Back to KL

It was a smooth drive home. We set off just after noon after the boys had their late breakfast. No drama on the way down and it took me around 90 minutes to reach Gombak.

We were starving when we finally reached KL. We went straight to Sakura Kristal and had our late lunch. Tired, heading home next toned it all the photos and videos.

Checking In

The drive up was more arduous than I remembered. Maybe because of the new MPV. The Starex was bigger than our old Estima, with a higher centre of gravity. That made turning around the winding route bumpier, ending up with Irfan vomiting as soon as we reached the Smokehouse.

It then started raining heavily while we were enjoying our scones. But the rain did not last long. After half an hour, the clouds had cleared out allowing me to take the drone out at a nearby car park. A few passes by the Smokehouse and I was done. It was pretty windy and I was worried that it might damage my drone.

Idlan unpacking his stuffA welcoming sightWe had the same room as we did last December, what they called the honeymoon suite on the first floor. Unfortunately, the ground floor suite was not available for my parents-in-law. They stayed at the room right opposite ours. So, basically, we got the whole front facade of the Smokehouse to us.

Time to sit downPlenty of cars outsideTime to explore the placeThe wifi and internet remained a problem, and the connection I got was sporadic. But during the times which I got the connection - mainly via Maxis - they could be really fast .... almost LTE speed. But they were not consistent. The boys would be grumpy ....

The Toys are Packed

After much deliberation, I finally yielded and we would be spending Hari Raya away from town. My father-in-law was keen to get away and we decided to spend a couple of nights up at Fraser's Hill.

The room was booked only a couple of days back and we would be traveling after I was done with my morning rounds and hand over my cases.

For the trip, I decided to bring along the Phantom 4 - the first time it would be travelling with me. All charges up and ready to go! On the photography front, it would be the Leica Q and the A7R2 with a couple of lenses. Adios!

Malam Raya

There won't be real Raya without family and of course some fireworks.

We had our fix at my parents place at Bukit Antarabangsa, with both Idlan and Irfan joining Julia's children. They were timid at the beginning with all the fire, but towards the end, they were really into it. It was quite a job prising them away.

We had to return the next evening for more fireworks in the end .....

Raya at Syahril's

It just wouldn't be Raya without hooking up with Syahril. They had moved since they had their baby and now living at a different part of Bangi. That also meant that we were able to wander around at his place a bit more casually as he used to stay at their parent's.

We went there on the second day of Raya since Anita wanted to have Yatt's laksa Johor. It did not disappoint. Of course there was also soda sirap bandung which was a hit. And I thought by the end I drank too much. Then came the movies and a chill out at his garden while waiting for sunset. Idlan got himself occupied chasing insects.

We spent a couple of hours there before getting back to settle at our apartment as we just moved back after Raya earlier in the afternoon. We had to do some groceries as well.