Sunday, Slightly Underdone
Sunday, May 24, 2026 at 8:33PM 
Please click the photo above to play the daily videoRounds were smooth this morning — in and out with the kind of efficiency that makes you wonder why every day can't be like this. Back well before noon, the Sunday still intact, the afternoon wide open. These are the mornings you bank against the ones that don't go as cleanly.
Anita had plans. Specifically, she had a craving for Pal Gae Ook at KLCC, the Korean place that's served us well in the past. The key phrase there being "in the past." Something had shifted. Several items on the menu were unavailable, which is never an encouraging start, and what did arrive felt like a lesser version of itself. The marinade — the thing that makes or breaks Korean food — had lost its conviction. Not terrible, just diminished, as though someone had followed the recipe but forgotten the point of it. It's a particular disappointment when a place you've trusted quietly lowers its own bar. You don't make a scene. You just recalibrate your expectations and silently cross it off the mental shortlist.
Kinokuniya afterwards, which is always a reliable antidote to a mediocre meal. There's something about wandering a good bookshop that resets the day — the smell of new pages, the unhurried browsing, the pleasant fiction that you have time to read everything that catches your eye. Azul's book was still on display, which gave me a small flush of reflected pride. There's a quiet thrill in seeing someone you know on a bookshop shelf, proof that they did the thing they said they were going to do. Well done, that man.
I also picked up next season's Manchester United jersey, which is either an act of faith or an act of stubbornness depending on how you feel about the current trajectory. New kit, same hope. The cycle continues. It looked good, though, which at this point might be the most reliable thing about the club.
A cappuccino at Smith & Wollensky rounded things off nicely — good coffee, a comfortable seat, the kind of pause that makes a Sunday afternoon feel properly earned. KLCC humming away beyond the window, the weekend winding down at its own pace.
And then the phone. A case in ICU, which is the sort of call that doesn't negotiate with your afternoon plans. Back to the hospital, the shift in gears now familiar if never entirely welcome. You go, you do what's needed, you come home. The day bends around it.
Dinner was quiet — just Anita and me, nothing elaborate, the kind of meal that's more about proximity than presentation. The evening settled into that particular Sunday stillness, the week ahead not yet asserting itself but faintly visible on the horizon. A mixed day, really. Some of it exactly what you'd want from a weekend, some of it less so. But that's the texture of things. Not every Korean marinade can be perfect, and not every Sunday stays uninterrupted. You take what the day gives you and call it enough.
Pal Gae Ook, Smith & Wollensky, Sunday, Suria KLCC, cappuccino in Cafe, Diary 
A Quick Outing
I had a free evening after berbuka last Wednesday and Anita asked if I could drive her to KLCC since she had something to pick up there. I had not been to KLCC since the beginning of Ramadhan, so I thought why not.
It gave me the chance to have a look at the decorations as well.
At the main concourse, there was a replica of a Malay house. No activities when we were there but I noticed a stage in front of it. I was sure there would be some shows during the days and weekends. As usual, there were stalls - selling expensive clothes and cookies by the side.
Nothing special. Anita got her shopping and we were off.