A COFFEE DATE WITH AN ANAESTHETIST AT ORIENTAL KOPI

toast

After all the planning, the plan to meet up was finally executed. Mr. Muhammad Rahmat Ali Hassan suggested we go for coffee at Oriental Kopi in AEON Tebrau City after his office hour, which was then became a late lunch/early dinner for us.

chicken rice

I think the very last time I met my ex-student [of SMK Taman Universiti] was 16 years ago when I was hospitalized in Hospital Sultanah Aminah Johor Bahru [READ HERE]. I had to undergo an operation and I met him in the operation theatre as he was the anaesthetist doctor on duty. It was a small world after all.

chicken briyani

Thanks to Dr. Muhammad Rahmat for his time and company despite his busy schedule. It was good to get reunited again and we needed to go for another coffee date some other time after this. 

EATING BRIYANI AT KHULAFA IN SHAH ALAM FOR LUNCH

   6th DECEMBER 2025    ~ My gastronomic adventure for the weekends in Shah Alam started with the lunch trip to Khulafa Restaurant located at Seksyen 14.

Mr. Amirul Yusri, the younger brother of an ex-student, who is now working and residing in Shah Alam, picked me up at KLIA2 and then drove straight to the restaurant. He also drove me around the city before the book launch event started.

The pick of the day: Briyani with Mutton Curry and Teh Tarik. THE VERDICT: The rice and curry were not as savoury like I used to get at home, and not spicy at all. The portion, however, was huge.

I was then ready for the book launch event at Selangor International Book Fair located at Setia Convention Centre. And this was just the beginning of the gastronomic adventure in Shah Alam.

ATTENDING THE WEDDING OF AN ACQUAINTANCE'S DAUGTHER

I was invited to a wedding reception of an acquaintance's daughter. Even though we seldom meet, the fact that I was still invited and he took the effort to send me a wedding invitation card by hand to me at home, I had no reason not to attend the event.

The venue was at the Community Hall of Kampung Dato' Suleiman Menteri which is just a stone's throw away from my house.

I marched straight to the main buffet table, which was serving Briyani Rice, not realizing there were other stations too which offered Chicken Rice, Mee Rebus (a type of noodles) and boiled tapioca to be eaten with sambal and salted fish.But it was too late as my plate was already full.

Chicken Rice

Mee Rebus

boiled tapioca

Briyani Rice

Mr. Rashid, the bride's father

The only person I knew in the hall was the father of the bride, so it was only a short dine in session. I still felt happy to be there even though there was no conversation with anyone at all while eating.

EID DIARY: 24TH SYAWAL 1446H

   23RD APRIL 2025    ~ After the 1 hour and 20 minutes bus ride from Shahab Perdana Bus Station in Alor Setar [READ HERE] and the 15 minutes ferry ride, Puan Aishah Aboo Bakar [a friend of the UPM TESL Class of 1993 group] came to pick me for my very short stay on Penang Island.

ROUND 1: Penang Laksa

The initial plan was to get dinner somewhere before going to the airport but I was taken to her house as there was already a lot of food.

I guess I came at the right time to enjoy all the delicious food on the 24th day of Eid.

ROUND 2: Briyani

I had to get to the airport to catch my flight back to Johor Bahru at 9:15 p.m. and my friend was kind enough to drive me there.

Thanks a lot to Puan Aishah and her husband, Mr. Ariff, for hosting and I shall be back again to Penang real soon.

THE GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE AFTER THE WORKSHOP SESSION

Another day spent outside school for a workshop session. I should be happy there was someone who also loved going for gastronomic adventure when opportunity knocked so we went to LyRoy Beriani Kukus Restaurant located at Taman Daya right after.

We were the first customers to arrive for lunch so we had the whole place to ourselves.

THE VERDICT: The Briyani Rice would be something I would not hesitate to go back to this restaurant again real soon. Thanks Mr. Amirulhakim Mahfudz, an ex-colleague of SMK Dato' Jaafar for introducing this place. Now I have a new place to add into my list of places to take my friends to when they come visiting.

MUTTON CURRY BRIYANI ROADTRIP ON A WEEKEND

19TH NOVEMBER 2021 ~ This was the trip that had been planned much earlier with the male colleagues [of SMK Dato' Jaafar] which was finally carried out on one sunny Friday morning. We had to gather at Petronas kiosk at 8:00 a.m. as participants came from different parts of the city to start the journey to Yong Peng for the first leg of the trip. As usual, there would be latecomers so a group photo at the beginning of the journey was not possible. 😁

We used to go for the regular gastronomic adventure within the city limit and this should be the furthest group outing we had so far - crossing the district border.

We arrived at "Restoran Kari Kambing 40 Hari" in about 45 minutes and there was already a huge crowd sitting in the dining area. Fortunately we managed to get a place, sitting on the wooden floor and was about to enjoy our food the traditional way.

And we travelled all the way from Johor Bahru just for this : Mutton Curry Briyani at the well known restaurant for breakfast at about 9:00 a.m.

Mr. Mohd. Salleh Sairan, an ex-Jaafarian, who is now back in his hometown in Batu Pahat, was also there to meet us, his old friends. Altogether there were 13 people conquering one spot of the restaurant, sitting cross-legged, sharing their Briyani in 4 huge trays.

The food was good but sharing the Briyani with friends, eating while chatting, had made it tasted much better.

There was still a long queue at the entrance point of the restaurant so we had to give way to other people. We were now ready to get to our second checkpoint but two members had to go back home earlier.

TO BE CONTINUED...