The Flowers

The next part of the farm, by the exit went through some gorgeous garden. Anita spent the most amount of time here while the children was sitting down, with me being the designated photographer.
The flowers were fresh and the air was a tonic from the haze we were having in town in the past few weeks. I ended up sitting at one of the benches and if it was not for the children yearning for ice cream, I would have sat there for another hour. It was Sunday afternoon after all.

Surprisingly the place was not as crowded as I was feared and we had some time to kill. Again, the place was really clean and the staff were really friendly. Very well-maintained and would definitely be recommending it to friends.

After around half an hour of taking photos, it was time to go. It was a shame that I did not bring my macro lens. It would have been a nice opportunity to try it out with the new A7R mark II. Well, I had to cope with just the Summicron-M 50. It did the job nicely although the bokeh was rather harsh …

School's Off

My boys had been celebrating since the announcement were made around lunchtime that school would be closed both tomorrow and Tuesday. It looked like their weekend was extended to 4 four days courtesy of the haze.

It was pretty bad when I drove for my morning rounds at around 9, but it had brightened up considerably even since. In fact, Anita and I went out for dinner at the stalls earlier and it appeared to have improved a lot.

I felt sorry for the Ministry since as soon as they announced the school closure, the haze tended to improve. Last Sunday, it rained almost straight after the announcement. At the current rate, we might have bright blue sky tomorrow ....

Qurban 2015

This year, it was with my parents at Bukit Antarabangsa. The local surau had 11 cows and the ceremony had to start early for fear of dragging on till late. two of the cows were huge - one donated by the local singer who happened to live my Mum's area. That took some doing!
The weather was nice, and the haze were almost completely gone with no rain in sight. A perfect weather for Qurban.

It started at around 10, and when I left at around noon with Irfan especially making noise, our Qurban was due next. There were plenty of helpers around and it was a big occasion for the folks in the area, with my Dad being one of the organiser.

They took the security arrangements seriously with the area for the Qurban cordoned off, and the children were put on one side. The event went on orderly although there was a slight delay. Once the Qurban was downed, the meat were taken to designated area for futher cutting and later distribution. Some of the meat were also cooked at the Surau for a feast later in the day while some were distributed to the needy!

Judging from the size of the cows, this years Qurban was a lot better compared to few years back where the meat were too lean and skinny. This year, each portion of Qurban - 7 per cow - weighed in at 5kg.

I just wished that I could hang around a bit more, but the combination of the hot weather, the delay and the crowd put my boys off! They should toughen up for next year ….

Aidil Adha 2015

Unless in Kelantan, the Aidil Adha tended to be a low-key affair. It certainly looking that way this year until a few of our friends and relatives decided to come visit. So, Anita hit the kitchen on the double.

And it turned out to be a nice day, with some of the time I spent at my parents where our Qurban was held. Bringing the boys with me allowed Anita to get on with the cooking. She prepared both soto ayam and speghetti which were hits!

Spent the rest of the day just sitting around before another drive to my Mum's later that afternoon to pick up the Qurban meat.

We decided to head back to the apartment later that evening rather than spend another night. Usually our mornings tended to drag on till the afternoon and before we knew it, the day was gone. It was the right idea to head back early to get on with the rest of the week. A weekend where I decided to take things easy and just generally chill ....

Mum's Birthday

My Mum turned 67 today. She had been blessed with good health the past year after her heart issues from 2013. She was keeping active with friends and all and in the last had done some traveling as well.

So, my Sister and I brought her out to lunch, taking the whole clan along. The revolving restaurant was the one on top of the KL Tower, called Atmosphere 360. It was a great occasion although the thick haze and poor visibility took away the gloss off the venue somewhat.

The place had changed since we last been there. The menu seemed different and the place had undergone some make-over since. After dinner, we had a quick look at the observation tower - but again, there was not much to observe due to the haze!

Next we stopped at the aquarium and a mini zoo at the bottom of the tower. A real day out for the kids, Mum was happy that everybody was there.