Bangsar Shopping Center

The afternoon before Raya was traditionally the time for me to be the designated driver. Doing last minute chores and shopping would be my specialty. This year, I had to go over to Bangsar Shopping Center to get some cupcake among other things.

Plenty of people were doing their last minute shopping today. The decorations over at BSC were pretty simple, but the central foyer was always filled with goodies and hampers.

My destination there was O'Gormet, and I was lucky that I managed to get the last few cupcakes on display. Red Velvet. Yummy!

Chores were done, and I was home by 4 pm. After a quick visit to see how Mum was doing - she was making ketupat for tomorrow, I then headed on home. More chores.

Tickets for the Smurfs

Bloated from yesterday, I missed breakfast. We spent the morning in front of the television and cleaning the room. Most of our friends and relatives were still in their kampung, so we decided just to have lunch outside while having a look at how deserted KL had been.

We were quite surprised that when we approached Mid Valley, all the carpark indicated red, meaning full. We were lucky that the parking tickets were still issued as I desperately needed to get to Gardens today. The reason, tickets for tomorrow's show of the Smurf! We settled for a parking bay on level B4, right at the bottom.

There were still plenty of tickets available for the afternoon show tomorrow. After the tickets were sorted out, there was a small matter of lunch. As usual, the boys wanted pizza, and we landed at Alexis.

Settling down for lunchMy cod. Looked dry, but was actually rather nice.The salad and pizzaThe place was full, but we managed to get the sofa seats still. A pleasant lunch as the boys were treated to a nice pizza - we had to order two since they finished both. I had some cod for a change, and it was not that bad. My rocket salad was a bit dry today, the leafs were rather too bitter and hard.

Irfan's chamomile teaEmpty-looking Mid Valley GardensWe sat down for tea - Irfan had his dose of chamomile, hence he was pretty chilled after that. Headed over at Isetan, where Anita bought a dress, before heading back home in an almost empty Federal Highway.

Looking forward for the Smurfs tomorrow ….

The Rest of Raya

Irfan reluctant to pose for picturesI spend a large chunk of Raya yesterday at my parents house in Bukit Antarabangsa, finally returning to the Gombak home after 6 pm. We just stayed and relax, rather than going around as most of our friends were away to their kampung.

Irfan and his cousinsIn the morning, before going out to my parents' house, my brother-in-law and his family came to visit. All in their baju Raya, and Dad-in-law was especially happy to have all his grandchildren around, all six of them. We dined and consumed way too much food. As soon as I reached my Mum's, we had more food, and by mid afternoon, I was dozing away on the couch.

All six grandshildrenAnd the four of usTheir Startroopers kasut RayaSoon after, Idlan was back into the swings of thingsThe evening was quiet. We spent time with dinner and television, and it was almost midnight when we finally hit the bed. We have yet set a plan for the rest of the week yet, but it was very likely that I would make a quick trip to Penang on Saturday without Anita. Just a quick visit to say hi to the family and visit my elderly Grandmother.

The photos from the day was uploaded here.

Aidilfitri

Woken up by Anita this morning to get ready. As usual, I would be the designated driver for the Aidilfitri Prayers. It was not that far away, but still quite a walk for my Dad-in-law.

The mosque was packed. And I was sure at least 10 to 15% of the crowd were Somali. They had a huge population over around Gombak. Most of them being UIA students. Allegedly. But it seemed that they had their extended family along with the as well.

After prayers, it was time for the family. With the new clothes and all ..... Can't blog much. I got food to eat!

The photos from the day was uploaded here.

Iftar at Latest Recipe

For the final Iftar for this Ramadhan, my brother-in-law took all of us out to Le Meridien. Unfortunately, Latest Recipe stopped doing the Ramadhan buffet since the weekend. So, we settled for the standard buffet there.

While I was settling down, I heard a voice calling. It was a friend from Sheffield, who was with his family for Iftar as well. I last saw him about three years ago when I visited him at Prince Court Hospital. I I was not mistaken, it was during Ramadhan as well. How time flies.

Food there was great as usual. They had all my favorites, salad, sashimi, tandoori, laksa. They also had pasta, where my children's eyes lit up when they were able to order off the menu straight to the chef, and the food was prepared in front of them.

The boys started out, appropriate I might add, with the chocolate fountain. That kept them hyperactive all dinner long. Irfan, especially enjoyed the dinner. He had the chocolate-covered marshmallow of course, then pasta, biryani rice and waffles. Really worth his buffet admission price.

Irfan enjoying his startersStarting things off with a bowl of salad. I'm civilised that way ....Then came the raw stuffsThe tandoori was especially nice this evening, although I was disappointed that they did not have the spiced pappadoms like before, which went down brilliantly with the mango chutney. I was full by the time I had dessert - ais kacang, custard pudding and sago gula Melaka. A hefty dinner indeed.

The boys mesmerised by the chefBuffet here at Latest recipe had long been my favorite as they serve all my favorite dishes. They had at one point Peking Duck - not tonight. A good place if you wanted variety, or simply if you were in a group and you were not sure what the rest of the group prefer to eat. You could't really go wrong here. And again, Selamat Hari Raya.

If you want to know more about Latest Recipe at Le Meridien, please click here.