The Preparations

When Anita got her mind set for something, she would obsessively pursue it. And the family open house the other was no exception. She was planning it for some time and got all the logistics organised well ahead.

For her part, she cooked her famous soto. She ordered a few items from her Instagram contacts as well as getting one of her friends to bake the cake for us.

Her Mum helped with the decorating and she got one of our maid's friend to stay over as well.

Certainly all her effort came into fruition as things started to fall into place. Luckily since our apartment was recently renovated and one of the leaked bathroom had been fixed. A few days before, she went to Sungai Buloh with her friend to get some fresh flower pots for the balcony. Therefore decorations was rather straight-forward.

Open Apartment

Last Sunday, the day before my and my father-in-law's birthday, we hosted an open house at our apartment - hence the dubbed open apartment - inviting mainly Anita's cousins and my father-in-law's siblings. The turn out was better than expected. Mixed with that, we also had an impromptu cake-cutting and all the usual birthday stuff.

It was just beginningMy parents-in-lawOne of Anita's auntIt was an excellent day all around and some of our friends stayed until the evening. Food was curtesy of Anita's excellent soto as well as a few orders of biryani and "laksa Johor". Everyone was entertained, even our new driver - who was a pastry chef - chipped in with some desserts for good measures.

Most of our cousins only visited us for the first time, and many had not been here since the renovations last Christmas.

The four of us ....A close-upEven the baby was behaving ...Good time all around ...Everybody had a good time and Anita was the most pleased. She put plenty of effort for the afternoon, and her mother actually spent the evening with us. We also got the help from a friend of our maid as there were plenty to do during the event. But everything went well.

Idlan and Irfan though only made sporadic appearance, although one of their cousin joined them in Irfan's room playing with the PS4. That left us adults to chill out while enjoying the food. The main problem our visitors had was the security and parking arrangements. To make things easier, we stationed our driver at the visitor's car park to fetch them through the main lifts rather than them having to go through the visitor's route and the main entrances.

Peace!The day's entertainment ...Group photos with friends ...We were stuffed by the late afternoon, and the party was only halfway then. My father-in-law did not stay until late as he was getting tired from all that. He did however gave a speech after cutting the cake. Off came the story when I called Anita's home when we were both still in college. Hilarity ensued! But great day all around ...

Idlan was Back

5 days and 4 nights was certainly a long time to endure. That’s how long Idlan was away and Anita was taking it hard. Of course she was glad to have him back. Idlan was away with his school mates at the island of Bintan during the time, having a great time ....

His journey home started at 6 this morning with a quick breakfast before boarding a ferry into Singapore. Then came the coach ride up to KL. They were a couple of hours behind schedule but the school was great at updating us with the timing. We learned that they were going to be late the moment they entered Johor through text messages.

We had also been learning about his activities through the school twitter feed.

What was he up to? He had been buzzing since he arrived - after which we brought him straight to dinner. He tried all sorts. He started off with canoeing, building rafts, jumping off boats, doing the flying fox, climbing coconut trees and bungee jumping. Then came the trek up the hills before more water activities. There were also come community work where they build a water filtration system for the local village. Then came the cooking - disappointingly Idlan made pizza.

Mummy is happy now ...Being able to speak Malay helped as Idlan became the interpreter when they were doing the filtration system. He also said that the food was better than expected. They stayed in a dorm with around 20 in a unit, spending the time with his friends. He enjoyed the sunset and the great weather at the island - so much so that he is now tanned. The final evening was spent around a campfire having some marshmallows.

We were glad that we allowed him to go although at the beginning we were rather apprehensive. He was definitely having a whale of a time. Now, he was off for a couple of months of summer holidays. We have yet to plan what to do next, but first he could do with a nice long shower ....

New Joint

The renovation had been going on for the past 6 months on this spot on the ground floor of Bangsar Village which had been left vacant for more than a couple of years. There used to be a Ben outlet there which had been closed since.

The space was finally opened last weekend, and Village Grocer had taken up that lot, opening a new gourmet delicatessen. Not yet to the level of Jason's at Bangsar Shopping Centre but there were a few interesting items there. Many healthy options, fresh juice kiosk, salad bar and the likes. Really nice snacks. There were also some roast - ideal should my Dad came to visit. You can take the stuff hole or enjoy it at the deli with a few tables opened.

Not yet time to really look around the place as I was under the weather lately. Definitely would be giving it another look ...

Return to d7

I had another extra few hours to burn yesterday morning while hanging around at the company’s office while an assessment was going on.

Compared to last few years, the place seemed deserted. It was a building complex with a difference, the kind which would have attracted internet start-ups to make them into offices. Nice green open space, seems right the right environment. But maybe the combination of economic slowdown and the wrong locale made sure that the place did not take off as it should.

Having a look aroundThat's my floorNice long tall corridors ...Personally, if I were to run a start-up, I may have a hub there since it was secluded enough but at the same time accessible through the road. Public transport maybe an issue but you could always use Uber.

Many of the old tenant had left. I remembered that there used to be a chic home appliances outlet on the ground floor where I used to ogle at the Smeg fridges - which I knew I could not afford. Most of the units on the ground floor were empty. Occupancy I would put at around 30% overall. Which was a shame ... And we were down to just a single cafe - the Three Little Birds Cafe. The mocha there could be better but the sandwiches were still OK.

The cafe was still openThe car park downstairs ... smaller than it shouldMaybe the place would turn around once the other offices around the area were also opened and the economy get better.