There has been no shortage of sweetness recently.

Just before we headed for Sumatra, we checked out Simply D at Nu Sentral. Can recommend their chocolate, coconut, and pecan cake, and it's definitely a place I'd try again.

Our Valentine's Day treat was a trip to Haagen Dazs. Truly, we have not had Haagen Dazs ice-cream since we stopped living in the UK... Mine was the "waffle dream": crispy waffle, salted caramel ice-cream, caramel sauce, and cream. Decadent...



This week also brought my first ever Dunkin Donuts experience. I had a pandan-kaya-filled doughnut, which had a flattish shape and a soft texture, and came dusted in a little icing sugar. Looked a bit like these.

Nice enough, but I guess I prefer my doughnuts to be rounder, chunkier, and crispier on the outside. Like the bolang-baling we used to buy in Indonesia, which were just lightly flecked with sesame and very toothsome. Or, failing that, the classic British jam doughnuts we used to get treated to on Fridays when I worked for a publisher in Shaftesbury, UK.

Which all got me wondering about doughnuts, and their different varieties. Man, it's bewildering... And as I'm still not sure if my DD doughnut was a yeast doughnut or a cake doughnut, I haven't really made it past first base...

Anyway, the interesting thing about that particular Dunkin Donuts was that it was in Ampang Park Mall. This was my first visit to Malaysia's oldest mall, which dates back to 1973, and is now under threat from the MRT. Let's hope the shop-owners' campaign succeeds...



Not edible, but gorgeously sweet, was our trip to Kaison. This is a delightful shop, and its pretty wares and low prices really do actualize its "design for all" motto. I totally fell in love with an owl...



We spent less than MYR 100, and in addition to the owl, came away with a vase, two sets of coloured lights, and a set of dinky clothes pegs. Throw in a spare Japanese whisky bottle, and you get this:



Not at all sweet, on the other hand, was The Revenant. A well-told story, about an extraordinarily tenacious person. And very beautifully filmed. But bitter in the extreme. Full of horror and revenge. None of the characters comes out of those experiences a better person. Which, actually, is bleaker than real life, I think. I hold on to my belief that even in the wildest, harshest episodes of history, there are some who manage to retain their humanity.

Such stories remind me, however, that I'm a terribly coddled person. Ice-cream, fairy lights, and cuddly toys, that's me. I can't say I regret it...