Iftar at Dewan Perdana Felda

I have mentioned before that I was never that keen on Iftar outside the house. I only went if there were special occasions. I went for one last night, at the Dewan Perdana Felda, to join a few of my friends whose children went to same school as my boys.

It was a mixed experience. A packed hall, and we got to our table rather late as our host were stuck in traffic. Managed to get some rice and drinks just in time for the Maghrib azan.

The hall was huge, and Anita been there a couple of times before for weddings. It was my first time. Getting a parking spot was a challenge. There were spaces in the underground parking area, but since we were late, there were queues leading into there as well. We were lucky to find a spot just outside the hall.

There were at least 120 tables, most of them booked, although it was still possible to walk in. Food were arranged on small stations, peppered throughout the hall. The main attraction was roast lamb, but the queue was rather atrocious. Atrocious meaning if you talk the loudest and hassle enough people, you get to be served first! I could not even bother to start. Never been a fan of lamb anyhow.

There were biryani, white rice with Malay dishes, and not to mention the noodles, laksa, and other cookies and kueh. The Malay food there were excellent. Couldn't comment about the lamb though because I did not taste it. The laksa was also nice. The Malay kueh were also quite a find.

The lamb roastAfter it was doneThere were no specific food for children, but the rice and spaghetti should be fine for them. There were ramps for pram and wheelchairs, so access was a doodle. The surau was located in the basement, fully equipped, with a lift if you didn't fancy the stairs. There were even able to accommodate Tarawikh here if you wish. And there were after dinner entertainment as well.

They had a local nasyid group, Uniq, singing a few songs.

We hung around until about 9. Had to leave early since the boys would be in school the next morning. On the whole, food was nice, but lacked variety. The hall was comfortable although the waiters were rather sluggish. The service could have been much better. But if you were desperate to have a night out for iftar, you could do a lot worst then here.

Price? I did not pick up the cheque, but the counter mentioned it was around RM60.

iQuit

All this harping ons about Libya and the NATO agenda masked the real news of the day. It was not often that a visionary comes along and change the course of history. It may be through infamy - Hitler -, arts - Picasso -, Science - Einstein -, or sporting achievement - Mokhtar Dahari -, or leadership - George Bush - errrrr, I made some of them up.

Steve Jobs gone jobless and resigned as CEO of Apple, a company he started with 'the Woz' and another bloke who gave up his share soon after - thinking that the company was heading nowhere, mistake of the century if you ask me. Although he resigned to become the Chair of the Board, reading between the line, his cancer relapse had taken its toll, and he did the sensible thing by stepping down. Within an hour o the announcement, the Apple stock took a 5% dive.

It was clearly a sad day, at least for me. I have unashamedly claimed to be an Apple fanboy. I have the iMac, MBP, Mac Air, a couple of iPads, the iPhone, a few iPods etc. I used Mac exclusively in my working life as well as blogging and photography. It had made me very productive in doing my daily chores, and it was not just the hardware element. It was the integration of hardware, software and its tactile relationship. The whole Apple experience.

They are not perfect. There a some quirks with using an Apple system, but often there would be clever work-arounds. The products were innovative and seemed to propel the personal computer experience, and generally technology forward. And it took a visionary to realise that. It did help to have a couple of geniuses around in Jonny Ives and Scott Forstall around .... a couple of people that Apple would do well to retain post-Steve.

So, to Mr Jobs, enjoy your retirement. You certainly deserved it. You have certainly left a legacy. I salute you!

The Flu Beckoned

It looked like it was going to be a gloomy day today. Anita now had the fever, must be off the children. She had planned for iftar with her friends later today, but that plan had to be put on hold. Dad-in-law also had the flu. Plenty of them circling around I was afraid.

Luckily, they had it this week rather than next week when Aidilfitri came along. So, it would be a school run for me this morning ….

Mid Valley Gardens Decor

Gardens at Mid Valley has always portrayed itself as an upmarket outlet. When it comes to decorations for festivities, they were always classy and understated. For this year's Raya, they concentrated more on details, and left the more elaborate decor to its sister mall next door, the Mid Valley Megamall.

The central gallery, where the main boutique outlets were located, were filled with small decorations and there were also some lightings hanging down, with more Aidilfitri motifs. One thing I have noticed, they have taken away some of the seatings at the main walkways, which make stopping for a breather especially while fasting a bit of a nag.

I was glad that the walkways and foyers were left empty rather than filled up by tacky stalls selling clothes and cookies. They obviously remained consistent in concentrating on the small things.

1Utama Decorations

After picking up Irfan from school this afternoon - Idlan was absent today, even though the fever was now gone - we headed out to 1Utama shopping complex as Anita wanted to get some presents for a friend's birthday. I took the opportunity to look at the decorations they had there.

I only had the time to venture around the lobby at the new wing. Being Ramadhan, we decided not to be too adventurous. The main foyer was transformed into one big stage. Themewise? Hmm … on the flowery side. I can imagine it being a blossom, with the petals forming a canopy for the little stalls they had there.

The main stage

Apart from that, there were nothing spectacular - like the winter wonderland from two Christmasses ago, or the famous sawah padi in the middle of the foyer, which was a big hit last Raya. I guessed things were pretty subdued everywhere …..

For those who are curious, this is the link to last year's sawah. And the video as well.