Chinoz, Bangsar Shopping Center

On a recent visit to Mid Valley Gardens, we noticed that the Chinoz Cafe in the middle of one of the main foyer had been closed. That was curious considering the demography of the visitors at that neck of the woods. We were more familiar with their branch at KLCC.

The last time we were at Bangsar Shopping Center, we decided to give the Chinoz branch there a visit. We had light lunch and as usual, the boys wanted pizza.

The seating was outdoors, right by the main entranceA nice place for people watching and chill outIrfan enjoying his fruit punchThe menu was similar to the KLCC branch, with pizza, sushi and the usual choices of salad and drinks. They even offer Sunday Roast, just like at KLCC.

We sat at the outdoor bar area, very cosy and suitable for people watching. Seats were very comfortable. The boys selected the sofas. The waiters were very attentive, and took our order very efficiently without even taking notes. Service was very prompt.

I had rocket salad, and a Japanese rice and salmon set for the mains. The boys had their pizza and Anita ordered smoked salmon and avocado salad. Anita's salad was amazing. The menu was also very clear about which food used alcohol in their preparation. No problems there.

My iced coffeeAnita's gorgeous salmon and avocado salad. Highly recommended.Idlan's hot chocolate in a nice little mug.My rocket saladThe boys, with what else, but pizza.Last but not least, my main, which was sushi rice with salmon and miso. Very nice.

My salad and mains were very well-prepared. I really couldn't complain about the food quality. The service was prompt. I would definitely be returning, not just for the food and service, but for the ambiance as well. Highly recommended, although I suspect the place would be packed in the evening.

Remembering September 11th

Just after the first tower being hitI couldn't helped but be reminded of the events of September 11th, with all these TV shows and articles on the net. Some of them more over the top than others, often being over-dramatic and American-centric. Like it or not, all of us could remember what exactly we were doing when we first heard of the event.

I was actually in clinic, still working in Manchester back then. I called my next patient a couple of times, and when I tried to get the nurses to call out the patient's name, I realised that there was nobody paying attention. Everybody was glued to the TV screen. I took a peek. The first tower were just hit then. Straight away I called Anita, and she was watching the live coverage on CNN. It was I think about 3 in the afternoon then.

While talking to Anita, The second plane flew into the tower. I was in shock. Everybody on the waiting room, watching the TV screen were gasping. And then, there was a complete silence. We then rushed through the clinic - there weren't that many patients to start with. Some of them even volunteered to skip.

Finished the clinic early and rushed back home, in time for the tower to collapsed. It was round-the-clock coverage after that, but it soon got silly when one Moslem group after the other were accused of doing the act. We soon left for Trafford Center to get some dinner.

While at the Trafford Center we learned that both building were down. Called my Mum at home to catch up about what the reaction back home in Malaysia was like. My Dad has not slept all night watching the news. We then learned about another plane hitting the Pentagon as well.

One of my Uncle, working for RTM at the time was in the US on duty and he was stuck there for the next week as air traffic grind to a halt. His flight took him via Europe and he was stuck in London for another couple of days, unable to get a connection home.

The tower collapsingSatellite imagery of the dayMy brother-in-law, was seconded from Petronas to Exxon, and was based in Houston, Texas in 2001. It was early morning when he learned the news, and by midday, he was already back to his flat. The office were closed for the next few days as American picked up the pieces and took stock of what had happened. He also decided to stay indoors during the period as there were some group targeting Moslem at his area. Apparently, Houston has a good-sized Moslem population and people were pretty uptight then.

I am sure all of us could still remember exactly what we were doing at that point in time. Talking to my Dad, he said, it was like the day Kennedy was assassinated, or the Moon Landing, the Challenger disaster - I was at MRSM on the day of the Challenger disaster, in form 2 - or even the Acheh tsunami. I remembered that one really well as well. Like it or not, the memory would stay with us forever. I wondered what your memory of the day was like ….

If you are in the mood, read about how the students in the class where President Bush heard about the attack react to the event. They are all grown up now.

Tom Yam for Sore Throat

I knew that it was a bad idea. My sore throat was improving and the first thing I wanted to eat tonight was some tom yam. That would definitely kill my throat by bedtime. One of the restaurant at Danau Kota does a very mild tom yam. That was where we got the food from tonight.

Update on Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 11:39AM by Haris Abdul Rahman

Unsurprisingly, that strategy was doomed. I ended up with diarrhoea and bloatedness all evening. But by 2 am, slept like a baby until the morning. Almost back to my all self now, with a bit less energy, and dehydration. Nothing that a bit of 100 plus can't fix.

Bad Air Day

I realised that KL's skyline was really bad today. Visibility at ground level was only about 250 meters. I couldn't see the twin tower from my backyard when I woke up this morning. And that is not normal.

Apparently, there had been a few hot spots in Sumatera again from the last couple of weeks. Not from bakar lemang I was reliably told. The air quality has since plummeted in our Peninsular. Today was the worst. The last time the air quality was this bad, my boys ended up with asthma attacks.

The fact that it had not been raining for the last few days did not help. The weather looked overcast. Here was praying for some proper rain. The kind with cats, dogs and other fluffy animals!

Treated for Breakfast

As expected, I was asked to sleep in the study last night. Could not sleep well. Woke up at around 4 am, with a mega sore throat. Time for some drinks and a bit of painkiller. Switched on the TV, and caught the later parts of the England-Wales match. Dozed off to sleep with the TV on after that.

I felt much better when I woke up after the Subuh azan. Time to wake Anita and the boys up by then. After she sorted out the boys at school, we went out for a spot of breakfast. Anita had to buy some books in Bangsar, and she treated me with breakfast at La Bodega. Felt much better after the warm coffee and more medications.

Still cosy and quiet at this early hoursAnita and her order of drinks. Mango juice and English breakfast teaThe order of 'big breakfast' came with sausage, bacon, mushroom, baked beans and toast. You can then select how you like your eggs.The sauteed mushroom actually tasted a lot better than it looked.Yup! I was done!I must have eaten too much, and felt bloated after that. Well, you would expect that if you just took egg benedicts and other side orders wouldn't you? But that certainly cheered up my morning. Just returned from fetching Irfan from school. The myalgia was still there, but better. Time for some more medications and some reading. Found a few interesting article about the Putera UMNO mission to Somalia, the one which got the Bernama cameraman killed. Sounded like there were than met the eyes ….. and the plot thickened.