The Pantry

One of the advantage of staying around Bangsar is the number of cafe around where we live. Some were better known than others, some were right hidden gems. But lately the turnover rate of those cafes were pretty high, reflecting the uncertain economy.

The entrance with the rustic doorPleasant and uncluttered The special for today - linguine marinaraWe found a new place to sit a couple of Sundays ago about 5 minutes drive from the apartment. Nestled at a residential area in Lorong Kurau, The Pantry looked plain on the outside but really cosy once you stepped in. The rustic door helped the ambiance somewhat and inside the soft music in the background just set the mood for you to relax.

Tea for AnitaAnd coffee for me ....Anita went for the linguine marinaraI had the salted beef with plenty of cheese and fries The items on the menu were staples in these cafe but the highlight must be the pasta. It was fresh and delicious, served in portions just nice for a late afternoon snack or a spot of early dinner. The coffee was not bad either.

On the couple of occasions we had been there, the place had been relatively quiet but the quality of the food appeared consistent. It was not a bad place to spend an hour or so on a Sunday afternoon having a conversation or just catching up with things.

Sampling the ambiance ....

Ornaments and bitsI might be going there more often should I have some free time. I kinda like the place ....

Update on Sunday, August 13, 2017 at 11:23AM by Haris Abdul Rahman

Just found out that The Pantry will be closed and today was its last day ... Details here.

First MRT Ride

It had to start somewhere.

Even though half of the MRT line connecting Kajang and Sungai Buloh had been opened for the last 6 months, this was the first time I tried the ride. After parking my car at NU Sentral, I walked along KL Sentral towards the connecting station at Muzium Negara. A nice walk - across at least 6 escalators which were moving faster that I used to.

This way ...Then up this escalatorWalk straight on towards the entrance to Le Meridien and HiltonAnd further on ...After about 10 minutes, I reached the station proper, tapped my Touch & Go card, down another escalator to the platform. Very frequent train - every 8 minutes on that Saturday afternoon - which each train stretching along the whole station. It must have been 8 coaches per train at least which definitely made the journey both pleasant and efficient.

The coaches were also more spacious that the notoriously cramped Monorel - which not only had less frequent services, only served a couple of coaches per trip. It was night and day.

Everything was well postedAnd then we go deep undergroundAnd we go deeper ....Finally we reached the terminal. And time to get the tickets ...On the whole, I was very pleasantly surprised. It was more in keeping with KL heading towards a World Class city. The shame was the project was delayed a few times. Such public transport should have been in place 10, if not 15 years back. The fear moving forward would be the investments put in for maintenance. Generally speaking, we are good at building but slow to act and service what is crumbling ...

Now we are at the platform ...To the left, or to the right?Make sure you catch the right ride ...Finally reaching Bukit Bintang. Another escalator up ...Definitely worth a try and I personally would be using it more as the trip from NU Sentral to Bukit Bintang was nothing but pleasant. Best to take advantage of the 50% discounts before Merdeka.

Goodbye Ampang Park

It looks like the time was almost up. The tenants and shop owners of Ampang Park had exhausted all legal challenge to stop the closure of the first and oldest shopping mall in KL. They were all given their final notices and had been making plans to move their businesses elsewhere.

Even the famed "Cozy Corner" was moving after Raya.

I was there with Anita looking for clothes for Raya. The selection were as good as ever and she got what she wanted. The irony was we took the LRT from KLCC to get there and the future plans for the lot was to built a new MRT station.

I was sure there were enough reasons to demolish such an icon and hopefully in the future, this plot of land would be put in good use ... But for now, thanks for the memories ...

Done with Season One

I had the chance to watch Westworld when it was beamed on Astro earlier this year. But I got bored after a couple of episodes. Then, I read a review on YouTube about how good the series was and decided to watch the pilot again.

But this time I downloaded the episode on iTunes using my US account. I got the uncensored episodes and it was a lot different from the one I remembered watching on the local TV.

There were nudity and swearing aplenty - some of which were just plain unnecessary. But some of the dialogue and scene which were cut out were needed to move the plot along. So, watching it the second time around really gave a clear perspective of what was going on.

After watching all 10 episodes, I begin to appreciate just what the buzz was all about. Definitely a fascinating series with superb acting. Both Anthony Hopkins and Thandie Newton definitely gave masterclasses. Haunting soundtrack to boot - who could forget "No Surprises" playing on the background at the saloon. Great stuff.

And the plot twists .... they all made sense in the end. Great television and I couldn't wait for the second season.

For an Early Night

Or at least that was the plan. United would be playing Real Madrid at 3 am tonight as a season opener. I have a long day tomorrow but watching the game was just too tempting. One of the ways to make it world would be to start with an early night, and set the alarm to catch the second half of the game.

Let’s see if things go according to plan then ....