A Sunday Without Its Steak
Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 9:02PM 
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A sunny start to the Sunday — KL doing that thing again where it remembers it's tropical and turns the brightness up to full. There's a particular quality to Sunday sunshine that weekday sunshine simply doesn't have. Same sun, different posture. Less demanding.
Rounds went smoothly, mercifully brief. Sunday rounds have their own rhythm — quieter corridors, fewer interruptions, everyone moving at a slightly more humane pace. By the time I was done, the day still had most of itself to give.
Which I duly spent at Low Yat, on a mission for a charger and a USB dock. There's a particular pleasure in wandering Low Yat with a specific list — it gives the place a shape it doesn't otherwise have. Without a mission, it's a labyrinth of cables and screens and salesmen pretending not to watch you. With one, it's a treasure hunt. Both items located, prices reasonable, the small satisfaction of crossing things off a list. A good morning's work.
Lunch was ramen at Kagura Tokyo in Lot 10. The kind of meal that suits a sunny solo Sunday — sit at the counter, watch the steam curl up, eat with proper attention. Ramen rewards focus. Eat it distracted and you've missed the point. I gave it the attention it deserved.
A wander through Pavilion afterwards. Relatively quiet for a Sunday, which was a small mercy — none of the usual weekend density, just enough people to make it feel alive without making it feel like a contest. I drifted rather than shopped. Sometimes that's the better way.
Anita was out with her friends, which meant the afternoon belonged to me and a few quiet domestic tasks. Some cleaning, nothing heroic — the sort of tidying that creates the illusion of productivity while requiring almost no thought. The house seemed pleased about it, in its way. There's something restful about an afternoon spent indoors with no particular destination, the windows open, the day moving past at its own speed.
A small departure from the usual: no steak cooking tonight. Sundays have built themselves a tradition around steak in this house, and breaking it once in a while feels almost transgressive. But traditions need the occasional pause to keep their meaning. The cast iron pan gets a night off.
The sunset, though — the sunset earned its keep. One of those proper KL sunsets that takes the sky through every shade of orange and pink before settling into a soft, lingering blue. The balcony was the only sensible place to be. I obliged.
And now, with the evening settling in, attention turns to Old Trafford. United's last home game of the season tonight. More poignantly, Casemiro's last appearance there. There's a particular weight to these farewell matches — the sense of a chapter closing, the crowd preparing for something they'll only fully feel in retrospect. He's given the place a great deal. The least one can do is watch.
A good Sunday, all told. Even without the steak.
The Third Floor Cafe
Big books. And good coffee. On a Sunday afternoon. Sounds like a perfect way to end the week.
That was what I had earlier today when I ventured to Isetan at Lot 10 as I got a spare couple of hours. The initial plan was to see a 3D printing demonstration but I realised that the timing was not right. I had to be back home before the program started. So, the hour sipping coffee and browsing books at the third floor at the Isetan store sounded fine to me.
I decided against buying the books as I had to trek back to another store where I parked my car and I had a couple of stops in between. Maybe I would come back to buy some books. It would complement the volume I had in my living room nicely.
Apart from the cafe and books, the third floor were also dedicated to workshops for origami as well as all things Japanese. Take that day for instance, there was a Japanese artist who came to do a demo on 3D glass printing. There were more activities laid out for the rest of the year - which you had to enrol and pay for of course. I might just bring Idlan there one of these days if the event was right ... he loved origami.
Lot 10 hosted - and still hosts - the first Isetan Store in Malaysia. There were a few others now but the one in Lot 10 had been renovated into what was termed a “Japanese Concept Store”. It had ample space with plenty of room to browse around. There were no items cluttering the walkways and it did not have the typical “pushy” salesperson common in KL. You can just walk around without being bothered. Definitely a place worth visiting ....