A New Addition

I have to admit up front. I have a penchant for fountain pens. And the ink must be in royal blue, not black. Last weekend, during my trip to The Curve, a new pen caught my fancy. It was a Lamy pen. As usual, I asked for the broadest tip, as well as a blue ink. Used it, and got hooked.

It was not a perfect one though. I have a Mont Blanc which I rarely used - it was mainly kept in my office at home. The one I use regularly was a Pelikan. Nice and heavy, with a pump rather than cartridge. The nib was broad enough, with enough resistance on paper. Slight issue with the ink flow though. It was not as smooth as I would have hoped for.

This Lamy pen might be too light for my liking, but the tip ran really smooth. It also used a pump, and ink flow so far has been good - the extra broad nib really made the difference. Long may it stay in my lab coat. I users to carry a pen in the UK which lasted me a whole five years. It was a Parker, with extra broad nib. Nice and heavy but one day, I accidentally dropped it and the nib was bent. End of story!

Night at an Indian

In the UK, most of the halal restaurants were run by Indians and Pakistani. There were Indian restaurants everywhere that it was often joked that the national food of the UK was curry. Every once in a while, we loved to have du ne'er at Indian restaurant. In fact, my boys, Irfan especially loved Indian food - especially if they came with papadom. One of our favourite was Spice of India in KLCC. However, we noticed lately that the service and the quality of food has deteriorated. We also had an incense last year where thSave & Closee waiters actually served some foreigners before us, and since then he have yet to return.

We were rather apprehensive when we entered the Spice of India branch at Pavilion the others evening. But it turned out better than expected. The service was very good considering that the place was full. Food came fast, the waiters we're efficient, and I must say that the food was better than the branch in KLCC even though the menu was similar. It was a great night out in the end. Irfan had his papadom of course while Idlan reluctantly finished his poori. The cheese in spinach that I had was exquisite and the meat and chicken dishes were tender as expected.

It looked like we probably return here again in the future, but I couldn't really go there'd too often as the meal there were not really cheap. the restaurant also appeared crowded and if the service was slow, I was sure that my boys would be restless. The small dining area also cause some of the fumes to fill the room a times, and luckily we had our inhalers in the ready just in case. The pace between the tables were also rather small. So the restaurant area could have been bigger.

New Wing at KLCC

The new extension to Suria KLCC is being opened in phases. Initially it was the second floor - with the children's department being opened a few months back. Then it was the third - where the gadgets were. So, if you were to turn to your left on the way towards the Sony Center, the corridor opened up to the new Nikon outlets, as well as the new Best store.

Sorry, but I'm a Canon shooter

Apart from that, there was nothing much to shout about I supposed. The top floor where new restaurants were being renovated were still closed. Maybe that would be worth a visit.

Transformers 3

As I mentioned in the previous entry, we had a nice time celebrating a birthday party of one of Idlan's classmate at the cinemas. And Transformers 3 did not disappoint. Cue the usual Michael Bay hyperbole, over the top special effects, slow motion macho shots, hot babes and understated heroes.

Of the three movies on the chain, this was the best. The focus of the movie we're clearly on the Transformers themselves rather than the hot babes or the human characters. Even the special effects were tone down to make it more believable, and not to undermine the main action. And actions they were. The storyline this time around was more on the struggle of Optimus Prime in dealing with his identity, specifically dealing with the place where he was from, Cybertron. The idols that he worshiped in the past were not who he was ..... and I shall leave it at that.

The human characters from the the first couple of installments were back, except for Megan Fox of course. But to be honest, we did not really miss much without her as the new love interest was equally as hot. The main protagonist this time was more on Optimus, with the antagonist being Sentinel. It was action-packed as you would expect, but the usual comedic moment - watch for Deep Wang. Even John Turturro was back to reprise his role.

Of the three movies in the series, this must have been the most matured in terms of story development if you can call it that. There were many gaps in the story however, and some of the conjectures being made took some believing. The first part of the movie however reflected the director's, Michael Bay frustration with the general reception of the first couple of movies. The main character, Sam found himself jobless despite saving the world twice, paralleling what happened to Bay in essence. Despite making blockbusters after blockbusters, he has yet to find any formal recognition of his efforts. Once the melodramatic was over, the real action picked up, and it was relentless from the first 30 minutes onwards.

I left the theater with a broad smile. If it was a feel good movie, it certainly succeeded. The pace was furious and despite the movie running over two hours, I hardly felt it. Initially, my boys were restless, but once the action started picking up, they were glued on to their seats. By the end, they were asking me to get them the toys from the movie - clearly a success on the Bay's part. I had reservation however concerning taking young children to watch the movie. Some of the scripts were rather crude - especially for children who do understand English - and some of the sequence - the humans disintegrating into skulls upon being shot by aliens and the blood-like material coming out of some of the Decepticon characters after being hit - we're quite gruesome. So, parents discretion were very important.

Sunday mix-up

But a pleasant mix up I must add. Turned up at the ward this morning to do my National Service - also known as weekend ward rounds - to fund that one of my Senior MO was already there. It turned out that since I only mentioned rather than booked my name for the Sunday lost, the juniors was not sure if I was available.

Well, we finished the rounds in double quick time. Now heading back home, but would probably be out for lunch as I have some errands to run. Maybe drop by at Low Yat as well as I have some thing to browse there. Such a nice Sunday morning it turned out to be then .....