chinoz @ The Gardens

Tucking inSince I was grounded for the weekend, I went through some old pics and came across a series of photos during lunch at Chinoz, The Gardens. We were more familiar with the outlet at KLCC, with its cozy seating overlooking KLCC park. The boys love the pizza and tea over there. When we were shopping at The Gardens the other day, we decided to try this out. As usual, the boys asked for pizza and tea. I had my rocket salad, while Puan Anita wanted to sample the meatballs. Why meatballs? Previously when we went to the cinema at the Gardens - GSC if I’m not mistaken on the fourth floor - she ordered some meatballs and it was really good. We noticed that there was no kitchen at the cinema and the waiter did make an order through the phone. We wondered if it was from here.

Idlan looked really happy to have his teaTaking turnsMy salad - rocket, avocado and mozzarellaThe ambiance was unique since the outlet sits right I the middle of one of the main atrium, where the light coming from the top lit up the place pretty nicely. The downside is, everybody from the upper floors just need to look down to see you eat ….. We didn’t mind though and the seating was arrange spaciously with comfortable sofa. We made our order, and it came pretty quickly. The restaurant was half-full at the time.

The tea came first, followed by my salad. The salad was nice, similar to the one at KLCC. However, Puan Anita was disappointed that the meatballs was not what she had hoped for. The last one to come was the pizza. The pizza was fresh, and the ingredient I can imagine was top notch. But compared to the KLCC outlet, the cheese was not as tangy and the tomato was a bit on the sour side. Otherwise, there was not much to say. I think I made the mistake of ordering the Chinoz mocktail. It tasted of syrup.

Here comes the pizzaMeatballs!

Will we come again? I wouldn’t mind dropping by during a spot of shopping for a quick drink. For lunch, I would have still preferred Alexis on the first floor. The pizza and pasta there was nicer and we love the cushion seatings by the entrance there. Access to the carparks from both restaurant was simple. The only thing was the toilet. There was no space to wash hands at the restaurant and one had to go out and use the Gardens facilities. Unfortunately on the ground floor where Chinoz was located, the nearby toilet was of the premium variety. It would set you back RM5 to enter, but free if you have show them an RM100 receipt, Isetan or Robinsons store card, or any platinum credit card, which is rather silly. Suffice to say, we got all four of those listed above on the day ;).

chinoz @ THE GARDENS - G212, Ground Floor, THE GARDENS Mid Valley, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: +603-2287 8277

Update on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 9:27PM by Haris Abdul Rahman

The outlet has unfortunately ceased operation. The joint at KLCC is still open.

Game On!

Wow! Can we ask for more? Scholsey scored an injury time winner. It was not a great game with United struggling to open up City at the beginning. Once they managed to carve the defence, their finishing have been woeful. Towards the end, it was City who were more likely to score. Luckily the breakthrough came.

However the winner would have been meaningless without other event conspiring for us. Spurs did us a favour by getting Terry sent off and scoring a couple of goals past Cech. It could've been more. With Terry suspended, their next match playing against the physical Stoke side will be interesting. With 3 more league matches to go each, United is point behind with an inferior goal difference (Chelsea +54, ManYoo +51). Next match, playing against Spurs, at home. The remaining two fixtures after that will be Sunderland and Stoke. Chelsea will play Stoke next, followed by Liverpool away and finishing off with Wigan at home. The masterplan was to get win the remaining games while hoping Liverpool will be doing us a favour. I will be calling my Liverpool supporter friends and offering them some teh tarik!

Home Alone Still

Waking up!The myalgia - painful joints and muscles - was still troublesome this morning. Sore throat was a bit less and my nose started to leak last night. Took some antihistamine and I slept uninterrupted all night. Woke up this morning to the gorgeous weather.

Puan Anita had taken the kids to Bird Park. This morning, she said that Irfan got a slight temperature. It could be viral but it was too early to have gotten it off me. More likely from school. He wa still eating allright. The only concern was will it trigger his asthma again. We shall just wait and watch I think. I will have to drive him if he were to get an attack then.

Stock in the fridgeSome more stock just in case I dry outSome junk food of courseAll in all, I felt better today and if not for the joint pain and muscle ache, I would have been possibly more mobile. The headache was gone but it was more likely due to the 3 liters of water I gulped down and the bottle of Tropicana Twister. That's another 1.5L. I better watch out not to overload myself. If I feel better, I'll probably do some literature search for my papers, Internet connection permitting.

What I wouldn't do to be able to take my SLR out and take pictures this weekend. I was also meant to do some interviews on my patients forthe upcoming CML Workshop. That will have to wait I'm afraid.

Home Alone

Woke up this morning with a touch of myalgia and sore throat after a restless night. I just couldn't get comfortable despite going to bed at around 9pm. Still woke up tired. Aching everywhere. Since I had to go see my Mum - she was travelling to Desaru with her UMNO friends for the weekend - I decided to just ignore things and got myself up. After visiting my Mum and arriving at work, the tiredness just got worst. A slight temperature and I took some paracetamol.

Saw a couple of patients who needed sorting out and when I walked into the transplant unit, I felt that I had no energy left. And that was only 8.30. Unfortunately in the last week, I was in contact with a couple of cases of "the flu", so I thought to myself, be sensible, don't be a hero.

Got some advise from my ID colleague. I was sent for a throat swab and asked to leave work and quarantine myself. A quick discussion with Puan Anita, and it seems that I will be spending the weekend alone at our Cemerlang home. The plan for chilling and outing with the boys wet out the window. We were planning to go to Bangsar and then the Bird Park tomorrow. I was also given "the drug" if I were to get worst later in the day.

So, I was back home before noon after sorting out some paperwork and discussing about patients with my colleagues. I watched a couple of movies - Vantage Point with Dennis Quaid and Forrest Whittaker was quite good. Not sure what the plan will be for later since my WiMAX unit was at the other house. Will need to boot up the E71 into a base station then.

New Croc

The new Croc - same with Irfan'sMy trusty old red Disney Croc has served me well. I bought it almost three years now, and had been wearing them almost daily. The soles were all worn out as you can see from the picks, but the hinge on the cover was still perfect. Excellent pair of shoes, comfortable and tough. Among the best RM150 I ever spent. So it was time to part again from another RM150 for a new pair. Since I have some vouchers from buying my father’s pair from last week, I might as well buy them.

Look at the old one - sole completely worn out. Accident waiting to happen!Last weekend, I went to a branch of Croc retailers at IKANO and was really disappointed by the service - the staff kept ignoring myself and Puan Anita for a bunch of old fat expatriate with bimbo young Malaysian girlfriends. We finally given up when it turned out that they did not have the particular model that I wanted. Well, they might do but couldn’t be bothered to find them for me. The sad thing was, my Dad wanted a pair, and I bought it for him, and still the service did not improve. At least they were consistent. Treat Malaysian badly! Gave a piece of my mind at the check-out and the boy was startled that I expressed my feelings bluntly - plus a quick email to the branch manager the next day, who ‘promised to look into the matter and will always strive to provide the best service to all their our customers’. Bull!

The branch I visited this time was in Bangsar Village, and the service was miles better. Apparently it was run by a different franchise. The selection was a lot better despite smaller shop foot print. One query and the salesperson found the pair I wanted straight away. Sold! Better still, seeing how well they treated me, Puan Anita bought another pair for her and Irfan. Now, that’s how you do business! You be nice to your customers even if they are Malaysian, because they may have purchasing power as well!

So , I am now a proud owner of a new pair of Croc. So did Irfan and Puan Anita. We got a matching pairs for me and Irfan as well! He has been running around with them so far. As for my old pair ….. I think I should just keep in the cupboard. Yes, it can be slippery to wear at times, but it was still wearable. Maybe I’ll keep it for going to the beach at Port Dickson, and leave them at the apartment.

Just to prove that we really go way back;

In Cherating, December 2008

In Sungai Petani, May 2009

Shopping at Mid Valley

Doing what it does best, by the beach in Port Dickson