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 ......

Some sort of normalcy

Things have quietened down a fair bit since the event of the weekend. Anita's back pain has much improved but she will still need plenty of rest, something she was not accustomed of doing. Idlan was bow completing his third day of assessment and Irfan was practicing for the coming school Sports Day, as a dancer for his house ....

As you can tell, things were settling down back to some sort of normalcy. As for me, I was feeling awfully tired and has since devices a plan for the rest of today. I shall sneak home just before five to make sure I won't get stuck in traffic. I will then have an early dinner and head to bed early.

I shall then wake up super early to catch the Champion's League match in the early hours. My beloved United will be playing mind you .....

The Casualty Visits

Anita woke up this morning with a very severe abdominal pain, worst than she had ever felt before. She was crying despite the usual concoction of paracetamol and brufen. Reluctantly, she agreed for me to take her to a Casualty and the nearest to out house was Gleneagles. We packed our bags and we were there 10 minutes later.

The Trauma officer did some Xray but thought it was nothing serious and suggested some analgesia and return the next day to see a Consultant if the pain got any worse. We went back and the pain just kept on coming. Anita can't sit still and she felt better if she was moving. And the griping pain was really excruciating. Finally she agreed for me to take her to UMMC.

UMMC on a Sunday afternoon can be busy but we were lucky that on that day, the place was not as packed. Parking was a bit more straight forward than I expected. After getting Anita settled in, she had her blood taken and a painkiller injection was given to her bum. Before long, she was in la-la land.

After a couple of hours, the results cane back. Her white blood count was raised and an ultrasound was ordered. It did not any stones buy she would need a more detailed scan to be sure. We decided to wait for a couple more hours to see if her pain return after the painkilling injection wore off.

The pain did return but it was more of a dull ache. And no, there was no way she would agree for an admission! In the end, we decided to have painkiller tablets and go home, promising to take plenty of fluids. She would rather be rushed to a clinic for a painkiller jan rather than stay the night in hospital.

She took an extra painkiller tablet before going to bed and slept like a baby! This morning she woke up with a headache and nausea, but only with a dull backache. I'm sure those were the effect of the painkiller he took. She would rather stay at home with her boys!