Another Luncheon

One of my colleague was recently confirmed (after a probation period) and she decided to “chia” us makan. We went about 5km “down the road” from our office and imagined ourselves in California (well, maybe only me who thought that)! The place had quite a good lunch crowd, with almost every table being taken up.

Had two quite different but sizeable salad dishes as starters, and two other types of dips – one with bread as a dip and the other, a roll of some kind. Didn’t try the dips though, was saving my ever expanding waistline for the mains.

The salads were quite good, and I had a hearty helping of greens (no pic). Haven’t had green vegetables for a while (yeah, not good, I know… must eat more greens! – I hear you! I hear you! – err... pardon me, that was my conscience talking to me).

The mains followed quite quickly. We tried two different pasta dishes – one tomato based penne dish (guess who ordered!) and one spaghetti carbonara dish, (yum yum! especially the penne, but could have been slightly hotter I think – chilly hot that is). The penne dish was served with spicy sausages and pepper (think I saw slices of red and yellow pepper – which gave it that extra flavour). Hmm, must learn to cook this dish sometime. One day, one day!

Also had one very tasty oriental looking pizza. Was initially apprehensive as to the taste, but think there was a touch of barbeque or some kind of sweet sauce on the pizza. Quite nice actually. I had TWO helpings! All in all, it was an enjoyable meal.

Had my lunch with a nice cool glass of ice lemon tea. Very satisfying that - have always liked a cold glass of it and some! A slice of lemon was nestled on the rim of the glass, which was nice as a presentation (forgot to take a picture first), but for actual taste, decided to squeeze the slice of lemon into the tea and soak the lemon into the drink. Hence, you can just about see the slice of lemon floating in the drink. Ah!, a real thirst quencher that! Free flow to boot! Yippeee!

Usually, we would see a bottle of tabasco sauce around, but this time, we saw this “new” brand – Original Cholula Hot Sauce, all the way from Mexico I reckon. Didn’t try it though, but did add some chilly flakes on one or two of the dishes I tried. Actually, thought that the dishes were mostly tasty enough, and didn’t even have to put tomato sauce on my pizza this time!

After our meal, had some time left from the lunch hour, and a few colleagues decided to “jalan-jalan” for a bit. For me, I didn’t have any specific destination or things I wanted to get, so bummed around on the concourse area. I did check out Dunkin Doughnuts for a bit, looking at the various types - mocha frost, orange frost, smiley doughnuts, and much much more (slurpppp). Was tempted to buy some for tea, but decided against it. After all, haven’t signed up for the gym this quarter, and not sure if I will this time round. BUSTED!!!

Sunrise

Have not been usually captivated by sunrises, but at times, certain images just catch my attention. Took these while I was going to work one day. Have seen nicer sunrises I guess, but sometimes, it is not only the “big things” in life that makes you go “wow”, but the “little things” also. I think it is a moment thing, and how I must have been feeling while I was walking to my car, grateful that is, for the simple things in life:

a. that I am blessed with a roof over my head
b. that I am able to walk and talk
c. that I am in reasonably good health (still need to lose those extra kilos!)
d. that I have a job and steady income to pay my bills
e. that I am blessed with good friends and family

There are many more things for me to be grateful about, and although sometimes I feel ungrateful, take people for granted or just feel unreasonably envious, at the end of the day (or the start of the day in this case), a sense of peace just descends and contentment sets in to put a smile on my face.

Yes, there are many other things which I would like to achieve while I still can, especially my wish to travel the world and experience other cultures, but at the end of the day, life is a series of experiences, and thank God, I am still here, and can still feel grateful.

Have you ever stopped whatever you were doing, take a moment for yourself, think a happy thought, or about someone you love or care for deeply, and smile? Try it sometime, it is a very good feeling.

Where was I?

Had lunch in one of the popular malls the other day, whilst attending a seminar. Haven’t been here for a long time already. The course was interesting in bits and pieces and discussed more towards the development of the debt market, organised by one of the rating agencies in Malaysia.

It was a set lunch thingy, and had a choice of chicken, beef, fish, pasta, etc. Had this interesting dish called black ink pasta cooked in a tomato paste with fried seabass. Was pleasantly surprised at the taste, never had it before. Quite nice, although may look a bit “funny”. One of the bankers said it reminded him of bait used for fishes! Terrible!!!

The dessert was quite good too. Had this “berry” thingy (forgot the name already). Am not a strawberry fan, but this wasn’t sour, and neither was it too sweet. Just nice actually. Yes, I walloped the entire thingy, even the sinfully nice whipped cream! It was a set lunch, so no choice of desserts.

The unique thing about the place must be the loo. Alas, was a bit shy to take a picture of the loo as there was an attendant there. The tap for the sink is definitely unique, and wouldn’t have had a clue how to operate it if it hadn’t been for the attendant! It was like a huge bamboo water pump thingy – go check it out sometime. And in case you are wondering, yes, I am very the "kampung" type wan when it comes to these things! Got to get me more culture! :)