Easter weekend in Cornwall

This could potentially be my last Easter break here (if all goes to plan).

There is still one part of the UK which I have not yet ventured which is the southwestern tip of UK in the county of Cornwall....

Cornwall is known to have one of the most beautiful beaches in the UK and is a popular spot for surfers. But I didn't really know much about the place apart from it's local dish which were Cornish pasties...

Eight of us- Edgware Road and d Bayswater crew with Zharin joining us from Liverpool decided to do a road trip to Cornwall for the first time. Ezro (chief organiser) booked us a nice house in the Cornish resort with the aim that we could use the facilities provided in the resort to relax.

While we were 'rockbanding' at no.53 we came up with a number of places worthwhile visiting using the tourguide leaflets Najlaa and Farhan provided for all of us.

And so we were ready to set off:

Day One:Tintagel-Padstow

Everyone surprisingly woke up on time (even Bobby!) and we managed to set off on our road trip on time. There wasn't much traffic (luckily) and we reached our first destination Tintagel Castle (supposedly the birthplace of King Arthur)

Being the jakun people that we were, all of us were asking "mana castle nye...?"-even when we were walking up the steep steps we were still wondering where was the castle..we soon realised that what was left of the castle were just ruins....but the views were breathtaking...

The photo session got underway and we were all clicking away -Bobby had his video cam recording our antics along the cliffs which will be turned into the Cornwall movie..Zharin had his ever loving camera 'glued' to his hand whilst Farhan was trailing behind us sketching in his sketch book to capture the wonderful scenery....

The rest of us were there to soak in the fresh air and sea breeze of the Atlantic Ocean....

We spent probably about 2 to 3 hours there but it didn't feel that long at all because of the sunny weather.

By the time we finished covering Tintagel, all of us were thinking about fooood.....and we walked around the Tintagel village to check out the local delicacies...we saw this cafe with a long queue which is always a good sign....

It was a cafe (probably an old house) with a garden at the back....it was surreal because we were having pasties and Cornish cream tea ( scones with clotted cream and jam with earl grey tea) at the back of a garden on a nice spring day playing with the local cat which looked like the bigger version of 'Millie d cat'...

Next on our itinerary for the day: Visit Padstow
I heard from colleagues that Padstow was famous for its seafood restaurants e.g. Rick Stein's and Jamie Oliver's restaurant are a few chefs who have had an influence in the restaurants around Padstow. A few are highly rated and appear on the Michelin Guide to the best restaurants...

We only had time to have the Rick Stein's Fish and Chips-mine was ok but the guys had the Dory fish which was yummy...

In the evening, we headed to our accomodation which was a house in the Atlantic Reach resort. It was like driving through Pleasantville as all the houses were identical except for the variation in pastel colours found in each house.

It was a self catered accomodation so we headed out to the village to stock up on our groceries...Najlaa and I had our grocery list which will feed the troops for the next few days...It's one of the things I miss living in a house with lots of people. After cooking dinner for the troops , it was time for Ginrami Card session...it's been a while since we all played cards so everyone was a bit rusty. It didn't take long for everyone to bring out the competitive streak...and we ended playing until 2am in the morning -such an addictive game...

Day Two:Newquay
We visited the Blue Reef Aquarium which had received top ratings in the reviews but we were disappointed in what we found. The entry tickets was nearly ten pounds but we didn't think it was value for money since there wasn't much collection to see and the place ain't that big. Nevertheless we made the best of the situation. Personally, Newquay was my least favourite town since it was too crowded and full of groups of people on hen-dos and stag-dos so a bit of a rowdy crowd. The rest of the day we went for a drive to find the nicest beaches around the area but we ended up driving more than we intended. By the time we reached back to our place it was getting late and Najlaa and Farhan became the chefs for the night with Farhan's speciality thai green curry and najlaas ikan goreng masak sambal cili-yummy!

Day Three:Penzance-Landsend
The itinerary for the day was busy since we wanted to cover as much area of Penzance and Landsend as we could...

First stop was St Michael's Mount which over the years had been a monastery to a family home under the National Trust in the present day. If you were lucky , you could spot dolphins swimming around the island at high tide...
When we visited, it was low tide but the views were still amazing. There is a conspiracy theory that Cornish people are descendants from the pirate family but it has not been proven and not widely admitted. But you couldn't help wonder that Cornwall would have been the perfect spot to smuggle things since its strategic position in the mainland.

Second stop was the open air Minack theatre. We heard the views are amazing but we didn't realise that it would be extremely amazing. We saw there was a soft sand beach called Porthcurno Beach. This is one of THE most beautiful spots I have seen in my life. The weather was perfect and we hiked up along the cliffs to reach the beaches. By the time we got there the high tide had come in but we sat for hours enjoying the view. A moment I will remember for a long time...

We then headed to Landsend which is the most southern tip of the UK mainland. I didn't like the commercial aspect of the place as we entered the area. I don't think you need to have outlet shops and amusement area to attract people to Landsend...the natural beauty of the place should be enough to attract people to the area...

By this point, we were pretty tired but we wanted to make the most of the trip so headed to St Ives for dinner-there was a range of restaurants to eat but parking was a problem and the roads aren't the most user friendly roads for a MPV van...we ended up getting take-away: pasties..again!

Day Four: Eden Project-Bude-Sandymouth Beach-London

This would be our last day in Cornwall. Once we checked out-we headed to Eden project-which is a charity with a vision of educating people in ways in which we can look after our environment and ensuring we can have a sustainable future. It was interesting especially the tropical biomes and mediterranean biomes that have built up a typical environment which we can expect in a certain climate. In the malaysian section , they did a good job because it was very similar to us being back in a kampung except animals were missing like the rooster and monkeys..
Unfortunately the weather wasn't pleasant as we got caught in some heavy rain which cut short our trip around the area...

We headed for Bude since some of the guys wanted to buy some souvenirs in the form of scones and clotted cream.... we then headed for Sandymouth Beach which was the rockiest beach we found so far with its huge pebbles..it was high tide so we didn't see any sand. We saw some brave surfers who tried to hit the waves but the waves were too rough and cold for them-the mission was aborted... I respected them for even trying to hit the waters though because it was freezing!

It was then time to go home....the trip was extremely enjoyable : a combination of good company, good weather and breathtaking views....
The trip was complete with our theme song-Lenny Williams -'Cause I love you' which entertained us in the van with the extremely corny lyrics.

Weekend with Will

Ivy and I finally got our act together and planned to finally go up to visit Will in Glasgow. Will is my ex-colleague from HCW who is now running his own family business there.
All three of us are no longer working at HCW but through the power of Facebook we've all managed to still keep in touch with each other.

I took advantage of the BA airmiles I've clocked up to fly there- we flew from City airport which is convenient especially if you are flying to the airport from work. (note to self: book flights from City compared to Stansted or Gatwick which is too far....)

Will was the perfect gentleman as he greeted us from the aiport without us having to wait long at the arrivals area. By the time we reached his flat it was running pretty late so Will gave the grand tour of his place.
Both of us were well impressed-he found a lovely flat which characterised the Glaswegian architecture with the Victorian-style houses and tiles. I wanted to take pictures but I don't want to embarass him :)
Of course his place was full of his IT gadgetry, his surround sound system and even rockband! But we didn't get a chance to rock out that weekend......busy enjoying the scottish scenery.

It was nice to have a long chat that night-I'm glad he has toned down in the boozing but still being the Will we knew all that time ago....(sarcastic yet never failing to entertain us)

In advance of the weekend, he was apprehensive on how he was going to entertain us and show the best bits of Glasgow especially for Ivy who had never visited the place before. We wanted to bring Ivy to Edinburgh but it was rugby weekend and we would have been spending most of the time in traffic.
Instead, we decided to go for a day trip visiting Loch Lomond & Loch Fyne just outside Glasgow. Will drove us up to visit a village called Luss- our timing could not have been better as we saw a Scottish groom getting married that day as he arrived - we felt like we were gatecrashing but they didn't mind as they posed for the cameras as they arrived.


Next stop: We visited the National park and took some amazing scenery-the beauty about Scottish scenery is it is always changing in the season -it is now winter coming into spring so we could see a range of colours coming through which was amazing.

Lunch: We headed to Loch Fyne Restaurant which has a couple of chains in London but this was the original one. Fresh oysters are farmed in Loch Fyne which is facing the front of the restaurant. The restaurants in London of this nature can sometimes appear to be posh so I was pleasantly surprised the Scottish chain had a more homely feel to it without compromising the taste in the food.
The speciality of the restaurant are the fresh oysters and mussels. I've only had oysters once previous to this but I was totally loving the oysters we had that day-so fresh! Will showed me the best way of eating the oysters- slightly loosen the oysters from the shell-squeeze a bit of lemon and put on a bit of tabasco and let it just slide in your mouth without chewing it-amazing!

After the amazing lunch-we drove onto Inveraray -a maritime village. I'm not sure what it is about looking out to seas and rivers but I just love the sea breeze and looking out onto the sea-it has a very calming effect on me. My dream house would be one that overlooks out into the sea where you can just walk out to the beach at anytime. All the worries of the day will just flow away as you take in the views.....-wishful thinking! hehe

To drive back to Glasgow , Will took us onto the ferry back to Greenock. As it was dark by then we couldn't take in the views but it sure was cold! We didn't stay up at the ferry too long before heading back into the car to stay warm hehe.

All of us were pretty knackered by the end of the day, but we decided to head out for dinner as Will showed us the nightlife of Glasgow in the West End. We went for drinks at the famous Ashton Lane -this is a little alleyway with cool and quirky restaurants and pubs.
We then headed to Spuntini- an Italian tapas restaurant which had recently opened there. Many Italians moved to Scotland and settled there which explains why there are so many good Italian restaurants in Glasgow. I really liked the concept of the restaurant-good choice of tapas that night...we were stuffed with the choices.....

The next day, we decided to have a look around the Glasgow city centre-so many things have changed since I was last there about ten years ago. There was another shopping centre called Buchanan Galleries which is a bit like Westfield. Glaswegians definitely know how to shop-it is the 2ndmost popular destination in the UK for shopping....
We went for brunch at Princes Square which is my favourite spot in Glasgow -with its cafes to chill out....

After walking around the city centre it was time to fly back down to London-Will was great and a true gentleman who looked after us the whole weekend........ Thanks! :)






Scotland will always have a special place in my heart since my teenage years was spent in this place. Recently , I found out that my secondary school-Bearsden Academy in Glasgow is about to be demolished....

http://www.bearsdenacademy.e-dunbarton.sch.uk/news/default.asp?storyID=14

Sad but true but things move on and the school is in need for refurbishment.......

Ku Mohon

This is dedicated to a close friend who is going through a tough time at the moment
Stay strong and my thoughts are with you always....

Into the new year 2009

My first blog for 2009....

I spent New Year's Eve morning servicing my baby car.

My baby car will be three years old end of this month which also marks the end of my final payment for the car....woohoo!

Three options for the car:

a) Sell it and buy another car when I go home

b) Trade in the car for another one-(not sure to what though)

c) Keep it and ship it home

I'm not yet sure what I want to do....everytime I think of selling it/changing it I feel sad because it had so many memories with it...I'm a sentimentalist if there ever was such a word...

I took Aliza and Ninie to Portobello Rd in the morning to check out Hummingbird Bakery for a girlie morning coffee chat with cupcakes...but we were disappointed that the cafe was closed....

All was not lost, however, because we discovered another cafe called Humble Cafe for some humble pie---it was yummy! I'll definitely take a short drive there again....

Then it was back to work-more of a short afternoon of checking emails and calling my peeps back home before heading home.I wasn't planning to do anything for the NYE countdown and would have been content to stay in and watch the fireworks along the Thames on tv rather than freezing out in the cold along the riverbank.

But as usual when I don't plan things...something impromptu will come up.

I decided to join No.53 peeps for Hakkasan dinner which I hoped wouldn't come to the same bill total as last time....it was less pricey than before and it is a once in a while treat and the food is definitely first class.

The whole evening was thoroughly enjoyable with good company. We headed back to wait for the countdown and watch the fireworks from Primrose Hill. I think this year was a better NYE countdown than last year's - Despite the bitter cold weather , there were plenty of fireworks on display and beautiful lanterns flying up into the sky.

The next day, Nazlin invited me over with a few other mates for a New Years Day Turkish lunch since her mother in law was in town. It was a delicious meal especially trying out salma (rice stuffed in vine leaves) which I love but it was my first time to try it home made which was amazing.

It was nice to catch up with old mates since we are all spread out all over London and don't meet up often.

Even my close friend Omar said we don't meet up often enough especially since he's moved nearer to my area...So to make amends...I visited his new place which was a typical batchelor's pad and met his flatmates.

We then headed to the movies to watch our first movie for the year-Australia. I wanted to watch Slumdog Millionaire especially after watching the trailers but it doesn't come out here until the end of the month.

Australia was an epic movie starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman-it was a good movie but you have to be in the right mood for it. It's not something you want to watch if you're expecting a movie with a lot of special effects, unpredictable plot or twists in the movie.

It's a good movie with great acting by Nicole Kidman..so-so acting by Hugh Jackman but my favourite character was Nala the aboriginal kid who became the narrator throughout the whole story.

The cinematography of the Outback was breathtaking and makes you just want to get on the horse and hit the Great Outback.

I recommend it if you want to watch a good old classic Gone With the Wind type movie for a three hour movie...

So get comfortable in the cinema... :) This was my favourite song in the movie as the characters sat around the campfire. It is by Iron and Wine "Such Great Heights"

All in all it has been a relaxing start to the New Year.

Any resolutions? Well no resolutions but to be happy and better myself as a person:

Workwise-I wanna aim for promotion to have a more secure future when I go home (it's gonna be a challenge especially after talking to other execs in my position)

Personalwise- Try to be less naive and be more wary of people who take me for granted.

This past year, a few people have disappointed me in their actions and at times have cause misunderstandings between certain people I know.

People sometimes misunderstand me and make certain assumptions about me-but if they're not willing to know the real me then I'm not going to impose it on them.

I will also try to think about my actions /words first before judging/making my assumptions about them until I know them well enough. Sometimes first impressions are deceiving and all is not as they seem.

Despite that, I am still blessed to have people around me near and far who are there for me during the good and bad times....

Let 2009 bring me closer to my goal.... Bring it on!

Winter Wonderland

Christmas arrived and went…This year we decided to do a joint Xmas lunch roast turkey with all the trimmings, wild rice salad, roast lamb and bread and butter pudding for dessert.
The No.53 crew had seen Jamie Oliver in action in his Xmas special and we were attempting to recreate the Jamie Oliver Christmas taste….

I stayed over at No 53 over Xmas Eve to help with the preparation, however, I don’t think I did much since Fazly had already prepared the roast lamb and Ninie and Najla were already preparing the stuffing for the turkey.

The Jamie Oliver Xmas show was interesting because there were a few things we didn’t realise in roasting a turkey. Firstly, the stuffing is made of bacon which is mashed up with lots of herbs and sage. We replaced this with mince meat instead.

In addition goose fat is also used….we replaced this again with our halal meat fat. The turkey feast is actually quite fattening if you think about it…even the roast vegetables is cooked using the turkey fat produced during the roasting process. The turkey fat is then used to make the gravy along with mashed vegetables and chicken stock.
Since most of the preparation was already done, we ended playing Rockband2 for the rest of the night. Previously we had an issue with the drum pedal (due to over playing perhaps??!!) which broke halfway during our session. This was replaced by a wooden pedal which Bob the Builder had made for our group.

The next morning, the roast lamb had been cooked overnight and the turkey was ready to go in….all 7kg of it! It was massive and with the stuffing it looked even bigger….
Whilst waiting for the turkey to cook, we chatted upstairs and there was a good atmosphere all round….i think probably more relaxed than Hari Raya (obviously!...we weren’t heading out to go for Mass/Church kan?!)

After about three and a half hours , the turkey was ready along with the lamb, wild rice and pudding. It was time for the carving to begin! Jamie Oliver made it look so easy but well done to Fazly, Ninie and Azril for carving the meat because it was a hard job to do…especially when we do not have the sharp carving knives like Jamie…..

We finally sat down for our lunch …and it was absolutely delicious especially the gravy which was amazing with the meat! And pudding with custard to end the meal was a great ending to a great feast…everyone helped out which was fun and enjoyable.
Once all the clearing had finished mainly consisted of Areel who did most of the dishwashing (bless him for volunteering) it was time to have fun….

We started out with Lips (karaoke game) and one of the kids who came to the house beat us all with her rendition of Bleeding Love –Leona Lewis where she scored over 1m points…..We comforted ourselves by thinking that the only reason she won was because her voices has not yet broken…(hehe u can tell we are all bad losers…hahah!)

We then moved onto the party game Cranium. Cranium is a game of various tasks which the team has to perform: it can range from game of charades, humming/whistling a tune, brainteaser questions or word puzzles.

My team (Jiden, Farhan and me) came last but we were just unlucky on the night with our dice throws, difficult tasks ( how is anyone expected to sculpt a california sushi roll using purple plastecine?!).

Areel, Najla and Aliza’s team were just lucky on the night and good guesswork by the girls. The highlight of the night is Areel performing Shakira’s song using the lyrics “Whatever…whatever…” and the girls still managed to guess correctly.
The last game of the night …was of course Rockband2….everyone had a go at playing it which was fun……Overall it was a fun night with good food and of course good company!

Will put up pics later...

Weekend

It has been a cold week in London.....my health hasn't been too good lately-this cold weather does not suit me at all :P

My iPod nano gift arrived this week: to some people it may seem like a small thing.. but to me the gift represents six months of hard work, late nights, travelling and to the future so thank you!

Luckily my manager and team have been supportive and let me work from home couple of days this week although it has meant I haven't been able to attend the EY Tower of London Xmas Party...-would have loved to go and see the Queen's Crown Jewels and catch up with everyone from the office...
Takpe maybe next year if I'm still here....

I'm still not feeling 100% but the weekend is here...and it's gonna be an interesting one...

a) meeting the Whittaker's : it's been too long since I saw them so it would be nice to see them before the xmas period starts...

b) brunch with the bayswater crew...and Rockband 2 session at No.53! For those who haven't heard of rockband or guitar hero it's a music game where people can just have fun and rock out...
I love the guy who came up with this game....rock music is a fun way to get everyone together and just play good music...
My favourite instrument is the drums....I never had the privilege to own my own set of drums plus I didn't have a soundproof basement so Rockband is a perfect substitute....


Raya haji is approaching -so those in Malaysia..selamat raya haji and bercuti...korang banyak holiday ler.....tak aci.. :P

Sound of Music

Sound of Music has been my all time fav musicals- It is one of the few musicals I can watch again and again and never get bored of it. When Sound of Music came to the West End : it has been one of my wish lists of must-see musicals.

It has a feel good storyline, romance, cute kids, set in a beautiful location and most of all...great music! What's there NOT to like about the musical.

Initially, I was not sure whether the West end musical could ever meet the Sound of Music movie starring Julie Andrews. However, I was fortunately proved wrong. Summer (some of you might recognise her from Hollyoaks) played the part of Maria. She played the character well in her own right and was the star of the show. The Von trapp kids were adorable but I couldn't help comparing it with the kids in the movie.

The scene which I will remember most from the musical would be when the Von Trapp family had to perform their song in the competition. I have never been in a theatre where the stage had red Swastika flags hanging off from the balcony and the side stage. There were also actors dressed up as Nazi soldiers patrolling the stage. It was scary to experience what it might have been like to live in Nazi occupation.

Despite that, this movie is still a feel-good musical. It is a must-see musical: I was humming to all of the songs throughout the musical especially the old time favs: "My favourite things", "Climb every Mountain" and the "Hills are Alive".

Watch it before it is too late!

Ketch-up week

‘Ketch-up week’ with my peeps….

Mon-Chill out day at the office catching up on all my admin stuff after being away from the office for a fortnight...

Tues : I met up with my old uni friends for a get together since Izad and Wendy came to visit London. We went to Fire and Stone Pizza restaurant. I tried booking it online but my office had blocked me from booking things on my credit card on Toptable. Unfortunately this meant I couldn’t earn points on my Toptable account.

Handy tip: the more you book on Toptable and rate the restaurant the more points you get. The more points you get, the higher the chance you and your lucky frens can get a free meal in a nice restaurant around London. So take advantage of Toptable people!

It was fun catching up with the old uni people…we all have moved onto different things in our lives…but we all agreed that the longer we stayed in London the longer we stay in this ‘time bubble’ where things seem to just stay as they are whilst if we go back home: there is more urgency to move on with one’s life i.e. pressure from family, relatives, friends etc…….
Eventually, one reaches a point in one’s life where one does feel like settling down and I guess the older we get the stronger that feeling becomes more apparent.

Wed : Had our last Year group meeting with the ‘original gang’ organised by our year group manager Laura who is leaving to travel round South East Asia before going to work in Sydney…. (lucky gal!) It was more of a get together with our year group rather than a meeting itself. Since most of us have done our three year practical training we’re all at the crossroads of our career in deciding what or where we would like to be in the next few years. There’s a possibility of secondments to Australia…perhaps that is an option.. I’m not too sure at the moment.

Thurs : Met up with Len & Marigold at Awana restaurant for a catch-up dinner before the Christmas holidays. A trip to Awana will not be complete without ordering the mixed satay and the lamb ribs…lovely! It was lovely to meet up with Len and Marigold who are the sweetest couple even at their old age. I hope I get to experience the same feeling when I’m at their age.

Fri : Went over to Fazly’s house for American Gangster movie night. Any movie with Denzel Washington will always be a good movie- he’s a fab actor. The movie was Godfather-like which was fine but one negative point about it was the movie was a tad bit long. Kak Rahayu came over to stay and we stayed up late chatting and didn’t get to sleep until 2/3 am in the morning. This did not do too well for our beauty sleep for the next day. :p

Sat : In the morning, we planned to go to Portsmouth for my first shopping trip at Gunwharf Quays. To my shock & horror, as soon as I went to get my car in the morning, the passenger window was smashed and there were glass everywhere.

I can only presume it was vandals who had decided it was fun to smash an innocent mini car….damn vandals!

Luckily I had Chip and Kak Rahayu with me…I don’t think I would have coped very well in that situation on my own. Oblivious to the necessary procedures, I called up my insurance provider and arranged for Autoglass people to come by to fit the new glass onto my car on the spot.

It was a horrible feeling seeing my car in that state. I have now complained to the Council about the vandalism that has occurred in my street. It’s now been the third time where my car has been vandalised and it’s not fair why our cars are vandalised because of a few drunken yobs that have nothing else better to do in the middle of the night!

We still managed to get into Portsmouth by the early afternoon and I finally found my dress for the xmas party and shoes …yeay! (Courtesy of my vouchers) I tried to spend the day in a positive mood but I couldn’t help trying to get over what had happened in the morning.

Portsmouth is a lovely place….and I would’ve liked to spend time taking more pics around the harbour especially near the tower which looked so pretty in pink at night… but we had more important stuff to do…like shopping! All in all, apart from the event in the morning it was a good day out.

Sun: Had that Sunday feeling where I woke up late and I just wanted to lie in and sleep especially when I looked outside and it was pouring down with heavy rain. It was the perfect day to snuggle in bed with good dvds and a nice hot chocolate :)

And then Monday comes along……….the season of partying begins…

Post exam blues........

It's been two weeks now since I came out of my hibernation mode after 12 weeks of going underground for the exam. I hate the waiting game now because there is nothing I can do about the result now. I tried the best I could but I don't know whether my 'best' was good enough in this last round.
The reality of it all is that the next stage in my life will be decided by the end of this year...

I've tried to keep myself busy to take my mind off things and the highlights so far have been:

a) Chris and I attending our post exam celebration by going to the theatre. We went to see "39 Steps" courtesy of lastminute.com 10gbp offer- an old Alfred Hitchcock movie turned into a comedy play. Entertaining and funny with its subtleties and wit which you can only find in British humour but it was nothing compared to the creepy and at times scary "Woman in Black" we attended last time.

b) Shisha chill out session and watching the fireworks at Omar's flat in Canary Wharf...we might try to gatecrash his place to watch the fireworks at the Millenium dome for New Year's eve nanti :p thanks yah dude!

c) Attending my first Korean film festival at the Barbican: ever since Kak Rahayu got me addicted to K-dramas she invited me to attend the festival where I watched my first Korean movie The King and the Clown in the cinema. One of the best foreign movies I've seen so far where there was a balance of love, comedy, action and sadness....Malay movies have a LONG way to go in order to reach this type of standard. It was refreshing to see that the Korean film festival attracted not just Koreans but other people from various nationalities with one common love for great movies.

d)Meem coming to London: it was fun to hang out with her again and reminisce about the good 'ol London days and going for our road trip to Blenheim Palace, shopping in Swindon, trips to Liverpool St market and not to mention our makan2 sessions at our fav hangout places...

In London , we're expecting a long cold winter which is a huge contrast to the mild weather we experienced last year. So for those in London : wrap yourselves warm with your woolies and make yourself a warm hot chocolate during those long winter nights!

Merdeka day 2007 at Brickendonbury, Hertford England

Highlights so far.....

York trip

This weekend was my last proper 'free' weekend before I start my revision again (insya-allah for the last time)
After this my blog posts may become irregular again......

I was supposed to go to the Ascot races with my work colleagues this weekend but considering I don't bet and weighing that against the option to go to York factory outlet for shopping I opted for the latter.

Meem and I have been wanting to go to York factory outlet since last year but we've been delaying it since it's a long drive up. Finally Bobby, Meem and I decided to do a road trip with Harris, Aunty Tun & Aunty Yok in the weekend
Alhamdulillah, York factory outlet didn't disappoint us...We arrived mid afternoon and were ready to shop! The outlet is indoor which would be great during wintertime away from the rain and the cold. There were a wide variety of brands like Coast, Karen Millen, Ted Baker, Next, Mexx, Nine West, Hackett, Armani and Paul Smith were amongst the few we liked. We shopped until we dropped ..well until the closing time anyways.

Then we headed to Leeds to visit Abg Nas who had recently returned from Malaysia. We met his new little nephew Hakimi who was absolutely adorable and wanted to play with everyone....
I came up with a new 'lil rhyme for the little kid titled 'Cak Cak Cak'.
I might bring it out in a song album one day....hehe not!!
(sorry to those who are reading this and thinking WTF??!! I'm just rambling on in one of my funny moods )
Thanks to Abang Khairy, Kak Huda and Abg Nas for their hospitality and the nasi biryani which was lovely!

After a long day driving and shopping we spent the night in a travelodge between York and Leeds. It was pitch black when we arrived at the travelodge..pretty scary but I think I was too tired to think about anything else apart from getting a good night's sleep.The two drivers for the weekend...looking tired and in need of a good night sleep!

The next day we woke up bright and early to head out to the next factory outlet called the "Junction 32 outlet" which is on..wait for it..yes Junction 32 on the M1! I was excited to go there because it had MNG which is the first factory outlet I've seen in the UK. The outlet was reasonable although I think the guys bought more stuff than we did maybe because there were more choices for them or possibly because we had spent loads more the day before.

Then it was time to head back to York town centre which we didn't manage to cover completely the day before.
My favourite spot in York was the wall monument all around the old town...it reminded me of a small version of the Wall of China.


York is a beautiful town similar to Canterbury and Bath with the distinctive Tudor buildings, Museum gardens and Clifford Tower which stands alone up on the mound. I think it would have been nice to spend a full day there walking along the town centre and taking in the scenery but time wasn't on our side because we had to head back to London that evening.


A tiring, expensive yet enjoyable road trip weekend! :)

A nice break will always do you good......

It's been a week since I flew back to London..I was hesitant to fly back so soon but I tried to make the best out of the time I had in Malaysia.

I'm sorry to those of you that I didn't get to meet up...three weeks is way too short!
Insya-allah the next time you see me back in Malaysia I can be around for longer.....

For my last day in KL my mom and I treated ourselves to a day at the spa in Marriott Hotel Putrajaya. It was lovely being treated and pampered for the day and both of us looked and felt revitalised and refreshed!

My flight back to London had been cancelled that morning so I had to take the next flight out later in the afternoon on the same day but I wasn't complaining. In fact, it was a blessing in disguise because I could spend extra time in KL with the family.
Alhamdulillah, the flight went smoothly and I arrived back to sunny London on Sunday evening.

I went back to work the next day feeling revitalised from my break and motivated to do well. A trip back to Malaysia has enabled me to reassess my goals and by doing well in UK and passing this last hurdle I can settle for a better future back in Malaysia. I'm lucky to have a supportive family. I don't what I will do without them.....I just hope I don't disappoint them....

In a more light hearted note, met up with the London gang since I got back...exchanging stories and gossip on what has been happening whilst I was gone :)

We watched Transformers -the movie and I highly recommend it!! As a kid, I remembered my brother had a few of the robots but I don't really know much about the cartoon. The special effects in the movie were superb especially the last car chase scene of the movie with the F22 plane..if you haven't seen it yet definitely worth watching! Many have even gone back to see it again at the cinemas.....so believe the hype!

We also watched Hairspray which I wanted to watch ever since I saw the preview trailers...It is based on a musical set in the 1960s...the plot was pretty simple but I love the costumes and the music! Meem and I were tapping our feet throughout the movie and really felt like dancing in the cinema...hehe.....

The weekend was fun enjoying the sunshine by taking a walk in the park whilst enjoying a nice gelato.

Sabrina was in London so met up with the LSE gang at Nusa Dua (Indon restaurant). It was a nice restaurant but I couldn't help comparing it with Jakarta Restaurant which I think is still my favourite. We ended the night by heading to Ed's Diner for milkshake and waffles...yummy!

Last Sunday, Kak Nita introduced us to a new breakfast/brunch hangout place which has opened up in High St Kensington at Whole Foods Market which used to be the Barkers Arcade.

It is an organic market with a wide range of organic fruit,vegetables,fresh bread. They also cater for a wide range of healthy take out salads and seafood dishes. The unique thing about the place is there is an open seating food court. It is not like the typical foodcourt that we see in Malaysia but this food court has a 'lounge zone' feel to it with big sofas and seating areas for little groups to gather around and a place where everyone can meet up to chill out.

It gets really busy during lunchtime so I think it would be an ideal place for us to meet up for late breakfast/early brunch just before the rush of people arrive instead of going to the usual place like Nahar. :)

The boys Abg Nas & Hazeem wanted to watch the footie so we ended up watching it at Bobby's place. It was a relaxing but very HOT sunday..

I'm not complaining though cuz I am not looking forward to the autumn and winter weather approaching......

Weddings weddings weddings........

Apart from visiting my family, the reason I came back to Malaysia this month is to attend my friends wedding.

My sis and I attended Ezro's wedding at his place in Bangi. A simple affair but enjoyable and thanks to 'lil sis for temaning me :)


Izad's and Wendy's took place last night. When Izad told me he was getting married I was surprised since out of the LSE gang we didn't think he would be the first one to get hitched. Nevertheless we're all happy for him. Selamat Pengantin Baru dude!!! Semoga bahagia ke anak cucu :)

It was a good night being reunited with uni friends and London people who I haven't met in a long time..some even since graduation.... Some have got married and had babies and some haven't changed one bit since we last met.



My other good friend Nija is also getting hitched this week. Nija has been one of my good friends at LSE and we became closer when we lived together as housemates. We had our girls night out at KL Hilton organised by her sis Nina. It was a fun dinner filled with some entertainment for our dear Nija *wink* Hope it was a memorable night for u !
Thanks for letting me be involved in the wedding preparations..hope I don't let u down ! :)

Road trip to Lake District part 1

I went on my first long road trip on the 'lil Mini Cooper up North last bank holiday weekend. We left early on Saturday morning and avoided the bank holiday rush hour traffic from the night before.

Our first stop was Barrow-in -Furness located on the Southwest of Scotland. It was an industrial town which used to be one of the major shipbuilding force in UK and grew to be one of the biggest iron and steel centre in the world.

We drove up to Walney Island which was a ten mile long island. Between Barrow and Walney Island is Piel Island. This tiny island is home to Piel Castle which was built by the monks of Furness Abbey to protect the harbour from the Scots.

The weather was kind to us and we enjoyed the sunshine and looked for 'la-la' and crabs which were brought up to shore due to the low tide.

Later on in the evening we took a drive along Esthwaite Water lake which is known to be one of the best places to fish for trout and pike. There were campsites along the whole lake of people fly fishing. London life seemed miles away when we were enjoying the scenery and the fresh air.



The next day we headed for Windermere Lake..the best way to enjoy Windermere is to hire a boat along the lake and that's exactly what we did. Fad & Ezro did a great job as our boat drivers. Thanks guys!! The place was popular with tourists from all parts of the world...after a spot of souvenir shopping we headed to our next destination...Scotland!! To be continued in the next part.........

Road Trip Part 2-Bonnie 'ol Scotland

I was looking forward to visiting Scotland again...the last time I went up to Scotland was when I graduated five years ago.

Scotland will always have a special place in my heart because it was where I spent most of my formative years as a teenager. We drove up from Lake District and crossed the Scottish borders heading towards Stirling. Driving through the Cumbrian borders across to Scotland was absolutely breathtaking and enjoyable at the same time....It was like being in Top Gear where they run practice demos on a new car driving up winding roads...in between mountains...up and down the hills...really good fun! I felt overwhelmed driving in my lil car with mountains on either side of me. As Fad commented, at times we were even speechless looking at the amazing views. I think at times we are so caught up with city life that we forget to appreciate these places in the countryside.
After enjoying the scenic route to Scotland our first stop was Stirling. Stirling is famous for William Wallace Monument- He was a Scottish patriot of the 14th century who fought against the English and was a Scottish hero. One thing I love about the Scots are their patriotism who are proud of their heritage. We visited the William Wallace monument and there was a replica statue of Mel Gibson from his movie the Braveheart.I love the line from the movie- "You may take our lives but you will never take our freedom!.. ".


After a long drive we headed to Kinross where we we were going to spend the night. With a few hours of rest we decided to take a drive up to St Andrews-the home of Golf. St Andrews has always been windy but it's a nice 'lil quaint town. We walked around the clubhouse and visited the Old Course -one of the prestigious golf courses in the world.


All of us were knackered after a whole day driving but the night would not be complete without our usual card games. Fad brought UNO cards which I haven't played since primary school but it was definitely good fun! We played late into the night and made so much noise that we got a warning to keep the noise down by the hotel reception! oops! but it was all good in the end....... hehe


On our final day we went up to Loch Leven in Kinross to visit the Loch Leven castle. The castle is best known to be the prison where Mary Queen of Scots was held. The castle is located on a small island and reached only by ferry.. We took our time walking around the remains of the castle. I love this shot of Ezro and I breaking out of the castle and doing our own scene of prison break!. We even befriended the ferry driver's dog who was called Maggie. She insisted in playing with us...Bobby & Ezro managed to train Maggie to sit and fetch the stick without touching Maggie. It was amazing that after 30mins Maggie was listening to most of our commands..such a clever creature!

Our last destination for the weekend was Edinburgh. We went to visit Fettes college where I did my A-Levels all those years ago....It was weird driving back to the school. There was the feeling of familiarity and reminiscing the fond memories I had with people back there when I took the guys around my college and the schoolgrounds. The schoolkids were on holiday so the school was empty but I managed to see my old College East House.

Unfortunately I found out from the caretaker that my Housemistress Ms Pippa had passed away from cancer last December. Ms Pippa taught English and she loved the classics like Jane Austen novels which she shared with all of us in the House. My fondest memories of her was when I first arrived at Fettes. I was feeling very homesick leaving the family for the first time and being the only Malaysian girl in the school.. I felt like an outcast but she was so welcoming and always at hand whenever I needed her. It's amazing that after a difficult first term I enjoyed the rest of my boarding school experience. Attending boarding school was a character building experience for me and I will always have fond memories of the college. May Ms Pippa rest in peace



We also went to Edinburgh city centre and walked along the Royal mile which is the old part of Edinburgh. We walked towards Edinburgh Castle which is currently being transformed in time for the Edinburgh Military Tatoo which will take place in the summer. We were looking for a nice restaurant to have a typical Scottish lunch but we arrived late and most restaurants closed at 3 and won't open until 5.30pm. It was a blessing in disguise because we found a nice vegetarian baked potato shop. Fad & I shared a vegetarian haggis baked potato which was delicious! Even though I can't compare it with the normal haggis the vegetarian one was good enough for us!!

We left Edinburgh at 5pm and didn't reach London until 11pm. It was a tiring trip but really enjoyable....I do enjoy visiting Scotland because of the beautiful scenery and friendly people who always look on the bright side of life. One would have to have that attitude since Scotland does not normally have the best of the weather..but we were lucky that the good weather followed us for most part of the trip. Scotland will always have a special place in my heart...

Thanks to Bobby for providing us with walkie-talkies which helped us driving in our convoy and kept us entertained with our random ramblings on the walkie talkies, Aunty Yok & Aunty Tun for providing us with yummy food for the trip, Ezro for becoming my 2nd co-pilot cum navigator and Fad for providing us with the Uno cards and entertaining us with her antics!

Woman In Black

Ivy, Chris & I went to the Women in Black play recently at the Fortune Theatre in the West End. This is one of the longest running plays in the West End and has been one of my wish list as one of the "must see" plays in London.

The screenplay is based on the chilling ghost story novel by Susan Hill. It tells the story of Arthur Kipps a young solicitor who has been sent to Eel Marsh House to wind up the estate of the late deceased Mrs Drablow. No one in the village was willing to help Mr Kipps with his work because they believed the Eel Marsh house was cursed. When he arrives at the house he sees a mysterious women in black....

The play focuses on Arthur Kipps telling his story to an actor who he hoped can help him overcome his experience in the house by reenacting the events to his family & friends.

The play has very simple props and set in a very small theatre. This added to the chiling atmosphere of the play. We were sat two rows from the front stage and I have never been so scared in a play in all my life! Although I knew at the back of my mind this was a fictional play the acting was so brilliant that the audience (myself) included were drawn into the play.
It was my first time where I've heard audiences scream with fright (again myself included!!) and it wasn't just girls screaming ..there were guys screaming tooo!

I'm glad I wasn't spending the night in a country house that night because I would not have had a good night's sleep that night thinking about the play.

Full credit has to be given to the screenplay because without the brilliant screenwriting and acting .. the play would not have been so successful and long running as it is now...I am not surprised that this play has been running for at least 20 years and I am sure it will continue to run for another few more years yet......

Definitely go and watch it if you are prepared to get the fright of your life!

Road Trip

Last bank holiday weekend, I took a drive to Kent County with Ezro & Chip. I have never been to this beautiful part of England: Kent is known to be one of the "Gardens of England" located on the South East of England.

We set out in the morning and took the road along the coast and stopped over to enjoy the seaside view and fresh sea breeze along Herne Bay and Margate. Herne Bay was a pebble beach and popular for various water sports activities....it was cool to see those jet skis in action..something I would love to try!

Margate had a sandy beach which I love....the beach was filled with families and kids having fun making sandcastles and just chilling on the beach.
We also spotted the Vespa scooter club gang...it's amazing to see the people riding on these scooters range from the young and the old and the scooters came in various designs and modifications.. I love Vespa cuz it reminds me of my trip to Italy!
It's fun to see these motoring groups making day weekend trips riding up and down the country..I hope to join the MINI motoring club when I go home ..it'll be fun!!

We then drove down to Canterbury. The main town is located in a four cornered monument wall. Within the monument is a pedestrianised shopping centre with its pebble-stoned roads and a mix between the traditional Tudor buildings and the modern shop buildings.
Canterbury Cathedral is not as magnificient as the cathedrals we see in mainland Europe but it still has that English charm to it. The cathedral held their weekly Sunday service so we could hear the angelic voices of the boys choir. We walked around the cathedral and enjoyed the ambiance of the place.

It was a good day trip which ended with a BBQ back in London. Next road trip will be in the next May bank holiday weekend driving up to Lake District and Edinburgh. I haven't been back to Scotland for nearly five years now so going up there will hopefully bring back fond memories. :)