Sunday at T.G.I. FrIDAY'S *

Lunching with good friends at one of my favourite hangouts on a rainy afternoon, that was how I spent my Sunday. I’m glad the lunch happened as planned and though there were some minor glitches in terms of location and timing, everything was sorted out by the time Sunday came around.

TGIF Sunday with friends

It’s nice to spend time with people you like but it always seems extra special when it’s with those who truly mean a great deal to you. Aside from LJ and Emila who visited B in the hospital a few months back, I’ve not seen my blog buddies like Nessa and Soulie in quite a while. So when Emila invited us all out for lunch @ T.G.I. FRiDAY'S, I was delighted to say yes!

Me and my Blog Buddies

Mushroom Soup for Emila

Buffalo Wings

Stuffed Mushroom

Chicken Nachos for Nessa

Spicy Snapper for LJ

The food was great, the company even better and I have to say I went home feeling grateful and much loved by real friends who love me for who I am.So thank you ladies; thanks for bringing loads of sunshine my way that rainy Sunday afternoon!

Cafe Latte for me

Cappuccino

Shopping with the girls

Me with LJ and Nessa

Fun @ Timberland!

Till our next meet, thanks for a wonderful Sunday!

   

MARIUCA LOVES

Delicious Afternoon!

Last Thursday, I had lunch with two good friends from school. The place was Delicious, One Utama and the plan was to meet at 12.30pm. This was way too early for my night owl ways so I stayed up all night in anticipation of this date for fear of oversleeping and completely missing the whole thing. But I was not late and the three of us enjoyed a very nice afternoon eating, laughing and basically catching up.

Shyam and Cal

Cal, Shyam and I were classmates in high-school, which makes us Assuntarians hailing from our beloved Assunta Secondary School. After high school, we went our separate ways but managed to keep in touch over the years. As always, whenever we meet, Shyam will give me a pep talk on credit cards; reminding me to cut my cards already and just end this credit card phase once and for all! And as usual, I'll reply with my standard "I need my credit card" look!

I know that excessive use of credit cards can lead to addiction but they do come in handy when I am in need of something pricey pronto! I always try to repay my banks ASAP of course and frankly, it's just easier to carry plastic around rather than paper.

Does it sound like I'm making excuses? LOL! The truth is I like having my credit cards around. In fact, that's actually the first thing I look for in a store. A store carrying the 'we accept credit card' sign or a restaurant with restaurant merchant account credit card payment facilities definitely appeals more to the credit card user in me!

I think every store should accept credit cards as a payment option. As a customer I'd want to have my option in paying for my purchases even if it means using my almost maxed-out credit card!

Back to my lunch, I had Carbonara that day and Shyam had the Beef Pie. After the many good reviews I've heard about Delicious, I was expecting something scrumptious. Sad to say, I've tasted better Carbonara. Apparently, Delicious is now under new management so perhaps that explains the possible change in the kitchen department.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Beef Pie

Callie who arrived later only had watermelon juice. No wonder she's so skinny, even after having three beautiful kids!

Cal and Marzie

For dessert, we shared a sticky date cake with ice cream and butterscotch sauce, which I thought was the best dish of the entire meal.

Dessert

Before we parted ways, we made plans for another session soon. And despite not sleeping all night, I had a wonderful afternoon with my friends and next lunch date will be my turn to organize. I'm thinking hi-tea in a nice hotel!

Shyam, Cal and Me

-FC Scoreboard points for my first THREE commenters-

MONICA
GAGAY
LADY JAVA

European Escapade - Farewell Dinner at Suka, London **

Suka Restaurant @ Sanderson Hotel is located in the heart of the glitzy Soho area of London. B and I had made plans to meet Intan & family at Oxford Station at 7pm before proceeding to our farewell dinner at this classy restaurant. From Bicester Village, we rushed back to our hotel, dumped our shopping bags and spent less than 10 minutes to freshen up before bolting out the door. It was already 7.30pm!

Busy Oxford St.

We got to Oxford St. a little after 8pm and there were sis, Issy and Ali waiting for us in the cold. Apologies were made for the slight delay before we made our way to this mysterious Suka (or Like) Restaurant. It was sis' idea to have our farewell dinner here; apparently she's been craving for real Malaysian food. We got a little lost, asked a few people along the way and finally arrived at the ultra-modern, ultra-chic 5- Sanderson Hotel.

Sanderson Hotel

We were greeted by a friendly hostess who led us the way to Suka Restaurant. It looked posh and fancy from the outside and the inside was equally modern. I borrowed this picture below from Sanderson Hotel so you can get a glimpse of the interior.

Suka Restaurant

The menu is served in typical Asian sharing style with dishes ranging from home-style to truly elegant. I was expecting a comprehensive list of authentic Malaysian dishes but there was only a small section of our local dishes. More importantly, Nasi Lemak was not on the menu, which I think is a must for any restaurant to be truly Malaysian.

Inviting and classy

Issy was given a high-chair but she was none too pleased. I think she felt like one of us adults after three days of hanging out with us but settled down quickly when she started playing with her dinosaur toy!

No baby chair!

I love my Dino!

As mentioned earlier, Nasi Lemak was missing from the menu but there was a side dish of Coconut Rice which sis ordered for Issy. Basically it was rice cooked in coconut milk (I think) with coconut sprinkle on top. Definitely nothing like the NL we have here but nonetheless it was quite tasty.

Coconut Rice

I settled for soft-shell crabs, which I was hoping would taste similar to Fatty Crab's yummy chilli crabs. Of course that was not the case and though still delightful to savour, the gravy could have been more spicy and sweet as opposed to sour and almost tomato-like.

Intan who was not feeling well that night decided to try the Bouillabaisse which is basically seafood in a lobster broth. I liked my crabs better but then again, I've never really been into soupy stuff.

Ali was wise in his choice with delicious Butter Prawns that were both huge and succulent. If not for the missing curry leaves, this dish would have been a perfect 10!

Last but definitely not least was B's Nasi Goreng or Fried Rice. The cheapest choice of the night, it was also the tastiest amongst the five dishes we ordered. Moral of the story? Stick to simple local dishes like Fried Rice and avoid being adventurous like me with a fancy-sounding Terlagi-Lagi dish! That way, you definitely can't go wrong!

It was a nice cosy meal albeit a little pricey so we would really like to thank Intan and Felix for treating us again to yet another scrumptious dinner in London.

Felix & Intan

This is a blurry shot of B and me but it's also the only one of us in Suka so this goes into my post as well!

After Dinner

Later that night, we took the tube to Intan's hotel. I can't remember the name of the hotel but it was one of those apartment hotels I mentioned in my previous post so it was extremely spacious with a bedroom and attached bath, a living-room, a kitchenette plus a spare room!

Going home

Me with Intan & Ali

Issy monopolized both our attention, showing off her new set of toy animals to B whilst reciting the name of each one to us. She pronounced Lion as Wion, which made her all the more cuter and harder to let go when we had to say goodbye. Sis and family were going back to Coventry the next day and B and I had to move to our second hotel in London to meet up with the rest of B's colleagues from TV3 so this was our last night together as a family before parting ways.

See my Wion Uncle B!

Issy & Aunty M

Goodbye baby girl, we love you!

After snapping our goodbye pictures, it was time for B and me to catch the last tube back to our hotel and we left a little before midnight with Issy crying as she ran out to follow me and B back home!

Mariuca & Intan

B & Intan

I would like to take this post to say a special THANK YOU to sis and family for their warm hospitality and company during our first three days in London. We had a wonderful time and we hope to see you, Ali and Issy back home soon!

Thank you and Goodbye

MARIUCA LOVES