26-May-2024
I'm going to lead with a little walk we did early on Friday morning with a group of friends:
Jalan Padungan before dawn
That morning's amazing moon turned into the star attraction
The little pond in Petra Jaya that was our turning-round point seemed quite drab after all that blue-and-silver
Otherwise, the week has included:
-- A great talk by local historian James Yong on the Padungan area of Kuching. It's pretty much our back yard, this district, so even though I've read James's book, I still found it all very interesting:
We live just to the right of the "Padungan area now" label
I really like James's working definition of heritage
-- Wesak Day
Lui cha (appropriately vegetarian) from Lao Jie Fang
-- A trip to La Promenade, a mall on the outskirts of town. Having broken our (only recently acquired) coffee press, we headed out here to replace it. It's a bit of a ride away, so when you go, you make the most of it. First up, brunch at Zoro... Then it is compulsory to tour Mr DIY, to load up with the only shower cleaner on the planet that actually works on my shower. This time, Mr DIY also supplied a bedside lamp, for which I'd looked in vain in another mall earlier in the week. After that, you need to have coffee at Black Bean, which is also where you buy your press. "Don't I remember you buying a press recently...?" asked the barista. "Yes," said Nigel, "but it didn't last very long." "Oh, what happened?" asked the young man, obviously concerned that he might have inadvertently sold us a sub-standard item. "It smashed when I knocked it onto the floor," said Nigel. "Oh," said the barista... And finally, you have to raid the Choice supermarket to see if any of the rarer items on your grocery list have made an appearance. Some of them had, and we felt all celebratory.
Zoro is always nice. This is my scrambly thing, with avocado and a chick pea salsa
And this is Nigel's glitzy wagyu thing
-- Very clear indications that Gawai is fast approaching:
Early morning view of the cat in Gawai mode
-- And -- drumroll and fanfare, da-da-da DA da-DAAA -- confirmation that the UK pension authorities are finally paying me the right amount of money...:
Yay!
Meanwhile, there's always coffee:
HWC, our favourite coffee place at The Spring, also has a branch at Vivacity
Borneo Coffee and their pretty garden view
And there's always something to photograph:
Wondering whether these particular lights have gone out by accident or design...