season's greetings - makan time!

while the kids were looking forward to opening presents on xmas morning, the adults just couldnt wait to stuff our faces with the yummylicious xmas spread.

kiddies table; the 2 little ones ate and behaved well..

 joke sharing time..

starter : smoked salmon

main course : roast goose & trimmings

 dessert : heston blumenthal's secret orange xmas pudding. whats so special about this pudding?

 read http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2066780/Waitrose-orders-emergency-supplies-Heston-Blumenthals-13-99-Christmas-pudding-demand-soars.html

afters : cheese & crackers

 and of course (heston blumenthal) mince pies.  

these are made with puff pastry instead of the normal short crust pastry

 i was stuffed!!

lepas makan, lepak2 tengok tv sampai midnite...

season's greetings - excitement

we had a good eks-mes break. kids were looking foward to opening presents and the adults were for the food.  

punya lah banyak xmas wrappers kat rumah, mummy punya present was wrapped in plain white paper..

 2 orang budak yang kena paksa tidor awal to be good boy & girl, otherwise santa wouldnt drop by to give presents and  Grinch would come and take the presents away.

 after they fell asleep at 8.30pm, Santa dropped off  green wrapped presents and more presents from elves.

 treat for santa, placed 'under' the chimney.

 xmas morning - unwrapped  presents from Santa first..aliyah got barbie dolls and Atan got JB doll and scalextric velodrome track cycling set from "Santa". excited sesangat...

 and kakak got 1D calendar..

 he's so concerned about his abang..

 and kakak was super excited when she got 1D concert ticket !! guess who's accompanying her to the concert???

 big fan of Justin Bieber

all of them got lots of prezzies this year. no more prezzies except on birthdays and little missy's coming up next month!!

balik kampong....

balik kampong....ho ho ho ho balik kampong...all packed for our break & makan2 at kampong Langham.

santa is a stalker!

dalam pada tak celebrate eks-mes, we (especially the kids) received lots of xmas cards from their friends. even our newspaper boy pun bagi card haha.. just when most people thot exchanging cards are things of the past, its not the case over here. people are still sticking to tradition.

another 2 days to xmas and santa's helper had been busy.

cute xmas stockings for the fireplace/mantel piece

presents for good boys and girls and their mummies and daddies

last weekend's conversation :

little missy : "mummy, we dont have any xmas tree. where is santa going to put our presents?".
mummy : " you are not getting any presents this year then.." and she looked dissapointed. then mummy said "we are going to celebrate xmas at atan's house, so santa is taking the presents there". and she told her sister who then said "santa is a spy and a stalker.. he knows where everyone is going!!"

the peers, the whips, the quangos...

this morning, i sat for "life in the uk test". ini semua gara2 nak apply for settlement once my visa expires in february. and this is home office punya requirement which encik suami said its a money making scheme. to sit for the online test kena bayar £50 (before june 2011 it cost only £35), kena jawab 24 questions in 45 minutes and has to achieve 75%. kalau fail, boleh lah re-sit but kena bayar another £50. we bought the study guide book, kena baca 5 chapters on historical events that lead to migration, changing role of women, the population, the parliament & government, everyday needs like housing, education and employment. tension betul cos i hate menghafal all the chronological events and years and percentages etc..

i studied for 2 days and spent few hours doing the quiz questions from the cd. i couldnt sleep well last nite. its worse than sitting for the masters exam. pendekata, now i know more about britain than the brits themselves - not many know what are The Peers, The Whips, The Quangos, The Reformation, The Troubles...whats the significance of year 1801, 1918, 1922, 1928, 1939-1945, 1958, 1969 etc..

it took me about 15 minutes to complete the test & went thro the answers few times before clicking "finish test" and submit. we got the results immediately after. Alhamdulillah, i passed and its kamar's turn in  january. thats just the beginning. after new year, we will be sending out the application and will have to wait up to 6 months before knowing our status and what lies ahead...

Insyaallah di permudahkan segala urusan.

foody face

i was in the kitchen when she came and asked if she can have foody face for breakfast.. apa benda pulak foody face ni?? apparently she went on cbeebies bobinogs and there was a game "how to make a foody face"..we didnt have any strawberry for the nose, apple for ears or grapes for hair, so mummy kena lah creative sikit, guna whatever fruit yang ada.

idea from here:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/bobinogs/games/bobinogs-foodyface/

ni daddy's breakfast foody face pulak..

xmas lunch & karok

for the past 2 years, we (our dept at work) went out for dinner at indian restaurant..last year's dinner wasnt as good as the previous one. so this year we decided to have xmas lunch & karaoke at a japanese restaurant which belongs to a malaysian chinese and food is halal.

only 3 people didnt turn up - they are already on leave. food & service was good - £15 pp for starter, main course and icecream and soft drink. we brought our own dessert - i made Oreos brownie (habis licin..) and aimie made apple crumble; had them with icecream served by the restaurant.

after lunch, ada karaoke and it was good fun and we had a good laugh..it's one of those rare occassions where everyone lets their hair down, tak payah nak control macho or maintain sopan..

the session ended at 5pm and everyone headed home to their families, partners, cats, books what have u...

happy holidays!!

the xmas stalls were put up and xmas lights were switched on almost a month ago but i never had the chance to go to the old market square; which is just 5 minutes walk down from my office. walked pass the square tonite after the dept xmas lunch/karaoke downtown and managed to capture few pics before catching the 6pm bus home. 

she's in the mood...

the 2 girls came into the kitchen and both talking to me at the same time..

little one : mummy, kakak is not talking to me
big one : she pushed me
and kept going on & on ...blah blah blah..

and mummy just laughed it off "go and sort it out yourselves"

15 minutes later..

while helping her put her jammies after shower, the little one was at it again. kakak was just sitting on the sofa trying to watch tv...little one picked a fight and went on & on again..

i asked the little one "why are u picking up a fight?"
she said "she (referring to kakak)'s in the mood!"
wow!! never heard that one before. where did that come from?
i cudnt help laughing out loud
and she said "thats not funny!" waaa..dia marah kita ...

Dear Daddy,

"Dear Daddy, just heat your food up when you're going to eat it. Enjoy ...lots of love, Aisyah"

i found this note next to a plate when i was washing the dishes..

cerita nya macam gini :
7.30pm : we were having dinner and daddy was on the phone sorting out/changing the service provider for tv/broadband/phone.
8.00pm : we finished dinner and he was still on the phone. i was putting the little one to sleep, big missy helped me clear the table. so she put the lauk (malam ni masak nasi ayam) & nasi on the plate and left a note so as not to disturb daddy.

how sweet & thotful of her..

eating weekend

what do we do when we r at home on a cloudy & gloomy weekend? makan laa..apa lagi?

yesterday hari malas memasak. all of us had soup & rolls for lunch, cheese n crackers for afternoon tea  and sambal tumis mackerel and sambal belacan with nasi putih for dinner.

cheese assortment £3 for 5 different types - french brie, wensleydale & cranberry, dutch edam, stilton blue & cheddar.

today makcik kantin pass apron to pakcik chef wan who cooked breakfast - bagel & fried egg, lunch - fish pie

and dinner - steak n kidney pie (minus the kidney).

and makcik made dessert - easy chocolate cake yang true to its name cos its so easy to make. i used whatever sprinkles or choc bottons that i have for deco.

  

 now kelopak mata pun dah berat even tho its only 8.20pm...

Please sir, i want some more!

we went to see the play - Oliver! at big missy's school and few of her friends played the Orphans. the actors were from years 7-11, they practised 2 months for the 3 nites of acting, singing & dancing and made the teachers and parents proud.

most memorable songs = Food Glorious Food & Where is Love
most memorable line = "Please Sir, i want some more"

my favourite Oliver = Mark Lester (above pic). he's such a cutie with those wavy blonde hair.  remember him, Tracy Hyde and Jack Wilde in the 1970s movie Melody, self titled soundtrack by Bee Gees and of course the acronym S.W.A.L.K ?? ..ooohhhh..