Lovely Night Out

The boys exams were coming to an end and Anita decided to have a break. It happened that the would be a birthday party tomorrow morning for one of Idlan's classmate, and we needed to go out to buy the presents. Rather than bringing the boys, we decided to go out, just the two of us. We ended up at the Curve.

The eerily quiet IKANOEven the kopitiam was quietI was expecting a big crowd at the Curve, this being a Friday Night and all. But surprisingly, it was pretty subdued. I walked across to IKANO to get a magazine, and the place was actually pretty empty. IKEA however was still packed as usual. After getting the presents, we settled down for a quiet dinner at the Apartment. Had an enjoyable dinner, finally only reaching home after ten to be scolded by Irfan ......

Finally dinnerEarly morning tomorrow for the birthday party. That would be at Wangsa Walk Mall at the cinema. We would be watching the Transformers ......

Playground

I had some extra teaching session this afternoon after I was finished in Kelang. As soon as I reached home, Puan Anita asked me to take her out for some groceries. The boys wanted to go to IKANO to play at the indoor playground and have dinner there. Since Idlan had hardly had any lunch, we decided to do dinner first. So we went to Italiannes at The Curve.

I blogged about the Xmas decor at The Curve before, so there were nothing new to report. Dinner was nice, until I realised that Italiannes is more adept at starters and small snacks rather than main courses. The pizza and bruchetta were glorious, but alas, the main - I ordered salmon with pasta and Anita had some seafood pasta aglio olio. Forgettable.

The front door of ItalianniesThe starter - deliciousThe main course - not soAfter dinner, we went across to IKANO. Anita did her shopping while I took the kids to the playground. It was located on the top - second - floor, right next to the pet store. Over the years, the place have evolved. It used to only have a single inflatable giant slide. It has a couple now and it has been changed, so the boys won't get bored. There were also Playstation console is you feel like it. It wasn't that full late in the evening, so the boys got the place to themselves.

All spent after half an hour in the playgroundLooking forward to more activities this weekend, though I will be occupied with a few lectures and essays to do. I'll also likely to be busy updating the hematologiPPUM.com site. I might take them out on one of the afternoons as well but not sure where to yet.

To IKEA we went

It was fast becoming a ritual now. Going out on Friday evenings. Friday tends to be a long day for me. Long clinic in the morning, well into the time to get ready for Solat. Occasionally I might have to return to clinic after that, tussling with the Neurologist who have since taken over my room for their clinic in the afternoon. Luckily, with the increased number of Medical Officers in the Unit, this was becoming less frequent.

After clinic, it was tutorial. Then some paperwork before signing off. I'll be doing the weekend round tomorrow morning, so I made sure that things were in order before leaving. The boys were screaming for me to take them out when I reached home, so after a quick discussion with Puan Anita, IKEA was the destination tonight.

The buzzing cafetariaSince I missed lunch, I had an early dinner upon arrival at IKANO. The IKEA cafe seemed very popular, even though it was just after 7 pm, it was already full. Luckily, the staffs there were very efficient and those who stopped there were eager to get on with their shopping. We got our food very quickly and got settled in. There were mainly seafood on the menu. I had some poached salmon. It was overcooked and dry, but not too bad. The boys had some nuggets and chips. They were already full after having tea at home before we came out, so they weren't that fussy. Puan Anita wanted to get a new blackboard for the boys, and that's what we got, plus some toys for good measure.

Now you see it ....It was going .....Now, it was half gone .....After putting the stuffs into the car, we then went for a stroll. It wasn't long before we all felt tired. We stopped for a quick coffee at Dome before calling it a night. Arriving home, I went through the story of the day so far. The Chilean miners. ManYoo preparing for the weekend's game. But the story of the day was definitely the announcement of the 100 floor skyscraper near Stadium Merdeka. I wonder where the money came from. Maybe it was from the thousands I have in my Amanah Saham ......

The reason why we went out in the first place .....

Birds @ IKANO

We have our school reunion coming up next weekend. Unfortunately I will be in Lumut at the time, but Puan Anita was keen to go. Yes, we went to school together. We were what you might say, childhood sweetheart. Yup! It is sad. We first went out in 1987, got married 1997, then got Idlan in 2004. We decided to enjoy our time in UK first before parenthood. It did not turn out half bad after all. Back to the reunion.

Yup! They brought the cages in

Since I will be able to make it, she will be going with a few of her old friends. You guessed it. New clothes, new bags, new make-up and most importantly, new contact lenses!. So, we went out to IKANO yesterday to get a new pair for her. When we stepped in, Idlan shouted out, “Hey! That’s the bird park in here!”. Apparently, for a couple of weeks, the KL Bird Park was doing a promotion at IKANO. They brought over a fair few of their prized possession and the main foyer were filled with birds inside a makeshift tent. The boys were not very keen to go in, so I was not sure how much we would have had to pay to get in. But if you spent more than RM100 at the centre - which we did - we were entitled to a special discount.

Irfan waiting for it all to cookRaw fish slices before being boiledIdlan contemplating his kind of lunchThe World Cup fever hitting the The CurveWe ended up having lunch there at the steamboat joint down there, then after a quick walk across to The Curve where we parked, it was time to go. Our new maid looked tired from her journey in the day before. We bought her toiletries and the kind then was back home.

New Croc

The new Croc - same with Irfan'sMy trusty old red Disney Croc has served me well. I bought it almost three years now, and had been wearing them almost daily. The soles were all worn out as you can see from the picks, but the hinge on the cover was still perfect. Excellent pair of shoes, comfortable and tough. Among the best RM150 I ever spent. So it was time to part again from another RM150 for a new pair. Since I have some vouchers from buying my father’s pair from last week, I might as well buy them.

Look at the old one - sole completely worn out. Accident waiting to happen!Last weekend, I went to a branch of Croc retailers at IKANO and was really disappointed by the service - the staff kept ignoring myself and Puan Anita for a bunch of old fat expatriate with bimbo young Malaysian girlfriends. We finally given up when it turned out that they did not have the particular model that I wanted. Well, they might do but couldn’t be bothered to find them for me. The sad thing was, my Dad wanted a pair, and I bought it for him, and still the service did not improve. At least they were consistent. Treat Malaysian badly! Gave a piece of my mind at the check-out and the boy was startled that I expressed my feelings bluntly - plus a quick email to the branch manager the next day, who ‘promised to look into the matter and will always strive to provide the best service to all their our customers’. Bull!

The branch I visited this time was in Bangsar Village, and the service was miles better. Apparently it was run by a different franchise. The selection was a lot better despite smaller shop foot print. One query and the salesperson found the pair I wanted straight away. Sold! Better still, seeing how well they treated me, Puan Anita bought another pair for her and Irfan. Now, that’s how you do business! You be nice to your customers even if they are Malaysian, because they may have purchasing power as well!

So , I am now a proud owner of a new pair of Croc. So did Irfan and Puan Anita. We got a matching pairs for me and Irfan as well! He has been running around with them so far. As for my old pair ….. I think I should just keep in the cupboard. Yes, it can be slippery to wear at times, but it was still wearable. Maybe I’ll keep it for going to the beach at Port Dickson, and leave them at the apartment.

Just to prove that we really go way back;

In Cherating, December 2008

In Sungai Petani, May 2009

Shopping at Mid Valley

Doing what it does best, by the beach in Port Dickson