Getting Set

Since the apartment was in the middle of renovations, free time for Anita was scarce. During my break, I decided that on one of the days, we must have a day trip. After much planning, we took off to Melaka for a short drive - although we spent significant amount of times waiting for the lights to turn green at the traffic lights!

We left as soon as Irfan was sent to school. Idlan had to take the bus that morning - contributing more to his bad mood. I packed the evening before. Got my Garmin charged up for GPS geotagging on my photos later. I took a couple of bodies plus the Ricoh GR - everything fit in well into the Ming Then bag. Plus a couple of extra batteries.

Making sure the cameras were charged upTime to carry the bag alongWe had to drop Irfan first in school, which meant that we would be driving across town to join the highways. We decided to press on and have breakfast along the highway ....

So off we went!

More Cock

I had a good Sunday starting from the breakfast at PULP. By 10.30 we were already at KL Convention Centre where a home improvement exhibition was going on. Anita got a great deal on a new fridge and she got further discount for the final day of the exhibition. It would be delivered to us before the end of the week.

I then went to the Mac shop to sort out my dongle issue with the new MacBook. And by the time I was done, it was still before noon. Time to take a walk. So, off I went from Suria onto the link bridge to Pavilion. And there, I saw that the decorations for CNY was complete! All the cocks were out! The roosters were flying around indeed!

After that was done, it was time for lunch at back I walked to Suria to join Anita. Disappointingly we were not able to get a frisbee for Idlan to practice - he wanted to try “ultimate frisbee” in school. When we finally reached home, it wasn’t even 3 pm yet. Anita then took to clear the store as more renovations were planned for tomorrow. A team was coming to sort out the wall panelling and cabinets for us .... More knocking.

The boys would be in school tomorrow, and I was still on holiday, I would drive Idlan in. He would enjoy that I would be sure ...

A Different Start

No work this morning, and both myself and Idlan didn’t get a good sleep last night. After dinner last night, I went out to McDonald’s with Idlan for some fries, but ended up not able to sleep early.

It was past midnight when Idlan finally slept and I had to miss my football match as well because of that. Then came the kicker. My phone rang at 3 am as the switchboard in Park City did not know that I was on leave. Since I was based in SJMC, the message did not get through somehow. I could not get to bed again after that.

I caught up with the United-Liverpool match highlights before finally able to sleep again. But 2 hours later, I had to get up once more since I promised to drive Idlan to school.

It had been raining all morning and halfway there, we saw an accident on the opposite lane. That would mean that my drive back home would be a nightmare. And so it proven to be.

I cringed when I saw this ...I decided to spend the morning with the Internet at Starbucks near Idlan’s school. Hopefully traffic would ease off somewhat after the rush hour .... Anita would be at home since the cabinet contractor would start some work again this morning. Another 3 weeks, and everything should hopefully be sorted out ...

The State of The Smokehouse

This entry was drafted in Septeber 2016

2009, 2012, 2015 and now 2016. Those were the times we made the trips up Frasers Hill and stayed at Smokehouse. And over the years the place had suffered a steady decline.

Last December was the worse in terms of the facilities. At least now after some renovations were made, a few more rooms were opened and the place felt to buzzing again. But other things especially good had suffered.

Not only that you get less portion - a decline in quantity - the quality had also been really poor this time. I wasn't talking about breakfast, even the once-famous afternoon tea with scones - their flagship meal - had lost their shines.

Gone were the complimentary hot chocolate for nightcap in a small pot, where you enjoy a chat at the main common room in front of the TV or during the cold season, some fire. We only got a mug, and it wasn't fantastic.

It was a great shame since they had done a good job renovating the place. And looking at the stream of people coming over the couple of days, they shouldn't have much problem filling up the place especially during afternoon tea. If the scones continue to decline, they might just lose their business.

The rooms remains cosy and Parameswari, the housekeeper of almost 30 years was still there greeting us, remembered us from our previous stay. The nights were still cool and the beds were still warm. The hot shower in the morning still reminded me of my student days in England. The common room was still inviting and terraces and the dining tables were still inviting. The charm were still there but the glow was missing.

Such a beautiful establishment deserved a better group of people running them ...

Temporary Quarters

We had gotten used to the current arrangements and with the lights up at the main hall, we could at least see what was going on. And even with limited amount of lights, we could see what the decorator had in mind as far as the lights were concerned. The main hall was certainly transformed.

In fact, the lighting was much brighter than I expected.

Once the halls and rooms were done, Anita told me it would be the kitchen, store and the maid's room. I was sure the maid would be happy. The store would also be transformed into an ironing room. The curtains were still down though, so privacy was still a tad of a problem.

For that, we would have to keep the lights low ....