Quote of The Day

"Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they are meant to be there; they serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or help you figure out who you are." 

Amal Hebat

 My third sister, Amal, just graduated with three stars (CGPA 3.89) in Diploma of Banking and Finance. Proud of you kiddo. Please make us proud even more! Many congratulations from your Along. xx

 Amal hebat!

 

The reason

  Mom and Dad with their bundle of joy (From left, Hanis, Iqa, Dad, Amal, Mom, Aiman and Kak Eni)

Half Taken

Just got back from Rome and saw updates on Facebook, this weekend is full with engagement ceremonies! And one of them who got engaged this week was my best friend of 13 year!

Congratulations Tasha Qhairunnisa and Jean Basri Longuet.

Bak kata orang tua, dah bertunang tu darah manis. I'm sure both of you will go through the 'darah manis' period just fine Insya Allah, let's pray to God banyak-banyak ok? 

Tasha, I am so happy for you and Basri, and I'm sure you know that I cannot cannot cannot wait to balik soon to wish (and hug) you a proper CONGRATULATIONS! Sebak jugak coz I wasn't there!

Please please enjoy the wedding preparations dear! It's YOUR DAY!

Anyway, here are some photos of her engagement ceremony which was beautifully done! Love it! (Photos by Tasha Qhairunnisa herself)

Tasha getting ready

Pelamin so sweet, so Tasha

Flower power!

  Dessert table terbaik! By the everdearest Miss Dalia Dania Ruslan. Interested? Email me and I can introduce you to her!

 Discuss discuss discuss!

 Akhirnya ;) Teary eyed when I see this pic.

 With Mama / Aunty Diana tersayang

 From no sister to MANY sisters! You're so lucky babe! 

 Tu diaaaa jejaka tercinta! chewahh (in longhat Utara tone)

 Tu diaaa kesayangan Basri :) 

 Soon-to-be Tasha's family

Beloved family

Best Gfs ;)

 Best UIA mates!

 Haippp.. belom kawin lagi ni.. lol..jk

 The room that we all used to do sleepovers! So pretty decorated by Tasha's mother.

 The lovely bride-to-be with the loveliest hand bouquet by gf Zaznuriah Zahir. Check out her other work.. Hand bouquet, hantaran, sirih junjung and the like, she can do it all. ;)

Lovely ceremony eh? More reasons to be excited about at home! Come quick 2011!

Brummies Christmas Market

After residing in England for more than a year now, I got the chance to witnessed winter for the second time. The best part is of course, snow falls and sale, but the worst part of it are the climate is freezing and snow made EVERYTHING slow and delayed. For an example, the train! I rely on my London-Midlands train everyday to go do errands and stuff but yeah, snow made me an hour late.

Anyway, one thing about Christmas that everyone loved is the Christmas market. In London, there is a Winter Wonderland but good ol' Brummies doesn't want to miss having one as well. In Birmingham, it is called Birmingham- Frankfurt Christmas Market. It is not as massive and exclusive like the ones in Hyde Park, but for me, this will do. 


You see, Christmas Market in Britain started long ago since the Victorian era which  sells Christmas related products and foodstuffs, but during that time, they were not known as Christmas market. The traditional Christmas market you could find are in Germany, Austria and Poland, but the ones in England can be considered quite similar to the traditional ones but of course, with some English identity.


Like I stated above, the one in Birmingham is called Birmingham-Frankfurt Christmas Market. It is open daily from 18th of November to 23rd December from 10 am - 9pm, it can be said that this Christmas Market is the largest authentic German market outside of Germany and Austria and is arguably one of the most popular Christmas markets in the UK. Chewah.

This is my second time here and I enjoyed every seconds of it eating fried cheese and jalapeno dip with cranberry sauce and the soft yummy garlic and cheese bun! Not forgetting their scrumptious hot chocolate as well. Without rums of course. There are other delicious meals that visitors could enjoy such as the Gluhwein (German mulled wine), German beers and traditional sausages, meats, sweets, marzipans and pastries.

Fried cheese!

 Pretzel!

 Chocolate coated banana and mashmallow

Colourful cookies

They don't just offer food, but also traditional handcrafted gifts, including jewellery, wooden toys, dolls and candles. It is so cute how they set up wooden chalets as their stalls and each chalets will be decorated as how they like, the more colourful lights, the better! It is best to see all of these decorations at night because the colourful lights will lit up the whole Christmas market as if we are in a village!

And, the whole experience will be enhanced with live music every lunchtime and evening from a traditional bandstand. Bliss!

One of the things that I will SURELY miss when I go home! 

Salam Maal Hijrah

Salam Maal Hijrah to all my Muslim friends from all the over the world. May the new year brings more and more good health, wealth and prosperity. Let's do more good deeds, more prayers and doa, and delete those 'PHD' within yourself so that all can live harmoniously and happily. 

******

Sheena and mummy are here and we've been updating and exchanging all sort of stories of KL and UK. So fun and interesting! ;) As it seems, my lonely days are OVER!

This is a Man's World

Starting from today, I'll be in full marathon settling errands and such. 

- Need to look for ropes and net for shipping. Don't ask me why..

- Pay and canceling off all bills contracts with Vodafon, Virgin Media, British Gas and Seven Trent Water Supply. Thank God they were really helpful.

- Cancel off Tracker Network. Haven't done that yet.

- Meeting with landlord. Dreadingggg...

- Arranged with the shipping/container/cargo company. Progressing..

- Look for Dad's stuff for the car. Looking..

- Find new tenants to replace Sheena and I. 

- Find new hand luggage. The one that I always use is broken.

- Packing and labeling. 

- Packing and labeling.

- Cari baju and kasut convo. Tak sudah-sudah... ;(

- Packing and labeling.

- Tukar duit..

So so penat. I'll be leaving the country in less than 25 days and I need to ship all of my things (including Iqa's) in 10 days. I hope I can make it.

All stressed out but I'm excited at the same time. 

There are days when I just feel sad as well. Like yesterday, when I was watching the X-Factor and I thought to myself that this could be my last! Ceh..emp pop pulak.. I know it's pathetic, but if you are in my shoes, you'll probably feel the same way too.

Talking about X-Factor, I felt that Cher did really well yesterday. Thought she's actually cocky but she got that 'star' package. Thank God she was qualified for finals, though I am bit sad for Mary, because she can actually sing! 

But my favourite is still.. Rabecca Ferguson. Trust me, she'll win next week!

Mary Byrne ' This is a Man's World'

Rabecca Ferguson with 'Show me love'..

The Classics

Do you guys read classics? As in by Charlotte Bronte, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Enid Blyton, Roald Dhal and the like? British or American, it doesn't matter as I'm always a fan.

I used to read lots of classic literature growing up as my mum is an avid collector.  She has a wide collection of all of those authors I stated above (and more!) and  she straight away passed it all down to me the moment I knew how to read. The thing I like about our parents' era of education is that they are exposed to all of these classics, name it they just know it. No wonder their proficiency in English are way greater than the kids nowadays. During those times, the children that lives far away from the city can actually speak a good clear English. My mom was just a desa girl from Teluk Intan, Perak and all I could say, her English is superb.

Ok, back to classics. As I remember, my first ever classic I read was 'Little Women' by Louisa May Alcott. I clearly remember when mom forced me to read the abridged version of the book. I was seven or eight at that time, I don't think I could do the unabridged one. I became more and more fascinated with 'Little Women' after the movie became a hit played by all stars actresses, Susan Sarandon, Winona Ryder, Claire Danes and Kirsten Dunst. It is basically about the lives of the March sisters during the post Civil War in America, and how they struggled of boundaries of the 19th century society placed towards females. At that age, how do I know about all of these? Civil War? Women's right? Nah. I am too young to comprehend all that. Nevertheless, the message that I got from this classic (and after much explanation by my mom) is the importance of family ties and friendship between sisters.

 The book cover

 The blockbuster back then!

Anyhoots, there are other classics that I read back then and still is reading now. Yes, it does take ages for you to finish one classic. I have a habit of changing my book in the middle of the process of finishing it. Black Beauty, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, Great Expectations, etc etc. Those kind of books can actually be your lullaby. It's either you love it or just hate it. I just stand in between.


How about Enid Blyton? Does the Famous Five and Secret Seven ever ring a bell to you? Those aren't really my favourite, but the best of Enid Blyton for me were of course, the one and only adventure series situated at a boarding school in Cornwall, Malory Towers. It is such an escapism and I still read that book until today. Will keep it nice and tuck for my future daughters soon. LOL. Enid Blyton has 5 series of Malory Towers between the year 1946 and 1951. Basically, it is about a girl, Darrel Rivers, who enters boarding school for the first time and her adventures sailing through school experiences such as friendship, music, academics and being independent. Remember the tuck shop? Tuck shop is an old fashioned sweet shop who specialised in retro  traditional sweets and confectioneries. Imagine lemon sherbets, all types of fudges, liquorish, and jelly beans.. I love being in a candy shop! (There's one in Oxford called Mr. Sims. It's traditional and it is exactly like the ones Enid Blyton described in all of her books). Basically, the term tuck shop is normally used within the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, basically other parts of the British empire. I am surprised that mom used it when she was small. (She was in a convent school di kawasan kampung yang memang ada penjajah di sekolahnya, so that's why). It's was because of these books (and tuck shop.. heeee), I wanted to enter boarding school. so badly. Pfftt.


Here are the titles of Malory Towers series that maybe you could be interested in. Give it a try (for those who hasn't). The girls in the books may surprise you!


1. First Term at Malory Towers (1946)
2. Second Form at Malory Towers (1948)
3. Third Year at Malory Towers (1948)
4. Upper Fourth at Malory Towers (1949)
5. Last Term at Malory Towers (1951)

Ok, back to my reading. Till my next post. 

 ******

"All the best stories in the world are but one story in reality -- the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape."

- Arthur Christopher Benson

December Love

Hello December.. One more month to go to 2011 and for me to be where all my heart is! HOME. Come quick, I can't wait anymore.

******

One of my best girlfriend, Melissa Esme turns 25 today. Wishing you another wonderful year of happiness and joy babe. I love you lots and lots. Let's celebrate soon, Insya Allah.

With Mel ;)

Your birthday’s a time for careful reflection
About your life, and its future direction.
You see where you’ve been when you look at the past;
Most of it’s great; you had quite a blast!
You wonder what’s coming, what life has in store;
Will it be just the same? Will there be a new door?
Remember this, as you blow out the last candle:
Life holds no challenge that you cannot handle.