A Birthday, Borrowed for the Day

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoSunday started the way most of them do — with rounds, the ward apparently having never heard of weekends off, and a public holiday hasn't yet been invented that changes its mind. Brisk enough, though, and out of the way early, which left the rest of the morning free for something rather nicer: it was Mak's birthday, and the day belonged to her from that point on.

Drove out to Bukit Antarabangsa to collect her, the sort of drive that's become familiar enough to do half on autopilot, and from there straight to Rebung for lunch. Packed, predictably — it always is, birthday or not — but the food did what Rebung's food generally does, which is make the wait feel like a formality rather than a complaint. Some restaurants earn their crowds honestly, and this is one of them.

After lunch, a couple of quick stops — BSC first, then Taman Melawati, neither of them requiring much explanation beyond the ordinary business of a birthday outing, a bit of browsing, nothing that needed to be anywhere in particular. The kind of errands that exist mainly to stretch a nice afternoon a little further before it has to end.

Dropped Mak home after that — she had her own plans for the evening, which is exactly as it should be on a birthday, the day not needing to be handed back in full to anyone. From there, on to TWG for tea, Rwanda Express specifically, which felt like a suitably unhurried way to close out the outing. There's something properly civilised about ending a birthday lunch with a pot of tea rather than rushing straight into whatever's next — a bit of a pause built in on purpose.

Home after that, and the evening turned practical rather quickly. Some reading to get through ahead of the BLS course first thing tomorrow, the sort of task that's easy to put off right up until it can't be put off any longer. Did it anyway, without too much resistance, on the grounds that Monday-morning-you rarely thanks Sunday-evening-you for the delay.

The weekend, such as it was, settled itself in from there — nothing left on the list, nothing hanging over into the week uninvited. And somewhere in among it all, the now-familiar routine of checking in on Irfan, a message or two across the time difference, enough to know all's well on that end. It's becoming its own small ritual, that check-in, the sort that'll probably ease off eventually but hasn't yet, and there's no particular hurry for it to.

So: a birthday properly marked, good food fought for and won, tea to close things out, and a bit of homework squeezed in before the week reasserts itself tomorrow. Not a bad way to send a Sunday off.

A Weekend Wrapped in Haze

Please click the photo above to play the daily videoThe weekend turned up on schedule, though it brought a slightly murkier version of itself than usual — that particular haze that settles over the Klang Valley every so often and quietly flattens the whole sky into one uncommitted shade of grey. Not dramatic, not alarming, just the sort of weather that makes staying in feel less like a decision and more like the day agreeing with you before you'd even asked.

Morning rounds still had to happen, weekend or not — haze doesn't get you out of that particular commitment, however much it might argue for staying under the duvet a little longer. Brisk, done, out of the way early enough that the rest of the day could be claimed properly rather than merely inherited.

After that, the plan, such as it was, amounted to not really having one. No lunch outing this time, no reason invented to leave the house before it was strictly necessary — just the quiet decision to let the haze keep its sky and let the indoors keep its residents. There's a particular contentment to a day with nowhere urgent to be, especially one where the air outside isn't putting up much of a case for itself either.

Indoors, then, for the bulk of the day — unremarkable in the best possible way, the kind of stretch that doesn't generate anecdotes because nothing needed to happen for it to count as time well spent. The sort of pause a week occasionally deserves without having to justify it.

Evening eventually pulled everyone back out, pasar malam being the sort of fixture that survives even a hazy weekend — there's something reliably good-natured about a night market, haze or no haze, all string lights and predictable smells doing their best to compensate for whatever the sky's been up to all day. On the way, a stop at Alpha Angle, which broke up the journey nicely and gave the outing a proper shape rather than just a destination.

Once back, the evening settled indoors again, closing the day the way it opened — unhurried, undemanding, content to let the haze have the outdoors while everyone else got on with something considerably more comfortable. No great plans for the rest of the night, and none particularly missed.

It's the kind of day that's easy to undersell purely because so much of it happened at home — but there's a case to be made for a weekend that asks for almost nothing back. Rounds handled early, a market visited late, and everything in between spent exactly where it felt right to be. The haze may have taken the view; it didn't take much else.

Truckin while Waitin

It would become a routine from now on. Idlan will attending tuition in Melawati every Tuesday evening. Anita would stay in Gombak after school and should I have time, I would be joining her in Melawati while waiting for Idlan to finish his class.

While waiting, there were a few food trucks near the tuition venue. We decided to sample some pasta and were pleasantly surprised. My carbonara was superbly done and I must say that in was impressed. The only problem were the variety. There were three trucks parked there and all three seemed to have almost identical menu. Mainly Italian and Mediterranean.

I was pretty sure I've seen this before

Luckily there were a few more traditional restaurants around there. So, should we became sick of those cheesy offering, there would always be tomyam.

I must say I recognised the truck from the recent Foodgasm Fest we attended back in November. We didn't get to sample the food then since they ran out of food. Now we knew why the food ran out. They were rather good.

Looking forward to next week...

Visiting Miss Ellie

On one of those rare occasion when I managed to escape from the hospital early, Anita suggested that we try one of her favourite cafe which she normally go to with her friends. It was a unique one, Miss Ellie Tea House at Taman Melawati. But looking at the outside, you would never have thought that the inside looked so cosy. So, I indulged her.

And pleasantly surprised I was.

Keep calm ....Nice hat ....Wouldn't mind this being my living room ....The decor was exquisite and very English. And the food was heavenly. We started with scones but the main I had pasta. Not exactly English, but the pasta was just amazing!

Let’s start with the decor. The place was not big. It had about half a dozen of tables, with a row of sofa for the casual diners. The lighting was homely and they had tit bits from the Old English adorning the walls. A few months back, my boys and their classmate made their way in much to the horror of the owner as the boys were like …. boisterous. I could share her concern as most of the decorative elements there were on the fragile site. The sideboards were antiques and the china were also proper.

Everything was freshly made at the cafe, from the pasta, to the jam for the scones. The coffee was freshly grounded and the tea was just superb.

The portion for each of the meals was large enough to satisfy, but small enough to make you ask for more. I went for the most difficult pasta to prepare, which was the pesto. And it turned out a delight. The pasta was dry enough not to go soggy when immersed into the sauce, while retaining it grainy texture and taste, while the tomatoes and vegetables tasted fresh and succulent. I just wished that the parmesan which they used had a bit more bite to it. As it was, I just felt that there was something missing. Not a complaint though, just me being fussy.

Iced coffee?Sharing them scones. And these are proper ones ....Time for the pestoPesto no more ....I had a cold-brewed coffee as it was a hot afternoon. Again, can’t fault the preparation. Well blended and not too bitter.

The place was half full even on a week day afternoon. I don’t think that they could have coped if the cafe was situated in a more affluent area such as Bangsar or Taman Tun. The sheer number of patrons would make them lose the homeliness and ambiance. I was just happy as it was, and being in the middle of almost nowhere, parking was a doodle. They are closed on Sundays and Mondays though.

Please check out their website for more details and directions to the place. I would definitely be going there again from time to time. I might try something else next time …..

Plaza Ramadan Winding Down

The plaza Ramadan which I went to earlier today - at Taman Melawati - was ready to pack up today. Only half of the stalls were opened. All of them saying that today would be their last day. They would be fetus ing to their respective kampungs from tonight.

I would definitely miss the drinks. Almost every time we had the chance to go over there, we would get some air mata kucing. Really hit the spot. The kuih there tensed to be lame, as I mentioned before.

Clearly some of the stalls were still going strongSo, not much take-out for tomorrow. Usually, we would be eating some food prepared for Raya on the evening before.

Anita had been preparing her rendang, plus there would be laksa and bolognese tomorrow. The boys, as usual would be up to no good. We bought some sparklers for then earlier but the quality wasn't that good. It was more smoke than fun. They got bored after a few minutes. Irfan had a bit if a burn on his leg as the debris from the sparkler kept hitting his feet. Painful stuff.