A Brief Account of Lunch at Royal Lake Club Hosted by Aw ES on May 26, 2022

Mr. Aw Eng Sun hosted a lunch at Bunga Raya Restaurant, Royal Lake Club, Taman Tasek Perdana, KL on Thursday, May 26, 2022 inviting his hometown long-time buddy Dato’ Hj. Nik Mahmood Nik Hassan (former MD of L&G Bhd), Mr. Stanley Ong, Mr. Khoo Kay Hock and me.

A brief account of this occasion is as follows:

10.30 am:  Left home to walk to the nearest bus stop.

10.35 am:  Stanley picked me up at the bus stop, 10 minutes ahead of schedule. He is always 10 to 15 minutes earlier than any scheduled time for our appointments, be it meetup or meal.  He is a remarkably punctual guy!

11.25 am: Picked up Mr. Khoo at Happy Garden, KL.  

Mr. Khoo spoke about my column article regarding China politics published in NYSP just two days ago (he purposely bought NYSP on Tuesday to read my article) and shared many insider stories and some information about the China political leaders. Very impressive! I appreciate his advice for me to refrain from writing about China politics.

12.00 am: Arrived at Royal Lake Club. Mr. Aw and Dato’ Nik Mahmood were already waiting for us at the foyer.

12.05 am: Entered Bunga Raya Restaurant and started chit-chatting while Mr. Aw ordered food for us.

The dishes were: shark-fin soup, four season combinations, deep-fried Tilapia fish, kangkong belacan and bean sprout.  There was supposed to be another dish of sweet and sour chicken which was missed out to be served!

Dato’ Nik Mahmood (a PKR veteran and former Kelantan chairman) shed some light on the current political affairs and other interesting stories.  He also revealed his leg, back-bone, slipped disc, arthritis and other problems, seeking the advice from Mr. Khoo. 

I heard Mr. Aw addressing Dato’ Nik as “Mood” every time he spoke to the latter, signifying how close they are!

1.30 pm: As it was quite noisy in the restaurant and difficult to chat, Mr. Aw suggested we move to the foyer for coffee and continue our chit-chat there.   

Dato’ Nik Mahmood paid for our teh-tarik but he had to leave for another appointment at 2.00 pm. We managed to have a delightful chat for about 20 minutes at the foyer before a car came to fetch Dato’ Nik.

I found Dato’ Nik Mahmood a very friendly and pleasant person with a smiling face all the time. We were told that he has some ancestral Mongolian blood and no wonder Mr. Khoo’s first impression on him was that he looks like a Chinese!

Mr. Aw, Mr. Khoo, Stanley and I continue to chit-chat until 3.00 pm at the foyer. I totally enjoyed listening to the many interesting stories shared by the three of them.  

3.00 pm: We bid farewell to Mr. Aw and left Royal Lake Club.

3.45 pm: Stanley sent Mr. Khoo home.  As always, the very knowledgeable (in all fields) Stanley would share many useful information with me in our journey back to BSL.

4.15 pm: I returned home.

Picking up Mr. Khoo at his house

Bunga Raya Restaurant at Royal Lake Club

Dato' Nik Mahmood (pic left) and Mr. Khoo

Seated from left: 76-yr. old Dato' Hj. Nik Mahmood, 89 yr. old Mr. Khoo KH. Standing form left: 68 yr- old Mr. Stanley Ong. 82-yr. old Mr. Aw ES and the blogger

A selfie in front of Bunga Raya Restaurant

A wefie with Mr. Aw and Dato' Nik at the foyer

A wefie with Stanley and Mr. Khoo at the foyer

Delightful conversation among old and new acquaintances. (I met Dato' Nik for the first time, met Mr. Khoo for the second time.)

Stanley stressing a point on beating technique to clear blood clots