Chawan Time

I think I would turn this into a ritual. From now on, upon returning home from trips abroad, I would have a meal at Chawan. It felt good when I did it earlier for dinner. It was helped with then fact that the admission were nice and slow. I was starving when I reached there after my first series of admission.

I ordered the usual - daging salai masak lemak. It went down very well indeed. I guessed the bland seafood of Atlanta finally took its toll. I really could do with Anita's cooking and now, some local favourite. And proper coffee as well! Not the usual Starbucks fare. We were talking Kopi Kampung type here.

That was it. It was now officially a ritual!

Birthday at Songket

It was my brother-in-law's birthday today, and last night, we joined him and my in-laws for dinner. Anita picked the place and she came across a Malay restaurant along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng called Restoran Songket. It had a snazzy website, and Anita was quickly drawn to it. Made our reservation and got there early just in case the heaven's opened and traffic became mad. And it was a revelation.

Nestled quietly behind a bigger mall - can't recall the name of it, but where Tomy Roma's restaurant was located - one had to pay attention to the turn. If you were to miss it, then one might get stuck in the traffic on turning back. Any how, it was well sign-posted and we got there the first time. Parking was ample, although the lighting around the car park was rather dim. I did not see any security guard posted there, but I assumed that there were.

There were couple of parts to the restaurant. The open area and a more conventional in-door dining near the bar. There was also a private room, but you would miss one of the main attraction to the restaurant - the dance show.

We were seated at the terrace, a nice airy covered area, right along the dance show area. The waiters there were very personable and attentive. The menu were straight forward, and they gave us clue as to the portion. The waiters seemed to know the menu items intimately as they described them pretty well. I was impressed. Our orders were complicated but all the items arrived even though we did not see the waiter taking any note to the order.

Then, there was a cultural show. We were not talking about a 5 minutes do by some amateurs here. These were proper dancers, and their set lasted 45 minutes - going through the routine of Malay, Indian and Chinese dances - complete with interactions with the audience, ending with photo op should you wished to join. If you have a foreign visitors coming to visit and you were looking for some authentic local food, with a bona fide cultural show in a great ambiance, you could not be wrong.

Let's talk bout the food. The starters were disappointing. I had some tauhu sumbat and otak-otak. Pretty average. But the same cannot be said about the main dishes and soup. They were very good. Not the best - but it won't embarrass your foreign guest if you brought them there. The best dish I had that night was adam pedas. The oxtail soup was rather too mild - but I was sure you could ask for a spicy one should you wished for as the staffs there were so attentive.

The staff found out that it was my brother-in-law's birthday, but we couldn't find the time to get him a cake. The staff soon sorted that out with a complimentary slice. Well played the manager!

We were greeted by the manager and the chef on the way out after the meal. I must say that I was impressed with the service, and would definitely bring a foreign visitor should I need to show one around. I was sure that it would be a memorable evening for them. A word of caution for the Moslem readers, as although eh food served there was Halal, the restaurant also ran a bar, and served wine. They assured me that the dishes were separated though, and I have no doubt that they do.

The price was also very reasonable - I was the one paying the bill. The bottom line was, I would definitely be coming back to the restaurant.

And Then It Was Dinner

I managed to reach the hospital just before prayers, saw my patients before going off again. By the time I finished the afternoon clinic, I was right tired.

As soon as I reached home, Irfan asked to go to The Curve. He wanted the pizza at Marche. Idlan seconded that. And I was pushed to a corner. Decision was made. And off we went to Damansara in the middle of the rain.

I want my pizza!That's a lot of potatoThe place was not as packed as it usually was. Parking was easy. As we were all tired and starving, we went straight to Marche. For some reason, I didn't feel in the mood for any meat. It was vege all the way for me. And some pasta.

So, what was after dinner. Maybe a quick walk around the mall to ease the food down ..... Good night!

Looking Forward

After the busy month, with illness and weekend calls, I finally got a relatively free weekend coming up - although they were never completely free in my line of work. So, I was already stating to wind down even in the Friday afternoon.

We went out for dinner after work Friday, with the boys insisting on Chinese. KLCC was where we headed. And oh boy, did the boys love their Chinese food. We actually had to order extra. It was definitely worth the trip.

For the rest of the weekend, I will be joining my photography friends after work on Saturday, for the Scott Kelby Photo Walk. I attended it since 2009, helped organise it in 2010, but could only afford to be a participant forest year and this weekend due to work commitments.

This would be the fifth installment of the walk. In the years past, we were lucky that the weather had always been kind. The forecast for the weekend was not so great however. For the last week, KL had been having heavy downpours in late afternoons. And to make matters worst, there would be an event in the middle of KL town where a few of the main roads would be closed for the afternoon and evening! Traffic going to be a problem.

Therefore, I have decided to park my car at KLCC and take the public transport across. I would need a comfortable shoes then - and of course a full charge on my phone and camera.

For Sunday, I would have to go to Low Yat to make a survey. My Haematology Society was planning to buy a laptop. I did some survey a few months back but I was sure that the prices were already outdated. And it didn't take much of an excuse to convince me to go for another wall there. Strictly business of course.....

Looking forward to a full weekend.

Julia visits Zehn

The dinner went well. Although the initial plan being just my parents to come along, my sister and her family came along as well which was great. And I was able to hang around for the few hours they were at the apartment while Siti for the admission to come through. And dinner was great.

The children brought their swimming gears along but the moment they got over into the apartment, they just parked themselves in the playroom. No swimming then. And it was havoc.

Anita cooked nasi minyak complete with the condiments. We chatted until it was time for me to start my evening rounds. And even then, the children were still playing. We better get them to pack their clothes next time to spend the night here.