. Only in Michael Bay movies, folks.

MOMMA SIMMONS – Momma to the first movie’s Simmons character, she's a tough and sarcastic momma that runs a deli/butcher shop with her son in Brooklyn in this sequel.

Mr. GALLOWAY - National Security Advisor and presidential liaison.

Ms. THERESA - Sgt. Epps' (from 1st movie) wife, a comedic character that is sassy, sexy and classy. She also has 4 kids. Bummer.

MASSIVE DYNAMICS CEO - Corporate CEO appears in front of congress to testify (for something that is still not yet clear).

TEXAS CONGRESSMAN - Investigating the purpose of the "Automated Defensive Initiative" developed by Massive Dynamics, acting on behalf of the Congressional Committee.

FBI DIRECTOR – Filler character that is to give a press release to assure the public they are in safe hands against the robot attacks.

CNN REPORTER - Reporting on incidents related to the robots, i.e. missile strikes and bombings in various cities.

U.S. MILITARY LEADER – A tough military character with a great sense of humor.

UK SPECIAL FORCES LEADER – Just simply a kick-ass cool character.


In fact, I actually had a copy of a draft story for ‘Transformer 2’. Yup, the entire ‘Transformers 2’ story is in my hard drive. I took a peak at it, and good God it felt like its a fanboy’s first wetdream.

I just hope Michael Bay pulls it off again in ‘Transformers 2’. I practically fell in love with the first one, although it’s not perfect, but it sure was close (I watched it 8 times in the cinema & 9 times on DVD, and I’m not done yet).

But with America facing so much attacks and since they have ‘Autobots’ protecting them 24/7, I went around town to see whether Malaysia have it’s own ‘Autobots’ to protect our beloved tanah darahku. I know they are out there…you need more than what meets the eye to spot them, a secret fanboy’s autobotic sixth sense…and lo and behold I actually found one!!!! BEHOLD:

Autobot ‘Saga perWira Gen negative 2’. Look!! It even has a black speaker box as its voice to confront the deadly bad ‘Decepticons’: “Mana I.C??? Tunjok I.C!!! RM50? Ok, Jalan.”

I feel so safe already. To sign off, here's some a retro moment for all fanboys out there: the cartoon theme song!!! WoOooOOO-HoOooOoOo !!! Until next time !!!


Adventures of a KL Boy from Labuan Back in KL!!! (Yes It's A Mouthful But So Was My Visit!!)

|
The moment my plane from Labuan touched down for my KL weekend break, the days whizzed by like a bullet on hypersonic speed. From Thursday to Monday of 20th March onwards, it was a re-introduction to a life that was once droningly taken for granted. Now, it is confined to a corner of my existence as a luxury only once a month or so I take great pleasure in. Oh well. C’est la vie. So how was my return to a life more ordinary, as a city boy, as a mama’s boy (yes, I have to admit it. I love her cooking. Sue me already) and as a boy not yet willing to leave the city life just yet? To sum it up, all I can say is that it was a tremendous success story of how to meet as many people as I know in 5 days, and eat at as many places as my stomach can entertain in that same 5 days time. Here we go, city life rekindled!!!

Day 1 - Thursday

The first day began by spending lunch with my family. Went to our favorite joint for chicken rice in Subang called ‘Restaurant Kar Heong’ and the chicken rice here is the closest to Ipoh’s chicken rice that I have ever tasted. Honestly. Not even the famous Pudu ‘Fei Por Chicken Rice’ is as good as this. The sauce is just nice, not too salty and packs a wallop of taste. Heavenly when consumed with the rice I tell you. And the ‘taugeh’ is ever so succulent with juicy aromas exploding in your mouth upon every bite. Heavenly for all chicken rice lovers out there.

Next, I boarded my faithful Proton Wira that I had left behind for over a month and headed for KL city to meet up with SL. My immediate feeling of driving again? HOLY *&%$@&!!! Do the drivers here have a death wish or do they actually drive like this every freakin’ day??!! I was trying my best to avoid daredevils that think that if they flick on the left/right signal lights, they are immediately granted anti-collison superpowers by the heavens (or hell) and they zoom from the 3rd lane to the 1st lane in God-like gusto. Wow, so this is how the foreigners perceive us Malaysian drivers. Great. Malaysia certainly boleh!!!

Me and SL headed for 'Pavilion', and the grandeur and spaciousness of the mall hits me like a ton of bricks, the swoosh of the cool air-con sparked that ‘feel’ in me that made me sense I was in a city again, just by merely stepping into 'Pavilion'. Gosh, I didn’t know I miss KL that much. Energized, we walked around the mall and seeing all those flashy nice shops, I just had buy something (don’t forget I’m a ‘controlled shopoholic’, i.e. even when I want to control my shopping, I will eventually buy something, although the items I buy is not that expensive anymore. See the benefits of control? No? Doesn't make any damn sense? EXACTLY). Went to a few shops and eventually bought stuff at ‘Quiksilver’ that had a sale. I bought a ‘T’ and shorts, check it out:

Don’t ask me ‘bout the price, coz it’s cheap. Really. I swear it was cheap!!

After my sinful shopping, we went to the cinema to watch ‘10,000 B.C.’, again, not that I like that movie, I went to the movies to just feel the comfy lush cushiony seats haha. Anyway, after that we headed for dinner, and lo and behold it was our favorite peri-fically spicy up-market chicken rice shop, ‘Nando’s’ (it’s a chicken rice shop ‘cause we usually have ‘Nando’s’ with rice haha).

Not content with what we had so far, we walked out of 'Pavilion' and headed into the streets of 'Bukit Bintang' and immersed ourselves with the choking dusty air and filthy smells of up-market back alleyways. AAAaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, KL. Soaked with the aura of the KL heat, we dropped by ‘Lecka-Lecka’ for some ice-cream (RM10 for 3 scoops, it’s a steal!!) and chit-chatted, babbling about the times that I missed when I was away (i.e. the Election: “I go away for 1 month and this happens??!! I go away for another month and Tony Fernendes will be PM by then!!!” Hahaha) and of course reminiscing the times gone by when I was still in KL…

Day 2 - Friday

Woke up to the comfy delights of my real room, lazed around the room just for the sake of it, and got myself ready for my morning doses of sensation that so regularly welcomes me during my usual KL weekends: a warm shot of ‘Hazelnut Ipoh White Coffee’ at my regular ‘Old Town Kopitiam’ joint in Taipan, with a copy of the morning’s newspaper in hand. Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh, one sip of the coffee and you can immediately hear the birds chirping, the winds blowing and car horn’s blaring because of double-parked cars. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh, Taipan….

Contented with my coffee wake-up call, I went back home and had lunch with my family for the second day running (I mean, give chance lah to them rite, once a month I only come back worr), and headed for ‘Restaurant Kar Heong’ again (I just can’t get enough of that place), this time had the ‘Hor Fun’ noodles.

Called a few friends just to gently remind them that I am back in KL and waiting for them to spend me some grand lavish dinners, the only person free on a working day Friday was SL, and so we headed for ‘Mid-Valley’ to take advantage of the jam-free parking. SL wanted to get a washing machine while I wanted to get a mini hi-fi set for Labuan. But my plans mutated from a mere mini hi-fi set to a LCD TV and then to an entire Home Theatre System. By then I realized my plans would need a whole 747 airplane to charter the stuff over, so I abandoned the entire plan (remember ‘Controlled Shopoholic’?) Sigh.

Walked around and noticed that this new Chinese movie called ‘An Empress and the Warriors’ were showing, and it had a 50-year old Mr. Leon Lai playing a lead role. Remember him? He used to be this super-mega-ultra idol for Chinese music lovers back in the 90’s, and if you have seen his recent photos, he had hardly aged abit!!! Is it the powers of the ‘Fountain of Youth’ at play or the simple magic of ‘Nip & Tuck’? You decide. After watching the movie, i find that the film was not bad actually, nicely directed movie with good pacing that wouldn’t make the viewer feel bored and with decent performances from the actors to boot. Way to go Mr. Leon Lai!!!

Well, you know how much I LOVE Japanese food, and ‘The Gardens’ offers plenty of options for this delectable cuisine. There’s ‘Yo! Sushi’ (the 'Sushi King' rip-off), ‘Sushi Zen’ (good for quick and easy set meals) &‘Yuzu’ (nice and trendy up-market place). But my current favorite is most certainly ‘Sushi ZanMai’, located on the upper floors of ‘The Gardens’. I remember when it was newly opened and I visited the place, it was empty and had more waiters than customers. Now, it is packed to the brim and I even had to queue for the waiting list!!! So you can imagine that the good word had spread, and the word is that it is now in 'Sunway Pyramid' & even in '1 Utama', so prepare yourself for the 'ZanMai' invasion people!!!
The stuff I stuffed into my face:

I LOVE salmon. This is the ‘Salmon ZanMai’ set which consisted of salmon sushi (duh), salmon belly (absolutely delicious), broiled salmon (tastes the same to me as any regular salmon), smoked salmon (too smokey) and salmon roll (makes me rock n’ rollin’).

Soft shell crab Maki. HEAVENLY!!!

Soft shell crab Maki (2nd order haha!!) and Ebikko.

Soba Noodles in beef broth.

As for the dessert: ‘Yukimi Daifuku Vanilla Ice-Cream’, its vanilla ice-cream wrapped in rice skin ;)

It was the best dinner I had in months and it felt like I was in Japanese heaven for a whole few hours at least. And the best part of that is, SL spent on the dinner!!! WoooHOOoo!!! And I swear I saw ‘Takeshi Kaneshiro’ somewhere at the mall too. Or probably it was the food. Maybe it was just the food….

Day 3 - Saturday

Woke to my regular drug called coffee and had lunch with family and SL, consuming unimaginable amounts of ‘Yong Tau Foo’. We went to ‘Homeland Yong Tau Foo’ in Taipan, which is not even near to the best-ness of Ampang ‘yong tau foo’, but I guess it will have to do since it is so near my home.

It’s Saturday and it’s time to meet and then get my grand lavish dinner like they promised me. I duly called-up an ex-colleague and decided to meet up at ‘The Curve’ later that day. But before that, I went to ‘Ikea’ to get some nice-looking lamps for my dully-lit room at Labuan. I choose 2 square-glass lamps and 1 reading lamp that gave out yellow light instead of the fluorescent white light that I currently have in my Labuan room. I like yellow light to white light, I guess because it is more calming, moody and more romantic haha. Room + Romantic lights = …..a good night’s sleep of course, what you thinking?!

Had dinner with my colleague SC at the 'Cineleisure’s ‘Ah Cheng’s Laksa’, and had the not-so-good 'Fried Chicken Nasi Lemak''. As usual, we have a lot to talk about, from serious things to complete utter nonsense, but we still talked until the shop wanted to close haha. But we still did not want to go back so early yet, so we headed to The Curve’s ‘The Apartment’ to enjoy its cozy surroundings for a comfortable chat. During that time, we ordered a ‘Strawberry Parfait’, but the strawberries were abit too sour and it kinda spoiled the moment. But honestly speaking, is there anything good at ‘The Apartment’ anyways? This place is seriously a sad case of looks-with-no-substance. But the décor sure is welcoming tho….

Day 4 – Sunday

Woke up to a new morning and of course, had my ‘hazelnut white coffee’ and this time around it was at ‘Old Taste Kopitiam’. Let me tell you that this kopitiam is a complete rip-off from ‘Old Town Kopitiam’, as the décor, concept and the main offerings are all the same. I think ‘Old Taste’ has a bit more variety in its menu, but an apple is an apple, you can’t get orange juice from it. And that’s my Forrest Gump moment for you folks!

Anyway, today is the day that my old ‘Akurian’ ex-classmates arranged a gathering at ‘Subang Parade’, and it was supposed to be at 3PM. I arrived there at 3PM, and surprise surprise, found no ex-classmates of mine there. No matter, ‘Malaysian Timing’ in full affect, I though to myself. Walked around the mall with SL and found that this place really did improve its image. I remember I used to visit ‘Parade’ so often when I was in secondary school. And since ‘1U’, ‘Mid-Valley’ & ‘Sunway Pyramid’ opened, ‘Parade’ did not exist in my vocabulary anymore hahaha. 4PM. Still no sign of anyone. I thought, “wow, did ‘Malaysian Timing’ revised its timing to 2 hours late since I was gone?” Sigh, distraught and hungry, me and SL sought refuge at ‘Parade’s trusty ol’ 'McDonalds'. As Labuan had no McD’s, the french fries was yummy to the last speck of salt and pepper. 4:30PM and finally, one sign of life: Ah Nei emerged first and joined me and SL for a chat. 5PM, Maj emerged from her disappearance act of “mall-lific” proportions as apparently she had already arrived since “3PM”, but decided to do a David Copperfield and went ‘pufff’ into thin air. More was to join us, but all of them were late due to personal reasons so we adjourned to ‘Dome’ instead for some good old up-market coffee, potato wedges and talking-cock conversations…

And then suddenly, out of nowhere, Ah Nei wanted a blowjob. And she was female. I immediately thought to myself, “WOW, 1 month away and females now openly wants blowjobs. 1 month later and there will be blowjob kiosks at 'Shell' stations nationwide!!!” But sadly, she didn’t literally mean a blowjob, she wanted a blow-ER. Ok, technically this still sounds like she is majorly horny for a blowjob but just wait: she wanted to buy a wind blower machine thingy to clean leaves or whatever from walls and stuff. A-HA!!! So we helped Ah Nei to finish her getting a blower job in ‘Carrefour’. By the time we finished, the contacted the other people that did not show up and eventually planned to have dinner instead at a nearby place called ‘Asia Café’.

But before departing ‘Parade’, me and Ah Nei (did not blow each other) but waited at the long queues for some ‘Big Apple Donuts’. Yup, one whole dozen of them. I know they may not the as good as ‘JCo Donuts’ but when you are in Labuan, any resemblance to a donut is a good donut….

Arrived at ‘Asia Café’ and the people like Theva, Theva’s girl, and Thiru trickled into our table (even a very stubborn cat joined us) and chit-chatted until kinda late. Late, in fact, to the point where Super-Duper-Sunday of football was to start. Manchester United Vs. Liverpool was live on the screens, and a mass horde of football fans raided every seat in the house. Luckily we came early and a LCD screen was right in front of me (well, more like 4 o’clock to my right side haha). Watched the majority of the match there, but my friends were about to adjourn for the day because of work the next day. We departed in up-lifting terms as separated into the night’s closure for the weekend.

Back home, SL packed (stayed for 2 nights) and headed back home while I continued to watch the Super-Duper-Sunday that is still live on the telly. I was supposed to join V outside for the remainder of the match, but the skies decided to open wide that night, and the plan to meet up with V and football was abandoned. Oh well, at least Manchester United won by 3-0. WooOOOo-HoooOooOo!!!!!!

Day 5 – Monday

Monday began by receiving a call from TK. He just got back from Hong Kong, and was asking for a meet-up to catch up with things. I wanted dim-sim, but it was already 12:00pm. Are there any restaurants that offer dim-sum during noon? Haha, not wanting to take the risk, I called up V to see if she can make it for a quickie meet-up during lunchtime. Agreed, me and TK went up to ‘Mid-Valley’ and had lunch at ‘Nyonya Colors’ (or ‘Colors of Nyonya, I forgot). It is located at the newly opened connecting passage-way between ‘Mid-Valley’ and the ‘The Gardens’ (just think of where the old ‘Rotiboy’ outlet is). I had the ‘curry mee hon’ which was decent, but not spicy enough for my taste. I heard that the ‘mee siam’ is good too, as well as the various ‘kuih-muih’ on offer. If you like tastes of nyonya, this place (with another outlet in ‘1U’) is the place to be at the moment ‘cause the customers come here in droves. Oh, and the cendol is not bad too.

I didn’t get my regular morning dosage of coffee in my blood veins so we left the food place and headed for a drinks place. Nearby, there was an outlet called ‘I Love Yuuuuuu’ (I think that is how it is spelled hahah) and had the Hainan coffee which was superb. I also ordered the ‘butterfly bun’ just to get something to nibble while chatting. I tell you this bun may be expensive (I think RM1.30 for a piece) but it is sure is yummy. It reminds me of a ‘yau char guai’, but only much, much better. 'JCo donuts' has a new competitor in ‘butterfly buns’ in my book!!!!

It was almost 2PM and it was time to rush back home and pack. Yes, my flight is on the same day, 6PM, and I had not packed yet. Yup, I like my life exciting haha. But, come to think of it, what is there to pack? All my major stuff is in Labuan ;). By 3:30PM, my family fetched me to 'KLIA-LCCT' and duly checked in my luggage. However, being ‘AirAsia’ the low-cost airline, my plane to Labuan was grounded by heavy rain for half an hour or so. Probably they are just concerned that we, the customers get wet from the heavy rain… ;)

Due to the rain, the clouds in the sky came out of hiding and displayed some of the most beautiful forms I have ever seen, especially when you are experiencing them in a plane while in mid-air!!! Circular, horizontal, vertical, a mish-mash of shapes came out to play and entertained the viewer with stunning grace and design. With the help of the dusking sunlight, the clouds wore costumes of multi-colored hues so beautiful, the clouds were as though performing a recital fit for the Gods high above. Unfortunately, I was only able to capture this panorama through a handphone camera. Darn. Oh well, there will be more flights in the future, I’m sure…

Touched down at roughly 8:30PM, hailed a cab and finally reached back into my Labuan room.

Day 6 – Back in Labuan.

I’m writing this in my room on a very rainy and yet humid, Bornese night. My feelings towards returning to my humble 2nd home? Definitely not as downcast compared to my first departure from KL, but to leave my comfort zone of loved ones and friends that I have affectionately placed inside that zone throughout my lifetime is always difficult to handle. Oh well, I guess back in Labuan it is time for me to return to building a new comfort zone and welcome new members into it.

And yes, I’m not stone-cold (was I ever?), so I would like to thank all my friends for the chance to hang out with you guys all over again (the Akurians, the Mediaplexians, and especially SL), thanks a ton for your time and planning!!! I know I didn't meet up with many more of you guys (not my fault, you guys claimed to be 'busy'. HHmmmpphhh), and also didn't call you guys up (okok, this is my fault), but when I'm back in KL again, I'll plan something, for sure!!! Additional info: I wouldn’t be back for my birthday in June for obvious reasons, as ‘Operation: Diversion from Theva’s Birthday Fate’ is in full commencement in my book. And for everyone’s info, birthday celebrations more than 1 month before or after a birth date is banned. It is. Honestly. There’s a law for it. I know. I got Kepala Singh as my lawyer. Dun play play.

Until next time, friends and family!!!

From the Corner - A Musical Companion


Get a playlist! Standalone player Get Ringtones