The Engagement in Muar

We finally checked-out and left for Muar just after mid-day. The check-out was long than usual as the reception sent a staff over to the villa to make sure that everyone had evacuated. That took an extra 10 minutes.

The trip down to Muar took just over an hour. We thought that we were late, but it turned out that the party for the engagement set off a bit later, finally arriving an hour late. Therefore, we spent the time with the grumpy boys. By luckily they had their iPads with them, making them a bit more content.

The engagement went without a hitch. The fiancée is my first cousin, and the ceremony was held at my Uncle's place. Originally from Penang, he married lady from Muar and settled there ever since. He has three daughters and a son. The son got married last year. Today was the engagement of his third child. As per tradition, since she has an elder sister yet to be married, there would be gift for the said sister.

We left soon after the ceremony was done since we would be driving straight back home to KL, reaching Gombak just after six. Next on the agenda, football .....

The Morning After

An overnight stay could never be enough especially when the boys had their neighbors about with them. After an early night,all woke up at around 8, just in time for my sister to arrive from Kajang with breakfast. But since we had breakfast vouchers from the resort, my Dad and I decided to have a quick bite at the cafe as well.

It was a disappointment actually. The breakfast was just an excuse by the resort to market the stay to include morning breakfast, as it was just something pretty simple. Hardly tasty, but if you were traveling, I supposed that would be enough but I felt that the resort could've offered a lot more.

To make matters worst, the cafe was located right inside the Water Park. I was sure the reason was to entice those staying to fork out some extra cash when their children persuade them to go to the park. Rather sly. It took us a 10 minutes walk to get to the breakfast table, to taste the rather lame offering. suffice to say that I wasn't amused. Luckily my sister brought food from Kajang, because otherwise, I might end up having to go outside to buy breakfast.

So, the breakfast included in the stay was not much of a perk. I would rather stay in and have a lovely morning by the pool.

Arriving at A Famosa

We arrived at A Famosa an hour earlier then the usual check in time, but a call to the manager sorted it out as we left Nilai at around 2.30. We arrived at the resort just after 3, and proceeded to check in.

The last time we stayed here, Irfan was just about a year-old, learning to walk. We rented one of the bungalow, with swimming pool attached of course. This time around, the bungalow were no longer for rent. Instead, we decided to go for a three-bedroom villa. The unit is located right on the opposite end of the resort. It seemed that this part of A Famosa was rather new and appeared self-contained. It had its own check-in counter and management, as well as food service. There was a restaurant - a barbecue place - where we checked-in. The breakfast in the morning was also located at the Water Park, rather than the main hotel area where we had our buffet breakfast on our last stay.

The pool was nice and cosy. It was chest deep, too deep for Idlan I was afraid.There was this nice little feature at the middle of the villa, lightening up the whole house.Compared to the last bungalow, the current suite was much smaller. The space in-between the units were also smaller - we could hear the splashing from the pool next door. But the good thing was, the pool area was separated by a high wall, for privacy. I still much preferred the old bungalow though. Not to mention that the old place was located right next to the restaurants, the main entrance and other attractions.

A nice little table at the dining area, overlooking the poolThere was also a nice little kitchenette, but no stove or microwave though. The boys enjoying breakfast the next morningThe pool was really nice and well-maintained though. It could do with a bit less chlorine. Our eyes were red by the time we were done with the pool. Although one should expect a bit of sore eyes if you spent a couple of hours in such pool. But a couple of hours of fun it was. We even ordered from room service for an afternoon tea in the pool. Yes, I did say in the pool. The tea in the pool was nice. But the tea was not so. The food was not great.

So, after we were done with the pool and shower, everyone decided to stay in rather than go out for dinner. Even the attraction of the "Cowboy Town" did not convince the children from going. So, Puan Anita and I ended up going out to take-away some dinner, and we dined in. My Dad was asleep well before 9, but the boys and their cousins were still up awake even at this hour ......

Wedding at Nilai

The first order of the day was to Nilai. My cousin, Shari, finally got hitched and we attended the reception there. We left as scheduled, at around 10.30 after my morning rounds, and reached the venue about an hour earlier, relatively early. After mingling around, and enjoying a splendid lunch - the food was actually very good - the happy couple arrived, in white. Quite rare these days to have Malay wedding with a white theme. But white it was.

Most of the family members from Penang made their way down here. My Dad was due to sit on the high table, but when the couple arrived, all hell broke lose, and Dad ended up having dinner at hour table instead. An hour after we finished eating. To accompany him, I went for seconds .....

After we were done with the food and met all the extended family members, it was time to go. As I mentioned, we would be spending the night at A Famosa, before driving further down to Muar tomorrow.

Trying to Pack

Managed to muster some energy to get some packing organized, camera charged up and route planned after aching home earlier. Was really knackered when it turned out that I had a couple of new referrals on my plate, an admission and a few discharges to sort out. Finally reached home after 6, but luckily the traffic was light and as soon as I got in, I managed to catch a nap before Maghrib. I was that tired.

The plan to go out for dinner was also shelved and I just gobbled whatever at home for dinner. Now, the packing was done and I better get some rest. I needed to get to the ward first thing to sort out a couple of patients before driving down to Nilai. The plan was to leave before 11.

Both Idlan and Irfan were looking forward to the the trip. Anita still nursing a sore throat, while I was just told that my Mum who would be coming along with us to or row also had a temperature. Hopefully she'd be OK. We had to reach Nilai by 1, as my Dad would be at the high table during lunch.