I suddenly realized that I haven't renewed my road tax which was due today! So I had to cut short my trip. I left Kuala Lumpur at about 12:45pm and reached Singapore at about 3:30pm. I encountered extremely heavy rain at several stretches of the North-South Highway. Visibility was very poor and I had to drive very slowly at these stretches. Otherwise, it was a good drive. Stopped only once at the very last gas station before Singapore to top up my gas. And yes, I managed to get my road tax renewed in time at NTUC Income on Bras Basah Road.

I haven't been to Kuala Lumpur in over six months. The most noticeable change this time round is that the subway lines at Bukit Bintang are completed.

Stayed at the Capitol Hotel (Jalan Bulan, Off Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur 55100). This is a tourist class hotel. Location of the hotel is good, being in the midst of the Bukit Bintang shopping district. There are plenty of cafes, restaurants, convenience stores, and departmental stores that are within a stone's throw.

The hotel is a different matter altogether. I was checked into a room on a smoking floor just opposite the elevator opening. The reception did not bother to ask me for smoking/nonsmoking preference. When I entered the wash room, I noticed that the toilet seat was not cleaned properly. This was just too much for me and I demanded a change of room to one that's on a nonsmoking floor and away from the elevator. I got my room, but the TV guides were missing! What screwed-up house keeping! The furnitures were also old and worn out. The only things I like about the room is the huge shower room (there's no bath) and the view (mine was looking out at the Petronas Twin Towers). There's also no facilities in the hotel. There're no gym or swimming pool. Overall, I wouldn't recommend this hotel unless you're on a budget.

Drove up to Kuala Lumpur (KL) this morning at about 7:00am. Was supposed to fly instead but I was afraid of SARS. Aircrafts seem to offer one of the most conducive environments for the spreading of SARS -- confined space with little where to go if the passenger beside you cough or sneeze. SARS screening at the airports is getting better by the day and some airlines (like Singapore Airlines) give out N95 masks on request. But I'm just too paranoid to want to take that risk when there's the viable alternative of driving.

The drive to KL was rather uneventful. I took the North-South Highway via the Second Link. I made it in 3 1/2 hours with a 10-minute break at Alor Gajah for gas and pee. No police stops this trip, which is a big plus! The Malaysian police is well-known for "ripping-off" Singaporean drivers along this stretch of the highway, if you know what I mean.

Stayed at Hotel Monaco (1101 4th Ave, Seattle, Washington 98101) while I was visiting Seattle December last year. This is a luxurious boutique hotel located within walking distance of Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, and City Center.

The rooms are not big but cosy, and decorated in bold colours. There is a CD player and free Internet access. The Aveda toiletries they provide are a treat!

Staff is friendly and helpful. We arrived on Christmas Eve to find the city pretty well closed and had a hard time finding a place for dinner. The concierge helped us called up every restaurant that is still opened to get us a reservation.

There is also free wine receptions every evening, featuring one red and one white Washington state wine. You can ask for a goldfish as a pet during your stay. We did but unfortunately ours died on the day we checked out.

Peter Mansour, CEO of Sproqit Technologies, Inc., brought us to Yarrow Bay Grill (1270 Carillon Point, Kirkland, Washington, USA) for dinner end of Dec 2002. We had a nice view of Lake Washington from our table. The cuisine is fusion. We ordered the calamari in sesame sauce as appetizer, which is interesting and very good. I had sea scallops as main course, which is done just right and not over-cooked, retaining their succulence. Their homemade hot chocolate is unusual and is spiced with chili flakes, just like the way Mexicans prepare them (but without the cardammom).

Sun Sui Wah Seafood Restaurant (3888 Main Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada) is very popular with the local Chinese. Dinner reservation is a must or you will end up waiting for at least 30 minutes. Portions are big, so don't over order. Food is authentic Cantonese cuisine and very good. Service is efficient but polite, which is hard to come by for a Hong Kong-style restaurant. They are famous for their roasted pigeons. I like their salt and spice squid. The food is so good that we returned there for dinner two nights in a row!

The Fish House (Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC, Canada) is an expensive and over-rated restaurant. No one paid attention to us when we came through the door, even though the restaurant was 80% empty, and the manager stood in front of us minding his own things! We should have taken this as a cue for a bad restaurant but we were hungry and we had seen good reviews on magazines, so we decided to give it a try. The clam chowder turned out to be a big disappointment. It was all potatoes and no clams. The oyster bar had only 5 varieties of oysters. They do have a good selection of wine, but all priced exorbitantly. Even their acclaimed flaming prawns is big on show and small on taste. The restaurant is not sited by the sea, so don't expect great views either. Perhaps we expected too much after reading those reviews.

The Cat's Meow on Granville Island (1540 Old Bridge Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada) is tucked away in a quiet corner of Granville Island. But this restaurant has very nice ambiance and makes for a perfect place to chat. The crab cakes and clam chowder are wonderful. They also have many interesting martinis.

I visited the Brooklyn Seafood Steak & Oyster House (1212 2nd Ave, Seattle, Washington, USA) for lunch on Christmas Eve 2002, where I had the best, freshest oysters I ever had! The "Baker's Dozen" is a must-try. You get to sample 13 different species of oysters for US$18.99. Guaranteed to be an experience. The fish is also quite good. During Happy Hour (4:00-6:30), 1/2 dozen selected oysters go for US$4.99.

I am avoiding going out unnecessarily as a preventive measure against the SARS outbreak, until the situation gets better. As such, I expect much fewer restaurant visits. Instead, I am going to review some restaurants that I visited in the US and Canada from Dec 02 to Jan 03 before this blog was up.