Back from The Capital

...of Malaysia that is. 

I wasn't planning on going on this recent trip, but then I was feeling greedy for some Kenny Hills so I decided to tag along on BIKSS' worktrip. He was gonna leave on a Monday, we got my ticket on the Friday prior. And I couldn't get out of work on Monday so he went ahead first, and I met up with him there later in the day.

There are other things going on in my life right now, one of which is being unhappy at work. I'm annoyed at my boss, my human resource person, and my current colleague. So I've applied to another job. Let's see how that goes. 

But for now, let me just enjoy showing you the photos of all our treats! 

Intermittent Fasting was put on hold (we'd both been at it for about a week - properly - before we left) and decided that we would just enjoy ourselves while we were away, then get back to it - properly - when we came home. The good news is, we both lost some weight before we left, and at least we're not too much over what we started with when we got back. 

We ate dinner on Monday night at a place recommended by my Uber driver. It was near our hotel, so why not?!  Broccoli and mushrooms / Roast chicken / Prawns in kam heong sauce - 

Kam Heong (Golden Fragrance) sauce is a signature Malaysian stir-fry paste known for its rich umami and aromatic profile. It is made by sautéing a base of dried shrimp, curry leaves, shallots, garlic, and chilies with Malaysian curry powder and savory sauces like oyster sauce, soy sauce, and sugar.

Then we walked back to the hotel via a 'connecting' alleyway that was lined with eateries! 

And stopped for some gelato. Good gelato. We had this in London too.. it's turned into something of a signature out-of-town ice cream treat for us.

We also bought some chocolate pieces.

The next morning I was off to Kenny Hills to pre-order my loot. Picked up some of these packaged treats for gifting (ahem... and eating...) while I was there. They promised to have my order ready for pick-up at noon the next day.

And since BIKSS loves an eclair, well...

Some of their offerings... none of these came home with me. Too fragile to travel.

These were the 3 bags I collected the day after, including some additional items that BIKSS wanted - I took him with me cos I figured there were gonna be too many boxes. Also, we tried some of the lemon drizzle loaf and banana bread later that day, and I ended up heading back there again the following day to pick up some more for BIKSS and myself to take home.

Top - marshmallow nutella brownie (so good... so, so good) 
Bottom - banana bread, slices of lemon drizzle loaf, and a scone

(There were 3 more scones in another box, don't you worry...)

I had a wander around the basement of the mall, and there were so many bakeries it was a good thing I had had lunch. There were fruit tarts, flattened croissant things (see explanation below) - and more scones!

They originated in South Korea as a viral dessert called krungji (or kurongji), which is a portmanteau of croissant and nurungji (a traditional Korean crispy scorched rice snack).

...Ok, I caved and bought some of those chocolate covered scones. Altho' I should have trusted my instincts and needn't have bothered. They weren't worth the calories! BIKSS didn't mind them tho, so I chucked them in his suitcase!

(OOTD: Black floral A-line dress with cut in top, beige slides, and blue and white tote.)

By the end of the afternoon I was ready to head back to the room. 

My last stop was a new bakery called Hot Crush: 

Hot Crush, the viral pink bakery, officially opened its first Southeast Asian outlet in Kuala Lumpur on December 20, 2025. The bakery originated as a massive hit in Shanghai, China.

Check out this instagram post for a closer look.. or watch this short - 

I wish I could tell you that I tried some of those other tarts and what not, but I didn't. BIKSS bought a chocolate egg tart on the last day and I picked one up too. But I didn't get a picture of it. I *can* say that it was delicious! I did manage to grab a pic off the internet - 

(Bottom row - middle)

I was more interested in things that would travel well, so I got a Berlin Volufra Cocoa Crispy Pretzel / Honey Pistachio Nut Bar / and an amusing receipt that tells me the Amount Of Money I paid.

Along with the pretzel and nut bars (which are really just sourdough breadsticks with nuts that are cut up on the spot as they pack up your purchase) and wellington croissants (mini beef wellingtons anyone? see pics below) I also picked up some ready-to-eat Bird's Nest and Chrysanthemum + Honeysuckle tea from a wellness/herbal remedy shop.

Signature Black Truffle Wellington Steak Croissant

- it's one of their big hits, and so I just had to try it. 

And it was so good I went back to the store the morning of our departure to pick up 4 more. They open at 12. I was in line at 12.05.. But it wasn't ready yet. Come back in an hour, they said. BIKSS came round to meet me for lunch, then we headed back up again at 1. Thankfully, this time we managed to bag our goodies, which I hand-carried (along with the Nutella brownies) onto the plane.

We had lunch at a nearby restaurant with a forest theme on one of the days and aside from the strange decor I must say the food was very decent. They had set meals which came with free flow salad (a limited selection, but still, enough to make a decent garden salad) and fruit punch. I chose the fish tacos for my main, and BIKSS had the crispy chicken burger. We were quite satisfied. There was also a tiny Tiramisu thrown in to complete the meal.

On the day we collected our stuff from Kenny Hills we had wanted to lunch there but it was full so we headed to Tabush instead which, I'm glad to say, has never disappointed. 

And this time was no exception.

We had a brinjal masala - 

also known as baingan masala, is a rich, spiced South Asian curry made with eggplant (brinjal). The eggplant is either pan-fried or simmered whole in a fragrant, thick gravy made with onions, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, and a blend of traditional ground spices.

... and another brinjal thing with minced lamb. It's called Monazala Batinjan B'Forn - 

a classic Middle Eastern eggplant and tomato casserole or stew. It typically features layers of roasted or fried eggplant, savory minced meat (lamb or beef), and a rich tomato sauce, all baked together in the oven until bubbling.

On our last night out BIKSS wanted to take me to a nice sit down dinner so we chose a steakhouse. Off we went to Corks Out, which was an easy 5-min walk from our hotel.

(OOTD: Black spaghetti maxi cotton dress with tulle overlay, a scarf that belonged to my friend's late mum, the one whose wake I spent a whole week at last month, and grey snakeskin clutch.) 

They brought the raw meats to the table in a basket and we selected the cuts we wanted, then they grilled them up. When the food arrived back at the table each cut of meat came with its own info cards.

I wasn't thrilled with the lamb ribs but the beef was VERY good.

We also had grilled napa cabbage with anchovy sauce (caesar dressing I suppose) and cheese, a pomegranate and beetroot salad, and the server brought over a trio of salts - from left to right, herbal salt made seasoned with angelica root, mushroom salt, and a smoked salt. I generally don't like salty food so after he placed the three little piles on our plates I promptly tried them each once then chucked the whole lot out. They weren't bad, I just don't like salting my food beyond whatever sauce is already on the serving plate. 

Thankfully, aside from the brown mushroom (?) sauce on the side plate, the other dips were not salty. That reddish one is a chilli-vinegar dip, and the green one is a chimichurri which I quite liked. (And in case you're wondering, yes, I generally have low blood pressure, somewhere in the 95/60 range, and it's been this way since I was young. I think it's because mum didn't use a lot of salt in her food, owing to dad's hypertension. So I just got used to eating less-salty food.)

Right, one of the last things I picked up were these Shanghainese "scones" or meat pastries. 

That carrier bag is adorable! The buns aren't too bad either LOL. 

Ji Pin He (吉品合) is a popular bakery chain originally founded in Shanghai, China, in 2008. Known for its freshly baked, flaky, and meat-filled Chinese scones (sometimes referred to as baked buns), the brand has grown to operate over 400 outlets.

They had some fun flavours. Aside from the ones here, they also had New Orleans Chicken, Chicken and Shrimp, and Black Pepper Beef - which are the flavours BIKSS chose, so I picked up one of each for him and myself. And boy did they smell awesome!

It was supposed to be a quick lunch at Kyochon Chicken before we left for the airport. We had the cheese truffle boneless bites, and the soy garlic + red hot (it wasn't hot!) boneless bites combo. In the end I was a bit disappointed. It was far from great, just edible I'd say, and it took way longer than we expected. Almost half an hour for those bits of chicken to arrive. You can be sure I'm never going back.

Founded in 1991 in South Korea, Kyochon is one of the world's most iconic Korean fried chicken chains. Famous for its signature double-frying technique and hand-brushed sauces, the brand uses antibiotic-free chicken and premium canola oil to create a crispy, less greasy finish.

And that's my foot on the plane. With my bag of beef wellingtons and brownies, and a handbag under the seat in front of me! I love having checked baggage... no overhead bins to struggle with!

And that's it! I'm curious to hear if you've tried any of the foods that I've shared here... some of these were new to me, and I think my favourite meals were at Tabush (I do love Middle Eastern cuisine) and the steakhouse (but only because it was a novel experience and the beef was really tender).

I've Reached That Age

...where most of my social life revolves around accidental reunions at funerals and wakes. 

I spent the last week visiting with a family friend at his mother's wake, there were many people I'd not seen in decades. We caught up, reminesced and made plans to keep in touch. His own family lives in Australia so it took some time for his wife and one of his sons to fly in. The other one was already here. 

He was my brother's classmate. And a lot of the fellas who came by, aside from being schoolmates, also went to the same church; people I'd known from my girlhood days when I used to play for Mass, including the original line up of musicians from when I was a wee lass of 9, legs too short, even, to reach the organ pedals. 

We were able to organise a group of 7 of us to provide the music for the funeral Mass. And even though it was a sombre occasion I must admit I had a lot of fun at our 'band' reunion. As my drummer put it "I suddenly feel 18 again". I shared that sentiment.

Conversations inadvertantly touched on medical and health problems, and despite my menopause aches and pains, I'm largely well and unscathed. 

And for that, I am immensely grateful. 

In an effort to pay it forward I've no qualms about sending out brochures and other helpful bits of info to anyone who's interested. And my, when the people you meet for the first time are all above 50, there's definitely a demand for such 'healthy lifestyle' advice! 

Funerals always leave me in a contemplative mood... so this was just me, um, contemplating. :) 

REST IN PEACE, AUNTIE D.

The Year of Thrifting (And Flipping)

The place where I work is a bit of a walk from the nearest bus stop. And since I don't drive, after we close up my boss drops us off at one of the bus stops nearby so we don't have to traipse out in the midday sun. 

Now one stop down from where we usually tumble out of his car is the Salvation Army thrift shop. I don't know why I never thought to visit the place more regularly, seeing as how it's SO convenient for me to get there. I mean, I have been there before with my ex-colleague, on occasion, and also with mum and CG1 in the pre-dementia days. 

But I think after Covid hit, all our usual haunts needed re-assessing and we kinda just forgot about it. 

Anyway I've been in there about 10x now, in the last couple of months, and come away with some good finds, both for myself and for flipping on the resale platforms. 

Let me show you my loot - 

(Bonia - sold)

(Croissant bag - sold - this was the piece that started the madness!)

Agnes B Voyage

Local brand - Batik clutch / shoulder bag

Unbranded grey clutch / $7.50 - from a different thrift store. 

Took it to BKK with me on the last trip and absolutely loved how it looked!

Keeping it!

 Balenciaga / $35 - totally keeping it!

Sachs / $16 -  I've always wanted a red leather bag! Keeping it!

(Toscano - sold)

(HdPc - sold)

 Local online brand - Batik shoulder bag

Unbranded off-white crossbody / $5 - keeping it!

So I've made about $150 so far just flipping bags. It's no hardship since the platform has a secure payment gateway and comes with a built-in courier service. The buyer pays, I get an email, I pack it up and wait for someone to come collect it from my doorstep. And in 3 days' time the cash is in my bank. 

And while I've seen many, many more bags that are new/ as good as new and in very saleable condition, I have decided that I will only buy pieces that I would be willing to pay the asking price for if I were to keep it for my own use. Because if it doesn't get sold I'm stuck with it. And I'd prefer to be stuck with a thing that I would wear at the price I paid for it. 

I've also been rooting around my room to pull out unused things that I could convert into cash. So far I've managed a few pairs of shoes / sandals, including a pair of Ferragamo heels, a pair of Swarovski earrings that were a gift but make my ears hurt cos the posts are too thick, an opened blind box from Pop Mart, and a bunch of tees, tops and dresses!

And so far, I haven't been out of pocket yet for all the pretty bags I've acquired. That has GOT to be the best way to shop! (And popping into the store is turning into an addiction!)

(Hmmm since handbags are such a personal choice, feel free to let me know in the comments which one/s appeal/s to you... it'll be interesting to compare styles!)

Back from Bangkok

It was wonderful. Spanks. Pinches. Sex, sometimes twice a day, and my inner service sub could come out to play. I made breakfasts, hot beverages, and even did some ironing! 

And we ate. And discovered new restaurants. And enjoyed each other's company. 

Here we go - pics! 

Lunch when we arrived on Tuesday was had at the hotel itself. The restaurant is called SoCal and for some reason BIKSS always thought that stood for Southern California. Turns out "SoCal is a vibrant street-side café and dining destination where the rustic flavours of Italy meet the vibrant spices of the Levant." Who woulda guessed!

Buffalo Mozzarella & Roated Tomato 

Chicken Taouk

There was a lovely plate of sweets on the table in the room... 

... which was conveniently located right at the lift lobby. I know some would prefer a room farther away so as to eliminate foot traffic noises, but it was so well carpeted that we honestly couldn't hear anything at all from inside the room.

BIKSS went off to work, while I spent the day ironing and, later on, walking to a couple of restaurants in the next building to get our reservations sorted for the next two days' lunches. After that I met BIKSS at the BIG C mega supermart for spot (ok, that's not really a spot LOL) of snack shopping. Maybe we overdid it a little.. but that's what Bangkok is all about, after all. 

They had some strange flavours... and seeing as how I'm a lover of all things potato chips, I absolutely HAD to try. Haven't had a chance to burst into the salmon can yet, but the Fish & Chips one wasn't bad. Some pieces had more flavour than others, but the ones that did were indeed very reminiscent of English F&C. I wouldn't exactly run back to the shop to buy more, but it was an interesting flavour.

Then we found these konjac snacks. They're savoury konjac bits that can be eaten on their own, or paired with rice or porridge or noodles. Ripped one open when I arrived home - I like it! Plus it's zero calories, zero fats, and zero sugars!

Dinner was had at a sushi restaurant in BIKSS' office building. We had the salmon roll with avocado and asparagus, a seaweed and avocado salad with broccoli and peppers, and a tom yum fried maki with fried prawns. The portions were generous, and that tom yum maki was definitely interesting. Again, a once in a lifetime "must-try" but I doubt I'd want to order it again. The restaurant gave us some complimentary cantaloupe slices for dessert. 

Baker Bricks was one of the places on my scones hit list. Sadly when I got there on the evening of the first day, they had already sold out. So I asked if I could make a reservation and they said I could just place my order and collect my treats the next day. Which is what I ended up doing. Turns out they have a rotating menu which changes from week to week, and this apparently drives their Insta fans wild with FOMO. I suppose it's a good strategy. Will I want to go back there to buy more the next time I'm in BKK? Definitely. And for the same reason - they'll have different flavours and I want to eat them all!

It's not a traditional scone texture-wise, more like what I would consider an American biscuit, which I know is supposed to be what the English call a scone, but somehow I always think of biscuits as a little more crumbly. And these were definitely more crumbly.

Top - Hojicha Tiramisu scone with mascarpone for supper, 

Bottom - Chocolate Banana scone with apple and tangerine for breakfast the next morning.

Me with my Baker Bricks boxes sitting at a table in the Pancake Cafe while I waited for my souffle pancakes to be ready. (Also, that grey clutch is my new favourite bag! Thrifted it for $7.50!)

They were a bit deflated by the time we got to them, but since BIKSS didn't have a lot of time for waiting about at a cafe (20 mins prep time), I ordered a takeaway box before lunch so that we could share it as a dessert in our room after lunch.

They're served stacked one on top of the other in-store but since I didn't trust it to stay up (especially under the weight of ice cream, fruit, sauce and cream) we decided to just have one each. BIKSS surrendered after 2/3 of his, and I ate the rest of it! 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Lunch was had at the Mandarin Oriental tea shop. I was a little bit disappointed with their scones. We had too much for lunch, so BIKSS took the ham and cheese baguette back to work for some of the guys. I couldn't have my scones at the restaurant for being overstuffed, so I bought a mango scone and had it to go. It was dry, heavy, and didn't taste of anything. We each took a bite, proclaimed it unfit for human consumption and promptly chucked the rest of it out. The fish and dill pie was good, and look at those adorable fishies! And the grilled salmon and salad was a much larger serving than we expected. A warm pot of lemongrass tea was the perfect antidote to having overeaten! And those chocolates are so exorbitantly priced, I don't know who would buy them!

The day's wanderings found me picking up a pair of slides, to replace the ones I brought with me, which by now had begun to lose their treads and weren't any good to me on rainy days. I left those behind when I packed to come home.

The small-business scent shop I support (from ChiangMai) now has a little corner in one of the shops on the topmost floor of where the BIG C supermart is, so I picked up a few items. They didn't have a lot of variety, so that's all I managed. A perfume, pillow mist, and hand sanitiser.

Anyway, on to dinner! Which was at Victoria in Centralworld. We had the chilli garlic prawns, beef cheek bourguignon, and nicoise salad with seared tuna. All in all a very good meal. They gave us a serving of bruschetta on the house. 

And because there was a fly showing some interest in our food they placed a little fan on the table (a comfortable distance away from the food) in order to keep the bugger away.

Brunch the next day was had at 1823 tearoom, where I had the tea set for one, and BIKSS had the set lunch, with chicken roulade, a salad, and some Thai milk tea ice cream. I had the ice cream as he wasn't a fan of it.

After that he went back to work and I stayed on sipping my tea by our window table. I did very little the rest of the afternoon, by which I mean I went back to the room and took a nap.

Then it was off to Big C to pick up some sauces and teas, and then it was off to Mozza at Central Chidlom for dinner. The caesar salad was generously topped with cheese and bacon, the lambshank was a little gamey but fine when eaten together with the risotto, and the eggplant parmigiana was simply marvelous. The tiramisu was awesome, cos it was more cream than sponge, altho BIKSS thought there wasn't ENOUGH sponge. Pfft. It's all about the cream, imo.

Our spoils! Mine is a little handcarry (ok, 'little' is relative!) and BIKSS ended up filling his duffel. And yes, we had more in our luggage!

Lunch at the airport was a simple burger.... but I thought it was cute that they stamped the name of the restaurant on their buns!

And today I cooked up a batch of rice vermicelli with the packet of boat noodle gravy mix I got there. I've been to BKK multiple times but had never tried boat noodles. So I got ONE packet to try. And I've decided I quite like the flavour. It's a little bit spicy, savoury, and sweet. I guess I'll be adding it to my shopping list for the next time I'm there. Definitely worth buying!

And that's the end of it. I hope you've enjoyed the photo dump!