The Bike Shop

Mahmud or Bob was a schoolmate from almost 30 years back at MRSM Terendak. I used to catch a ride from him to KL those days, as well as hanging around at his house during holidays, spending hours playing computer games. Those were the days.

After SPM, he joined a flying school and now with AirAsia, captaining an Airbus A320. He married a Sabahan, and had settled in Kota Kinabalu for many years. His parents still lived in KL.

I tried to hook up with him on Saturday night, but he had to fly to Canton, returning in the early hours of Sunday morning. The only way we could meet would be if he we can have breakfast on Sunday morning before I catch my flight home. And that was what we did.

And on the way to the airport - which was only around 10 minutes from my hotel - we stopped at his bicycle shop. He only opened last months and some of his orders had yet to be delivered. All the fittings should be ready in a month or two. None the less, the place was impressive. And the bikes weren't cheap!

I don't think I can afford this ...

We spend about 15 minutes at the shop where I had a nice look around. In fact, I might just buy a bike or two from him. A particular hybrid bike caught my eyes. Maybe taking up cycling may not be a bad idea after all. There were a few of my friends organising weekly night ride in Bangsar. It was also a good way to get fit, and to do other things outside work.

Bubbly Birthday

On Saturday, we attended another birthday party. This time in Bangi, at my ex-roommate's Syahril's place. It was their third son, Arman's seventh birthday. The term was Flash, but unfortunately we failed in the costume department.

Bouncy castle in the house!A quick break in between runningSkills!Anita and the boys went there after having lunch with her friends, so I drove alone. When I reached there, Idlan and Irfan were already engrossed! They just couldn't get enough of them giant bubbles!

It looked like they enjoyed too much, even missing their cakes. I had time to catch up with friends, and the topic then was my trip - or rather non-trip - to climb Kinabalu. Anita vetoed it with no mercy!

Vitamins?Quick stop for ice creamThe cake is readyPiñata bashed without mercy!More snacks of course!The kids just couldn't get enough of their finger food. There was even an ice cream machine - dutifully operated by Syahril of course! The bubbles were definitely the big hit with everybody. By the time they were done, my boys' hair were covered with layers of soap. Shower time then ....

The Pool Party

Then on Sunday, one of Idlan's and Irfan's old classmate had a pool party for their daughter's birthday - who was born a day before Irfan. They asked if we would like to join, and we said of course!

Another friend baked a cake for us as well, so everything was pointing to a party. After ward round on Sunday, we drove to Kota Damansara for the party and stayed there the whole afternoon. Many of the boys old classmates were there and it was great fun.

The pool was too deep for Irfan - or at least that was his excuse - so decided against going into the pool. Idlan was jumping all around the place, and it was mayhem. The party was an excuse for me to try out the Alpha 7's ability with a zoom lens. and it was wicked! All together I must have snapped about 350 pics.

The weather was kind as well - overcast with some breeze before clearing up by early evening. So, it was not that hot and more importantly, there was no rain. The children had a blast in the pool first, before they cleaned themselves up for the cakes and a sing-song!

Irfan's cake was nice, but it tasted much better than it looked.

Idlan and his friends from kindyDespite not hosting a party this year, I could see that Irfan was right happy. This year, we planned to do Idlan in May. It would be before Ramadan, but we were still undecided about the venue. That would give us another couple of months to come up with the idea .....

So, all together, great party, great company and the boys had a smashing time ...

Lazy Afternoon

In keeping with the spirit of Raya, I did the whole gambit this afternoon, heading out to one of my friend's open house, had a nice lunch and spent the afternoon on his couch snoozing away while my boys were running around the house, and Anita chatting away with her friends.

I must have dozed off for a good hour, before being woken up by Irfan. The drizzling rain did not help matters. It was a drag to get the boys to get back home as they were enjoying their afternoon so much. We headed straight to KLCC from the house as all three of us needed a haircut and we then settled for dinner before a quick walk around at the mall.

The mall was packed this afternoon with both the locals and foreigners. No space in the lifts as they were filled with strollers. The boys got themselves some toys - with Irfan getting a Furby Boom! I already did my fair share of shopping in the last few days, so enough spending for me.

Tomorrow would be some packing and trips to the bank and other formal errands. I also could do with a jog early tomorrow morning. Need to lose some of them calories ....

Expresso at ExpressoLab

After our return from Lumut, we caught up again with Dina and her family plus other friend to celebrate her birthday. It seemed that she was fond of Great Eastern Mall as again she came all the way across town, similar to when she had the party for Moez's birthday.

The venue for the afternoon meetup was a cafe on the first floor of the mall, called ExpressoLab. Yes, they did serve expresso there. But I don't take strong stuff in the afternoon, so it was iced mocha for me instead.

They also serve light snack and lunch. Limited number of items but they served them well. Anita was well impressed with her toasted sandwiches and my pasta was quite nice too. Or maybe because we were hungry at the time.

Nice ambiance and the price was very reasonable. Away from the at times snobbish Alexis crowd. Well worth a stop.