Stonehenge - just, rocks.

Ayah has been wanting to visit Stonehenge since his last UK trip some time in July last year. But we were short of time and Adam was working so logistics were quite difficult. We went around Wales - which deserves a post on on its own (as usual), but not quite Stonehenge. So this time we had a weekend off with the family so I thought, why not.

The journey itself took about 2 hours according to Google map, but we had to detour for a very good reason (will share later!), so it felt like a very long never-ending drive. You know it's a long drive when there's this.

Road trip selfie.

After what felt like an eternal journey into nothing-ness, we finally caught a glimpse of the magnificent..

Rocks.

My first thought, "I expect you to be bigger?!"

And now is the time that I bore you with this legendary Windows 97 screensaver/wallpaper.

But our photo, first.

While this looks pretty majestic, it actually isn't. It's not even as big as I thought it would be. I mean, you look at Kaabah pictures and when you got there you're like, wow, I just cannot, like wow. But this one..

Obviously comparing it to our qiblat isn't the most appropriate thing, but just to tell you how disappointed I was..

I was properly disappointed. Heartbroken. Gutted. Dumbfounded. Flabbergasted. The list goes on.

Putting a grainy picture of us from my cousin's phone - one for the memory.

Apart from the rocks, there's also other areas to explore. Like this,

Tiny huts which are just about my height.

And this - where you can find out how many people of the same strength you need to recruit to build your own Stonehenge. I thought Adam did pretty great although the scale only lasted a few micro seconds. 

Grow up strong ok Seed buddy.

I personally feel that our biggest mistake was not exploring the Information Centre first (didn't take any pictures inside because I was already too disappointed, ha!). We went straight to see the rocks despite the staff recommendation to start with the Information Centre first, which of course didn't make a lot of sense. 

Once we've been inside the Info Centre only then things started to be more interesting. I mean, I now know that no one can actually be sure on why Stonehenge was built in the first place - it was thought to be a sacred burial place for the dead - but no one could truly confirm this.

Great.

But really, start with Info Centre first.

This is how the entrance looks like, btw. 

The actual site itself is about 1.5miles from the entrance, but they do provide free shuttles back and forth.

Not sure why I end this post with a picture of their shuttle, but there you go.

Some tips.

1. Book online to save money. The ticket itself is about £15.50 pp online but a quid or two more at the entrance. And you'd have to queue if you buy at the gate.

2. Bring snacks. Unless you want to be trapped in the overpriced cafe with very limited selections, bring some snacks with you. There's no eateries elsewhere within 3 miles radius (I made that one up) either.

3. If you're not a big fan of history, maybe give Stonehenge a miss. Unless you live nearby or going towards that direction anyway. Nothing personal, just not sure it was worth the long drive in our case.

4. Last but not least, if you do decide to go just because, go with an open mind!

Home, away from home.

Here's to more blogposts in 2017!

I realised I haven't really posted any pictures around our not-so-new home. So here's one.

Hehehe.

We were doing a bit of cleaning around the house before my family arrived, and this was taken just after Adam vacuumed the rug. I thought it's pretty cute seeing his palm prints on there, probably because he couldn't resist having a little 'sketch' on it, haha.

Serious photo now.

Our humble simple no-nonsense living room! 

Having moved from a tiny 1-bed flat with very limited living space to a 2-bed flat with maaaassive living room (and bedroom too!), it was initially really tempting to fill in the space with more stuff to make it more homey. Maybe a couple of pictures here and there, and a small vase with plastic (or fresh) flowers? But we persevered. 

Well more like I persevered, because Adam really couldn't be bothered. 

I wanted the space to look a bit more homey and personal, but at the same time I don't want clutters. I never really appreciate flowers and small trinkets anyway, although I do adore them when I see them at others' places. So what we had back then is all that we have now. In fact if you look at the picture, we hardly ever buy things!

1. TV - free.  It's from Adam's previous apartment in Belfast. (I don't know how he managed to get away inheriting the TV and not paying for it.)

2. TV stand - free. The previous tenant at our previous flat in Leicester left it for us. (I asked if they had anything to sell us before they moved out, and they gave it for free!)

3. Leather couch - free. My neighbour at Grasmere St where I used to live with my housemates left it outside their house with a sign saying "Help Yourself". And of course I couldn't help myself. It's friggin' free!

4. Purple couch cover - (sorta) free. It's actually a duvet cover from Adam's years in Belfast. I haaaate leather couch (freezing bums!) which is a bit ironic because I insisted to have this one, but at the same time couldn't justify spending £20 plus for a fabric cover. This did the job.

5. Rug - (sorta) free. From my years in Grasmere St, Leicester. The house had wooden floors.

6. Stand lamp - (sorta) free. Again, from Grasmere St.

So really, we didn't buy anything new since Adam moved in to Leicester last year, apart from the Xbox 360 - and even that is second-hand.

(My mom always wonders how is it that we're so thrifty given that both of us are doctors.)

Speaking of Xbox, I played Castle Crashers yesterday and this popped up.

Sent it to Adam because he was on a long day 13-hr shift, hehehe.

And I thought I'd share this picture as well.

This was last night when Adam just got home from his shift having dinner, and I love how everyone was very fixated on the movie. Reminds me that yes, this flat is quite expensive for what it is, but nothing compares to having everyone in the same space comfortably. (We could never do this in Leicester.)

Anyways, my favourite space of this flat is actually the kitchen! Will probably share that one someday.

SeedBoy.

Good gosh it's been a year since I last blogged!

#lamenewyearjokealert

It's been a month, precisely. And I miss this space more than anything! I feel like I'm slowly detaching from the online world (my blog!) and it's really bugging me!

I should probably make a wrap of 2016 like normal people do when it gets to new year, but sadly my reflecting skill has gone down steeply after I started, urm, doctoring. Every day is a blur. Suddenly it's like, woah, 2017 already?

But I can tell you what happened since 1st December 2016..

This.

This little one has grown so much since last time!

Aanddd...

It's a SeedBoy!

Yeap, it's a he. And this little guy has been kicking around more than ever. It's the funniest feeling because whenever Adam comes near my tummy to say hi, he remains quiet. And I often make random remarks like "Seed says hi", "Seed just wakes up", etc when he goes on a kicking spree. Oh well I guess Adam can wait a bit longer to feel those.

Pregnancy-wise, I can no longer sleep on my back without waking up ache-free the next day. And I can no longer fit into regular trousers - yes I'm currently wearing one of those hideous maternity trousers, at 20 weeks - cringe! I get nauseated very easily on car rides, not so much on a plane. And the scariest thing is that I forget things and do silly mistakes all the time - not sure if it's the pregnancy or just me. :(

Work-wise, I'm currently doing Paediatrics (kids!). It's a lot less taxing than Surgery, but of course, I still want to quit. Let's leave it at that.

Life-wise, I realised that Adam and I are still the loving couple that we are. We've been married for more than 4 years, yet we're still as clingy to each other.  We always joke about how both of us don't really have best friends apart from each other, but I'm not saying this lightly - be each other's best friend. Love might come in waves, but the friendship always remains. And with friendship, there's always love in it.

So yes, 2017 is going to bring a pretty big change, inshaAllah. 

Game on, baby. (quite literally)

Bun in the oven.

Meet Seed, people.

Seed is a tiny tot currently kicking away doing summersault happily in my tummy, very oblivious to the nausea and vomit and sickness that his/her mom is having.

So yeah, I am pregnant. Just going into 2nd trimester now.

I wasn't sure when to tell people about Seed, but these days (and weeks, and months!) my life has been about him/her - I've been rather unwell from the pregnancy - that it's really hard to blog without mentioning a word about this little one!

Some of you might have guessed from the crazy cravings - ayam penyet, keli balado, sambal tempe (Seed is going to be pure Malay, I tell you) and vomiting, but other than that.. I pretty much look like I was pre-pregnancy. Well, other than the constant tiredness, heartburn, nausea, headache, and urm, everything else possible.

Love your mom, guys. Not even saying this lightly.

Anyways, on to Seed - we named him/her Seed for now as when we first found out that I was pregnant, s/he was the size of a poppy seed. Initially we wanted to go for Poppy, but if it's a boy.. He won't be too happy for the nick I guess. So we settled for Seed. (I wanted Faith or Hope, but that's a different story..)

Yes, like Final Fantasy!

Our KMB classmate, Mau, suggested the name Cloud - go figure. This baby is going places with names. Although I must admit Cloud sounds kinda cool.

All in all, Alhamdulillah - that's the only word to describe how we feel all these while. 

Doakan yang baik2, inshaAllah. :)

Doctor, est. 2016.

14-07-16

De Monfort Hall, Leicester

"Hey, don't you think that I should be a psychiatrist?"

Cause I always blow your mind away.

Write happy things.

In need to write happy things and remind myself how some petty stuff are just not worth the slightest thought.

1. Texting with Hajar. 

It makes me happy. Genuinely, sincerely happy. This is one of the peculiar friendships that I have in life. Boy I'm good with long distance. At some point we talked about how we're all grown ups now, we'll be 26 this year! Look how far we've come. Ahhh I can't say how happy I am for her, Alhamdulillah.

2. Love note from Umi.

Well, more like from Tsara and Danial. When we were in KL, Adam and I went to The Mines, just the two of us. Apparently Umi (my mil), was there too, along with Tsara and Danial. And it just so happened that Adam parked the car right next to hers.

I thought of being cheeky (or creepy) and left her a note on the windscreen.

And came back to this.

I honestly thought they wouldn't notice it. But they did, and we got a love note too! #clingydaughterinlaw alert. Alright T and D, we love you guys just as much. Sometimes I think to myself, I am in so much win in this whole in-laws department, Alhamdulillah!

5. Out shopping with (almost) the whole family.

We almost never went out shopping as a family. Almost. Most of it because everyone has different needs and wants, and to drag Little Adam into Nichii for example is so not convenient. But we did last time! Minus Afiq because he has such intense love for his school, and Zahid because, well, he has  his own family. Well I do too, but never mind, haha. This time my mom insisted so we all went to Sunway Putra. Not massively impressive, but good enough for a start, hehe.

There's Ayah but he was paying for the parking or something.

Even better because Adam and Zay came to join us (well I made them, haha!). And yes, sometimes Adam and I do split ways towards the end of our holiday in Malaysia because we just need our own time to be with our own family. And because we're cool like that.

4. Wedding with A.

I notice I refer Adam as A more commonly on twitter these days, out of habit.

At Afiqah K's wedding.

Because time and togetherness in Malaysia is always limited, and to have both in hand is pure blessing.

"So which of the blessings of your Lord shall ye deny?"

Weddings, weddings everywhere.

Winter is making its grand appearance a wee bit too early this time. It's only November and sejuknya kemain habaq hangg. Disebabkan kesenduan musim sejuk plus the seasonal affective disorder ie SAD (how sad?) this time lebih parah daripada biasa, here's the rest of what's left of my summer break last time to mend the sad heart.

And we shall start with this handsome chap.

Nothing much, just the love of my life doing his own thing, being handsome and all.

Another love of my life, the guardian of level 25 dengan baju kotak kotak siap tuck in, nak pegi manattew.

I know I posted a picture of us at Yana's wedding, but the pelamin was so pretty must post another picture of it!

Wedding abang Aisyah, in which I only got to attend because our parents are friends. Aisyah and I were part of the G13 back in our high school. Otai okay. Sekarang kawan kawan G13 masih aktif berleluasa (kah!) cuma saya saja yang tercampak jauh di negara orang menyebabkan kenduri kahwin sorang pun takpernah attend, makanya terus ketinggalan and more ketinggalan. 

Amalin, the latest cousin yet. Her older sister, Alisya, calls her A'alin. Too cute rawr.

And here's Danial pembaca doa at Kak Tini's wedding! At some point he stuttered for a bit then paused, then chuckled to himself before continuing like nothing happened. Comel gila. Kadang kadang I confuse sebab Danial is obviously very tall and tanned (by their family's standard, anyway) so bila dia buat benda benda comel eg suruh Kak Bella tengok wisdom teeth dia yang baru nak keluar, I confuse dia ni adik ke abang ke apa. Sebab kemain tinggi and muka serius tapi bila buat comel terus rasa macam, awhhh. 

Oh, he's actually Adam's younger brother btw. Lol.

The Red Team - Kak Ina, Danial and Mak Long 

The Takde Theme (geddit geddit?) Haha. 

This is Umi and Wan, and Bella too wee!

Family photo!

Speaking of Kak Tini, semalam Adam cakap, Kak Tini yang baru kahwin tu pun dah pregnant, I pressure tau.

Nampak tak permainannya di situ?

"Enjoy Lungkahwee, Peenang, and the sun in general," said my registrar.

... before I left the ward for my summer break.

So this post could begin with either,

1) I was going through pictures taken over the summer break on my phone and I thought, well, I'm feeling a bit rajin now so let's sort them out. 

2) My phone has been giving full storage warning and I really need to get some pictures out of the way without forgetting them.

I'd prefer the first.

Anyways, here are some of the random things that happened over summer.

1. A trip to Teacher Nila's place with Izleen & her little family.

That one and only time when Adam and I did something meaningful together in Malaysia over summer. I arrived KLIA on Saturday afternoon and we went there on Sunday, which was pretty ambitious I must say. Anything for my yayang! Teacher Nila taught us Maths back in KMB so it was a lot of catching up on what KMB has become these days. College patriotism never dies, I tell you.

2. Renewed my IC and driving license.

Costed me RM25 (I think?) for the IC since I didn't renew it before 25yo. Hmphhh. And I thought I had my old IC picture somewhere but I couldn't find it, although I'm pretty sure I looked more mature in the old one. Also, Adam thought I looked like an egg in this picture. I quite like it to be honest, it could've gone worse. Itu gambar masa muda macam nak cari gaduh.

3. Crammed into the backseat with my younger siblings.

Who knew we could all fit into the backseat of a Kia Forte? Ummi took this picture while we were all asleep, and I thought, "How was it possible that Afiq, the tallest among us, managed to land his head on my shoulder?!??!" I wonder if we could fit another Adam (my Adam) in there. Wait, to be fair we did it once before, going for a dinner from my house and Adam didn't want to drive so we all hopped into the Kia with Ayah and Ummi hahahaha too funny!

4. First car accident, ever.

It was right outside Ampang Point when a motorcycle hit the car from behind. I was driving with Kak Hana when it happened. The cyclist got away, and since I had no experience whatsoever with car accidents and stuff, we ignored it for a while. Until I called Ayah and he asked me to lodge a police report, just in case. I was going to see KN after that anyway, so KN and I went to the Balai Polis Trafik Ampang (specific okay, kena balai polis trafik jugak, where the accident happens). Costed around RM180 to have the lampu cover replaced, splitted between Ayah and I. Pfft nasib baik dah renew driving license.

5. Met Kak Hana and her little one in the tummy!

She's popped a little human now weehoo Alhamdulillah. One of the most positive human I've met in this crazy world of medical field. She was doing ED (Emergency Dept) when we met, at 7 months pregnant. And I shall remember her words, "The best decision I've ever made was to move in with my husband. Things started to make sense then." My life shall, too.

6. Day trip to Terengganu and back.

Took a bus to Kuantan to meet my friend, Iejatt (Iz'aan Sapikoh) then drove up to Kemaman to pick Shud (Amira Suhada) up before heading to Kerteh for Yana's wedding, (my Yana!). These high school friends, haih, how la we never changed. Things felt so good, so familiar, so close to home. On another note, back to KL on the same day, sampai pukul 1pagi hari Sabtu. Sabtu ada another wedding, then Ahad another wedding on my inlaws side. Terus I rasa nak kawen lagi tau.

7. Road trip to Penang!

Just to see Izleen and her little one, Naurah. The initial plan was for me to fly up to Penang then we'd stay in a hotel just to have our 'us' time. Romantik bak hang. Then I managed to convinced Ayah and Ummi (and Syahirah, although she didn't need much convincing) to all go and have a random midweek getaway! I am forever indebted with Ayah for this, since we then didn't have to fork out a single cent for the stay. And Naurah charmed everyone so that was job done. Also, gua buli Naurah macam hantu gua rasa Naurah confirm dah mark gua sekarang. Luls.

Kitorang kidnap Naurah letak dalam kereta lepastu bagi dia coklat, malam tu dia hyper taktidur, mak Naurah yang kena jaga luls.

The ones I'm forever indebted to.

8. Jumpa Abil ku sayang.

Ha geli kan. Wahahah. Took a bus to Kuantan (Ayah suggested I drive, terima kasih kerana masih meyakini anakmu ini walaupun dah accident, sobsob), (although to be fair he asked me to take Wira only wahahah) to meet this girl! (Man that's a long sentence?). Stayed over at UIA and the familiarity was overwhelming! Golek golek bercerita sampai tertidur, shopping tudung sakan, haih bila lagi boleh jadi perempuan sebegini?

9. And came home to a bouquet of surprise!

Ini kerja Farah Afiqah yang sweet nak mamp. Girlfriend kasi bunga surprise home delivery, kau hadoo?? We met before I left for UK and I was sooo like, kenaaapaaa kasi kita bungaaaa you don't have toooo!! And she's like, biaaarlaaahhhh. I was like, nangeeesssss, no, I literally cried. This Ara girl, is another friend that we just rolled (literally rolled) our way despite not seeing each other for a long time. Earlier she came to London and I skipped my class just to spend the day with her staying at MARA London doing nothing walking London on foot haha. Gosh gotta love the spontaneity of this girl man.

10. College patriotisme FTW!

Patriotisme lagi, aka memekak berbimbo berjemah kat food court KMB makan mee kungfu. Dengan Ms Yatie lah yang ponteng ceramah agama apa lagi kahkah. Also, acara berkongsi tips rumah tangga dengan Edy, and maybe a bit relevant to the gay KN, luls. Kidding, he's not gay, and he's one of the most gentleman person (right use of adjective?) I've ever known. PM me for number. Wink. Kahkah.

Twas a darn good summer mate.

Doctor, est 2015.

03-07-2015

Queen's University of Belfast

"Hey, are you a cardiothoracic surgeon?"

Cause you took my heart away.