Happy Birthday Anita

Anita's Birthday 1, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

090909 marks Anita's birthday and being a good hubby, I organised a few things for her. However, since it was a normal working day, we only celebrated in the afternoon. Being Ramadhan we decided to have our iftar outside after she enjoyed her prezzies and flowers.

Shot of the Colonial-themed interiorI let Anita picked which restaurant she wanted to go to. She picked a new restaurant at Great Eastern Mall, a branch of Penang Village. The actual restaurant was as mentioned, newly opened. All the furnitures and trimmings were nice. The concept appeared to be English Colonial, which is understandable as Penang was one of the former English Straits settlement. And unfortunately, that was where the niceties end. It was meant to be a buffet, but the spread was rather pathetic for one. A price tag of RM45++? You got to be joking me. Put it this way, the food selection were spread along two tables, and that was it. Yeah, that would be OK for a private party, but to charge patron for that amount of money .... I thought it was ..... inadequate - being diplomatic here.

Anita enjoying her foodAnd how about the food? One thing that will always win buffet over for me is diversity. People coming to take on a buffet expects that there will be selections. Here, there was some sweets - mainly jelly or Malay kueh, a small selection for appetiser and salad - like 4 plates to choose from, the main course, being either white rice or 'tom yum' fried rice with about 7 dishes. If you don't fancy rice, there was either spaghetti or 'kuey teow'. The food were best described with the typical Manglish expression of 'so-so la' - reminding me of Idlan's music school where he had to sing out the notes - fa-so-la. To sum things out, I went for a take away right after the RM250 dinner ...... My mum-in-law in her typically acidic one-liner quipped - "better to eat at home".

Since we arrived there early and fed the boys there, they became restless by the time we finished our meals. Irfan especially was going hyper and I had to take him out for a walk in between my courses. It was not an altogether bad evening. Anita was happy with her gifts and well-wishes from her friends. When I updated my facebook status about 'my wife celebrating her brthday', one of my old collegemate replied that she wishes my wife a happy birthday and said sorry that she did not no her personally. When I told her who Anita is, she then realised that they used to share the same dorm while in college - Anita is my childhood sweetheart and we went to the same school before.

We came home relatively early with some take away of course. That was then I had my dinner. Will I recommend Penang Village to anyone? No for a buffet. It was simply a lame excuse for one. Maybe the ala cart menu is better. I suspect that that was how they usually do their business. The interior settings however was nice. There were big wndows with good view of the outside. I bet it would be nice during lunch.

Raya Shopping Time

090906 - The Curve 1, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

Yes, it's something I had to do. Even though most of the clothes and other things has already been sorted, we had to shop for some shoes among other things. My wife also have some book to order, so we headed for The Curve in Damansara. Since we did not sleep after sahur, W fed the boys early and was out of the house by 10.

The decor at IKANO Power CenterAt The Curve, the shops were just being opened. At the center of the main foyer, there are stalls being erected selling mainly clothes and accessories. There is also a stage presumably for fashion shows later. After picking up a few things we then stumbled across a pet shop at IKANO. We wanted to get some food for Peter and Jane, but turned out expanding the collection. We came across some hermit crab similar to the original Peter that we found in PD the other day. We picked it up plus a couple others.

Cupcake anyone?We reached home at lunchtime and the boys are already hungry. My mother-in-law asked if we were able to take her to Great Eastern Mall as she wanted to buy some tableware. No problem.

After lunch at the Chicken Rice Shop, we went to get some clothes for Julia's daughter, Nana. It's her birthday tomorrow. We also got some toys for the boys. Rather than heading straight back home, we stopped over at the Pasar Ramadhan at Ukay Perdana and Melawati. I finally made it home at 5.30. It's 8.30 now after dinner. I am just too tired to go for Terawikh. I'll pray at home instead.

The pets are all fed, the boys are already calling to put them to bed. Have to log off.

Contructions behind our house

Contructions behind our house, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

It has been a long day of updating my websites. It seems that Idlan's website has been updated and should be up and running now. I will be putting the finishing touches on my main photoblog later tonight and hopefully everything should be ready after a couple for hours. What is left is to decide on the domain name. I will keep everybody updated with that. It's however time for berbuka puasa.

PD - Final Day

PD 2-5, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

We only stayed in PD until Merdeka Day. Since we did not hit the beach on the second day, the boys demanded that we go down before we leave for KL. The morning was rather windy and overcast, so we made our trail at around 10am.

Thistle main lobbyAs usual, they were playing in the sands. Since the tide was low, some of the sands that they dug contained shells and crabs. That got them really excited. Idlan then took up a crabshell and his pet and named him Peter. We spent a good hour at the beach until the clouds open up and the day became too hot. I got some sunburn on my back since I took off my shirt when I went for a dip. It is still smarting now and I think the skin is going to start peeling soon.

We then took Peter and some live shells up to our apartment. Idlan wasnted to bring the crabshell home. However, I was not sure if we can look after it in KL, so I had to let it back to the see. On the way back to KL, Idlan kept on crying. He was still asking about Peter when he woke up the next day. That's when we decided to get him a pet. That's why we got the current Peter and Jane for him.

Ping Pong anyone?We got back to KL at around 4. The traffic was heavy around Seremban, but it got better right after. All together, it was a nice weekend. I just cannot believe how cheap the food was over there compared to here in KL. A Ramadhan buffet at a 5-star facility for under RM40? That will just not happen in KL.

Jane RIP

Peter, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

After berbuka, we headed out to Great Eastern Mall to get the replacement for Jane. The traffic was very light on the way in which is a change. It was an all together pleasant ride.

The interior of the Malay Kampung House at the lobbyWe initially stopped at the main lobby. There was a mock house built as part of the Eid celebration, and the decor inside the house was authentic Malay Kampung style. The lobby was filled with stalls selling containers and porcelains for 'kuih raya'. After a quick browse we then head straight for business. We picked up a replacement for Jane and told the salesgirl what had happened. She was rather vague actually. Hopefully Peter and the new Jane will not end up like the original Jane.

Yummy SashimiVisiting Great Eastern Mall gave me the opportunity to visit Express Sushi again at the LG floor. We got our usual fix and brought home some handroll and sashimi. The food was nice as usual. The owner Michael was in, so we had a quick check. He gave me a new handroll to try on the house, and I was obliged to post some picture of it. No! Not because they are free, but because they are damn nice! Do check them out if you are around GE Mall.