Ekkamai Damansara Heights

 I am fortunate my friends eat out more than me.  This gives me the opportunity to visit new places. Dinner today was no exception. We met up at Ekkamai and I must fess up that I googled their official website and looked at their menu earlier this evening. Hehe, always nice to be prepared.

I had a lovely time. I think what contributed most was the l people I had dinner with. Some of whom I've known since A levels. Good friends are hard to come by. I'm older now. So I appreciate this fact.  The waiter in charge of our section was a lovely boy. Very helpful and polite. And fairly steady hands. I can vouch for that from the group shots we made him take for us.

I thought this was interesting. It looks like someone forgot to since the soap suds off this dish. The effect is breath-taking. I think I would have preferred self assembling it for a better taste. But Still something I would recommend you choose for the meal.

 Lycée duck curry. Gorgeous. No regrets and I had a second helping shamelessly ( glad I ran just before dinner  to burn the potential calories ). The lycée made the dish a little sweet and it complemented the spiciness.

 This dish was also very nice and I'm not sure what it is.

This was the papaya salad. Not too spicy. So that was pleasing to the tummy.

 Our tom yam in duck egg green urns and our brown rice in the blue container at the far end. All waiting to be eaten.YUm.

 Beef on a hot plate served with fried rice. Being health conscious generally as a group,  nobody touched the plate of rice.

 We opted for this healthier ( dare I sae tastier ) version of carbohydrate.

The Bubur cha cha wasn't too bad. Colourful although as you can see the lighting wasn't in my favour for this shot. My sago bits stuck firmly together in a goey ball.

Practise makes perfect

Early practise session before breakfast

And with this blog entry I have but little choice except to stop more blogging, stop procrastinating and head back to practising the violin. Wish me luck

What I'm currently reading..

1. A Harum-scarum schoolgirl by Angela Brazil. Thanks to Project Gutenberg I have access to Angela Brazil 's school stories in ebook form. Downloading is a breeze and I read them via iBooks and it comes very much like a book in epub form with their original illustrations intact.

2. The weird sisters by Eleanor Brown. I bought this at the RM5 ringgit book sale from Popular book sale last year. Only gotten around to reading it last week. Slow going because there's a whole lot of other things happening but so far it's been promising.

The Waterfront.

coffee and ice-cream i.e. affogato

 I wanted coffee. And I wanted a different scene. And so we headed here. Foursquare said this was 1 km away from our breakfast place. To this place called " Three Little Birds Coffee" on the ground floor of this open air concept area called The Waterfront. It's in an upmarket township surrounded by gated community and up market condominiums and just beside the park. I've driven through here at night and the lightning is amazing. You feel you're in a different world. So anyway back to my experience having coffee here.  The cafe faces the park, you get to see greenery you also get some heat which no amount of fan can cool you down. Having coffee here at 12 noon wasn't a good idea. I had what was brewing today. Wasn't great. I think I prefer the coffee at Plan B roasters Publika.

What I did like was the dog-friendly environment. We had no less than 4 dogs at the cafe with us. All well behaved except a white happy dog but he seen settled down. The dogs were petted by many and they enjoyed it. And one of them had a dog dish to lap some water up because the heat was real.

Bicycles for rent ( or the nearby park)

 We walked about a bit and saw a shop selling bicycle accessories bicycles and rental of bicycles presumable for the park beside the waterfront. What a good idea. I thought I was going to bring my motorised scooter. But that won't burn any calories so this is a better idea.

Free wine tasting during the weekends!

 That's what the sign said. Free wine tasting. We didn't do in. A bit shy to be the only customer inside the shop. Plus it was way too hot to drink any wine you would definitely get sozzled too fast. Not a good idea at all.

A whole lot go greenery

 This was from 1st floor. A little bit cooler than the ground floor and I liked the greenery and the way the light comes through.

I've forgotten the name of this place already but it looked cosy

There were many shops there, a dental place, secret recipe hearing shop, waxing parlour, dermalogica CIMB bank, artisan bread shop, Moo cow to name a few. Certainly for the people of Desa Park city, you have a wonderful planned township. Your little world of your own.

Lim's Kitchen

Part of the menu

Time Out Magazine ran a feature on the best char siew in KL. I bought the issue only to see where to eat and also to see how many of the recommended places I've been to. The feature was "lunch O'clock" and I'm pretty sure the places were chosen by what's the current trend or more famous sites. I can vouch that at least 2 places aren't at all what they appear to be. So this Saturday I decided to do my own net search for Hakka noodles in kl.  And I found Lim's Kitchen in Majalara Kepong.

Mee bok

 The mee bok and Hakka noodles arrived at the same time. Waiting period was minimum. The place was not full and from the outside it looked a tad deserted which made me worry I'd chosen the wrong place. But the moment the noodles appeared and when I took my first bite, I was convinced I've found a good noodle shop.

Definitely a different texture and it had a nice bite and chew to it. Despite looking pale, it was tasty. The mee bok had a chilly kick to it. So you don't have to add chilli padi nor soya sauce to it. After a good stir the noodles turn a light oily orange indicating a good tasty meal ahead.

Hakka Noodles

The Hakka noodles were thinner strips. Same as the instant noodles but way better. It had a more subtle taste compared to the fiery mee bok. I alternated between liking one to the other. In the end, I decided I like them both very much.

Oddly shape fried wanton

 These were disappointing and I shan't be ordering them again. It wasn't bad but definitely not what I wanted.

The home made noodles- a closer look

I love these noodles. Can't wait to have them again. I wonder whether they're open on a Sunday.

A close up of the restaurant

 Here is the shop front.

We had to cross this bridge to get to the place.

taste: 5/5
Parking: 5/5

 Kepong 33, Jalan 3/62A, Bandar Manjalara, Kuala Lumpur, 52200, Malaysia
Opening hours: 0800 to 1900

Angela Brazil

Picture from Abebooks

Do you like browsing at a second hand bookstores? It is the possibility of finding a book by an unknown ( to you ) author and later when you get home enjoying the book so much you have a warm glow as you read it. Angela Brazil isn't sold in Kinokuniya or MPH or TIME or Borders. I never heard of her until I bought this book at a second bookstore in Ireland.

Stepping into the world off Angela Brazil is a different experience. A good different and to me it showed me  a  different world of boarding school stories. "The Youngest girl in the fifth" was my first Brazil book. Since  then I've found her books on Project Guthernberg.

What I especially like from this book is a lovely prayer by Phillips Brooks.

This prayer has inspired me during some of my dark periods.

"O do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the Grace of God."

—Phillips Brooks.

Subway sandwich

After stations of the cross and mass, we headed for a quick bite.  Subway appeared a logical place. Subway Rivercity Jalan Ipoh. Quiet place. From this picture it looks like we were the only customers. The couple beside us arrived later and left before us. They gobbled up their sandwiches. They did. We ate daintily and as a result left much later.

Rivercity at night is deserted which is sad. Only a few stalls were opened and 4-5 people seated looking tired and sad. There was a little girl who begged for food.  But the lighting of the place made it look posh. And due to the low level, nothing more than 1 story and the open space in between it was nice to walk from the open air carpark through shops to Subway. It is odd to find an read along Jalan Ipoh not densely populated with shops and people and cars.

Back to Subway and its meal. They had a rather limited selection and not much veg. The usual kiosk appeared smaller and less pots of vegetable selection. I had seafood. Being Friday that was the obvious choice and I think it tasted different and decidedly less than a normal portion. I still think the Subway at Plaza Damas serves the best Subway sandwiches.

Starbucks Publika

This is me with my new laptop at Starbucks inside Publika. I came here after a long day of meeting to try and do some work. Starbucks isn't the place for that. For starters their seating is limited. Really limited. and the 4 tables they had within easy access had no power points near by. There is a cosy corner but it was already full. Well there was one empty spot right in the corner but the couple beside didn't look too keen to share their space. And I wasn't too excited about being stucked in a corner.

I've tried and now I know. It's not the place to unwind and do work.. I think Coffee Society would be a better choice. Serves me right for being lazy and choosing the nearer option.

Thai Tuk Tuk, Publika

 Chicken basil with egg-oh. My must-order when I eat here. And this was dinner yesterday. The place is opposite the more well known eatery Chawan. It is a bright coloured shop and the picture above is the cashier counter. See! I told you they are a colourful shop.

The service is good. At least the few times I've eaten here. I love it when it rains, because you get the cool breeze. The place isn't air conditioned so sitting inside can get stuffy. I sat inside once and actually it wasn't too bad.

The chicken basil is nice but to spicy. I think Absolute Thai makes a better chicken basil. Their chicken is minced better and tastes better. This had a chewy gooey taste in some bites. And the fiery chilly paid was too much even for me. The egg was good and the rice is yum.

Daiso

I love the finished product. I wrapped ten of these. The first batch which can't be seen, has blue colours and in this picture, it is hidden by the red flowers. Do you see the time doilies at the top, I couldn't find 5 in the first packaging. Was annoyed so three of my first batch did not have the white top. When I moved onto the second package I realised the doilies are sufficient. Daiso did not cheat me of a few. I didn't peel away the doilies and what I ended up doing was using 3 doilies for one wrapper. Duh! Felt like a right idiot.

The finished product is like so. Not too bad. And so we see the end of the current batch of medical officers with us. And on Monday we get a new batch.

Putra Jaya

Putra Jaya is the seat of our administration. The various ministries have their offices here. This is the Ministry of Health. ( MOH for short).This picture doesn't capture the space and grandeur of the surroundings. The actual feeling is of order and calm. Nobody appears in a rush here. and everyone walks purposefully except the ones here for a meeting. You can spot them easily. They look lost and walk faster or they are in the cars driving through optimistically looking for a place to park.

Which brings me to the parking. It's impossible to get a spot inside the compound. Even the staff park under the trees in a jigsaw pattern making leaving early a lesson in patience as you wait for car number 1 blocking the exit to arrive.

There is more parking at the end of this long stretch. I parked there the first time I came here for my meeting. It's not a good spot to park. I was boxed in and had to wait quite a while before someone came to move the car. There is a public carpark beside these government blocks. Staff park here as well. If you come before 7:30am, it's free because the person manning the gate comes after that. Haha.You won't get boxed in here. It costs RM4 per entry. This is a new thing, The old method was by hour and the machine frequently acted up so they did away with this and decided per hour charges were easier. ( And better for me )

Ash Wednesday

Today is the first day of Lent which is a season of fasting and prayer. We will receive ashes on our forehead in church, a reminder that our life on earth is temporary. Ashes are also a symbol of penance  and it is also a reminder that God is merciful. As we journey through the 40 days, we are reminded. to seek God's mercy as we examine our lives snd repent for our sins.