The Melayu Celup is Back !

Who is this Melayu Celup you may wonder. He is our secondary schoolmate by the name of Shahriman. School teachers used to refer to him as 'budak kening tebal tu' because of his (duhhh) super thick eye brows. He can be quite blur at times that you have to repeat yourself a few times before he catches what you're trying to say. But why the nickname Celup? I had to look through my old blog to find a post written back in 2009, the year we sat for SPM. It was in the Bilik Agama when the nickname Celup was created for Shahriman and Nadia (not to be confused with the other Nadia I talked about in previous posts).

5th October 2009

I present to you......THE CELUPS!! Agama was the highlight of the day. Bahrain tak habis2 panggil Nadia and Shahriman MELAYU CELUP. Nadia kept denying so ......

Bahrain sound dia : You don't even listen to Malay songs. At least Shahriman does. 

Shahriman : I do? No I don't. Waiiitttt! Yes yes, I listen to Sheila Majid! 

Me : Ala,yang tu dapat free album mestilah you listen. Or you kena paksa listen? 

All of us : Laughs (Sheila Majid is Shahriman's aunty)

Bahrain : Then tell me who sang Tipah Tertipu? 

Nadia : I don't know...

Shahriman : Oh Too Phat rite?

Bahrain : < geleng kepala > Even Ustad tau siapa nyanyi Tipah Tertipu.

Ustad,siapa nyanyi Tipah Tertipu?

Ustad : < senyum2 > David Arumugam

Nadia : Really? Who's that?

Shahriman : The Cat guy rite?

Bahrain,Airina and I : < gelak gila gila > Alleycats laa...

Shahriman : Oh ya! Sorry la..

Shahriman is back from the States after being away for two and a half years so the Three Musketeers (Nuwaira,Shahriman and I) decided to go on a makan tour around KL just like old times.

Waira and I have been craving for the Melted Cheese on Toasted Bread & Hot Chocolate that we had during our last makan trip before Shah left for US so that was naturally our very first stop. 

Melted Cheese on Toasted Bread with Tomatoes and Melted Cheese on Plain Toasted Bread 

The Bread Shop. 11, Jalan Setiakasih, Bukit Damansara, 50490, Kuala Lumpur.

Since we were quite full, we decided to go to Publika to jalan jalan for a bit before walking over to Whimsical which is in Solaris to try out their waffles, gelato and affogato. Unfortunately it was closed so we ended up having drinks and some Nachos at Plan B. 

Next destination, Bangsar for coffee and waffles. Went to Coffea Coffee for Caramel Macchiato then later Inside Scoop. Tried durian ice cream for the first time, I wish we had it earlier because I was a bit too full by that time but it was really to die for!  

We were looking for a place that served light snacks and I remember seeing this kopitiam style cafe on my Instagram feed a few weeks back so we drove over to Straits Food Company for some Nyonya  food. Shahriman wanted to have kangkung belacan because it costs him a fortune in the States but they ran out of kangkung so we ordered the bendi sambal belachan instead. We also ordered pai tee, popiah and otak otak to share.

Straits Food Company 

2, Jalan Abdullah, Off Jalan Bangsar, Bangsar Utama, Kuala Lumpur

Open Monday - Saturday 11am - 9pm

They drove me back home so that they could play with Kemi. Waira saw a deck of cards and suggested that we play 'Chor Taai Di' a game I never learnt because I saw how addictive it was when my college friends played it in between classes. They taught me how to play and were really surprised when I won most of the games dengan muka innocent 'errr can I letak this card combination?' each time I wasn't sure. 

It was nice to spend the whole day with friends whom you've known for so long that they're like your own brother/sister. We updated each other, shared stories about our lives and talked about going on a holiday together someday. I find it funny how the topic 'kahwin' is part of our conversation nowadays (not that any of us are in a serious relationship yet). 

Even though we don't meet often anymore, the close bond between us is still there. Alhamdulilah for great friends who would go the extra mile to put a smile on your face. 

Bookworm in the Making

I promised to meet up with a friend for lunch at Sunway Pyramid and to have a group study session afterwards at the university library. It took some time for him to find a parking space so I thought I'd pay the bookstore a visit just to browse through some books. I was mainly at the Malaysian authors, biography and the history and politics section when I found a few interesting books that I wanted to buy. Knowing that it is revision month and I should be revising instead of being so nosy on real issues, I told myself that I'd come back after exams were over.

Just then, I saw these two books (I Am Muslim & King of the Sea) by Dina Zaman. Habislah, I thought. Sure enough, my hands reached for the books and without further hesitation, I was at the counter making payment. The number of books I've been buying for the past few months can surpass the amount of books I've bought in the past ten years, I think. *pats back*

My first Starbucks in half a year maybe? Tried out the Christmas Special : Toffee Nut Latte. And yes, this is where we ended up doing our group study. It was effective, surprisingly. 

A few minutes after I uploaded this photo on Instagram, I found an emoticon comment by the writer herself! Sharp eyed Kak Dina Zaman ;) 

I started reading 'I Am Muslim' on the day itself and I wish that my audit notes were as addictive as this book! Dream on, Liyana, Dream on! 

Coffee and heart to heart talks...

Catching up with your best friend over a cup of coffee is the best thing to do after being away from each other for a long time. My best friend, Nadia is studying Medicine in Alexandria, Egypt and is only back in KL during her summer holidays. We're probably the only coffee drinkers amongst our friends so we normally end up going on café hopping dates when she is back. We share the dream of backpacking to many different countries, to photograph beautiful sceneries, to acquire more knowledge outside of our respective fields (Medicine for her, Accountancy for me), to come out of our comfort zones and explore the world. After all, we're still young, filled with energy and have lots of time in hand.

Today we went to Wondermama in Bangsar Village for early lunch, window shopped in BV 2 and headed to Publika after that for coffee. It's been some time since I last had a real lepak session like today's.

Ordered the Soft Shell Crab salad because I wasn't that hungry

Coffee Stain by Joseph in Publika 

Our coffee date at Pickle & Fig, TTDI a few months back

Café hopped to Grumpy Cyclist, TTDI

I cherish moments like this when it's just the two of us, updating each other on things we forgot to mention in our Whatsapp conversations while she was away, sharing problems that we face with everyday life and just staring into space when we run out of topics of conversation. Looking forward to our very first little adventure at the end of the month!