Queue into Shoopen

There was a new outlet in Bukit Bintang which caused quite a stir on its opening weekend. It had been advertised for the last couple of months and it certainly worked. There was a long line of people waiting to be let in for the opening weekend sales.

The shop was located at one end of Pavilion, where there used to be an exit. That end had been closed for a while while undergoing renovations.

They sell only shoes, but the crowd was too rowdy for my liking. The price better be good looking at the amount of buzz it was creating. Anita was not that taken aback when I told her about. Maybe she was just into shoes ....

Choo Chin Hin

I didn't know much about this bakery. But the facade was inviting. If I was in a group, I would have lingered around, talk to the manager and possibly took picture of the bakery in action. As it was, I didn't even carry the local accent. No chance of me slipping in. I was really keen to find out a bit more.

The bakery and the store sat next door to each otherEverything was freshly baked

Maybe when I returned to the hotel, I would Google the bakery. As for then, I went in, baught a loaf and snapped some picture. They didn't seem to mind.

* Ed - Googling done. Apparently the place has been up since after the war, and one of Tun Mahathir's favourite bakery. And he went on to start The Loaf chain. So, go figure!

The bakery looked like it was a throwback from the 70s. Even before noon, the place was already packed and some of the items were already sold out.

This lady sells fresh wet noodles at the shop

The half dozen slice of bread was already in my tummy now .......

More entries on the trip here.

ParkCity Picking Up

For the last couple of weeks, I found that the activity at ParkCity had picked up. Today, to my surprise, I actually had a direct referral from one of the local GP. And this was not to mention a few ward referral from colleagues.

Unfortunately, due to limited time, I was only able to be at ParkCity on my clinic days. Yesterday, since I have an inpatient referral, I drove there during lunchtime. Tiring, but doable, especially with a new referral which I had to see.

I noticed that a couple of new shops were already opened. No sign of the staff cafeteria as yet, or was I looking at the wrong place? The place was definitely getting busy.

Spice from Kepala Batas

I made it no secret that when it comes to cooking, I was no Masterchef. Every time I went back to Kepala Batas - my kampung - my parents and Anita would visit this spice shop run by an Indian Moslem family. The business been going on for a number of years and my Mum swears by them.

They had recently moved into this new shop. Previously, they had a small workshop at the back of their house in Kampung Kovil, in the back street of town, where the Indians stay in my kampung.

They had spices for everything, and everything was mixed to your taste when you order them. All you had to do was tell them what kind of cooking you liked, and how spicy or hot your want it to be, and he would suggest the rest. The owner - previously his Dad - also gave away recipes. Anita got some of them here in Gombak.

All the spices and all the coloursYou tell him what you wantAnd he would mix it for youThe spices he carried include sauces and paste from India, as well as some exotic leafs and nuts. All packaged into the kind o cooking you wanted to do. Say, if you want to cook a chicken biryani, he would ask you for how many guests, and he would tell you how much rice, chicken and spices you would need. Ace!

Listen carefullyAll packed up, and labelled of course

When we returned to Kepala Batas last weekend, we gave it another visit, and he was nice enough to let me snap some photos. He was running the shop with his brother now, and eve week they would do shipment to KL. Some of the 'kedai mamak' in KL bought the spices from him, in bulk.