It's a cinch to do this in KL, to be honest. In many ways, we do it every day. But here's a slightly jazzed-up version:

We started our Saturday by reviving our memories of Sri Lanka with a visit to Hoppers, a new eatery in Pudu. Savoury hoppers (I went for the one containing cauliflower fritters, cashew nuts, garlic, and curry leaves, with mint yogurt on the side; Nigel picked the chicken rendang option); sweet hoppers (we shared one that was strewn with mango, toasted black sesame, and edible flowers, with coconut cream to pour over); and bottles of really refreshing kefir (naturally fermented soda -- mine was mango and cardamom). All a huge success.



Thence, suitably stuffed, back to Malaysia, and the very sleek Ilham Gallery, housed in the equally sleek Ilham Tower.



Currently, they're staging the Era Mahathir exhibition. Interesting. Lurking behind many of the works is the question: How could it have been different? Does progress have to be built on destruction? Does modernization have to be served by repression? Is there a better way?







Next, Japan, and our first pick from this year's Japanese film festival: Flying Colors, as in "pass with flying colors", which is what our dud student heroine Sayaka eventually does, with lots of help from her ever-supportive mother and her utterly dedicated cram-school teacher, Tsubota.

"Where there's a will, there's a way" is the maxim of the film (which is apparently based on a true story). Well, maybe. But might that "way" come at the expense of actually living a well-balanced life? Hero/mentor Tsubota, it seems, lives a life that no student would aspire to achieve. No friends, no home, no entertainment, pretty much all-work-no-play. And Sayaka goes from all-night party girl to all-night study girl, with no happy medium in sight. As this reviewer aptly puts it: "Flying Colors leaves the ultimate question of 'Why?' unanswered."

And, believe me, this answer is very important to me at the moment...

(I also have to quarrel, by the way, with the assertion that "there's no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher". Definitely not true, trust me... Still, the message about motivating rather than discouraging is one that every educator needs to keep remembering.)

Lastly, to China, for our second and last set of mooncakes. The mid-autumn festival is nearly upon us, and we hadn't acquired our snow-skins. But now we have. From the Hilton range: the Blue Moon (amaretto lotus paste with blueberry cheese feuillantine -- and if, like me, you don't know what feuillantine is, see here; and the Flower Drum (lotus paste with soft custard egg yolk). Sunday saw us tackling the first of these, and quite exquisite it was too.





So, there you have it. Malaysia: truly Asia...