Xmas Decorations Exploration - Great Eastern Mall

In keeping with the 1Malaysia spirit, Xmas is the time when Malaysians from all walks of life celebrate few things in common. It's the end of the year, school is off, the paycheck comes early, usually with bonus on tow and you can see sales everywhere! 1Malaysia indeed! So we celebrate it as with our brothers and sisters in this great nation of hours ….. we go shopping!

The foyer from the 3rd floor

In the last few weeks, we took the time to visit many of the shopping malls around Lembah Kelang. Most of the big ones were covered, some have already been blogged. During this weekend alone, we visited three. The keyword there was 'visit'. We hardly bought a thing. What typically caught my eyes were the decorations. The first one I liked to mention is the Great Eastern Mall. We went there for dinner last Friday evening. The was a Jazz Band coming to play at Alexis, so that's where the hip crowd were. In the main foyer, they have stalls and a stage. Apparently, during weekends, there will be visits by Santa and his helpers. Rudiolf included as well.

Idlan, Puan Anita and IrfanThe decor there was children friendly compared to other places. There is a snowman, a few Christmas trees. There was a stall keeper handing over candies to kids when we were walking by. The stalls mainly sold ornaments, cards and toys. Not much to shout about really. Maybe because it was in the evening, there were hardly anything going on. According to the shop keeper, there will be carol singing, life band, balloons and other fun stuff during the weekend. That will be a better time to come visit.

After checking out the stalls, taking pictures and mingling about, we headed upstairs for dinner at Cozy House. It was usually packed but for some reason tonight, it was quiet. For some reason, I fancied a steak. The way it was written on the menu made me order it. Apparently it was supposed to be spicy. After all, the name was 'Bombay Steak'.

The not so well done Bombay Steak - you can even almost taste the blood. O positive I think - don't argue, I'm a HaematologistWe soon found out why they were losing clientele. The food was not like it used to be, and a far cry from its sister restaurant, Cozy Corner at Ampang Park. In fact, the food there had also deteriorated if you read my entry a few months back. Not only that there was hardly any spice, the 'well done' steak I ordered came almost straight from the fridge. Nearly as raw as the sashimi I enjoy. The fried rice was not great either and Irfan only managed a couple of bite. Since the theme seemed to be raw, we might as well head to the basement floor to Express Sushi for some proper raw stuffs.

We did some groceries right after that before heading home. The verdict - better to head there during daytime especially weekends. There will be much more activities there then.

Date of visit - Friday, 11th December 2009

The best potato salad in town - Express Sushi, Great Eastern Mall

The first stop was Great Eastern Mall. We got there early and did some groceries at Cold Storage downstairs. We then ventured up to the main lobby. Apparently for the last week, there were booths and stalls selling Halloween paraphernalia. Unfortunately Halloween was last night and most of the stalls have already packed up. I am sure the boys would've enjoyed coming here last week.

For lunch, we headed for Express Sushi. The food was excellent as usual, and the highlight for today is the potato salad and grilled cod. The grilled cod was especially nice. It was the first time we tried it. It was simple enough. Grilled with just some oil and sesame seeds, with a splash of soy sauce. The texture was just right and the potion was reasonably big.

IKEA was next .....

The best potato salad in town - Express Sushi @ Great Eastern Mall

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At Great Eastern Mall for a spot of heavenly sushi-ness

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Look at my new shoes - Cuti Raya Day 2

Kasut baru, kasut raya, originally uploaded by Haris Abdul Rahman.

A rather dull day today. Anita had to go to Putrajaya to settle the maid's permit for next year, and I babysat the two boys. She was back by 1 and we planned to do some shopping later in the day and get a haircut for Idlan. His fever is now better and he is getting restless to leave the house. Since Anita and her Mum was tired from the Putrajaya journey, they took a nap before we left.

We set out at around 3.30. The traffic was really bad along MRR2 and Jalan Ampang. We finally reached the Great Eastern Mall carpark just before 6! 2 and a half hour journey to travel 7 miles! Madness. Apparently the Minister has announced that tomoorow will be a day off for schools. The parents hence set about to leave for kampung tomorrow and went into a last minute shopping frenzy. The traffic was basically jam-packed, not just at Jalan Ampang, but most of the trunk roads into the City Center. We were lucky that the boys were still under control in the car, and nobody needed to rush to a toilet.

Since time was tight, we got the shoes for the boys. Irfan actually picked her own (above). Apparently the spider on the laces were the clincher. He can't stop running around in them right after. We then headed to Cozy House to see if there are any empty table for iftar. We were turned away however. Reluctantly we had to settle for a table at Penang Village right next door. I decided to have Japanese instead at Express Sushi. It worked out better for me I think.

Luckily the traffic back was smooth. By the time we reached home, everybody was already tired. Time to catch some zzzz. I am taking my Uncle to see the Urologist tomorrow, so going back to UMMC for a bit tomorrow morning.

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