Taxi Day

It has been one of those evening where I know I Should be doing some work, but can't be asked to start. I had to babysit the boys as Puan Anita was at the hospital visiting Dad. It looks like he will be a couple of days away still from discharge since his warfarin level - the INR - was still not high enough. I ended up downloading a couple of new games on the iPhone and played 'Fruit Ninja' with the boys. Great fun.

The day started out smoothly, taking the boys to school and having breakfast with Puan Anita at PappaRich. That was nice. We then went straight to the hospital to pick up mum-in-law who spent the night at the hospital. We went straight to pick up the boys from school on the way back.

After lunch, we went out for a stroll to The Curve as I wanted to buy a shredder. There were just simply too many loose papers on my study desk and some of them were confidential as it contains patient results and exam questions. Previously, I took them back to hospital to be dispose of, but a shredder can to the job just as well.

After that done, plus some tea at Marche, we headed home for a thunderstorm. Once, the lightning hit the room, triggering the circuit-breaker and short out alarm system out. It was still chirping away while I was writing this entry. Apparently, the technician will be dropping by first thing tomorrow morning to fix the problem. I will still be on leave tomorrow, but will have to was to the hospital first to visit Dad and second for a meeting late in the afternoon. We were planning to go to PD on Saturday for an event there, with the family tagging along, but at the rate Dad was going, we may have to modify the plan somewhat. Maybe I will have to ask Anita's big brother to help out.

So, here we go. The entry was complete, and it was time to write a couple of letters for work!

Pumpkins at Marche

It was Friday evening. My in-laws were in Kelantan due to a family funeral. It was us and the maids at home. So everyone was out. Where to? After some thought, we went out for dinner at Marche, The Curve. Just a quick in and out. Nothing fancy. But we noticed that Marche was transformed for Halloween. There were pumpkins everywhere. Even the famous cow at the front entrance was dressed up with a witch hat.

It seemed that Irfan was not in a good mood. Anita said that his friends in class have been coughing all day in front of him. We were worried that he may be down with a flu. A bit on the grumpy side, but that all changed the moment we stepped into Marche. He noticed all the pumpkins around and convinced us to get him pumpkin soup instead of his usual mushrooms. It was actually quite nice. It was chunks of pumpkin with mild pepper and onions. Next came the pizza, which he preferred as margarita. No pumpkin there. There were also pumpkin juices, pumpkin caramel etc. Puan Anita tried some of those. Never actually caught on. The decors were nice. Reading the pamphlets, there will be Kids Fancy Dress Party for lunchtimes next weekend. Sad news as I will be in Langkawi giving a talk instead.

After dinner, we took a quick stroll towards e-Curve. There were some live band playing but with Irfan being grumpy, we did not hang on for too long. We also noticed that the central foyer at The Curve was taken up by Pantai Hospitals for their Pink Ribbon Campaign - for breast cancer. There were talks and forums scheduled but on the evening, there were just essentially booths and informations given out. Maybe Irfan’s mood will improve.

Octoberfest at The Curve

Yesterday started off with a short drive to Serdang where I was invited to participate in a campaign they had there at the hospital. It was essentially an update on thrombosis. I was to talk about new anticoagulations. The talk went well. Having finished that, I had to rush straight back to UMMC to finish off the morning clinic.

The clinic was almost done when I got back. I sorted out the ward issues in the afternoon before getting off, and took the troupe out for dinner and jalan-jalan at The Curve. We all had our haircut, took dinner at Marche and bought Suraiya her birthday present. Her birthday party will be on Saturday morning.

Haircut timeCatching up on Ironman at one of the video shopsWhile waiting for Mum choosing presents for Suraiya

The foyer between the Curve and E has been transformed into a beer garden it seemed for the Octoberfest, complete with a brass band in tight leather trousers - they appeared British though rather than German - singing away merry songs. The waitress were clad in dresses and skirts serving pitches of beer, skipping away to the beat. My boys were wondering what was actually going on. Puan Anita explained to them that it was a German tradition kind of thing. Getting drunk on beer in October every year. They still appeared confused after that. But true enough, it was for Octoberfest. Even Marche played in into the celebration with sausage promotions and what have you. With the brass band, singing, lights an all, it would have been an experience for the boys but it was kinda hard to explain to them about the beer and everything. They started to ask one too many question.

Moleskine mania at Tango MangoAfter getting Suraiya's present, we took it to be wrapped up at Tango Mango, a nice little gift shop on the first floor of The Curve, right above Marche. Oh boy! They had a very good selection of Moleskine there, and I obliged to buy a couple of pads - for work of course. Moleskine were just addictive.

Trendy Cow!

Moooo!I will be off Saturday - today. Taking Monday off as well, so it will be 4 straight days - woot! Even though I got the feeling that I will have to turn up at the ward on Monday morning to sort something out. Today, after berbuka, I thought I bring the troops out. The boys wanted Marche, so off we went to The Curve. It was a public holiday in Selangor - Nuzul Quran, so the traffic was light coming in, although the car park was packed.

I blogged about the lobby decoration in an earlier entry, but since Idlan was not with us then, he got excited with the kampung house, and was keen to visit our house in Kuala Kangsar during Raya. Hmm! Not a bad idea actually. After a few minutes walking around, we settled for Marche. Unfortunately in the evenings during Ramadhan, they only offered buffet. The boys insisted on pizza. We had a look around and the waiter at Marche suggested that we try Italiannies, just a few doors away. The boys noticed that the Marche bull at the front of the store was decked up with Jalur Gemilang and songkok. Cool!

Decor at the Curve

Italiannies was rather packed even late on in the evening, after the berbuka puasa crowd has left. Since I already had dinner, I decided to just try the salad and desserts. I was so surprised at how fast the service was. As soon as we settled in, we got the bread ready, followed by the salad Puan Anita ordered. My bruchetta came a few minutes after, with the drinks. The pizza came last, and oh boy, did he boys love it. Puan Anita then had creme brule while I tucked into my bread pudding. The portion was huge, so I had to take home half of it - consistent with its slogan, “so much, so good, so share”. The ambiance was nice, complete with a loud Italian family sitting on the next table - I was not joking, they happened to be customers as well. You can’t get any more authentic than that. I was worried that they will start a song anytime soon. The waiters were also very friendly, speaks very good English - mostly Filipinos I think.

Welcoming sign outsideCozyBread and virgin olive oil - nice!BruchettaFor the drinks, I had a mocktail which was really nice. Well, any drinks would have been nice after fasting a whole day. We had a nice time. The boys enjoyed their pizza. After dinner, we had a nice stroll before heading to the car park. We finally made it home close to 11pm.

Pudding to finish things offTime to goWill I recommend Italiannies? Most definitely. I would have preferred to comment more if I had had a main course but from what I sampled, the food there was really nice. In terms of price, it was comparable to similar joints such as Marche and Apartment. I will definitely return again in the future.

More details available here. Address - Lot G75 & G76, Ground Floor, The Curve, No. 6, Jalan PJU 7/3, Mutiara Damansara, 47800 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia - Tel: +603 - 7728 1715.

Raya Decor at The Curve

It was three more weeks to Hari Raya. The shopping malls has started decorating their lobby for the occasion. Since the boys were ill last weekend, we did not have the chance to explore. Earlier on Sunday, after getting Irfan his haircut, we spent some time at The Curve.

Not a great vantage point to watch a show wasn't it?Neat lighting hanging down from the ceiling The main lobby was spruced up with a replica Malay kampung house. When we arrived there in the afternoon, there was a show going on. A Malay dance troupe were doing some traditional numbers. The replica house was complete with old bicycles and a antique motor car. Unfortunately the house itself was not open to the public.

Antique car and bicycle

The rest of the foyer was occupied with stalls selling clothes, cookies and other Hari Raya goodies. The stuffs were however rather expensive. Never the less, it was great fun browsing around. Initially Puan Anita wanted to have a look at the Sunday Market, but due to the hot weather, puasa and all, she decided otherwise.