Technically, it's a long weekend, but at the beginning of the new academic year, there's little chance of being able to take time off. Nevertheless, it's been a rich weekend.

Friday evening

Salad Atelier at Avenue K. Nice.



Affogato at Juan Valdez, part of a Colombian coffee chain. (And yes, the chain is Colombian, as well as the coffee.)



And a stupendous MPO concert. Our first of the season. Conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, who was excelling in the field of music before I was even born.

The programme, all Russian, had three parts:

First off, Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter Overture. To truly appreciate this music, the composer apparently felt, the listener must have attended an Easter Morning service in a great Orthodox place of worship, "thronged with people from every walk of life, with several priests conducting the cathedral service". How I'd love to do that. For me, Orthodox always means Barnaul, which is where I first encountered it:





Then we heard Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo theme, a delightful tribute to a bygone age, the solo cello part played by Chinese-born Li-Wei Qin.

And finally, another of Shostakovich's overwhelming depictions of human misery. His 8th Symphony speaks "of tragedy, the horrors of war, and the bitter suffering that comes in its wake. It yearns not for an exultant victory but for a quiet peace." As always, this is not comfortable music. The commentary is full of descriptors like "monstrous", "desolate", "brooding", "crushing". The end is neither triumphant nor apocalyptic, but a quiet reminder of "the nightmare that now passes, hopefully, for the last time". You can't not hear Shostakovich...

Saturday morning

I did a pre-work lap to Sogo and back, along streets that were ghostly quiet on this long-weekend Saturday.

The man who lived on the pavement outside the hairdresser's has either moved on or passed on. I fear it's probably the latter. I wonder whether anyone knew who he was. This might well be his only requiem.

The Tudi Gong has been replaced by a rock, well cemented in... Another round in this cosmic battle...



Some kind of fete was happening at the school, and the POM-pom-POM-pom band music followed me for quite some way before fading into the general city hum.

Then to work...

Sunday

Day off.

Lunch at Bankara Ramen. Really excellent. I had the karanegi ramen (the one with the shredded leeks and chilli oil), and I added a poached egg. Good to the last slurp. Definitely worth going back here, as ramen, it seems, comes in an amazing variety of styles.



I notice, by the way, that there's a LOT of advice out there on how to eat ramen...

We took our replete selves to the new exhibition at the Galeri Petronas. This is called Crossings: Pushing Boundaries, which of course is the sort of title that piques my interest. As usual, it was a good show. There's so much talent in Malaysia...







And finally, another concert. Nine cellos in different combinations, playing the most fantastic selection of music. A real treat.

Coda... Monday

Walk to Petaling Street and the Tang City food court. Excellent pork ball noodles. Bouncy pork balls, a nice bit of sausage, some minced pork, all beautifully complemented by pickled chillis.

Then back to work...