Pavilion Xmas Decor

One of the advantage of a multi-cultural society is the regular festivities that we had. And during this period, the shopping malls in town would be lavishly decorated, filled with night lights and gimmick. Despite the economic slow-down and the recent haze, everybody were still looking forward for a bit of flair and creativity.

As of every year, I looked forward to what Pavilion had to offer. This year, it was more glitters than snow, with Swarovski being the main sponsor at the lobby. They had a five-storey Xmas tree on show, filled with crystals and lights. The train and the grotto made a comeback and the area by the main entrance and the fountain were filled with lights as well.

Last night, I had the chance to explore the place at night, trying to absorb the light show. The main lobby was still closed for installation last week, so yesterday was the first time I explored it as well.

It was the ASEAN Summit weekend and with Obama in town, we were expecting some traffic flow problems. Despite that, there were still plenty of people out on the Saturday night. I wonder what Nu Sentral and 1Utama have in store ….

Heavy Security Presence

Pavilion was located just opposite JW Marriott and during the weekend, President Obama was in town attending the ASEAN Summit Meeting. There was certainly heavy security, Police and Military presence in town, especially after what happened in Paris 10 days back.

Luckily the traffic interruption was more organised than I thought. Flow was actually pretty decent and I was able to get in and out of Pavilion without too much hassle. There was always traffic police pointing the way and there was hardly any queue. Timing was certainly of the essence and it was best to avoid the start and the end of the summit programme as those were the time when road-blocks were set up.

I was out there for a spot of dinner with Anita while enjoying the Xmas decorations. There were certainly plenty of security by the fountain, but that just added to the buzz of the place .....

A Quick Breakfast

I had an hour or so to spare after my ward round this morning before leaving for the airport. The boys were still in bed, so I called Puan Anita up telling her to get dressed and we had a quick drive towards Petaling Street for breakfast at the rustic Merchant's Lane.

It was the first time that Anita been there and she was really impressed. She spent most of the times taking photos and messaging her friends about the place. I would not be surprised if they would be spending a few mornings there in the coming weeks.

The place was still relatively empty when we arrived within half an hour of opening. I took her to the seats at the back, more secluded and more cosy. We had a lovely coffee and meal, and it was a shame that we had to leave so soon. I had a plane to catch ....

EAT ME!

I wasn't being rude here, but that was just the name of the cafe at Telawi, Bangsar which we visited last Saturday evening. Anita had been talking about having churros for quite some time. It brought back memories of us strolling at Hyde Park 20 years ago when we bumped into a stall selling what was called "Brazillian Doughnut". It suspiciously looked like churros though, and Anita loved that.

She finally got her wish, all the four of us parked our van at Bangsar Village II and walked across - in the haze - towards the cafe. It was located right next to KGB (Killer Gourmet Burger) - and I believed that they share the same owner.

It was essentially a cute little cafe mainly serving desserts and chocolates. Nothing heavy on the menu, and churros was one of the main feature. We sat down and Anita ordered the churros with milk chocolate dip, I had a creme brule while Irfan had a lovely chocolate waffles. The drinks were also pretty fancy with me ordering iced tea infused with mango.

The churros came out first, and it was rather hard - not as soft as I remembered and certainly it was no doughnut. My creme brule was excellent although it could do better with less herbs. Irfan's waffles was too rich and he only managed a quarter of the portion.

Anita's hot chocolate and my iced teaIrfan's pick soda floatsIrfan desperately trying to go through his waffleDone with my creme bruleThe decorations was best described as pastel-theme. The seats were confortable and once you were inside, you would be insulated from the noise outside. The soothing background music also made a difference and there was wifi as well, but I just used my faster LTE instead.

On the whole, it was a nice little place to unwind and we would not mind going there again. The pricing I thought was rather steep but I understood that that was the going rate for the ambiance and quality food nowadays. We might order the churros again next time just to make sure that the less-than-expected delivery was just a one-off. But even without the churros, there were enough going for the cafe for us to come back. It had competition however, no less that Jasmyn's just a couple of doors down.

The Night Market

I had the chance to take my camera for a quick spin after dinner on the last evening at Kota Kinabalu. I started off at the famous Filipino Market before drifting with the crowd towards the main market.

There were nothing much for me to buy actually. In fact, I would definitely get ripped off the moment I opened my moth at the market, so rather than spoil my mood, I decided to just enjoy the sight.

After about 20 minutes, I was basically done. It was time to head back to the hotel and pack.