Saturday, December 28, 2013

Boxing Day

I don't like crowds. So I don't know why Boxing Day would be a good idea. But nevertheless, I wanted to experience an Oxford Street Boxing Day.

Started the day off as early as 6:30 am. Girl, I don't even wake up that early for class so it says a lot about me and my love for shopping. Anyway, we were at Marble Arch close to 9 and as soon as the infamous Selfridges clock rung, the crowds started to go a bit mental and started switching on their full beast mode. Hanis, Marissa and I made a mad dash past Selfridges because dying from a shopping stampede doesn't sound like a nice way to go. So we went to get breakfast first to fuel ourselves for retail war.

Headed to Selfridges first. MasyaAllah, the people!





So semangat, man! I don't know if I have it in me though. To wait in line and to battle through the massive crowds. We took our own sweet time and waltzed in Selfridges half past nine with no line but overwhelmed by the amount of people inside. Pening. It was very suffocating because the first part of the store we entered was the perfume section. Ok, strong fumes of eau de parfums and sweaty security guards (i assume they were sweaty...) don't go well and it was way too early in the morning for that! Wanted to find a Kenzo sweatshirt but so disappointed to see the itty bitty Kenzo section. I managed to get accessories that were on sale so I'm quite chuffed with that. We basically worked our way from Marble Arch to Oxford Circus. Stopped by several shops but mlehhhhh the pushing and massive lines were more than enough to deter me from buying anything. I don't have patience when it comes to shopping! My last stop before lunch was Topshop. Mannnn that place is already crazy packed on any normal day so boxing day was even more teruk. I did manage to get an electric blue coat which was sick because it went down from £58 to £25! Steal. I also managed to get myself a summery dress........... which I realise is quite impractical because I'm not going to wear it anytime soon! But it was too pretty and there was only one piece left and girlfriend, when the last piece is in your size you KNOW it's fated for you to get it. It was on sale also so my purchase was justified....... I hope.




Overall, Boxing Day was overwhelming. Too many people on one street!

I still love you, Oxford Street. You and your lights are amazing.

x

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Iguanas

Reached London city at 10 am today. And I love this place but my God, what a horrible first day! Super mahal cab fare and it was the crappiest weather - wind and rain all up my face! And the Londoners can be quite harsh and not as polite as the Bristolians. Walked around Waterloo and found a place to eat late lunch - Las Iguanas in which of course the boys had to comment "Huh makan iguanas ke??"

Um k.

Anyway, we met up with Olan, Tariq and Zain there and we scouted for churros. I don't usually like churros (because I make painful comparisons with cakoi) but this one was exceptionally sedap! I might just try my luck and go buy it next time!









We had dinner at Khan's and of course bombarded with good food and with a table of 20, it was very meriah to say the least. Seeking warmth indoors and eating the chicken jalfrezi (which is ACE but VERY pedas so please have your cold drinks at the ready) made me sweat! Which is always good in the country. 

So I was talking talking talking with my friends when these 2 lovely girls came up to me saying that they read my blog and that they liked reading my KY posts and it has made them believe that KY is not such a bad place after all! Hahahahah I was SO terharu that my face started to go panas and red! They were saying how they liked my blog and thanks so much for making my day!! So sorry if I sounded so frazzled! I was just very very taken aback and terharu! SO nice and super sweet of you to say hi!! Bless you girls!

___


Day 2 of London consists of me staying in and finishing some work I have to do by January. And since Christmas day means no shops open, London is like a ghost town. A cold and windy ghost town. 

Can't wait for tomorrow. But quite scared that I'll go quite cray........

.... well here's hoping everyone stays safe and shop safe! 


x



BUM

Dude


  • My bum hurts because last night after showering, I slipped down the stairs and fell and landed hard on my ass. I had pains all over my body but even after a nights sleep and a day out, my butt still hurts from the fall. Standing up is horror and sitting down takes time. I'm kind of like an old grandma. 
  • "So be the girl you loved" is a line from a James Blake song, 'Retrograde'. And it might be one of my favourite lyrics of all time although it's a given I don't listen to much songs so if you have a song with great lyrics, tell me. But back to James Blake; that line is gorgeous. A lot of girls I think are sacrificing their identity to be the next Tumblr girl. Some girls abandon their own self for the sake of friends and/or boys and it's unfortunate because the world would be pretty kick-ass if girls did not put an act for someone or for something. Also, James Blake, you and your music I mean c'mon dude srsly where what omg pls i can listen to you singing to my lecture notes and i'd pay good money for that
  • After my last blog post, I went out to get a neon pink beanie. 
  • Bought tickets to a Beyoncé concert. Tickets were out at 10 am and I rushed home from Zati's place and opened the website only to be put on hold for what seemed forever. All the while, I had Kaveetha on the other end of my Whatsapp and we were updating each other with the whole ticket situation. She managed to get a seat and bought me one first too but it was separate seats which sucks because this is Beyoncé and no one dances alone to Beyoncé. Ok boleh je actually but you know what I mean. So I opened Twitter to see that due to the massive number of people buying her tickets, Beyoncé and Co. added extra dates and so I went and tried my luck for the latest London concert and guys............ I ACTUALLY GOT TICKETS. So I bought 2 without having second thoughts (also because there was a darn timer so I had no time to be fickle minded) and called up Kaveetha and we were both screaming and laughing at the same time. I'M BLOODY EXCITED GUYS FINALLY A BEYONCE CONCERT OMG i can't even deal
  • I Facetime-d my siblings the other night, all separately. And I laughed so much with them and at them. Still forever and ever my favourite comedians. No one can beat. They say I laugh too much but I can't help it; they're genuinely very very funny and the things they say are so ridic. I miss them. I can't wait to go Christmas shopping for them.
  • Mun came over to Bristol for a sleepover!!!! SUCHA sweetheart, she is. Missed her so much and her and her dance moves made my day. Over dinner, I whipped up spaghetti and we watched Beyoncé's concert together and danced and sang all the words and went a bit cray with harmonising and ad libs. It was great fun and ugh I love her. We share a favourite song, 'Love on Top' and when we were in Costa, the song was on and we just looked at each other and went "Girl, what the hell this is fate" and then continued singing to the words while sipping our lattes (hers) and ice blended juice (mine).
  • It takes me forever to go shower. And it takes me forever to get out of the shower. 
  • My opinion on people who go "Wishing people Merry Christmas is perkara haram" : Seriously? Niat tu bukan ke penting. I feel that WHEN (and not if) I wish people Merry Christmas, I wish them out of sincerity and more of a "Have a great time celebrating at home with your family and I hope you get great presents and I hope you all have an amazing Christmas feast with your loved ones" than a "Merry Christmas yeah I'm totes acknowledging the birth of Christ". When I wish them a Merry Christmas, my niat and my intention is to be nice and to genuinely wish that they have a good time with their family and friends. I'm not saying Merry Christmas because I believe in Jesus Christ. At the end of the day, I'm still praying to Allah SWT so it really just depends on YOUR niat. We were ALL put on this earth to respect each other and to be kind and good to people despite race, colour or religion. It's funny how we can't wish Merry Christmas but taking touristy photos in front of churches in a foreign country is totally okay. If your niat to wish people Merry Christmas is to be nice and to be kind, then I don't think there's anything wrong. We have to be more accepting as a human kind. You're a human being. You wish another human being a Merry Christmas and it would not make you any less Muslim than you are. But it would make you a better person. 
  • I went grocery shopping the other day on an empty stomach. Silap besar, bro. 
  • The wind in Bristol is intense. I get home with damped and frizzy hair and it looks like a train wreck. I look like a train wreck after a day out.


Life and its funny ways. 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

My Messy Bun

It's already December and I'm already done with my first term in university. And so far, I've been loving it. And if there's one thing I absolutely love, it's the people here.

And how they don't give a damn.

See, when I got here I was culture shocked to say the least. Like a fish out of water almost. But I was absorbing everything and taking everything in slowly. Bombarded by students in campus and going on the bus and doing everything alone is a lot to deal with for the first few weeks. And I noticed that everyone didn't care about other people. And not in the rude way at all. If you've been in the UK, you would know that it is their second nature to ask "You alright?" to anyone. It's something I would love to be a norm back home. I've read somewhere that said the Brits are very cold people but so far, alhamdulillah, I've not come across a single person. It's quite lovely.  

They don't care about people as in they don't mind at all about what you wear or how your hair looks like or how many tattoos you have or the make-up you put on. They just don't mind anything of the sort! Everyone minds their own business and everyone embraces diversity and differences.

Something we don't really do at home.

Everyone back home seems to be so kepoh with what everyone wears or how our hair is like and the make-up we have on. I had my hair in a bun once because it was blazing hot and my hair was getting in the way so I decided to twist my hair and it coiled up in a neat bun. But of course, I had a friend say

"Nadia, you look like an Indon maid"

and here, everyone has their hair in a bun and I don't see anyone giving her death stares because no one cares. At the end of the day, it IS my hair and it IS my life. 

Or how if one wears too heavy of make-up, someone would go 

"So fake!" 

Again, what someone puts on her face is her own decision and on her own grounds. Let her do whatever she wants to do. At the end of the day, she is the one who takes the effort to remove her make up and she is the one who puts in on again the next morning. It is on her own time and on her own effort (and her money because make up is mahal). If it doesn't affect you, let it be. Move on and let it be.

Here, everyone dresses differently (I have a lecturer who wears a fanny pack) and wears their hair differently (dreadlocks and the infamous British messy bun and all sorts of different coloured hair) and for the 4 months I've been here, I've only seen a handful of women who've carried a designer bag. Most of them were above 40. 

And in Malaysia, if you wear a feather hair piece, you can be called a bird or Pocahontas. If you wear bright coloured anything, someone would comment on it saying it's so bright it's hurting their eyes. Or if you wear make-up, they'd say

"Nak pergi mana ni, Datin?" or they'd say loads of mean things about being plastic.

It just hinders our creativity, I feel. Because I always want to dress nicely but I'm always second-guessing myself about what I wear and how I look because of the way people look at you up and down and side to side. And you have it all planned out only to then change back to your old pair of worn jeans and a blouse. OOTD's suffer because of that! We should learn to walk past someone without giving two hoots about that persons appearances.

And we are so consumed with materialism and our constant and endless desire to be drenched in designer brands. Even willing to acquire a VERY obvious fake version of it. It's so annoying that people look at what bag you wear to determine it you're 'in' or not. It's ridiculous lah. If you can afford the bag then fine. Wear it. It looks hella good. But if you can't afford it, then it's not a big deal. At all. That Vuitton can wait. Y'know what? It ain't even that pretty. I've only seen, like I said, a handful of people who carry designer. I can even tell you what they were; a Prada, a Celine, and a few Chanels here and there (mostly adorned by fellow Asians). Whuuuuuuut. You can find everyone in KLCC and Pavilion toting a Chanel. It's because the locals here don't care! Your Chanel is as good as a Primark bag. No one cares.

I've grown to be a bit more confident in my dressing and in general thanks to the people here. And insyaAllah, after my 3 year stay here in England, I'll adapt this British habit and not care and put more effort into doing what I like and what I want because at the end of the day, my decision is mine. And your decision is yours. So if you want to wear that neon yellow beanie, you wear that neon yellow beanie! If you want to have your hair cropped short, you go for it! If you like that bag, then go get that damn bag and carry it whenever and wherever you want and show it off. They are your decisions and no one else's. Take it and walk the walk. We should care less about what other people think and care more about what you want. This is ofcourse, from an individual's perspective. But as a society, I think we should learn to be more accepting and embrace diversity. We're way too harsh on what and how everyone present themselves that more often that not, they're doing things for the sole purposes of pleasing society.

I don't know guys, I just felt like writing this after seeing a couple walking hand in hand in dreadlocks and torn and loud-printed baggy clothes and fanny packs with sandals and socks.

And no one looked twice.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

JT was right

Pretty swamped with work now that term is ending (HOORAH!). I cannot wait for my London trip for Christmas with my mates!!! This time last year I was with my family in London and now I'm with my friends omg dude srsly time flies. It's already December and I'll be turning 21 next month how the heck did we get here I swear March was 3 minutes ago

JT was right to sing about mirrors; because I love 'em. So here are my mirror selfies......... HOW BORING IS THIS BLOG OMG i swear i'll update when term ends and when I'm not too boring.




Saw phone cover in Topshop and it reminded me too much of a mermaids tail that I had to get it! Sick. 


And here I am with my favourite Little Mermaid pullover. Primark had a a Little Mermaid tshirt and I HAD to have it. Lolz at least I'll know what to wear if I go to Disneyland! 


Zati slept over my place the other night and we both wore printed pyjamas because they're so darn comfortable. My top actually has matching bottoms so I really don't know why I chose to not wear them that night. Tak berani pakai print on print in the day so pyjamas pun jadi lah 



With my new fav mustard yellow scarf because everything else I wear looks miserable and depressing.

I still can't believe it's December already!! My God. Where did the year go?

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

FREDO's

Guys I'm obsessed with this.
I'll be known as the girl who goes into the grocers and buys like 5 packets of these at once. It's pretty pathetic but I constantly need it. I came back from Cardiff the other day and came home to no chocolates in reach.........

I literally dropped my bags and headed out to get some. Couldn't bear going through the day without a frog head shaped chocolate. I even have them in my handbag just in case I get too hungry....... which is all the time but that's besides the point.

Before coming here, my mum said she put on weight in her first semester because she was eating so much chocolate and potatoes.

Err........ ok. Ummm ok I'm not usually bothered with my weight because I'm very blessed to have a rather high metabolism rate (thank you Allah, forever and ever grateful for that) but with all the chocolate bars I've eaten I might have to check balik hahaha



If and when I return home, I might just buy the whole shelf of Fredo's to bring back to Malaysia. I might.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

MONTH 2

It's a gorgeous sunny day out here in England. And I'm indoors listening to Katy Perry and sipping my apple juice. I was thinking of going out to get groceries but I mean, Tesco delivery is very VERY convenient for the lazy and the fab (me) hahahah ok no

But alas, I'm just going to spend my day watching TV shows I've left off because I was busy this week with uni work.

It's been 2 months now in this foreign land. It's cold and the days are so miserable because it gets dark so early. I was here last winter and I remember I couldn't wait to go home where 7 pm wasn't pitch black. I'm so used to sun back home that I just feel like the weather here is not even trying.

YOU'RE NOT EVEN TRYING, UK WEATHER!! TRY HARDER!

Shopping wise, I've been pretty good. Restrained myself from any shopping. I do the 24 hour test. If I like something, I wait 24 or 48 hours to see if I still like it. And so far, it's working great for me. Although it still saddens me when I leave the store empty handed after being completely invested in that one top/trousers/bag/pair of shoes. I'm saving up for a good cause - my London shopping come Christmas and Boxing Day. Ehmehgerd I can't wait!

I now cook quite a bit because going out is expensive and I'm still keeping myself to 15 pounds per week for food excluding groceries. And I'm pretty ok with cooking although I do find myself being a bit of a one trick pony with my stir fry chicken. I did try breaded chicken and chicken teriyaki the other day and that was nice. Though my curry skills sometimes ada sometimes takde pergi mana tah. I haven't cooked fish yet because I don't know what to cook and how to cook it. I find myself watching Malaysian food recipes. I really really really want to try my hand at cooking butter prawns. It's far-fetched, yes I know but I'm just going to do it and see how far I get before I give up hahaha.

My housemates all left for London and Manchester that one weekend leaving me home alone. And I told my parents about it and I decided to buy tickets for Cardiff. So I spent a weekend in Cardiff which was very nice because they had a match day that Saturday and everyone, boy and girl and man and woman, were walking around proudly donning their Cardiff scarfs and jerseys. It was a nice sight although I felt that most of 'em were quite drunk by the end of the day. The city center reminded me of a little small version of Oxford Street. I absolutely LOVE the Christmas spirit in this country. It's amazing and so heartwarming.




The guys behind Sarah were busking. At probably the most inconvenient place ever. It was in the middle of a pretty empty park. But such a gorgeous place to busk nevertheless. 


Don't know what it means but it looked cool. SO NATURALLY we'd take a photo with it.




This is fake snow. But at the end of the day, we're all still amused young Malaysians. But it's fake snow, guys. Cardiff was warmer than Bristol!  



Sofia paid 20p for nothing because we could only see like..... the sky.  




Omg guys MY WIFI HAS BLOCKED MY STREAMING WEBSITES hwaaaaaaaaaa I was genuinely really upset and really sad because this means no more TV SHOWS I'M SO FRUSTRATED UGH UNITED KINGDOM GET YO SHIT TOGEDER



k luv you UK but i mean c'mon give a girl a break pls

Monday, November 18, 2013

Nottingham Malaysian Games '13

So I was psyched for Nottingham since the day I got here. I was counting down the days. And it finally came.

Didn't sleep the whole night because knowing me I might have slept the whole way through and miss my bus. Left for Uni at 2:30 am and we made a move at 4 in the morning. Caught some shut eye in the bus. I was expecting it to be a long journey but it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. We were there by 6:30. Sejuuuuuuuuukkkkkk !!! Nottingham was freezing! It was so sejuk that the whole lot of us were shivering throughout and at one point malas dah nak keluarkan cameras and phones because it was too cold to allow our little frail hands out of our pockets. My hands, I swear, looked swollen! The coldest I've experienced since coming here this year, to be honest.

Of course, budak KY nampak macam tak jumpa dalam 10 tahun. Over gila hahahaha waving frantically and hugging and screaming and photo taking. Macam lama sangat tak jumpa lol sometimes I wonder what other kids think of us. I've had some people say

"Hmm nantikan lah a wave of KY students kat Notts"





Hahahaha lolz sorry not sorry.

We hung around for a bit before making our way for food. I was so excited I could've sprinted my way there but alas, my athletic abilities are pretty much non-existent. So I walked (UPHILL) ok not so bad lah uphill dia but still! And it was cold. But it was so nice to see Malaysians and catching up with friends we haven't seen in so long was so much fun.



Nottingham campus is humongous. HUGE. It didn't feel like a campus because of how big it was. Anyway. We reached the food hall and it was jam packed with people. Couldn't even move about to see what food they were selling. SO many people, I had to leave the place without getting anything first because it was so stuffy and I felt a bit claustrophobic (and I'm not one for claustrophobia in the first place!). Only to realise it was cold outside so I went in again hahahaha this time, I got rice with chicken curry. I only opted for that because that was the only stall that had the least amount of people queueing up for it. Wanted to get nasi lemak but the line was so massive and it was £5 which I feel, very overpriced and so I wasn't willing to buy it. Atleast the rice i bought came with spring rolls, chicken wings and a samosa I think.




So we walked to find a place to sit. Found a bench and the warmth from the hot food made it more sedap! After eating, we wanted to head back to the sports center AND GUESS WHO CAME AND SURPRISED US ALL!?!?!?!?!?!? MARISSA !!!!!!!!!!! Oh my God, you should've seen me. I legit couldn't believe it even though I had the slightest feeling she was going to come. But it caught me off guard and I was soooooooo pleasantly surprised and seeing this friend of mine instantly made my whole day and my whole week. I've missed her way too much and from seeing each other in college all day and all night, it was SOOOOOO good to see her again. Hwaaaaaaaaaa she's the sweetest and the bestest and the absolute loveliest.

Went to the futsal place outside of campus so we got to ride the shuttle. Of course I ran straight to the back seat because that's where it's warmest. And of course this happened.

After seeing the football players (namely just Izmal and Paan), we headed back because we wanted to go see......





...... RUMAH BATMAN!!!! Y'see, Wollaton Park is this place in Nottingham where there was the Wollaton Hall. And Christopher Nolan shot parts of The Dark Knight Rises there. When I saw this on the Nottingham Malaysian Games Facebook page, I freaked out. I love Batman and the movies are brilliant. Iman is such a huge fan of it so I also terikut-ikut. But I immediately knew that I HAD to go there while I was in Nottingham. So we walked. And we walked. It's faaaaarrrrrrr and it was tiring. But this was something I had to go see and take photos and send it to Iman. Hehehe. Would love to bring her here one day!!

The park closed relatively early and we had to take off before the park closed or else we wouldn't be back in uni!

Have I told you how cold and ice-like Nottingham was on that day? Painful. Thinking about it brings painful memories........

x

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Gang

So, last weekend I had some friends over from Sheffield, London, Exeter and Cardiff (Olan, Syazwan/Julian/Paan/Zain, Aidil and Sarah respectively) and it was so nice of them to come over and visit us in lil ol' Bristol.

I've not seen the Clifton Suspension Bridge here so I was half tour guide and half tourist.

"So this is the Clifton Suspension Bridge and - OOH WOW IT'S SO COOL!"

Me, basically.

It was a rather gloomy day and it drizzled a few times throughout the day and it was getting cold. Haih. No more cute cardis and jumpers. All rain coat and heavy duty jacket. Bleh. Meh. Bore.

But any day with my friends is a good day overall.











It is always nice to so much fun to meet up with my college mates. Amazing what that place does to ya!  We practically see each other all the time but we still miss the heck out of each other after some time. I think 'cause we're so used to seeing each other all the time, all day all night for 2 years straight.
We actually all went out for dinner 2 days after graduation day. 2 days. We lasted 2 days before meeting up again.

Ridiculous.

But the good kind of ridiculous. The kind of ridiculous only we understand.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Tangled

Acted like a real grown up and went to the supermarket to get curry powder, tumeric, tupperwares and sauces. I find so much joy in buying groceries now hahaha it's quite ironic because I found it so boring back home because I'd just be following my mum around with the trolley. And I never understood why Mama had to go to the grocers ALL the time!

Now I understand why hahaha

It's also quite therapeutic in its own weird way. Kinda just stand in the Asian Food aisle (... that's where I'll be) and think of what you're going to cook for the whole week. I love it. Dare I say grocery shopping > clothes shopping ?!?!?!

Maybe it's because I don't feel guilty going shopping for food and ingredients as I would if I go buy another sweater/jumper. Yawn. Summer please cepat.

So I had Mum at the ready (through iMessage) and prepared everything and fried this and tumis that and potong this and kupas that.



YUMMMMMMMMMM!!! The curry oozed the all too familiar smell and it brought me home instantly. Which is practically the reason why I like cooking now. Because the most gourmet of dishes here can never beat the good ol' nasi putih and kari ikan/ayam/daging/anything and telur dadar. Devoured in 2 helpings of rice because I was hungry and it was quite sedap and I'm the biggest critic when it comes to Malay food so this batch was not bad. It was definitely better than my last attempt. This one had a thicker consistency. Can't wait to attempt masak lemak and tom yam!

____

The weather here had made my hair go all stringy and dry and tangly. My hair has always been tangly but it has been EXTRA terribly tangled here I have no idea why. So I did something that I have never done in my life ever - buy a hair brush. I was out in the city and I just HAD to get a hair brush. I couldn't finger comb through my hair anymore. It wasn't working. So I got this. Mainly because it was hot pink. I wasn't too convinced about their claims of detangling my hair knots but oh well.

And my oh my was I wrong!!!!!! It is single handedly one of my favourite things I have in my room (and in my life). It's amazingggggggggg!!!!!! Literally, one brush through and it detangles everything completely through! I LOVE ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!! It's such a miracle worker.





Look how stringy and dry my hair is here. Ok no don't look.  



Just for fun, this is a screenshot of my Oovoo session with some of my best mates. Kanda was trying to remove his Halloween make-up........ with a tissue. Wat. Thankfully Marissa and I came to the rescue. Hahaha hashtag pro hashtag amazing hashtag kandaisluckytohaveus



Ok gonna go watch Modern Family aka the best thing since Friends

x

Saturday, October 26, 2013

MONTH 1

It's been a month since I stepped on foreign land.

For fun, I'm going to do a monthly update of my stay here in England just to see how well I've adapted over time so first month let's go!

I've gotta admit, my first 2 weeks in university was quite lonely for me. I'm the only non-local student in my classes so it was quite hard to adapt with everyone and the classes. And I'm so used to knowing things and knowing my way everywhere back home so coming here and not knowing anything was challenging. I hated it, in fact.

I spent a lot on food. A lot. Because I didn't know how to cook and I was afraid of cooking something that wasn't nice because that'd be a waste of ingredients! Dah lah mahal!

I was on a Masterchef marathon and after the bajillionth episode, I just closed my laptop and got up and cooked. It was just pasta. But still! Naturally I had to take a photo of it..... and sent it to my parents. My dad was like,

"Are you sure you tak tapau from somewhereee?" 

I was more proud than offended when he said that because he actually thought it looked restaurant quality hahahahahah

It's been a month and I *think* I'm doing okay with my cooking. Yesterday I cooked chicken curry and the day before that I made ayam masak kicap. Which is a feat for the girl who used to fail at making Maggi........

......I mean...... WHO FAILS AT MAKING MAGGI ??!?

So yes, I'm quite proud. I actually look forward to coming home and start cooking dinner/lunch. It's quite enjoyable, who knew? Going to the grocers and getting ingredients and going to buy meat at the halal store was actually fun. Yesterday I bought a new frying pan because my previous one got burnt (....... don't ask) and I was as excited buying it like how I'd get excited getting a new top. It's ridiculous. I won't go to the extend to say I LOVE cooking but I ****think**** I'm on the way.......

In the past month, I've gone to Bath and London; both I enjoyed way way too much. The weather was great in both locations so I'm quite lucky! It wasn't freezing like how I'd expect it to be although it's only just autumn.

I'm looking forward to visiting more and more places in the future. This November 9th, we're all going to Nottingham for the annual Malaysian Games and I don't play a single sport (that's quite a known fact) but oh well, I'm trés excited to be there with my friends and to eat Malaysian food and be in the company of Malaysians. I sound so narrow minded what only wanting to be with my own people but it's only because I MISS THEM.

And I've been making more and more friends both locals and Malaysians. The locals here are amazing; they're such sweethearts and so incredibly well-mannered. I still am in awe of how nice they can be.

I was at M&S getting my prawn crackers (still the best keropok out there) and the cashier was attending to this old lady and once he was done, he called another cashier to replace him as he carried the customers purchases and held her hand and led her all the way to the bus station outside. I was so in awe seeing that because bless him for being such a lovely person; taking customer service to another level. That made my day. My whole day. My heart was so full seeing that act of kindness. MasyaAllah.

So yes, that's basically it!

Thankful everyday! But shivering everyday also........

x

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Lepak At Hyde Park

Was in London for the weekend. Have been looking forward to this for sooooooo longgggggggg!!!! Drove me a bit crazy thinking of Friday. As soon as class finished, I rushed to Zati and met up with Azam and went to Aima's place to get my bag. Then off to the bus station we went!

We arrived at 730 and Syazwan, Jules and Izmal were there to greet us! After that, we basically made a mad dash (not really mad) (not really dashing) to Tukdin's for dinner. I couldn't wait to get my hands on some good Malaysian food !



I couldn't engage in much of the conversations my friends had because I was just too engrossed with my meal. Practically swallowed my dinner lah sebenarnya...

And then we headed off to Fatin's place and masyaAllah what a gorgeous flat she has! Lucky girl.


Saturday

Woke up early and the sun was shining and the wind was bearable and there were beautiful clouds haih London thanks so much for being so nice to us ! 

And guess who came to surprise us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! KANDA THAT'S WHO!!!!!!! That boy came all the way from Glasgow and went through a 9 hour journey to see us for the weekend!!!! He's a gem lah. SO HAPPY! MADE MY DAY!!!!

Got out of the door by noon and met up with Olz and Paan at Noodle Oodle. Ate roast duck, kangkung belacan (I can't pass kangkung belacan if it's on the menu guys... I just can't ok?!) and something else I forgot sorry. SO SEDAP as well!! Hanging out with boys also meant I had to hear stupid stories and cursing and well.... stupid stories. But I enjoyed their company a lot a lot so I wasn't complaining! 

Then walked to Marble Arch but we passed Hyde Park so we decided to take photos. Well ok fine I decided to take photos. It's not everyday the sun is shining in London ! I didn't get to go to Hyde Park last winter because I choose to not freeze overnight, y'see. 

We didn't even get to go around the whole of Hyde Park because we were pressed for time. Next time in London shall be Parks Day where I explore all parks. And lepak. Speaking of which, the boys thought of 'Lepak at Hyde Park' so the title of this blog post is courtesy of them.






Walked to Marble Arch and shopped a bit. Was paying for something when I heard a voice behind me,

"Hamboi banyak nya dia beli..."

and turned around to see Pana!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hugged the living daylights out of her!!!!!!!!!!!! MISSED THIS GIRL!!!!!! Spent the next hour braving the very very very very very busy Oxford Street with her. I also just HAD to get my waffles from Wafflemeister. Dragged Kanda, Azam and Syazwan along and they had to wait in line for them and I felt bad about it but so happy because they loved it as much as I did!!! If you all wish to have some kick ass waffles, please make your way to Wafflemeister! I just found out a couple of weeks ago from my family that they just opened a branch in KLCC so you can go there if you want! So sedap, I promise you!





It's next to Bond Street Station if anyone's wondering!

We headed back to Fatin's place to get ready for Iman's Raya Haji open house. We made our way and it was beyond fun to meet everyone again under one roof. It was amazeballs, really. The house was packed with the whole lot of us and we even resorted to the balcony outside! Hahaha so much fun lah.






It was super duper great to meet everyone again and it cured my homesickness by a little bit. So nice to be in the company of fellow Malaysians (a LOT of Malaysians, actually). Love my friends and love the food Iman's sister, Deena cooked up! Yummerz nasi lemak is yummerz!

We had to leave London the next day and it was raining and windy and cold and miserable. Haih. So thankful that Saturday was perfect! Ate at Khans for lunch and went to Oxford Street again. Massively crowded but Oxford Street is STILL Oxford Street, y'knw what I mean??? Love it love it love it and can't wait to go again in the near future insyaAllah!

For the time being, I'm back in Bristol and staying put (i hope) for a while until Christmas break before I can explore the rest of freezing England!

Til the next blog post!

I hope your weekend was just as amazing as mine.

xxxxx