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.

Gorgeous Lights

I have always wanted a place where the sunrise would hit into my bedroom. The advantage of that would be the sunset would be on the opposite side - not directly into my apartment - and the afternoon and early evening would be cooler.

And that was what I had. As an added bonus, I was also blessed by some gorgeous golden hour lights from my balcony looking towards the city. I could see the Mid Valley and the recently built Setia Eco Park as well. The shimmering late afternoon light really brought a shine to the place and I just couldn't help admiring the cityscape.

Sipping on some drinks after my afternoon clinic. Perfect!

Going Premium

I have been using “Day One” app since 2011. It had been great to put together my ideas and doing drafts of my blog entry. Over the years, the app developer - Bloom Built Inc - had expended with many features including photographs upload and syncing across platform.

An entry on my iPhone would instantaneously appear on my iPad and my computers. Six years on, the company behind it needed to pivot into a subscription model and I kinda understood their predicament.

When I use the app this much I felt that it was only right to contribute. So, I went premium. This only affected my iOS version as far as I could see but with the one payment, the subscription was upgraded to my iPad as well. I didn’t notice much change on the MacOS version thus far. The syncing still works fine and I hope by this new model, the app would expand in the future to offer more features ....