Them Butterflies ...

I was surprised to see all these flowers and butterflies all around Bangsar Village this morning when I was there doing some errands. It was something to do with Roald Dahl, but I did not have time to explore. Monday mornings aren't supposed to be a time for exploring the malls.

Still, it was rather interesting. But then again, Bangsar Village tended to have all this interesting stuff. This weekend maybe ....

Christmas Eve

It was a actually a great day out for us for Xmas Eve. After work, I took everybody out to Bangsar Village, where we had lunch and did some shopping. And shopping we did. I got myself a few shirts as well as hanging around with the boys while Anita tried out some clothes.

My boys went berserk on these Lego. Luckily they were tucked away behind a glass shield.A mountain of Ninja-go!The Dude and the Duchess. Our new favourite clothing shop!Very trendy clothes they areTime to murder some ice creamIdlan doing the murdering. With a bib of course!The messy aftermathAfter a stop for ice-cream, and then we went to the park. Ran around, for close to an hour before heading for an early dinner. We were lucky since the the place we went to - Delicious at Dua Residences - were filled to the brim by the time we left. There were Christmas Eve dinner as well as parties going on at the venue. And the food was great. I decided against roast chicken however, and had some steak instead.

Time for Christmas Eve dinner!TIDAK HALAL!By the time we reached home, everyone was tired. I was asleep at the sofa well before 10 pm and the boys had to wake me up to get back to the bedroom.

It was a full day indeed!

The Loaf, Bangsar Village

Even though Bangsar Village had been the place we roam regularly, today was the first time we stopped over into The Loaf. The myth was it was a simple bakery. The fact was far from that. It was way more than that. It was a proper bistro, serving a wide range of food, from local, to Italian and Western.

We went there to join Dina and Azmel, friends from the times Anita was in the UK. We met after Friday Prayers, while Idlan was at the Lego camp.

I ordered salad and salmon panini, even though I have had lunch earlier. Anita had some salad, but the best order was from Irfan, who had mushroom soup, garlic bread, chips and fruit punch. Dina and hubby had some pasta, and we managed to sample some of their food. No, much to Idlan's disappointment later, they did not do pizza - we went across to Ben's for that later.

The ambiance of the place was really cozy, complete with fake trees with sound of chirping birds coming off them. The lighting was really nice, and the tables were well spaced apart. There were also seatings by the walkway, but those were closed this afternoon.

Langkawi sunset on the right and fruit punch on the left

The nicely presented mushroom soupThe garlic bread was really good - Irfan finished two orders of them. The fruit punch was excellent - which again Irfan had two portions of. My panini was rather too salty - which I suspected came from the cheddar cheese they used but the salad was fresh. The balsamic vinegar to top my salad off was a bit too strong for my liking. I had a slightly different mocktail, called Langkawi Sunset, which was excellent as well.

The pasta as it happened was a revelation, and we soon realised that we should have ordered those instead. We were too full to order dessert, and by the time that was due, Idlan had finished his camp. He wanted to have pizza.

I would definitely return to The Loaf soon, to sample some more of what they had to offer. The menu suggested that it was suitable for either lunch, tea or dinner. I did not think that they offer breakfast. The waiters there were also very informed of the menu and described the food very well, to help us decide on what to order.

Irfan munching away at his garlic breadThe panini had arrivedMy potato and avocado saladAzmel and Dina were doneDina said that, she personally preferred the outlet at Pavilion. The menu there was slightly different apparently. She had been a veteran at The Loaf, even holding a store membership card to accumulate points and get discounts.

The outlet was located on the Ground Floor of Bangsar Village II, right next to Delicious, by the main foyer. This outlet definitely got our seal of approval.

Return to Marmalade

We moved Idlan's Lego camp to today from initially yesterday. That meant that I had to spend the afternoon at Bangsar Village, watching Irfan finish his delicious-looking pizza at Marmalade.

We have not been back to Marmalade for quite a while. There was a birthday party going on then, so we ha to settle for a table near the entrance. The good thing about Marmalade - and for that matter Fit For 2, on the top floor - they cater specifically for children. The menu was just right for them, basically a mix-and-match affair. You take one meal, and pair it with your drinks for a fixed price, and the choices were pretty good. and there were nice desserts to go with it for the parents.

And the milkshake to go with the pizzaIt was all done. Contrary to the reports on Facebook, I did not give a hand to finish off the pizza!There were macaroni and cheese, pizza and other pasties. Irfan had a mini-pizza and vanilla milkshake. As usual, he would pick the pieces of onions away from the main dough. But he managed to gobble everything down by the end - minus the onion bits of course!

Just in case you were with a child the next time you were in Bangsar Village are, do give either Marmalade on level 1 or Fit For 2 on level 3, a visit. You would be pleased!

Paper Origami Birds

I have been puzzled by this sudden invasion of birds in Bangsar Village II. I was assured that it had nothing to do with Ramadhan. They were everywhere, mainly by the staircases, hanging down from the ceiling. It blended well with their signature boxy lanterns that they had over there for many years.

They hang down from the topThey were not live birds though - I didn't think they would be able to cope with the droppings! They were paper origami birds. All appeared to be hand-made. A nice touch I thought!

Update on Sunday, August 7, 2011 at 10:13AM by Haris Abdul Rahman

This true story is of a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. She developed leukemia from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami (folded paper) cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese saying that one who created a thousand origami cranes would then be granted a wish. Her wish was simply to live. However, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died shortly after. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako. They also built a statue of Sadako holding a giant golden origami crane in Hiroshima Peace Park.

The bomb was dropped over Hiroshima on 6th August 1945. She was 12 when she died, 10 years after the bomb was dropped.