Raya Groceries

There would not be Raya without the rush for grocery shopping a few days before. We did our bit at Mid Valley on the Sunday before Raya, and luckily we were early and were able to secure a parking slot right near the entrance. By the time we were done, the place was already jam packed.

The AEON at Mid Valley was undergoing renovation which made the shopping experience less than ideal. We ended up having to shop at two places - meaning two queues at the cashiers. Not fun. But being AEON, you could almost guarantee that you would be able to get everything under one roof, and that was what happened.

An hour and a half and we were out of there, just needing to ferry the stuffs over to Gombak ....

The Tail End

It was coming to the end of Ramadhan, and some of the city dwellers had started their journey back to kampung. This was certainly helped by the fact that Raya would be in the middle of the week, and the school would be closed the whole week. People can travel from one weekend to the next and the weekend had started.

Most of the stalls at pasar Ramadhan had started to close and we were already making plans to return to Gombak, buying groceries and started decorating. Anita had finalised her menu for Raya day itself as a few of our friends had planned to come.

Great Company

I didn't go out for berbuka that much this year - at least compared to before. It was more convenient to break my fast at home, there wasn't a need to dash into traffic late on and then fight for food at the buffet tables. At home, things were more organised, plus I sometimes only reach home late after work and didn't have time to organise things.

Luckily our maid had been a great help, sorting out the berbuka and sahur for us and the boys.

But once a year, I would be joining the staffs at Cellsafe for their own berbuka event. This year it was at Park Royal, near Bukit Bintang At an outlet called Chatz Brasseries. Surprisingly driving in and out of there was easy for us coming from Bangsar - plus the fact that Anita insisted on us leaving early.

This should be borderline illegal!Gout-inducing I was sure ...Some fresh fishSatay. Straight from the grill.The food there was awesome! Definitely better than the meal I had at KL Hilton a few weeks back. And the crowd there - even though it was close to full house - was very civilised. It helped that the management did not fill the restaurant up to the brim!

The food choice was excellent and they were very generous when it came to drinks. I counted that there were at least 8 different kinds free for us to choose. And my favourite - the Chef Recommendation - was called "Janda Pulang". Now, don't get me wrong, although there was innuendo there, but it was basically a combination of coconut juice and "gula melaka", a special kind of sugar syrup. Dynamite!

This drink was gorgeousThey even have cencalok!For a more traditional selectionDone with dinner ....The grills were nice with plenty of fresh seafood. We had a great time chatting on until it was almost 10 pm with some teh tarik on hand of course. And was after numerous trips to the buffet table for top-ups. A place I would definitely recommend.

Mid Valley Sunshine

160703 Sitting outside The Gardens entrance - Spherical Image - RICOH THETA

The Theta then travelled with me to Mid Valley. After doing the groceries and dumping them down into the trunk of the car, Anita and I went out separate ways. She had to do her shopping alone of course! While I explored the decorations with my P9 and Theta.

Many VR videos and 360 degrees photos ensued.

Crazy Chocolates

One of Anita's weakness was chocolate and when it came to that, she loved Patchi. There were a few outlets that do them in town and the nearest one to us was Bangsar Shopping Centre.

Patchi were not cheap. And exploring the place the other night we peeked at the Raya hampers that they sold. They were going in the thousands of ringgit. One of the bowl filled with chocolate actually went for RM5000! That was what an average Malaysian blue collar worker make in a month!

These were going in the thousands

My God! But any hampers to my clinic from Patchi were actually most welcomed if you catch my drift ....