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

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

Miss Masterchef

Guys, I have reached a milestone...............

I COOKED!

I've been on a Masterchef marathon. Slept so late last night because I couldn't stop watching the next episode and the next episode and the next one! No self control at all when it comes to TV shows.

I woke up to a cold Thursday morning and continued watching Masterchef sampai I got real hungry. So I was like,

"Y'know what? I can do this!"

So I put on my jacket and shivered all the way to the grocers (only like a minute walk away but still!) and channelled my inner domestic goddess. Reached for some fusilli (I had to Google this) and pasta sauce, and mushrooms, garlic, olive oil and bell peppers.

Came home and changed gear from Lazy to Supergirl. Boiled my pasta took out my brand new chopping board (..... i might have just bought it yesterday....... after 3 weeks here...) and sliced my mushrooms. And! I did my laundry because it was sunny outside so decided to take advantage or Mr Sun before he disappeared again. If my family and friends saw me multitasking, they would have probably given me a standing ovation knowing them hahaha

Took out the bell peppers and I started cutting it.... hmmm.... I was cutting them from all angles and since I've never dealt with such things, I opened up Youtube and searched "How to cut bell peppers" hahahahaha

Ok guys first timer here please don't judge

So then I moved on to cutting garlic....... HMMMMMMMMMM how the hell.............
Main hentam je and as long as there was SOME diced garlic, I'm okay.
Then I campak everything in and then I poured the sauce in and then baru I tossed in the pasta. At this point, I didn't care if it was good or not, I was just proud I actually made a decent looking dish!!!

Of course after plating the pasta, I had to take a photo of it and send it to my parents.

I mean, c'mon! For someone who hasn't made anything for herself ever besides Maggi, this is a pretty good attempt! So proud of myself for pulling it off!

Heh, the kitchen isn't so scary after all huh?

Next time on Nadia's Cooking Adventures; lightly smoked salmon risotto with herbs served with lemon butter sauce.



.....


Ok fine no but high ambitions never hurt anyone!

Bath!

On Saturday, we (Amir, Zati, Sofia, Adda, Aima) took the bus to Bath since it's quite close to Bristol and we wanted to slowly travel around the UK and this was our first place to tick in our "Places To Go in the UK".

MasyaAllah Bath is a gorgeous place !!!! Such a gorgeous little place and haihhhh I loved it! Everything was so picturesque and I took photos of everything! I really would LOVE to go there again! The weather was gorgeous too (sunny but windy!) and so we walked around and went mini sight-seeing with Chin and Fairuz and 2 of Sofia's friends before buying take out lunch and walking up to the Royal Crescent and having a small picnic. In the midst of me eating my gila sedap burger, I couldn't stop looking around and taking photos of the beautiful place on a beautiful day! And can't help thinking that this world is a beautiful place and that everyone should travel if they can afford it for this world is massive and I'm always amazed at how beautiful everything is.

LOOK AT HOW BLUE THE SKIES ARE!!! That is a beautiful beautiful day and although windy (evident from photo above), we enjoyed it very muchhh. We could roll over the grass if we wanted to! But unfortunately we had to behave as tourist and moved on to another place. We walked through the city and we didn't go and see the Roman Baths because the line was so long and we wanted to go around Bath more.

I felt so overdressed because I was wearing a layer of Uniqlo's heat tech long sleeved top underneath my sweater... dengan scarf dia lagi... and I was wearing tights underneath my seluar! And here everyone was in their tshirt and shorts! British weather is very much similar to most women in a shoe store - fickle minded!

We went to the Parade Gardens and the 80p entrance was SO worth it! The garden was gorgeous!!! The flowers were blooming, the sun was shining, the lawn chairs were out and kids were playing around and ya Allah ya Rabbi, I was in love with the place! Perfect place to chill and bask in the sun.

Looooook at how breathtaking the garden is!!! And the pink purple flowers. Haih, I could just stay in the park all day long lah, really. 

Beautiful Bath was beautiful! Really would love to go again in the near future. As much as I love traveling with my friends, I wished I had my family with me to hassle about picture taking and buying souvenirs without being so calculative hahahaha 

Posted photos on my Family whatsapp group throughout the day and my mum was reminiscing "OMG i remember being at the crescent too!! Bath is so nice kan, that place is as if time stood still!" 

And when she said that, it hits me that I'm living the life my parents were living 27 odd years ago. I'm so happy and excited to go through my university life like how they did. And to go to the places they've been and to experience things they've experienced like cooking and doing your own laundry and buying groceries. It makes me so happy to have them and to share my life in the UK with them. I have Skype, Whatsapp and Facetime and Facebook to thank for that! Technology, you gold mine you! 

Next stop : London town for a mini reunion!  

Til then, hope your day is going well wherever you may be!