Avengers are Back

Age of Ultron would be the next instalment of the Avengers series. And it was coming out in a couple of weeks. Looks like the media hype was at full swing.

There was plenty of adverts going out on billboard, but the most cheesy one was definitely the exhibits and memorabilia at Mid Valley Megamall.

There was plenty of merchandise as well as games, all for good fun. Apart from giant replicas of Hulk and Ironman, nothing really caught my fancy. They only had a small Loki doll on show. If Tom Hiddleston were to make an appearance, then that would be something else. I would queue for that...

Even Idlan didn't find the exhibits to be that interesting. But he was looking forward to watch the movie. So, I guessed mission accomplished as far as the organisers were concerned. ‎

A Long Sunday

Started the day with a long ward round, then rushing straight for lunch at China Treasures to celebrate Idlan's and Mum-in-law's birthday lunch. Luckily, we spent the Saturday evening at the apartment as I was called in during dinner last night. The journey to hospital to start the day was pretty short.

Lunch was great. It was especially good when my brother-in-law paid for it, with 20% discount with me being a Sime Darby contractor. The boys especially ate plenty.

This was followed by a short drive to amid Valley Megamall for one of Idlan's classmate's birthday party. It was Laser Quest! Oh boy! The boys went berserk in the arena. Irfan did not join his brother, giving a tummy ache as an excuse.

Next was a drive to Bangsar Village to buy some games for Idlan as part of his birthday. Of course, Irfan also got one.

Back to the apartment afterward as I had plenty of paperwork to finish, before it was time for the Thomas Cup Finals. It looked like Malaysia won't be able to make it ...

We left for Gombak just after Maghrib after the boys finished their homework. Certainly a full day, and I was sure I would be knackered later tonight .... Weekend was gone!

Dark Knight Rises

It was a bit tricky to blog about a third installment of a series when you did not pay attention to the first, and completely missed the second. Well, that was me with the Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy. I saw the first one on ASTRO, missed the second and watched Dark Knight Rises last weekend. And, true to the artful direction of Mr Nolan, I was able to keep abreast with the plot.

Close to three hours and the pace of the movie was relentless. Complete with a revelation in the end. The special effect was spectacular, but the storyline was strong enough to carry the movie through. At the end of it, it was pretty clear that Anne Harthaway can kick ass and there were room for sequel, although Christopher Nolan had made it clear that he would not be continuing with the franchise. Better quit when you were on top I supposed, because it would be kind of difficult to top this one. Great action, great storyline and superb acting, especially by the supporting cast, although through to any Batman movies, one should not take the plot too literally. Otherwise, how could you explain being alive after being trapped underneath subway rubles for three months.

I watched the movie with Puan Anita at Mid Valley, on my first day off for Raya. And as you could imagine, we were interrupted a few times with phone calls calling for errands. And even then, it was easy to get in and out of the movie. Now, what we had to do was watch the second installment. I thought it was playing on ASTRO. A highly recommended movie.

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.

Tickets for the Smurfs

Bloated from yesterday, I missed breakfast. We spent the morning in front of the television and cleaning the room. Most of our friends and relatives were still in their kampung, so we decided just to have lunch outside while having a look at how deserted KL had been.

We were quite surprised that when we approached Mid Valley, all the carpark indicated red, meaning full. We were lucky that the parking tickets were still issued as I desperately needed to get to Gardens today. The reason, tickets for tomorrow's show of the Smurf! We settled for a parking bay on level B4, right at the bottom.

There were still plenty of tickets available for the afternoon show tomorrow. After the tickets were sorted out, there was a small matter of lunch. As usual, the boys wanted pizza, and we landed at Alexis.

Settling down for lunchMy cod. Looked dry, but was actually rather nice.The salad and pizzaThe place was full, but we managed to get the sofa seats still. A pleasant lunch as the boys were treated to a nice pizza - we had to order two since they finished both. I had some cod for a change, and it was not that bad. My rocket salad was a bit dry today, the leafs were rather too bitter and hard.

Irfan's chamomile teaEmpty-looking Mid Valley GardensWe sat down for tea - Irfan had his dose of chamomile, hence he was pretty chilled after that. Headed over at Isetan, where Anita bought a dress, before heading back home in an almost empty Federal Highway.

Looking forward for the Smurfs tomorrow ….