Family Dinner

As usual, when it came to birthday dinner, I would have to split my outings into 2. Sharing my birthday with my father-in-law meant that one of the celebration had to be a joint one. This time around, we had some Japanese food at a hotel. And Idlan certainly ate a lot more than we expected.

The last time I had a meal at Komura restaurant at Corus Hotel must have been more than 15 years ago. Their specialty was teppanyaki but that was not my favourite Japanese cooking. We ordered some bento from the menu instead and yes, though some of the items looked expensive, some of the selections were reasonable and the sashimi were certainly fresh.

Getting there was a pain though ...The only drawback was for a table of 6, we did not have a choice but to use one of the traditional Japanese tables where you sit on the floor with the table forming an island. It was tricky for my father-in-law to manoeuvre in and out.

But the food was fine and Idlan was telling his grandfather the tales of his trip to Bintan. He just couldn't stop talking. Maybe I would try the bento selection the next time I come here ...

The Preparations

When Anita got her mind set for something, she would obsessively pursue it. And the family open house the other was no exception. She was planning it for some time and got all the logistics organised well ahead.

For her part, she cooked her famous soto. She ordered a few items from her Instagram contacts as well as getting one of her friends to bake the cake for us.

Her Mum helped with the decorating and she got one of our maid's friend to stay over as well.

Certainly all her effort came into fruition as things started to fall into place. Luckily since our apartment was recently renovated and one of the leaked bathroom had been fixed. A few days before, she went to Sungai Buloh with her friend to get some fresh flower pots for the balcony. Therefore decorations was rather straight-forward.

Open Apartment

Last Sunday, the day before my and my father-in-law's birthday, we hosted an open house at our apartment - hence the dubbed open apartment - inviting mainly Anita's cousins and my father-in-law's siblings. The turn out was better than expected. Mixed with that, we also had an impromptu cake-cutting and all the usual birthday stuff.

It was just beginningMy parents-in-lawOne of Anita's auntIt was an excellent day all around and some of our friends stayed until the evening. Food was curtesy of Anita's excellent soto as well as a few orders of biryani and "laksa Johor". Everyone was entertained, even our new driver - who was a pastry chef - chipped in with some desserts for good measures.

Most of our cousins only visited us for the first time, and many had not been here since the renovations last Christmas.

The four of us ....A close-upEven the baby was behaving ...Good time all around ...Everybody had a good time and Anita was the most pleased. She put plenty of effort for the afternoon, and her mother actually spent the evening with us. We also got the help from a friend of our maid as there were plenty to do during the event. But everything went well.

Idlan and Irfan though only made sporadic appearance, although one of their cousin joined them in Irfan's room playing with the PS4. That left us adults to chill out while enjoying the food. The main problem our visitors had was the security and parking arrangements. To make things easier, we stationed our driver at the visitor's car park to fetch them through the main lifts rather than them having to go through the visitor's route and the main entrances.

Peace!The day's entertainment ...Group photos with friends ...We were stuffed by the late afternoon, and the party was only halfway then. My father-in-law did not stay until late as he was getting tired from all that. He did however gave a speech after cutting the cake. Off came the story when I called Anita's home when we were both still in college. Hilarity ensued! But great day all around ...

A Day of Rest

I had a good night sleep last night, dozing off despite the TV blaring away. The 7 hour drive up to Kota Bharu certainly contributed. We set off just after noon and everything was moving swimmingly all the way to Gua Musang.

In fact it took us only 3 hours to get there. But the drive from then on was a completely different proposition. Kuala Kerai to KB took almost 3 hours. So many cars ... and too many roadworks. The initial estimate of getting to the hotel by 6 pm was certainly an optimistic one. But a 45 minutes delay was. To too bad.

The day then kicked off with a visit or two ...We soon got settled in, went for an early dinner with one of Anita’s Aunt joining us. Not long after, we were back to our room, hitting the shower and soon enough, I was already in the bed. But not after getting some family Raya photos from the morning sorted out.

Woke up this morning fresh, got the boys sorted out and we down for breakfast at the cafe. Unfortunately, the place was already packed, and we ended up in the smoking section.

Irfan had something to tell ...The rest of the day went by pretty swiftly. I went to the airport to pick up my father-in-law who caught the flight from KL in the morning. Then we went straight to one of my Anita’s Uncle’s place for lunch.

I spent the afternoon having a walk into town but it turned out to be a boring one.

Not much else happening in town ...Most of the markets were still closed and the shops were deserted. The malls were opened but it was nothing special. I turned back to the hotel empty handed, with only 10 shots on the camera. Next stop would be taking the boys for a swim at the hotel pool, before another family dinner later tonight. Hopefully another early night as I got a long day tomorrow.

Raya came Calling

It was not going to be the same compared to the previous year. Ba was no longer with us. We spent the evening before at my Mum’s place at Bukit Antarabangsa welcoming some neighbours dropping by for takbir after the Isya’ prayers.

I woke up early on the Raya morning, and it was raining heavily outside, cancelling my plans to visit Ba’s grave. The prayers came after that, also at Bukit Antarabangsa. Ba usually manned the Zakat desk. Since he was no longer around, the Imam was there in his place. I took some time talking to him and everybody mentioned that they missed Ba especially during Ramadan when Ba helped to manage some of the Surau events.

Prayers and then a short tahlil. We were off after that.

More food at Mum’s followed by the obligatory photos. I then set off to Gombak to join Anita’s parents before setting off for my long drive to Kota Bharu after noon.