Dinner at Marini on 57

I was invited for an evening out with colleagues from work last Friday. And it wasn't just any dinner. It was at a spot I had meant to visit for quite a while but never got around to do so. It was at a restaurant right next to Petronas Twin Towers called Marini on 57.

As you'd guessed it, it was on the 57th floor, on Petronas Tower 3, adjoining Suria KLCC.

I parked at Suria, took a lift just outside the mall. The lift took me to another lobby on the 6th from which I had to swap to an express elevator straight to the 56th, where another famous restaurant Nobu was located. Another lift swap and I was there.

We had some nibble at the bar before going across to the main restaurant when everybody arrived. The menu was already set, and we just had to choose the mains.

It had been a while since I had been into a loud lounge. But the view was worth the entrance fee. The restaurant was not too shabby either.

The company was great. Certainly it was good to sit down with colleagues talking something non-medical. We also had the chance to have a chat with our CEO as well, and he certainly had plenty to say. A good night all around.

The food? As expected, portion wise it was pretty small. Out starter was a right gimmick. It was fashioned onto a small bonsai tree, as if they were small round fruits. It was basically some fig-like citrus fruits with some parmesan. The taste exploded in your palate but the aftertaste was not very nice.

We know who to blame for the wine ...The starterThe antipastiThe desserts. I was too engrossed with the mains to take photographs.Next came the antipasti, some carpacchio which were quite nice. Then came the mains. It was a choice between mackerel or wagyu. I went with the beef, and it gave me reflux the next day. I couldn't sleep properly that evening. But the beef just melted in your mouth and the portion was pretty decent as well.

The dessert was a bomb! It was chocolate pudding, ice-cream and fruits, but they were gorgeous. I couldn't finish it though as the chocolate just made my reflux worse. Coffee soon settled everything down.

Before we left ....It was past midnight when we left. With free-flowing drinks, the night just went on very quickly. And with the nice view, we didn't even realised that it was raining outside.

Would I go there again? I wouldn't mind with Anita on special occasions. Reservations were a must from what I heard, and maybe I would order something else rather than the wagyu.

Good Night Sir

The passing of Dr Ahmad Kamal was felt at all levels at SJMC. The kindest of colleague, always jovial and knew when to press the right button. Very welcoming when I started off in Subang back in 2011.

My Facebook feed was filled with throwback photos of the smiling gentleman and even towards the end, all he thought about was coming back to work. His patients, colleagues and nurses held him in highest regard and we will continue to cherish the memories.

On a personal note, I first met Dr Kamal in 2006 when myself with Dr No Soo Chin and Dr Alan Teh attended a research course in Sabah. We went for a nice seafood dinner one evening, just the four of us. And half a decades later, we were colleagues in Subang.

His passing would also meant that I had to step up and put up the bill for the yearly Cancer Centre berbuka puasa event that he hosted with Dr Matin Mellor every year. We also felt amongst the Doctors that we should rename the Cancer Centre in Subang in his honour. After all, he helped set the unit up.

From now on, it looked like it would be only me using a fountain pen in Surgical A North Tower - at least until somebody else decided to join in. We used to talk about his own collection and his professed love for Audi. I was sure he would be sorely missed by his wonderful family.

Alfatihah.

Bloated

I had a nice time during dinner last night. I had some steak that was cured with vinegar which I could taste during eating. I ended up with reflux and had trouble sleeping they whole night.

I woke up this morning with terrible bloated feeling and hardly had anything to eat since the morning.

The worse thing was I was on call today. Luckily I had been free all afternoon and after a nap at home, I felt much better. So, now I had to see what I could stomach. Anita wanted to make some light spaghetti. Maybe that would settle things down.

I'll do just that while enjoying the tennis final on TV. Looked like Serena was winning. Again.

Breakfast at the Terraces

With the nice weather, we were treated with breakfast out in the open during our stay. Although it was a bit on the chilly side, the warm meal soon thaw us up. It was nice actually, with the birds chirping and all.

The only problem was the boys refused to come down for breakfast, electing instead to stay in bed. So, Anita and I had to take turns to come down for our meals.

The room included full English breakfast, with choices of eggs, plus bacon and sausages. Great way to start the day. Sorry, no nasi lemak ....

Truckin while Waitin

It would become a routine from now on. Idlan will attending tuition in Melawati every Tuesday evening. Anita would stay in Gombak after school and should I have time, I would be joining her in Melawati while waiting for Idlan to finish his class.

While waiting, there were a few food trucks near the tuition venue. We decided to sample some pasta and were pleasantly surprised. My carbonara was superbly done and I must say that in was impressed. The only problem were the variety. There were three trucks parked there and all three seemed to have almost identical menu. Mainly Italian and Mediterranean.

I was pretty sure I've seen this before

Luckily there were a few more traditional restaurants around there. So, should we became sick of those cheesy offering, there would always be tomyam.

I must say I recognised the truck from the recent Foodgasm Fest we attended back in November. We didn't get to sample the food then since they ran out of food. Now we knew why the food ran out. They were rather good.

Looking forward to next week...