Happy Deepavali

Unfortunately somebody had to be on call, and per the last few years, it had been me. But to be perfectly honest, I don't really mind. As long as somebody can cover my Raya breaks, I would be more than happy.

Deepavali this year fell on a Tuesday. Most of my Indian staffs were still working on Monday, with only Tuesday being off. The day after the call - Wednesday - would be slightly awkward since I had to rush across to Parkcity for the morning clinic before coming back for the afternoon one at Subang. I imagined I would be flat out by Wednesday evening. My children on the other hand had been enjoying a four-day weekend as school was closed today - Monday.

At Sunway PyramidAt Bangsar VillageAs for tonight, I had the chance to take Anita and the boys to Great Eastern Mall for a spot of dinner. The place appeared rather subdued, with very minimal ceremonial decorations. We headed back after the apartment shortly after I could do with an early night ....

To all my friends and colleagues, Happy Deepavali!

Some Revamping

It had been a while since I last tinker with the blog. To be quite honest, I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of it. Most of the time, things ran fine - as promised by Squarespace when I singed up 6 years ago.

I could do with a bit of customising but since the platform was upgraded to version 7 - mine is still at version 5 - some of the visual upgrade had been long time coming. I thought about having a third party doing a bit of sprucing up on the blog but in the end, couldn't even get to that!

So, while looking around, I felt that the indexing system of the blog could do with a bit of manual editing. So, I decided to look back at all of the entry - at my own pace obviously - and index them myself. Some may need deleting since the photos were missing etc, some would need updating of the photos, but most of them looked good to go. I only managed to go back to late 2014 so far. Still 5 more years worth of entries needing looking into. That should keep me busy for the coming few weeks ....

Happy Sunday

I just can't help it. I woke up early after sleeping in front of the TV last night. The intention was to watch the ManYoo- West Brom game, but I guessed the lull of the pillow was too strong! I ended up being woken up by Anita after the game finished. 2 nil to United she said before I stumbled back to sleep in the bedroom.

So, I woke up just after Subuh this morning, at around the usual time I woke up during work days. ANd I just couldn't get back to sleep. I ended watching YouTube reviews and was quite interested in the latest offering from BlackBerry. The Android-powered Priv. It retained both the physical and the excellent software keyboards from the Z series. If the tide is ride, it could be a winner! It's not yet available in Malaysia. Maybe when it was released, I'd have a look.

It was still too early to get to the hospital for the morning rounds. But maybe I just have a shower and see what was for breakfast .... Good Sunday all!

Wayang Kulit at Bangsar Village

It was Halloween. Saturday it was and I spent the afternoon with Anita looking for some snacks in the afternoon. I was on call a couple of days earlier and I thought that it was a good way to unwind. There were plenty of kids and their parents roaming around Bangsar VIllage, looking for chocolates. Our boys were just not into that, they would rather stay at home.

"Hulubalang Empayar"While Anita was doing some groceries, something caught my eyes. There was a small exhibition going on, and I thought what was on show was somewhat different. It was "wayang kulit" or shadow dance, but with a twist! It was about Star Wars rather than your typical old legend like what was usually told by those puppets.

It was a great initiative and it would run for another week. The one which caught my eyes were on Princess Leia and the Stormtroopers. Not much of a narrative I was afraid. Maybe there would be a session when they would do all that. But I still thought it was well worth a visit.

Obi Wan vs Vader"Tuan Puteri Leia"

Venue? Ground Floor Bangsar Village. But it would not last for too long though ....

Foodgasm Fest 2015

The weather proved to be both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, the rain washed away what was left of the haze which had been blighted us lately. The sun was shining and the sunblock were off the cupboard for the first time in weeks - not for me of course! It was a feel good weather. Even a small ray of sunshine could lift the mood, coupled with it the promise of garden party with food galore in the middle of town, it seemed perfect! It sounded so good that it seemed like the whole of KL congregated at Dataran Petaling Jaya, opposite AmCorp Mall last Sunday for Foodgasm Fest 2015.

And with that, came the traffic horror story of almost epic proportion. With the traffic warden turning up well past their due in time to issue summons. It was gridlocked, but more on that later.

The rain also proved to be the architect for trouble at this festival. The grass field was filled with mud and one couldn't avoid them since the queue was so long and the terraces of food stalls sat right in the middle of the quagmire! It was slowly turning into a mudfest.

Back to the traffic! We should have turned back the moment we saw the line of cars stretching a couple of kilometers along the Federal Highway leading into Jalan Timur. We persevered and was rewarded with a one hour crawl. And even then we didn't manage to get a parking spot. People were parking their cars at their fancy and before long the whole of Jalan Timur turned into one giant parking lot! And there were no traffic warden in sight.

Anita and I decided to escape via Jalan Gasing, back towards our apartment and took the LRT for a couple of stops landing right next to Dataran PJ.

Looking at the length of the queue, we decided to have a quick bite at the A&W restaurant nearby. No such joy. The queue there stretched right out of the joint. We soldiered on onto the field. The wait for each stall was at least 30 minutes and some of them had run out of items and having problem replenishing them as their supply car were caught in the jam!

We circled around and the only place without a queue were the vape tents. They were the craze at the moment! There were mud everywhere and Anita scrapped the idea of opening her picnic mat. Journey ended!

Back to the LRT station, onto the car and onwards to the nearest restaurant for lunch. It was past 2pm by then ....

So, it was a missed opportunity firstly from the traffic point of view, and secondly the state of the field.

There were plenty of area at the edge of the field which were covered, but you still have to get your feet dirty to get to the food stalls. And to add to that, there was no guarantee that you would get what you wanted due to sheer number of people turning up! It was a great idea but the organiser should have encouraged the punters to use the LRT and have the traffic wardens on hand to prevent congestion.

Hopefully no more muddy field in next year's chapter because I would definitely be coming again - on an LRT that time of course! And preferably early in the morning. Great idea, but suspect execution!