UK Trip : Oxford Street and Marble Arch

 We arrived in London at around 7.30am local time. Upon checking in at Premier's Inn,where we stayed for 3 nights, we immediately started our discover London 'adventure' *wink*. We stayed near the King Cross St. Pancras train station (about 5 min walk from our hotel).

Our first destination was Oxford Street. Oxford Street is home to major department stores and numerous brands' flagship stores, as well as hundreds of smaller shops. It is the major shopping street in central London, though not the most expensive or fashionable, and part of a larger shopping district with Regent Street, Bond Street and other smaller nearby streets.

Kids were excited as they experienced their first Tube ride there (well it was the first time for me, hubby and my sisters too). My sisters were in awe as we reached there. All fimiliar brands back home are here. With a long list in their hands (form friends and colleagues) they shop from door to door.

What did I buy? Well...I bought some souvenirs from a souvenir stall there. Yup! 1st day there and I was buying souvenirs already hahaha. It was at a good price too. Bought some quality key chains, fridge magnets...hmm..the typical souvenirs :). They were sold at 5pounds for 5 or 1.25p for 1. I was glad I bought them there because after that, I could not find any other shop in London or outside of London that sells key chains that cheap. They were all sold at 10pound for 5 or 4 pcs at other places.

We went back to the hotel at around 4pm. It was still bright. Sun sets at 9pm in Summer. however most shops closes at 6pm. But there were a few that closes at 9pm. Kids were flat by the time we got back. We ate kebabs we bought for lunch and soon after that, all were asleep. Woke them up at 12am for some snacks and dinner then force them to go to bed again so they can be fresh and fully recharge the next morning.It was kind of hard at first. Though it was 12am in London, in Malaysia it was 8am, LOL. Alhamdulillah, kids adjusted to the time difference fast.

On the second day, we took a tour around London City on the Big Bus Tour. We started our tour at Marble Arch. We experienced some showers during the tour. Made a few stops along the tour at a few London's famous landmarks and tourist spots..such as the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and went to Sealife as well.

Next entry : Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and Sealife, London.

Putrajaya 2nd Hot Air Balloon Festival

This took place last week during the school break. I will not write much cause I'm sure many other bloggers have pretty much blogged about this event. The differences between my post and theirs are, the pictures here ada kita orang dan tak ada dia orang. Hehehe...

 

 

My FIL & yg comey at the back, my MIL

 

 Akif sleeping comfortably in his Snuggy under the HOT sun *good boy*

 

 The 2 kids & their paman (my BIL)

 

Happy International Women's Day 2010

To all women....

Happy

8th March 2010

We are simply SUPER!

Jalan-jalan cari makan with gomenfishes

Cuti panjang minggu lepas, due to Maulidul Rasul, en.gomenfishes a.k.a my BIL datang melepak kat bangi ni. Upon arriving he said he is craving for Domino's pizza. Guess when was the last time he tasted Domino's? About 5 years ago! And it was our treat (me & en.AJ).

So..on Saturday morning, we made a quick dash to MV for a dine in. Mmg boleh je order for delivery but en.gomenfishes kata tak syok. And to eat kat outlet Domino's yg ada dekat2 sini (putrajaya, kajang) en.AJ plak kata tak syok. Since dia nak belanja, kita ikut je lah...

Ni lah gambar-gambar sesi makan-makan di Domino's. We ordered one R beef pepperoni on double decker crust (yummy! me & en.AJ's fav) and one R BBQ chicken ( also our 1st time eating this)..Suprisingly, for someone who doesn't like BBQ sauce, a.k.a me, it was delicious. Side orderswere..twisted garlic bread ( i loike! the children loves them), carbonara baked rice (so-so la), onion rings and soup of the day

Penuh meja. Tak larat makan semua so..tapaw

en.AJ & en.gomenfishes


Org yang paling enjoy sesi makan2 ni..

Baby yang hanya mampu ngences & tengok je org makan (a.k.a mami yg dok kat depan tuh)

The makan2 session didn't end there. Malam tu en.gomenfishes nak makan special lagi..(amboi..kalah org ngidam). Took him to a local diner-Red Card Cafe. It serves mostly western food but ada jugak local dishes. A place my family would go to every once or twice a month. No picture for this one- sibuk makan, tak ingat nak ambil.

* To en.gomenfishes, datang lagi ek. Ke mana pun kami sanggup bawak..as long as u pay ;P

It spelled T.R.O.U.B.L.E from the start!

Al-Fatihah to a dear little girl, Syafia Humairah who died after she was brutally abused to death by her mother's boyfriend..or should i say..cohabiting friend (bersekedudukan).

Anger was what most Malaysian feel after the incident was aired on the primetime news last night.

I don't feel like writting the details of the sad incident. But for those who would might have missed it or would like to know more..you can click here , here and here.

May she rest in peace..Amin!

Monetizing :)

I just go back from reading an article wrote by Little Mama of MomsBloggerPlanet. Click here for her inspiring article.

Actually, i signed up for Google Adsense account when i first started blogging, a year and a half ago (approximately). However..i couldn't be bothered to check my account. Only after reading her article that i gave it a check. Guess what? It was never activated! LOL!

So, this morning i 'gode-gode' my account and it's now activated. Whether it will generate money, i don't know. But i hope it will hehe :D

So if you have more tips to share on making money using Adsense or NuffNang, do share here.

Oh..that reminds me..i have to open an account with NuffNang :)

Balik riang ria

2 minggu sudah berlalu..
Balik sekolah dengan comot..sudah!
Lari-lari & terjatuh disekolah..sudah!
Hilang barang di sekolah..sudah!

Semuanya dalam masa 2 minggu sahaja (tak sampai pun sebenarnya).

En.AJ berharap situasi ini selama 1-2 bulan pertama. Selepas itu Hakimi dah boleh menyesuaikan diri - darjah satu bukan macam sekolah di tadika. Namun begitu..perbualan ini telah mengambil tempat antara En.AJ dan kawannya En.R:-

En.R (ada anak D1 & D3) : Alaa..AJ kejap je..sok dah masuk darjah 2 oklah.
En. AJ : Ha? Darjah 2. Takkan setahun macam ni?
( kadang kala comot, belum pandai urus diri, belum pandai berdikari dll)
En. R : Iye...
En. AJ : Tepuk dahi dan pasrah...

Hehehe...

Break from kolam

After spending 5 weeks...from Tuesday to Saturday at UKM swimming pool, we are finally getting a break.
Dah abis dah school holiday intensive program.
Dah abis dragging my 2 sons to the pool almost everyday.Lagi sorang hantar ke program mengaji Qur'an cuti sekolah coz after 1 week, he got bored waiting at the pool everyday doing nothing.
Dah abis marathon siapkan breakfast, anak-anak to go to the pool.
Dah abis sesi Akif menangis either on the way to or coming back from the pool (coz he was strapped to his car seat). After sometimes, Akif looked forward to going to the kolam coz he loves having his morning nap there. Must be the breeze. OR is it the smell of chlorine? Hope not!

Tomorrow onwards, back to normal life...SAHM...WAHM..Whatever..but definitely M.

Will be going back to the pool on 9th Jan 2010...weekly basis only! Till then...will enjoy my 2 Saturdays to the fullest :)

Jam Raya Qurban

It's 6.45pm. Baru masuk highway dr Bidor. Dr T.Intan dah sangkut dlm jam 8km for about 1 hour. Ni tak tau la berapa lama pulak nak sampai kL. Why we all tak balik awal? Sebab tak puas dok kampung. And for wanting to stay a little longer..terpaksa la bear with the jam. Semoga kami selamat sampai.

April - May Updates..

Salam to all..

Looks like blogging is going to be a once a month thing- unless if i feel like writing anything.

Snippets of what happened last month..

1) Hakimi's first gigi susu came off. It was a funny experience for him rather than a painful one. It fell off while he was eating bread. Out of the blue, the took out something from his mouth and asked me " Mummy, apa ni?".

2) Hafiy now says "Alaaa.." whenever his fav show ends..or his fav food finishes..or when we say 'no' to something he wants. First it was kind of cute. Bila selalu dengar..tak syok la pulak..

3) I gained 0.5 kg and I am now 18 weeks along. Happy with the weight gain. Baby is hiding deep inside of me so people can hardly tell that i'm pregnant just by looking at me. Ohh..3rd time around..i can feel the baby 'move' as early as at 17 weeks.

4) Celebrated mother's day at Kimi's school. He performed a Musical Choral Speaking with his classmates. Because he practised and gave a good performance..he asked whether he could get a present ( where actually HE should be giving me a present)..Hmmm kidsss..

This happened on April's fool day

Huhu...windscreen belakang pecah! It happened while the car was nicely parked (by me) in front of my mother's house. Angkara siapa..or apa..tak tahu. When i parked at 9am it was in good condition. When i wanted to go out at 12 noon..as i sat in the car and close the door..i heard shattering sound. Turned my head and tengok..retak seribu. Siasat punye siasat..think it was angkara orang potong rumput..tapi obvious sangat la yang dia buat tak tahu and left the scene Hmmm...

This morning pegi bawa ke panel workshop. Lucky that my mum took extra coverage utk windscreen. This car belongs to my mother but she doesn't drive so...kami anak-anak nye kongsi guna kereta ni. The workshop lady kata at least 3 jam nak make sure windscreen tu betul-betul intact. I was thinking apa nak buat kat workshop tu..so beli nasi lemak utk makan while waiting, bawa newspaper skali..and my work. Nasib baik lady tu was friendly..so sembang-sembang sambil makan. And lucky me.. after one and a half hour..semua siap dipasang.

I thought i'd loose half of my day sitting at the workshop. But guess not.. So if you ask me whether berbaloi ke tak insuredkan windscreen, rasanye berbaloi kot coz the cost of windscreen belakang is roughly RM400 and depan is double the price (harga depends pada jenis kereta). Kalau insuredkan..just add about RM100+ je on top of insurans kereta yg dah ada (pun depends pada jenis kereta). Sediakan payung sebelum hujan...

Why I have been so quiet lately?

Yup! This is why. I'm pregnant, Alhamdulillah. In my 10th week now. Tak ada mood nak menulis. Cuma in case ada kawan2 blogger yg tertanya2 what happened to me..(kot ada lah kan..) so i decided to spent some time to write this entry.

Can't wait for 1st trimester to end. With my two previous pregnancy, by 12th week semua symptom yang tak selesa will be gone. Hopefully this time pun sama.

Till next time :)

Jom pegang tangan

One fine morning, while having breakfast with hubby kat pasar..i saw one couple walking by. Not so elderly..in their 30's i assumed. Lebih kurang baya kitaorang..tua skit kot. They walked passed us with their hands were locked together.

i immediately panggil my husband and asked him " Apsal kita tak jalan macam tu? kan best.."
Dia jawab.."tah..tak biasalah".
Then i said to him.."Hishh..tak romantic lansung" .
He replied " Awak kan tahu Amin tak romantic..at least not that way".

On the way back to our car..then dia cakap " Jom lah pegang tangan".
I was like..hmm..malu lah kalau gesture tak natural nih..ada plak ajak pegang tangan..

Well, everyone..every couple expresses their feeling or show their affection differently. Not holding hands while walking together doesn't mean that we are not affectionate towards one another. We do hold hands..at home..or when we go out..just the two of us. When going out with the kids..it is kind of hard coz one will push the stroller and the other one will be holding another child's hand.

Yang penting..affection must be shown. But how or when to show it, it's up the the couple..how they like it, when they like it..and comfortable doing it..and most importantly..not faking it!

Tudung oh tudung...

Last Saturday, balik dari rumah my mum, my hubby turned on the tv and we end up watching a malay telemovie- Sebelum Menutup Mata. Bukan nak bercerita pasal storyline dia tapi..heroin dia. Ayu Raudhah yang nampak sangat ayu memakai tudung.

Now days, it has become a trend for ladies and girls to wear this type of tudung. The type that has 'awning' keras and easy to bentuk..well..actually..siap terbentuk.

I wanted to try but can never seem to find one that i like. You see..i have a certain criteria for my tudung. It has to be the right colour, the right lenght with the right price. Can't just simply buy for the sake of having one..but later on ended up not wearing it. Right?

Anyway..the tudung she wore was very beautifully shaped. I especially like the patterned ones. Although i was already sleepy..i make sure i was awake to see the sponsor. Yup! not the ending of the telemovie but the sponsor heheh!.

As the clock strucked 12 midnite, the telemovie ended. My husband almost changed the channel before i managed to stopped him. De Zahra Collection.

The next morning, i search for them on the net and browse their website. Their collections are indeed different that the others in the market. And quite pricey too.

Adalah berkenan 1..2..3.. Alamak! How? Going to ask hubby to buy for me lah. Whether he wants to buy them or not..that's is a different story.. Wish me luck hehehe

A little boy's sacrifice for palestinians

3-4 weeks back...on my way home after picking up Hakimi from his kindi..

Hakimi : Mami, abang dah lama tak makan McDonald's
Me : Sekarang kita tak boleh makan McDonald's
Hakimi : Kenapa? Abang nak..
Me : Sebab dia (mcD) kawan dgn askar israel
Hakimi : mana ada
Me : Ia. Kalau orang bayar, dia bagi duit tu kat askar israel.
Hakimi : Abang tengok kalau mami bayar mana ada orang tu bagi kat askar.

After thorough explaination..i think he finally understood what i meant. So he was ok with it.

One day (last Saturday to be exact), while at my mum's..she decided to buy KFC for dinner. Then i asked my beloved son.. 'Abang..tok nak beli KFC abang nak apa?'. He suddenly ran up to me and whispered 'Abang tak nak tolong israel'. I was somehow suprised and touched.

Once in a while he would still merengek nak makan McD when he sees the big M sign. Memangla pada dia, 10x makan di KFC or Rasamas or Sugar Bun or TCR Shop or any other fast food is not the same dengan 1x makan di McD. Tapi selagi boleh dielak, akan cuba elak.
After all..that's the least we can do to help, besides donating to registered fund collector for Gaza.

For a young boy to be concern and show compassion for what's happening in Gaza without understanding why it all happened, is a big deal..especially to his mummy. Hakimi, I'm so proud of you..

Some of the brands we are encouraged to boycott in support for Gaza

A holiday well spent..and a long entry too ;)

It has been quite sometime since my last entry. Not that i was not accessible to the net or the computer..simply because i had no time to sit and write (yeah...right!).

CNY holiday..well almost a week had passed. Didn't go anywhere for the four days...Just at home..or at my mum's..or somewhere near bangi. But to me every moment was precious. Though Hafiy was 'down' (he is never down :P) with fever since thursday..but he had developed his vocabs and he now can say two word sentences like nak tido, nak makan during his recovery process. Orang kata apa...demam nak bercakap..ha..

Here are some of the things i, we did during the long hols...

Day 1 - 24/01/09

Our morning started with breakfast- Roti telur from the neighbourhood roti canai maker. Tasted good as usual.. Only this time..instead of the normal kuah dal, he gave kuah kari sardin as well. Hmm..i like the kari better.

The kids watched cartoon...Saturday mah.. I fried my 'famous' (to my family only..hehe) Mee Goreng for lunch. Then at 3pm off to the pool we went. Swimming class was on as usual...but the attendance was not so memberansangkan though when asked last week, most said they could make it this week. Last minut change of plan i guess..hmmm..

Petang...went to buy keropok lekor..cucur udang,apam balik and air mata kucing kat pasar malam and then off to my mum's for tea.. We stayed on until dinner and then went home with full stomachs..heheh.

Day 2 - 25/01/09

Morning- made fried mee hoon for breakfast. Woke up hungry so ate breakfast at 8.30am. Then at 10am my dad called and 'invited' us over for breakfast. He was having his besan (my brother's MIL) over for breakfast so, ajak la kitaorang datang sekali. Since we already ate..we all just lepak je lah dulu kat rumah ma. Lunch time baru makan. Besides, my husband got a garden makeover project to do there.

While hubby and his little assistant a.k.a hakimi were busy outside and Hafiy was having his nap, i managed to watched 2 movies on HBO. At 11.00-1.00, Ocean's 13 was on. Watched it halfway though. Well..it was entertaining..same feeling like watching O 11 and 12. But like O 11 the most.

Then at 3.00-5.00pm, tengok No reservation plak. It was about a life of a chef at a famous restaurant. Starring Catherine Zeta Jones. A simple straight forward story. I like watching this kind of movie coz it is so relaxing and you don't have to think about what is going to happen next. And the ending is always a happy one.. :)



Tak abis lagi..for tea, i made cream puffs. Hmm a sweet and yummy treat. Malam..had fried rice bought at a Belimbing..a stall near our house.



My gebu cream puffs

Day 3 - 26/01/09

Early morning..siap2 to go to Alamanda. We left home at 9.30am. Needed to buy February's home supplies. Then..we stopped at MPH..our family fav bookstore.


Hafiy's 1st time @ MPH without his stroller

For lunch...sempat buat beef burgers for the kids. Me and hubby..we had nasi dagang & nasi kerabu. Sempat beli on the way back from Alamanda tadi. Bought at Kedai Nasi Dagang Kak Mah..near Putrajaya entrance at Kg. Abu Bakar Baginda. 1st time makan...sedap!.



Terlupa ambil gambar sebelum makan..Beef patties with cheese & buns. No lettuce or tometoes as i already mixed in grated carrot (and sometimes chopped mushrooms too).

Petang..went to Tok's place (my mum's). Since the whole family..well almost all..was around, decided to cooked dinner over there. Made..Ayam Kicap Kering, Udang Masak Sos, Bayam Masak Air and Black Pepper Beef. Well..no pictures were taken. When it comes to food, selalu terlupa. Bila dah abis makan baru ingat tak ambil gambar..

Day 4 - 27/01/09



8.30am- off to the Playround@Taman Tasik Cempaka. Packed breakfast along and makan kat sana. The kids had a blast of time. Hafiy insisted to go in his pj's coz it has cars all over it.

From there, we went to Tok's.. as hubby still need to finish his garden project.

Tile slabs & pebbles under the ampaian / Re-planted grass at the entrance.

Hafiy doesn't eat sweets so he susun them instead

The day ended with Ayam Masak Kurma for dinner. By 9.30pm..both kids were already sound asleep.

Well, it was indeed a holiday well spent for me. I hope the kids enjoyed it too..

Penin la today...

List of things to hari ni berjela-leja. Some are important and some are not-but still need attention. Started with sending the kids off to kindi and babysitter. Then to the post office to pick up my registered mail. I arrived at the PO at 8.26am. The collection counter opens at 8.30am. But at exactly 8.29am, dah buka dah. Wow! 1 minute early..bagus tu. I wasn't expecting that.

Hmm..i still have a few phone calls to make..places to go, people to see and work stuffs to do on the computer. It's now 1.11pm...lunch time. Not taking the break as i had a heavy breakfast today-Nasi Lemak with Telur Goreng and Sambal Kerang. How heavy is that? Had the headache from morning..Thought it was bcoz of waking up with an empty stomach..the gas must have gone to my head. That was why i opt for a heavy breakfast. Guess not ...cause my head still feels the same.

Maybe i should try taking a nap..if i can. Not use to taking naps la huhu.. Hope i will feel better shortly..Need to coz list masih panjang.....uwaaa

Cooked but not eaten

Cooked for dinner last nite. Hubby said he was coming home for dinner. But before coming home, he had to drop by at my mum's place as he was organizing a durian party over there. You see..me & my 2 sons..we are not a fan of durian. Nak telan pun tak leh. Bau tu,oklah kalau tak kuat..cam mat saleh plak ye..But my husband and my mum are a fanatic!

So..i waited and waited for him to come home..At 9.30pm..he still had not come home. My tummy was growling like crazy as i didn't eat lunch yesterday. At 10pm..i decided to eat dinner alone. Hubby then safely arrived at 10.30pm. He came home with a sebu tummy..from eating too much durian. He said he would eat dinner (or is it supper?) later later. So..after finished watching a movie at 8tv and putting Hafiy to sleep, i myself pun went to sleep lah.

Bila terjaga at 2pm..i found that all the cooked dishes were still on the dining table..untouched. Hmm..if i knew..i would have kept them before going to bed. Not upset..but home cooked food are best eaten hot and 'fresh'. Kalau dah masuk frigde & panaskan the next day..tak sama dah... Kan?

Prawn sambalMixed vege with grilled chicken (can see the chicken ke?)

Romantic? NOT!!!

Hmm... though flowers are not my thing, it does feel good to receive one, once in a while. Doesn't have to be a whole bouquet. One stalk will do. But virtual flowers and chocolates? That's not romantic..That's cheap and pathetic!

p/s..Alhamdulillah..my husband is still doing things the old fashion way :)

This is me, EXACTLY!

I was browsing and found this clip art. Upon looking at it, i felt a connection with the picture :P. A mom with two kids..(mine are both boys) and piles of unfolded washed clothes. and it is a never ending scenario..

Laundry..is a 'dirty' word. When i was growing up..it was my mother who did all the laundry (before we had a maid). Then, when the maid was around (one after another), it job was took over by her. Yep..she would put the dirty clothes in the washing machine, hang them out to dry, fold them, iron them and lastly put them on the cupboard. Short of putting the clothes in the cupboard or in the drawers je ;).

I learned to hand wash my own clothes at 13 years old when i stayed at the hostel of my semi-boarding school for a month.Don't ask me why it was only for a month. Only when i went to university that i truly washed my own clothes. Well..not really..

You see..my university was only 15 minutes away from my home. So i would go back every week. I would kumpul all off a week's soiled clothes huhu.. Then..i eventually learned that taking home a bag full of clothes is so leceh. Finally..i became 'smarter' and do laundry before i go home. I would either wash on thursday and fold them on friday or wash on friday then my roommate will help me to angkat the cleaned crispy clothes (and sometimes she folds them too-thank you kak liza ^-^).

When i got married..i live only 100 steps away from my mum's place. So once or twice a week i would go to her house to do laundry. Then..i got pregnant when we were only 3 months into the marriage. At 6 months into my pregnancy, we bought our own washing machine..a Zanussi front loading washing machine. And from there on..the washing never stops.

It used to be one load per week. When Hakimi arrives, i have to wash 3 loads a week. Now with 2 active kids (meaning more sweaty clothes), it has come to 5 loads a week-at least. If i feel lazy and skip one washing day..clothes tend to pile up very fast! And then comes the piles of clean clothes to fold over the weekend..

However, i'm thankful that Kimi is always offering his help folding the clothes. He would normally fold his own pants and undies. I used to be cerewet because he does't fold it the way i do but what the heck..nicely fold or not..it will be unfolded upon wearing, right?

p/s..i have 3 basket full of clean clothes awaits....