Arriving at A Famosa

We arrived at A Famosa an hour earlier then the usual check in time, but a call to the manager sorted it out as we left Nilai at around 2.30. We arrived at the resort just after 3, and proceeded to check in.

The last time we stayed here, Irfan was just about a year-old, learning to walk. We rented one of the bungalow, with swimming pool attached of course. This time around, the bungalow were no longer for rent. Instead, we decided to go for a three-bedroom villa. The unit is located right on the opposite end of the resort. It seemed that this part of A Famosa was rather new and appeared self-contained. It had its own check-in counter and management, as well as food service. There was a restaurant - a barbecue place - where we checked-in. The breakfast in the morning was also located at the Water Park, rather than the main hotel area where we had our buffet breakfast on our last stay.

The pool was nice and cosy. It was chest deep, too deep for Idlan I was afraid.There was this nice little feature at the middle of the villa, lightening up the whole house.Compared to the last bungalow, the current suite was much smaller. The space in-between the units were also smaller - we could hear the splashing from the pool next door. But the good thing was, the pool area was separated by a high wall, for privacy. I still much preferred the old bungalow though. Not to mention that the old place was located right next to the restaurants, the main entrance and other attractions.

A nice little table at the dining area, overlooking the poolThere was also a nice little kitchenette, but no stove or microwave though. The boys enjoying breakfast the next morningThe pool was really nice and well-maintained though. It could do with a bit less chlorine. Our eyes were red by the time we were done with the pool. Although one should expect a bit of sore eyes if you spent a couple of hours in such pool. But a couple of hours of fun it was. We even ordered from room service for an afternoon tea in the pool. Yes, I did say in the pool. The tea in the pool was nice. But the tea was not so. The food was not great.

So, after we were done with the pool and shower, everyone decided to stay in rather than go out for dinner. Even the attraction of the "Cowboy Town" did not convince the children from going. So, Puan Anita and I ended up going out to take-away some dinner, and we dined in. My Dad was asleep well before 9, but the boys and their cousins were still up awake even at this hour ......

Wedding at Nilai

The first order of the day was to Nilai. My cousin, Shari, finally got hitched and we attended the reception there. We left as scheduled, at around 10.30 after my morning rounds, and reached the venue about an hour earlier, relatively early. After mingling around, and enjoying a splendid lunch - the food was actually very good - the happy couple arrived, in white. Quite rare these days to have Malay wedding with a white theme. But white it was.

Most of the family members from Penang made their way down here. My Dad was due to sit on the high table, but when the couple arrived, all hell broke lose, and Dad ended up having dinner at hour table instead. An hour after we finished eating. To accompany him, I went for seconds .....

After we were done with the food and met all the extended family members, it was time to go. As I mentioned, we would be spending the night at A Famosa, before driving further down to Muar tomorrow.

The Final Journey

While my Grandmother's jenazah was being prepared for burial, I took the opportunity to mingle around and catch the atmosphere through my camera.

Since I didn't want to appear too distracting, I used my iPhone instead and processed the captures into black and white for dramatic effect. The camera nearly ran out of juice as all together I took close to 150 snaps.

Now that I had the chance to look through the snaps, I decided to put in some narrative hole the memory was still fresh. I have therefore dedicated a whole page for the slideshow. I would put up choices of either to go through the pictures sequentially with some narration, or breeze through them randomly through a flash slideshow.

Most of the stuffs are up and running now. Just press here to get to the page, I called "Dadi's Final Journey". Enjoy.

Hollywood and Exit

Finally we reached the exit. But before we left, we stopped for tea at one of the cafe there with a big sign saying HALAL up front. Time for some sandwich. And proper meat!

While we were waiting, the park characters started to file in. Marilyn Monroe. Some Elvira-type character - which turned out to be a man in drag. And finally, KUNG FU PANDA!

We got to meet, or at least, I got to meet Kungfu Panda. Awesome!There were plenty of food hereAnd, the drag queen entered the scene.Of course I got my photos taken - with the panda not Marilyn as the queue was too long. We were also entertained by a Beach Boy type sing-a-long at one of the stage.

More shopsAnd, of course, the Walk of FameMore shopping and chilling. Before we knew it, the boys were already tired. We finally made our way to the taxi stand just before 5. Just enough time to avoid the evening traffic ......

Right outside, there was still time for more photos though. A nice day out indeed.

Madagascar

Madagascar turned out to be a sleeper hit. The stage was huge and from far away you can see the hull of a ship. Similar to the one in the famous movie.

Into the belly .....

They were all excitedLook at the size of that .....Time for a breatherBut Irfan wanted to get on with things ....There were a couple of rides here, and we took the softer - but relatively wetter - option. The ride took us into the belly of the ship using a vessel, complete with splashes and puppet show. The rocking soundtrack on the background of course and before you leave at the other end, your whole family would be singing - "I got to move it, move it!, MOVE IT!"

Catchy indeed. And then we had popcorns and soda before we made our way to Hollywood for more food and gifts ……