A Life .. Our Life

Northern Wales .. D4

2009-05-28T03:37:00.000-07:00

Like what I've said before, this is the FINAL Day! I decided to take a picture of our humble caravan. Just to give people an idea of what it is like to go there!

This was my room ... Its actually 2 single beds that we combined into a double bed.

The bed blocked the door because the gap between the two beds tu ngam2 besar pintu. So we had to climb on the bed to get into the room. It was rather small but hey! Its quite ok.

This is the main living area. You pass the kitchen.

This is Yana's and Irma's room.

This is Saiful's and Noreen's room.

The caravan behind us was the caravan we stayed in.

Saiful's car was not in a good condition so, he wanted to call the RAC. So we split up. After leaving the caravan site, we went to the nearby castle. It was a tiny castle, located on top of a small hill by the sea. Cantik jugak.

Then we went to another town, called Caernarfon. There was a bigger castle there, by the river moor. I have already been to this castle TWICE! Once with Saiful and the other is with my dad. Aisyioh! I am wasting money lah. going back to the same place a few times. I tell you .. I better banned myself from coming here again hehe!!!

We went around the town .. we never had the chance to explore the town before. Seriously? there was nothing much there! hehe! So, yes .. the castle is the main attraction.

What's nice was that the town was inside the castle walls. So that was something different. The main castle grounds was enclosed but there was a bigger outer wall, and the town was inside the outer walls.

Yana and Zafier can never resist playing with rocks. Both of them wanted to collect rocks.

Our next stop was Holyhead! There they have a huge peir where people use to commute to Ireland. Hehe next time if we want to go to Dublin, I'll take the car and boat over. Hmmm that sound more fun init?

There was nothing much at Holyhead so we just take the scenic route back from there. We went to the South Stack. OooOoO JACKPOT! Sooo beautiful. There was huge cliffs facing the sea. Gerun jugak tengok the height of the cliffs. We walked right beside it. Zafier tak takut langsung! Brave little munchkin I tell you.

I guess kids fears comes from their parents. Since I am not afraid of heights, they're not afraid of it too. I am afraid of ghosts .. they are too! hahahaha! Oh well. I think there's bound to be something you're afraid of init?

This place is popular for bird watching. There was a tower made just for bird lovers. Its free for public too.

The birds were nesting by the cliffs! We had to use the telescope to look at the birds. Munchkins just loved it!!!

There was another caslte at Bangor. It looked rather plain to me... it was getting dark already and Munchkins refuse to go out of the car because they're already too tired. So, I just let Irma take some pictures there!

And then we went home. Good thing the trip was not that far. It was a rather relaxing weekend. I guess these kind of travel is ok once a while, but I think I have to save up for Europe now! I think I have enough of UK already.

After a while, everything looked pretty much the same. haha of course I have always went to the same place init? Well, I have to plan my life better from now on. There are many things that I still want to do ... have to focus now! FOCUS!!!!!

Northern Wales .. D3

2009-05-28T03:35:00.000-07:00

We woke up in the morning, munchkins wanted to swim. Saiful and Noreen did not want to go because the swimming pool area smelled of chorine and its very heaty after a while. You would really feel abit suffocated if you're no in the the pools swimming.

So it was just the 4 of us. We had a wonderful time. Munchkins enjoyed swimming. Both of them wanted goggles and Zafier wanted a pelampung tangan. So ok. Zafier was afraid to go to the deeper pools at first. It took alot of coaxing and alot of convincing. He tak reti nak tutup mulut dia ... so he manage to swallow quite abit of water ... euurrgghh! heheh!

Anyways, since Noreen and Saiful did not go swimming they went ahead to Snowdonia. We promise to meet them there.

This time around, we took a totally different route to go there. Just to explore other routes and scenery along the routes.

Then we reached a stop. The view was breathtaking! Absolutely beautiful! You feel as if you're on top of the world.

Just look at Yana. hehe memang rasa macam you're on top of the world. The air was crisps and fresh. You can see the lake and mountains around you. How refreshing. It takes all your problems away.

We were soooo lucky that the sun was shining ever so bright that day. I doubt I could take such beautiful pictures otherwise. It was rather hard to take pictures because of the bright light... you know .. backlight problems.

Cool kan????

Then we meet up with Saiful and co at Snowdonia. We wanted to go on the train but the top tower was still closed. Besides .. it cost around 25 quid per person to go all the way up. If you're going to pay that much money, you might as well go to the very top.

Aisyioh. So that means we have to come here one more time ... just to go up on the Snowdonia mountains. OOooOooOoOO I would not miss it for the world. Maybe one day before I go back for good .. I'll try to go up the mountain. Tengoklah rezeki camne.

Since all of us were hungry, our next stop was the river. We wanted to go there to have a picnic. I tell you .. dah sampai tepi sungai, semua tak nak balik hehe! all of us were having so much fun playing in the water.

Mind you .. the water is FREEZING COLD!! BBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRR....

Then we started throwing rocks. Me and Zafier one team and Irma and Yana in another team. We throw big rocks into the water so that the water would splash really high. Heheh .. we got a little bit wet in the process. It was soo much fun! Sayang the water was too cold. Kalau tak memang all of us would be in the water!

I took gazillion pictures. I love the scenery. Mountains and a stream running in between .. so picturesque.

After a long while, Saiful wanted to see another town. There was the Betws-y-coed (weird name huh?) I don't even know how to pronounce it hehe! Its a Welsh word. Sounds really different.

It was getting dark. The sun was setting. So we did not stay there long. The river was really beautiful. There was huge boulders and there's a small waterfall there as well. I tell you. I really envy those living here. I bet they have a better quality of life here. All the mountain air and fresh ionized air (due to the river's flowing everywhere) .. must be really good for them.

If we had more time, I would have tried to go down and take more pictures at the waterfall but it was getting dark. Not really good for the kiddies.

Then we passed the town. Since it was already very late, everything was closed. We just stop by to take picture and move on. There was something wrong with Saiful's car and he was worried about the car. So, we went straight home.

That night we sleept there for the last night. I tell you its surprising. I slept really well. The air was soo nice. Even when it was not really comfortable but it was a good night sleep.

All in all I have had a wonderful time. This holiday was really different than the rest of the HOlidays that we have had in UK. Most of the time we had to rush here and rush there to see as many things as possible. Ye lah .. nak save duit kan. Soo much to explore and so little time to do it.

This time, it was more relaxed. Since we've been here already, we did not feel the rush to see everything. I just enjoyed it tremenduously. Next year I am definitely booking more holidays via this Sun Newspaper. Just to enjoy ourselves. Bukannye mahal sangat. Really good deal!

Northern Wales .. D2

2009-05-28T03:29:00.000-07:00

We woke up abit late. I tell you sleeping by the sea .. the air ... gosh! soo refreshing. You feel alive again you know. Nak bangun katil pun susah. Sorry peeps, I am in the mood to write bi-lingual today. Too lazy to speak coherently, to lazy to think coherently.

Munchkins wanted to go swimming. Yes! Haven has a huge indoor swimming pool. I have this .. hmm what do you call it ... hmm its not really a swimming suit. It looks like a scuba dive kindda suit but meant for swimming. Atleast takde lah terkeluar sana sini. A tad bit decent. I found out that theres another version which is meant for muslim women. Maybe I should hunt for that one. I have gone tinner and the suit is a tad bit loose on me. Shhessshh. Susah betul when your body weight fluctuates.

So, we got ready really fast and off we go to the swimming pool. Zafier and Yana loved it! HECK! I loved it! but the whole place stinks of clorine hehe! OH well .. it would give my body a full make-over. Mozard kata .. "keluar semua daki2 yang melekat kat badan dia!" hahahaha!

WE all had a great time. Unfortunately, I had to get out of the pool before the others. So, I got home, mandi first and then come to get the rest. I tell you kecut kecut bebudak tu! I think they stayed there for a good 1 1/2 hours. The pools opens from 10-1pm and 2-5pm. So memang puas lah they all tu mandi.

We were not allowed to take pictures in the indoor pool. Sheesh .. damm park operator. Seriously. It would have been loads of fun. But I manage to get some pics of it on the internet. Just to give you a rough idea of the fun we had there!!

There a bits where its shallow .. for little kiddies like Zafier and there were bits for adults.

All four of us went on the slide! wooo hooooooo!! I tell you Zafier berani jugak in the begining. But after going down the slide, the refuses to go on a second round. Cian baby I tu .. he got water in his nose. hehe! we forgot to tell him to picit his nose! hehe! Oh well ... next time around!

After they've mandi-ed and all .. we took them around the park. Just to explore the whole area.

Mind you .. this is not a theme park. Its just a caravan park. But its still good. There's plenty of activities you can indulge in .. the only problem ... MONEY! They charge for most things. Even to swim in the swimming pool we had to pay. Good thing we've paid in advance. I think it's about 10 quid per person to enjoy the basic entertainment stuff... which includes the indoor pool, the live shows and what not.

Well, we took the kids around .. there were ample of playgrounds for munchkins to play in.

(Note .. the tubes behind is for the indoor pool)

We lepaq outside in the mean time. I tell you .. we were sooo lucky. The weather was .. HOT! seriously! for UK standards that it. The sun was shining sooo bright. Cuma wind dia aje yang makes it a tad bit cold.

Yana and Zafier wanted to play the mini golf thinggi but its 4 quid each! Aisyioh .. manyak mahal ooo! So I had to dissapoint them. Cian they all tu. Sigh! Well if you ask me .. I think its a RIPOFF!!!

Instead, I just let them run around, climbing this and that, at the playgrounds.

The park was not that big. I wanted to explore the rest of Northern Wales. There are bits that I have never visited before. The past two trips were mainly focused around Snowdonia. I am sure there are other beautiful sights in this area.

Saiful and Noreen were too tired to follow us. You see, they have been travelling 5 days in a row. They went to Scotland for 3 nights the weekend before and they were still very tired from the trip. So, they wanted to use this holiday as a lepaqing holiday.

Me? I baru nak berjalan so banyak lah excess energy hehe!

As we went out, we saw a rabbit farm. We wanted to go in but they did not accept debit card. Shessh! I did not carry any cash with me at the time. Munchkins were soo dissapointed. Besides, the rabbit farm was totally different that the on in Colmar, where all the rabbits roam free, and you can carry whichever rabbits you can catch. NOPE! You are only allowed to pet the rabbits in their cages! WHAT????!!!

So, I promised Yana and Zafier that I would take them to Colmar. Wa?????? Can you book Colmar for all of us???? We go one of the other weekends????

People around this area likes to breed ponies ... oooo they were beautiful and CUTE too!!!

The white pony is the mummy pony. In the picture, I am not sure if you could see it, there's a little brown baby pony by her other side. Aws you should have seen that little pony. She was jumping about. Its a beautiful sight! Sigh! If I ever live in the country side. I'd have a pony!

As we move further, we came across a river. Me? I am a sucker for rivers! I love it soo much! My dream is to have a house by a stream or a river. Tak kira lah! That is my dream! When I am much much older, I just want to stay there. Every evening, I would invite some friends to come over, hang out by the river bed, have some delicious chinese tea! Sigh!!! What a serene life that would be.

Yana and Zafier jangan cakaplah! memang pantang tengok sungai! they just jump at the chance of playing with water! Zafier love to throw rocks into the water. I don't really understand why is it so fascinating but he seems to enjoy it alot.

Me? I just love the sound of water. The beautiful scenery that comes with it .. and the refreshing air around it. It was soo beautiful there. My camera did not do the place much justice. If I had an SLR .. OMG .. I tell you .. I would have gone bezerk taking gazillion amount of pictures! There's nothing like it!

Someday, I will have my dream home. Someday I will find a place just as beautiful as this and make it my own. Someday.

I just love this picture! Its one of my favourites! EVER!!! I need to go print it! I hope I can print it hehe! Tengok lah camne nanti! I remember Zara blogging about the photo book. I wish I have time to design it! I ni perfectionist sikit .. not to mention obsessive compulsive .. when it comes to certain things. Picture album is one of them! sigh! What can I say? I am MENTAL!

I did try to play around with the camera a little bit. But Nah! I think only SLR would generate those beautiful pixs! Sigh! I am a little ARTSY FARTSY ... but do not have the equipment to do it. I think photography is an ART. You have to have good artistic skills ontop of your technical (camera) skills.

I think that is why I prefer certain photographers than others. WHY? Any good (technically pro) photographer can take a beautiful picture. What makes others stand out from the rest is their COMPOSITION!

The angles they chose. The story behind the picture. Capturing the moment of beauty, the ambiance, the feel of the place. Soo many things. A picture is worth a thousand words .. and yet some falls short.

Merapu pulak I ni! Oh well. I am soo in the mood to merapu today! Soo in the mood! Been feeling a little down. Need cheering up. Looking at these beautiful pictures brings back all the wonderful feeling. Talking about it cheers me up like no other.

Looking at the pictures .. makes me feel guilty for being sad! Why should I be so sad when I am blessed like this. Tak bersyukur lagi ke??!!?? How bad am I to feel so miserable. I think my misery is a small price to pay to have an experience like this.

Anyways, we did not stay there very long... well we were there for a good 45 minutes I think. Then we moved on. There was soo much to see and so little time to do it.

We tried to find a beach .. can you believe it? Beaches is hard to find! why? One .. there was a lot of cliffs! two .. its mostly privately owned! WTF!!! Seriously! What a turn off. We went all the way to the end. On our way back, we finally found a small beach.

Munchkins love the sand. They get to play with the sand a little bit, but it was going to be dark soon.

Munchkin's current obsession is collecting rocks! yes you read me right .. collecting ROCKS! So, everywhere we go, Yana would be collecting pebbles or rocks or sea shells, for her collection. What is she going to do with it? I have no idea! But I am not going to discourage her. Its her collection ... her choice.

Back at the caravan, the kids were playing. Zafier and Alicia were having so much fun playing. Memang seronok gi ramai2. More meriah. Good thing about Caravans is that you can cook your own food. So, jimat lah sikit duit.

After dinner, we went to the entertainment area to watch some shows.

There were kiddy activities, where the kids have to follow the park facilitator's dance steps. That was quite fun. After that, there was a live band and I do not think that was quite condusive for little munchkins. So we went home. Besides tomorrow we have another day of swimming to do ... wooo hoooooooooo!!!

All in all, we had a wonderful day. Fun Packed DAY! Absolutely fantabulous! I enjoyed it tremenduously!

Northern Wales .. D1

2009-05-28T03:26:00.002-07:00

BEWARE ... HUMUNGUS Amount of PiCTURES AHEAD!!!! heheheheh Live with it people! ahaks!

Its school hols.. munchkins have been at home all day long for almost two weeks now! They're going bezonkers and I am going bezonkers! all of us are literally on the roof by now! good thing I have planned for a holiday the last weekend of their school hols, 4 months ago! yes! In this country, for us ... limited budget travelers .. we have to book our hols way in advance. Mainly to capture good deals.

So, the Sun Newspaper provides this coupons where once you've collected 7 coupons, you get to go to a caravan site for 3 or 4 night for only 9.90 quid per person. AMAZING! init??!!??

Saiful manage to get all the coupons, now they allow 8 people to share one form. Which is good for us since there's 4 of us and 4 of them! hehe! But now there's 5 of us .. since Irma joined in. I was a little bit worried at first, having to smuggle Irma around hehe!

Anyways, we left on the Friday morning. This time around, we followed a different route to go to the park. The name of the park is Haven Parks. (check it out .. its a damm cool place!) You see, this is the THIRD time we've been to Snowdonia and the Northern Wales. Seriously! We really need to venture somewhere else now.

Our first stop was Harlech.

We were all hungry so we needed to find somewhere to eat. Good thing there's alot of Fish and Chips shop around UK hehe!

Munchkins saw the Donkeys and wanted to ride them. Good thing it was only 1.50 quid each. We were quite broke already hehe! So we had to tone down on the expenditures this time around.

We felt rather cheated though. They ride the donkey for only 10 feet and then they returned back to the post. I was like WHAT??!!??? Urrgghhh!! No wonder it was only 1.50 quid!

Our next stop was the Harlech Castle. The Castle was on top of a Cliff overlooking a breathtaking view.

Zafier and Yana kept asking to go inside the castle. It was not that expensive but we needed to save. Besides its not like it was the Warwick Castle where they had loads of activities and stuff. The Castle looked rather dead to be honest.

Unfortunately, Adina was sleeping so Noreen had to stay in the car.

Besides the caslte, on top of the cliff, there's a small playground. Munchkins wanted to play there for a little while before we go.

After that, we had to shoot off straight to the Haven Park because we had to check in at 4pm. The Caravan was very spacious! Well as spacious as expected. Atleast its not a Tent! I want to let the kids merasa staying in small places. Don't want to teach them lavish stuff. Why? Well, let them face some difficulties a little bit. Besides, this is the only thing that I could afford anyways! So ... they just have to live with it.

The caravan had 3 bedrooms. One double bed room, which was quite big and spacious. Whilst the other one was one bunkbed, and the other was two single beds. So, Noreen and Saiful took the big room because they had to share it all 4 of them. We split up. Yana and Irma is one room and Zafier, Mozard and me in another. We combined the two single beds. I tell you the length of the room was the length of the bed. Since we combined the two beds, we had to climb on the bed to enter the room. heheh! Oh well! You get what you pay init?

That night we slept. I was exhausted. Tomorrow munchkins wanted to go swimming. OoooOooO busy day tomorrow.

Ride On ..

2009-05-28T03:26:00.001-07:00

Since I had a late night talk with Mozard the night before, we decided not to go out of Birmingham this weekend and just focus on things to do around Birm. So, we went to the carboot sale.

I think due to the credit crunch, there's nothing much at the boot sale. Seriously. You use to find a whole lot of things there but now, hmmmm the things are not so good and the prices are a little bit high for the tattered things that they sell. So not worth the money.

So instead, I let the kids enjoy a little bit of a joy ride. Atleast they get something from today. After the boot sale, I had to rush back to Birm for work. Yes. Cumi (her nick name) is getting married and Ciki (another girl's nick name) is away for a whole freaking month! So, I have to work. If not poor Richard is going to be all by himself THE WHOLE DAY!!

Anyways, Richard was all to happy to see me. He was not happy that I only came to work for 2 hours heheh! oh well. atleast I came. Aws, I am soo going to miss him when he is gone. *sob* he is the only one that I really got along with. heheh!

2 Year Anniversary

2009-05-28T03:08:00.000-07:00

This month marks the second year we've been in UK! gosh how time flies. Sometimes I feel as if it is moving a bit to fast for my liking but sometimes, it seems to move to slow.

Anyways, just want to reminis back on the last year....

I got a FANTABULOUS JOB! hehehe! Yup Yup .. never in my wildest dreams that I would actually get a job where I am working at now. I have reaped soo many benefits from the job .. its AMAZING!!! This picture was taken during my first interview ...

Then it snowed heavily in April!! Seriously people .. SNOW IN APRIL??? oh well, atleast we did have a good time with the snow.

Shake and Ja went to Italy. After Italy they came over to UK ... OooOoOo we had a good time in London. OooOo such wonderful time we had together!!!

We celebrated our GF/BF anniversary at the Canals. At that time we did not have anyone to take care of Zafier (he has not started school yet) so he tagged along with us.

For Mozard's birthday, we went to the Costa Coffee at the Canals .. hehe come to think of it, we just love the area hehe!

We had a lovely spring time .. Bluebells bloom in our garden ..

Mimi's sister came over to UK ... and Mimi had a beautiful little baby girl ...

My very good friend, cum Mozard's current boss hehehe, Dr. Ghaz came over from Malaysia. Well, we became very close over the years and we've shared alot of good times together, now he's more like a big brother than Mozard's boss heheheh!

I had a very very good friend named Fridrick, who is Icelandic. I think out of all the PhD gang, he was the closest to me and Mozard. We use to hang out alot, have dinner, lunch and other activities hehehe!

I use to invite him for lunch or dinner at my place. Then I also invited Laura to come over. Gosh! Its been a while since she has quit working at my boutique. Really miss her. We use to have loads of laugh together.

Both me and Mozard went to Zafier's first ever sports day! Aws I was a proud mommy that day! Very proud of my little baby.

Yana Choir Performance at the Symphony hall was also another major highlight of the year! I love how my kids have developed. Both of them becoming bigger and bigger by the day ... *sob* one fine day they are both going to leave the house and it'll be just me and Mozard from then on. *sob*

Atleast I have all this fond memories to hold on to. I took munchkins to watch the Scottish blowpipe competition ..

I had to go to London again because this time my Dean came over from Malaysia ... we had a good time. I tell you, I would go to see her anytime, because both me and Mozard feel so indebted to her for giving us this opportunity to study here in UK. I tell you, I am so thankful to be here. If it was not for her, I am not sure if I could come here.

Then my parents came over ..

I took them for a holiday at the Lake District ...

Took my dad to the MU stadium. He is a die die die die die hard fan of MU. Trust me .. his mood is totally dependent on if MU wins or not! My youngest sister use to take full advantage of this mood swing of his. If MU wins, she'd ask him for permission to go out. if not she'd just keep quiet heheheh! Bunch of opportunist .. that's what we all are!

Then we went to Snowdonia and Northern Wales ...

As we were taking gazillion amount of pictures, my camera fell into the water and broke! UUAARRGGHHH!! I was DEVASTATED! My mom had to bring the camera back to Malaysia to have it fixed! UURGGGHH soo angry!! This was the last photo it took ...

Yaya had to post the camera back to us! But it came back a-ok! Somehow, Mozard was not THAT convince. He still thinks that the pictures before it broke was way better than the pictures now :(

My mom has always put Cloth Hall as a destination everytime she comes here! I don't blame her. Cloth hall is BEAUTIFUL! I just love the place. This time around, we went with Mimi and her family.

Since my camera was kaput! we did not take that many pictures *sob* But we still had a great time nevertheless! During that time, we also manage to get free tickets to enter Leeds Castle hehe!

We did not hang out long because we did not get extra ticket for mummy and daddy. And I think my mom was edging to go back home already. So we just walk around the caslte grounds. We did not have time to try out the garden Maze :( .. soo not fun!

Did I ever tell you I love Stratford Upon Avon??!!?? heheh I think I have mentioned it several times already. Well, its highly evident because I think I went there a few times the last year.

This time around, there was a band playing there. Aws it was soo wonderful! I love watching live band. They played swing music, which reminds me of the times when I was in St. Charles, Missouri, USA. St. Charles have live band playing swing music too!

At Stratford, we saw an old couple dancing swing. OMG!! How romantic is that??!!??? I asked Mozard, "kalau dah tua nanti you nari dgn I lagi tak? or you takut nanti org kata kita buang tabiat??" and he said "tak kira lah. Selagi you and me boleh jln, kita dance sampai malam pun boleh" hehehhehe I so want to be like the old couple. Dah tua2 still loving. Dah tua2 still enjoy each other's company. I want that! I really want that!!!

We went to Warwick Castle again this year! I think I am going to go to this castle every year! hehe! Why? I think the whole family just enjoy our time there! Its really a beautiful castle with soo many activities inside. Kids just love it!

Zafier bowled for the very first time last year. He just loved it! Everytime we go to a bowling alley he wants to bowl. Aisyioh! its expensive ok!!! Pengsan I nak bayar!

Then Mozard finally got his scholarship to study at Aston! Alhamdulillah sejuta kali! That was the ultimate blessing EVER!!! I have never felt so grateful ever!!! At least now he is able to study here too. At least we're equal. Ye lah .. we studied together from America, to Malaysia and now to UK! We're always together. I cannot imagine being without him EVER! even for one second! Yeah yeah! I am the Belangkas type!!! So sue me!

Yana's birthday was on the 25th September. We gave her a surprise cake. hehe! she thought we totally forgot about her birthday but we did not. hehe!

Simi let us borrow her little kitty kats. OooooOoOo they were adorable! Absolutely Adorable!!

Then yana went to Laura's party (she told me Laura is not her BFF but her sister now! I guess she needs someone to be her sister. so I just let her say that!) I do hope that they remain close forever! Laura can always come to Malaysia to visit us anytime.

I had my Viva on the FIRST DAY OF RAYA! How sad is that? I felt really bad for Yana and Zafier! sigh! its sooo not right! Hopefully this year hari raya would be more meriah with Mimi's parents here and my other uncle coming over too .. we'll see ..

(that is a picture of me calling my parents telling them that I passed my qualifying viva and now am officially a PHD Research Student!! woo hooo)

That night Addie came over for Raya dinner ...

The next day we visited Saiful ...

Then I went to Bicester with Richard.

Then I celebrated Hari Raya in London with Mimi and family and her work mates hehe!

After waiting for 1 1/2 years. I finally set foot in Paris! J'adore Paris!!!! One of the momentuous times in my life!! Paris was everything that I dreamed off and more!!!

This was the second time I went to Disneyland .. the first one was in Disneyworld Orlando! OooOOoO I love Disneyland. Even when I am 100 years old! I'd still enjoy going to Disneyland. Its a place where dreams come true! Well it is for me!

I still remember the first time I saw the Cinderella Castle in Disneyworld. I was soo at awe! I studied so hard during SPM not to become a doctor or to be whatever professions kids dream to be ... NOT ME!!! I study hard because I wanted to go to America. I don't care what I study so long as I get to go there!!! hehehe! Yeah yeah! Its MENTAL I know! But hey! That's just me.

When I finally get to go .. I was so happy ... I almost cried. And to think that the first time I went to Disneyworld, I went with Mozard! hehe! NO! we were not together then. But we were close then as well. there's 10 of us that went to Disneyworld, but somehow, Mozard, me and Ila was always together. hehe maybe both of us were attracted to each other since then. Come to think of it, Mozard told me that he knew he liked me when we first got to Columbia. Me? heheh It took me a little bit longger to admit that I liked him alot! hehe! Lots of complications then. (long story)

I am so happy that this time around I get to share this experience with Mozard and my beloved munchkins! At least the first time they go to Disneyland its with ME! I am sooo happy!!!

I wish I had more time in Paris ...

But I did not. Mozard had to start his classes and we had to rush back to Birmingham. So we only had 2 days in Paris. I was really sad you know. But never mind .. Mozard promise me that he is going to take me there again and we'd spend more time there.

Ramzan came for a visit from Dublin. We took him around Birmingham, Oxford and Bicester. Heheh he shopped quite a bit too ..

Mozard and Addie organized a surprise birthday party for me ... I tell you ... it was really a wonderful surprise. I am so blessed that I have Addie here too. We get to share lots of time together. Its been years since we've been apart. I am glad that we have this time in UK to forge back our relationship before we go home to the hectic life in KL.

I am a happy woman!!! heheh! I have been soo blessed .. soo blessed that I feel as if I do not deserve anything at all!

Andak came over from Malaysia. It was really great meeting him. I realize how much I miss my family. I miss my family ever soo much. I am glad that Andak is much better off now and I am glad that Zafier and Yana warm up to him and Mak Andak very fast.

Since Fridrick left for Iceland, I have not been hanging out much with the PhD gang. Why? well .. I guess I was just too busy to hang out with them. But Sabah organized a gathering and all of us went. I am glad I went. I have been soo preoccupied with myself that I never really hang out much with them at all.

I miss Fridrick though. Its been so long since he came back here. I miss hanging out and I miss having long chats with him. Sigh! Soon Richard will be going too . .. and there goes another friend ... sigh!

I went to Paris AGAIN ... hehe! This time around I went there with my Mizzou gang! I took a flight!

I tell you .. If you EVER want to travel around Europe ... PLANE is the BEST!!! You get there in No time and you're not as tired! This time around it was just Me and Munchkins. Mozard had to stay behind because he could not get anymore holidays.

I tell you I really miss them all! My Mizzou gang is so much a part of me ... I feel as if they're family rather than friends. Come to think of it, there are many friends I have that I consider more like family rather than friends. All those who really know's me and very close to me. Too many of them to be listed ... you know who you are :D

I regret not staying in Paris longer. But Mozard was getting quite edgy being left alone hehe! Then we meet the Mizzou gang again in London ...

After London, they stayed over in Birmingham ...

and we travelled to Manchester and Liverpool. Mainly because, Shahis is a MU fan and Maje is a Liverpool fan! hehehe! both of them take turns accompanying the other in their football team stadiums.

Aws we had such a good time. Soo much to catch up on. I tell you .. we have been soo busy with our lives that we have no time for each other anymore. Its a shame though. Oh well ... when all our kids grow up and have their own lives, we can catch up back again and pick up where we left off. hehe!

Fridrick came back for a week. That time Lin and Maje came back with us to Birmingham ... So they joined us for our PhD gathering

As Christmas is just around the corner, the schools start creating productions for munchkins .. Both Yana and Zafier performed. AWS I tell you .. I was a proud momma!!! Seing my kids grow soo well. So confident and happy! I am soo happy that they have a good life here as well.

OoooOOoOoo soo many entries to put up. Soo many memories to go through. How I treasure them all. This entry has taken me a good 3 days to finish .. I'm on the fourth day now hehe!

Ika came over for Zafier's birthday celebrations. My little baby is growing up way to fast now. I understand why the last child is always the MOST SPOIT! The parents refuse to let them grow up! If possible they want to keep this last one as their little baby forever! Sigh! No wonder Atul is so spoilt! sigh!!!

The boxing day this year was .. quite eventfull. I had to work on the 26th .. the Selfridges was bombarded with people! Gosh! I have never seen it soo full in my life!

Then on the 12th January, I got a serious athma cum allergy attack. I could not breathe! the near death experience thought me a huge lesson. Life is too short to hold grudges. Life is too short to have hatred in your hearts. Life is too short not to love anyone and everyone as much as you possibly can. It changed my relationship with Mozard. Though we were on the road to recovery from our past relationship traumas ... this event shook us both to the core.

We both realize that we have been holding back alot. Soo much anger and hurt etched in our hearts. We had to let it all go. We have to move on. Though it was a very scary experience, both of us took that experience as a blessing. It is our second chance. Our second chance to rediscover each other. A second chance to find our lost love, to overcome our anger, fears and dissapointment.

I am blessed to be alive. To see my children grow, to experience old age with my beloved boyfriend, husband, bestfriend. To share my life with my beloved family and all my other best-friends. Life is too short. too tooo short.

Marsio left our boutique end of January. Its a shame. I owe him this job! If it was not for him .. I would not have gotten this job. Its a shame that he had to leave. He just love this brand soo much! But he messed up and he had to pay the price. Poor guy! Goes to show that you should not let a little bit of success to go over your head. God can pull back anything that he has given you in a blink of an eye! Nauzubillah!

I still contact him time and time again. Hey! He is my friend after all .. as crazy as he is! I hope things would work out between him and Louise.

Wawie came with Irma the end of January. To greet them, we had 3 inches of snow! Finally, wa get to experience SNOW! heheheh! Happy gila minah tu!

But seriously, she was not the only happy person around. The snow cheered everyone up, including me and Mozard. Munchkins jgn cakap lah! they were running around and refusing to go home. Zafier played snow fight with EVERYONE!! Including Laila (Emma's mom)! Seriously! tak takut langsung!

Such wonderful times we had in the snow!

Then I went to London .. AGAIN .. with just WA! hehe! this time it was a shopping spree trip! Yes! We bought quite a number of things. Some for Wa .. some for others!

We took wa around Birmingham too ..

Wa stayed for two weeks and then she went home. I tell you time flies like ... I dont even know what! Its too fast!!! TOOO FAST!!! It scares me sometimes.

Since Irma's here, both me and Mozard is able to spend more time in school. Trying to finish off this damm Phd of ours. Its hard really. And since both Marsion and Laura have left. I had to do alot more hours. Yes I do get more pay but I am soo bogged down with work, I hardly have time to study. I am struggling here.

Besides, I am worried about Irma being couped up at home alot so I try to take her out every weekend or every other weekend the very least.

I took her to the Gok's Fashion show ..

Took her to Comme Abbey

Took her around Birmingham ...

and that my darlings .. pretty much sums up the past year that I have been here in UK! hehe! Banyak gila! I wonder how you people have the patience to read my junks!! Well, this is more of a syiok sendiri session than anything else!

I am truly blessed to be here. Happy beyond words. I am glad this time around I have this blog to remind me of what wonderful times that I have had. I hope with this blog I will not turn into a bitter old woman who could not find an ounce of happiness unless it is a missery that is inflicted on others.

I hope to grow old .. loved, happy, contented and GRATEFUL! Grateful to Allah, and all my family and friends, and the lives that we share together! AMIN!!!! May our live entertwined perfectly to give us all meaning and fulfillment ... dunia and akhirat! AMIN!

A Day out in the Sun

2009-05-28T03:02:00.000-07:00

Its a beautiful day and the sun is up!! Munchkins have been coup up at home for far too long! their level of boredom is phenomenally high! Sigh! What can I say, they are quite hyper sometimes. Don't blame them though, just look at their mom. Sigh! You reap what you sow.

Anyways, the only other option other than Cannon Hill park is the Bullring. So off we go.

We just walked around outside. Let Zafier run around a little bit more. Get some of the pent up energy out.

The rest of us were just happy to be out in the sun!

Yana is growing up so fast right now. Sigh! I miss the times when she was just a little munchkins. Now she is on the verge of becoming a teenager. Aisyioh .. I wonder how it would be like. Her being a teenager.

She is quite a strong willed person. Determined and stuborn. Sigh! sometimes she took all the strong traits from both me and Mozard ... isk! not really a good combination you know. I worry about her. She is my little baby after all!

I told her she has to be taller than me when we go back to Malaysia in July. I told her .. you're coming back as my sister instead of my daughter. hehehe! She just laughs at that statement of mine. Oh well. I doubt she'd be taller before we go back. I have to make her drink more milk! :P

All in all we had a good day. I wish I did not have to work as much.

Cannon Hill Park

2009-04-28T03:03:00.001-07:00

Another day at the Cannon Hill Park.

Nothing so eventful. Just a beautiful day! I hope the weather last! I hope we'd have a beautiful weather all year round this year!

Zafier is so boisterous now a days! His favorite pass time is "fighting" with his dad. Whenever there's an advert at the TV he would stand up and say "Abah fight!!" hehe! then they would have a 5 min sparing section until the show starts again.

Well, he is kicking and boxing better now. I think I have to send him to tae kuan do one day. Soon I hope. I have to find out where the classes are.

Sigh! I feel so guilty sometimes. I am just soo busy studying, I hardly have time to do anything with them. Not for long periods of time. Susah Susah! Sometimes I worry that my education comes before my kids. Am I a bad mother????

I have to finish this damm PhD FAST!! then I can concentrate on my beloved munchkins. Everything is so far away and I have to run here run there ... I wish we had two cars, it would really help me increase my mobility.

Oh well, I can only do the best that I can under the circumstances that I am in. I hope my kids would turn out to be good people. That is all I could ask for.

Its such a beautiful day... I wish everyday was like this.

Day Out in the Sun

2009-04-28T03:00:00.000-07:00

The rest of us were just happy to be out in the sun!

All in all we had a good day. I wish I did not have to work as much. Sigh! what to do? Have to work to pay off alot of things ... sigh! if only money grows on trees! if only .. if only!

My little Cub

2009-04-28T02:59:00.000-07:00

Yana joined Cub Scouts since last September. Though she was technically suppose to be a Scout by now, but she was adamant to stay in Cubs because both Laura and Emma is in Scouts. Shheessh these kids. They cannot be apart AT ALL!!

Well, whatever makes her happy. Most of the time I indulge her, so long as she keeps me in the loop. Its hard you know .. having kids. They push you to your limits sometimes. But all in all, I try to stay ahead. hehe! Anyways, its good that she is good friends with Emma and Laura. I do agree with their parent's values and its easier for me to mitigate things/situations because I know that the other two's parents would do the same.

Sleepover

2009-04-28T02:56:00.000-07:00

Yana invited Laura and Emma for a Sleepover. OMG .. what havoc they reak in my house! Seriously! They were sleeping in the Hall and I think they slept at 5/6am and there were junk food everywhere and toys everywhere...

These kids does my head in (that's an expression these brits use for causing headache). Well, as long as they had fun .. I guess its OK! Laura and Emma was reluctant to go home. I think if it was up to them, they'd have a 3 day party and still say its not enough!

I am glad that Yana gets the kinds of things that I dream of when I was her age. I am happy that she is happy! I am also happy that her friends are so.. hmm how shall I put it .. good girls? Trust me .. there are some mean girls in her school and I very thankful that she is not friends with them :D

Good thing Zafier is still young. I can't imagine how it would be like having a boy's sleepover! OOooOoOO Scary thought! Girls are much more ... tolerable.

Comme Abbey

2009-04-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful sunday morning. The sun was up and both me and Mozard were to lazy to get out of bed. Sheesh. You would think that such rare occasion to have such a sunny sunday, we'd jump out of bed and get our asses outdoors ASAP, but NO! heheh! bad bad us.

Anyways, after a while, we felt it was a HUGE waste if we did not go out, so we called Saiful and Ika to see what they're doing. Saiful was on his way to the Hams Hall Carboot, whilst Ika was on her way to school, to print some stuff.

Our options were, to go to Bourton on the water (a small english town in Cotswold) or Comme Abbey. Since it was already quite late, 10.30 am, we've decided okies, why dont we meet Saiful at the carboot and go to Comme Abbey.

We left the Carboot at 12. All of us were hungry. Had some lunch and off we go to Comme Abbey. If you're wondering what's the place, its actually a Heritage hotel that has a HUGE park surrounding it. The park is free for everyone to roam around but the rooms is phenomenally expensive!

Maybe one day I'd be able to afford it .. but then again, I doubt I'd waste that much money on a hotel room. No matter how unique it is.

The munchkins were very excited. Good thing all of us brought bikes for them. Zafier and Alicia hopped on their bikes as soon as they got out of the car.

I love the park around Comme Abbey. It different than our very own Cannon Hill Park. This one has more trees, lakes and a better scenery. Maybe in the summer we can do some BBQing! OOooOooO That would be soo much fun!

Thats the mansion behind us, which is now the heritage hotels.

I tell you, its hard getting munchkins to come take pictures with us. All they wanted to do is run around and chase after each other and everything else that's moving. hehe!

Aws just look at them. Soon they'll be too big for anything! Sigh!

We went to the outdoor/outback play area. That's where yana fell last year and hurt herself. Yup! she hurt herself and we had to find a hospital A&E just to have a check up. Good thing she's fine. She's a strong little girl. Just like her mummy. hehe! I am glad that she is very strong. I am quite proud of her :D

I tried climing, but .. I only got so far. heheh I do not have the confidence to climb up with this attire hehe! Besides, I never planned to do any outdoor activities today. Just wanted to let the kids run around, not their mummy :P

Finally, we let the kids run around and play at the kiddies playground. I played with Adina whilst Zafier, Yana and Alicia were playing with Emma. Adina wanted to walk and I indulge her. She is sooo cute!!! I love playing with her. Just love her to bits!!!

Mozard tried to coax her to take a few steps without holding anyone but she refuses! In the end, she rejected Mozard totally! hahahaha! And she's quite presistent too. She just enjoyed walking and walking, even though we were walking in circles.

oooOoo kids that age are the best!! Cutest! Adorable! Squezzeeeable! hehe! I enjoyed every minute of it! I miss the times when both Yana and Zafier was that tiny! I remember their first steps and their first words. OooOOoO how I miss it all!

We went home straight after that. It was such a beautiful sunday! Beautiful indeed!

Gok's Fashion Fix

2009-04-27T10:42:00.000-07:00

One of the perks of working in Selfridges is you're always aware of what's going on in the Bullring. Came to work on Tuesday and there was a stage errected for the Gok's Fashion Fix. Whats that exactly?

Well, its a TV show hosted by this guy called Gok Wan. I am not really much into Brit TV show, so I do not know much about the show. Anyhoo, the whole fashion show was about comparing the High Street clothing/fashion with the High End Designer's clothing/fashion. There will be a competition, where the viewers get to choose which collection they love the most, the High End Designers or High Street Wear.

Since I was working, I could not watch it but it seems like a whole lot of fun. Trust me, you can hear people screaming up to the fourth floor! Really LOUD! Must be fun. So I thought, hmm since I am not working on Thursday, I just might bring Yana and gang to watch the show. Besides, its free! hehe!

Doubt I'd get the chance to watch any other fashion show for free anytime soon! So what the heck right?

So on thursday, I got both Yana and Laura to follow. Emma couldn't follow because she was unwell. Both kiddos were really excited. So, we got the tickets and lined up for about 45 minutes to get in. Trust me, people were lining up an hour before. Sheesh! I didn't know it was such a big thing.

Anyhoo, it was quite crowded. Then while waiting for Gok to come out, all of us were getting very agitated, because it was quite hot. Just as Gok came out, suddenly, Irma fainted! Yes! You guess right! She FAINTED! OMMMMGGGGG!! Seriously havoc. Luckily, there were paremedics on standby, and they whisk her away. I couldn't follow because I had to take care of Yana and Laura. But a few minutes later, she came back all ok! sheesh! SCARY!

The fashion show was quite fun. Really LOUD! Unlike the usual fashion show you see in the TV. heheh! this was way more fun.

Well, I can't really post the pics of the models in this blog just yet. I have to wait till the whole show is aired before I could do so. Oh yes ... did I tell you? We're all going to be on TV.. heheh! What lah! Oh well.. we probably get 5 sec of airshow so I doubt it would be anything to shout about.

But Gok was really over the top! haha! Damm funny guy and the show was really fun! I enjoyed it imensely, munchkins and Irma too. We were screaming at the top of our lungs! hehee!

We went straight home after the show. Laura and Yana was making all sorts of comments and they were so excited at the prospects of going on TV hehe! Kids!!

All in all we had a wonderful time .. and its Free too! heheh! What to do .. I am broke! have to look for interesting FREE stuff at the moment! haha!

Zafier Zotts

2009-04-27T10:40:00.002-07:00

When your down on the dumps .. the only cure is .. pictures and memories of your loved ones. Aws .. just look at my beloved little Zafier Zotts! Gosh! I almost forgot how he looked like when he was so tiny! Now he is all grown up now.

How I miss those wonderful times .. how I miss having him this tiny.

Pictures say a thousand words. Really not in the mood to write much. This is suppose to be a positive blog .. hence, I am not in the mood to write something positive :P

Out of the Box

2009-04-27T10:40:00.001-07:00

Kids and Boxes. If only we adults could enjoy the simplest things in life ... like a box! A box can be anything and everything to a kid, but would only be a worthless stupid box to an adult! When in the world did we loose our capacity to see the wonders the world has to offer?

Its a shame init? Looking back at this picture reminds me of how wonderful it is to be a kid. Everything is new. Everything is novel ... everything is exciting. Now ... years later .. jaded ... I forgot what it was to be a little munchkins myself.

There is soo many things in this world and yet I complain that it is not exciting or new enough for me. How ungrateful and greedy am I!

I miss the times when Zafier is this age. He was soo amazingly adorable, manja, playful and spoilt!! oooOOoOoo and did I mention .. cute?!!??? I just love kids the age of 1-3! They are just too cute to be true. If only I could freeze Zafier at that age ... ooooo what a blessing that would be.

All I have now are pictures, vids and memories. Still I hold it dear to my heart... forever. My world is complete with my family around me. Everything else is just icing on the cake!

Yana and Me

2009-04-27T10:36:00.000-07:00

R.A.L.J.E.

If you guys are wondering what in the world does that stands for ... well its Yana's little club's name. yes. Yana and four of her friends formed a sisterhood club called RALJE. Which is actually an acronym of the members names ..

R = Rowayda (who has gone back to Saudi last year. They still talk alot about Rowayda all the time)
A = Adrieana
L = Laura
J = Joy
E = Emma

hehehe how cute is that? Hmmmm now there's only 4 of them. But I think Joy is not as close to yana as the other two. Mainly because Joy's aunt does not permit her to go to anyone's house unless there is a special occasion (birthday and such). Poor Joy, I bet she often felt left out whenever the other three talks about their playdates.

Which reminded me of my childhood. My dad has always been very strict and very .. hmmm ... protective. I think the only friends house I've ever been to before I went to high school was Nordiana's house. And trust me .. out of 6 years in primary school, I think I've only been to her house 4 times!!

Well, being a parent now, I understand my parents concerns and reasons for being protective. There's far too many dangerous things/people out there. Of course you worry about your beloved children. But I still believe that total seclusion is not the answer. There must be a balance. You cannot deprive your kids totally from their friends.

If you worry about them going out, then chaperoned them ... hehehe of course that would be virtually impossible when they reach teenage years but before then, just let them meet up under your supervision. Besides, that way, hopefully you would be able to get information on what kind of friends they have, and hopefully, you'd be able to steer them away from "bad" friends.

As a parent you will worry your "behind" off about your kids. They are your lifeline. They are everything to you. You just have to instill good values in them and hope that they will take your advice and become better individuals.

Yana is growing up way to fast for me. I try my very best to instill some good in her. My only hope is that she would be a much much much better person than me. Seeing her having the things that I missed out during my childhood makes me happy. At least she gets better things that I do. Then my bloodline will keep improving from one generation to the next.

Sunny Day

2009-04-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

In UK .. a beautiful Sunny day is a RARE occasion. REALLY RARE, especially in the month of February.

When theres sun .. everyone flocks the parks! EVERYONE!!! Including us! hehe! I want to give munchkins some time out in the sun too!

I took out our blades and zafiers bike and off we go to the park. As expected, it took us a good 15 minutes before we're able to park the car... but it was worth it!

As I was rollerblading around the park, I met this old man... on SKATES!! He was GOOD ok! He does alot of moves too! I was telling Mozard "yang .. kalau I dah tua ganyut camni .. I rollerblade dgn you .. you malu tak? nanti org kata kita buang tabiat?" hahahah and he said ... "selagi boleh jalan, selagi boleh rollerblade .. lantak pi org cakap apa!" heheheheh

This is what I love about western countries! They DO NOT lock old people up at home! They don't critisize or judge people for having a good time! They don't call people ... "org tua tak sedar diri!" They don't say .. "BUANG TABIAT!"

At 60 .. insyallah, if I can still walk .. you'd see me rollerblading at lake gardens! hahahahahhahaa! Buang tabiat .. buang tabiat lah! At least I am happy!!!

2009-03-25T03:29:00.000-07:00

NOTE: This happened on the 15th Feb.

Wawie has only a few more days left to go home. So, we save the best for last! hehe! Wawie wanted to get the LV Amarantine Rosewood bag. So, it seems that LV is not going to produce that color anymore and there was only a few bags left in the Birmingham store. So, after having a little bit of lunch, we're off to the Bullring Area.

Besides, Wa still haven't taken pictures near the library and museum area... I think that area is a MUST for those who come to visit Birm.

So people... the paper bag that I am carrying is actually ... EMPTY! bwahahahahhaha! POYO aje lah bawak benda tu all over town! bwahahahahaha! Oh well. At least I got a box! and Thats what matters!

The weather was still quite cold .. UURGGH when is it going to get warmer. I can't wait for the days to be nice and sunny.

Yana was asking me when will they start putting the sand pit at the Library. You see every summer they actually import loads of sand and make some "sand areas" for people. hehehe Pity the UK people. So deprived of beautiful sand, that the sand pit becomes a HUGE attraction for people.

We found out that the Museum closes at 5pm. So, we went inside and let Wa enjoy the architecture. It is a very beautiful museum, even without the antiques, paintings and what nots inside it.

Then we came across the section called HAIR! heheheh To think that the museum actually has a display on Hair? Gosh! Zafier and Yana had the most fun in this area.. even Mozard had a little bit of "hairy action"! hehe!

Its really nice in there! If only we had more time!

Finally, when the museum close, we had to go out. I love this final picture ...

Snow .. D3

2009-02-25T04:39:00.000-08:00

Note: This happened on the 5th Feb

Gosh... time really flies. I am so back logged! So much to say but so little time to do it! Better late than never NO?!?

It was snowing again. We were quite lucky yesterday that it did not snow when we were heading out to Bicester Village. I tell you, I think its really Wa's luck. Imagine, all the snow and suddenly most of the snow conveniently melted on the day that we want to go to Bicester?!? Gila murah rezeki! hehe!

When we woke up today, it was snowing badly AGAIN! Well. I called up Laila and Steph to ask if Laura and Emma could meet us at the Park again. Of course they were excited to play in the snow. So, we had another fun filled day .. out in the park .. in the SNOW!! WAAA HOOOOOOOOO!!!

We borrowed Laura's Sleigh again .. heheh .. I feel like a 11 year old going down the slopes. If only we had more snow. I would have gazillion amount of fun just sliding down the hill.

Snow really brings out the kiddy in me! hehe! Just love it! JUST LOVE IT!!!

Zafier just love the snow fights. He would just pick up the snow and throw it to the next person besides him. Memang funny!! I wish he was a tad bit bigger then we could have invited his friends to come play with us too.

The girls were just preoccupied playing in the little "forest" in the park.. the snow there is deeper because few people goes into the area.

Me and Wa .. well we pretty much spend most of our time taking pictures of munchkins .. hehe! the world is just too beautiful to not capture it on camera!

We went home to for lunch. Hungry as ever. When Mozard got back, we went out to the park again. Munchkins could not resist it. Besides we promise to meet up with laura because she want to follow us home. But it was getting a little bit dark, and our pictures turn out to be a little bit .. BLUE!!! UURRRGGHHH!!!!!!!

I did the best that I could to make the pictures better .. but I failed! I should have taken photoshop classes! Oh well, never mind, Shake .. nanti boleh tolong I fix these pictures tak?? hehehe!

Well, we wanted to take a family picture but Laura was around. So, we just take the picture with her in it. do not want her to feel left out. Besides, she's around alot, she's like my daughter already.

Snow .. D2

2009-02-25T04:37:00.000-08:00

NOTE: This happened on the 3rd Feb.

It snowed more last night... really heavy snow. The school was canceled and I have set a play date at the park with Stephanie and Laila to get the kids playing at the park in the morning.

Then in the evening we went out to the mall. We went to Flannels. hehehe Thats when I saw the Prada bag! And I called around and one of my friends wanted the other bag. So, I end up purchasing two bag hehe!

Then I took Wa to the Cathedral area. It was the first time I saw the place covered with snow. I love Snow! It makes everything more beautiful ...

SNOWWWWWWWWWW

2009-02-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

NOTE: THIS HAPPENED ON THE 020209

The newspaper said that this was one of the worst snowing conditions UK have ever faced since 1991! hehehe Who am I to complain! I JUST LOVE IT!!

It started snowing while I was working yesterday. Only mild snow! Very mild infact!
But when we woke up in the morning .. OOooOOOoOOOo The whole world was COVERED with white puffy snow! OOoOOooOO how glorious! I found out that munchkins still had school, so Yana went to school. Zafier on the other hand, refuses to go to school because he wanted to play with the snow! Tsk! tsk! tsk! Sooo lorat that little boy!

Anyhoo, Wa and Erma sent Yana to school and Zafier procrastinated, hoping that he could have a chance at skipping school. In the end, I relented. OK OK .. no school for Zafier.

After breakfast, all of us bundled up .. REALLY THICK .. and off we go to the park.
On the way, it was still snowing. Too bad I do not have an SLR camera. I would love to capture the snow falling down from the sky! OOoOOoOO how glorious.

Zafier was excited. Running around, picking up as much snow as he could. Throwing it to everyone. Chasing after everyone. I tell you, it was hard to coax him to take pictures with anyone!

It snowed real bad on our way to the park! It was really a wonderful experience!

First, we made a snowman! Gosh! It was not easy. All of use were pushing snow to one place. Hehehe... There was not enough snow to make a big snowman. So we had to go a little bit further to gather the snow for the snowman! Yes yes! I know. You're suppose to roll the snow into a giant ball! But the snow was tooo soft to be rolled! hehe! It was hard work.

Zafier was not much help either! Insted of helping us collect the snow, he just picks it up and throws it at everyone hehe!

In the end, it paid off! WE have a SNOWMAN! hehehe!

After that, we run around chasing each other, taking pictures (mind you .. I regret not taking more! haha!) OOoOOo I wish yana and Mozard were here! I really miss them! It would have been more fun if they were around.

Zafier just love everything about the snow ... EVERYTHING!! His mummy too!! hehe! I felt like I was 12 again! heheh!

After 1/2 hours we had to go home. Too cold, too tired and EXTREMELY hungry! So we went home. After eating lunch, the school called saying that they were closing at 1.30pm. So, we pack our stuff again and off we went to the park AGAIN!

I brought yana all the snow gear and she changed in school.

There were more people at the park this time around. More kids running around, chasing each other and playing with the snow. Emma joined up with her mom (Laila) and sister (Nana .. yeah! they have the name Nana in Denmark! Amazing isnt it? hehe!).

OooOOOOo Laila brought trash bags and claimed that we could use those trash bags as sleigh! heheh! Go figure! Who would have thought that a trash bag could be use to slide down a hill with! hahaha! Interesting. I regret not purchasing a Sleigh when I saw it a year ago! UURRGGHHH!!!

Yana was not happy with the trash bag, so she opted to just slide with her shoes down the slope! It WORKED ok!! Seriously! hehe! She was good at it too!

Everyone just enjoyed the snow tremendously. Yana was playing snow fights with Emma, Zafier was just throwing at whomever that happens to be near him at the moment.

I brought some containers to the park, just in case the munchkins wanted to make a snowman. They made snow-castles instead! hehe! Talk about creative.

Mozard joined us after he finished work. Hehe sampai2 aje dia terus run around chasing everyone! hehehe! It was soo much fun! It reminded us of the times when we were in America! hehehe! Yeah tok man! Memang I nak sangat snow .. its really good I get to see it this year! Massive pulak tu! hehehe! Yeah! We use to have really HEAVY snow when we were in America!

Anyways, Mozard tried to shove me in the snow. hehehe .. silap lah!!! hehe! In the end, both of us were rolling on the ground!

Zafier seeing the spectacle ran over to join us, only to be shoved in the snow by his daddy! hahahaha you should have seen Zafier. He was REALLY pissed!! He came attacking Mozard full blast after that! Full of FURY! hahahaha!

Yana on the other hand was too preoccupied playing with Emma to give us much heed.

Sigh! Playing with the snow ... its soo much fun!! Everyone is a kid in the park! EVERYONE!! Adults loose all composure in the snow!

I think we were out at the park for more than 2 hours! You don't really feel very cold ... mainly because of all the running around you do chasing everyone with a snow ball. Besides, I have spent a good sum of money in WINTER CLOTHING, you see all of us are WELL BUNDLED UP! hehe! So no one was THAT cold really.

I had to go at last because I had to work! Come to think of it, I really REGRET going to work that day! WHY? Because I only end up working for 2 hours and the WHOLE Bullring close early due to severe weather warning! hehe! DAMM!! I could have had more fun in the snow with Mozard around! Oh well...

I am thankful that I got my wish! IT SNOWED BIGTIME!! Very very happy!!! Hehehe .. its funny you know .. when we were in America, they claimed that there was a FREAK snow back in 94 where the snow was a few FEET deep. NOW, in UK .. again there was a FREAK snow here! They hardly have snow deeper than 1 inch in Birmingham!

heheheh I seem to attract FREAKY SNOW CONDITIONS! WAAAAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO ... I LOVE WINTER WONDERLAND!!!!

Canals

2009-02-18T05:57:00.000-08:00

As usual, any guests that comes to Birmingham MUST visit the Canals. It is our main attraction init?

I tell you .. it was FREEZZZINGGG!!! heheh! We did not spend that much time there because of the cold and because the shipping company guy wanted to swing by and get Maje's boxes!

It was a shame really, because I wanted to take them for coffee at the one of the boat restaurants. Well, that would have to postponed till next week.

Wa and Erma Sampai

2009-02-18T05:56:00.000-08:00

For those of you who does not know .. my sister, wawie, landed in Birmingham at 1.30pm!! We have not seen each other close to 2 years now.

Zafier, barely recognize her. He was very timid and shy at first. Refuse to salam her even. I literally had to force him to salam her and Erma, which is my cousin btw.

It was quite cold, so I brought extra jacket for Wa and Erma. Just in case they could not stand the weather.

Went back home, fed them and then .. we went to Selfridges! SERIOUSLY! hahahahah seee shopaholic-ness runs in the family!! Might as well take them out. Wa is only here for 2 weeks, so we really need to optimize init?!

Then I took wa and Erma to where I worked and there they met Louise and Sumitra.

Erma was very tired but Wa was still very hyper. hehehe THAT too runs in the family. We call it, mengelenjit! hahahahhahah!! After we got home, had dinner .. those two went straight to bed. Must be really exhausting time for them, but HEY! isnt that what travelling is all about?

2008-12-22T04:18:00.000-08:00

We drove all the way to Manchester for Mozard to have a Jam session! Its the furthest we had to go for a Jamming session. Khai (Ita's hubbkins) was kind enough to set a Jam session for Mozard. Mozard was really excited! Trust me.. I bet he even dreamt about it hahahah!

We reached Manchester quite late, around 3 something. Then, we were told that there was a bowling competition and its held at one of the biggest shopping complex in Manchester. Heheheh they said the magic word to me ... "shopping complex" ... how could I possibly resist! ahahahha!

OOooOOOoOOooO It reminded me of Sunway Lagoon Mall! OooOOoOO now THATs a MALL!!! The Bullring is just some small pasar malam to be honest! heheheh!

Our first stop was the bowling alley. Zafier could not resist it! he was nagging and nagging to play bowling. So, while waiting for the other Malaysians to come, we allowed Zafier to play one game.

Thank goodness Yana does not want to play. Its expensive ok. 5 quid per game. Anyhoo, Zafier enjoyed himself.

I tell you, they make everything accessible to kiddies now. They are finding ingeneous ways to squeze every single penny out of your pocket.

Zafier's game ended abit too soon, mainly because he was playing alone. After the game, we went to have some coffee... much needed coffeeee!!!!! heheh! I was soo tired, nothing like a bit of coffee to get me up and running again.

Then we split up. The men went bowling and the ladies went shopping.

Once the bowling session was over, there was a prize giving session. Mozard actually won something! hehehe! who would have thought! And to think that he actually gatecrashed the event! heheheh! Oh well.

After that we head straight back to Ita house.

Zafier's Performance ... D2

2008-12-22T04:16:00.000-08:00

The school made the kids perform twice. I, being the kiasu mother that I am, bought tickets for both shows. Seriously, if there were 10 shows, I'd go to each and every one of them!

Anyhoo, I messed up! Yes! Sheesh. I actually ran out of batteries. I brought an extra battery but I did not realize that that particular battery is also KAPUT!! UUURRGGGHHHH!!! I am so angry and dissapointed with myself. I am becoming totally incapable of thinking ahead and planning anymore.

Despite the battery problems, I manage to save just enough juice to capture a little bit of Zafier's performance. So ... here it is ... my beautiful baby angel!

Aws, any mother is proud beyond words! My little baby is growing up! OooOOOooOO How I am going to miss these days of my life! Thank god for this blog to help me remember the wonderful things in my life!

Zafier's Performance

2008-12-22T04:15:00.000-08:00

OOoOOooOOOoOO My Little Angle. Literally!!! Zafier acted as a little angle for this year's production. Aws, watching your kid perform ... its magical!

I came early to ensure that I get good seats but I tell you when it comes to children, its never early enough. Some parents came in two's so one could wait at the line and the other could send their children to class. Unfortunately for me, Mozard could not make it! *sob* Yup! he has NO holiday allocations left! That sucks!!! Seriously!

So, despite the fact that I was rather early, I was still at the back of the line. Luckily, I was able to stand on the side. Hence, allows me to get the pretty pictures of my little angel.

Heheheh check it out. He is in white tights! hahaha! I tell you I am SOOO going to put up picture of him as an angel when he gets married! hehehe! I wonder if he would be embarrass by it or not?!? I hope so though, ehhheheheh then I would have a fun time teasing him about it.

He looks soo much like Yana. Its Amazing! Sometimes, he looks like my brother Helmi too!

Looking at his happy face waving at me ... one of the happiest moments of my life! Absolutely priceless!!! I am so glad that I have the opportunity to watch him perform. I really pity Mozard for not being able to watch this real life. I think its a big sacrifice on his part! Seriously!

I think the teachers did a wonderful job, with the decor, the training and rehearsals. The kids did a wonderful job. They looked so cute up there on the stage. Not a fear in the world. Totally comfortable.

Then, Zafier's turn to perform came.

sigh!! If you're wondering why the first two vids were only a few seconds ... its because I am a FREAKING BIMBO!!! UUURRRGGHHH!!! I tell you ... I got so excited I did not realize that it was only 1 or 2 seconds! can you believe it! UUURRGGGHHHH!!! I feel like shooting myself. Luckily, I manage to tape the second half of his performance.

The other kids performed very well too init?? hehe!

After the performance was over. The head teacher did not allow us to be with our kids! I think thats a little unfair! this is the time for us to give them hugs and congratulate them! Uuurrgghhh! I tell you that head teacher is running the school like she is running an army camp!

I still waited around outside, in the hopes of catching a glimpse of Zafier again! hehe!

Isn't he ADORABLE!!! hehehe! OooOOooOO He is growing up way to fast! WAY TO FAST!!!! I wish I could keep him as the tiny little ball that he use to be. *sob* I can see why some parents tend to spoil their kids rotten, especially the youngest. They're hoping that the last one will not grow up so fast! Sigh!!!!

I had a wonderful day! Nothing could wipe out the smile off my face!

Liverpool and Manchester

2008-12-22T04:11:00.000-08:00

The next day was Manchester! hehe! This time around, shahis wanted to go to Old Trafford. I have called Ita to inform her that we would be coming to Manchester.

Since we still have some time, we've decided to take a short detour to Liverpool City. Just to go to the DOCKS and take some photos and be more tourist rather than shopaholics!!! hehe

We were there for only 1 hour! yup! unfortunately that is the only time we have got left.

Heheh we manage to take that much pictures in one hour! hahaha! When we're at old trafford, we've decided to go to Manchester City while shahis and maje went on the tour. Unfortunately, the city was CONGESTED! We could hardly find any parking, so we had to go back to Old Trafford.

Ita and Khairul came after the tour was over. Khairul is an MU FC so, he got 10% off any items bought in the store! hehe! suka lah si Shahis. Maje on the other hand, banned his family members from purchasing any thing in the MU store! hahaha! talk about fanatic :P

Next, we went to TK MAX! Yup! MORE SHOPPING! haha who would have tought that lin, maje, faiz and shahis are soo into shopping! Mozard and Khairul went to a HUGE guitar shop. Mozard wanted to purchase a practice AMP! yup! I think its about time he has one. Kesian dia lama tak lepas gian! hehe

In TK Max .. Kids made camp in the store while the adults went abouts doing their shopping!

There was also a German Market at Manchester. So, we've decided to just take a short look at it. Heck! We're already in Manchester, migth as well look around hehe!

There was a Manchester Eye. Wow! I tell you, Manchester is way more happening than Birmingham! Birm is soo dull compared to Manchester.

After making all the rounds, we went to Ita's house.

Ita served us with delicious dinner! Trust me! All of us were STARVING!! macam phirana aje makan all her food! Thanks Ita! It was DELICIOUS!!!

Mozard had a chance to test out his new amp. Jam a little with Khairul! hehe! I tell you lepas jugak gian hubkins I tu! haha! I think he really enjoyed himself. Now, he is contemplating of exchanging the one he just bought for a slighter bigger one. It was a small amount to add to get a much bigger one. To be honest, I think the bigger one was more value for money. Besides, he already has TWO amps in Malaysia with the same voltage. Might as well he get something slightly bigger. hehe!

We went home quite late too. I think it was 10 something .. close to 11! Thank you for the warm hospitality Ita :D

Liverpool

2008-12-22T04:09:00.000-08:00

All of us woke up rather late .. too tired yesterday! After eating some breakfast, we shoot of to Liverpool. Maje has a Stadium tour booking at 3pm. Anyways, since NONE of us ladies are into footie .. and of course Mozard is not a footie fan himself, we've decided to go to Cheshire Oaks Factory Outlet.

We got there around 1pm (I told you we were late!). Maje, Shahis and Mozard manage to go to only one shop, Clarks, before they have to shoot of to Anfield Stadium. Mozard had to follow to make sure that Maje and Shahis do not get lost in Liverpool. That town is crazy!! Small streets and one way streets everywhere!! Even with the sat nav you'd get lost!

Then, us ladies continues our quest for cheap things!!!!

I got a MASSIVE BARGAIN!! I went to Next at the very last minute. I think 10 minutes before 7pm. Then I saw the boots. I have been looking for a Gray boots for a LONG LONG TIME! Mind you .. I have very big calves. Its hard for me to find high boots. When I found a nice suede Gray boots that fits my calves .. apa lagi!! The price on the shoes was 25 quid! I say "oklah!! beli ajelah!!!"

When I went to the counter, as I took out my card, the girl at the counter said "that'll be 2 quid" I was like "WHAT??" she said "2 quid!" I was totally shocked! I said "seriously??!!!" then I told her to Hold because I wanted to grab one more for lin. Unfortunately, the only sizes left were 7 and 8! Just not lin's luck.

So, I got a 2 quid high boots!! WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Then, when the guys came back, they shopped as well. Unfortunately, the shops closed at 7pm!! trust me that is NOT ENOUGH!!

We all slept at Travelodge. Anyhoo, shahis and faiz shared a room with us! I tell you it felt like old times. all of us sneaking in into a motel! bwahahahah Seriously!! it brought back a lot of memories.

That night we chat till 1am. How nice was that. Even shahis admitted, amongst all his friends, the Columbia gang was the ones that he felt the most closest with! It is true. We're more like family than friends :D

London with Lin

2008-12-22T04:07:00.000-08:00

Meet up with Faiz at the Shepperd's Bush Central Line Station. Then we went to oxford street. Faiz went to Primak while we had some breakfast. While having breakfast, lin called. Maje wanted to find the Isac Newton's tomb. Someone told him it was at the St. Paul's Cathedral. So, we set up to meet there.

Faiz did not follow us because she was still stuck at the long long que in Primak. hehe! I tell you that place, I doubt anyone would be able to get out of it alive!! hahah! Seriously, everything is DIRT cheap! the only problem with that place is that theres very little clothes in size 6!!! UUUUUUUUURRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHH I could hardly find anything in there that I could fit in. So, I give up shopping there :P

So, while waiting for Lin, we had some more coffee. I am soo addicted to coffee right now. sooo not good!

When Lin finally arrived (they arrived late cause they stopped at H&M and Maje found a nice jacket!) we were already at the cathedral. Then, she did not bring Myra and Ezra with her. Yana and Zafier was so dissapointed. Poor babies.

In the cathedral we found out that the Isac Newton tomb was NOT there! gosh! what a dissapointment. We went over to the information counter and they told us that the location of the tomb was actually inside the Westminster Abbey. Hmmm did the Da Vinci Code showed the tomb in the Westminster Abbey??????????? hhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmm I need to watch that movie again now! hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Then, we had to go back to Lin's apartment to get Myra and Ezra.

I have not met Lin's mom in a long time. So, we sat down and chat for a little while. Then, we had to help her mom to rent a car, so we got stuck there a little bit longer than we expected. Faiz gave up waiting for us at Oxford street so she went back to the hotel.

After that we meet up back again at the Oxford street. Lin wanted to purchase an LV bag for her friend. We meet up with Shahis and Faiz at Bond Street. Unfortunately, due to time contraint, Mozard and Maje could not follow us shopping because they needed to get the car rental from the shop. Soooo sad!! I always enjoy having Mozard around whenver I shop.

Anyhoo, after that, we meet up again with Mozard and Maje. Lin did more shopping at H&M and then we went to Selfridges. At Selfridges Shahis purchase a Samsonite bag for dirt cheap price! Total Utter Enviousness!!! Really nice bag too .. Carbon Graphite ok!!! damm cool!

After a tiring day of shopping, I went back with shahis, coz he needed to use my sat nav to meet up with the rest, while mozard went with Maje and lin.

After all the packing and what not, we left London at 12 am!! Yup!! 12 AM!!! Gosh!

As we were driving, Mozard realize that Maje was already driving very2 slow. He was sleepy. hehe! all the walking around is very exausting ok! We end up stopping at the service area. All of us slept for a while. I woke up 20 minutes later. I asked Mozard to wake Maje up but he said "Shahis is still sleeping, 5 more minutes". In the end we slept for another 20 minutes. When I woke up, I asked Mozard to wake Shahis first then Maje. hehehe if not, we'd end up sleeping there the whole night.

We reached Birmingham at 3.30am. Sleept and in the morning we're off to Liverpool.

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

2008-12-22T04:03:00.000-08:00

We went to London a day after we got back from Paris. We reached London quite late because there was a terrible traffic jam. So it seems a Garden Rubbish truck overturned and spread all the branches and leaves were all over the highway. GREAT init??

Anyhoo, Joe bought Wii. Mozard also "tompang" happy and decided to purchase the controller and nunchuck .. whatever you call it lah. Mainly because we're going to purchase a wii anyways, might as well invest in one now! hehe!

Zafier and Yana had sooo much fun... Mozard too!! Me? I am not much of a gamer. But I did find the bowling game nice! hehe!!

Zafier and Yana now wants wii! I told them that they have to study hard to get one and we will purchase one when we get back to Malaysia.

Paris with Friends

2008-12-22T03:57:00.000-08:00

NOTE: Brace yourselves .. this is a long entry with Gazillion pictures! hahaha!

Gosh. I have been soo busy lately that I hardly have time to blog! How wonderful is that???? Absolutely FANTABULOUS!! Besides, I think I am still trying to recover from all the traveling haha! Yes! I am old!!! I do not have as much stamina as I use to.

Anyhoo, I went to Paris. Yup! only me, zafier and yana! Just the three of us! Mozard could not go because he has no holidays left. Poor baby. So, off we go on a flight to Paris. OOooooOOOOooOO I was so excited. I was going to spend time with Lin, Maje and Faiz. They are my University friends back in the States. Actually, they are more than friends, they're like my extended family already.

All of us were very close in America coz there was only 40 (Average) Malays there. Malaysians probably around 100 (I think). So, we went through alot of good times and bad times together. Lin was my housemate for a year, which made her even more closer to me than the others. OOooOOOoo Soooo many wonderful memories. I think once a while I should reflect back on those wonderful times.

Back to Paris, it was quite difficult for me to handle munchkins alone! SERIOUSLY! you would think that both yana and zafier are all grown up now but to be honest they are still little kids. Zafier still thinks he is 3 .. still sits on the prem, insist on NOT walking. I have to push and carry the pram all over Paris before we finally meet up with the rest of the gang (they took the eurorail so they were far away).

I had to take 1 hour bus to Paris, lugg all the bags, pram and kids all the way. Go up and down the tube (I have to change station once ... thank goodness for that). Mind you, the tube are NOT pram and child friendly. All steps and no LIFTS!!!

I had to go to Gare Du Nord Train station. The station was HUGE!!! Many floors and many train tracks. It took us 1/2 to find each other... well maybe 20 minutes. By the time we found each other, everyone was already exausted. The first thing to do was to eat.

Then we went to the hotel to put our stuff. The rooms was huge! Actually we should have just taken one room .. all of us! Coz It would have fit all of us just fine! But nah! I tompang Faiz .. so Thank you FAIZ!!! hehe!

Next, we decided to go to Notra Damme. On the way, I saw these police man .. OOooooOO check it out! They're on blades!! damm cool ok!

Anyhoo, Yana and Zafier warmed up to Myra and Ezra (Lin and Maje's kids .. Faiz left her kids behind) very fast. I still remember Lin wispering to me "camne ni nana, our kids tak warm up lagi pun?" at the train station. Yana and Myra got along well after we had lunch. Zafier and Ezra follow suit soon after.

Yana and Myra was busy singing songs from High School Musicals. Sigh!! What strong influence is that program on these kids.

Notre Damme was majestic as usual.

Maje was interested in going inside Notre Damme. Hmmm Usually in London you have to pay for EVERY attraction. But Notre Damme was Free!! Seriously!!! So we entered! Hmmm I was quite nervous coz I brought Zafier and he is still quite young. So, before we entered, I read Ayat Kursi ... just in case! Maybe I am abit paranoid but better safe than sorry!

There were HUGE Renaissance paintings on the walls! OOooOOo how exquisite. The architectures is splendid.

Next stop .. LOUVE!!! We had to take the train. You should see Zafier and Ezra .. soo cute together! They look so alike .. its funny! Both of them cakap pelat! haha! Soo cute!!

Louve at night .. OMG!!! Totally enchanting. I think it is BY FAR the MOST romantic place in Paris at NIGHT! Totally! the lights .. the ambiance .. the magnificence. Totally undescribable. I could spend forever there! Just suck in the beauty and awe of the place.

I regret forgetting to bring my Tripod!! UUURRRGGGHHHH! Most of the pictures are blurred. Sob!! I really regret this!!!

All the kids were having fun just running around, singing and just enjoying the moment! The adults were busy taking pictures! haha! Once a while, we manage to coerce the kids to stay put and take pictures for a while! hehehe! I think it would be nice if Faiz had her kids along. It would really be very .. MERIAH!

Even on the train, the kids were busy playing. Not minding anyone around them at all!

When we arrived at Eiffel Tower, it started to rain a little bit. The wind was very very cold. All of us were shivering. hehe! I think it was 0 degrees then. But the kids, with all their running about, must have felt warmer than us adults.

OOOoOOOOoOOO beautiful! We had to hike up the hill to go to the other spot to take the full heigh of the Eiffle tower. Lin was already freezing! She could barely walk already ...

We could barely walk after that! I was really tired. Having to lug the bags and stroller all alone before I met up with the rest of the gang really took a toll on me. I ni biasalah! Bila adrenaline kick in to tak rasa penat.. at the end of the day .. baru lah rasa macam nak mati! hahaha!

Kids continued having fun even in the hotel! Goes to show, its us adults yang sibuk nak see this and that! Kids! They just enjoy every single moment that they have.

That night, us girls had a long long talk!! OOooOOOOOooOO it was just like old times! All of us were talking about soo many things ... gosh! there's just soo much to catch up on! how long has it been? gosh! time really flies. We end up sleeping at 2.30am! haha!

The next morning, I had to go back. I really regret just taking ONE day! I should have taken two days! WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!! Really regret it!

We woke up abit late.. and all of us sudden I had to RUSH all across paris to catch the flight! GOD!! it was TERRIBLE!!! the train was full .. jamm packed! Poor Zafier was SQUISHED!! then we had to wait for the train for 20 minutes!!! I was afraid that we were going to miss the flight already. MENTAL! I almost cried!!! But I do not want to show my weakneeses infront of my kids! I want them to learn the strength to go through problems without having to breakdown!!!

I tell you.. this teaches kids some good values you know. How to plan ahead, how to go through life without complaining, how life throws problems after problems and you just have to push on ahead. Its amazing what travelling does to a person. It creates resilience, determination, perserverance, stamina and a whole lot of things.

I tell you we got to the airport 45 minutes before the plane took of! the counter had 5 more minutes before it closes! Alhamdullillah!!! Thank goodness Zafier had a good sleep yesterday, so he was not THAT grumpy as the first day! When I got on the plane, I felt soo drained! All I could think of was Alhamdullillah! thats all!!!

Zafier and yana enjoyed the plane ride. ME? I SLEPT!! TIRED as hell! all the running with the bags and the stroller was too much for this 34 year old! hahah!

We arrived in EMA (East Midlands Airport) early! While waiting for the crew member to take out the prem for Zafier, we manage to take some pictures with the Plane. Zafier was soo happy!! HE LLOOOOVVVEEESSS Planes!!! hehe!

We had to wait an Hour for Mozard to come fetch us! hehe! He was NOT happy being left alone! hehehe! He gave all of us a HUGE HUG when he saw us! cian dia! Then he said "you are banned from leaving me alone ever again!!!" with a huge pout!!!

Mengada betul! Its not like I was gone forever you know! When we first got married, I had to do events outstation, he didn't even bothered to follow. Now he has changed alot really... which I like!!! hehe! I like it that he is no longer soo independent! hehehe! Anyways, all of us pengsan after that!! We need to collect as much energy as possible because tomorrow we're off to LONDON!! Yup! we're going to meet them in London too!

Home-made Play Doh!

2008-12-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

My beloved munchkins ... MASTERS OF MESS-CHIEFS! hehehehehehehehhe ... they wanted to experiment in making doh! They made it alright ... along with a host of other mess for me to clean up. NOT!! I made them clean as much as they possibly could! hehe!

2008-12-22T03:53:00.000-08:00

We finally had a little bit of sun .. after days of gloomy days.. it was a sight for sore eyes!!! So, we packed the munchkins up and off we go. Our actual plan was to watch the new James Bond movie. Then we came across these beautiful scenery .. trees in all shades of yellow, orange, gold, brown and a bunch of other hues in between.

So, we stopped and took gazillion amount of pictures!

Zafier was soo happy! he just love every opportunity to run around! Yana enjoyed herself too .. they both got themselves a long stick and start hitting the branches so that all the leaves would fall!

OoooOOOooOOoo What a beautiful day!!! Its really refreshing to see the sun! Yes! I talk like some mad woman! But try living in a country where you only see the sun .. Once a WEEK!! And that my dear friends .. is NOT an exageration!

We did not stay long. We had to rush to watch the movie!

Ahhh all these few little moments of stress free times ... If only I do not have to study so hard here. Life would be ALOT better! hehehe

Yana and Zafier refuse to go home! hehe! they were enjoying themselves hitting the branches. Children .. they enjoy such simple pleasures.. what have we become once we're much much older!

I think I need to chill and relax and enjoy the more simpler things in life! Sigh! if only! hahah! I have evolve to become such a complex person ... sometimes I wonder .. am I still able to enjoy the simple pleasures of watching the autumn leaves falling! The beautiful hues of nature ... the light of sunlight in my children's eyes.

Alhamdulillah for all the wonders in this world. Alhamdulillah for giving me the opportunity to experience such wonders!

London with Andak ... D2

2008-12-22T03:52:00.000-08:00

Woke up early .. well not that early... Andak had the whole day planned out. We were going to take the bus to tour around London, then have lunch at Mimi's house and finally, go to TK Max at Hammersmith.

Andak wanted to take the bus, we prefer the buses too coz that would minimize us going up and down the steps. Mind you, London tube is not conducive for strollers. London had made a new map that shows tourist the bus routes. Really cool map too .. it looks like the tube map. Its about time really, most people enjoy the bus ride. Especially tourist. It allows us to see the city as oppose to the dark underground tube (I am exagerating here! heehe)

Our first stop ... BIG BEN! Gosh! I tell you .. the awe of this place .. been here numerous times, still like it!

We spend some time there .. taking pictures. hehe! Andak turned out to be quite a pictureholic too! heheheh! I guess vanity runs in the family! what kan I say .. Keturunan Tok Seh! hahahaha!

Zafier, just took the time running around the place. Damm UK weather. It was gloomy most of the time and it rained most of the time. Plus .. it was rather cold!

Then we walk towards the Westminster Abbey. That was the first time I entered the grounds. hehe!

Then we took the bus to Trafagal Square. It was so cold, there was no piegons there AT ALL! hehe! I hate gloomy weather! The pictures dont turn out so good :(

Then we walked to Buckingham Palace. I love the walk .. the trees and buildings around you .. really nice. Zafier was just happy being free to run about. Mak Andak was quite impressed with munchkins. They did not complain and moan or groan. They just follow us around, run around whenever they have the opportunity. Quite easy to manage. Which is true really. They hardly fuss much. So long as we brought food for them, let them run around a little bit, sometime bribe them with some little toys and viola!! they are OK! haha! Alhamdulillah!

Its rememberance day soon. So, there was alot of poppie flower everywhere... NOT the REAL one though .. heheehehehhe .. though that would be quite .. interesting! haahahhaha! We had to purchase some poppie flower to take pictures with the guards! haha! who say anything is free in UK!

Andak was quite surprise by the distance. We're quite use to walking already .. so we hardly felt the distance. Besides, he did not think that he was going to do much walking, so he just brought his office shoes. OUCH! office shoes are NOT meant for walking I tell you hehe!

After taking enough pictures, we went to Blackwell bookstore near oxford street. There we spent quite some time, Yana bought a book .. (I tell you .. I never travel without having to bribe yana and zafier one way or another!) and Mozard bought two book .. on his guitar fixing thinggi. He just loves to meddle with his guitar! I tell you one of these days he might as well take proper guitar fixing (he called it .. guitar luthering) class and get a certificate. Atleast he could make some money when we get back hehe!

Andak purchase a WHOLE bunch of books! REALLY ALOT!! he loves to read. I wish I read that extensively though hehe! Well maybe I have hhahahah! Then we're of to Mimi's house for a rather LATE lunch ... i think that was near 4 pm. hehe!

I just love having alot of people around me. OooOOOo makes me feel less lonely! Back in Malaysia, my mom use to have family gathering ALL THE TIME!!! BIG Family gathering!! I miss that alot really! Can't wait to go back home and meet everyone :D

The next stop was TK Max!!! hehe! andak was looking for bargains! In the end, our purchases were ... two boots .. one for me and another one for yana. Mozard purchase a Nike T-shirt and nothing for Zafier zotts! hehe! Andak on the other hand, purchase TWO pairs of shoes hahahahha! Mak Andak got a pair of jeans! hehe! Sorry peeps.. no pics .. I forgot to take pics of Andaks purchases. Mine .. maybe I'll update it later. Just a simple boots really .. something warm and comfy to wear during winter time.

Back at the apartment, Zafier was still "bodeking" andak for his blackberry. WORST .. now he is forcing andak to PLAY for him! hahahah! the game was too difficult so Zafier made andak play and he would watch. I tell you .. my son .. is just as demanding and bossy as his mother! hahahahah

Andak commented that he expected Zafier to be alot bigger than he is! I think he compared Zafier with Yana (who is currently going through MAJOR Growth Spurt), and I don't think its fair! Boys grow more slowly than girl before 10! I am sure he'll shoot up soon! Soon, when we get back .. yana would be my height! woo hoooooooooo!! then she can be my sister instead of my daughter! hahahhahahah!!!

London with Andak ... D1

2008-12-22T03:43:00.000-08:00

One of my uncle, Andak, came to London on a business trip. He was appointed as the CEO of one of Tabung Haji Subsidiary and he's here to visit some universities. So, as usual, we're off to London again. This time around, Andak manage to get an apartment so we're staying with Andak instead of with Mimi. We were suppose to meet Andak earlier coz he wanted to go into Madam Tusou .. but we were late and there was a bit of a jam.

Anyways, since we were late, we end up meeting andak at his apartment. Zafier and Yana was a bit shy in the begining, especially Zafier. But when Andak took out his Blackberry .. Zafier was hook line and sinker! hahaha! I tell you .. budak tu mamat gadget ok! Besides, since Zafier was very young, Andak have always bribed him with his blackberry! haha! I guess Zafier must have remembered that!

Even yana was fascinated.

My cousin, Lyana flew down from Poland yesterday to meet with andak... I tell you .. its really nice meeting Andak, mak andak and lyana again! Being so far away from family ... its nice to meet them again!

Gosh time flies, there was soo many things that we have missed out. Soo much to talk about ...

Its nice to see Yana and Zafier warming up to everyone. I don't think they would feel very ackward when they go back to Malaysia. Zafier warms up to andak very fast. So I am sure that he will do the same for the rest of his "atuks" hehe! Plus, Yaya was soo worried that Zafier would ignore her .. I doubt that would happen. hehe! He seems to be ok .. janji you're able to bribe him with something for him to warm up! hahahahahahha ..

yeah yeah! I have a little spoil brat in my hands right now! what to do! I only have 2 kids! Its my DUTY to spoil them! hahah!

Birmingham with Ramzan

2008-12-22T03:41:00.000-08:00

I had to WORK on sunday!! UUURRGGGH!! I hate it! seriously! Sundays are for FAMILY! NOT WORK!!! Anyways, poor Ramzan, we woke up rather late, so we did not have time to go to the Carboot sale.

So, they sent me to work and they went to Aston! Ramzan wanted to take pictures of Aston U!

Anyways, munchkins had fun running around ... as usual!

After Aston, they drop by at Dior and we had tea together ..

After a long day at work .. we took Ramzan to the Canals. I think everyone who comes here has to go to the Canals .. its all we've got hahahah! Nah! Not really but still it is one of the nicest attractions we've got!

Bicester and Oxford with Ramzan

2008-12-22T03:35:00.000-08:00

Ramzan was one of our MBA friends back in UM. Now he is doing his PhD in Engineering (not sure which one .. civil maybe) in U of Belfast, Ireland. He came over to visit us and stayed over the weekend. Since, I've already made plans with Mimi to meet up in Bicester, we've decided to drag Ramzan along with us to Bicester. Wan yang (mimi's mom) is going to go back to Malaysia soon, so she wants to do some last minute shopping.

Munchkins as usual, dok run around Bicester as if it is a huge playground! sigh! theres nothing I can do about it. Atleast when they go shopping with me .. they don't ask to go home! haha! thats good enough for me :D Yana is always very fascinated with babies, so she would play with baby Arianna as much as she could.

Check out the other stroller behind Zafier.. those bags belong to Mimi and co!! hahah Now THATS shopping!!! hehehe! Ayah lang ended up with 5 polo shirts, Wan yang bought 2 DKNY bags, and there were ALOT of Clark shoes!! hehe! I don't know who's though.. I think some were Mimi's and others Wan yang.

Then we met a few of Mimi and Jo's friends. Lepaq kejap to chat with them.....

Yana .. being 10 .. still wants to play at the playground. Hmmm maybe its her height! I tend to think of her as a teenager rather than a little kid. I guess I should let her be a kid for one more year before she goes from kid to tweens!

Then, after we left Bicester, we've decided to take Ramzan to Oxford. But it was getting abit late and it was gettin dark quite fast! So, we had to rush around Oxford. Ramzan was looking for something that SAY's Oxford so we decided to go to the Oxford Castle.

Its close to Haloween... so I guess they have so deco's out... Yana and Zafier were soo fascinate with this ...... hmmmmm what do you call this????? hhhmmmmmmmm I forgot.

Then we took a short walk around the town, which is a good size town too. Just to let Ramzan get a feel of the place.

It was really getting very cold. BBBBRRRRRRRRR .. Yana had her whole face covered with the scarf! Mengada .. if you ask me! hehe! She can be such a Drama queen sometimes. Sigh! Zafier on the other hand .. Kulit buaya (croc skin)! I think out of all of us, he is the most tolerant to the cold!

Raya in London

2008-10-20T06:59:00.001-07:00

2nd Day of Raya

2008-10-20T06:57:00.000-07:00

2nd day of raya! Hmmmm ... woke up in the morning and we had to rush to Aston. I had another appointment with my viva examiner. After that we went to Saiful's house. It was soo nice ... dapat jugaklah the "feel" of Raya for a little while.

But we could not stay long, coz tonight, we've invited a few people to come over for Raya. We invited Zul (Mozard's office mate), Lin (munchkin's baby sitter) and Saiful. Lin brought 4 other friends, Zul brought 1 friend and Saiful and Noreen and 2 little muchkins. Meriah jugaklah that night! I loved it! It was a small enough group that I have time to talk to everyone and not too much of a burden to cook something for them :D hehe!

Nevertheless, I was still too busy to take pictures of the undergrads (Lin and co), coz they left rather abruptly after the arrival of Saiful. Sigh! oh well... some other time I guess :D

Seriously, I don't know how some people are able to manage cooking for soooo many people! Me? I don't think I could do that! I'd go mental cooking for people! Did I mention I HATE TO COOK!!! Yes! But then, that does not mean that I can't cook ... just Hate it!!! Sigh! I am soo not the domesticated kind! Sigh!!

1st day of Raya

2008-10-20T06:53:00.001-07:00

This was really an unusual Hari Raya for me!! Seriously!! Woke up in the morning, instead of eating Rendang we all had our usual breakfast, breads! Then got everyone ready for school and I had to go to school to! Its my viva day today!

Alhamdulillah I passed!! With corrections .. but that's ok! From what I heard, the Aston group almost NEVER pass anyone without corrections. I don't mind just being the average PhD student :D janji pass!

After that I straight away called my parents! Yup! tell them the wonderful news and to wish them Selamat Hari Raya! Its soo sad that we're soo far away. Its soo sad that I have to do all this!!

Yana went to Laura's house today. Atleast that would keep her mind occupied and off the raya blues! Atleast she is having fun! Zafier lah kesian. Good thing he is still young and still does not understand the meaning of Raya yet! I know I have to pull my act together next year and make it up to all of them! I have a lot of catching up to do! its daunting really.

Then when we got home, the package that Yaya sent has reached us! Another Alhamdulillah! Inside it was all our photos! Well CDs of our photos! What a wonderful Raya gift!

We got a toaster too! hahaha! yup! Yaya posted an oven toaster for us! HEY!! There is NO oven toaster here in UK! trust me I have looked everywhere!!!

That night, Addie came! Yup! we had to speed cook coz my Viva ended rather late and I had to call Addie to tell her to come an hour later! hehe! Pening pening!!! hhaha! Nasib baik both me and Mozard are fast chefs! hahahah!!

Addie brought her birthday cake along. OOoooOOOooOOO It was beautiful! mind you thats not ordinary icing on that cake ....... its WHITE CHOCLATE!!!!!!!!!!!! OOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooo sooo the sedap but soo the manis! hahahah! I think both me and mozard were sugar high that night! hahahahahhahaha!! It was a cake from Selfridges!! Amir bought it for her! (mahal you know!! hehe)

Even to cut the cake was difficult coz the choclate was really hard! Amir had to "saw" (gergaji) his way to cut the cake! haha!

I am glad Addie came. It made the raya more Raya-ish! I am soo glad that I have her here in Birmingham! kalau tak lagi I sedih kot! ... yeah yea! I am being a tad bit melodramatic! What do you expect its raya OK!

May god Bless you Dunia and Akhirat!

Malam Raya

2008-10-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

Its Raya on Tuesday!! OMG!! Seriously!!! This time it was Mimi who broke the news! Last year I was the one that broke the news to her! hehehe!

Anyhoo, it was really dreadful this year! Tomorrow is my VIVA! How could I possibly celebrate Raya this year! But I still insist of inviting the takbir group to come over to my house! I must have ATLEAST that!! So, I rang the ketua kampung here and ask for his help to get them here!

Good thing he actually agreed! I am soo happy!!! Alhamdulillah! Atleast my kids dapat jugak lah a littlebit of the Suasana Hari Raya!! Alhamdulillah!!!

So the group came at 10.30 ...

They did a rather quick takbir, coz there are a few houses that they have to go to. Takpelah .. jadilah! I was really sad! This is by far the worst raya I have ever had! Usually, we have to work at Esso or something. But that's ok, coz my whole family is there. Here ... dah lah Viva and my family is not around.

I think the worst is for my kids! They have to go to school on the 1st day of RAYA!! Dammit!! I am very angry at myself! I don't mind if I have to go through all the trouble, but NOT my kids! Sigh! Thank god that I manage to go to Disneyland! Atleast that should compensate for something. I really hope so!!

I could barely sleep that night! Thinking about my Viva, about my family, and my kids! I know I have to make it up to all of them. Soon ....

J'adore Paris... D3

2008-10-16T03:20:00.000-07:00

J'adore Paris ... D2

2008-10-16T03:15:00.001-07:00

The long awaited day has finally came. OOoooOOoooOO I was ecstatic. I feel young again!! hehe! As we drive towards the parking lot ... I was filled with Awe! I never thought I would actually get to come to Disneyland AGAIN!!! heheh though it was another Disneyland .. I don't really care really!

Do you know why I studied so hard for SPM??? Do you know what was my ambition??? NO! It was definately not to be come a LECTURER!! NOPE! No lecturer, no doctor, lawyer or whatever specific profession. I DONT CARE! What I REALLY wanted was to go to AMERICA! Yes! THAT was my DREAM! A huge chuck of it was Disneyland!!!

I still remember the time when my cousin, Abang Ajib, came back from America. He brought back soo many Disney momentoes .. I was soo envious! I think was still in primary school then. But the thought that he has been to Disneyland really caught my imagination. Since then, my sole utter ambition was to go to America. My mom use to tell me, if you want to travel you have to do it yourself! She does not have the money to spend on taking me to America or Disneyland! So, I studied for SPM heehe!

I still remember my scholarship interview. When the person ask me .. kalau saya bagi awak course Tourism boleh ke? yang tu boleh pergi ke America. I said yes without any hesitation!! hahahah! Oh well ... what can I say ... I AM MENTAL!!! hahahahha!

It took us a long long time to line up for the entrance. But I think it is much cheaper to buy at the entrance rather than online! hmmmm or I could be wrong! Anyways, we wasted 45 mins there! I was soo frustrated and angry about that.

But all that negative feeling just dissapear once we entered the gates! OOOOoooooooooooOOOOOOOOOO the castle! It brought tears to my eyes! Absolutely Magical!!! Zafier was very reluctant of taking pictures ... Yana on the other hand ... just loves it! Well, atleast she will have beautiful pictures for her to remember bila dah besar nanti :D

Its quite surprising, there were not many characters roaming around. Hmmmm very surprising! I was expecting alot of characters. Anyhoo, we did manage to catch hold of some. There was a small parade and these characters would get off the float for 30 minutes to take pictures and off they go again! Sigh! Soooo not fun!!!

Since the time was very short, everyone was fighting to take pictures of those characters! I tell you .. nasib baik Yana was very fast. Zafier was very difficult. Look at him, its hard to get a picture of him with his eyes open! GGGGGRRRRRRRRR rasa macam nak picit2 dia!

We were quite lucky. Since it was raining perfusely yesterday, I think most people were quite weary of going to Disneyland. So there were not many people there at all! which is really a good thing, coz the place was not crowded at all!!

I just love the Castle!!! I just LOVEEEEEEEEE IT!!!!

There was soo much to explore, but so little time. I tell you, whoever said that you can finish Disneyland in 1 day .. is probably not a camw*^%$* like me! hhahahahahahah!!!

Even the shops were beautiful!! I wish I had more time to take more pictures! hahaha! yeah yeah! I am crazy! whatelse is new!

Yana and Zafier were going crazy at the stuff they have on sale. If only I had more money, I would have bought both of them costumes so that they could wear it the whole day! I saw alot of parents doing that! buying their kids pricesses dresses and pirate ensamble. OoooOOOooOOo the kids look soo cute! but I dont think I can spend 100 euros on just costumes! Yes! its around 50 euros per costume!

So, in the end .. we just bought them Hats! Yeah .. thats all we could afford. Mind you Yana's hat cost us 22 euros!!!! Soo expensive!!!!

Yana was a good sport. She wore the hat all day! Zafier on the other hand ....... sigh! I have to force him to wear it. Even then, he did not like it. GGGGGGRRRRRRRRR!!!!!

In the end, me and Mozard took turns wearing it! hahahahhaha! Well, here I am not a 34 year old woman! I am a 14 year old kid! hahahahahahhahahahahah Oh well ... its a waste to be an adult in Disneyland!!! hahahaha!

On top of the hats and all, both muchkins kept wanting to buy soo many other things. Look at the musket Zafier is holding! That one cost me 13 euros ok!!! Sigh!!! He was soooo damm adamant about it! I had to get it for him. Don't want to have him sulking in all the pictures!

At 4pm they have this huge parade! Hmmm huge for their standards. hehe! sorry people! I am comparing it with the Orlando Disneyworld's parade! I know I know its wrong. I can't possibly compare. Mozard kept telling me .. stop comparing baby!! nanti you don't have fun!

But I can't help myself. The parade was very short. And the floats ....... the combined the FLOATS!!! Yup! Only Mickey and co got their own float. The rest of the Disney characters have to share their float with others .... *sob* what a ripp off!!

Zafier and Yana enjoyed it though! Yana especially!!! The floats were very beautiful! If you have never been to Disneyworld.. it would definately take your breath away!

What was most frustrating was that ALL the princesses shared ONE float!! ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OOooOOoOOOooO soo unfair! the Princesses are the main event! To me atleast! I kept telling yana to shake hands with the pricesses but she was to shy!!!

So, we followed the float around .. and then took a short cut so that we would be ahead of the floats again. Then, I made yana shake hands with Cinderella! hehe! Yup! I even caught it on video!!! (NOTE: I'll update this soon ... promise!!)

Once the parade is over, we went to Disney Studios!!

Disney studios was even smaller ... *sob* ... Seriously!!! I was again .. hoping to meet more characters but there was none. I was really very frustrated. But there was a section on Monster Inc. I love to take pictures but there were very little places you can take nice pictures. If you can't afford to pay people to wear costumes, atleast put more charcters around. Nobody would know if the characters are "alive" or not!

There was only mike!!! *sob* I was hoping for Sully to be around too!!!

There are more rides for adults here. So, we did not take any. I think the next time around, we need to go with another couple, so that we could take turns going on the rides. Yes!! We have to come again!!! hahahah! I was not very satisfied. There are many things that I still wanted to do, and this time around it was rather rushing.

The next time around, I want to take two days to explore everything! take the two day two park package! Yup! that would be more fun!!! It was soo wonderful to have the opportunity to come to Disneyland again!!!

I think I would definately save some more money and maybe before we go back to Malaysia for good, I would have to take munchkins to Orlando!! Who knows! See how everything goes! If I could save up THAT much money! OOoooOOOoo I miss America!!!

It was getting late, and we needed to register to our campsite so we did not have time to explore the Disney Village! What a shame!!!

Alhamdullilah for all this wonderful opportunity to share this wonderful experience with my beloved munckins!!! Now I feel better. Since both me and Mozard have been soo busy working and studying ... We have sacrifice our time with our kids. I am glad that I am able to make it up to them by taking them here!!! I feel soo much better!