Too Hot to Swim

So, it was a busy call last night and I only managed to get back to sleep at 1, falling asleep soon after. And that was before my boys hit their bed. They were at the apartment to keep me company, and they only went to sleep after Puan Anita shouted at them. I was too tires to do that. The boys had been turning the living room into a cinema, complete with dimmed lights and all, some chips instead of popcorns. A right mess.

They were all excited to the wee hours of the morning. They were snoring away when I went off to start my post call rounds.

The rounds this morning went on smoothly, with a busy clinic following right after. So, after lunch, it was time to put my feet up, at the front of the pool during the boys' swimming lesson. It was far too sunny however and I couldn't lie on the deckchair for too long. Not sure how the children coped.

Extended Weekend

I suspect most of Idlan's swimming buddies were taking time off this weekend with the extended break, leaving both Idlan and Irfan to have personal time with their swimming coach. Idlan had certainly improved a lot. Now he was able to float properly. I was sure within the coming months, he would be much better than I would.

I was worried that it would be raining. Instead, the clods parted bathing us with glorious sunshine, prompting Anita to frantically apply sunscreen on her two boys. She was worried that they would develop a tan maybe! Wait until they taken up golfing ......

So, what would I do with the extra day off on Monday? Very likely I would be doing some blogging. I have a couple of lectures to prepare in the coming weeks. One was already done. The other would need at least 6 hours of effort. That would have to wait until tomorrow. Today, I would be taking my kids to Plaza Damas next. Catch an early dinner and spend the evening at the apartment.

Denied

The boys were down since the weather was not very nice earlier this afternoon. They were not able to jump into the pool. Denied!

Instead, they decided to clean up their swimming gear. The floaters and goggles were laid out to dry, and the swimming costumes sent to the wash. Not a bad idea. They would be having lessons tomorrow at the club, so hopefully the weather would be kinder ......

To the Apartment

As planned, we relocated to the apartment for the weekend. But the departure was delayed since we were expecting visitors at my Mother-in-laws. They never turned up. So, it was almost time for the swimming pool when we finally got round to Bangsar. And with the thick cloud, sunburn was not a risk.

Swimming pool it was then, although I decided splashing in since I was expecting calls from the hospital.

The pool at the apartment was actually rather nice. It has three compartments, for toddlers, young children and a 1.5m 50 metre pool form the adults, long enough to swim lanes. Mainly filled with kwai lows and their children, and we couldn't helped but felt being stared upon when we arrived. They might thought that we escaped in.

The boys were in the pool for the best part of an hour, while we surfed the net on the decks - free WiFi here form the residence. Usually there was a cafe opened near the pool and gym, but it was closed today being a public holiday. That also meant that we had to go out tonight to get some food for dinner. I don't think that Anita was in the mood to cook yet after the move. We would be staying until Monday. The boys would be skipping school tomorrow, for an extended weekend.

Thistle Negatives

Well, I have to be balanced. There are a lot more could be done to improve Thistle. And as a patron, I deserved to voice them up.

My chief gripe was the lack of free broadband services. In 2013, it should be a crime for hotels not giving away free bandwidth to their paying customers. It is a basic necessity. I could understand if this was a budget outlet. We paid good money for the stay and we deserved that. To make matters worse, the rooms were not blessed with the best telco receptions, be it Celcom or DiGi. It was better at the pool - which even there was not equipped with WiFi.

At least there should be free service at the lobby.

Second was the toilet in the room. The shower door was pretty loose, and every time my boys had a shower, the place turned into one big bathtub. The floors were all wet.

TV channels were limited. There were more Singaporean channels than ASTRO. One movie channel. Only ESPN, so no Manchester United. And no channels for the kids! Blimey!

Last but not least, were the lighting. It was really dark at both the living area and bedroom. Since we bought Lego during our trip to Legoland, my boys tried to assemble some of the toys when they got back into the room. Forget it. The grumpy boys had to wait until the next morning. More lights please ......

This would need fixing my friends ......