Packing Done

Yes! It was finally sorted out. I was just being lazy actually, as everything was a lady mapped out since yesterday. I spent the evening mainly sorting out the paperworks, as well going through things from work before flying off. I finally managed to dumped everything into the bag, plus plenty more free space left. Anita gleefully pointed that out, as to make sure I had plenty of space bring things back from London later.

I think I got most things mapped outThe itinerary sortedI still had some work tomorrow, so I was hoping to be able reach home in time to wind down before traveling to KLIA at around 7.45. The flight would be just before midnight, but I planned to check my stuffs in at KL Sentral. I would just be carrying my laptop bag and a couple of books on the flight. Unfortunately, I don't think they have internet on MAS yet.

Voting Time

Since joining University Malaya as a Faculty Member back in 2004, today was the first time I had to exercise my vote in selecting the new Dean. In the years gone past, this had gone uncontested and the whole selection exercise went on without a fuss. Apparently not so this year. There was some opposition to the incumbent and the Faculty Members were feeling the heat.

The selection was done via a ballot paper, and it was held through out the week until this Friday. Since I would be away from Wednesday, the only real opportunity I had was today. Since it was pretty late when I got to the Faculty Ofice, there was hardly a queue. According to the Committee, there were close to 600 members in the Medical Faculty alone eligible to vote, and it was pretty slow going today still. Maybe some of the members were away on school holidays and would only be back later in the week.

Hopefully the resu,ts would be made known later this months. In the meantime, here's hoping for a fair election. May the best candidate wins.

Chinoz for the Roast

After the morning ward round today, I had to head out to get the boys haircuts. The choices were pretty clear - it was either The Curve, Great Eastern Mall or KLCC. Since we wanted to have some lunch, plus I needed to head for the currency exchange, I thought the best bet was KLCC. There was Saw Hair Saloon there as well - which I mentioned in another entry.

For lunch today, we headed for Chinoz at the Park, on the Ground Floor of Suria. They do serve a mean pizza there. After being sat, the waiter mentioned that on every Sunday Lunch, the do a roast buffet. I wouldn't mention the price, but I thought Puan Anita deserved a treat with me flying off to London in a couple of days for a conference. Roast buffet it was, and I must say, it was gorgeous.

The buffet was actually very simple. You pick up your starters from the buffet spread, then the mains - a choice of lamb, chicken or beef - I went for chicken, never really into lamb of beef if I can help it, unless it was cut as a sirloin. And grilled well done. Then you finish things off with desert and either coffee or tea. As usual, the boys had their pizza.

Even though the starter spread was simple, it did offered what I wanted. You can have a couple of choices of pre-prepared salad, plus other entree such as roasted asparagus, smoked salmon, and my favourite, sashimi. I was almost done by the time I finished my starters. My roast chicken was succulent and the gravy was rich. Anita's roast beef was really soft, tender and very well cooked. No raw bits, and you can also have a Yorkshire pudding with that should you wish.

To finish things off, I had bread and butter pudding - with custard sauce of course, taking me back during my A level days when pudding was the highlight of the meal. Anita had apple crumbles instead. the boys had some brownies, which sent their sugar level through the roof. They were running around the foyer to burn it off after that.

At the end of the day, it was a very enjoyable lunch. Everything on the buffet spread was nice, and you certainly get your money's worth. I gather that they only offer this buffet on Sunday afternoon, from noon to about 3 pm - there was always afternoon tea after that. The choices when you get in, in terms of food on the buffet table was pretty straight forward. It also came with a complimentary cup of tea or coffee as well. Since it was a hot barmy afternoon, I ordered some extra fruit juice to go with it.

Saw it Coming

After the nice roast lunch we had, having fueled up the boys with sugar up to the eyeballs with brownie dessert, we took them to the fourth floor of Suria for their haircuts. Saw was the destination, and the joint has recently been renovated and reopened. Yes, it was a tragic name for a hair saloon, especially if you just came out of the cinema watching Sweeney Todd, if you catch my drift.

Over the years, the stylist came and went. Three years ago, when Idlan was still a toddler, he had the same guy doing his hair every couple of months or so. Unfortunately the gentleman left. Since then, we just had the hair trimmed by who ever was available. Today, we had a new stylist, judging from what he did earlier, we might come again and request for him. For a Sunday, the place was relatively quiet. In terms of price to pay, it was surprisingly affordable. Myself personally, I always prefer the mamak. In fact, I had to go and have a cut today actually. I need a trim before traveling to London in a couple of days. Come to think of it, I would need to pack.

Al Manar

One of the beauty of living an old, established neighborhood was the small things in life. Shops nearby. More often than not, established route to escape in and out of town, mosque, reliable neighbours. Should there be death or hardship, there would always be people around you to offer help. That was part of the reason why decide against moving out from Anita's parents' place despite having a place of our own. We at least know that our children would be safe if left at home. It also stopped us from worrying about what our parents were up to.

Another plus was, place for our children to learn the Quran and Fardhu Ain. Even though they have such classes in Sri Utama, we did not feel that secular and religious study should be tied together so closely. Luckily we had Al Manar School just a couple of blocks away from our place here. It has proven so popular that some of Idlan's classmates also joined him there.

Al Manar is actually a chain of Quran schools for the under 12s with branches all over KL. The mostly occupy houses in residential areas but according to one of the Ustaz, they were starting to venturers into shop lots as well. Only last week, the opened a new branch at KLSC in Wangsa Maju. The classes were divided into two streams, Fadhu Ain and Quran. For Fardhu Ain, students were thought the basic from the beginning and they progress by passing exams every six months. They then move up a class. As for Quran recitals, they were divided into a few subclasses depending on how well they can read the verses. They started off from Muqaddam and work their way up to Quran.

Both streams were separate. So, you can be in level I Fardhu Ain but had already progressed to Quran. Both were not tied together. Idlan attended the classes since January, taking a couple of hours - from 5 to 7 pm - every Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. The classes were flexible, you can choose any of the available session Mondays to Saturday, maximum three two-hour sessions per week. He had enjoyed it so far since he was together with his friends from school. It was surely havoc there every session.

The teachers had so far been fond of Idlan. Maybe next year, we would be sending Irfan as well. At the moment, we have an Ustazah coming over every Wednesday to teach both of them Quran and other stuffs for a couple of hours. The boys were very fond of the Ustazah as well, which helped a lot.

If any of you are looking for a good Quran and Fardhu Ain classes, do give Al Manar a look. The fees were very reasonable and the Ustaz and Ustazahs there were genuinely nice. Highly recommended.