27 Days of Home: Day twelve to twenty-seven.

I have a confession tsk. I hate thinking about my blog knowing that I haven't finished what I started and now that I'm already back in the UK reminiscing sweet ol' memories of people and good food back in Malaysia is the last thing I need. Not good not good.

So I'm just going to take a deep breath and go through this in a breeze phew just for the sake of finishing it okay so emo wth.

Day 12: Friday, 07/02/14 - A date with Izleen

Went to Times Square because I'm a hipster like that and of course we're still young like all those bunch of teenagers with nothing good to do they spend time working on their leg muscles (haha) at Times Square, Sungei Wang, BB Plaza etc. Wait that sounds like me in my golden years hahahaha!

Anyways, ramblings aside, here's Izleen and a little one in her tummeh.

It was reeeeeeally good to see her and poke her tummy omg what is wrong with me! She's due before August when I'm coming home again yes people I'm going back for Raya inshaAllah I'm truly sorry to see my bank account sobs. Anyways, she's due long before that so the little one won't get to see her Aunty Bella (wah so old!) until a few months later! Sads.

On another side note, now that Nina's pregnant too I'm pretty sure my ovaries are under massive pressure.

Day 13: Saturday, 08/02/14 - Home

Day 14: Sunday, 09/02/14 - A date with Teacher Ima

One of the things on my MUST-DO LIST everytime I return back to Malaysia! We met at Carrefour Wangsamaju (now AEON Big) because it's the only place we're comfortable driving to without getting lost -.-

Oh yes, back in Malaysia I kinda had a thing for seluar tidur for whatever reason

It was quite a short meet up because I brough my kids along (Syahirah and Adam Jr) and Teacher Ima brought hers too (Faris and Faris) and I was supposed to shop for stuff to bring back to UK and I hate to make them wait.

Now that I think about it.. I miss her already :(

Day 15-18: Monday, 10-13/02/14 - Thursday, 13/02/14

Nope I can't recall doing anything interesting on these days. They were probably filled with stuffy nostrils and boxes of tissues, truckloads of laundry and precious family time of arguing who should move from the sofa and who was the last person to leave the kitchen light on. Fun times.

Day 19: Friday, 14/02/14 - Jija's surprise birthday party

This had to be one of the most fun part towards the end of my break. Jija's boyfriend arranged a surprise birthday party for her and I was invited! Wowowo now how frequent can I tell people that I was once part of surprise party? None. Except this one. Hahaha! With my awkward social skills.. Hmm.. No I'm not the social butterfly who gets invited to exciting things. Which I am totally fine with that (and quite happy about it actually). But the best part of the party was.. It wasn't just me who got invited! I was invited as part of the Jija's bros (yes, I am not a bro I get it nvm) so Ezzad and Naqi were there too! Had Ezzad to pick me up from home which he came all the way from Pavillion only to pick me up and drove back to Wangsa Walk, mannn that was like, the good old days. And ohh, I got to meet his girlfriend too! Wink wink. Haa geli kan. Luls.

Funny thing was, these are the only people that I know in the party. There were like, twenty something friends of Jija but strangers to me whom I had no idea who was who so I was like, mehhh. Let's just form an awkward bunch of friends here. Literally. We sat at a corner watching people and making jokes among ourselves. How fun.

Anyways, thank you Jija's boyfriend for having us!

Day 20: Saturday, 15/02/14 - Family time

Saturday was when we went to Taman Tasik Dato Keramat as a family. Yes as a family! We (by that I mean Ayah and I) managed to drag Ummi and Syahirah this time. Adam Jr couldn't make it though due to a replacement class on Saturday. I thought it was ridiculous. He's only 12, what replacement class? Pfft. Anyways, in the afternoon I went to pick Afiq up at Shah Alam YES PEOPLE I DROVE ALL THE WAY TO SHAH ALAM. But then with Syahirah and Adam Jr along la because my parents still wouldn't trust me with the car alone -.-

That evening we had early dinner at Seoul Garden Festival City, taking three different cars with us. I think it was pretty amusing since Ayah and Ummi were in one car, coming from Sri Gombak. Then there was me and my kids (-.-!) Syahirah, Afiq and Adam Jr in another car, coming from PV8 after getting back from Shah Alam. The last to arrive was Zahid in his own car coming from God-knows-where.

Don't know why Afiq so garang face like that

Day 21: Sunday, 16/02/14 - More family time

I really have to write about this one eventhough I haven't got any picture of the day because it was my first time dipping into the swimming pool at our place. YES MY FIRST TIME IN ALMOST 4 YEARS LIVING THERE. It was... Okay. I don't think it was very attractive to wear a turtleneck inner shirt and yoga pants with a swimming cap as your entire swimming outfit, but anyways, that's what I did. Note to self: buy a proper swimming attire next time.

Sunday afternoon, my mom in law picked me up for a Sunday lunch at Mak Ngah and Uncle Ali's -- my in-laws. Us - Abuya, Umi, Danial, Mak Ngah, Uncle Ali and myself. This had to be one of the important dates in my married life since it was my first time meeting Uncle Ali properly. How thoughtful of me -.- To make it worse, I didn't take any photos. Sigh.

Sent Danial back to school and went to Wan's place that night. Had terung bakar and sambal udang. This time around Wan made it really spicy - serves me right though. Nak sangat pedas, amek ha.

Day 22-23: Monday and Tuesday, 17-18/02/14 - Staying with mil

The usual stuff with Umi - finalising the new house, good food and some shopping. Then came the real deal.

Beef ribs at Tony Roma's! 

Gosh I still can taste the succulent ribs man I'm dying for it now ugh

Umi's lamb ribs - which I have to admit, after three times of having beef ribs, I am so going to order this one next time. It was just as good!

Pina colada - Tsara's favourite

It was such a good dinner that Umi even thanked me for suggesting where to eat when in fact it should be the other way round -- just to show you how good our dinner was! This was my second time having Tony Roma's with Umi, and the first one wasn't very impressive despite Adam, Tsara and myself were the one who convinced Umi to eat there. But this time, this time was just perfect! I'm still dreaming about it man. Til next summer, Tony!

Notice how I get all excited when it comes to food? -.-

Okay enough about them.

Umi sent me home on Tuesday night and life had to go on.

Day 24-26: Wednesday - Friday, 19-21/02/14 - Last few days at home

Met Farah Afiqah on Thursday night at Mamak Corner depan rumah. See how convenient to have mamak place just outside your house? Lol. Talked about so many things, especially life now that we're coming to the age of 24 and many of my friends have already started working. Even Ara now works at KLCC (what is this thing about my friends and KLCC??!?!!) sigh. Didn't take a picture of us though, which was probably a good thing since both of us were so selebet - her coming back from a badminton session while myself, well, cakap depan rumah, memang sah sah la selebet. Pseesh.

Went to pick Afiq up at Shah Alam on Thursday, this time ALONE since Syahirah couldn't come back early and Adam Jr had sekolah agama. I nearly gave my mom heart attack though when she saw me in the car alone when I dropped by at her school before going to pick Afiq up. Nevertheless, all is well.

I CAN FINALLY DRIVE ON MY OWN NOW!

Well technically, I used to drive alone when my parents weren't in KL.

So that's not really the case.

But this time Ayah even acknowledged that he approved my driving, ALONE.

LOOK WORLD I AM NO LONGER RUBBISH AT DRIVING.

But still am at parking though -.-

That night we went for the the last great dinner for Nasi Arab. Notice how I mentioned 'great'? Because it's so hard to get everyone together these days! Adjusting to the fact that there are now 7 of us living under the same roof was pretty tricky. Well actually there are hundreds of us under the same roof considering it's a condo but that's a different story.

That aside, I spent the last night at home throwing tantrum. Sebab kena packing. It's almost like a ritual that I'd spend the day before flying back to UK throwing tantrum. Emosi okay.

Day 27: Saturday, 22/02/14 - UK gua datang

Heading takleh nak otai lagi.

Yeah so it's that day when I finally had to come to term with reality. It was this time that I realised, I don't do sappy goodbyes. I don't know how to cry and say how I feel when it comes to separation. I'd rather keep it quick and clean and save the tears for myself.

Hence semua muka selenga kat airport

But on a happier note I got another free ice blended this time! Here how it went. I went to Coffee Bean looking for Kak Halimah that I met earlier just to say hi. Apparently she wasn't in until later in the afternoon. That was fine. But the other barrista (are they even one?) who answered to me asked if I wanted anything. Told him I've eaten but then he asked me to choose something as Kak Halimah has a free meal allowance or something that allows her to have whatever she wants for free! And I was like, will she be okay with it but he just went like, naahhh, it's okay just choose something. In the end I asked him to surprise me with an ice blended and he made me this!

Surprisingly similar to what Kak Halimah gave me earlier, no? Hihi Alhamdulillah rejeki!

Flight KUL - LON was delayed for two hours and I had a veeeeery tight transit and Heathrow is such a maaaaassive airport but Alhamdulillah I made it to Belfast on the same day!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, all that aside, Alhamdulillah, I am now safe and sound back in Leicester for more than a week now. Gonna start my first rotation tomorrow and I'm having mixed feelings about it. Fine it's only induction week but well... (I can't remember what I wanted to say earlier)

Here's to a good week inshaAllah!

Boy am I relieved I finished this whole #27daysofhome thing. Alhamdulillah.

27 Days of Home: Day eight to eleven.

Day 8: Monday, 03/02/14 - A date with with bebimbos

Decided to meet up at KLCC since Syeeda had to work on that day. An easy pick for Faw and I as well as we are the MRR2 girls lol. Above all my hats off to Afiqah who came all the way from Klang! Effort la sikit nak jumpa sifu ye dak haha.

Remember these girls? They're all grown ups now :')

A little update on the girls: Both Syeeda and Fawani are now engineers working around KLCC at the moment. Afiqah is going to continue her PhD in Sheffield in April. Irhana is now back for good from her Masters but couldn't be kidnapped due to her being grounded lol. Edy is now in Cardiff doing M.Phil. something I vaguely familiar about but definitely beyond degree. Nina is now working with Petronas in KL, on her way to starting a family.

Nabilah? Lagi dua minggu balik UK belajar medic tak habis habis. Haha.

Tangga kejayaan katanya. Sads

Had chicken parmigiana for late lunch at Secret Recipe and I wasn't too impressed.

We had desserts too which were super nice but I ate them even before thinking of taking the pictures lol. They were chocolate lava cake and all chocolate cake if I remember well?

Day 9: Tuesday, 04/02/14 - Catching up with KN

This one is truly a catching up session since the last time I saw him was in Nottingham's Games in 2012. Almost two years back! And we didn't really have the time to chat as it was already closing ceremony and everyone was rushing to go back. But this time.. All the time in the world! Well not really since I had a curfew by Maghrib lol.

We went shopping for his work shirts at Sogo and much to his dismay, our tastes are nothing alike! I hate looking at men in short sleeved shirts, whereas he's comfortable in them. I don't find plain white shirts with coloured stripes attractive, he thinks they're as good. I like a little pop of colour and designs on a shirt, probably around the colar or cuffs but he goes for the super boring plain ones.

But as much as we'd like to argue on our personal tastes, it all came down to prices. Beggars can't be choosy, no? So he bought three shirts with me half-approving. At some point while shirt-hunting we both agreed that I could never really agree on his choice so I'd just settle for what was there haha!

Then we had lunch at Manhattan Fish Market.

Seafood chowder for starter. It had chunks of seafood in it. Nice!

Seafood platter something I can't remember for our main

It is meant to be shared hence the super large portion. Verdict, not too bad. The seafood was nice but it occured to me that I like my seafood done in a more 'traditional' way when it comes to tempura. More 'celup tepung' like than this kind of posh batter whatnot. I know it doesn't quite make sense but I used to live in Terengganu for more than ten years and nothing beats the 'goreng celup tepung' from there.

Chicken caesar salad

Another point which KN and I couldn't really agree on. I have never ever ever EVER ordered salads or anything like that at a restaurant. But KN likes this particular one that he just had to order it. I played along as I've heard somewhere saying Manhattan Fish Market has one of the best caesar salad. Lie. Or at least I don't agree to it. Nothing impressive, especially when you're Manhattan Fish Market. Could have done better.

But the one thing that I really like was the drink. Or drinks.

My bubblegum something. 

I think it's just sprite with a zest of pineapple syrup and lime. And probably some bubblegum colouring/flavour? Refreshing. Yums.

KN's apple pandan something.

I don't find it too interesting but KN thought it was nice and I thought he was just justifying his choice lol.

All in all, it was a good lunch.

Next we went for prayer and stopped by at CIMB nearby to resolve my suspended online banking. Had a good time laughing at each other's noob-ness since we both couldn't remember our username/password. My case was easily justified since I hardly used the service but his? Just noob, plain noob. Kahkah.

Came home completely knackered, only that night I had to teman my sister at the hospital. 

Hence,

Day 10: Wednesday, 05/02/14

Day 11: Thursday, 06/02/14

Another do nothing day!

Well not really because both Ummi and Syahirah had been ill so I did most of the house chores myself and if I didn't warn you I HATE HOUSE WORKS. Chores. Lipat kain. Masak. Sapu lantai. Basuh pinggan. I am never the housewife material I'm so sorry! And it doesn't help that we have a twelve-year-old boy who changes his clothes three times a day - baju sekolah, baju sekolah agama, baju main bola, baju swimming (if I'm unlucky) baju tidur, you name it! God helps D:

27 Days of Home: Day five to seven.

Day 5: Friday, 30/01/14 - Balik kampung day!

The initial plan was to go back to Kedah in the morning, but we couldn't be sure if Ummi and Syahirah would be fit to travel. The doctor even warned that if the fever didn't go down by the next day, they should be taken for blood test for suspicion of dengue. So we took our sweet own time in the morning hoping they would feel slightly better in the afternoon/evening. The ritual warung breakfast it was then!

Just the four of us because among us all, the most 'mengikut' person would be Adam first, followed by myself, and last Afiq (sometimes). Especially when it comes to things in the morning. The rest would either be (a) too lazy to come, or (b) asleep.

By noon Ummi and Syahirah weren't showing any signs of getting better, so a decision has to be made. In the end we agreed that only Zahid, myself, Afiq and Adam would go back. Ayah would have to stay to take care of the rest. We have to go back anyway, tanggungjawab sosial katanya. My cousin, Aja was getting married and I wouldn't want to miss it now that I'm back in Malaysia. So off the four of us went.

Left at about 5.30pm, arriving at about 11pm, with the luck of getting the last room available in Sungai Petani. Phew.

Left: Marilah berpoyoan road trip

Right: The boys muka terpaksa kena posing gembira lepas check in wahahah

Day 6: Saturday, 01/02/14 - The day of kenduri

Speaks for itself. It was kenduri all day long. And kenduri always means good food and catching up with family!

The bride

Cousins, Wasyifa and Iba (bride's sister). 

I got the question "Ni anak dara la ni?" twice throughout the whole thing. 

Untunglah balik single.

Arrival of the couple

My in laws on Adam's side - Mak Lang and Kamil

My aunties (Ayah's sisters) - Mak Cik and Mak Ngah

The bride's father - Pak Long

Her dress was custom made, complete with a cape. Superwoman kau

Kak Zu and Kak Huda, the cousin in laws. Err do I make sense?

She got married during the weekend when I had to be single.

Hence the awkward picture haha!

Cousins, Kak Ngah and Firdaus with anak sepupu, Adam 

(too many Adams in the family I'm not very happy about it)

Cousin in law, Kak Bad with the latest addition of anak sepupu

Cousin Abang Mat with his daughter, Hana

Hana gigi dua comel gila rasa nak sepak sepak

My in law (again, Adam's side), Pak Lang and Pak Long Akashah (bride's father)

Apparently they're pretty good friends.

Anak anak Pak Long Wan. I've always admired their humbleness and modesty.

Cousin Kak Ngah and husband with baby Adina

Aunties (Ayah's sisters) Mak Lang and Mak Ngah

That night I went to stay at my in laws' place (I'm gettting more and more confused here lol) because Pak Lang insisted. He laughed when I said we stayed at a hotel the night before because let's admit it, we have plenty of relatives around the area! Pak Long (bride's father) even booked a homestay for all of us and Pak Lang has an empty room spared for us when he knew that we were coming. Our logic was that we knew we would arrive late at night and we didn't want to hassle people. But then, yeah. That's what families are for, really.

Day 7: Sunday, 02/02/14 - Kenduri on the other side

Same whole thing on the groom's side.

The expression when they saw my camera -.-

Zahid with cousins, Syamir and Iman

Kawen paksa lol

Bridesmaid throughout the whole thing

On the right, Mak Long (bride's mother)

Big family just before leaving!

Teletubbies hahahahahaha!

That's us arranged according to heights

And off we went back to KL!

What usually takes around 5 hours became a 10-hour ordeal due to massive traffic jams along the way. Didn't help that I was wearing a kebaya throughout the trip sigh. Left at 2pm only to arrive at 12am erghhh. Anyways, we made it! Both my brother and I agreed that it was a successful trip with the two boys!

Feeling gaya mak mak sangatttt!

27 Days of Home: Day one to four.

Following last summer's holiday that seemed a little too short to my liking (2 bulan setengah dah short, lepas ni summer 3 minggu je gua tak tau lah cemana T_T), I thought I would document this short break as much as I could. It's harder than I thought but I must persevere! Lol.

Day 1: Monday, 27/01/2014 - The day of arrival

Remember my annoying 7-hour-transit post? I was so traumatised by it (emosi bakhang) that I told myself that if I were to go back alone I would seriously fly MAS. And at £640 return flying from Belfast to KL, it's a sin not to buy the ticket! So my route was Belfast to London Heathrow by Aer Lingus followed by London Heathrow to Kuala Lumpur by Malaysia Airlines with checked in baggage of 30kg. Deal much?

Annoying fact of the day: Usually a return ticket from London to KL by MAS without any connecting flights costs around £800. But if you fly from different airports into London  (e.g. Manchester - London - KL) with MAS and another code sharing flights, the tickets can go down to £500. Fine of you're living far from London but to us in Leicester which is an hour from London it is such a pain. All I can say is thank you hubs for living in Belfast. Phew.

Anyways, it was probably the best long haul flight I've ever flown in. Ever. No regrets. The food was amazing, entertainment was packed with waaay too many good movies, and best of all, I got three seats in a row all for myself. YES I GOT TO SLEEP 7 HOURS STRAIGHT LYING DOWN NO KIDDING. Tak serious. Boarded the aircraft, had a wonderful supper, slept like a log (literally), woke up to another good meal (breakfast?) and touch down. Wow. Wow. My first time flying alone and it was like a dream. Alhamdulillah.

There were two options for this particular meal, ayam kicap or cod fish. And I was like, AYAM KICAP WAHAHAHAH NO. So cod fish it was then.

Arrived KLIA at about 6pm and went to the prayer room since Ayah and Ummi weren't there yet. And the funny part began.

I just finished praying when Adam called from UK. Talked to him, teased him a bit, went all mushy gooey and stuff, then hung up. That was when an akak in the surau suddenly said "Manjanya suara awak" out of the blue. And me still in my playful mode instantly replied "Cakap dengan husband kenalah manja" OMG TETIBA SANGAT. Akak tu terus excited tanya macam macam, siap mintak nak tengok gambar boyfriend husband lagi. Kawen awal sangat, teruja katanya. Hamboi kak. Lol. In the end she offered to treat me for a drink since she works at Coffee Bean. I mean, seriously? Bapak randomnya. But then shortly after my mom called to say that they've arrived so she just gave me the ice blended hushed me to go to arrival gate. Aloo comel sangat boleh?

Boleh je.

Akak comel nama Halimah kat Coffee Bean gate number berapa gua lupa. Lol

Ayah and Ummi came to pick me up and we had Wong Solo for dinner. It's in my wish list so one thing is off the list! The last time I had Wong Solo was probably more than 3 years back and I must say it's kinda disappointing this time. Well nevermind, no more Wong Solo after this.

The used to be legendary ayam penyet. Sekarang dah kecik, so agak kecewa. But the sambal is still ever so legendary pergh perghh

Jus poligami katanya. It has avocado, pineapple, mango and probably papaya in it? This one is good!

Day 2: Tuesday, 28/01/14 - The day of massive jetlag

Did my ritual toilet-cleaning because I couldn't stand anything green and slippery in the toilet while my siblings got tired of it and just let them be. I think my family secretly expected me to clean the toilet because they know how I hate it, so they purposely leave it as it is all this while. Grr.

Went to send Afiq to his school and stopped by to have some late dinner. Nothing impressive hence no pictures of the food. But this, this I loike.

Tembikai laici dan gelas hispter beliau 

Did you know watermelons are darn expensive in the UK that the chances of me buying them is zero to none? Added with my laziness, as simple as it seems, such drink is far from wish.

Came back to my results being out. Alhamdulillah, I could now tell the world that I'm back in KL. Not that anyone cares wahahahah. Immediately called my mom in law to let her know that I'm home and a date it is!

Day 3: Wednesday, 29/01/14 - A day out with the in laws

A date with the in laws! Okay more like with Umi, really. So Umi picked me up from LRT Sungai Besi (because I'm still hopeless at driving yes you can laugh) and we went to her new house in Bandar Tun Hussein Onn to see the progress. AND I LOVE EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT IT! Not gonna post any details or it might upset dear hubs in the UK (hi sayang!) so yeah. I love the bed most aaaa no words can describe how!

Umi kita comel sangat!

Yet another drink. My ever so favourite 3 layer tea. Umi didn't like it though :( 

We went to have breakfast where Umi insisted that they have the best roti canai (beats the one at our current house in Bukit Belimbing) and man she was right! No pictures though since it was just a plate of roti canai doesn't look fancy or anything lol I'm being racist.

View from the balcony

Love love looove this shot! Umi with her brand new soon to be lived in house! Well not the whole lot la, but you get the idea. Umi couldn't stop saying that we got the best unit and I couldn't agree more. Alhamdulillah!

And next, a surprise visit to Wan's!

(And yes, Wan was surprised. Hikhik)

Succeeded at making Wan smile showing her teeth :D Happiness it is!

So here how the story goes. Wan made us some cekodok bilis while we were there. Apparently it wasn't spicy at all. I didn't say anything as I thought that is how Wan usually does her cekodok. But when Umi took her first bite, she immediately laughed and looked at Wan. Wan, as if taking the cue, said, "Ye lah, dah ada budak Bella ni, mana boleh masak pedas." I MEAN WAN SERIOUSLY T_T Apparently Wan still remembers the first time I went for dinner at her place when Adam and I were still dating (we still are btw hihi), she cooked terung bakar which I couldn't eat AT ALL BECAUSE IT WAS TOO SPICY. She remembers this all the way hence no spicy food eventhough I'd like to think that I've adapted to their spicy food oh noooooo D: Now I feel bad for my in laws sebab Wan memang akan adjust tahap kepedasan masakan beliau when I'm around. Tsk tsk.

And later in the evening we went back to our house in Bukit Belimbing. That was when I realised I left quite a few stuff jugak and Umi had to pack them as well before moving out. Sorry Umi :(

Then it's dinner with Abuya! We had dinner at Pak Ya's Chinese Muslim Restaurant near UO mall Ampang, just after Dagang Food Court. And man, the butter prawn was heavenly.

Don't be deceived by the look. It was probably the best butter prawns I have eaten in my entire life. Approved by Umi too!

Sotong cashew nut apa entah. Nope can't beat the butter prawns.

Steamed fish. And nope, can't beat Doll Tomyam's in Kajang.

Abuya before the food disaster. Everything seems under control.

And this is Umi with helping herself to a second plate of butter prawn. See I told ya? Hahaha!

Later that night Umi sent me back to my place at PV8. Okay I am honestly confused with the use of my, her, our place etc sigh but nevermind. On our way back we talked about life and all its wonders. To say that I am lucky to have her as my mom in law is such an understatement. I am forever grateful for that. I even thanked her for Adam! Comel kan kitaa hahaha!

Day 4: Thursday, 30/01/14 - Do nothing day

Literally what it says. Stayed home doing nothing and just be home. But it was on that day when my mom and my sister Syahirah started to go down with fever, which turned out to be dengue :(

But that shall go into a different post. Til then, inshaaAllah!