A Perfect Place to Blog

The hotel was not blessed with wifi, but it more than made it up with the isolation and cosiness. And I have converted the mall sitting room into my blog space, with a nice view to boot overlooking a couple of windows on two sides.

I could imagine doing a manuscript uninterrupted in this kind of setting. It could do with a small heater when it was cold at night though ... but as it was, it was perfect!

And now for the small matter of waking up the boys for breakfast. I wished that I could spent all morning in here just writing and reading ....

Arriving at Smokehouse

Some things were never meant to change. And the welcoming air at Smoke House was certainly one of them. This would be third time we stayed here, since 2009. My children still remember the place fondly.

We had the choice of either going to Singapore or coming here. The weak ringgit made the decision easy for us, and we spent less here at Fraser's Hill compared to Singapore and was able to bring Anita's parents along for the ride.

The staffs were all new compared to our last stay in 2012. So was the chef as the menu was slightly different - no, there was no return of the pastry chef from 2009 with the gorgeous croissant. The scones were still good though ....

We had our afternoon tea after we arrived and checked-in. We booked a couple of rooms. Since there was only a single family room available, which was located on the ground floor, we had to let our parents stay there. we were there in 2012, and we remembered the extra bed, plus a separate sitting area and a large toilet - although cold.

For us, we went for the Honeymoon Suite. But with an extra bed for me unfortunately .... which was located on the first floor. The hotel was undergoing some renovation at the time and not all the rooms were opened. And to be honest, there were not that many visitors despite this being December which was supposed to be the peak month. The economy was clearly bad ....

Updated

After we decided to call the afternoon trip earlier, I spent the the rest of the afternoon updating my blog. Plenty of the entries from the Fraser's Hill trip were still not uploaded since the photographs took a bit of time to edit. They had been ready for the last few weeks but I didn't have time to update them. they were now finally up.

I then collated the entries into a stream of links. Next would be to put together the Ramadhan entries into one coherent link group. I may do that later tonight while waiting for United to kick off the new season. That would be 3 am though, and I was not sure if I could stay awake until then. I may have to set the alarm up then ....

Good luck to me :)

Idlan and Miniature Golf

My father-in-law was an avid golfer back in his heydays. In fact, all senior government servants were golfers. Maybe it was built into their job description. He would spend weekends away on retreats with fellow senior officers at resorts, and my mother-in-law was furious at times. Unfortunately, after his heart bypass in 2004, he had hardly pulled out the driver.

Tips from the ProBogey!One more tryTaking a breatherIrfan also had a goDuring our trip to Frasers Hill last months, we spent a couple of afternoons after lunch playing a quick miniature golf, and on the second afternoon, my father-in-law actually Syed with Idlan. It was a great sight. My boys actually understood golf, from TV and video games and certainly they understood what putting was all about, making teaching them a breeze. It was hardly the real thing but Idlan had fun with his grandfather, which waste main thing.

The training went on until tea timeFollowed by a runAnd a swing!I was sure Idlan would inherit his golf set still ending dusting down. More on the Fraser's Hill stay here.

Scott's Restaurant, Frasers Hill

The owner of Smokehouse at Frasers Hill has a couple of children, Ashley and Scott. Those name appeared all of the place at the hotel and the sister restaurant of the chain at Frasers Hill town is called Scott. It was run by a former Assistant Manager at the hotel, a Myanmar gentleman called Henry. He served us at the hotel the last time we were in Frasers Hill. So, on the Sunday lunchtime, we went into town looking for him.

Bad timing though, as it was a busy afternoon. It was opened at noon and when we reached there, about ten minutes after opening, the place was already full. We ended up waiting for more than an hour for our order. Real bad timing.

The food was pretty standard as far as Smokehouse was concerned. they also serve at noon scones, but we were far too early far that. we spent the time waiting for food exploring the restaurant. It was decorated to the English Tudor style, which was the theme of the Smokehouse as well.

The restaurant was situated right smack in the middle of town, next to Puncak Inn. Upon reaching the town from The Gap, take the first left turn when you reach the famous clock tower roundabout. The restaurant should be on your left just past Puncak Inn, right opposite the public toilet. You can't miss it.

More on the Fraser's Hill stay here.