The Preparations

When Anita got her mind set for something, she would obsessively pursue it. And the family open house the other was no exception. She was planning it for some time and got all the logistics organised well ahead.

For her part, she cooked her famous soto. She ordered a few items from her Instagram contacts as well as getting one of her friends to bake the cake for us.

Her Mum helped with the decorating and she got one of our maid's friend to stay over as well.

Certainly all her effort came into fruition as things started to fall into place. Luckily since our apartment was recently renovated and one of the leaked bathroom had been fixed. A few days before, she went to Sungai Buloh with her friend to get some fresh flower pots for the balcony. Therefore decorations was rather straight-forward.

Open Apartment

Last Sunday, the day before my and my father-in-law's birthday, we hosted an open house at our apartment - hence the dubbed open apartment - inviting mainly Anita's cousins and my father-in-law's siblings. The turn out was better than expected. Mixed with that, we also had an impromptu cake-cutting and all the usual birthday stuff.

It was just beginningMy parents-in-lawOne of Anita's auntIt was an excellent day all around and some of our friends stayed until the evening. Food was curtesy of Anita's excellent soto as well as a few orders of biryani and "laksa Johor". Everyone was entertained, even our new driver - who was a pastry chef - chipped in with some desserts for good measures.

Most of our cousins only visited us for the first time, and many had not been here since the renovations last Christmas.

The four of us ....A close-upEven the baby was behaving ...Good time all around ...Everybody had a good time and Anita was the most pleased. She put plenty of effort for the afternoon, and her mother actually spent the evening with us. We also got the help from a friend of our maid as there were plenty to do during the event. But everything went well.

Idlan and Irfan though only made sporadic appearance, although one of their cousin joined them in Irfan's room playing with the PS4. That left us adults to chill out while enjoying the food. The main problem our visitors had was the security and parking arrangements. To make things easier, we stationed our driver at the visitor's car park to fetch them through the main lifts rather than them having to go through the visitor's route and the main entrances.

Peace!The day's entertainment ...Group photos with friends ...We were stuffed by the late afternoon, and the party was only halfway then. My father-in-law did not stay until late as he was getting tired from all that. He did however gave a speech after cutting the cake. Off came the story when I called Anita's home when we were both still in college. Hilarity ensued! But great day all around ...

Raya at Syahril's

It just wouldn't be Raya without hooking up with Syahril. They had moved since they had their baby and now living at a different part of Bangi. That also meant that we were able to wander around at his place a bit more casually as he used to stay at their parent's.

We went there on the second day of Raya since Anita wanted to have Yatt's laksa Johor. It did not disappoint. Of course there was also soda sirap bandung which was a hit. And I thought by the end I drank too much. Then came the movies and a chill out at his garden while waiting for sunset. Idlan got himself occupied chasing insects.

We spent a couple of hours there before getting back to settle at our apartment as we just moved back after Raya earlier in the afternoon. We had to do some groceries as well.

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 ....

Haze in an Empty City

https://www.flickr.com/photos/harisrahman/14587052618/

The City dwellers were still away. Might as well as overnight, the air quality plummeted. Visibility was down to less than 200m despite the City being almost devoid of its usual traffic.

Not a good idea for outdoor activities. At least that was what I told myself when I got up this morning and was too lazy to have my morning jog.

Now praying that it would rain, washing the haze particles away ....