A pair of spring rolls cost RM4.00 at Mint Peppermint, Karamunsing Capitol.
For the most of us, 28 May–2 June could have been our longest holiday weekend of the year due to a string of public holidays—Wesak, Kaamatan and Gawai which is an excellent opportunity for anyone to consider taking a break. Like you, I agree that the usual weekend breaks are barely enough!
There has a been a great deal of eating,movie watching and shopping involved. In fact, I just returned from a quick dinner with Em at the newly opened Mint Peppermint branch in Karamunsing Capitol. Probably my third visit in May alone.
This is also the weekend I bought my first thermos at a 20% discount in Parkson. Despite pulling out my best charm, the staff has refused to give me an additional discount on the basis of a 5cm scratch I found on what seems to be the last remaining item in stock. I got it nonetheless. An impulse purchase at best. Now I need to find a reason to use it.
Not to mention another first—my RM15 blue hula hoop from Toys’R'Us which I highly suspect is faulty as it does not work as advertised. It spends more time on the ground than my waist whenever I rotate it clockwise. Few seconds slower if it is anti-clockwise.
An unexpected neighbourhood power failure and Em’s propensity to learn how to make herbal tea led me to finding a friend of mine, YH who runs a traditional chinese medicine store in Foh Sang.
He figured that since the conversation topic would revolve around leong cha, we decided to head over to Ren Ai for drinks and desserts. Plus an added opportunity for him to scrutinize over the menu and tell me his leong cha recommendations. In what was a two-hour conversation, these are a few points I remembered:
Best drank hot. Cold drinks are less effective.
The bitter, the better. Man up, drink up. No sugars.
Each drink has its own properties — leong, ha fo, roon etc.
Can be drunk daily: ginseng / luo han kuo herbal tea
Honeysuckles—a popular ingredient for H1n1 prevention prescriptions.
I have an unexplained fascination with a local favourite past time—movie watching at the cinema. Many of you have attributed the reason is due to the lack of interesting activities that one can do during the weekend. I concur partially.
We exchange money for a reclinable seat in an air-conditioned hall with hundred others where we remain silent and actually pay attention to on screen dialogues and watch in awe during ass-kicking scenes. What we pay for is a glimpse into another person’s world. Pandora is a perfect example. Who does not want to be in it?
Cinemas are great crowd-pullers here. Hopefully with the opening of the new cinema at Suria Sabah next week, it will attract a much-needed crowd to the mall which is still barely occupied since its December opening last year. Appalling.
Over the years, we encounter truism in many forms—a piece of advice from a friend, a book excerpt by Malcolm Gladwell, a slap on the face for some. And for the most of us, it is something that we hear much too often from our mothers.
Do not play with fire.
Sleep early so you can wake you early.
Do your homework before you play.
Do not get into cars with strangers.
Drink a glass of water after waking up each morning
Eat your greens.
Do this before you do that…
We try to disagree. Yet as each year passes by, we wise up. We accept these truisms as they are. We also find new ones and pass them along to our friends and children.
We realize that once we are able to see past the nagging and repetitional reminders, mothers know best. Happy Mother’s Day.
On most weekends, I usually appear seemingly busy—doing absolutely nothing. I think you know what I mean. At least as the weekend ends, we all finally find time to sit down and ponder. “What on earth did we do during the weekend?” we question ourselves. And for the most of us who believe we have an answer at the tip of our tongues.
Tell me. Was it memorable? Because I like to think that every weekend should be different from the last. I understand that weekend chores such as grocery shopping and house cleaning are somewhat inevitable (and possibly hated!). But it is also crucial that we identify that one anchor activity that sets that particular weekend from the rest.
A quick recap of what I did last weekend.
On Friday night, I attended Mei‘s birthday party at CUBE. As birthday gifts were non-obligatory, donations were collected instead with all proceeds going to a local orphanage. Fantastic night with an array of food including the signature beehive-shaped birthday cake. Not forgetting the Lady Gaga antics of a friend who had one too many drinks that night. Saturday night was spent at the Face2Face party with Charlotte, Em, Kim, Ray and several others. Realized I’m not that cut out for clubbing anymore. On Sunday morning, it was brunch with David and Mia (both passionate foodies from Singapore who were in town for a weekend of diving) at Seng Hing followed by an icy-cold Lychee Kang at Jia Siang before dropping them off at the airport.
So just go out and try something new this weekend. What do you plan to do?Tell me.
That dash we made under the rain from Suria Sabah to Wisma Merdeka last weekend was unforgettable. Above all, exhilarating. Despite heeding the slight overcast during lunch, the rain eventually started without much warning. Light rain. Yet heavy enough to drench the newspapers we used to cover our heads. As the rain poured, puddles form to reveal the inconsistencies of our seemingly-leveled road. The donuts you were eyeing for dinner were safe and dry if not slightly soggy from the exterior box. The key here is determining the good and bad rain. The perfect rain is the type you experience right before a rainbow appears (or when you start smelling fresh grass!) if you know what I mean. The latter gives you a cold and an unfamiliar feeling when you are drenched in rain.
Just like you, we all yearn for something new in our lives everyday. Something unexpected. Something foolish perhaps. Let this be one of my first firsts. And yours too. Do not just let anyone tell you to bring an umbrella the next time you are out in the rain (unless it is this iPhone app). Go out. Experience rain. Get wet. Carpe diem quam minime credula postero.
On a typical night at Starbucks City Mall, customers flood in as early as 8pm. Some not leaving for hours at end. Regulars seem to return to their favourite sitting spots—in conspicuous corners close to power outlets. When you walk into a Starbucks brand, you are essentially there for the atmosphere—the lighting, the seating heights, the looping tunes of Norah Jones. The drinks are not that great with the exception of the Green Tea Frapucchino (without whipped cream, of course).
What I do like about Starbucks is the greeting that takes place once I step inside. A simple hello from the barista. I like how we are supposed to go there to enjoy our beverages but do something entirely different. We bring our text books to study, our laptops to play Hotel City, our friends to gossip—café culture.
I was at Starbucks with Em a few days ago between 8.15–11.30pm. I think we need more decent cafes here. Less of the ‘modern’ kopitiams I’d say. Evidently, Coffeebean Damai makes a better green tea latte if you are interested.
Consider this. Your choice of five wooden cubicles to answer nature’s call. Toilet bowls of international quality—TOTO, of course. Marble floors. Sensor-powered water taps. Paper towels that never seem to run out. And wait for it … air-conditioned. This is why after a round of herbal tea drinks, desserts and conversations at Ren Ai with Charlotte on Friday night, I suggested we go to Shangri-la’s Tanjung Aru Resort. Their toilets are reputably among the best. Just so you know.
† Disclosure: I have been a frequent patron of the resort’s cafe and restaurant over the years and do not actually condone freeloading. And I hoped that you and Charlotte do not find me odd. The toilets are really an experience!
Yesterday during lunch at Wiya, I saw a familiar face. Someone I might have known from somewhere — or not. When you did glance back, I was fairly certain. Unless you were staring at the tourist couple behind me. It is situations like these that if you smiled, should I smile back to hide the fact that I’ve forgotten your name? If I smiled first, would have this come across your mind — ’Why on earth is this prick smiling at me?’. And if we smile at the same precise moment, shall I lift up my hand and wave?
Put on your calm look. No unnecessary batting of the eyelids. Where have I seen this familiar face before? O wait. I remember now. It is one of Em’s besties. Name still unknown. I should have smiled.
Pardon the absence. Recently, I have been putting a lot of thought in the direction of this blog of which I have been maintaining since September 2005. It is to my observation that I have been spending a huge amount of time preparing content for each weekly post. This actually deviates from my real intentions as all I wanted was to have a platform to write and practice my English and not painstakingly crop images so it looks good on screen.
“Are we to look at cherry blossoms only in full bloom, the moon only when it is cloudless? To long for the moon while looking on the rain, to lower the blinds and be unaware of the passing of the spring – these are even more deeply moving. Branches about to blossom or gardens strewn with flowers are worthier of our admiration.” — Yoshida Kenkō
This is going to be a huge change as I struggle to reorganize and prioritize things that matter. I will be disabling my blog comments but I will be just an email away. I have deactivated my Facebook account but I figured you will most likely be in my address book. I am making room for several new personal projects I wish to accomplish in 2010. And if no one has told you lately, you are important.
