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As I was coming to Bangsar today, I decided to explore what food options were nearby, other than the nasi lemak place I tried the other day.

This restaurant caught my eye as it had very high ratings. It is a chain but their Bangsar outlet just opened recently.

I decided to walk over and try their chicken soup in a coconut. It costs RM 13. I liked the soup. They have other soups as well but this had the most positive comments online.

At about noon the restaurant wasn’t as packed as I thought it might be. Perhaps it is still early and a weekday.

I also rather apprehensively tried their traditional red bean soup. At most places it is either too sweet or watery or both . To my pleasant surprise this was neither. I enjoyed this one.

And very good service as well. Next time I shall try their chicken rice and porridge.

This morning I was at Bangsar. Whilst I was there, I told the shop owner that I was happy to come to Bangsar as there are many food outlets I can choose from for lunch. He then remarked that there was a famous nasi lemak shop that has just opened nearby.

So I walked over there after my appointment. After a 15 minutes wait, I got my table.

Strange name for a restaurant but since this place is open 24 hours, one can understand why it is called night owl. It is part of a chain. I think they have at least 8 outlets now. Apart from nasi lemak, they also have many other dishes such as roti canai, chapati and various mee dishes. The nasi used is basmati rice and it was good. Cost Rm 11. I will recommend this place anytime. Am told it is packed in the evenings and night.

KLCC is just so pretty in the night. Their central park with colourful dancing fountains surrounded by buildings all lit up make for a very pretty sight.

No wonder every visitor to KL wants to come down to KLCC. Good foresight all those years ago to create this place out of nothing. I am told it was just all plantation land with little value. Out of that, to build the then world’s tallest building, a park and a world class shopping center with a beautiful concert hall all at the same time in the 1990s was clearly visionary.

This morning I met up with Clement Wong, an architect. He seems to be the one person most involved in the planning for Anyara Hills, although there are 5 other architects on their panel.

I had a good meeting with him. I gave him my thoughts on what I would want to have in the house and left it to him to propose something. I was rather open ended in my wish list. Perhaps I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised by the outcome.

We visited the actual site to look at what the orientation of the house should be. Lots of potential but still a work in progress and I think it will be some months before the final design is worked out.

Anyway I am in no hurry. I need the bypass road to be constructed and the club house and its facilities to be built, which I suspect will be another 2 years. Also I don’t want to one of the first to finish construction and end up staying in a construction site with other houses starting to build.

After that meeting, I then took 2 shots from outside the show house to capture the current views. I must say that I was impressed by my own pictures of the views. Whoever is going to own the show house will have amazing views all the time.

Later the staff there took me to lunch nearby at Restaurant 52, an apparently famous family Chinese restaurant which is always packed. A very local place. Food was decent.

I arrived in Kl yesterday. Since it is the school holidays now, I decided to fly here.

Not sure why but I was on the 705am flight. So a very early morning pick up and had to wake up at 430am. But a good flight as it left and arrived on time and I managed to try the new lounge at Terminal 2 along the way.

From the KL airport, the traffic was surprisingly smooth and I was not caught up in any traffic jams. I arrived at four seasons by 940 am.

An otherwise uneventful day. I was told it was raining heavily the day before and there were traffic jams everywhere. So lucky choice of the date.

Last night was our first committee meeting for next year’s Club 100 dinner at PAHQ.

This year we have 9 members in our committee. Most of them have served in this committee before and grateful to have them back. Since this meeting was arranged at short notice at my request, a few of the members could not make it last night.

Mayor Alex Yam attended our meeting yesterday and provided valuable advise on the venue for our dinner and suggested having a calendar of events for the year. The secretarial kindly catered dinner from a variety of places.

We have set ourselves an ambitious target for new members and a full calendar of events for the year. Now to execute and hit our targets.

Last night was my thank you meal for the lunch buddies group. This was to thank them for their part in helping me with my BBM L.

Of course the one who played a key role would be Dr Teo Ho Pin.

He was the Mayor of NWCDC when I first joined as a District Councillor all those years ago up till 2020. He entrusted me with running the Cohesion magazine, chairing the Finance committee, later chairing the Skills Future committee and most importantly, trusting me to chair and run Club 100.

He spent a lot of time interacting with the councillors and would always listen to suggestions and feedback. Having started working with him in 2003, I am glad that I can still call him a friend and meet up for our meal sessions.

Vincent Chong, Michael Lau and Chuan San were all councillors as well but were more involved with Dr Teo in Bukit Panjang. Over the years I have worked with them on many projects, especially on Club 100 and as for Michael, as my co chair on the Skills future committee.

So I was glad to host a dinner to thank them last night. Since Dr Teo likes hot pot and they are all big meat eaters, I hosted the meal at Chamoon and the restaurant kindly gave us a private room for our dinner.

I had a wonderful lunch with Jonathan Yuen and Tze Phern, my colleagues today.

Jon had kindly arranged a birthday lunch for me at the Imperial Treasure Cantonese restaurant at Great World. And it was great to see TP there as well.

The food was good but Jon had ordered way too much.

I have known Jon since 2008 when we were both in the ACSOBA. I asked him to join Rajah and Tann in 2012. I still remember meeting up with him and his then associates at Starbucks at the then Singapore Land Tower to be formally introduced to his associates and to ask them to join us. He and his team have been such a good fit to the firm and have done very well.

TP I have known since he was a pupil from 2012. He too has done very well.

We had so much to talk about over a good lunch.

I meet up with Prasoon regularly and always, at his request, at Shangri la, by the poolside.

We try to catch up about once a month and it is always to talk about affairs in Singapore and in India.

Both of us were invited to be in Mexico during this period as the Singapore President was visiting Mexico with a trade delegation and the Mexican Ambassador had wanted us to be there.

I was tempted initially since I have never been there and it was going to be a high level delegation visiting Mexico. I started checking the flights there and then gave up. I would have to travel on ANA with a 12 hour layover in Tokyo on the return leg. I think Prasoon must also have felt the trip was not worth making.

I first met Prasoon when our former PM was leading a delegation to India. It must have been 2017 or 2018. I was introduced to him at the SQ lounge in Singapore and he very kindly invited me to a dinner he hosted in New Delhi on that trip.

He is well connected in India. His uncle was a very senior Congress Minister and later became the President of India. I have met many people through him. And as he makes it a point to know the ambassadors here in Singapore, I have also gotten to know a few as well.

He travels a bit and it is always good catching up and hearing from him the latest thinking on current issues in India.

Yesterday evening was another such catch up. He feels Singapore and India can do much more together with the right people fronting it. I tend to agree. Competency is important but connections and building relationships is vital in the long term.

I had lunch this afternoon with Murali at his office at the Treasury Building.

This is the first time I have parked there and I must say it is a very secure building. Multiple checkpoints both at the cark park and main lobby.

I met him at his 8th floor office, which has a very nice view, for a simple lunch as he couldn’t go far today. I just had a simple salad.

But we spoke of many things happening in Singapore now and of people we know. Of course I can’t write about what we spoke, but time flew by. We were talking for almost 2 hours and both of us thereafter had other things to attend to.

So happy that he is doing well. He is very sound and I am confident that he will do what’s right and best.