tete-a-tete

few days ago, my friend hanim posted these pics on fb, a month after we met for coffee tete-a-tete  at coffee bean, the curve. lambat pun tak pe lah nim post gambar tu, janji tak tunggu next year/next meet hehe. and as promised, i've got here a blog post for you..

nasib baik sempat lah jugak squeeze an hour to meet up with her. memang kalau ikutkan banyak benda nak cerita but it was a week nite and i didnt want to stay long, kesian dia & her hub nak rest after a long day at work & puasa 6 pulak tu.

dalam berjumpa 1 jam tu, sempat lah jugak cik hanim bertanyakan soklan cepumas which i obliged to answer. ye lah, dah dia tanya, kita story lah. knowing me, if orang tak tanya, i wouldnt saja2 nak bercerita pulak.

tak sangka, ramai jugak orang yang observant and concerned. alhamdulillah..bless them!

bubbles having a break

my friend WH or linot wrote this on her wall :-

"A 'Twix' a day will keep the doctor away" and this is her justification "have been craving for chocolate past two weeks. Read that it could be due to magnesium deficiency in my body. Dang!!...whatever that means. :p. Well....I am gonna enjoy eating it while I can."

i must have suffered the same syndrome sebab i've not had choc for sometime and whaddayaknow..today i had choc overdose.

10.00am at work : Aero mint bubbles with coffee

4pm at home : cookies & cream 2 fingers kitkat & earl grey tea

tooth fairy is real!

on sunday morning, lil missy woke up with one tooth missing..at last the tooth fairy came!

well, the other day she said "tooth fairy is not real" but last nite, tooth fairy left 10p on her bedside table  (konon nya tooth fairy didnt put the coin under her pillow sebab tak nak disturb her sleep). so this morning she said to her sister "tooth fairy came last nite and gave me 10p"

Hujan+sejuk=lapar=makan=boolatt

my lovely niece jasmeen zahra yg cantek manis wrote "i am a kelantanese" on her wall. ada lah tu sebab musabab nya.

 

and what has that got to do with my blog post?? sebab ai pun oram klatam jugak and this org kelantan suka makan nasi dgn budu, tak kira lah tinggal kat hengland pun. saya tidak melupakan asal usul saya walaupun sejauh mana saya merantau..cewaaahhh!! and i have succeeded in  "meng-kelantankan" taste bud suami & anak sulung ku. si kenit tu adalah sikit darah keturunan kelantan dia sebab suka makan keropok. since i saw my friend jam's pic the other day makan nasi lauk budu & ulam2 & ikan singgang, maka saya pun sudah terliur and decided to have these for tonite's dinner. tambah pulak cuaca hari ni - hujan sepanjang hari, maka sesuai lah dengan lauk pauk nya.

thanks to my uncle pak su war & his wife cik zah, tokey budu seberang pasir mas, yg telah membekalkan 2 botol budu yg selamat diseludup masuk ke hengland. pak su war, wan kata sedap budu ni sbb tak masin.

lauk yg simple tapi sangat lah lazat - trout yg digoreng dgn olive oil sedikit on the saucepan, ulam timun & terung kecil yg dicelur, rocket salad menggantikan ulam2, yg dicicah dgn cili kicap & budu.

encik suami cakap "YOU CAN TAKE A GIRL OUT OF KELANTAN BUT YOU CANNOT TAKE KELANTAN OUT OF A GIRL".. so true.

snowy bear was born

on sunday lil missy went to her classmate Thomas's birthday party at Build-a-Bear workshop. Thomas was the only boy in her foundation class whom she invited to her birthday party at the farm last january, simply because Thomas is a good boy and indeed he is. Thomas invited her for a playdate before summer hols and she enjoyed going there and his mom Julie is ever so pleasant.

we sent her to build-a-bear and met up with other children & their parents. only 6 kids were invited, ye lah its not cheap and it was unlike the normal party where the kids play games, eat, dance etc. its more of a workshop which is alright with the kids.

the best part - each kid gets to choose a bear (with minimum accessories) to take home. kalau nak extra baju, kasut etc, beli sendiri which is fair lah kan.

lil missy chose Snowy Bear and was full of smiles (despite still not feeling well) when we fetched her from the shop.

nordic walking

i finally signed up and had my first (private) lesson at wollaton park on monday morning with Catherine Hughes, a national coach from British Nordic Walking who is a pleasant, friendly & superfit lady. it was an hour class, tak rasa penat pun even tho i wasnt feeling well.

verdict : i loved it !!

catherine said that the club members also participate in the races & challenge events and i told her of my burning cita2 nak masuk robin hood half marathon next year, so this is the start of my training. also she organises scooter-orienteering for kids in the summer. you can see catherine in the "meet your instruction" folder http://www.midlandsnordicwalking.org/

dah dpt green light from kamar to join her weekly group lesson at notts uni park, tak kira lah start pukul 7 mlm pun. i suppose when i go to the session, he can go swimming with the girls at the notts uni pool.   lets get active people!!

IF YOU CAN WALK, YOU CAN NORDIC WALK...

i give up!

i'm feeling under the weather since friday but i braved the sunny saturday at twin lakes and things got worse from saturday nite on. took lemsip nite & day for 2 days but didnt do the trick so bought lemsip all in one soluble last nite and dozzed off at 7.30, woke up at 11.15 and stayed up all nite to do project planning  coursework (the only module left, apart from dissertation) but i got so frustrated cos I JUST COULDNT DO IT!! its practically impossible to answer the questions with just reading the learning manual.  I REALLY AM GIVING UP on this module.. lantak la. i got 75 for the exam which is just 50% of the module and i'm supposed to submit the coursework which constitutes the other 50%..I DONT WANT TO WASTE MY BLOODY TIME!! the msc exam board is next week, so i will just speak to the programme leader (who's also my colleague) about my firm decision and let the board decide what they want to do with me. i might as well concentrate on the dissertation - that is more of my priority and interest. whatever it takes, I WILL COMPLETE  MY POST GRAD IN SUMMER NEXT YEAR..

I'M REALLY REALLY SLEEPY, SICK AND TIRED now but i have to keep myself  awake to pick up the lil kiddo from school  in half hour.

day out at twin lakes

yesterday we took aisyah & her friends for a day out to Twin Lakes in Melton Mowbray. she didnt want ice skating, bowling, watching movies etc for her birthday so she opted for Twin Lakes, the nearest to us. i had to take the train with Aliyah to Melton, met by Ina & Atan so that the girls - leah, aimee, lauren, kezia and alex could all squeezed in our 7 seater. then Jess joined later after her drama class.

pagi2 mummy dah prepared bekal for picnic lunch - mihun goren, indomee goreng, egg mayo sandwiches, cheese sandwiches

 

 

it was a warm & sunny day, perfect for a nice picnic lunch and outdoor rides, including splashing in the water. no one came prepared to get drenched but they managed to go home in 'drier' outfit somehow.

while kakak was with her girl friends, adik enjoyed her bff's company.

TnB (tent & breakfast)

kami menyediakan package terbaru  - tent & breakfast.  memandangkan rumah ni ada 3 bedrooms with no proper guest room, kepada siapa2 yg nak datang melawat between june-sept, boleh lah camp out je in our quiet, safe and private backgarden . the tent has 2 bedrooms & 1 living room and can fit 6 people in sleeping bags.

breakfast akan disediakan di dalam rumah, not malaysian breakfast but english breakfast instead - eggs, baked beans, toast, sausages, turkey rashes. di jamin halal. kalau in the summer, cuaca panas & tak gloomy or hujan boleh makan on picnic table. otherwise cramp & eat in  comfort  in our small  & warm kitchen.

last nite we have our first guests - big missy & her girl friends who are having a sleepover after the birthday outing at twin lakes. dont know what time they went to sleep last nite (or this morning?) & what time bangun nanti.

boss sedang menyediakan tempat tidor, all done in less than half hour.

 

last year we had 7 screaming teenagers sleeping in our living room in the previous house but the room was big so not a problem except that bilik macam kapal pecah the next day and i wasnt going to let that happen again this year.

the same guests (except this year Emma couldnt  join the outing & sleepover) for 2 consecutive years

40 cc - gg

thanks to my sister who war-war kan my birthday on her fb wall few days ago. yeah i decided to remove my birthdate from the fb sebab malas nak make a big hoo haa. lagipun i dont want my friends to feel obligated to wish me.  after all its no big deal, its just another day.

apa2 pun thanks so much to all the well wishers who wrote on  the fb wall, pm or text.

this is my final year in the 40 CC (carat club) before upgrade jadi GG (Golden Girls) or 5 series tahun depan. does it matter? not really..and i mean it, not just for the sake of saying it. semua orang pun akan mengharungi hari tua, jangan nak deny the fact that age is slowly creeping on us. cuma kena pikir apa nak buat pada hari2 yg mendatang; not just amal ibadat tapi apa khidmat seterusnya (in my case not for my bangsa & negara).

seperti tahun2 yg sudah, my birthday was celebrated quietly. i bought  mini Boston Mud Cake from Cheesecake shop nearby and took it to work for my colleagues.

at nite, we drove to Tinseltown in Leicester for dinner. hari tu pulak jam sebab ada accident on M1 and we took alternative route. but the food was good. i couldnt finish the Rib Eye Steak cos it was a bit too much. lagipun dah makan nachos for starter.

 birthday sundae

 

rib eye steak with mashed potato & cappucino shake yg lazat..

 cards from my work mates

and as in previous years, i didnt expect any present from hub & the children. sebab dah biasa macam tu sejak azali, so kalau tak dapat apa2 pun, i wasnt really bothered. but i gave myself a present - i signed up for Nordic Walk. managed to get a private beginner lesson on monday next week. maybe i will get kamar to buy me a pair of poles as a belated birthday gift!

under the weather

lil missy's not been well for the past 2 days and last nite she was quite poorly when we went to Tinseltown in Leicester for my bday dinner. pagi ni demam selsema, so hari ni tak pegi sekolah and  mummy kena take time off to look after her sebab cuti daddy dah habis; so mummy tak yah pegi exam board meeting..purely coincidental?!

fruity foody face, breakfast orang sakit.

tooth fairy is not real !

lil missy's been complaining that her tooth hurt when she ate, so daddy pun suruh lah buat dental appointment. and the only time yg available for "emergency case" was this afternoon at 12.50. so mummy pun bergegas lah balik, left the office at 12 noon to catch the 12.15 bus tapi bus punya lah slow & stopped lama at some stops. i got to her school at 12.45, during lunch/play time. so nak kena cari dia kat playground  lagi.  and managed to get to the dentist at 1.00pm. receptionist kata "you missed the appointment by 10 minutes" so on their calendar dah cakap "failed to attend".. tapi nasib baik Dr Patel was kind enough to see lil missy. her tooth is wobbly, tanda2 milk tooth starting to fall off. rupa2 nya her adult tooth is coming out and pushing the wobbly tooth; as suspected.

Dr Patel "its part of growing up Aliyah". and she just giggled.
i told her that the tooth will fall off and the tooth fairy will come and take the tooth and leave her some money..
Dr Patel "i can be a tooth fairy too".
lil missy "no, you can't. tooth fairy is not real".
Dr Patel asked "why not?".
lil missy "cos its only a fairy tale and its not real"

the thing with my kids, kalau mak bapak cakap ni tak berapa nak dengar/percaya  tapi bila Doctor or Teacher cakap, semua dengar..

she's officially a teenager

last month we celebrated big missy's 13th birthday at our bukit antarabangsa apartment, so befitting cos thats where she was brought up until we moved here.  yg memeriahkan majlis are immediate family members - her mummy tok, uncles, aunties and cousins.

mummy & daddy nak makan yong tau foo from ampang point, my brother bought satay and we got her a choc cake from secret recipe. kenyang sampai malam...

 

 kat tengah tu ada karipap from ikea yg sedap.. apasal lah kat ikea sini tak de jual karipap macam tu?

 

jom nyanyi ramai2..tapi tgk lah adam dgn muka boring on far left hehe

 

 

 lepas makan, main bunga api kat bawah..diketuai oleh  my nieces, sarah & maryam