Awal Muharram 2009 (Holiday Day 2)

One of Tracy’s sub-tenants moved out so I was able to stay in a room of my own. I had to share the bathroom/toilet with another sub-tenant Lee though.

At 7.00a.m. I was awakened with the need to go to the loo. I actually had to go twice due to the spicy food I had last night. I always forget the doctor’s advice not to have too much spicy food.

Tracy’s friend Elaine was kind enough to lend her a 30 years old Honda to drive so she could still go out.

We went to Tian Tian Lai Restaurant, which is very near Tracy’s house and had brekky there.

When I wanted to take photos using my digital camera, the batteries died on me. I nearly had a heart attack cos I did not bring the charger with me. It was not an intentional act. I could not find it at the 11th hour.

I quickly changed into another set of spare batteries which I brought with me. When I switched on the camera again, the 'almost running out of batteries' warning sign came on. I nearly had a second heart attack.

I was in a desperate situation as I still have two days ahead of me. Once again, desperate situation called for desperate measure. I resorted to prayer and prayed that I could continue using the camera. When I switched on the camera this time, the 'almost running out of batteries' sign did not come on again. I thanked the Lord of heaven and earth for answering my prayer instantly.

Tracy had to go for tuition and she dropped me off at Asia Jaya Station to take the train to KL Sentral.

From KL Sentral I had to walk a big round to go to the monorail station since the plot of land in front of KL Sentral is under construction.

I took the monorail from KL Sentral to Bukit Bintang Station. As I came out from the station, the rain was drizzling. I brought my foldable umbrella with me and so I was safe.

I walked to Pavilion Shopping Centre.

There were not many people since the time was only after 11a.m. Christmas decorations are everywhere.

This restaurant is open by the former PM, Dr. M. I was contemplating of having lunch there just to try out.

But as I walked around, something else caught my attention. I always love Vietnamese food. (My friends and I used to have it for Sunday brunch after church during study days in Down Under)

Before I proceeded to the restaurant, I stopped by the loo. On the way to the restaurant, the shoes shop Bata caught my attention. I went in and found a pair of shoes I like, which was not on sale at the Bata shop in Karamunsing Complex during the previous Sunday I was there. I bought the pair of shoes.

La Lot by Du Viet won over The Loaf.

I checked out the menu to make sure they serve ‘Pho’ before going in. The waiter came out to attend to me and he definitely looks Vietnamese so I was really hoping that the chef would be Vietnamese as well.

I ordered ‘Pho’.

The ‘Pho’ smelled great. The beef tenderloin tasted they had been slightly grilled before being boiled. It tasted so soft and seemed like melted in my mouth. The only thing I did not like was that there were ginger inside the soup and therefore I had to take them out one by one cos I do not like to eat ginger. Overall a very satisfying and enjoying gastronomical affair.

The chef came out to talk to one of the waiters and he is a Vietnamese.

Before I left the restaurant, more people came to eat at the restaurant - a Malay family, then a Chinese family and lastly a Japanese elderly couple who sat near me. This Japanese couple also ordered 'Pho' as well.

Then it was time for some serious shopping. I went to Parkson Departmental Store.

The toilet has a lounge area where people can sit down and it does not smell at all.

The tissue holders to hold tissues use for wiping hands are located beside and above the sink.

This café is located inside the departmental store and therefore the clothes on sale may have food smell.

After Parkson, I went to Tangs Departmental Store. A lot of stuffs are selling up to 80% off. But I did not find any clothes or pair of shoes which I could buy. In the end I found a wallet selling at 80% off.

By the time I wanna leave Pavilion, I saw children were performing on stage.

There were so many people and I could not wait to get out from the place.

I went to Lot 10 to check out the food stalls at the basement. Lily told me some of the stalls had been relocated from Petaling Street. There are a lot of choices of food available but because most of the stalls are operating on an open air concept, I can smell cooking smells everywhere. But the worst was in the midst of all the cooking smells, I can also smell sewerage smell. Yicks!

I went to Isetan and then walked across to Sungai Wang. Went into Parkson Departmental Store. I tried on some clothes but I did not find any I wanna exchange for my cash. I also went into some other shops including Metrojaya Departmental Store but still I could not find anything that I fancy.

I left Sungai Wang and walked to Berjaya Times Square. As I walked up the escalator, there were so many people queuing up to go up as well.

This shopping centre was filled with lots of people as well. And there was a group of people performing on stage but the music and singing were deafening to my ears. They were singing Christmas songs with a twist of rock in them.

I did not stay for long cos the music was too loud. i decided to go home and while walking to the Imbi monorail station, I called Tracy to tell her that I would be having dinner with her tonight.

After I bought my monorail ticket and as I walked up the stairs to the train platform, I fell down on the stairs. The teenage boy who was behind me spoke in Mandarin and told me to be careful. Thank God I was still able to walk like normal.

I found a cab outside KL Sentral monorail station and went into it. When I arrived home, Tracy was not home yet and therefore I rested. There were two bruises on my left knee. My right hand near the wrist also had two bruises. I kept on rubbing them so that the bruises can heal quickly.

Tracy and I went to the same place where we had brekky this morning for dinner.

There was a crowd at the restaurant already.

The 'ABC' soup tasted a bit weird. It did not taste like the ones we usually have at home. I think it was a bit on the sweet side.

The veges would be too spicy for people who cannot take spicy food. I thought the captain should have had the courtesy to ask whether we can eat spicy food and not just assuming we can. The dried prawns accompanying this dish were fried and blended well with the veges.

The Marmite chicken wings had been thoroughly marinated before cooking. It was so delicious until I was speechless. Yums ...

After we went home, I was online for some time before going to dreamland.

Today's Happenings

During Canaanland Celebration, Ivy Voon led P&W. Andrew Tai played the guitar and was one of the back-up singers. Alice Hiew was on the piano while Terrence Lim was on drums. Kenny Lim and Elizabeth Chung were the back-up singers as well. Kenny was also the facilitator. Rev. Lee preached on the topic ‘Preparation for the Nativity’ based on the life of Mary.

After Canaanland Celebration, those who are going to sing carols this coming Friday and Saturday had their rehearsals. I did not join since I would not be around during those days.

I drove to Karamunsing Complex. Was trying to search for a parking bay at the open carpark but cars were already parked in the middle of the carpark and there were four cars ahead of me. I reversed at the dead end and left the carpark.

As I turned into the road leading to the SESB building, I saw that there were some cars parked at the open carpark while two men were using the machine to top up premix on the same carpark. I quickly parked the car.

Went to have lunch at Nice Café on the First Floor. Yonks ago after Sunday worship, we Young Adults liked to frequent this place. Now we do not do that anymore since we attend different celebrations.

I ordered the Dry ‘Pan Mee.’

I could not wait to dig into it when it was put on the table. But unfortunately I was disappointed cos the taste was not like those I had previously. Plainly speaking, the whole thing did not have much taste. Due to the need to fill up my tummy, I finished the whole thing though.

After lunch, I went to the hair saloon. Unfortunately there were so many people and the hairdresser Maggie told me to come back another day.

I told her if she cannot serve me today, then I would go elsewhere cos next weekend I would not be around and the Friday after that it would be Christmas already. She took down my mobile phone number and said she will call when some customers had been attended to.

I dropped by Salvation bookstore and was glad I did. I met some good friends from Sandakan there. They were asking mum where was I when they saw her in church this morning. (Sometimes we may be delayed by circumstances but we can look at the bright side of thing).

I stayed in the bookstore for over an hour and bought some books. Since I did not want to carry the books around, I put them in the car.

After walking for one and a half hours, my hairdresser still did not call me and therefore I went to the saloon again. Some customers had left and therefore I could find a chair to sit.

I have lots of white hair esp. at the back and therefore besides perming the back, I also had my hair coloured. The whole process include treatment took three hours and I had a book to keep me occupied. I was the last customer to leave.

When I reached the carpark, I saw the barrier had come down by the entrance. There was no way I could drive out. But thank God the barrier on the floor at the exit could be removed. It was quite heavy but I was desperate and so I removed it. After I left, there was still another car left in the carpark.