Sunday at B.I.G.

The B.I.G. - Ben's Independent Grocer - at Solaris Dutamas was an imposing store at so many level. It was located on the Lower Ground, and one could never miss it.

We could spend the whole afternoon at the place alone. There were rows of groceries, plus a couple of nice cafe to sit at to pass the time - code for husbands to sit down while the wives were doing the shopping.

We sat down at the cafe yesterday to have lunch. The food was OK. The lasagna and pizza were great, but the salad not really. In fact it was rather disappointing. It was meant to be a Mediterranean el fresco twist to it, but fallen miserably short.

Sitting for lunchThe salad was not really nice at allThe lasagna however was superbLet's ask what Irfan thought of the pizza .... self explanatory ........ and the mocha was not badAfter lunch, my boys went berserk at the grocers. Especially the more domesticated Irfan. He kept piling up the baskets with all sorts of food. Idlan couldn't care less. Everything was clearly and well laid out. And the other plus about the place was the majority of the staffs there were locals. Communications was easy. The butcher however was Australian .... which was a bit strange.

I wonder what that big "B" was doing in the middle of the aisleDefinitely a place to visit. A nice place to spend Sunday lunch, if you have some groceries to do.

Meet up at G Tower

I didn't even know that the G Tower, right opposite Ampang Park, next to the Tabung Haji building was actually a conference center and hotel. I thought it was more o an office building of sort.

Yesterday was the first time I set foot there. A nice but small hotel, but the conference facilities were OK. There were only three floors of accommodation, suitable for those coming for an overnight meeting from out of town. The catering was also pretty standard.

I had a small conference there, followed later in the afternoon by my council meeting. Getting there was pretty straight forward from Subang, although I was not able to join before lunch due to work commitments. I took the NPE, then turning towards SMART tunnel, and when I emerged on the Jalan Tun Razak exit, I was almost there already. Took me user 30 minutes even in the rain, and Saturday afternoon traffic.

Well, I was bored .....We had an update session on Haematology, and it was a joint meeting between the clinician and Haemato-Pathologist. Very interesting session although I found myself hard to concentrate late on a Saturday afternoon. But the suggestion of building a centralised Lymphoma Pathology Center brought me out of my slumber ..... For which I would reserve my thoughts for the time being.

Anyway, just to mention that G Tower was a nice venue. That's all.

Oh! The Weather

It had been raining without fail every afternoon for the last could of weeks and from what I heard, it would continue on until the end of the month. Wanting to confirm that rumour I asked Siri what the weather going to the like for the rest of the week. And Siri duly obliged. It must be true. As Siri said so .....

Cousin's Wedding at Istana Bambu

The weather was unforgiving tonight. This to a certain extend put a dampener to my cousin's wedding reception. A lot of guests turned up late, due to the combination of poor driving condition, and difficulty of finding the venue.

The reception was held at Restoran Istana Bambu, a Malay restaurant with a twist. The whole place was build up from bamboo, from the structures to the decor. Even the pelamin was made of bamboo. An open area, with small little eating areas in huts, where the patron would sit on the floor to enjoy their meal. A novel concept.

My sister had been there before, during daytime and better weather and attested to how good the place was. But for this evening's event, the food lacked selection, and being a buffet format, the spread was limited.

Anyhow, the ceremony pressed on on time despite the heavy downpour. Nice ambiance, but I didn't know that many guests as the majority were my cousin's work colleague. I went there with my sister and Dad. Anita was feeling under the weather. I didn't mingle for too long, and had to return to the hospital as a couple of patients came to Casualty that evening. The rain slowed down by the time we left.

I may visit the place again at some point. The restaurant was located by MRR2, but getting there was a bit tricky. One has to take the Keramat roundabout off MRR2, take the 5 o'clock exit if you were coming from Ampang. Unfortunately the place was not blessed with signposts however.

A Smooth Start

After a whirlwind start to the morning, sorting out the admissions, I had a breather at the Lounge while waiting for the clinic list to start.

As I mentioned, it would not be a typical Saturday today. Straight after clinic, I would be driving across town to a mini conference, before attending a meeting after that. Then, for dinner, it would be one of my cousin's reception. That would not be a problem as it would be near my house.

What I was worried was the traffic when it rained. This being a Saturday, I hope things would be kind even if the heaven opened.

Among all that, I couldn't find a slot for Skyfall. Hmm! Maybe Sunday matinee. Puan Anita, are you game?