Stop Over

We decided to break the journey by stopping at the Johor Premium Outlets. It was better than I anticipated but clearly the place is a work in progress with most of the shops being a couple of months old. They were still doing the carpark and not all the outlets were opened as yet.

None the less, I got myself a Man United long sleeve top for RM150. Certainly you can't beat that. According to the girl at the till, the price varies day by day, and it certainly is cheaper during weekdays like today.

The message got through to Puan Anita. So, here we go .....

IKEA at Night

I never realized that IKEA was opened until 11 pm during weekends. we found out about it last night when we took a late stroll around The Curve. On the way out Puan Anita decided to see if they were still opened and they were.

We did not do any shopping though as we could imagine the queue would be long that late. The boys were getting tired as well. Anita wanted to see if there were any new furnitures as we would be on a hunt for the new apartment we were planning to move into next month.

Even at this hour, the place was still packed. The cafe was still filled up with shoppers. And this was at the start of the long Chinese New Year weekend. Imagine if it was a normal weekend when all the city dwellers were around. I can imagine it would be a hassle getting things done at that hour.

We had problem heading back to the car park though. At 10 pm sharp, the underground walkway from Ikano to The Curve we're closed. We had to go up the ground level and cross the road. Walk into the mall at the main entrance and make our way down to the car park via the mall. A bit if a hassle if you were carrying your shopping .....

Tokyo Street

I had read the posters about Tokyo Street every time I went to Pavilion but was never really bothered to ask what that was about. Finally, on New Year's Eve, after visiting the Buddy Bears, we all went up to the 6th floor looking for food. Finally, I found out what Tokyo Street was all about.

It was rows of stalls, Japanese-theme right at a corner of Pavilion where an interior design shop used to be. The stalls were arranged in streets with an open lighting system coming from the top for the spaces between the stalls or "street" giving the feeling that you were outdoor. It worked.

The cafe that we had some drinks in. Hmm! Can't recall what it was called.This lychee soda was heavenly!Something you would expect here - a ramen house ....The white light coming from the ceiling gave the impression that you were outdoors, much like in an open street.I couldn't help but felt that I was actually out and about in a street, going into one shop to another. And all these stalls sold food and ornaments from Japan. They had sushi and snacks of course, ramen, toys, chocolates and of course desserts. The staffs all wore kimonos and Japanese-styled costume. Nope! There were no anime characters on display.

Anita was hounded by this cuddly mascotThis was chocolate heaven!We soon settled at a Japanese bread shop, and had tea and seaweed potato chips there. It was nice and relaxing. For drinks, I had lychee and soda. On a hot day like it was, it really hit the spot.

I would definitely be visiting the Street again.

The Return of Hilfiger

We spend the best part of the afternoon doing some clothes shopping at KLCC. After stops at Marks and Spencer among others, I finally bought some shirts at Tommy Hilfiger at Parkson.

When I was in the UK, Tommy had been my favourite brand. However, in the last 5 years, the quality of its product had deteriorated badly. Even the outlet abroad did not have good enough selection.

I was pleasantly surprised by the new selection, that I ended up buying more than I should. It was so much, that I was enrolled into their VIP club for discounts and free alterations. Nice!

It looked like I have used up my clothing provision for the next three months ......

Mid Valley Raya Decor

I was actually expecting more from Mid Valley. I remembered their spectacular Raya decors of yesteryears. Their amazing Chinese New Year effort, as well as Christmas. I went to Mid Valley this morning, armed with my camera with high hopes.

I parked at Gardens, and made my way across via the Lower Ground Floor walkway. At the middle area, where the corridors met, were filled with stalls selling mooncakes. It was nice and colourful, and so I ventured forth to the main foyer. And what did I see?

A lame effort to turn the central gallery into some sort of an Arab Market. It was basically a collection of stalls - around a dozen of them - selling cookies and clothes. The kind of things that you can easily pick up at bazaars. And the collection the sold there was not really that exclusive either. At least not as exclusive as Bangsar Village. Right at the centre is a small island with date trees - supposedly. Err .... That was about it.

Told you that the mooncake stalls were much more interestingThere was a small stage - it being morning I wasn't expecting a show or anything - tucked on one side. I can't see much attraction there at all. They ought to put more effort I guess. I actually enjoyed the spectacles at the mooncake stalls more than the Raya decor. Thumbs down, most definitely.