Since Irfan had no school due to the UPSR exams, we took the opportunity to go for a mini-vacation and spent ultimately two nights at the Hilton KL Sentral. This is freaking best Hilton in the world! Seriously! We stayed here after our wedding five years ago when Irfan was not much older than Yaya is now, and we were hoping that it would be just as cool this time around. And we were not disappointed! Unfortunately, due to Abah’s commitments in Sitiawan, our parents had returned to Sitiawan and did not come with us. That first night (Thursday September 23) it was Vin, Yaya, myself in one room and Yope, Yong and Irfan occupying another – we were on the 31st floor!
[[image:2010-sept-hilton23.jpg:Yaya and Purrsley admiring the view from our room:center:0]]
After checking in, we relaxed for a bit and then with an excited Yaya and Irfan, hit the pool.
[[image:2010-sept-hilton03.jpg:Irfan zooming down the water slide:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton05.jpg:Splash!!!!:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton02.jpg:Yaya shrieked with delight with every slide!:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton01.jpg:Yes, Irfan loved the water slide:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton04.jpg:Vin, Yaya and me:center:0]]
We stayed at the pool until it got dark and was time for maghrib. After a quick shower, Yaya fell right to sleep, so that night Vin decided to have room service while Yope, Yong, Irfan and I went down to Sudu, the restaurant in the lobby for a fun dinner. I brought my camera but unfortunately had too much fun and forgot to take any pictures. But do not fret, you’ll see pictures of us eating at the Hilton. We were only supposed to stay one night, but as before, decided to extend our stay another night. And since it would be a Friday night and Saturday is not a workday, we got a third room for Emma and Eff (Yong’s little sisters). Long live Hilton Honors points!!!!!
Here’s Irfan in a bathrobe:
[[image:2010-sept-hilton26.jpg:Errmmm where are my hands?:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton27.jpg:Yong and Irfan on the 31st floor elevator banks, KL skyline lit up in the background:center:0]]
Unfortunately, since UPSR was over, Irfan actually had school that Friday afternoon, so he had to go to school. His parents went back to the 10th Floor to get him there. Vin and I decided to do absolutely no sightseeing or shopping (even though we were right in the heart of things in KL) and just lounged the afternoon away. We did go swimming that afternoon though:
[[image:2010-sept-hilton06.jpg:Wading in the kiddy pool:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton07.jpg:Grumpy burrito at having to leave the pool:center:0]]
That evening, Hisham’s gang returned with Emma and Eff as well. And like the previous night, Yaya conked out early so Vin stayed in with her while the rest of us went down for dinner at Sudu. Zarin joined us for another fun-filled meal. We all decided to have western food such as Yope’s burger here:
[[image:2010-sept-hilton10.jpg:Massive burger and fries:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton09.jpg:Eff and Emma:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton13.jpg:Me, Yope and Yong:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton11.jpg:Zarin models the H2O:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton12.jpg:Irfan has a lovely ice cream for dessert after demolishing his pizza:center:0]]
It was a rowdy crazy fun time! And after dinner, my buddy Sree from ACS Sitiawan came over and we hung out in the lounge, he, Zarin and I until the lounge closed. Yope was supposed to come back down and join us, but he fell asleep instead. The next morning, the gang (minus Zarin and Sree who had to drive home in the wee hours of the morn with ghost stories of Manjung reverberating through their heads) went down to the most amazing buffet breakfast in the world!
[[image:2010-sept-hilton18.jpg:A small portion of the buffet:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton17.jpg:Another portion of the buffet:center:0]]
The buffet is the best buffet we’ve ever had, bar none! It has everything! American, Continental, Malaysian, Japanese, everything! You can have freshly made roti canai and laksa to accompany your smoked salmon and quiche, as well as pancakes and waffles. Fresh fruit, a juice bar, cereals, milks, toast, you name it, they have it. The buffet is just huge and amazingly varied, and quite, quite, delicious. It’s really something else. Plus it’s all you can eat, so you could really overeat and go crazy and still not even make a dent in the quantities of food that is available.
[[image:2010-sept-hilton14.jpg:Concentrating on the food:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton30.jpg:Irfan eats sausages:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton16.jpg:Irfan, Cik Ma and Yaya take a photo break:center:0]]
We had asked for and received late checkout, so after that huge buffet, we waddled back up to our rooms and headed back to the pool for some last minute water sliding.
[[image:2010-sept-hilton19.jpg:Here’s Pak Yope!:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton20.jpg:Irfan slides again!:center:0]]
Yaya was fascinated with this flotation device which one of the other guests kindly allowed her to play in:
[[image:2010-sept-hilton31.jpg:Yaya and me:center:0]]
And finally, a group picture that one of the lifeguards took for us:
[[image:2010-sept-hilton22.jpg:The cousins and their parents:center:0]]
And so, we had to check out and leave the Hilton. We had a lot of fun with Yope’s family, Emma and Eff, and Zarin and Sree. Thanks for spending some time with us. It’s vacations like this in fancy Hiltons that really make our treks out to New Jersey for work (and to collect Hilton Honors points) worth it! 🙂
We went back to Yope’s and that evening Eda and her husband came for a quickie visit:
[[image:2010-sept-hilton25.jpg:Eda, Yaya and me:center:0]]
I leave you with dreams of the warm sun and the tropical breeze, and lovely memories of wonderful times with the family, and these final pictures of the hotel:
[[image:2010-sept-hilton24.jpg:View from the 31st floor:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton28.jpg:The view at night:center:0]]
[[image:2010-sept-hilton29.jpg:Vin and Yaya in a tropical paradise:center:0]]
