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 […]
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 […]
Gong xi fa cai!
Our building celebrated Chinese New Year today, with a lion dance and a dragon dance and a small banquet. I was glad especially to see the lion dance, as though I’ve seen the ‘dance’ bit of it quite a few times now, I’ve never been around, or close enough, on time, to watch the ritual […]
Busy, busy
The week has started with a fair bit of work, much of it now overdue as I had to spend a great deal of time in KL’s less salubrious shopping centres getting photocopies, photographs and postage for passport renewal. The wheels are now in motion and hopefully it’ll be here in four to six weeks. […]
Spooked
There was a strange sense of unrightness around KL today, or maybe I was just spooked. There are often addicts sprawled on the pavements in our part of town, and I had my bag snatched very dramatically in my first week in the city which ended with a trip to the emergency as my head […]
Incense
After two cups of morning tea, twice my usual allocation, we went down to Petaling Street where, rumour had it, Ali Muthu & Ahok was one of the rare restaurants open on Chinese New Year. It was open and was packed, but we found a table for nasi lemak. Merchant’s Lane next door appeared to […]
Afrofutures
We went to see Black Panther yesterday. It was very good, and I say this as one who is not a fan of superhero films. It was beautiful of course – Afrofuturism is lush visually (I’m less fond of the novels I’ve read in the genre). And so strange and refreshing to see a big […]
Relief
A relief to be back in KL with our next guest to come in a fortnight but only for a couple of days, and then perhaps a family visit in May. It is very nice indeed to be back with the GF without others around. We went to Sarang and had a delicious Nyonya laksa […]