will i am's delayed diary

Our second day in Egypt started bright and early with breakfast at 6 AM. Pretty standard fare, with the exception of some local stuff like falafel. By 7:15 AM, we were out to mass at the Convent of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth. The building was unmarked, with high walls, located beside a canal underneath an elevated highway. The entrance was dominated by excavators laying huge water pipes. Several Italian sisters welcomed us into the compound. A different group from India ( also were staying at Movenpick ) had the earlier slot, so we had to wait for them to finish. Mass was celebrated in the chapel, just enough for the forty of us. It was small, but the acoustics were great. No local tour is completed without visiting some kind of factory for some tourist trap shopping. Hany brought us to Golden Eagle Crystal, a government-owned outlet for a 'crash course' on fragrances. We were ushered into a small room filled with pretty glass vials. Our salesman also s...

Way back in July 2018, mum and I decided to join a pilgrimage to the Holy Land scheduled for April/May 2019. Since then, I had constantly ignored the trip until the departure date arrived. Opps. Didn't start packing until a few days before. Sis and Little Monster sent us to the airport. The check-in at the Emirates counter was a breeze. The whole group gathered at 10 PM for the pre-pilgrimage briefing. Our flight out to Dubai was at 1:25 AM, so we had hours to kill. It was my first time on Emirates and also my maiden flight on the A380. Leg room was decent on economy class and the entertainment console was good. Didn't feel much turbulence at all. No complaints about the food and service ( no cute steward :( ). The only bad thing was that mum's tray table kept falling down. Watched "Mortal Engines"  which truly was an underwhelming affair. Arrived in Dubai International Airport at about 5 AM. DBX's reputation as the biggest transit airport also means...

Unexpected things always crop up at work. Just a few days before my pilgrimage, I suddenly needed to fly to Penang for a meeting with our technology partner. Took the evening Malindo flight there. Realized that is my first time flying out of KLIA2's domestic terminal. Another horribly designed super long terminal. Malindo's plane was clean and had decent leg space. Upon arrival at Penang International Airport, I took a GRAB to Vistana Hotel Bukit Jambul. Lucky to have been given a Club room, but I only had one night to enjoy the suite. Discovered that hotel guests needed to pay MYR2 to the Penang government now. The executive lounge had closed so I walked out to find dinner. Did not feel like having Original Kayu Nasi Kandar, so I walked a little further to Kompleks Bukit Jambul where I had roast duck noodles at H.K. Gourmet Kitchen . All of their pork had sold out by 8 PM, so they must be really popular. The roast duck was good, but its weird that they provide a dried ch...

Babysitting duty continued on Saturday. Fed the kids a big breakfast of nasi lemak and mango sticky rice. Later at noon sent Big Monster to his Saturday class at Sri Petaling. Normally we would loiter at a cafe for one and a half hours. Went to 5.1 Coffee Gallery , a cafe on the second floor, with a wood theme. Interesting choice of design, but horribly uncomfortable furniture. Little Monster promised me that he would do a few pages of his mathematics workbook, but changed his mind. When my order of Bacon Shashuka came, his eyes brightened. Managed to bribe him with food in exchange for one and half pages of mathematics. Wouldn't do a page more. In the evening, we left the kids with an alternate babysitter ( my sister's friend ) and we headed off to church for Easter Vigil Mass. Due to Hospitality Ministry duty, I didn't witness the lighting of the Paschal Candle outside the church. Spent three hours on my feet manning the doors. This year, KH made a surprise ap...