Ramadan is over for another year.

Iftar in Yogya was at about 5.40, but here, because of location and time zone, people have not been able to eat till about 7.30. Several times over the past week, in malls and in the newly discovered roof garden at Avenue K (where we were the oldest people by about 40 years), we arrived to find people with food in front of them, patiently waiting for the time they could eat it. A simple but impressive piece of self-control.



Now it's Friday. Hari Raya. We're just back from a walk through a strangely quiet KL. The light of day made the Ramadan lights look pale. Knots of people were dismantling the Ramadan stalls, and starting to clear up the rubbish from what was obviously a big time last night. Young men, mostly of South Asian descent, were streaming towards Masjid Jamek.



But there have also been other festivals since we got home.

Last weekend we celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary at the Village Roast Duck in Pavilion. Very nice. Broth; Peking duck (the whole works: excellent duck, which is shredded at your table for you, little pancakes, julienned vegetables, and hoisin sauce -- I hadn't had this for years...); scallops and snow peas; claypot eggplant and minced pork; a medley of steamed vegetables; steamed rice; Chinese tea; Chinese herbal jelly.

Also last weekend, we attended the "first moon party" of a friend's new baby. The simple celebration -- lunch, cake, and balloons, at The Tuck Shop, Bangsar Shopping Centre -- marked what is really quite a portentous event: the first month of a new life, the baby's official introduction to the wider family and society. The little lad was looking surprisingly calm.

We carried on celebrating by picking up cakes to take home for tea from the aptly named Just Heavenly. Apple crumble cheesecake and durian chocolate cake. Delectable.

And finally, again at Avenue K, a discovery that symbolizes the eternal shopping festival that is Kuala Lumpur. Cool, huh?