Bowling Time

Upon returning from Atlanta on Thursday, I hardly had a proper rest. Friday was an on call day, spending the Saturday morning sorting out the admission. This was followed by taking the boys for their swimming lesson in the afternoon and dinner at KLCC following that. I then stayed up for the United-Sunderland game straight after that.

Sunday morning, back to ward rounds in the morning. And by the time I returned, I attended the meet the teacher session at Idlan's Quran school. Only after lunch on Sunday that I had some free time for the boys, and they couldn't wait to out then. So, they asked for a couple of activities; bowling and movies.

We went to eCurve since the place had both - plus Marche for the afternoon tea. Sounded like a great plan.

We first booked the movie - more about that on a later entry. Then it was bowling time. It would be Irfan's first. Idlan did it before a couple times when hen was younger and knew what to expect.

Off they went, all excited. Irfan felt awkward at the beginning but soon picked then game up. He did a long run-up followed by a loud high release, causing a thud when his ball hit the floor of the lane. Luckily there were not that many people about, and we practically had the lanes all to ourselves.

We soon tire out after a couple of games. Irfan actually did better on the first game, much to the annoyance of his brother. Competitive sods!

The Georgia Aquarium

Right next to The World of Coca-Cola was the Georgia Aquarium. It may not be be famous in Malaysia, but this is the World's largest aquarium and it was huge. But unfortunately, I was on a tight schedule that afternoon and was only able to sample through the displays but none of the shows. I manages to explore the place within an hour and a half. There was plenty to see, but unfortunately not enough time.

The main tank actually housed four sharks amongst other first. There were also a separate tank for the beluga whales, another area for penguins as well as a another display for tropical fish. That seemed to be where most of the crowds were. Mind you, there can't be that many tropical fish laying around here.

The entranceThe central lobbyThis is a piranha!Sea dragonThe place was huge and the areas were pretty well laid out with a central lobby where people could meet as well as where the main cafeteria was situated. This was also where the information desks were and meeting points form groups. As you could imagine, it was rather crowded in the middle there.

I spent most of the time as the fresh water exhibits. They had a tank of piranha there as well as the usual otters and other fishes and frogs.

Since both the World of Coca-Cola and then aquarium were located in the middle of downtown, there were easily accessible. The City Council also had this Day Pass where one could save on the entrance fees by purchasing a combined ticket. This included tour of the CNN Towers and the Atlanta Zoo. Unfortunately I only managed to visit the two attractions. It was more of working trip, and the cold weather and short days just made exploring the city at that time of the year that bit more challenging.

Still, if you ever ended up in Atlanta, it would definitely be worth a visit. More on my Atlanta trip here.

World of Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola was invented by a local Atlanta Pharmacist and Atlanta is proud of that. The company still maintained its headquarters in the City. And the much-talked about secret recipe is purportedly kept in a box inside a vault at the headquarter building in the outskirts of town. Only two people have access to the secret, and each of them only knew half of the formula. Or, that was what the legend said.

In the middle of town, the Company set up a museum. They called it The World of Coca-Cola. Attempt had been made to have similar displays in Las Vegas and Tokyo in the past, but those exhibit were closed due to lack of support. But the chapter here had been going strong.

Even the polar bear was thereThe old delivery methodThe original museum was located in a different part of town and the current purpose-built complex was only opened last year.

The first part of the exhibit was a gentle introduction into the celebrated history of Coca-Cola by way of multimedia presentation and as well as direct introduction. The next part was a mini museum with displays of Coca-Cola memorabilia from throughout the world.

Memorabilia galoreAnd a fair bit of reading as wellThe torches from the recent Olympics on displayNow came the favourite part, the tasting areaEverybody get to carry a bottle homeNext came the trip to the vault - not the real one of course. The final part was the about the product. We were taken through a mini-factory which bottled the drink in a limited edition bottle to be taken home as memento. While waiting for the drinks to be ready, we could also sample 60 plus flavours of Coca-Cola products from around the world. Guaranteed to get you high on sugar by the time you were done. Imagine if I were to take Mu children along with me. It should be a fun ride home .....

I bought some fridge magnet to take home at the exit. The museum was quite fun, since it was not often one get to see it coming from Malaysia and all. Well worth a visit I thought. More on the Atlanta trip here.

Momentum Maintained

A win was still a win and the momentum was still on. It was important not to drop points after the three hauled at the Emirates last weekend. All that good work could be unravelled a careless drop in points against the supposedly weaker team in Sunderland. So, concentration was key, and we saw plenty of that focus on the first stages of the game.

We were rewarded with two goals in then first quarter of the match. First being presented to van Persie by a former United player, John O'Shea. He failed to deal a low cross from Ashley Young, parrying the ball towards the predatory Dutchman who passed the ball onto the top of the net. Cool finish.

The second was a well-worked team effort. The ball was initially brought forward by Phil Jones playing at right back. The play was switched when eventually Cleverley got the possession at the far end playing a pass back to Carrick who returned the ball via a defence-splitting pass back yo Claverley. He side footed the bal past the despairing Mignolet in Sunderland goal.

The other plus point was then return of Nemanja Vidic. But he was not able to to earn United a clean sheet. In fact he was at fault for failing to clear the ball inside the six-yard box, allowing a free header at the far end. He would be better once he got more games under his belt I was sure.

The main thing was, the win maintained a six-point lead at the summit of the league. There was still plenty to play for, but it was telling that we were in this position despite not yet hitting our stride. Come the business end of the season, I hope that the defence would be tighter. We really could do with clean sheets.

Cough. Cough.

One would have thought that I would've packed it in after returning from Idlan's swimming session, I would have gone straight back home to rest. Well, not tonight. We decided to go to KLCC and ordered dinner there. Well, it was take home really. Even the boys were too tired to stay for long. But there was enough time for a quick drink while waiting for our orders.

Unfortunately, it tired off Idlan, and before long, he started to cough. It went on for a fee more minutes until he had his inhalers. It lingered on until we reached home. It looked like an early night for him.

It had been a while since he had an asthma attack. We should have given him a couple of puffs on ventolin before he had his swim. Careless on our part really. Now, he was a lot more settled, and hopefully he would feel better tomorrow morning.