Plan for the Week

It was the week before Xmas, when colleagues and patients were away on holidays. The clinics and wards are usually quiet but since I was not celebrating, I would be hanging around the hospital most of the time, covering for colleagues. I could feel things were slowing down since last week and hopefully things would not be so busy as I could do with some chill out time as well.

Morning meeting in AraEarly lunch in BangsarMonday started with a meeting at Ara Damansara, followed by ward round in Subang and clinic later in the afternoon. I have booked for tickets to watch Star Wars with Anita and the boys later this evening and we would be enjoying the time since from Wednesday, our maid would be away until the New Year. Anita was already dreading that.

Coffee after lunchPlanning for the week ...Parents-in-law would still be around with their maid to help Anita about. Dad was still weak and I thought the effect of some of the medicine didn’t quite agree with him. He had been feeling dizzy all morning.

Looking forward to some down time and hopefully some photography ...

Morning Brew

One of my patient gave me a coffee maker, one of those which accept Nesoresso capsules complete with milk Dr other to make cappuccino. I have been meddling around since getting it but had never been too serious about it.

Last weekend, I saw a roadshow at Bangsar Village selling the accessories as well as selection of the coffee capsules. I had another look and decided to give it another go.

I ended up taking up a package of 150 capsules which came with free see-through cups and saucer. I then started meddling with the water pH setting and everything and the results were quite impressive.

They were easy to prepare and cleaning was simple enough every few days which my maid could muster. Unfortunately, I am the only coffee drinker in the house. Anita and the boys preferred tea and hot chocolates.

I dabbled with preparing double-shot espresso last weekend and that resulted in a blend which kept me on my toes doing my Sunday morning ward round. It was potent. I could feel the buzz of ceffeine afterwards and could go on with the rounds for another few hours if I could.

Best not to overdo it I guessed ...

Glitzy

It wasn't often that we get to out for a fancy party, let alone dress up. We had one such chance when our friend Zura and Faizal invited us to attend their 20th wedding anniversary.

It was a black tie event, held at Le Meridien with Anuar Zain being the main attraction - exclusively for the girls. But I must admit that he was charming. See the video below ...

It took me a few days to get my attire in order, having not own a dinner jacket, I decided to buy one. I might need them again in the future. Anita bought a brand new dress of course and had a make-up artist coming to the apartment to get her ready. It was worth it.

The food was great and the company was amazing. Anuar Zain appeared while we were being served dessert and belted up a few of his classics, going round the room working his magic. Then came the selfies and photos, plus in the end we had a personal audience with him being Zura's close friend.

Faizal invited many of his school friends and business associates, dining us with fine food. Great memories.

It was past midnight when we finally left the hotel. A great night indeed and certainly we would me looking forward to their 25th anniversary.

New Look Pertama Complex

The main entrance to Pertama Complex had been under constant renovations for the last couple of years. That made access to the shopping mall rather inconvenient, putting off people planning to go in.

Yesterday, on my way to Kandaqstan launch, it seemed that the renovations were completed. I felt compelled to enter the building and have a look.

The central foyer by the main entrance appeared brighter and more openThe back lane remains the sameThe main change I saw was to main lobby. The facade was ageing before, not been given a new coat of paint. I also though that the lighting had been changed, the whole area looked more cheerful. Deep down, it remained the same old Pertama Complex. The old leather shops were still there on the upper floors.

I also made my way to once-mighty Foto Selangor. It had definitely seen its best day. Half of the shop now stored electronic goods rather than camera. Sad really. I supposed that was what the digital photography revolution did to the old brick and mortar photo shops. And they were only mainly selling consumer-grade cameras there now ... Had to look elsewhere if you want those fancy lenses.

There were more activities at the back rather than the frontThe once-mighty Foto Selangor looked to have downsized big time ...I remembered that there were I plenty of food stalls back in the days. They seemed to be missing now. Maybe the renovations had phased them out. I guess, in years to come, old malls such as this and Campbell would start to diminish a la Ampang Park, Sungai Wang Plaza and Yow Chuan. Unless these places managed to reinvent themselves to sell niche items to cater for a specific demographic of consumers. Leather goods maybe?

Back to Hawkins

Stranger Things was back for the second season and this time around the plot were more personal rather than the spectacular. My boys especially connected to the coming-of-age perspective of the plot line and could not stop watching the episodes. They ended up watching the season with Anita and finished them before I could really start.

The Netflix episodes also carried a companion documentary series - Beyond Stranger Things - featuring the cast, which discussed the plot line in greater details while sharing some anecdotes while filming.

Early 80s in the US had always had this attraction to them. There was the mix of modern as well as the innocent. When I thought about the early 80s, I remembered the LA Olympics. One of my neighbour was studying in the US at the time and I kept hearing the cool things in the US from her. Another find memory was the cassettes album she brought from there. There were no CDs back then. MTV and video music were just bring introduced. And then there was Michael Jackson ...

Watching Stranger Things brought some of those memories back. Kinda a trip back to those innocent times. Truth be told, I was looking forward for the coming season. The series ended in a really good finale but with enough of a hint that mayhem would be just around the corner. Until the next season ...