Catching Up, and Catching Breath

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoThe day began in good faith — a clean stretch of sun through the window, the kind of light that makes you briefly believe you're on top of things. I started with the football, as has become the habit. The World Cup unfolds mostly while we sleep out here, so mornings have turned into a sort of forensic exercise: reading the scores I missed, piecing together what the night got up to without me. It's an odd way to follow a tournament, arriving always after the fact, but I've made my peace with being a step behind the world.

The drive in belonged to Jimbo and the Totally lot, broadcasting their cheerful post-mortems from Los Angeles after every matchday. There's something pleasingly absurd about it — three or four blokes by a Californian pool, dissecting Messi and Mbappé while I sit in Klang Valley traffic with the air-conditioning labouring. They are good company, even at a distance of several thousand miles and a great many time zones. The drive passed quickly, which is rarely a thing I get to say.

And then the day, having lulled me into false confidence, showed its hand. Clinic was packed — properly, relentlessly packed, the sort of session where you look up and an hour has gone missing and the waiting room has somehow refilled itself behind your back. I worked through it with the slightly hunted feeling of a man trying to outrun his own schedule, and lost. By the time I surfaced I was late for the lunch meeting with the pharma people, arriving with apologies already forming and a plate that had clearly been waiting longer than I had.

There was no graceful pause after that. Straight from lunch into rounds, and from rounds into admissions, the afternoon folding in on itself with no obvious seam between one task and the next. It was the kind of day that doesn't so much pass as get survived — busy in a way that leaves you slightly surprised, at the end, to find you've reached it.

But reach it I did, and earlier than I had any right to expect. The admissions settled, the work behind me, I made it home with the evening still mostly intact — a small mercy that felt entirely disproportionate to the effort it took to earn.

We capped it off with a nightcap at the Gardens, the unhurried sort of outing the day had been refusing me all along. Quiet, easy, the lights low and the pace finally my own. And over it, we did the satisfying thing: finalised the August holiday. Dates settled, the shape of it agreed, that pleasant administrative glow of a plan made real. There's a particular contentment in fixing a future good thing in place — a thing to lean towards on the heavier days.

A day that ran ahead of me from the whistle, and somehow still ended kindly. I'll take the catching-up, the catching-breath, and the small promise of August.

The Day That Changed Its Mind

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoThe plan was simple: do nothing. Second day of Raya, nowhere to be, no obligations pulling at the sleeve. The kind of day you sketch out in your head as a long, unbroken stretch of idleness. But days, as a rule, don't much care for plans.

Word came through that there had been a death — these things arrive without warning, as they always do, rearranging the shape of a morning in an instant. Abang Razak and I made our way to the mosque for the prayers. There's not much to say about these moments that isn't already understood. You go, you stand, you offer what you can, which is mostly just your presence. The ritual holds you when words fall short.

We were finished by lunchtime, and the pivot from solemnity to sustenance felt natural enough. We headed to Rebung, which was mercifully quiet — school holidays keeping the usual crowds at bay. There's a particular pleasure in Rebung when it's not heaving: you can actually taste the food rather than simply survive the queue. The spread was as generous as ever, and we ate with the unhurried appreciation of people who'd earned their lunch through an unexpectedly full morning.

The afternoon belonged entirely to the sofa. I napped with the kind of commitment that borders on athletic, only to surface later with a headache that suggested I'd perhaps overdone the horizontal. There's a cruel irony in sleeping so hard you wake up feeling worse. The body has a strange sense of humour sometimes.

By evening, though, things had recalibrated. Dinner at Gardens was the gentle reset the day needed — pleasant surroundings, good food, the headache retreating somewhere behind the second glass of water. Meanwhile, Anita had shifted into preparation mode for Julia's visit next week, which involves a particular kind of domestic energy that I've learned to observe from a respectful distance. Cushions get repositioned. Surfaces get scrutinised. Standards are applied that I didn't know existed.

Later, we settled in for a film — Mercy, which turned out to be a decent way to close a day that had covered rather more ground than anticipated. From mosque to movie, via Rebung and a regrettable nap. Not the day of pure relaxation we'd envisioned, but something richer for its detours.

Clinic tomorrow, which means the holiday is officially folding itself away. But there's no complaint in that. The break did what breaks are supposed to do — it broke things up, shifted the rhythm, let the ordinary fall away for a few days. Back to it, then.

Xmas at The Gardens

As usual, the decorations at The Gardens, next to Mid Valley Megamall had always been simple but classy. And for this Xmas, they certainly delivered again.

The decorations were mainly lanterns and Xmas tree. There were no stages, no Father Xmas and no stalls. Just decorations and that was about it. Which was a contrast to Mid Valley Megamall next door.

There, they were still building the main stage at the foyer. I saw a chess board, a tall Xmas tree and a few stalls being erected. They should be ready by the weekend. Nothing fancy there.

Return to Alexis

Alexis at The Gardens, Mid Valley used to be a popular place for us to have lunch. Unfortunately, since a change of menu and the predictable drop in quality, we only went there often. After about 7 months, we were there again for lunch on the Chinese New Year Eve.

The place was empty, as you would expect when we sat at the sofa seats by the entrance. We then realised that they had extended the restaurant. It now occupied the whole wing, more or less twice the size it was before. The food remained the same although I was disappointed with my rocket salad. The main was all together a different story.

The rocket salad looked better than it tasted. It wasn't as fresh as I would have wished, and they put too much pepper in it.Next came the really nice, oven-cooked pizzaThe wagyu was definitely the highlight. Heavenly!The wagyu beef steak was exquisite. It did not come cheap however and I ended up sharing with Anita. The boys had one whole pizza each and try finished them. And Irfan enjoyed his chamomile tea.

A dash of honey in his chamomile of course ....Taken from the floor above, the restaurant had expanded to occupy the whole end of the wing.The wagyu was definitely very nice indeed and the side mashed potato and sauce was also hard to beat. A definite recommendation.

Kid's E World

The boys were craving to go to the park but the weather was too hot and it was only 3 pm. We were at Mid Valley Gardens and we decided to give Kid's E-World on the top floor a go.

The place had been open since last year but we never got around to try it. Entrance fee was rather steep at RM50 per head, plus the boys had to pay for the socks. Parents get in free of course but you had to purchase socks if you were not wearing one.

A quick drinks while the boys were creating havocThey made it quite clearThe boys doing the plottingThe place was actually bigger than it looked from the outside and true to the amount you paid for entrance, the facilities there were very well maintained. The toilets were clean and children friendly. They also had a small cafe for snacks. Nice open space for the children to roam around but it would soon get too crowded as they had separate area for toddlers and older children.

Quite a decent area to sit inA quick chargeThe waiting area for parents were quite comfortable. The entrance fee was good for the whole day, so you could come in and out as many times as you wanted to. Handy! I was not sure if they had a drop in service but I wouldn't be surprised if they do.

With such a high entrance fee, I couldn't help but to feel that the place should offer more. My kids enjoyed it however and that was the main thing. As long as I had a bean bag, I wouldn't be complaining either. Oh! And did I mention about the free wifi? Hehehe! Win!

I also taken a short video,uploaded to Youtube here.