The Meeting

ASH stood for American Society of Haematology. Every winter, they have a big meeting - the last one I attended was in Atlanta in 2012. But travelling across the globe was not really my cup of tea especially with the thought of entering the United States. I was lucky to be flown in Business Class on my last visit. I couldn’t see myself travelling otherwise. The journey would be unbearable.

Luckily, every year, ASH came to Asia-Pacific. The update meeting was held in Brisbane 2 years back and this time around it was in Bali - hence my trip. They also held a trainee workshop from the day before the meeting started. The meeting proper lasted for a day and a half.

The talks were generally great but the question and answer session were rather long with many long-winded questions from the audience. I was well into my second day as I wrote this entry and was planning our travel to the airport for the flight back. We decided to take a cab straight to the airport but the worry would be that we would get jibbed again by the cabby.

Grand Hyatt Bali

Sprawling landscape with somewhat disappointing beach. That more or less summed up the place. Definitely a place to just chill with the nice room. Anita would've loved it if she could come along.

The whole complex was big. We could easily get lost walking around the compound. The signage was also not the best.

For the first evening, we decided to stay in and have dinner at the hotel rather than take a taxi out of town. Nusa Dua is a rather protected cocoon. The are more than 10 hotels with tight security coming in and out of the area. I was sure it was for the safety of tourists. Traveling into town from the hotel was rather problematic logistically. They even have their own retail area within Nusa Dua.

The dinner was at a Balinese restaurant at the hotel. They even had a cultural show to boot. Food was nothing special however.

Breakfast was a similarly standard fair. They had a couple of outlets doing breakfast and we tried both. The one by the pool - called Salsa Verde - was better.

Since the program was tight, I didn't really get to enjoy the facilities. But that didn't stop me from getting a 10 hour sleep the evening I arrived. It had been a while since I had such lay in. More information are at the hotel website.

Settling into Bali

It wasn't the most pleasant of flights. I was sure that if Anita came along, she would not have enjoyed it. It was bumpy and since it was a connecting flight with a group from Bangladesh, the flight was full.

There were no delays however although I arrived too late to check-in at KL Sentral. Took the ERL and by the time everything was cleared, the gate for the flight was already about to open.

We arrived in Bali 3 hours later. The queue for immigration was long but the authority there organiser it very well. By the time I picked my bags, our transport to the hotel had been waiting for us.

It took about half an hour to transfer to the hotel and after checking in, it was time for the beach ...

Anita's Turn

Looking after her father must have taken its toll. Anita had been under the weather for the last couple of weeks. Initially we thought it was just a simple infection. The antibiotics didn't clear it.

A couple of trips to the ER for nebulisers later and still she was struggling. The fever was persistent. Finally we decided to do some tests and it suggested that she had some bacterial infection in her airways.

Anita was admitted for four days, for IV antibiotics and other treatment. By the second day, her appetite was back. She lost a bit of weight while in the hospital. She was still lethargic when she went home but after a couple of days, things started to improve.

She was off antibiotics now and just taking some medicines for her sinus. She had a couple of busy weeks ahead of her sorting out her mother's new maid in preparation for her father returning back to Gombak.

Afternoon in Putrajaya

Putrajaya is an architectural gem. Full of great buildings, great lakes. But often when you reached there, you couldn't figure out what to do.

Umai Cafe by the riverA gorgeous Sunday afternoon sunThe cafe was crowded ...The other weekend, Anita and I decided to have a quick drive there to enjoy a nice sunny Sunday afternoon. It was only half an hour away from our apartment. Along the eay, Anita was tasked at finding out which soot we should land at. We wanted to have a quick drink.

Back out into the sunThat famous balloon ...Too many skies ...The top pick was Umai Cafe, right next to a lake, in between Masjid Besi and Monumen Alaf Baru. I was pretty sure I flew my drone somewhere near there before.

Nice café serving local food. We stayed in the aircond since the weather was really hot outside. It was crowded for a Sunday afternoon, maybe because there were hardly any other choices. Before long, Anita was walking around trying the GoPro.

The administrative centre ...

The majestic Mosque We then drove towards Medan Putra before heading home. Nearby, we saw a new McDonald's. So, we might bring the boys the next time we venture there.