Saturday morning. A typical Saturday morning where we get up a bit later than the usual weekday (well, at least; for some of us). We’ve created a whole list of “to-dos” the night before, the “to-dos” that we ordinarily are not able to do on weekdays. This new phrase, “Work Life Balance”, is flaunted everywhere. Somehow, people seem to miss the point – they work more. Then, they have their family commitments, exercise and other things.

Made my bed. Check✓
Sent the car for a wash and vacuum. Went around to three different carwash services. Finally chose the one with the most number of cars. Makes sense. Means they must be good. Check✓

By the time they get a couple of things done on their to-do list, they are done with the list though they may have several other things left to check out before the list is complete. They will complain that the work stress has spilt over to Saturday, causing them to not having slept well the Friday night, which has led to a stiff neck on the right (Maybe, most of the thinking was done with the right side of the brain because they are more artistic or creative (1)). The real reason –  They just want to chill / chill-lax / relax / relax-lah bro / hang loose… the descriptive explanation of not wanting to do anything. Little do they realize that not wanting to do anything is actually doing something. Now, who are the “they”?😂

By the time, we decide to do something, it is already past noon, more like after 3.00pm. As they say, “Time waits for no man”. Who are “they” again? They seem to have plentiful (2) influence in our lives as they seem to suggestively dictate how we spend our time.

It was more like nearing to 4.00pm. I needed my coffee fix. Thought we’d go to some place new. Jeannie said she recently came across on the internet, this place with a huge croissant hanging outside its premises. Its a cafe in  P.J. (9) oldtown. What makes it stand out besides the huge croissant hanging outside its premises, is that the person who started this cafe is a three – time award winning best barista in Malaysia.

O.k. Nooo, I am not going to use that word…that word famous (it is!) in Malaysia; “Jom!” (3) Sounds so cliché. Neither will I use, “Let’s go for a spot of tea, wot? Wot?“ I think the low coffee levels in me is acting up.😉😂 And I don’t drink tea. More like rarely drink tea.

There is  a reason the area is called “P.J. oldtown”. Yes, because it is really old. I think the  suburbs started growing from this town or nucleus to what it, P.J. or Petaling Jaya is today. The bus station, cinema, Sun Wah Bar, the wet market, Gluttons’ Square was P.J. oldtown of the ’60s and ’70s. There was a large oblong-shaped round-a-bout that seemed to be the hallmark of the town back then.

I remember that big oblong round-a-bout in the centre of town. In the mid-1960s, Aunty Val (my dad’s youngest sister) and Uncle Jeff (her late husband); used to take us* for drives in the evenings after dinner, in their dark red and black top, little Mini 850 (Registration Number AD7367, if I remember correctly). One of the places we frequented was a drinks stall that sold “tou foo fah”, soya bean drink  and “air mata kuching”) (5). I’d usually go for the soya bean drink – tasted really good.

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We arrived at Contour. (there is a “.” on the signboard) slightly after 4.00pm. By the way, if you were to Google for Contour cafe, make sure you search Contour. Cafe, P.J. oldtown. Otherwise, you may be directed to Contour Cafe, Aberdeen, U.K..

P.J. oldtown still has its crowd appeal. The giant croissant hanging cafe is on one of the busiest streets, so if you are driving there, parking your vehicle can be challenging. The surroundings look very old small town.

The stairs leading up to the café didn’t seem too inviting, at first. As we swung the door open and entered…

A display of a range of pastries greeted us. Very nice display. The place was a hive of activity. The first thing that got my attention was that they were many employees. Working behind the counter and around the dining area. Customers were continuously streaming in, ordering their coffees and teas (they have a good selection of teas) and pastries. The pastries were fast moving off the shelves.

I chose a scone and a cookie, and wanted an Americano-iced (It should be “iced-Americano”). Sporting a blue tee-shirt, I could have been mistaken for the Cookie Monster. Now, how does that song go again? “C is for cookie”…😁

Jeannie went for a scone, too; and ordered an Americano to go with it. Jeannie did the counter-ordering. No, it’s not that she ordered differently. She ordered at the counter.😅 She being in business development in the food industry; she is always on the lookout for new ideas and business growth possibilities.

In the meantime, I, inspired by Inspector Clouseau (6); went “snooping”😁around. Malaysians will say, “We go and see first”. It means that we will go and check it out.

There was a small table and two chairs tucked away in a corner, just after the counter. I thought this sitting space was a wee bit too cramped. It was next to a glass-walled room with a large, industrial size, cool looking machine, in it. It looked like a giant version of a home coffee maker. I assumed that that was used for roasting the coffee beans.

There was a long flight of stairs leading to the next level. No lay-bys or stopovers, just a straight flight of stairs.

Entering the room at the top of the stairs, was just a room. It was quite spartan in furnishing. with a few long tables and some tables-for-two. Probably, this area was a work-in-progress for this cafe as it had only opened its doors to customers just two weeks ago.

There was another door from the room that led out to a small balcony. Out there, there were a few tables – probably 1/2 a dozen people could sit there. Smokers’ area?

Our order was served quite quickly. The more than two or three employees that you would usually find in a cafe, manning the counter and serving the people, is good. Quite unusual for a cafe. They were attentive to all their customers. I also noted that they had two employees just handling the cleanliness of the place.

I wanted to bite into the scone to see how it fared against what I considered the best scones around town. The scones came with a nicely baked light brown top crust. The rest of it was light yellow-brown. The size of these scones were slightly smaller and cheaper than the other scones. These scones came with strawberry jam. Get this: the strawberry jam had a generous serving of pieces of actual strawberries in it.

The pastries were served on decent size plates lined with Contour designed paper. A nice, classy touch. Saves on water when cleaning.

Now, for the taste. When I cut into the scone, it had a nice texture that did not crumble. I put that piece into my mouth and immediately had a distinct taste, something that was added in it to give it that unusual flavour. It was nice. I liked it. My first bite was without the strawberry jam.

The strawberries in the strawberry jam took these scones to the next level. The jam was superb. It was thick as though strawberries were blended to become jam. When added to the scones, the scones were even more delicious. I loved every bit of it and the jam, too. You definitely have to come try this out for yourselves.

Jeannie found the scone a bit on the sweet side. She said it was still very nice.

Has this now beat the scones from Good Ground Bakery (G.G.B.) as the best scones in town? Let’s put it this way. It’s a close fight. I would have to have a go at G.G.B.’s scones again to come to that conclusion.

The chocolate chip cookie was pretty good. I guess I was more focused on the scones, to take much notice of the cookie.

From what I gathered, watching a bit of the operations here for a while, once the pastries on the tray were cleared, another tray of them will not be baked for the day. Unless, I guess; if the trays are cleared (all sold) very early in the day.

Not forgetting the coffee, the reason why we decided to come here in the first place; there was a choice of Brazilian or Ethiopian beans. The Brazilian beans offered a stronger coffee while the Ethiopian beans give a more sour or acidic taste. I had a very sour coffee which caught me of guard, a couple of weeks back; a first for me.

Both Jeannie’s latte and my Americano-iced; were from Brazilian beans. My Americano, iced; was nice and refreshing like all Americanos. This had a slightly stronger taste (some would describe it as “full bodied”). Jeannie’s latte was nice to the taste, too. When Jeannie made the coffee orders, she asked if the three time barista champion was in the house. The employee at the cash register (should it be called “cashless register” since payments made everywhere have gone cashless, well almost?) affirmed that he was. Jeannie then, asked if he could make our coffees for her. Our coffees came. Don’t think that he made them.

We saw him,, the three times Malaysian top barista champion; quietly sitting and texting on his phone in the glass room at first, and a while later, on one of the short side benches. A young guy, he was there if needed by his employees. However, they seemed to have had everything under control and all was going smoothly. Jeannie and I went up to meet him.

Jason Loo, the three time Malaysian award winning barista, seemed unassuming and quiet. He was very friendly. We had a good chat with him where we learnt that he is a pastry chef by qualification. However, he started the “Yellow Brick Road” restaurant in Damansara Heights 8 years ago; which he says is doing very well. He invited us to go over there for a meal.

At Yellow Brick Road, he never really got down to putting his pastry chef skills to work. With Contour., he now can do that. He came up with the name “Contour” based on topography (8). The croissant when looked from the top, has different levels and sizes of “rings” which forms its shape. Interesting idea.

As for the coffee, roasting can be considered a specialized art. The different degrees of temperature, the length of time for roasting – these are subjective “values”. It allows the roaster to be a “Picasso of coffee beans”. Then, when the coffee is in the cup, the cup should be of a certain size to get the right volume of coffee in it, temperature, if it is iced, the coffee has to be cold with ice added in it, to get that taste and aroma that the barista intends to create. All this before milk and / or sugar is added to it.

I posed the question to Jason on how he manages to wear many hats at the same time. Entrepreneur running a restaurant and cafe in different locations, a barista chef, a pastry chef, and manage many employees; all at the same time. He smiled (he smiles a lot) and said, “passion”.

I could see in his employees (who did not seem to wear the invisible / unspoken tag: “I’m just an employee” on them) that Jason has inculcated in them a sense or responsibility, a sense of ownership, in all that they do at the cafe.

We wished Jason all the best in his endeavours and told him that we will be back again.

I thought the idea of him setting up a specialized cafe in P.J. oldtown was a great idea. This whole area is no longer just what it was 50 years or so ago. It is a thriving place with modern businesses, which means many coffee drinkers. Yet, there does not seem to be any cafes like this around the area. So, Contour. Cafe, P.J. oldtown; could be / is, the first of many to come.

NOTE:
1. If you’re mostly analytical and methodical in your thinking, the theory says that you’re left-brained. If you tend to be more creative or artistic, you’re right-brained. This theory is based on the fact that the brain’s two hemispheres function differently. http://www.healthline.com
2. My choice of word to give the sentence a sort of a twist; or “flavour” if you may; without losing much of the meaning. Plentiful means plentiful, ample, abundant, copious mean more than sufficient without being excessive. Plentiful implies a great or rich supply. Peaches are plentiful this summer. Ample implies a generous sufficiency to satisfy a particular requirement. Ample food to last the winter. 9 Oct 2023. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
3. Jom: The word “jom” means the same as “let’s” in English. So, “jom” is a word that is used to invite other people to do something together. Commonly used among Malaysian Malays.
4. cliché: a phrase or opinion that is overused and betrays a lack of original thought.
5. Tow Foo Fah is a Chinese sweet or savoury dessert made with silken smooth tofu. This tofu pudding is a traditional and popular local dessert.
Soya Bean drink is a healthy, plant-based milk that can fit into just about any diet. It’s naturally lower in fat and calories than dairy milk, but offers more protein than other popular plant-based milks. http://www.everydayhealth.com 
Air Mata Kuching is or Sweet Monk Fruit Longan Dessert is a popular thirst quencher in Malaysia. It’s a delicious dessert.
6. Jacques Clouseau, also known as Inspector Clouseau and the Pink Panther detective, is a fictional detective who made his debut appearance in the 1963 Pink Panther film.
7. Kenny Mah, MalayMail; October 12th, 2023.
8. The distinctive characteristic of a topographic map is the use of elevation contour lines to show the shape of the Earth’s surface. Elevation contours are imaginary lines connecting points having the same elevation on the surface of the land above or below a reference surface, which is usually mean sea level.
9. P. J. or Petaling Jaya, is a city in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.

*My late sister, Jennifer, my late brother, Nigel, my cousins Richard, Neil, Brendon and myself. Jennifer, Nigel and myself were staying with Aunty Val & Uncle Jeff at that time. We and our cousins were all young kids at that time.