Bye 2007!!!

Well, it has been quite a year with lots of memorable things happening throughout the year. Our celebration here is to mostly watch tv, plan what to eat and relax. Mostly because we're still not well. Otherwise, not much different from our celebration in Malaysia - stay at home too mostly. A lot cheaper.

Got a SMS from my friend earlier wishing a happy new year. Belum reply pun - nak tunggu new year dulu. Anyway, as I write this, it is almost midnight here in the UK (in fact another 15 minutes).

Best gift received in 2007 - Aliyah
Best memories of 2007 - friends from Malaysia coming over and going crazy over shopping and food
Best cake of 2007 - Banana Walnut with dates
Greatest achievement in 2007 - UK Driver's license in first sitting
Best holiday destination 2007 - Paris
Best Christmas event 2007 - visiting friends and having lunch / dinner with their families
Most beneficial item bought 2007 - Fiat Ulysse 7 seater
Proudest moments in 2007 - Aisyah's name in the BBC website / Aliyah being born
Greatest personal achievement 2007 - Lost 10 kg during Ramadhan and still losing weight (honest!!!) due to doing karate
Noni's greatest achievement 2007 - Lost more weight than me

Our hopes for this year
Me - Enjoy life and family more
Noni - Completing her cert in Higher Education
Aisyah - Khatam Quran before we go back to Malaysia
Aliyah - be able to say "Nak stustu" (Aisyah said this when she was small)

Anyway - it is now 1 minute to midnight - going to publish this.

Happy new year everyone!!!!! From all of us!!!!

another milestone - part 2

she got this toy phone from brian for xmas. she must have been watching us.

another milestone

aliyah turned 11 months on 23rd dec and we managed to get her toddling lots of steps on camera.

year end break 2007 - day 4

its xmas day. when we checked out from Bristol Severn View Travelodge, we realised we were the only hotel guests.

at 10am, we left for Bristol city centre, heading towards Clifton to see the famous Clifton Suspension Bridge. it was really quiet. orang belum bangun or maybe busy opening xmas presents. berbeza betul kalau compare dengan hariraya puasa. kalau di msia, pagi raya around 10 pagi, orang baru balik sembahyang & dah start sibok beraya.

i saw Clifton Bridge (or also known as Brunel Bridge) for the first (& last time) in summer 1988. the bridge was designed by great victorian engineer named Isambard Kingdom Brunel. he never lived to see his creation finished in 1864. the bridge is the symbol of Bristol. raudah, fathiah and aisyah walked 3/4 way across the suspended bridge. vehicles kena bayar tol 50p (no copper coins allowed) to cross to the other side. we also walked up to the observatory.

from Bristol, we drove on M5 towards Midlands and decided to drive via the Cotswolds, to show raudah and fathiah the beautiful english country side. we were at the Cotswolds last year during the xmas holidays. that time i was 8 months pregnant with Aliyah. we stopped at Bourton on the Water and Stratford upon Avon (Shakespeare's county). took them to Anne Hathaway's cottage and Shakespeare's birthplace. Bourton is a small quaint town which attracts lots of local tourists.

we left Stratford at 4.30pm, heading towards Langham near Oakham in Leicestershire, to have xmas dinner with Herlina and family at their house. we got there about 1 hour later. dinner was expected to start at 6.30 and since we were absolutely starving... shops are closed on xmas day; we helped ourselves to maggi mee. we were joined by another couple, zul & azni from liverpool.

anyway, dinner was great... good company, good food, got presents some more.... even for me & hubby. i got a 'tumi' tote bag which i can use for work and hubby got a 'global' peeling knife. we bought herlina emma bridgewater cheeseboard & polka dot porcelain cover in a shop in canterbury. she's collecting the emma bridgewater polka dots ware. we left at 9.30pm and got home an hour later....

aisyah couldnt wait to open her (& aliyah's) presents they got for xmas from brian our neighbour, gill, ivy & richard and herlina.

back to life, back to reality, back to dirty laundry, house cleaning, work etc. next break will probably be in easter...thats after 10 weeks or 160 hours of teaching. ooohhh lamanya lagi !!

year end break 2007 - day 3

its xmas eve...

we checked out from travelodge at 10am and headed towards Winchester town centre. we've visited Gill several times but never got round to go into the town centre.

Winchester was the ancient capital of England, resting place of the author Jane Austin, last year voted the #1 place to live in the UK. since time was limited, we only managed to go to Great Hall, the only surviving part of Winchester Castle. it houses the legendary King Arthur's Round Table, 2 pairs of wrought steel gates to commemorate the wedding of Charles & Diana in 1981 and Queen Victoria sculpture (see http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk ).

the town centre was crowded with people, doing last minute xmas shopping. apparently it was reported that the brits spent £12 billion for xmas (dunno how far is that true) of which £1.8 billion done online. we passed by 'buttercross' and saw the hampshire youth brassband playing xmas songs.

we left for Bath, stopped at Stonehenge on A303. ramai jugak tourists even tho the place was closed.

Bath is a beautiful historical city with lots of Roman influence. my first (and last) visit was way back in 1988. we went to Bath Abbey, tak sempat nak masuk Roman Bath. then we walked to the garden overlooking Pulteney Bridge and drove to Royal Crescent. since it was getting dark, we left for Bristol, 40 miles away. see http://www.visitbath.co.uk

year end break 2007 - day 2

the next morning, sunday 23rd dec, we checked out of the hotel at 11am after breakfast. fetched Fathiah (Raudah's cousin who's on job training in woking, surrey) from Ashford train station, then continued our journey to Winchester in Hampshire.

traffic was horrific on M25, one of the busiest motorways as it leads to London, Heathrow and other airports. due to heavy fog, traffic slowed down. apparently lots of flights were cancelled due to poor visibility. we took the alternative route, left M25, drove into A3 towards Portsmouth and somewhere along the way, went back into M3 towards Southampton and managed to get to Itchen Abbas, near Avington an hour later than expected.

we had pre xmas lunch at Gill's. Gill is a friend of arwah Tok Wan Rahim, hubby's parents. we met her son Matthew and partner Gillian and their 11 weeks old baby boy, Ozzy and also one of Gill's daughters, Natalie and her boyfriend, Fred. Gill has another daughter, Sophie who lives in Sheffield who has 2 girls, Maya and Orly. Gill cooked thai green curry with rice and sauted beans & carrots. lovely....

it was a foggy day but the scenery outside gill's house was magnificent. River Itchen flows outside her house. Gill just moved to this house 18 months ago. the last time we visited her in april last year, the house interior was being refurbished. she has an office in a lovely log cabin outside her house.

Gill won the 'pumpkin growing' competition in her village. it weighs over 30kg!

we left her house at 9.30pm after hubby helped fix her cable tv; and headed towards Winchester Sutton Scotney Southbound Travelodge.

year end break 2007 - day 1

equipped with full tank of petrol, AA road map and also AA travel planner for various destinations, we left nottingham at 10.30am.

traffic was heavy on M1 due to major roadworks (they are expanding the lanes).











we stopped at South Mimms Service area for refreshment and toilet. bawak bekal tuna mayo sandwiches, fried chicken, crisps and coffee in thermos flask. the service area is quite big and lots of people stopped to rest; lebih kurang macam Pagoh rest area bila nak balik JB...

dartford crossing, bayar toll £1. (first time bayar toll kat UK)

after 4 hours drive, we arrived at Ashford travelodge (tak sesat pun), rest sekejap and left for canterbury while there was still daylight. it was 1/2 hour drive on country road from ashford to canterbury. its a revisit for me. my first (and last) visit was in dec 1986 with kak anne, my friend's sister. she and her family lived in wye, half way between ashford and canterbury.

canterbury cathedral

from canterbury we drove to ivy & richard's place for dinner. ivy is kakak (hubby's sister)'s old school friend, we were expected at 6pm but we were 1/2 hour late, not bad lah...they live in the country side. we took the road towards tenterden, drove on benenenden road, then on benenden road before reaching biddenden. berapa banyak den, den,den .. confused !!

dinner and company was good. their son daryl was home. he's a tree surgeon, interesting guy, worked in nigeria and madagascar, rode on his motorcycle back to england. aisyah dapat kawan baru, ivy's grandaughters; abigail 8 and sophie 4. after dinner, ada performance by the kids. aisyah sang 'silent nite' using sign language, sophie and abigail did gymnastic. then they did the 'dragon dance' and 'zombie dance' while daryl played the gendang.

we left at 9.30pm, kids got xmas presents; 2 each from ivy & richard.

year end break 2007 - part 1

we're back from our 4 days 'cuti cuti england'.

we travelled a total of 767 miles round trip in 4 days, from nottingham in east midlands to kent in the south east, crossed over to winchester in hampshire, then to bath & bristol in the somerset/south west, back to midlands via cotswolds.

traffic was heavy on some motorways on the way down cos orang balik kampong for xmas. on our way back to notts, traffic was really good as it was xmas day.

weather was a mixture of everything from sunny to drizzle to fog to cloudy and of course cold.

we slept at 3 different travelodges, no frill budget hotel tapi ada tv & coffee making facilities; on offer at £19 per family room which sleeps maximum 3 adults.

we had a good time despite me & hubby were not feeling well. every day & nite makan ubat sampai medical supply pun habis. we fulfilled our purposes to visit family friends and personally handed their xmas presents.

by the time we got home, our van was so mucky that we couldnt tell its original colour.

baking day

today i officially start my year end holiday. actually my leave was supposed to start on 19th... on that day i was ill, so kira mc. on 20th ie yesterday i had to attend 'school day' at the uni - compulsory attendance, a talk on "disability in higher institution and its legal implication". quite interesting...

with xmas coming, i decided to bake some cakes to bring to gill, ivy and also to give to brian and richard (hubby's boss). 3 down, 1 more to go tonite.

cappucino bar for richard & jane. whenever hubby brought cake for richard at work, he would take it home to share with jane... baik betul...

Nigella chocolate orange cake for our neighbour, Brian. this cake uses marmalade instead of orange zest. cake is quite big for him alone but suppose he can share with his guests.

Date and walnut loaf for Gill. aisyah's schoolmate's mom, Dr Faridah from Emirates gave me lots of korma (dates) in the fasting month. i've been making lots of cakes using the korma she gave. this loaf is best made 2-3 days ahead. so, just nice to give to gill in few days time.

all the cakes in their boxes. i managed to find cake boxes in Lakeland, nice shop selling lots of household and baking stuff. the boxes look so christmassyyy

xmas prezzie

aisyah got her first xmas present today from her best fren Lauren. i've also given tracy (lauren's mom) their presents.

selamat hari raya aidil adha 2007 (part 2)

aliyah was being a good girl today. she played on her own in the play pen when i baked the cake and started cooking at 4.30pm. i've always liked to start early so that i dont rush, set the table and clean the kitchen before the guests arrive. everything was done by 6.00 pm.

guests arrived at 7pm as promised - none other than mimi & family and sani. mimi's mom made nasi himpit and kuah kacang.

as planned, i made nasi tomato, dalca with daging and vege, ayam masak merah and acar mentah and baked jaffa drizzle cake - one of the easiest cakes i ever made. put all ingredients in the mixing bowl, blitzzz using hand mixer and bunk into the oven. bila dah masak, drizzle with orange juice + caster sugar. when cooled, drizzle chocolate topping. easy pezy, lemon squeezy

guests left at 9pm cos tomorrow is a school/working day.

should i or should i not??

i'm contemplating now... whether or not i should continue with my post graduate programme.

when i joined the uni in 2006, i was given the opportunity to pursue masters in project management (construction) which is on part time basis, distance learning, classes on saturdays & sundays, every 10 weeks. the course takes 2 1/2 years to complete.

also i have to do pgche - 'post graduate certificate in higher education' (made compulsory by the government); 1 year course, no exams just based on courseworks and portfolios. both courses are paid for by the university.

i joined the msc programme in september 2006, was already pregnant with aliyah. i went ahead and managed to attend classes for 3 modules even tho i was pretty tired and having back aches. on the day my fellow coursemates were having their exam for project appraisal, i had just delivered aliyah and was on maternity leave. i then decided to defer my studies for a year.

for the pgche, i managed to complete module 1 (there are 2 modules) till end of 2006 but was given approval to defer submission of 2 pieces of courseworks due to my condition. i'm going back to the classroom in january 2008 for module 2, submitting the 2 pieces of courseworks. i'm really struggling with time....

i teach 3 full days a week, at a maximum of 16 hours of teaching while preparing lecture materials. back from work, need to do household chores, look after the kids, weekends for me to rest (if i could). hardly enough time to read to do my courseworks for the post grad studies.

i spoke to my colleague, quilin yesterday. she teaches finance for my masters programme. she adviced me to put my masters programme on hold for the time being, focus on pgche and go back to masters class in september next year when aliyah is a bit bigger. she said that i have to look after myself cos i look so tired... with long teaching hours, baby to look after, not enough sleep etc. maybe what she says is true.

selamat hari raya aidil adha 2007

muslims in UK celebrates Hari Raya Haji today. we are not really into celebration, sedih jugak. hubby's at work, aisyah's at school, i'm feeling under the weather... got the flu virus. but in order not to dampen that raya 'spirit', i'm going to cook nasi tomato, dalca daging and ayam masak merah for dinner, for my usual guests - mimi & family and sani. maybe bake jaffa chocolate drizzle cake for dessert.

kalau kat msia, suppose we will go back to KB for the korban and raya. kalau ikut plan and if we were to be in msia, tahun ni, naik giliran for haj; of which i really was looking forward to. kita merancang, tuhan menentukan.

called my mom this morning. she'll be celebrating raya haji tomorrow with my brothers at our place in Ampang.

end of year activities

our december calendar is quite full..



last week on wednesday, aisyah's school had xmas lunch for the kids. of course she opted for vegetarian meal - she had potatoes, brussel sprouts (which she didnt eat), peas, stuffing, vanilla icecream and orange juice.



on thursday afternoon, there was the school play by the junior groups (year 3,4,5,6). the play was on 'scrooge christmas'. each and every kid performed - singing (with sign language) and dancing with few acts as well. aisyah's class danced to 'thriller' by michael jackson. i didnt get to watch it cos i had classes but her daddy went and took video of the performance.

banana/walnut/date cake &
chocolate banana cake

aisyah & her master









this week, on tuesday, she ( & daddy) has xmas party with the karate group. aliyah & i will join them, baked 'banana walnut cake' for the do. on wednesday, aisyah's school is having the xmas party for the kids after lunch. daddy's having his office xmas lunch on friday. me - no parties or xmas lunches !! i will be busy baking cakes & cookies for ivy & richard, gill and our next door neighbour Brian.



uni students are off for 3 weeks xmas break. i'm supposed to go on leave, to finish off my 2006/2007 annual leave but can only do that from friday onwards. lots of admins activities going on at the uni - tuesday & wednesday need to attend programme leader workshop and thursday is 'school day event'. glad that we get the whole week off from xmas eve till new year. but then again... piles of work need doing - assignments for my post grad classes to be handed in january.

jualan murah !!!

yesterday, after aisyah's riding class, we decided to go to the shops, to get xmas presents for wendy & lesley, my admins ladies at work and also looking for aliyah's shoes (now that she's walking), placemats & coasters for my fren, yan. on the way to the city, we heard the radio advert - xmas shopping at designer outlets, junction 28. we've not been there for quite some time. so, hubby made a turn and off we went to J28.

almost all shops were having xmas sale, carpark was full...

we ended up buying shoes for everybody .... adidas store was having a very good sale, most prices slashed by 70% ! daddy, mummy & aisyah got adidas trainers, each less than £20; aliyah got clarks shoes at £9. hubby hasnt bought any shoes since the past 2 years, i bought my last pair in december last year. yang banyak kasut is aisyah cos her feet has been growing rapidly...she now wears a size 3.

dah habis shopping kasut, we went to Marks & Spencers outlet. hubby bought 2 pairs of work trousers, both at 50% off; one is a corduroy and the other one is cotton 'with cashmere' fuyoo!!!it cost him £25 which we reckoned was a damn good price for the material. his dockers trousers dah almost 5 years old (we bought and brought from msia) and fading.

managed to get placemats and coasters for yan. hubby said to get her 12 pieces terus...