Monday, October 22, 2012

Fish Curry, a Malaysian delight...



Above is a bowl of Fish Curry that my spouse cooks for the family; a favourite of mine that I enjoyed with a plate of steamy white rice. 

Have a nice day.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

An image at KLCC...

Above is an image of part of a railing at the Suria shopping mall at KLCC. The architect César Pelli takes great pain to incorporate the local culture in the designing of the interior of that mall. His ingenuity is shown here of how the bamboo is laid in-between glass panel that became a work of art. There are other aspects of craft and art of Malaysian shown at various part of the building if only one care to look.

Have a nice day.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

The Amigos...


A Facebook friend Thamrong suggested that three of us meet for tea. I like it and told him that we have to wait for Lias to come back from his ritual of travelling all over the country.  I got in touch with Lias and soon was able to fix a date and time for that meet. So on Tuesday we all met at the Coffee Club at Kinokuniya at the KLCC, a favourite place of mine. I decided to go early and do some work on my net-book. This place provides free WiFi so it was easy to communicate with the tribe. I post a note on the FB saying that I am now at the Coffee Club. As I approach the counter to order my drink I bump again on to Shakirah wearing spectacle and was seriously working on her laptop. She is a blogger as well on Facebook. I say Hi to her and order a drink of Ice-lemon tea since I was rather thirsty at that time. I then sat at a table for four waiting for the others to arrive. While waiting and to killed time I surfed the Internet. The weather outside was bright and I could see the skyscraper towering high on the other side of the KLCC garden. As I was concentrating on the net-book and lost in cyberspace I was jolted by a ringing of my cellphone. I took the phone and listen to it. It was Thamrong asking me where am I and that he has not had lunch and want me to join him at the level two Food court. I told him that I am at the Coffee Club and that I already had lunch. Would just wait for him, told him just to take his time and enjoy his lunch. I continue to concentrate on Facebook and while my time enjoying that cool Ice-lemon tea. After a while Thamrong arrived and join me at the table. I told him that Lias has just call and that he is one the way. While we were discussing on what to order Lias arrived with a beaming smile, his usual self. He took a sit and took out his toy, a tablet and starts to surf the net. It looks like we just could not live without the Internet. The toys like the Laptop and Tablet are now an extension of us. It was through the Internet that I got to know Thamrong when we made contact on FB. We sat to chat and yarn of things that strike our minds and at the same time thinking of what to order. It was decided that we all should order the set of High-tea special. With that done we continue to banter of subject that interest folks at our age. Most of the people at the Coffee Club were young and in the midst of a discussion on business or just seeping coffee with friends. The ambiance of the club was cosy with large glass window overlooking the park outside. I could see the skyscraper that has mushroomed just beyond the park making the surrounding look like some cities in the west. In fact everything here and its vicinity are of the first world standard like that in the developed world.

The image that I had snap as seen on the left shows how modern the city of Kuala Lumpur is now. All these were not there just a decade ago. The building of the Petronas Twin Towers in the land that was once the racecourse where folks comes to watch horse-race and bet on it  has help to quantum leaped this city into a modern metropolis in just mere two decades, amazing indeed. Here on these beautiful afternoon three amigos in their golden years enjoying life to the fullest careless of what's happening to the world. We talk about old times and jokes our kind of jokes which make everyone laugh including a young couple on the next table making them smile and made contact with us; they later on stop at our table for a short chat before leaving the place. The above image is taken by one of them. Our order of the High-tea set came and we sat to enjoy it. We continue to chat on some interesting subjects that pop up one after another and soon we forgot about time. We order some fresh water to quench our thirst and continue on discussing on issues that comes to our minds. Hardly have we noticed it the time on my watch shows it past seven in the evening. We decided to call it a day and left the place with thanks to those boys and girls managing the reception counter for bearing with us throughout the three hours period. In has been another colourful day for me. Indeed a happy day for the amigos!

Have a nice day.

Tuesday, October 09, 2012

One of those days...


I have not blog for almost two weeks. It has been rather hectic weeks with happening here and there but then life has been good. Last week I went to meet a few friends who I have not met personally for a long time. It has been years and month that I have met them. It looks like time passes by fast indeed when we are busy with our affair. In the age of the Internet it not that bad since we still could meet in cyberspace and kept in touch all the time. But it still not the same like meeting in person. So the last two weeks I decided to go out and meet them. First I decided to meet two friends in one day, one happened to be sick and recuperating at his house in Bukit Kerinch. I took the LRT and stopover at the Sentral Station and there I met Aurelia a friend whom I had not met for years. The last time we met was at a barbeque at the Australian Embassy in 2007. We had lunch and talk. It was really nice to meet her again. She is from Sabah and now works in Kuala Lumpur. Her office is at Bangsar so it was easy for her to meet me at the Sentral Station, it just a one stop by the LRT.  After that lunch I call Pokku the friend who is sick and told him I would be there in a while. Then he calls me if I am coming by car, if it is so we can go for lunch together. I told him that I already had lunch and not driving. I am taking the LRT. In that case he says what about buying lunch for him. I told him it would be OK. I then went to get KFC for him and since it was at lunch time the place was crowded. With that lunch pack I took the LRT to the University Station and then walk to his apartment nearby at Bukit Kerinci. The guard took me to his place up above the Apartment. There I met him looking good. The doctor told him that he should not go around without the oxygen tank to enable him to breathe easily. I give him his lunch pack and sat down to enjoy the Root Beer that he offered. I than went to the balcony and took a snap of the view outside. The view on the left is what I saw, a magnificence sight indeed. While he enjoys his lunch I sat to watch the Unifi TV program while surfing the Net using my iPad. 

To digress a bid, just a few days ago I chance met a FB friend Shakirah at the Coffee Club at Kino. I was at KLCC at that time and saw her posting saying that she is now at the Coffee Club. So after I had finished lunch I went to meet her for the first time. She was there doing her work on the laptop. We chat a while and I took leave happy that at last I get to meet this single mother of seven kids. Another happening in KLCC is a few days later at the corridor of the Kino bookstore where I met Zai, a FB friend who had wanted to meet me but was in a rush that day for a doctor appointment. So we just stood at the corridor in front of Kino and get acquaintance and chat. Among other things she asks me how to gets her two teenage boys to read books. Well I told her to start with books that they are interested and work from there. Once they get into the reading habit everything else would be a piece of cake. With that I now have personally met these two wonderful FB friends in person. With parted with a hope to bump on each other again here. 

And then last week at round 6.30PM I got a call from a relative who wanted to meet at 8PM that night for a man to man talk. He suggested that we met at a Lebanese restaurant at Ampang Point for dinner and talk. I sense some urgency is his request and told him that I would be there. At just before eight it rain with strong winds I decided to go early to Ampang Point. With the downpour I look for a parking space and found one. As  I was about to parked my car he call saying he is already at the restaurant. I told him I am parking my car and would be there soon. With the umbrella I walk to the mall and went straight to the restaurant and sure enough he is there already drinking the Arab Tea. I too love Arab Tea and took it as well. We then ask for the menu and ordered our dinner. While waiting for the food he told me why he wanted this man to man meeting.  It seems that his only daughter just told him and his spouse that she wanted to get married. She is still single and in her mid-thirty. It sort of complicated and worrisome so it jolted them for a while and has yet to make a decision and that is why he wanted to talk  to me. As usual in a case like this parents seek other parents’ advice before making a final decision. Well folks no one really have an easy formula in marriage but I told him what wise man often said. If you think it is good, do it quickly but if you think it going to be a problem delay that decision. As for me I just share my thoughts the best I could thus lighten his depression a bit. As we all know too well that parenting is not that easy. If we had play the role of parenting well all the years of the kids growing up period in most cases thing would come out alright but if we had failed in our parenting than we can expect things would not be that easy. Well life is like that and we all must accept for the fact that parenting is not that easy. We had a good chat and I believe he wanted to get it out of his chest that has been boiling and this talk tonight over dinner I think had in a way does him good. It was indeed a good dinner and we had a very fruitful chat on parenting especially when it is about a marriage in  the family. Well life is like that; colourful at time. 

Have a nice day.