Overnight at Equatorial

Located right at the top of Bukit Jambul, I heard of the hotel before, but never actually stayed there. Looked like one of those classic 80s hotels, it was much classier than I thought. And a lot bigger.

The hotel had a unique design. It was four wings spreading from a central roofed hollow area creating an atrium feel, nine story high. My room was at the end of one of the winged corridor, a nice little suite which I shared with my Mum. My Dad was planned to come along but decided against traveling at the last minute since he had a cold. I ordered an extra bed, sleeping at the living area.

The inner layout of the hotel was pretty unit, with a central hollow design.Looking down onto the main lobbyI could see the second bridge from the room's balconyAll we did there was sleep and had shower, plus the breakfast the next morning. I did not have the chance to sample any of the facilities, or room services.

The room was nice and comfortable. It felt new, which I was sure due to a recent upgrade. It had a balcony, which was not cleaned. It had no seating - which I thought could have been made into a feature. It came with free broadband - which I did not bother to sample as the LTE signal was pretty good in the room.

The room with my extra bed at the living area

It had all the sports and movie channels, plus 24 hour room service should you need some food. The gym and pool was located on the ground floor, and the hotel had a total of seven restaurant, including the famous Kampachi Japanese restaurant.

The breakfast the next morning was not included for standard room, which was part of the reason that I went for the suite. It was a pretty standard fare. Could have been better.

Would definitely call in again should I need a room near the airport area. Otherwise, Eastern and Oriental would still be our favourite ....

Another Jump

We returned to Jump Street near Jaya One, on Malaysia Day. A post-call day for me, so I wasn't really geared up to jump. Good thing that we went with our buddies with a total of 6 children. They more or less looked after themselves.

I was late to arrive - Anita went straight to the place from Gombak - and before I arrives, Anita called me to say that Irfan twisted his ankle. As usual, when there was trouble, he would be looking for Daddy.

Sorting out the teamEnough time to chill out ....And he's out ...Waiting to get back inI spent the next couple of hours carrying him around. To be fair, his ankle had started to swell by then. He would be extra manna for the rest of the week I was sure.

We ended the session by a late lunch at Raju's, with me carrying Irfan around throughout. I must have more calories during that afternoon than the rest of the year!

Back in againDanial, Syahril's eldestIs that the opposition?His ankle looked much better this morning and last night, he was able to walk a bit more. Still manja though.

Up and Down

It was a hectic couple of days of driving. After sorting out my ward on Thursday, I drove up to Penang for my Aunt's send off. Straight to the airport as she had already embarked from her home, spending a night at the Tabung Haji Hotel in Bayan Lepas. That certainly cut down on her travel time as traveling after office hours from Sungai Petani could be a nightmare.

I arrived at around 5 pm, joining my Mum at the hotel. Next came my turn to find a place to stay for that night. It wasn't that hard since there were a fair few hotels near the airport. A quick net search got me a decent deal at Equatorial, about 15 minutes drive away.

I then took my Mum to the hotel for her to catch a rest as she had been with my Aunt for the past couple of weeks, helping her out with her packing and sorting out her house in Sungai Petani. She went to sleep until Maghrib, she was that tired.

Then we joined my Aunt and Uncle again at the TH Hotel while waiting for another Aunt and her family to come visit. Tabung Haji had prepared seating areas for families to say their goodbyes, complete with shades and fans, as well as stalls to buy food. Very comfortable, not like the old days .... more on that on another entry reminiscing on the time when I sent off my late Grandfather in the early 80s.

Pak Teh

That took us to around 10 pm. It was then that the real crowd built up. The car park was almost full and the resting area was filled to the brim. My Uncle asked if I could take him for dinner. Apparently about 20 years ago, he came across a seafood restaurant near Batu Maung, not far from Bayan Lepas.

The challenge was to get to the place place had changed a lot in the last few years. Luckily we saw a sign heading into Batu Maung town, pointing the way to Kampung Teluk Tempoyak.

The restaurant was about to close but when they saw my Uncle's Hajj tag, the owner quickly asked if we wanted anything. He then cooked some fresh ikan bakar and crab for us. It was the bomb!

It was almost midnight when we finally settled back into the hotels. Mum again hit the deck soon after. It was going to be another long day tomorrow ...

Another Birthday Do

On the evening of her birthday, Anita had another treat. So, in the end she had three dinners. This time around, it was with her parents and brother. Her Mum wanted a Chinese dinner, so we went to Ming Palace at Corus Hotel.

Nice place of course, but the food was a far cry from Lala Chong in terms of freshness and cooking. And the price, that was a different matter completely. Thank God I did not have to foot the bill!

Idlan putting his points acrossWhich Irfan found hilarious Let's drink up ...The cake came next None the less, we enjoyed the dinner. It was topped up with another cake after the dessert. That can't be healthy.

Just in Case

I better not make fun of Idlan's brand new football boot. You never know that he might be just the talent Malaysia had been looking for all these years and would one day sign with Manchester United.

I would then be ridiculed for laughing at his tiny boots ....

But judging from his performance during kick-abouts, I got nothing to fear ....

He may got swag .... but at football .....