A night at the Oscars

I actually had tons of work to do, but it turned out that the Oscars was on, and I just can't resist it. I've been sat here for a good couple of hours staring the TV despite knowing who the winners were earlier from the net. That was sad.

The vibe from the web was that both James Franco and Ann Hathaway messed up. A couple of hours in, yes, they were as funny or as smooth. But nothing major really to be stressed out about. They were pretty OK for a first timer. The problem with the show which aired from 8 pm on Star Movies was the beginning and the constant stop for advertisement, during which the show cut to the studio in Hong Kong. The host in HK was charming at the beginning but the novelty soon wore off, although the lady host was gorgeous!

Am waiting for the last few awards now and for the last half an hour or so, it was all tributes and advert .... Zzzzzz

The Morning After

Idlan's fever settled by the morning and he was back to his usual self by the time we had breakfast. Suffice to say, it was chaotic at breakfast, mainly due to the venue being ill-prepared for the number of hotel visitors coming down for the buffet. We arrived at around 9.00 which was relatively early judging from the commotion happening right afterward especially from the Middle East visitors. I will leave the rest to your imaginations.

The weather was gorgeous in the morning. The boys got their bubble guns out and started to spray the place with bubbles. The morning walk was really nice. We quickly got back up to the rooms, got our stuffs into the van and back down to the main lobby to hang around for a few more minutes, absorbing the fresh air and calm ambiance. Colmar was certainly magically on a sunny Sunday morning like it was earlier today. We then took a pleasant drive back down to KL, stopping by to visit an ill relative on the way back home. Idlan started to develop temperature again, so back to the medicines.

The boys were more settled in the afternoon, so myself and Anita took time to do some shopping and went to the bank to settle my credit cards bill and the lot. I then went to Low Yat, and my God, the place was hectic. I stopped over at the Apple store to pick up a charger for my Mac Air, but apart from that, the whole afternoon was a blur. Unwanted to have a closer look at the Nexus S but most of the vendors kept confusing it with Galaxy S. I gave up after half an hour trying before joining Anita with her shopping.

The boys were now being put to sleep while I was preparing my slides for next weekend's talk in Yangon. Suffice to say, it would be struggle to complete then by the morning, but at least I have got the idea about what to talk about. The photos from Colmar would have to wait for the time being.

Arriving at Colmar

After a couple of trips to Colmar in the last few months, we decided to actually stay there one of these weekends and since I will be in Yangon next weekend, we decided to head up there yesterday.

We called the evening before to book a room, but was told to just head up there and talk to the reception as there were plenty of rooms still available and the room rate differs depending on the occupancy. Hmmm! That might be a sign that maybe the place was not as popular as we thought it was.

Staying the night, we were spoilt for choice in terms of which type of room to take. It was mainly a toss up between the family suite - two bedroom with king-sized beds or a one-bedroom suite - one room, a lounge and pantry. We went for the suit instead and it was cheaper the cheaper option as it turned out.

After settling into the room - which was well-kept but was showing its age - it was time to explore the resort. Pity. It turned out that the Japanese and Botanical Gardens were closed for renovations. A vital piece of information I thought in deciding sheathed to come or not! We were left to stay inside the resort - went to the swimming pool, had some food and other activities such as arts before going to the rabbit farm again.

Dinner was disappointing as we opted for the buffet and it turned out that we were a bit too early. The grills were not yet ready and there were not much selection for the kids. We were also not allowed to order ala carte there. Luckily the restaurant manager understood and did not charge the kids for the buffet. We went to our room to order room service.

There were still hive of activities late on at the resort. We went for a stroll after 9pm, had some desert, walk up the towers to get a better view. There were street magicians and fire eater putting up a show there. The games rooms were still open and were packed. There were also a show - a rather lame one by a Russian dance troupe - appropriately called the Russian Roulette. You can't get anymore tacky than that.

It was 3am when I wrote this entry as we were woken up by Idlan as he had a high fever. He was not back to sleep after some paracetamol. He nay have caught a cough from the maids. Luckily it was right after his assessment. It looked like we would beheading back home a bit earlier than planned tomorrow morning, all depending on how he felt first thing.

As I was yet to get the photos looked at, I thought I would sort my entries into a few headings later - the good, the bad and the photos. Watch this space. I need some sleep now.

The first few hours

The investment were really working up a treat. The boys and their iPads were inseparable. Idlan has just fallen asleep allowing Anita to have a chance to surf.

After a couple of hours on the pads, the boys were more taken to the Redshift app, about planets and the Solar System rather the games. It looks like I will have to look for more of those educational apps to get them going, and more games for Daddy.

So the first few hours were as we expected. Excited. At times eager to explore but failing miserably added to the odd tantrums.

An investment of sorts

So, I finally decided to get the iPad. Yes, not exactly an early adopter. A few months back, I decided to go for the MacBook Air rather than the iPad when I had the choice between the two. Did I regret it? Not a jot! The Air was more relevant to my work and since having it, my productivity has definitely gone up. Very mobile and does what one expects of a notebook twice it size does.

During the weeks leading up to Irfan's birthday, I have been asking him what he really wanted as a birthday present. He kept mentioning the iPad. A couple of weekends before his party, we went to another party at KLGCC and Irfan saw a few children playing with their iPads and he has been on and on about it ever since.

It happens that Idlan had an assessment the this week, so, we decided to delay the iPad until tomorrow. So, I went out to get the iPads earlier today right after work. I got it all set up, ready for the unveil tomorrow evening. So far I loaded up will all the usual stuffs from my account, Plants vs Zombies HD of course. I also set up the twitter client as Anita was planning to sign up later on. I think she has already got one but has never been active. She wanted to sign up for Facebook this time around as well. So, it looks like it will be a long weekend for all of us.

Since I will be away most weekends in March, we might take a trip tomorrow for the weekend. Just the four of us in our van, with the iPads of course. And of course, you know what I used to write this entry with ......