Now, we don't always get to do new things whenever we go for weekend breathers, but we had just gotten one of those small portable grills, and we thought we might try it out this time.
So we did.
It wasn't hard bringing the grill- the thing is actually small, compact, and easy to pack.
What's hard, however, is trying to figure out the crockery, the cutlery, and even the condiments that one should bring there.
I opted for four pairs of chopsticks, four disposable Chinese-style soup spoons, two microwaveable boxes, two small little plastic bowls, and a packet of wet tissue.
My friend, in charge of the condiments, opted for a tiny container of duck fat (made from some of the frozen foie gras which we'd bought), a bottle of olive oil, Himalayan pink salt, butter, and some pepper.
I don't have pictures of our breakfast on the grill.
i do, however, have pictures of the food that we made using the grill.
Let's just say it was as successful as it could be, and I had a most delightful time sitting cross-legged on the ledge munching on a piece of warm, crusty bread that had been heated on the grill, with two beautifully fried eggs sitting in one box, plus a perfectly cooked scrambled egg sitting in the other.
It wasn't hard to prepare.
It wasn't hard to clean up either.
There was, of course, the concern about the smoke and the smell, but this grill didn't release much of either, and we'd come prepared.
So out with the glass lid it was whenever we saw a wisp of smoke rising up.
And body sprays make marvelous solutions when you're trying to hide the smell.
One good thing about One Farrer Hotel is that it's very, very near to Mustafa- where a great variety of body sprays are- and although I can't remember whether or not I got Yardley this time, I think I probably brought my lavender body spray along.
The view out the window here at One Farrer is not one you can forget, never mind how many times you've been here, and how long it's been since the last time you came.
You'll just see it anyway.
Perhaps it is the sight of condominiums along the road and in the Jalan Besar area beyond.
Perhaps it is the east horizon.
Perhaps it might even be the flats of Rowell, and the shop houses in the enclave of Little India right below.
I always find myself looking pensively outside the windows whenever I am here.
Yet I don't know why.
I wonder if it might be that I'm hoping for a day where I can keep looking outwards instead of inwards and downwards.
I wonder if it might be because I'm yearning to be continuously on a higher plane where I'm looking out, and being out, instead of looking in, and being in.
The pictures I've taken this time of One Farrer aren't the prettiest.
Maybe they represent my sense of mood and heart.
Maybe they're just what they are because I haven't figured out the entire thing yet.
I don't know.
But it is a calming environment, this place, and I'm glad for the ease, gentle comfort, and general privacy that she brings.
I may not have liked some of the duties that I'd had to do whilst I was there, but at least the place- and her relative silence- helped me get through what it was I had to do.
