The GF returns overnight, so my week to myself is over. It will be good to have him back, though I did take the opportunity to do some things by myself that he wouldn’t have enjoyed. Not that I couldn’t do them anywy, but it’s somehow easier when he is not there. Today was the […]
Roti john
I went for perhaps the least nutritionally dense meal I have ever had. I took the LRT to Dato Keramat in the Ampang area, where there are lots of food shops and stalls clustered in small markets near the station. It’s a largely Malay area, unlike most of those I normally frequent. There is located […]
Hindustani roots
Somewhat belatedly in life, I have started learning to read Hindi. I’m now over a week in and going strong. The turnaround has come thanks to a lesson on an app for teaching the Hindi alphabet to Urdu speakers. It’s much clearer, having the Urdu next to it instead of going via English or the […]
An instagrammable moment
The photo is of my post lunch snack: oolong tea and a sesame ball, neatly arrayed on a little tray my sister gave me as a birthday present. Lunch was curry chee cheong fun from the downstairs market from a stall with a gloriously self-mocking Chinglish sign. It was very tasty and I see now […]
Sad river
This is a photo of the Klang river as it passes under the Masjid Jamek LRT station. A truly pitiful sight. To be fair, there is now a regeneration effort to release the river from its bounds, or at least clean it up and make walking paths alongside it. For now, however, it’s a dank, […]
Duck rice
The GF is off to Dhaka for a week, but we had time for a quick lunch of duck rice from Kenny Hill. Quick in eating, but it actually took about an hour to arrive. Had he not had a flight to catch it would have been worth the wait; it was delicious and I […]
Hanging garden
Visited what might be the most beautiful commercial space in KL, the interior of the Botak bar on Petaling Street. It’s upstairs from Choca Foodstore, a longstanding favourite, and was spectacularly done up in the shabby shophouse style that Malaysia does so well, with tropical greenery falling over the bar. The drinks were nice but […]
Primordial gadgetry
My uncle Gadget arrived late last night or rather early this morning as he stopped at the airport for a leisurely coffee and a cigarette. He is here for two days en route to Australia and leaves tomorrow night. Uncle Gadget is the man who gave me my first computer when I was eight years […]
Three billboards
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri has an irritating title but was unambiguously good. I was amazed by some of the stupidity in reviews and so on, particularly those complaining about a particular character’s redemption arc (if that is what you think of as redemption then, well, I don’t know what to say). It was very […]
Leaving home
Our next step has been confirmed and we will leave KL in the coming months. The city has become a sort of home, and life here has become life rather than an interlude. This was brought home at our celebratory dinner last night at Sushi Azabu where the staff recognised us and greeted us as […]