Cuti Raya Day+2

The second was more subdued compared to the feast of yesterday. None the less, it was food, food and more food. We had a couple of visitors today, and we did go to visit some friends, but on the whole it was more of a relaxing day.

Come the evening, we went for a movie - more about that later. Irfan especially spent most of the day eating. Idlan was still up at 2 in the morning when I was penning this entry. He was still buzzing about the movie earlier.

Will blog later tomorrow and would also be posting more photos from Hari Raya, plus another open house tomorrow. Good Morning.

Long Sunday

It certainly had been a long day. After sending my Mum to the airport, I went straight for the morning ward round, having breakfast after that before returning to the ward to check on some results.

Next order of business was to join Anita and the boys at Kidzania. Sunday. Not a good day for such activity even when the boys were already queuing for their tickets before 10 in the morning. That tool is well after lunch, and finally the boys relented to go home.

We had some take-outs at The Curve, and then went to the apartment as our maid had been there all morning cleaning the place. I would be spending a couple of nights there as Anita and the boys would be going to limit next week during their school break. Unfortunately I had a couple of calls to so and had to be left behind.

Tired from being up since 3 in the morning, I had a long afternoon nap at the apartment while the boys played around. They were too tired for the pools however and spent the time watching TV. And that was fine with Anita.

I had a matter to attend in the ward when I finally woke up and by the time I was done at Subang, it was already 8 pm. A quick dinner and then football. I was dozing off during the match. United managed to restore their 15 points gap while City was at Wembley playing Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-final. It could have easily been us playing City If not for the complacency against Chelsea in the earlier round ...

So, I need to catch up on some rest before doing my clinic in ParkCity tomorrow morning. Good night!

The Smokehouse, Frasers Hill

One of the main problem we had with Smokehouse, was the amount of time we actually spent at the hotel. Not enough. We ventured into town too much while we should have just relax there, sipping tea, waiting for dinner in such splendid surrounding ......

We only realised that on the morning we packed up and about to leave. Even my Mum-in-law said the same. I was sure that the boys wouldn't mind as well, but unfortunately, my Dad-in-law has a hospital appointment the next morning. Plus the small matter of traveling up to Penang as well.

Irfan just couldn't stop fretting aboutThe hotel is about 15 minutes walk from town if you're keen. It certainly was far enough from the town to be secluded. Secluded enough that I did not have cellular signal. But luckily, the Internet at the lobby was pretty fast.

The hotel itself was not terribly huge. We stayed at Charles, the main family room, complete with bunk beds and a small lounge in the room. Nice cosy decorations, with a decent-sized bathroom. And the best thing was, it was the only room on the ground floor in the main building, right next to the restaurant. On the last morning, when the boys woke up late, we went for breakfast leaving them in the room .....

My in-laws stayed at Ashley, located at an annex building, behind the main hotel. One had to walk through a small covered corridor to get to the dining area. A couple of years ago, we stayed at the same annex when the room there had a bunk bed.

Since our last stay, the place had undergone some internal redecorations, although the theme was still the same. They had new carpeting, a change of manager, but the structure is still pretty much similar. Unfortunately, the pastry chef has since left. So, no more fresh croissant in the morning. On the first evening, I ordered a chicken pie, and was disappointed that it was not as creamy as the last time. The breakfast was also a notch lower than before. The manager said that the chef was still the same since our last stay. Shame that the quality of the cooking had gone down. The still have the same gorgeous afternoon scones though.

We would definitely be turning again in the future, although we would probably spent more time at the hotel rather than venturing too much into town. One of the problem was food. The hotel serves mainly western food. We probably had enough of the food after a couple of days. A quick drive into town should solve that problem with a good selection at the newly-built food center, near where the miniature golf was located. More information on the Smokehouse can be found here. More on the Fraser's Hill stay here.

Holiday Monday

Nope! It had nothing to do with Datuk Lee Chong Wei's exploit in the Olympics yesterday. It was Nuzul Quran. And this was the first time I had this holiday as in my last job in UMMC, I was working in Kuala Lumpur. Selangor - as well as Perlis, Penang, Perak, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang - had the day off.

The plan for me today? Babysitting. As Anita would be going out with my Sister and Mum again for their Raya shopping. I would be with the boys at the apartment after my morning rounds. Just praying that I did not have to go to the hospital during this period as Anita would have to rush back home …..

Hmm! And it looked rather hazy out there as I peered through the window in my study before heading for my morning shower …..

The Spice Shop

Every time we land in Kepala Batas, my Mum would go to this shop without fail. Apparently, this spice shop had been handed down a couple of generations and they now have a shop, being previously selling their wars from home. 

It was more of a one-stop place where all the ingredients were available, including the recipe should you wish for. They were available as printouts. You can get all the materials, from onions, ghee, ginger etc. you name it, hey got it. 

Anita asking for his latest mixAfter sussing out the quantity, he would then start the mixingHis brother would then make sure all we perfectly mixed upAnita started coming here since last year after tasting my Mum's curry. And every time my Mum went back to Kepala Batas she would order some spices. And now, Anita was buying them for her friends as well. 

This is the way!

According to the owner of the shop, they had started supplying their spices to restaurants around KL for the last few years. What you do when you get to the shop was to tell him what you were planning to cook, and he would mix the spices up to your taste. These were all freshly grounded, and the Biryani mix was my particular favorite.