They are here...

Yess...my family has arrived safely last early Monday morning. They landed at Stansted airport at the midnight and we of course went there to fetch them. Unlike when we fetched my SIL, where the airport was very quite but this time, it was much busier. We reached Soton back about 3.30am & I was really sleepy to look at what they brought, mostly the food that I ordered, hehhehe.

So after about 2 days here, I think they managed to adapt to everything quite well. Luckily, the weather is not that bad. Since I am not in labour yet we tried to go anywhere especialy to the carboot. Also, they've enjoyed their shopping spree. We went to gunwharf Quay on easter monday. And my, my,my... they shopped like they're going back to m'sia soon. I did remind them though... not to buy everything at one go as they'll be here for a long time & we'll definitely go there again. We only managed to go to 2 stores.. Nike & clarks, knowing my Abah, who always inpatient in everything. He couldn't spend longer time at one place. When we're at home, he keeps asking when/where to go out & once you go out, the next thing he ask, where to go next & b4 you even realize, he'll say let's go home. Yup... that is my abah, very restless man.

What else.... oh yes. I am officially sign off as the cook in the house. My Ina takes charges on the cooking, 100%. me just do the planning on what to cook next & then... everything is ready. how I love my mom's cooking. So far she cooked all my fav. The only thing that I do at home is cleaning & tidying up the house, all the time. Well, my family is well known on our messiness. With three xtra ppl in house, u can see mess everywhere. The least I could do is to tidy up w/out complaining. Luckily Ina & Anaqi understand me well, so they tried to minimise the mess and abah is trying his best in not making much mess. If not, you could see his stuff everywhere. he is actually the main contributor in making mess, hikhikhik. Luckily syawal understands my family in comparison with his family, we're like from 2 diff worlds. His family (especially my MIL) is a clean freak & my family, totally the opposite.

Syafique also having a big fun with them. He spends most of the time with his uncle aka my youngest brother, Aqi. Luckily, even at 18 yrs old, Agi is a bit childish so they can click easily.

Got to go now. Need to go back to sleep. it's really hard to blog lately... have to find the time to blog. yes.. I am very bz but happy *wink*.

The Red Nose family

** The family**

** Three of us, soon to be 4, InsyaAllah**

**My darling Syawal**

**My precious Syafique**

**My Loved Ones**

** On Comic Relief day, I have to wear funny dress**

**Do I look funny in my oversize shirt??**

Camwhoring

Hmmm... as I wrote in my previous2 entry, my new hobby is to take a picture of my growing belly.Pictures taken at my 23 wks of pregnancy. Can barely hide it now. Luckily, I managed to do some alteration during Christmas day on my not so recently bought maternity wear as I will use them more after this :).

p/s 1: Thanks to syawal for being so sporting with my new hobby :)

p/s 2: Pictures taken using the big camera & my C905. U can easily spot the difference ofthe pix quality, rite??? However... I still love my new camera phone.

Tiring Saturday

We just arrived from London about ten after eight just now & managed to watch part of X-Factor show *grin*. Now I feel so tired but I still want to write about what we're doing today. Well... syafique & sawal are both sleeping already. I guess Syafique is very tired too. Normally it takes about 1 hr for him to totally fell asleep after getting him on bed but tonight... <15 min, both of them dozed off.

Our first destination was to MSD cafe of course. Had our lovely lunch there. Me had rice + mixed vege + 'paru berlada' + 'pedal', while syawal had rice + mixed vege + beef rendang + squid. We also add sambal belacan & asam pedas ikan patin... Hmmm, yummy,yummy. Syawal drank teh tarik & me just water (FOC). The asam pedas was so delicious. Syafique didn't want rice, so he had roti canai. 2 pcs of roti canai & his fav drink, lycee juice with the actual fruit. No pix of the food as we're so buzy with our food, *wink*. The total cost for our lunch was £15. Quite cheap I think, in comparison with when u're eating @ Bonda/nahar. I wanted keropok lekor but they didn't sell any today, *sob,sob,sob*. I hope my craving is not b'cause of my pregnancy. I think this is just a normal craving of me who just really love to eat, :). My friend's mother is coming from M'sia. They're from Trg & few days ago, I did ask/tell her to bring some. Basically, her mother will bring some & hopefully the keropok lekor (plus other food that they bring too) pass the custom & my friend won't forget to give me some :)

After lunch, we prayed at the MSD payer room & then we walked to the nearby park. What a very nice exercise for us who just eating. A good & natural way to digest the food, rite? Just a short walking distance from the cafe to the park. I thought we're at Hyde Park, Later that we kenw that we're actually at Kensington garden, next to Hyde park. Doesn't matter anyway. Since we're already at the end of the autumn, most of trees are already bold but managed to fine few beautiful spots. Read.. trees with yellowish & goldish leaves. So...our photoshoot session officially began. It was quite difficult to take picture with syafique was bz running here & there. End up most of the pictures are my face (as usual). Luckily it wasn't that cold but it was cloudy, so couldn't get the best shot. The pix that I put here is from my compact digicam & most of the pix are actually in the other camera. I will upload those pics later in my photoblog which I don't know when I am going to upload them. I haven't even finished uploading the cornwall's holiday pix yet *grin*.


We spent about 3 hrs there, from MSD cafe & Kensington garden. Luckily the parking charge was really cheap today. Just £2.70 for 3hrs. This parking has flexible rate. When we entered the charge was 0.90p/hr. By the time left, the charge was already increased to 1.10/hr. So... the next time we hit London, will definitely park there. Plus, the parking is located at the main street & you can do window shopping as well along the street. I did buy some new designs of London fridge magnets :).

It was about 4pm that time & it was still early to go back to Soton. I actually had another plan in my mind that I didn't tell syawal before. So, when he asked me where to go next...I told him where I wanted to go. A store that sell Corelle *BiiiiiiiigGriiiiinn*. Luckily this place is close to the tossei shop that we always go. So went there & yup.... I love that shop. For today, I ONLY bought the vision 6 pcs set. Will definitely go there again. I am aiming for the casserole set & the dining set. Luckily syawal also a fan corelle, so he has no objection about buying corelle. Yey..yeyyy..... BTW, the store is Popat store @ Ealing Road wembley, close to Alperton Station. Just google the name & you can easily find Popat store.

By the time we finished our not-really-shopping at Popat, we're hungry again. Next destination, Chennai Dossa, our favourite tossei restaurant. Just few mins drive from Popat. We had 3 plain tossei & 1 onion tossei, the cost was only £7.++. Very cheap right?? We're really full after that & still full. Again, no pictures of the food. From there we headed home & the traffic was really smooth.

Sounds like our day today was fun right???? Yes.. indeed it was fun BUT there were few times I was really annoyed at syawal. Why?? Hmmm. What else? Him & his Xperia, *ggrrrrr*. He just installed voice recognition prog. into his Xperia & he kept playing with it, like kept asking the phone the battery level... Huh...so annoying. He also kept trying to turn on the mp3 song using that voice thingy which didn't work as he instructed, *double gggrrr*. And also, we're a bit lost when we're trying to find the Popat store. The satnav installed in that phone cannot accept full postcode so, a bit problem to reach the destination accurately. I did give him the shop's phone number. I hoped he call them asking for exact direction, instead of calling them, he browsed the net using his phone for I didn't know why. At the end, he did cal the shop for direction. Seriously... I was really annoyed. Anyway, I am glad I didn't blow out. The worst that I did just being sarcastic, also at a very minimal level.. Well, I don't want to spoil that lovely moment by me being cranky, hikhikhik. I never asked him what he has done to his phone b'cause I know if I ask, he'll definitely talk about it all the time. So I show no interest at all... At least I could save my ears from all these Xperia things for a while. It's been more than 2 wks since he bought the Xperia but his craziness still at the max level. I really don't know when this is gonna end.

Can you keep a secret?

That is actually the latest Sophie Kinsella's novel that I just read. Very2 worth reading. I finished reading it in just one night & it was really full of emotions.. Again, Sophie Kinsella never fail to amuse me with her piece. I borrowed this novel from a friend a day before.

The book starts with lots of giggling. Syafique was besides me when I read it & he must thought his umi was crazy because I giggled most of the times. But when I reached the peak of the story, the giggle was long way gone, syafique was already aslept & I was crying, weeping & sobbing. I was so moved away & had to pause my reading. During that time, syawal was next to me & he said I was over reacting. I wished he read the novel too.

There are lots of moral values from this novel but the quote that stick in my mind is 'Living well is the best revenge'. Yes... no matter how bad you've been treated, don't fight back. You could fight back, but in a very 'smooth' way. Act with brain...

I read the novel on Friday night, so when I went to Portswood on Saturday, I went into each charity shop, very excited looking for Sophie's novel & I got two *yey*, Can You Keep a Secret & Remember Me. Even though I've read the Can You Keep a Secret, but it is not mine. I want to complete my Sophie Kinsella's novel collection. Another 3 titles from Shopaholis series, then my collection is complete. At the boot sales today, my search of her novels still continued, I did find some but I've got that titles. So... the search is still on.

Mommies Days Out

The mommies.... Me, N**ul & P*ng

Last weekend was really awesome for me. On Saturday, me & my other two friends, P*ng & N***ul went to the FOC at Portsmouth. Before that, all of us are married with kid(s). Unlike me, my other friends are alone here in UK. Their families are back in M'sia so they're pretty free to do anything. For me, I've got syawal's permission earlier to go out with my girl friends. Syawal knows my friends, so he has no problem at all. Besides, he always goes & hang out with his boy friends, sausage Party is what he calls it. I need my time with my girl friends too right???

The trip to Portsmouth was totally for P*ng's shopping spree. My main role was to accompany P*ng. I am totally broke now & I can't do any shopping but still that shopping trip was really enjoyable. The thing that made it so memorable was, we're like teenagers. We took pictures everywhere we wanted to, didn't care to the ppl around us. We entered most of the shops but skipped some of them by the end of the day because we were so damn tired. I am very sure my friends too found that day was really great. The most important thing, Pong left the outlet with a very big heart because her shopping spree was a BIG success. Me???? I got a Guess handbag, an advanced birthday present from Pong. When I first saw the bag, I fell in love with it BUT thinking of our not-so-good financial condition, I have to hold the desire. I told myself, I can come back with syawal next time as we'll get the allowance soon. Syawal did give me his bank card, in case I want to buy anything. But me, being a good wife, try not to spend the money unless necessary. Luckily I didn't use the card because later, I found out that I didn't even remember the pin number *phooh*. If I tried to use the card, I might ended up embarassing myself when the transaction is rejected. Well, me is so happy after got the bag. TQVM P*ng. Honestly, I didn't ask her to buy me the bag but once she offered, I never say no, hikhikhik. That day was full of laughter of us. I still could remember the day, how we got in and out from one outlet to another. I was so tired & whenever we got into outlet, the first thing I looked for was a bench for me to sit. After the shopping spree was over, Syawal picked us up exactly where he dropped us, & we went to O*a's house for late lunch. Yummilicious lunch. How lucky were we, after shopping, we were fed..huhuhu. But we couldn't stay long at O*a's because I needed to cook something that night. Sunday will be another tiring day. In fact, more tiring than Saturday.

3 'G' bags.... one of them is mine :)

Then came Sunday. N**ul stayed overnight at my house as we had a very early morning plan. Yes, we had a bus to catch at 0710 am BUT either you believe it or not, we missed the bus. I didn't know how we could miss the bus because all of us were ready by 0630am. I just couldn't understand how it happened. It was not our first time taking a bus. In fact, I was always concern about the time, afraid of being late & it wasn't happened that morning. I was so relaxed, P*ng & N**ul enjoyed their nasi lemak & P*ng even asked me if she could finished her coffee. Of course my answer is NO & we still missed the bus. The problem is the bus always comes late from the schedule (10-15 min) & I thought it would be the same that morning. I can't be blamed right???Syawal drove us to the bus station at the university & we're about to enter the junction, I could still saw the bus but knowing the driver's behaviour, they only pick & drop the passengers at the allocated point. We did try to stop the bus but ....... To cut the story short, Syawal (thanks abang *chup3X*) then sent us to the city bus station. We took the next bus, which mean we had to buy another ticket. So, the intial cost on the bus fare was increased from just £10 to £25, just on transport, huhuhu. I could buy lots of things with that £15 but I guess our fate was already written. So, don't bother to complain anymore. We did learn our lesson though.

Brunch @ MSD cafe

BTW, there were not just three of us to London. There was someone who insisted to come with us. I am sorry to say this but it actually spoiled the mood a bit. We tried to be positive, hoping it wouldn't be that bad. Missed-the-bus accident actually caused a little bit unsatisfaction but I don't want to share about it. I just want to share the happy moments. Plus, if you read the rules of happiness, then you'll understand why I don't want to write about it here. Luckily our day was not totally ruin. We still had fun & even though we knew that it would be much fun if it's only us, the same people that went to Portsmouth a day before.

With the cool parking attendant @ Harrods

OK... what did we do or where did we go in London??? First, we went to Bayswater, to P*ng's place, to put all her shopping stuffs before we explored London. Of course we didn't want to carry the bulky & heavy shopping bags around right? Then, had brunch at the MSD's cafe. It was actually my first time there. Somebody told me, the cafe is now operated by a new mgmt & the foods were delicious, plus lots of choices. I actually wanted to eat 'Keropok lekor' but they hadn't serve it yet because it was still early *sigh*. Our first shopping destination was Liverpool Street. They wanted to but London t-shirts for souvenirs. They are quite cheap there, £10 for 4. Normally, the cost is £7 - £10 for one. Good bargain right? Me also got 2 pairs of T shirt for syafique. Now I feel regret, I should get a pair for me too. From Liverpool street, we splitted to two groups. Me & P*ng went back to P*ng's place for Zuhur prayer, plus I wanted to buy the keropok lekor at the MSD cafe. The other group went to Harrods. Then all of us met again at Harrods. Harrods was having their Summer Sales. Eventhough you could see 50%, 75% off everywhere but still it's out of your league. What we mainly did just window shopping & took pictures. For me, the affordable stuffs are only the Harrods souvenirs. It almost to 6pm when we left harrods & our bus at 7pm. Of course we didn't want to miss the again, so by 6.30 pm we're already at Victoria Coach Station. Also bought some sushis & onigiri for syawal (& me too). Tried to have some sleep in the bus but I was too excited thinking about the wonderful trip that I just had. It was really fun & enjoy every bits of it


To P*ng & N**ul, maybe we could do this again *wink3x*. When?? For sure not within the short time because Pong is going back to M'sia & N**ul is gonna be very busy travelling for the next couple of months BUT we'll do it again rite???? To abang... thanks for the permission, I really appreciate it. Without your approval I'll not have this great time with my friends. Me also very proud of myself because I could control my shopping desire knowing our financial condition is not good even though syawal gave me his credit card, in case I need it. Abang... I am a good wife, rite???

Tiring BUT great

My weekend was really unbelievably fun, great & awesome, but very tiring. What did I do???? To find out..... you have to continue your reading *wink3x*. Until now, I still feel the excitement from the two FULL days activities with my two other girl friends. I bet they also feel the same. Well... all of us are married with kid(s). Honestly, it was my first experience without syawal besides me. Since I met syawal (we're couple since 1995), I did everything mostly with him; shopping, eating, travelling.... he is my partner in crime & hope this will stay forever (I love you abang...*chup3x*).

The activity started as early as 8am, saturday morning. My friend, P*ng from London came to our house & she arrived a day before. She is going back home soon & I promised to take her to Gunwharf Quay for last minute shopping. N**ul, our friend was coming too. Three of us are work colleagues in UPM but P*ng was my coursemate during my degree & we're very close since then. Me & her like sky & earth, two different characters but somehow, we just click easily. Our first destination was to a carboot sales. I noticed that this boot sales open on Saturday when I was on our way to a friend's house @ Blandford, a week before. Couldn't remember the exact location but it can be easily spotted when you drive towards Poole on the main road. Even though it was quite chilly that morning & not many sellers, I got something that I've been searching for so long..... a sit up bench at just £2 & still in a very good condition. of course I was so happy but still couldn't get a chance to try it out. Syawal almost returned it back to the seller b'coz he couldn't fit it in the car. Luckily, it can easily be disassembled & problem solved *phooh*.

Picture: credit to Google Image search

Then, from the boot sales we went straight to Gunwharf Quay, Portsmouth. Since this gonna be a long day for the girls & Syafique n' Syawal wouldn't be interested to join, so Syawal dropped us outside the outlet & the stories will be continued in the next entry... *wink3x*.

My catch @ Wimbledon

These are what I got from Wimbledon last Saturday. I actually wanted to buy lots of other things but I have to hold the desire, not until next year :).



Now I have the racket & the ball, so I can play tennis again, huhuhuhu.

*sob,sob,sob :(

Quite upset just now but feel better now.. Federer lost to Nadal in the Wimbledon final. He did give a fight but I think Nadal was superbly incredible. They played rubber set, 3-6, 3-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-7 & a very worth watching match. Eventhough Federer misses the chance to win Wimbledon sixth times in a row, for me it's not a big deal. There'll always be next time...

BTW, I went to Wimbledon last Saturday. One of my dreams had come true..hohoho. Well, I bought the ground ticket only. Yess, I have to be realistic as our economy at the moment doesn't allow us to buy the ticket to the main courts. For me, had my feet stepped on the wimbledon ground made me more than grateful. We watched the ladies final (Williams vs. Williams) on the big screen while we had picnic at the Henman Hill with other peoples. Sometimes I feel like I've become like English ppl... enjoying sunbathing which I am not. I wish I could do more shopping, but again budget constraint *sob,sob*. Don't worry, I told myself that I will go there again next year with thick wallet. Read... my wallet, not syawal's wallet *wink*.

What was my feeling when I was there?? Unbelievable!!. I felt so happy when we got our tickets. In fact, I didn't want to put high hope before we got the tickets because on our way, Syawal asked if I really wanted to get in there, considering our very tight budget. I just told him, let see what happened when we're actually there. I guess, we had been destined to get in the Wimbledon ground. We parked our car (@ a very expensive parking charge), follow the special route to the ticket counter & finally, we got the ticket. Stepped in there made me so relieved. Yes.. I made it. The grasses smell were so fresh and listening when the ball was being hit really make feel big, satisfied, happy. Ohh... suddenly I realized that I love tennis very much, huhuhu. Actually there is nothing that could explain my feeling that time. I wish I could stay longer but syafique wasn't patient enough for his tossei craving.

To Syawal, thanks very much for making my dream comes true. In our tight budget condition, you still tried to make it happened. Otherwise, I know he'll be very generous. As usual, the pictures can be viewed here.

English strawberries

Summer this year is really great. Why?? Because, unlike last year which was VERY wet summer, this year we've a really beautiful summer. Bright shiny spell most of the days with the lovely wind blow, bit chilly but nice.

In this lovely weather, it'll be really great to spend the day outside, not just staying at home. The only trade off is, when you spend more time outside, it means you'll be spending more... So, which one do you prefer??? Me?? In between... I don't want to just stay at home BUT in the same time, we have to control our expenses. So the solution is, we'll do anything that is just around soton. One of them is picking strawberries, fresh from the farm. Yes... you can pick your own strawberries (and other berries too). Plus, it is actually cheaper to but them this way. BTW, you can only do it during summer time. So, what are you waiting for??? Go & pick your own strawberries

Actually, this is our second time of picking strawberries in this summer, but at different farm. The first time was at the Fair Oak farm but their strawberries are not as red, juicy as at the Pickwell farm. I begged syawal to take me here. I know their strawberries are better. We went there last Sunday but when we arrived, it almost closed. Went home empty handed but Syawal agreed to take us back on Wednesday (yesterday). Thanks Abang...

Talking about English strawberries, do you know that the English ppl are really proud of their products/fruits.... whatever that is Made in England. In one way, I do salute them of their loyalty. But sometimes, they have to buy not-made-in-england product because they are cheaper. I used to chat with this one technician & I can see how proud he is with the home products. We M'sian should act the same..proud with our country, own our product, everything about our country. But I do feel ashame have pak lah as our PM * eeughh*.

back to picking story, how was it?? It was indeed really fun. The farm is much bigger. You can other fruits too, not just strawberries. But we wanted to pick just strawberries. The strawberries are much redder, bigger & juicier. Can you see them.. they are really tempting, right?? Once we reached home, I ate them with cream and sprinkle of sugar....heaven :). This is the way how British eat the strawberies. If you don't know, Siti Nurhaliza eat them with chocolate & they taste good too. But I prefer with cream.

I have another wish though... Not to pick strawberries anymore but to pick cherries, my fav fruits. I haven't got a chance to eat cherries yet this summer. I don't know why I don't have the feeling to buy them yet. I guess my need to pick my own cherries is so strong & I can wait until that moment, then I'll eat cherries. Hope my wish will come true soon, InsyaAllah.

Wimbledon2008

Yes... Wimbledon2008 is officially starts today!!! My favourite players are definitely Federer & Maria Shorapova.

p/s: I am too lazy to do anything today, *zzzzzz*.

*****NEW UPDATE*****

I just found out that I can watch the LIVE game on BBC website. That is really good. Now I am watching Hewitt vs. I-don't-know-that-player, interesting game... If I knew this earlier, I could watch Federer's first game *sigh*.