All set

Anita was kind enough to do the packing for me last night. I was busy preparing the materials for the weekend meetings in Kuching. I would be taking a flight late this evening and would be leaving UMMC right after the Day Care. If everything going according to plan, I would be able to have a few hours at the airport to do some work as I was sure I would be tied up otherwise.

I would have to take the cleaning solutions for my cameras to Kuching as I did not manage to get everything ready. Initially I wanted to bring a couple if bodies with me, but after trying to fit everything into the camera bag, I settled for just the 7D, with a couple of lenses, the 17-55 and 50 prime. It should be able to cover most things. And of course the flashgun, a couple set of rechargeables and some extra memory card. I would be bringing the charges over as well of course.

Colmar Weekend - The Good

I had mentioned before about spending an evening at Colmar. We we're finally able to do it on the last weekend of February. Realizing that I would be away most of the weekends in March, we decided to spend a Saturday evening at the resort.

We arrived there late morning. One peculiar thing about the place was that even though you can book for a room ahead of time, they would not be able to quote you a price, as it would change on the daily basis depending on the demand. According to the receptionist when we called prior, there should be enough rooms available. So we settled for a suite one bedroom suite.

Checking in was straight forward, but the first room that we were offered was rather too big - it was basically one big empty room. Good if you have a family of six, but too big for us. They were kind enough to offer us another room which was better than the first.

Next stop, lunch. We went to our usual cafe - they served French and Italian food. After that, the swimming pool, which was great as it was early enough that there's were hardly any crowd. The pool there was nice and specious, with a separate wading pool.

By 5pm, we went down the hill to the rabbit farm. Spent an hour there before returning just in time for an early dinner. I will write about the dinner later on as I wanted to discuss the bad points on a separate entry. Suffice to say that dinner was bad.

We got to our room pretty early and as there were not much food for the kids during the buffet, we ordered some room service for them. After dinner, we went for a walk at the main promenade, enjoying the wonderful breeze and cool weather. There were a few attractions and shows going on. There was a fire breather and a Russian dance troupe putting on shows that evening. Great fun for the kids. There were also games rooms, and evening cafe if that as what you preferred. We went to bed rather late that evening as the boys were all excited - before Idlan ran a fever. The weather was on the cool side in the evening although it was not as cold as Fraser's Hill. 

We all had a pleasant night, though we had to get up to give Idlan some medicine. We headed home the next morning right after breakfast, with a nice slow drive back home to KL.

Sky News HD!

As you would have probably gathered, I am of the generation which craves information, pretty much similar to the readers of this blog. We thrive on information and news. when I got home today, switched on the TV, and walla! Sky News HD is now available on Astro Byond, just in time for the Royal Wedding this weekend.

As I would be away in Kuching later in the week, Puan Anita would be in information heaven with up-to-date bulletin on the wedding. Hmm! Would be a task prying her off the TV!

Full week ahead

Looks like it's going to be a monster week. It will be a three-day week for me, before catching an evening flight to Kuching on Wednesday after work. I will be involved in a series of talk there, starting with a the MaxFamily patient support group meet up on Thursday. It will be more of a Congress giving the opportunity for patients with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia to meet and share experiences of their problem among their peers with Haematologists in the background offering guidance.

Then there would be the small matter of the Malaysian Society of Harmatology Scientific Meeting taking place at the Pullman, starting on the Thursday. I will be involved in a couple of the symposium as well as meetings. I will also be the photographer for the event, something I had been doing in the last couple of years. That should be fun.

Maybe I would be able to complete the list of things to buy which I would no doubt get off Anita. She has a cousin who is working there at the moment. I'm sure there would be plenty of stuff to do and things to blog. Really looking forward to that. The flight home would be on Sunday afternoon. Monday would be the Labour Day holiday, and I have taken Tuesday and Wednesday off.

TRON Visited

So, the whole household watched TRON yesterday. Even my boys were mesmerised with the plethora of bright neon colour on offer. It was certainly a feast for the eyes. It really brought the best out of the Blue Ray HD pictures. I wished that I still had my home theatre as I had to rely on the TV screen stereo sound.

The plot for the movie was also much better than I expected. It was complex enough for the adults while my children were left drooling on the visual effects. The fight scene were very well choreographed and would not be termed as violent.

Even though the overall tone of the picture was a cold blue contrasting nicely with the orange neon glow from the antagonist characters. It was a true cinematic treat. I could imagine the movie looking great on an iMAX screen.

By the end of the day, I was sure that Idlan watched the movie three times, mainly the lightcycle part. Great stuff! Next up, Inception.