THE LUNCH DATE WITH A TESL FRIEND AT DOLLY'S DIMSUM

   22ND SEPTEMBER 2025    ~ This was a date long overdue. Finally I got to meet Puan Shamsul Niza a.k.a Jyja, a friend of the TESL circle, for lunch before flying home to Johor Bahru.

 

The meeting place was Dolly's Dimsum at NU Sentral which was near to her office. As for me, I could get a train straight from the station near my hotel, and could hop on the ERL [speed train] to get to the airport later.

When I arrived at the restaurant by 1:30 p.m., it was filled with office workers having their lunch but the place was vacated gradually.

This was actually my second time at Dolly's. The first one also took place with TESL friends but in a bigger group [READ HERE].

The food was good but everything tasted better when someone was paying for it. I had to thank Puan Shamsul Niza for treat. We could stay long as my friend had to get back to the office and I had to follow her for s short tour at her workplace, and I was not complaining.

THE ADVENTURE IN PEKAN, PAHANG, BEGAN

   15TH SEPTEMBER 2025    ~ After the buffet breakfast at Megaview Hotel [READ HERE], my two [UPM TESL Class of 1993] friends, Puan Suriana Ali and Puan Aunillah Hilmi, were so ready to take me on an excursion to the Royal Town of Pahang, Pekan.

The first stop was the Royal Mausoleum which was located in the town centre. The building housed four royal tombs [if I remember correctly]. When we arrived, there was a staff from the Religious Department reciting the holy Qur'an. Unfortunately, visitors were not allowed to take photos inside.

The building was fully air-conditioned but we could only stay for a short while. after listening to some information given by the person on duty.

Right beside the Royal Mausoleum, stood a mosque: Masjid Sultan Ahmad Shah. Since we were already there, I took the opportunity to walk around the holy building. I could not get the information on the history of the mosque but it looked quite old.

Before moving to the next attraction, the three of us went to get some photos taken by the Pahang River. We were the only tourists at that spot at that very moment. The view of the river was great but some work needed to be done for that place so it could look more attractive.

A SUPPER DATE WITH A MOUNTAINEER IN SUBANG JAYA

 

   22nd SEPTEMBER 2025    ~ Someone saw my check in post on Facebook and responded promptly. Eventually, a supper date was set  in SS15 Subang Jaya with Mr. Azim Afif, a student I taught English for his proficiency course in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia [UTM] a long time ago. One interesting thing is that his wife also attended the same English class, and the last time we met was when they came visiting during Eid in 2012 when they were still studying [READ HERE].

The chosen venue was a cafe named The Daily Bakery & Patisserie which was just near the hotel where I was staying.

This cafe looked brand new. Luckily the place would only be closed at 10:00 p.m. so we had about 1 hour to chat over coffee, cakes and pastries. The food and drinks were great and we got a 25% discount on the pastries [and cakes too if I am not mistaken] as the cafe was about to close soon.

The conversation was interesting as the topic was totally different this time. Mr. Azim Afif is an active mountaineer and he was one of the 28 Malaysians who had successfully reached the peak of Mt. Everest. After doing that in 2016, he is still actively involved in mountaineering activities and run a company related to that specific extreme activities Peak Journey Adventure.

One hour was definitely not enough to listen to Mr. Azim's extraordinary experience but we had to leave by 10:00 p.m. I had to thank him for allocating his time for me and hopefully we will get to see each other again to continue our chat.

If you are looking for a company to conduct or supervise any climbing or mountaineering activities, do not hesitate to contact Mr. Azim and you can visit his company website MYPEAKJOURNEY.COM.