Milo’s scan at the end of last week showed some areas of concern, so it was back to the vets for a biopsy, which confirmed the reoccurrence of Mott cells. The lymphoma is sadly back, and so we’ve restarted chemotherapy with CHOP protocol again.
We’d maybe got to a point where we were holding out hope that he’d stay well. But that isn’t in the nature of the disease.
On the other hand he had no external signs of trouble, so the scans have let us catch things before he got unwell.
So… it’s back to weekly vet visits after what seems like a huge (and much appreciated break), and crossing fingers that the neutrophils aren’t too low.
Emotionally things are a lot less difficult this time. This wasn’t unexpected. We know what happens next. Our local vets are up to speed already. Of course there’s still sadness, but we can cross our fingers and hope for some more fun months with him, which might just turn to years if we’re really lucky.
Past parts:
Filed under: MiloCancerDiary | 1 Comment
Tags: biopsy, cancer, chemotherapy, CHOP, Milo, Miniature Dachshund, Mott cell, scan
October 2023
Pupdate
The first half of October continued the fine weather we enjoyed through September, so there were more chances for long walks through the local fields and woods.
NYC
My trip report for a visit to New York got a little too long for this post, so check out the standalone post if you’re interested in airlines flying to/from Gatwick and a bag that’s designed specifically to fit within silly new carry on limits.
Home lab upgrade
I’ve been doing a bunch of stuff with OpenWRT lately, which has meant lots of waiting around for builds to finish. I thought maybe it was time for some faster (and more energy efficient) hardware underneath the VMs in my home lab, and it wasn’t long before I was down the rabbit hole of TinyMiniMicro. When I emerged I found myself a Lenovo M720q[1] on eBay with a decent spec and a decent price[2].
ESXi 8.0u2 installed without any snags, and when I moved the VMware datastore SSD over from the old server it was trivial to get my existing VMs running :) The only small sticking point was finding somewhere to host the 3.5″ SATA drives I had in the old server, which has been taken care of by an ORICO 5 Bay Enclosure. I’ve had to put some tape over the power switch so it starts up after a power cut[3], but apart from that it’s working, and seems like a sweet piece of kit.
Solar Diary
It might have been warm at the start of the month, but overall it was less sunny than last year.
I’m starting to keep track of my iBoost readings so that I have a clear idea of electricity that’s being used generally versus what’s being used to offset gas for hot water. Hopefully that will help me identify the savings from the new home lab gear.
Beating Beat Saber – Quest 3
Having stuck with the original Oculus Quest it was time for an upgrade. I skipped the Quest 2, as when it launched it required a Facebook account. Thankfully they’ve rolled back on that one, so I ordered a Quest 3 straight after launch, and it arrived ahead of schedule.
Sadly first impressions weren’t good:
- It takes different corrective lenses, so I’ve had to order new ones, and wait weeks for them to arrive[4].
- The headband is far less comfortable than the original (and I can now feel why I maybe should have taken a look at the premium ones offered at checkout).
- Hand controller tracking fails with alarming regularity, which can really mess up a good run in the game when one of your swords suddenly drifts off.
- I can’t really tell that there are more pixels and a faster CPU. I expected things to be sharper and more fluid, and they’re just not.
Hopefully things will pick up as the platform matures. But usually it’s the v3 where companies really get it right, and Meta seems to have not been paying close enough attention to quality and user experience.
It almost goes without saying that I’ve not full combo’ed any new levels :/
Notes
[1] If I’d been really thorough in my research I’d have got an M920q, as that’s the variety that comes with Intel vPro, which provides remote keyboard/video/mouse capabilities.
[2] £225 got me an i5-8400, 16GB of RAM (now upgraded to 64GB), 1TB NVMe SSD and 256GB SATA SSD (now earmarked for my Raspberry Pi 5 when it arrives). I may upgrade the CPU to an i9-9900 if I’m ever doing stuff that stretches the existing CPU, as they seem to be readily available on Ali Express.
[3] There shouldn’t be any power cuts, as I have a UPS. But the UPS batteries had failed, and just like every other UPS I’ve ever encountered there was no indication of a problem until it just didn’t work. For now it’s on my spare UPS whilst I fix the (larger) original one.
[4] They did arrive before the end of the month, but then the battery was flat on the headset, so I’ve not been able to test them yet.
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Tags: Beat Saber, NYC, pupdate, Quest 3, solar, vr
New York – Oct 2023
I joined a couple of my colleagues at the ONUG Fall 2023 event so that we could talk to people about the Networking 2.0 stuff we’re building at Atsign.
For the trip to New York I was pleased to find that I could get there and back from Gatwick (and at a reasonable price).
Travel
jetBlue LGW-JFK
I remember friends in the US raving about jetBlue, but I’ve never flown with them myself. They now do transatlantic flights, and things are a bit different from other carriers:
- They’re using a narrow body Airbus 321LR rather than the wide bodied aircraft that usually ply the transatlantic routes.
- Roughly half the cabin is ‘Mint’ business class pods, which look very nice. With the rest being economy, including a few rows of “Even More Space” extra legroom seats.
- They offer (very reasonable) one way fares, which makes it possible to avoid the usual silly prices unless you stay over Saturday rigmarole from the traditional carriers.
- Flights from Gatwick, which for me avoids a 1-1.5hr £100 taxi ride (that takes me right past Gatwick).
My flight was somewhat marred by one of the two toilets in the ‘core experience’ (economy class) being out of action, but apart from that it was pretty decent. I liked that they had free WiFi, though it was a bit patchy, and blocked SSH got in the way of some work stuff I’d wanted to do. Lunch was decent, though sadly they follow the typical US pattern of having no soft drinks without caffeine and/or high fructose corn syrup :(
We arrived a little early, and the tiny international arrivals part of their terminal got me on my way pretty promptly.
Sonder Henri on 24
Finding a hotel near the venue at a reasonable price was the usual NYC challenge, and having had a good experience with Sonder in Chicago I thought I’d try them again. Henri on 24 was within walking distance of the event, and also just a block away from one of my favourite haunts – Barcade Chelsea.
My little studio had everything I needed for a few days, and it was great to be able to use wired Ethernet during my All Day DevOps presentation (which I’d signed up for when I still expected to be in the UK).
Norse JFK-LGW
Norse are a new airline with a familiar feel. It’s the rebadged Norwegian 787s from their transatlantic fleet, flying the same routes, with the same execs running the show, and some of the same silly rules :(
- 10kg limit on carry on (they even impose this on ‘Premium’ tickets now, which used to allow a much more sensible 15kg).
- No online check-in – you have to go to the desk (so that they can check carry on is within limits).
- No TSA Pre, as they’re not yet integrated with the programme.
But… they beat jetBlue on price for my return leg, and they also fly to Gatwick. I took some comfort in knowing what to expect from previous experiences flying Norwegian.
They fly from JFK Terminal 7, which is BAs old terminal, and perhaps even more grim now than it was in the BA days. The only lounge is the Aer Lingus one, which has stopped doing day passes. Though it was possible to find somewhere comfortable to sit, and the free WiFi worked well enough.
Check-in was a bit of a zoo (even in the premium line) with lots of time consuming friction around carry-on and “personal item” size and weight limits. Though when it was my turn the process was quick and efficient enough (it was just slow for everybody else that showed up with too much stuff in the wrong sort of bags). Boarding seemed pretty smooth though, and the onboard experience was exactly what I expected from previous Norwegian flights.
They got me to Gatwick ahead of schedule, and I was home within an hour of wheels down, which was great, as I’d be lucky to be getting into a taxi at that point on a Heathrow flight (only to then contend with the M25 at rush hour). Despite previous reservations about using Norwegian for business travel, I’d probably go with Norse again based on this experience. For one thing they seem to have sorted out punctuality :)
Bags
Threading the needle of the different rules for the two airlines meant some changes from my usual US loadout.
jetBlue’s dimensions of 22x14x9″ for a carry on are too small for my 22″ roller (even though I’m pretty sure it would have easily fit on its side)[1]. And I’ve been caught out before by Norwegian’s Norse’s ridiculous 10kg limit. So the roller stayed at home, and I used the Lowe Alpine Pioneer 26 I bought in August for the far East trip as my carry on. But it’s not big enough for everything I wanted to take, and for the Norse leg I needed something I could put the heavy (but small) stuff in to keep below the weight limit.
Enter the Aerolite 40x30x15cm, a bag that’s specifically designed for the size limit for a ‘personal item’ that’s been imposed by most European carriers post Covid; a limit that’s also used by Norse.
There’s room for the gadget bag I keep handy when flying, my cables bag, my power bank, my iPad, my toiletries, my hydroflask and my laptop; which is all the heavier stuff, and also all the things that need pulling out when going through security. So it’s a pretty handy way of organising everything. I could see it being sufficient for a business daytrip, or even a weekend if I was travelling tech light.
Patagonia make a bag they call the MLC for Maximum Legal Carry-on. This is maybe an MLP, for Maximum Legal Personal-item. For comparison the MLC is 45 litres, whilst the MLP is 18.
Trtl Travel ‘Pillow’
I came across Trtl last year, and put one on my Christmas list. This was my first time trying it (as it was my first overnight flight that wasn’t business class). It’s not a pillow at all, but rather a plastic neck brace covered in some soft fabric. It worked really well, and I managed a few hours of decent sleep. Given that it packed into my hand luggage easily I’ll be happy to give it room on future trips.
Note
[1] It was good to see the carry on rules being well enforced by jetBlue during boarding, which meant we didn’t end up with any silliness of people with bags far from their seats, or having to gate check stuff. There was even room in the overheads for some of those ‘personal items’ to go up after takeoff.
Filed under: review, travel | Leave a Comment
Tags: Aerolite, bags, carry on, jetBlue, Norse, personal item, Sonder, Trtl
September 2023
Pupdate
September brought some fine weather, so the boys have been able to enjoy more extra long walks at the weekend :)
Milo scans
Milo’s cancer care has settled into monthly scans, covered in the latest diary entry. TL;DR – he’s doing OK.
Cars
I’ve driven Volvo’s almost all my life, and I’m presently on my third[1] a 2010 model XC60 that I bought in 2013. It’s been a great car – comfortable, practical, nice to drive. Sadly it let us down at the end of last month. The starter would turn over the engine, but it just wouldn’t fire up. The problem was a burnt out fuel pump connector[2], which meant an expensive and prolonged visit to the garage.
While the Volvo was away that meant my daughter’s Mini was being used for most trips. Pretty handy for the Ikea run, especially given the expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ). After one trip out Rachel came back home saying “I think I’d quite like a Mini, but one of the bigger ones”.
So we’re now the proud owners of a Countryman Cooper S. I’ve not had much of a chance to drive it yet, but it seems nice (and fun).
Horsted Place
Last month brought a whole series of posts about the 2nd honeymoon trip for our 25th wedding anniversary, but because of work schedules we had to do that before the actual event. To celebrate the proper date we found a local hotel that looked like it would be nice – Horsted Place.
It was absolutely lovely. We were treated to an upgrade to their master suite, which seemed like somewhere that a well heeled gentleman could spend an entire season. The weather was hot and sunny, so rather than just having pre dinner drinks in the lovely garden we stayed out there for dinner too. It was a shame to have to leave (after a delicious breakfast), but sadly work beckoned.
KTM Motocross Experience
Last summer my daughter was showing some interest in motorcycling. I think she wants my ’95 CB1000 when I’m done with it. I went looking for a way that she could try out biking, without just driving around a car park on compulsory basic training (CBT). What I found was the KTM Motocross Experience, where one of the venues, Golden Barn, is only a short distance from home. After eventually finding some dates that weren’t booked solid (or clashing with the second honeymoon) we managed to go just before she had to head back to University.
It was a roasting hot day, but I’d take that over rain and mud. There was a good build up from basic riding safety around the oval, to a reduced circuit, to the full circuit, and every bit of it was great fun (but also intensely hard physically and mentally).
Here’s one of my latter laps:
Steve Hogarth
I’ve been a huge fan of Marillion since back when Fish was the lead singer, so when the chance to see their present lead playing ‘H Natural’ came up I didn’t hesitate to buy tickets.
It was a wonderful gig with a fantastic mix of well loved Marillion tracks, Steve’s solo material, and covers.
Solar Diary
Although September was (mostly) sunny, it really shows the difference that the seasons make when looking back to June.
SEG paid
Last month I mentioned that I was expecting £59.16 for Smart Export Guarantee, and that got paid pretty swiftly :)
Notes
[1] I previously had a 340DL, which had been my Dad’s. He was going to trade it in for a new Seat, but I persuaded him to do a swap for the junker Renault 12 I’d bought shortly after my 18th birthday. Later on we got a V40 (when a family friend got caught drink driving in it and realised they’d never get their license back). It was a sheep in wolf’s clothing, looking like the racy T4 model, but actually a regular 1.6 SE.
[2] Apparently not uncommon on this model.
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Ever since I started signing GitHub commits with SSH keys I’ve made sure to use git v2.35 or later. Unfortunately Google Cloud Shell comes with a rather crusty old version of git (as part of the fact that it’s still based on Debian 11 ‘Bullseye’).
$ git --version
git version 2.30.2Just copying over a more recent git binary doesn’t work. There’s also little point trying to update it using regular methods, as changes outside of the home directory get overwritten. We need to install into the home directory, so it’s necessary to build and install it locally from source[1].
First create a .local/bin directory and add it to the PATH[2]:
mkdir -p .local/bin
PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"Then make a place to download the source, cd into it, clone the source, and cd into it:
mkdir -p git/github.com/git
cd git/github.com/git/
git clone https://github.com/git/git.git
cd gitFor HTTPS URLs to work we need libcurl4-openssl-dev for the build:
sudo apt install libcurl4-openssl-devIf a build was done now, it would be of whatever is in the master branch, which might be unstable, so better to checkout the latest stable release, which is v2.42.0 at the time of writing:
git checkout tags/v2.42.0 -b v2.42.0Then configure, build and install:
make configure
./configure --prefix=${HOME}/.local
make installThe new git should now be on the PATH:
$ which git
/home/chris/.local/bin/gitAnd it should be much newer than 2.30.2:
$ git --version
git version 2.42.0Notes
[1] Well… you could cheat and grab a precompiled tarball from the v2.42.0 release on my fork.
[2] There should be a section like this in ~/.profile, but that might be missing from really old instances of Cloud Shell:
# set PATH so it includes user's private bin if it exists
if [ -d "$HOME/.local/bin" ] ; then
PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
fiFiled under: cloud, howto | Leave a Comment
Tags: cloud, git, github, google, shell
Milo cancer diary part 9 – scans
It’s been a couple of months since Milo finished chemo, and he’s now had two surveillance scans.
The August one could easily be described as ‘not great, not terrible’. An area that was still of concern from the previous scan had improved, but there were some new signs of wall thickening. Nothing that would be considered problematic (and too small for samples to be taken), but worth keeping an eye on.
He’s really been enjoying life without regular trips to the vets, and when running around with Max he seems to be back to taking the lead. He even managed to catch a squirrel on a recent walk through the local woods (though we didn’t see what happened so the squirrel might already have been in a bad way). Seeing him back on such good form definitely makes everything that it took to get him well again seem worth it :)
His scan today was stable compared to last month, which is good :)
Past parts:
Filed under: MiloCancerDiary | Leave a Comment
Tags: cancer, chemotherapy, Milo
August 2023
Pupdate
After returning from the Lake District last month I took a closer look at the maps of our local area and discovered some new walking routes that are right on our doorstep. The boys seem to enjoy having a good run around on them:
Malaysia and Singapore
There was enough to this trip that it got its own blog post series, but here’s one of the photos that I didn’t use.
New Luggage
I generally travel hand luggage only, except for family holidays where we’ve been sharing a bunch of roller duffel bags acquired from Target in Kissimmee over the years. Sadly one of those duffels didn’t survive our Easter trip, and the remaining ones are a bit scruffy. It was time for some new gear.
Big Bags
Rachel wanted a ‘spinner’ bag, I didn’t. Neither of us wanted hard luggage, and neither of us wanted samey black bags. It turned out that the Eastpak range had something for both of us, in an almost matching pair.
I got a Tranverz L, which is a 121 litre roller duffel. It was more than enough space for a two week trip. In fact it’s probably a little too much, as if full this bag would likely be too heavy for most airline limits.
Rachel’s 80 litre Trans4 L spinner has a bit more structure to it, but only 2/3 of the capacity. It was still plenty for two weeks away.
Both bags weighed in at just under 20kg when packed (which included a bottle of fizz in each), and there was LOTS of space left in mine[1]. They seem to have made it through their first trip (and 4 flights) pretty much unscathed.
After the trouble with BA losing one of our bags at Easter we put AirTags in these, and it was reassuring to see that they arrived with us at each airport (though a little annoying to get alerts about left behind luggage every time we left the hotel)[2].
Backpack
I wanted something with a little more capacity than the Eastpak messenger I use as my ‘personal item’ bag on US trips, but my Lowe Alpine Pax 30 backpack has never been smart, and is looking decidedly shabby after some 20y of service.
When I came across the Lowe Alpine Pioneer 26 I loved the retro styling at first glance.
It’s smart enough that I don’t feel awkward carrying it into a fancy hotel, but also very practical. For the trips out and back it comfortably swallowed everything I wanted to keep with me. The laptop compartment is safe and secure, and saves having to bring along a sleeve. The top pocket is perfect for my hat, and also stuffing in pocket items when going through airport security. It fitted perfectly into the at seat stowage for the long haul flights, and goes into a narrow body overhead sideways. Out and about in Malaysia and Singapore it carried umbrellas and a hydro flask, with huge space left for any shopping we might pick up.
There are times when I’ve packed the Pax 30 solid, and I wonder if the smaller capacity might bite me for similar occasions down the line. But also I’ll probably get something less structured for hiking with anyway. Here’s hoping it lasts as well as my previous Lowe Alpine backpack, as so far I love it :)
Solar diary
The anniversary of getting the panels installed rolled around, with a total of 4393.9 kWh of generation.
The end of the month also brought on the quarterly reading for Smart Export Guarantee. All being well, I should see a payment of £59.19 – woohoo!
More importantly I’ve reduced the electricity I import by 2782 kWh over the year, which is £859.64 at present rates (and was more earlier in the year)[3]. There’s also been some saving on the gas bill. So it’s looking like the system will pay for itself in 7-8 years.
I bought one of these
The lightning port on my (now >3y old) iPhone SE 2020 is starting to get very persnickety[4], leading to some tense mornings where it hasn’t charged overnight, so the obvious answer is a charger that doesn’t use the port. So far I’ve woken up to 100% each morning, and I’ve not noticed it getting too warm. I do however need to remove the metal ring/stand from my QuadLock case, which can lead to it being left behind.
Notes
[1] Thankfully the straps do a great job of holding in any slack so it isn’t flapping around.
[2] Yes, I know that the alerts can be suppressed, but it’s a chore.
[3] This ignores that we’ve been using the hot tub during summer months, which would usually add around 200 kWh per month to the bill, but by using its timer we’ve been heating it pretty much entirely by solar.
[4] Not helped I think by the QuadLock case I use which just a little bit stops the plug from seating comfortably. I didn’t have any such problems with my previous iPhone 6S, which lasted over 5y.
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Tags: Anker, backpack, charger, Eastpak, iphone, luggage, Pioneer 26, pupdate, solar
Previously: Part 2 – Ipoh (Banjaran Hot Springs Retreat)
Getting there
Rames picked us up from the Banjaran and we continued our tour of Ipoh sights whilst killing time before our flight. We’d originally planned to head for lunch, but the huge BBQ put paid to that, so we mostly just visited temples that had been built around caves.
Ipoh airport is pretty small and unsophisticated. But that also meant not having to go too far to get everything done.
The flight was on Scoot, Singapore’s low cost carrier, which I’d compare (favourably) to Easyjet. No frills, but a nice modern A320 with comfy enough seats. We were given a ‘snack pack’ with a can of (full sugar) Coke and various food items.
Hotel
We picked The Clan for its location (and good reviews), and on that count it certainly didn’t disappoint.
I was a little worried about squeezing into a (not huge) room after the suite in KL and villa in the Banjaran, but it was fine, partly because we were lucky enough to get an upgrade, and partly due to really thoughtful design.
Ratings:
✓ Accessible HDMI (and Chromecast)
✓ Good WiFi [1]
✓ Bedside power
✗ Human interaction free Room Service
✓ Tea making apparatus
For 4 Bodils
White Lotus potential: nope
Food
Breakfast at The Clan wasn’t included, which meant an opportunity for lie ins followed by brunch in various local places.
On our first evening we just had beer and pizza at The Good Beer Company, but we noticed Ikigai Omakase next door, which we returned to a few days later for some of the best sushi I’ve ever tasted. It was also a pleasure to watch the sushi chef in action, as he was a true artist.
For our second evening we checked out Amoy Street across the road from the hotel, and whilst enjoying some dumplings at Dumpling Darlings we noticed the line out of the door for GO! K – BBQ. Returning there the following evening we were treated to some of the best beef I’ve ever tasted. The ribeye was just amazing :)
The final hurrah before heading home was a Cable Car Dinner. I was expecting it to be a fun experience with great views, but the food was also really good.
The booking site suggested that we’d only get the main course in the cable car, with other courses served in the bistro. But that’s not what happened on the night. It was a bit weird getting the arrival cocktail whilst standing in line to board, but extra good to have three trips around the loop as each course was served.
Well… not quite the final thing. We returned to our regular haunt of Blu Jaz for some last cocktails.
Attractions
We’d visited Clarke Quay on our last trip, so it was high on our list for a return. Wandering there during the day we found it pretty dead; but returning at night (via Robertson Quay) it was vibrant and buzzing.
The Art Science Museum gave us an excuse to visit Marina Bay, and the Future World exhibition was a lot of fun.
Similarly the Van Gough Immersive Experience gave us an excuse to visit Sentosa and walk across the boardwalk from HarbourFront. It took us hours to take the whole thing in, and there was a great variety of ways that the artist’s prodigious work was shown off.
On our trip to Marina Bay we tried (and failed) to find our way to the Gardens by the Bay, so after a rather dismal walk up and down Orchard Road we gave it another go by taking the SMRT to the Gardens by the Bay stop then walking through to Bayfront for the hop back to the hotel. That worked much better, but as it was raining a little I neglected to take any photos :(
Getting around
We used Grab again for airport transfers, and for one trip over to Robertson Quay, but mostly got around on the Singapore MRT.
Note
[1] Though I was shocked to note that the (rather aggressive) filtering blocked TripAdvisor (but only on the main SSID, not the Chromecast network ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
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Tags: BBQ, cable car, craft beer, Sentosa, Singapore, sushi
Second honeymoon part 2 – Ipoh
Previously: Part 1 – KL
Background
Our original honeymoon was book-ended with KL and Singapore, with most of the time in the middle spent at a beach hotel in Penang. We came to love one particular restaurant on Batu Ferringhi, but also discovered that we’re not really beach vacation people. So this time we changed things a little, with more time in both KL and Singapore, and a brief break in the middle at the Banjaran Hotsprings Retreat.
Getting there
I considered taking the train from KL Sentral to Ipoh, but there was no service offering nicer seats; and a mundane train could have been the low point of an amazing trip.
We could have also just booked a cab from KL to the Banjaran, but that would have been a bit boring. So to make things more interesting I worked with Ipoh based Jaies Chauffeur Service to put together a combined transfer and tour itinerary. Our driver Rames picked us up right on time and then took us to a whole selection of attractions in the Ipoh area, including caves, Kellie’s Castle and temples. We also stopped off for some great local food, and explored some of the colonial architecture of Ipoh Old Town.
Hotel
The Banjaran is unlike any place I’ve stayed before, as the ‘rooms’ are all standalone villas. We picked a ‘water‘ villa, which had its own hot tub and pool.
The resort also had plenty of places to get wet (and hot) outside the villa, but the villa was so nice it was super tempting to just hang out there. At one stage we just sat on the balcony by the water reading our books (with occasional interruptions from local wildlife).
Ratings:
✓ Accessible HDMI
✓ Good WiFi [1]
✓ Bedside power
✗ Human interaction free Room Service
✓ Tea making apparatus
For 4 Bodils
White Lotus potential: oh yes!
Food
The resort markets Jeff’s Cellar as a ‘gourmand’ destination, and it didn’t disappoint. The venue inside a beautifully lit cave is amazing; the ‘inception’ tasting menu was delightful; and the service was tremendous. Certainly one of the tastiest and most memorable meals of my life.
For our second evening we went with their ‘in private‘ in room BBQ as something different and special for Rachel’s birthday. It also proved to be handy as we could watch the Women’s World Cup final whilst we ate (in style). Once again the food was tremendous. It’s just a shame we didn’t have room for all of it – there was easily enough for four, maybe even six.
Attractions
We didn’t leave the resort during our time there, as there was plenty to do, and it was just too nice. Maybe if we’d stayed another day we’d have joined one of the walks to the Lost World of Tambun attraction next door.
Getting around
On arrival we were taken to our room in a golf cart, and treated to a tour of the various caves and pools and restaurants etc. We saw other guests being ferried around in golf carts, but chose to just walk.
Next: Part 3 – Singapore
Note
[1] The WiFi was really good for regular surfing, but struggled to keep up with streaming the football over an SSH tunnel. There was a wired connection outlet in the living room, but sadly it didn’t seem to be connected to the switch in the utilities cupboard.
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Tags: Banjaran, BBQ, Hot Springs, Ipoh, Jeff's Cellar, villa
Second honeymoon part 1 – KL
Background
My first deployment in the Royal Navy was the first half of Global ’90, taking me from Plymouth to Hong Kong. Along the way we stopped in Lumut, Malaysia, which led to a side trip to Pangkor Island. It was paradise, so… when Rachel and I married in summer of ’98 I chose to return to Malaysia (and Singapore) for our honeymoon.
That time around we did a packaged trip organised by Kuoni, which took us to Kuala Lumpar (KL), the Cameron Highlands, Penang and Singapore[1]. This series of posts covers the slightly revised itinerary for the (almost) 25th anniversary return trip.
Getting there
I was once lucky enough to fly back from Singapore on Singapore Airlines, and it was one of the nicest flights of my life. So it was an easy choice to pick them for the trip to KL even though it meant a brief stopover in Changi.
Both flights were comfortable, and the service was great.
Hotel
On the original honeymoon we stayed at the Shangri-La KL, and it was lovely. Something that stuck with us was a taxi driver who was almost proud to take us there – “Shangri-La – number 1 first class hotel in KL”. So of course we had to go back.
There may be newer and shinier hotels in KL these days, but the Shangri-La is still fantastic. It’s like a well maintained classic car – elegant, whilst still functional. The staff there are brilliantly helpful and friendly.
Last time around our package included a regular room. This time we booked a suite, which turned out to be a good choice, not just for the extra space, but for access to the Horizon Club. Evening cocktails at the club became a regular feature of our day, and a couple of Shangri-La KL regulars gave us some excellent tips for nearby places to eat (and many entertaining conversations).
Ratings:
✓ Accessible HDMI
✓ Good WiFi
✓/2 Bedside power (only on one side)
✗ Human interaction free Room Service
✓ Tea making apparatus
For 3.5 Bodils
White Lotus potential: possible, but unlikely
Food
Each day started with hotel breakfast, and although we could take that in the Horizon Club we generally went downstairs for the broader selection of buffet on offer. That left little room for lunch, so most days skipped straight to dinner.
I’d picked out a few nearby places on Google Maps and TripAdvisor before the trip, and we never made it to any of them. Walking to the place I’d chosen for our first dinner we found ourselves on the wrong side of a busy road with no crossings in sight, but a whole side street of restaurants. So we found ourselves in Manja for some tasty modern Malaysian Fusion food. The first recommendation we took from our new cocktails friends was Bar.B.Q.Tonight, which I’d noticed on the way back from Manja, and served up an excellent platter.
Normal proceedings were interrupted a little by the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and the semi-final match between England’s Lionesses and Australia’s Matildas. We needed a pub with the match on, and Healy Mac’s (just around the corner from the hotel) fitted the bill perfectly. I didn’t have huge expectations for the food, but my duck wrap was excellent, and despite the huge crowd the service was great throughout. We might have been in the minority cheering on the victorious Lionesses, but any team rivalries were very good natured.
A return to the regular routine took us to Bombay Palace, and a variety of curry I’ve not seen on a menu before. I think about three different staff told me it was ‘spicy’ in a way that inferred “this is not a white guy curry”; and it was spicy, but not too spicy, and absolutely delicious. We also got a quick Dim Sum fix at Din Tai Fung Pavilion, which had been recommended for its pork soup dumplings, though we preferred the spicy prawn ones. For our final evening we tried Zipangu, a sushi restaurant within the hotel. We went for ‘ghetto omakase’ with chirashi bowls, and they were excellent.
Attractions
Last time around the Petronas Twin Towers were shiny and new, and although we visited the shopping centre there we didn’t get onto the tour. The towers don’t dominate the skyline like they used to, but the view from the tour was tremendous, and let us pick out a few other places to go.
The KL Monorail runs right past the Shangri-La, and every time I saw it The Simpsons’ “Monorail Song” popped onto the brain radio. I had to have a ride on it, and looking at the map the KL Sentral terminus was right by one of the largest parks in the city, which hosts a bunch of attractions. Sadly we discovered that one can’t actually walk from Sentral to the park, at least not at all directly. So instead we perused the shopping centre.
We got our park fix with a walk up to the KL Forest Eco Park, though the hike to the entrance, which is at the base of KL Tower, was a bit hot and sweaty. Once in the park we found it a bit dilapidated, so we didn’t linger. I guess it was better value when it was free.
For our last full day in KL we took a trip to the Royal Selangor visitor centre for a tour of their pewter factory. We also made some pewter knick-knacks for ourselves as part of their ‘Foundry’ experience.
Getting around
Most things were a short walk from the hotel. For the transfer from the airport we used Grab, which is the Asian version of Uber/Lyft.
Next: Part 2 – Ipoh (Banjaran Hot Springs Retreat)
Note
[1] Sadly there wasn’t a good option that included Pangkor Island.
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Tags: honeymoon, KL, Kuala Lumpar, Shangri-La
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