Breaking fast at a sight to behold

We broke our fast at the Wilayah Mosque last night.

We were to pick up my mom to take her out for the breaking of fast, but since we were not able to pick her up any earlier than after the breaking of fast, we told her to break fast first with something light so that she wouldn’t get too hungry as our journey from our house to my sister’s house would take us some time.

However, my hubby suggested that instead of driving from our house to my sister’s house only after breaking fast which would take some time to get there, he suggested that we go out as soon as we can after all our chores are done and break fast at the Wilayah Mosque, do our Magrib prayers, and then pick up my mum. That way it wouldn’t take us that long to get to my sister’s place where my mum is staying.

We did just that last night, and while there, I thought I would take in the sights around the mosque which is really pretty.

It’s one of the mosque which I find really beautiful, and my must add that this mosque was designed by an Architect from my department. Not many people know that.

Many think that the mosque was designed by a consultant. That happens all the time. When the design of a building is beautiful, the public thinks it’s the consultant that designs them. If the design is ugly and boring, the design must be that of the Public Works Department.

If a building gets completed successfully and on time, it’s the contractor that gets the credit and they are being glorified no end. But when the building fails like if the ceiling comes off, the roof leaks etc., it’s the Public Works Department that had failed to supervise the project properly even if the project was a Design and Build project and the supervision was actually done by consultants appointed by the Contractors themselves. It’s sad.

We do our work in accordance to the proper work procedures, but most contractors these days will almost always try to cut corners so that they can get a higher profit margin. When we apprehend them for cutting corners and issue out non-compliance reports (NCR), they become aggressive and threaten us with accusation letters and slander because, to them, we have made work difficult for them. They never want to admit that it is they that are wrong.

If they had done their work in accordance to the correct specifications in the first place, then we wouldn’t have had to issue out any NCRs, and they wouldn’t have had to redo the same job twice. But no, they will always try to cut corners with the hope that they can get away with it. They always try to bank on our sympathy. When we stand up to what is right, they start dropping names saying that they know this influential person, that influential person with the hope to scare us. Such is the attitudes of some contractors these days. Sad, isn’t it?

So far, my team and I have stuck to our principals and remain united in our stand to ensure that we receive buildings that will not compromise on safety, quality and stability, and are in accordance to the specifications outlined in the Conditions of Contract. We pray that Allah will always protect us and keep us all from harm, as we have had two of our Project Managers whose life was at risk when they were assaulted with sharp objects when they stood to their grounds. One was stab on the neck with a screwdriver, the other a knife on his thigh. *sigh*

Oopps! I am digressing again. Sorry! *grin*

OK, back to what this posting is all about, which is the beautiful sights at the Wilayah Mosque and also on the food at the restaurant that we took my mum out for dinner last night.

We had our dinner at this Restaurant in Mont Kiara, across from the Duta Tropika gated community housing area.

They offered Ramadhan buffet for RM49.00+, which I think was quite pricey, but since my mum enjoyed her dinner, it made every cent worth it. While my hubby went for the buffet too, my son and I didn’t. We decided to go for the ala carte.

I ordered the Lamb Shank while my son ordered Fried Mee. I specifically requested for the Fried Mee not to be spicy.

My order of Watermelon Juice with Lychee came only after repeated reminders, and after we had waited for more than 20 minutes. As for the Fried Mee, not only did we have to wait for almost 30 minutes before the food came, not to mention after several reminders, it came all hot and spicy that my son was sweating on his head like he was bathing sweat! LOL! Pity him.

Also, I felt that the menu was kind of misleading. It had listed the Fried Mee as having chicken, prawns, chives and Fried Egg. The mee came with everything else except the fried egg. When I inquired, they said that the egg has been fried together with the mee. Can you believe this? If the egg was going to be fried with the mee, you needn’t have to list it down. And, anyway, there was no evidence that the egg has been fried together with the mee. See photo to believe it.

Did they apologize for misleading us, and also for making us wait for 30 minutes for our order which eventually was not how we wanted it to be when they made it spicy despite my request for it NOT TO BE SPICY? Unfortunately, not! The apology was difficult coming. It only came after I told off the cashier that she could have at least apologized for the mistake. After all, she had made us wait 30 minutes already. I could have asked them to fry a fresh one, but, my son was already too hungry and we were not willing to wait again should they end up taking another 30 minutes to deliver our order.

For sure, we won’t be coming to this restaurant again! But, I am glad that at least my mum enjoyed her dinner and the Lamb Shank wasn’t too bad. I only wished that they had served it with bun or some sort of bread. I would have enjoyed it more.

Taking in the sights and sounds of Bukit Bintang at night

It was Monday, 15th February 2010. We had spent almost the whole day Saturday, 13th February out of the house, taking Aiman to his usual Saturday classes, met up my mum, brother and niece for lunch. Later, we spent the evenings at my brother’s house before going home, but not before we stopped to get ourselves packed dinner to be eaten at home.

By the time we got home, it was quite late and everyone was tired. After dinner, we decided to retire early for the night as we thought that we would start our day early the next day as we have many things planned for the day.

It was Valentine’s Day and also Chinese New Year. We did not make any plans to do any
visiting to any Chinese’s friends’ house. Neither did we make any plans for Valentine’s Day as we had already spent the whole day out of the house on Saturday, and so, decided to stay home instead and take care of the house apart from doing the usual household chores.

My hubby had the grass cutter in, while I took stock of what’s in the fridge and cleared all the food which was more than a week old. I also made plans of what I would be cooking for the next few days so that my hubby can go and buy some groceries as we had Tuesday off, and I had applied for leave on Wednesday to give my MIL a break from baby-sitting Aiman.

After the majority of the household chores were done with, I managed to work on a sample bag which was a special request from my hubby’s cousin and managed to complete it that Sunday night (see earlier posting).

Having spent the whole day at home on Sunday, came Monday morning, my hubby suggested that we take a drive around town to see how the town is like during this festive season when it used to be terribly jammed up on normal working days. We made plans to have dinner out as we take in the sights of the city at night.

We headed on to Bukit Bintang after our maghrib prayers, and was caught in a slight jam along the Federal Highway in front of Midvalley Megamall due to an accident and a slight road closure due to construction. After that, it was a smooth drive to Bukit Bintang.

It’s been a very long time since I last went to Bukit Bintang and was amazed at how much it had changed.

It was becoming more of a tourist spot rather than just a shopping spot for the locals, like it used to be 10 or so years ago. I felt like as if I was in a foreign land and could not resist going around snapping photos of the sights and scenes around me.

What was most shocking was the new shopping complex The Pavillion which was built on the former Bukit Bintang Girls’ School.

I felt a sudden pang of sadness when I saw the huge shopping complex as I felt that a part of history was torn down just to make way for just another shopping complex. Like as if there weren’t enough shopping complexes already in the area.

Is commercial value more important than the historical value of a city? I am no business woman, neither am I a fetish for history, but, to see a school which was part of the making of Kuala Lumpur make way for simply just another shopping complex was really a sad sight to see. I don’t see anything that is so unique about it that a school actually had to give way to it other than to bring in money to the already rich people.

Yeah! Yeah! Some will say that it was an economically driven decision as this shopping complex will be able to bring in money into the country as many tourists will be patronising the place. Like as if we don’t have enough shopping complexes of similar purpose around the city already? *sigh*

Part of history just went down when the school was torn down. *sigh*

After taking some snap shots of the err…..whatchamacolic…biggest whatever…..water sculpture in front of The Pavillion (it changes colours 3 times and the water fountain can reach the height of the biggest bowl……my son was amazed and excited at seeing the fountain rise the highest height. LOL!), we walked back towards Sungei Wang Plaza in search of food as we were starting to get hungry.

We came across Mr Gold and Mr Silver (I could not get a photo of Mr Silver) posing with anyone who wishes to take photos with them for a small fee of RM2.00.

My hubby tried to take a self portrait of himself and Aiman with Mr Gold in the background but it got too crowded that it was impossible to get a good shot of him.

When we got to almost the end of Jalan Bukit Bintang, we decided to settle for Papa Rich for dinner. Aiman, again, ordered Fish and Chips (this boy just can’t seem to get enough of Fish and Chips! He just had Fish and Chips on Saturday! LOL!).

I ordered the Curry Laksa which came in a HUGE bowl with plenty of chicken pieces and cockels.

Unfortunately, the curry laksa was tasteless. Despite adding salt and pounded chillies, I still could not get it to taste nice. But, I finished it anyway as I was hungry, and the big chicken pieces sort of made up for its poor taste.

My hubby ordered the chicken rice, but I could not get a good shot of the set as the lighting in the restaurant was poor and my hubby was positioned at an angle from me.

I did not want to get up to take the shot as I did not want to make it too obvious that I was taking photos of the food lest the restaurant owner might chase me out thinking that I might be trying to steal his idea for a recipe or in the way he presented the food, not that the food presentation was that great anyway. LOL! *grin*

Seen here my hubby putting up a posting at FB to say that we were having dinner at Papa Rich in Bukit Bintang. Has someone gotten addicted to FB? LOL! *wink*

My son also ordered a serving of otak-otak which was really nice despite it looking raw and ‘naked’ without the usual leaves that an otak-otak is usually wrapped in. LOL! *grin*

We topped off our dinner by sharing a bowl of Banana Split which was really nice as we have not had a Banana Split in a long tim etoo.

Dinner wasn’t even done yet when my son started yawning and rubbing his eyes, showing signs of being tired and sleepy. He had played a round of badminton with my hubby earlier at the park, and since he had not being exercising much since his circumcision and the chicken pox, it must have worn him down very much.

We paid the bill and headed back to the car to go home. We arrived home still early as it wasn’t even 11.00pm, as it was quite a smooth drive back. If only the roads could always be this clear all day every day! LOL!

Yeah! Yeah! Dream, baby, dream! When you live in a big city like KL, you can only dream of a city that is jam free! LOL!

It was nice to go into the city once in a while to take in the sights and sounds of the city at night. I am no socialite, and going out at night is not something I like to do, preferring instead, to stay at home to work on my crafts, but, it’s a nice change once in a while.

A room with a view

I have sort of settled down in my new office despite the fact that we have no telephone lines and no internet connection. I can only be contacted via my handphone, and I am using my mobile broadband to go online to check my emails and to update our project reporting.

We still can’t hold our meetings at the new office as our conference table still could not be set up due to missing parts, and the administrative office has yet to tell us how to arrange for light refreshments for the meetings. If I really need to have one, I will have to buy from outside and bring them in.

At the moment, I am holding all my meetings at the site office for projects already on the ground, and for projects at the planning stage, I am holding them at my client department’s office, courtesy of our client.

I have unpacked all my 22 boxes (they are very small boxes, mind you! LOL! *wink*) and have sort of organised them the best I can with limited cabinet spaces.

My old office was furnished with built-in cabinets, but now I have to buy my own loose cabinets in order to get my books and files sorted out and organised.

My office is looking good. I have a small discussion area which is nice to have as I can accommodate up to 5 people for mini discussions without having to leave my room.

The seating area is now more comfortable, compared to the one at my previous office as it can now seat more people, and is now more presentable. I just need to get a coffee table so that those visiting me have a place to put their files and handbags/briefcases.

My only other problem besides the telecommunication problem is that my office has no blinds, and my room is facing the morning sun. It gets really hot in the morning and the glare from the sun’s rays gives me a headache very early in the morning.

My staffs have tried to minimise the glare by putting up recycled bubble wraps on the wide glass panels, but the effect is minimal. I could hardly see the screen of my computer from the glare, and my room gets really hot when it is almost noon.

The staff area is so much cooler, that I am contemplating of setting up a small area for myself in the staff area where it is still vacant for me to work when the room gets really hot.

But, the best part of my room is the VIEW!!

Yup! I might not have the corner lot like most of the other bosses have, but, I get quite a good view of KLCC, The Vistana Hotel, and my room is overlooking the LRT/Monorail Station!

Unfortunately, when the photo was taken, it was a gloomy day as it was about to rain.

I also have a view of the Istana Budaya, Balai Seni Lukis Budaya and the Perpustakaan Negara, all of them being projects under my management! People were teasing me that I can manage the projects just by looking out the window using a telescope! LOL!

But, of course I am not about to do that! LOL!

I also have a not so good view of the dilapidated Pekeliling Flats. I wonder why the authorities has not taken any action to demolish this awful looking sight.

The LRT and Monorail Station being linked to my building makes going to town such a breeze! I had already taken the LRT to town twice already last week to find lunch.

Yup! I have no choice but to go out for lunch as we still have no canteen in our building. I don’t know if we will have one, though a space has already been allocated for a canteen on the ground floor.

I am sure I will adjust soon enough to whatever shortcomings of the building. I am hoping to have a great stay at the building, with lots of success in this New Year 2010.

I wish everyone a great year ahead!