Downton Abbey Done for Now

It was close to 2 in the morning, and I have just finished watching the Christmas edition of Downton Abbey. It would be along day tomorrow - luckily I have only got a couple of patients in the ward, plus a few coming to clinic. So, hopefully it won't be too bad.

So, I was finally finished with the first couple of seasons. The third would be out some time in September. I would be getting the season pass off iTunes when it was finally out. Looking forward to that. Now, off to bed ...

Starhill Tea Salon

I have to admit that I'm more of a coffee drinker, but the rest of the family, Puan Anta and the two boys are tea people. Wierd! But my boys sure love their tea, but yesterday, it was just me and Puan Anita, and we sampled the tea salon at Starhill. Not just any tea salon, but THE Starhill Tea Salon.

We went there late afternoon - after we were done with Ampang Park. It was a spur of the moment thing when we decided to head for Bukit Bintang. The place was packed as usual for a Sunday afternoon, but that did not deter us. I had to buy some print inks anyway.

The utensils being lined upI didn't bother with the tea. I had mint lemonade instead .... cheat!After the hustle and bustle, it was time for an afternoon drink. Then we remembered about the tea salon which we saw before but did not have time to check the place out. It was full - at least the best seats, so we decided to wait. After about 5 minutes, we got the seat which we wanted. It was buffet high tea on Sundays, but they mainly served dessert. We decided to order a la carte.

And that was a mistake since Puan Anita's pasta took a good half an hour to be ready. Luckily the drinks came first. Anita had some Assam Tea. I chickened out and had some minty lemonade - good for a hot Sunday afternoon.

The place was fantastic in terms of ambiance, and the staff there knew their tea. We actually had a conversation about which tea to order, and the taste was described pretty well. They had a separate smoking and non-smoking area, which was always a plus.

Everything about the presentation was quality and I was sure the patrons there would not have tolerated otherwise. The teapot was sturdy and the brew was perfect, at least to my untrained palate. Puan Anita approved of it as well.

The assam tea is finally brewed!We would definitely be back there in the future, but we would probably avoid Sunday. Why? Because they do not have a set tea with scones on Sunday. They had the buffet instead. How expensive was it. The tea, my mint drink, Puan Anita's pasta as well as my snack put me back around RM 150. Not cheap .......

If you were interested, the salon is located on the Ground Floor, straight through the lobby of Marriott, or through the entrance at the back of Sephora if you were coming from Pavilion or Bukit Bintang.

Ampang Park for Lunch

We had a lovely lunch today at Cozy Corner, Ampang Park. It was not really the food, I mean the steak was still not that great, but my father-in-law had a lovely plate of rainbow trout, and I was impressed at how fast he downed it. He had been talking about having trout for lunch, and had been buzzing about it ever since.

My steak on the other hand was not marinated well. Not to mention that the waiter managed to spill some gravy onto my trousers.

Plenty of shops, but no varietyPuan Anita making up her mindAs I mentioned before, the place used to serve much bette food, and the quality had definitely declined in the last 5 years. But after looking at the rainbow trout, we would definitely returned again soon.

And the boys wanted some fruitsAfter the food, we spent the next half an hour walking around Ampang Park. The place hardly changed - the foyer filled with shops selling clothes and the shops mainly selling mobile phones and clothing. But there were plenty of bargain to be had here, and I trust Puan Anita to do just that.

Messy Sunday

The boys were at it again. When I reached home after my morning rounds, they had not had their bath yet. In fact, they were making a mess of the study. So, had to sort them out quick since my mum-in-law wanted us to take her out for lunch. And we were not even sure yet where to head to.

A quick cleaning session then straight after bath ........ Messy boys .....

Holy Macaroons

As I mentioned, I have never understood what the fuss was about as far macaroons were concerned. Last Monday, while at Bangsar Shopping Center with the boys and Puan Anita, we came across a booth apparently selling the world's best macaroon. I got curious and bought a couple of them - I was such a sucker.

I was allegedly air flown from Belgium, and was prepared by a gourmet chocolatier Pierre Ledent. After tasting some of his sample chocolates, I couldn't resist it anymore.

I must say that it was revelation. The macaroon I tried was raspberry cream, and I could literally tasted the explosion of the fruit in my mouth. The biscuit just melted in the mouth, with a very pleasing after taste. I really shouldn't say much more as I had hardly tasted any other macaroons before to make any comparison, but all I could attest to was it tasted exotic. I would definitely be buying more if only it was not too expensive.

Was it the best in the World? I really must try more macaroons before I could confirm that ...... But if you are curious, go ahead and experience it yourself. They have a booth at the main foyer at Bangsar Shopping Center where Gourmet used to be - it was now called Jasons Food Hall.