Diary with ayah & ibu – Week 1 June 1, 2009

Rabu, 27 May 2009.

Jemput ibu & ayah kat stansted airport naik van. Depa touched down on time 4.50 pm. Checked out around 6, tapi kami sampai around 7! Huhu, ada org ingat kami tak nak jemput pulak. Lol. Dari airport terus balik ke sheffield. Malam tu tidor tak hengat.

Khamis, 28 May 2009.

Today terus sumer dah bgn awal utk subuh. Cehh.. Terer betul my parents ni, tak de jet lag langsung, steady jek. Pagi, ibu dah amik tempat kat dapur. I & sue pi keje cam biasa. Balik rumah je sumer dah siap kat dapur tuh. Huhu… Bestnya! Petang ni i bawak depa pi city centre. Beli perfume kat tj hughes & shopping kat charity shop. Nampak gaya kena bawak car boot nih. Sebelum sampai rumah, singgah ke bole hill park. Tangkap gambar, borak2x sambil ayah baca auto trader yg beli kat city tadi.

Jumaat, 29 May 2009.

Pagi after keje, i pi uni pulak. Tengahari, dpt call dari ayah, dia dah salah turn lak masa jogging kat crookes tuh. Adus laa.. I tgk google map & sms direction. Isk..isk.. Gigih betul ;-D. Balik rumah, dapur dah berkilat2x. Ibu dah cuci sumer mende – peti ais, almari dapur, brg2x kat dapur sumer dah kemas masuk almari. Heran betul, selama ni puaslah i cuba sumbat sumer mende dlm almari tu nk bagi kemas n muat, tapi x berjaya. Blh pulak ibu buat magic sehari je. Yg lebih pelik tu, tak de mende pun dia buang. Lol. Hazeeq lak asyik je main game dok rumah, tapi ibu buleh layan dia makan n bagi ubat sambil dia hadap tv tuh. Tiap sejam tanya wan kat mana. Risau la kalau dah balik x bgtau dia. Lol.

Sabtu, 30 May 2009.

Pagi ni around 8 am kami bertolak ke selatan.  Persinggahan pertama – Car boot junction 30. Sakan giler Ayah & Ibu bershopping.  Ayah minat pinggan bercorak ala souvenir – bukan royal albert atau portmerion, tapi jenis yg lukis scenery, handpainted.  Ada satu lak gambar Chatsworth.. pehhh cantek betul.  Maybe next week insyaAllah sampailah kami ke sana .  Ibu lak minat kristal.  Habis like £20 jugak kots kat car boot nih.  Next stop – Bath.  Bath memanglah cantik.  Kami lunch kat Parade garden, pastu susur kat tepi Putney Bridge, tapi kedai souvenir dah tutup la pulak.  Seriously kat tepi river dalam Parade Garden tu memang kelas! Lepas dah habis makan, solat & melwat sekitar Bath, kami bertolak ke Reading dan bermalam di Travelodge.  I dapat travelodge tu harga GBP9 per bilik.  Naik jealous receptionist tu.  Travelodge kat Reading tu aman damai je tempatnya.  Ayah, Ibu & Sue satu bilik.  I & my family lak dapat bilik lain berdepan ngan bilik depa.  Malam cam biasalaa.. tido tak hengat.

Ahad, 31 May 2009.

Aduss.. what a day!  Pagi tu Ayah sempat nampak arnab liar berkeliaran kat padang travelodge tuh.  Dapatlah dia excercise berjalan kat tepi hutan kawasan hotel sebelum yg lain2x bangun & nak bergerak ke London.  Cadangannya nak pi Stonehenge hari ni pastu ke Wembley utk tido kat sana 2 malam.  Lepas tangkap gambar depan hotel, kami bergerak ke London.  Dalam perjalanan, isi minyak, penuh lagi.  Tak lama kat highway, tetiba je van tu berasap.  Cepat2x kami keluar tengok.  Bila inspect, tengok temparature naik.  Boleh tak perasan lak, main belasah je. Errkk.. dipendekkan cerita, van pun kena tarik dengan RAC ke garaj berhampiran – kat Newbury.  Dari situ, kami sumer naik train ke London.  Tak dapat apa sgtlah today – tapi look on the bright side : Newbury pekan yg cantik & cute.  Kami dapat pengalaman berpicnic kat tepi highway, dapatlah Ayah, Ibu & Sue pengalaman naik train.  Van kami tu dihantar ke garaj yg tutip hari Ahad : Greenmeadow.  One word to describe this garage : RUBBISH!!! Sampai London Paddington, kami berpisah ngan Sue yg bertolak balik ke Sheffield naik bus sebab the next day dia kena keje.   Sempatlah makan lunch kat Paddington sama2x sebelum teruskan perjalanan.  Kami lak naik tube lak ke Stonebridge Park, pastu jalan kaki ke Travelodge.  Malam tu kami order halal food dari Pakistanis’ take-away.  Sumer org tido kepenatan malam tu.

Isnin, 01 June 2009.

Pagi around 9 am kami keluar ke London naik tube.  Amik Oyster cards for unlimited travel Zone 1 -3.   Banyak gak tempat kami pi.  Yang penting ajelah kan.. pagi tu kami amik tube terus ke Charing Cross.  So terus ke Trafalgar Square.  Amik gambar sikit2x.  Jalan ke Admiralty Arch, then ke House of Guards, lalu kat Downing Street pastu terus ke Parliament Square – dapat tengok Big Ben & House of Parliament.  Jalam susur lak bridge kat Westminster tu ke London Eye.  Breakfast kat depan River Thames.  Pastu amik bus and turun kat Tower Bridge.  Kat situ, kami susur  River Thames tu sampai kat satu park tepi Tower Bridge.  Makan strawberry kat bawah pokok.  Amik gambar kat Tower Bridge.  Then amik bus balik ke Trafalgar Square.  Sampai kat Trafalgar Square around 4 pm.  Kami ke restoran Malaysia yang berdekatan – Jom Makan.  Order nasi, gado2x, ikan masak lemak cili api & kerabu daging.  Nama je restoran Melayu tapi waitress nyer English.  Tak de langsung muka org Melayu keje kat situ.  Mungkin ader Malaysian Chinese.  Oklah tu – nama pun restoran Malaysia, bukan restoran Melayu.. ye tak?  Review : masak lemak cili api langsung tak pedas.. so if nak bagi bebudak makan pun ok je.  Gado2x lak sangat sedap.  Kerabu daging rasa dia sgt pelik – not recommended.  Price : not bad la.  Kami berlima makan kena around GBP49 plus air masing2x.  I pernah makan kat restoran Thai kat Sheffield and it cost me GBP105 utk 5 org gak makan tau!  So utk makan kat London – GBP 49 for 5 people is quite OK.  Lepas makan, kami amik bus ke Victoria, pastu jalan kaki sikit ke Buckingham Palace.  Huhu.. best betul jalan hari Isnin ni.  Tak ramai org.  Bersunguh2x dapat tangkap gambar.  Dari situ, jalan kaki lagi ke Picaddily utk amik tube straight ke hotel kami balik.  Kalau ader yg nak bawak family jalan London, I suggest amik bus jelah.. dapat tengok pemandangan.  Jangan expect nak jalan kaki sgt – penat woo.  Masa kami kat Tower Bridge tu, dapat la talk ngan owner garage tentang van kami tuh.  Again : RUBBISH!  Sumer tak buleh.  Tak buleh sedut minyak dari van sendiri sebab tak insured(as if dia takkan sedut minyak tu dari van kami).  Tak dapat satu sen pun utk scrap sbb depa akan uruskan utk pihak scrap tu tarik van kami (macamlah tak tahu dia akan tarik sendiri ke tempat scrap tu and ask for the money!)  Huhu.. apa2x la..

Selasa, 02 June 2009.

Malam tadi dah book Enterprise nyer kereta utk balik ke Sheffield.  So pagi ni bersiap, turun breakfast, pastu naik cab ke Enterprise.  Dapat kereta Ford Focus this time.  About GBp 25 per day, plus one-way rental(sbb drop-off ke Enterprise Sheffield) and plus insurans lagi, sumer abt GBP82.  Not bad la, sbb tambang train ke Sheffield if tak de railcard mau gak about GBP100 per person.  Kelentang kelentung sumer mende, kami tiba kat Warwick Castle around 2.30 pm.  Huhu.. best betul.. Lunch kat tepi sungai, naik tower yg 530 anak tangga, masuk bilik2x exhibition etc.  Akhir sekali kami kuar castle jam 6pm.  Bertolak balik ke dengan jayanya.  Alhamdulillah dipermudahkan Tuhan urusan, walaupun ada dugaan tersendiri.  Nasib la Ayah ader temankan  berborak sepanjang jalan tu.  Penat woo.. driving the whole 3 days tuh(minus 1 day kat London on public transport jek).

Rabu, 03 June 2009.

Pagi ni I bawak Ayah & Ibu ke ASDA, bershopping chocolates.  Huhu.. Ayah habiskan GBP78.50 membeli chocolates yg teramat banyak.  Nak bagi adik-beradik & jiran tetangga katanya.  Habis bershopping, kami hantar ke kereta sewa tu ke Enterprise balik.  Inspection sumer ok, pastu depa lak hantar kami balik ke rumah.  The rest of the day – lepak kat rumah la.  Sumer org dah penat – tapi ibu jadi tak reti nak berehat.  Asyik duduk dapur je.  Lepas masak – memasak lagi.  Even dah tak de lauk kat dapur tu, ader je keje yg dicarinya kat dapur.  Huhu.. rasa cam susah lak I nak lepaskan depa ni balik.  Wei.. Ayah miss dia nyer brisk walking excercise today.  Penat le tu gamaknya.  Esok buleh start balik.  Misi esok – ke Botanical Garden.  Mesti depa suka

May wrap up May 21, 2009

Spring time – Sheffield is most beautiful at this time around.  There are lots of tulips anywhere, I can even see one in front of my neighbour’s house.  Well.. that is only if you are living near to people who loves gardening Curik gambar jelah, sendiri nak tanam malaslah pulak.  If you go to the Shheffield Botanical Garden, the view is much more stunning.  Tulips with various color filling the space with victorian accessories.  I certainly will miss Sheffield soon.

Hazeeq birthday falls on the 4th – my boy has turned 8 now.  How fast time flies.  Can’t believe it. Here is him with his birthday pose.

Then, Japan Open Day by Student Union.  We went there a bit late after city centre community picnic.  So, not much things left.  But I managed to watch the Taiko Drumming show.  Awesome!

Last, in middle of May, we went to Roche Abbey.  The pictures are nice, but still somehow not sharp enough. Whatever.

Check the pictures of May : my flickr.

Visit to Warwick Castle May 3, 2009

This weekend, me & Sue went to Warwick Castle.  Beautiful!!! I would recommend the visit to anyone visiting UK.  The journey from Sheffield took us 2 hours.  We went on Give it a go day trip programme by Sheffield U Student Union.  It was cheap .. £19 plus admission fee to the castle.  You would need one whole day to really explore the castle.  The staff around the castle were really friendly.  They even wear costume and show you the real life inside a medieval castle.  The day was bright and sunny -  there were shows on birds, trebuchet and war accesories which would excites little children.  Lovely view – and would be there again with my parents

Warwick Castle

The new arrival.. May 3, 2009

Salam again.. Ayah, Ibu, Pait & Pern, Ija & Han, Ijal & Ani, Nisa & Is and also Adeq.  Not forgetting my wonderful niece and nephew yang supposed dah pandai membaca : Piqah & Irfan.   And a very good day to the rest of the readers (ahaks.. perasan!)

Well.. quite some time since I updated this blog.  Busy.. busy.. busy.  Today I decided to stay at home and update the blog.  Here is to announce the arrival of my sis to UK – Sue.  There’s so much happening since her arrival – my life has been brilliant since, apart from the routine things I had done. This also few drastic changes around Ayah & Ibu’s visit in and of May 2009. Well.. here what I could summarised in short :

March 2009

Sue arrived on end of March 2009 with lots of smile.  Pastu kami bawaklah dia pi around Sheffield – Meadowhall for a start; the largest shopping centre in Sheffield and in Yorkshire.  Some even said it’s the largest in UK and among them in Europe.  Well, I haven’t been much around. . I might be wrong.  Anyway, she said she love it here – all good for now and hope she will like it and survice till the end of her stay .  End of that month, on weekend, the whole family went to Rother Valley Park – very beautiful. The day was warm and we all enjoyed it.  Mizee cooked nasi lemak (coconut rice) and Sue & I managed to cycle around the park and whined all night long afterwards on how soar our legs are.

Check out the pics : Mac 2009 pictures

April 2009

On April, Sue managed to find some works – thanks very much to all our friends here who had helped.  Sue also took some brilliant pictures around Sheffield City Centre.  We had a picnic on cold but not-too-bad-for-Sheffield day in Firth Park.  The garden was pretty and the sky was brilliant. We also bought a van as a preparation for Ayah & Ibu’ s visit.  There are also some pics of me celebrating the birthday.

Pictures : April 2009 pictures

End of April, we went to Peveril Castle.  I knew from my friend that Castleton is a very fine English town with brilliant country sight.  So we went there, and it’s true.  The drrive took about 30-40 mins from Sheffield.  Apart from the beautiful Peveril Castle and the view – there are also some caves around, but we didn’t do those.  Tak tahulah kenapa, Sue ader minat yang mendalam lak ngan batu2x nisan mat saleh ni.  So, kami berhentilah jugak beberapa tempat utk tunaikan hajat dia amik gambor.   Pas Castleton. kami ke Manchester.  Dalam perjalanan, boleh pulak la van tu habis minyak.  Nasib baik sgt Mizee dah sign up ngan RAC few days before.. jadi kami pun amik lah kesempatan tuh.  Lewat ptg, baru sampai di Manchester Stadium.  Habis Manchester Stadium, ke Manchester city centre laks.  Mintak mahaplaa.. maybe kami ni sampai tak kena masa.. dah malam.  Tapi org Sheffield much nicer ;-D.  Basically Manchester muka bumi dia landai.. tak macam Sheffield.  The buildings itself looks like Galsgow – beautiful.

Pictures : Visit to Castleton & Manchester pictures

Dah siap.. March 6, 2009

.. but not just quite

Just finished the most difficult part of writing my thesis – the literature review.  Can u imagine that?… after these years baru siap?!isk.. isk.. lol.  Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4 were done.  Chapter 4 is still awaiting feedback  and Chapter 2 had just been sent as 2nd draft. So.. now.. tonite.. just feeling really tired.  Can’t believe I’ve spent two weeks working at nights in the uni.  I think I’m the only person in this department (probably there were also ppl from Comp Sc dept)who is working at nights.

So.. am I going to continue working at nights?  Probably yes, except for Thursdays & Fridays, when we’ve got our seminar and journal club days in the lab.

Ahh.. another 8 months to go, and in June-August 2009, I probably need to sketch some letter to ask for extension.  Next thing – the results for next experiment due in April 2009!

Terdesak March 1, 2009

Apa nak buat bila dah terdesak?

Dah 25 bulan kat bumi Sheffield nih.  Menggelabah sebab belum upgrade ke PhD lagi.  Ada member kata biasalaa.. native speaker pun upgrade lepas 24 bulan. Erkk.. tapi supervisor dah siap tanya dah.. ada personal problem ke lately yg sampai nampak cam slow semacam je compared ngan before?  Heheh.. kalau nak citer pasal personal problem tu.. hmm.. sampai esok pun tak habis.  Tapi.. kena count the blessings ye saudara.. kalau tengok kat keliling kita, ada ramai lagi org yang jauh lebih susah ujian dia dibandingkan dgn kita yang tak seberapa ni.  Orang kat Palestin tu budak lagi ada yang tinggal sebatang kara. Hmm..

Jadi apa agaknya nak buat kalau supervisor bagi sampai Rabu depan je utk send in last chapter?  Honest.. dah 3 chapters sent.. so ni kira chapter 4, last to be sent to qualify for upgrade.  Yeah.. yeah.. rasa nak lari je.. tapi lari setempat gitu.  Lol.  Oh yea.. bila dah terdesak camni, kenalah tido siang and berjaga malam.  Dok kat lab sampai subuh.  Berhenti keje cleaner.  Lol.

Huhu.. dah 3 weeks dah berhenti keje.  Dah 1 week lak masuk lab malam and tak tido kat rumah.  Ni kena pulun habis nih.  Ingatkan malam ni malam terakhir bermalam kat lab.. tetiba kena malware infection laks PC nih.  SafeSoft trojan.  So sesape yang terkena tu.. silalah refer di sini ek.  InsyaAllah boleh OK tuh.  Cara lain tak jalan wehh.. Good luck!

Visit to Scotland January 4, 2009

This Xmas holiday, we went to Glasgow to visit and meet friends.  Kami bertolak jam 5 petang, hari Rabu 24 Dec 2008.  Budget seluruh visit – lebih kurang GBP200 , tak termasuk makan.   Jadi, seperti biasa supirnya tentulah I sendiri, sewa kereta dari Enterprise.  Memula kami ambil kereta kelas C, pastu upgrade ke kelas E sebab nak boot yang luas sikit (nak bawa Hazeeq nyer slide konon nak main snow slide).  Dah rezeki kami, manager Enterprise tu kata I boleh amik kereta kelas E tu tanpa apa-apa bayaran tambahan. Huhu!  Tengok kereta kami for this week.. Ford CMax.  Spacious, diesel(jimat minyak) and enjoyable long drive.

Disebabkan kami bertolak petang dan sekarang ni pulak musim Winter, 4 pm je dah gelap(Isya’ masuk around 5.40pm).. jadi tak banyak perkara menarik boleh diceritakan.  Kami bertolak dari Sheffield dengan disertai adik Munirah – adik undergrad yg amik BioTech kat Uni of Sheffield.  Kisahnya dia pernah tolong kami baby sit Hazeeq.  So technically, dia jadi anak angkat kamilah utk minggu ni.  Dialah yang byk temankan I drive dalam gelap pekat malam tue.  Sampai di Edinburgh, kami tido di Travelodge Musselburgh.  Tak banyak citer, I sent her to Amy’s room.  Kisahnya, kami janji nak jumpa Eyla, Amin and Amy kat Edinburgh pastu pi ke Glasgow sebelum depa turun ke Leeds the next day.

Esoknya, 25 Dec 2008.. kami ke Glasgow, rumah Mas & Zaki. Dah besar rupanya keluarga kabin nih.  Seronok betul bila berkumpul ramai-ramai and catching up nih.  Hana dah tiga orang anak, baru join kami since Raya Aidilfitri lepas.  Mas lak expecting another baby!  Sempat gak jumpa anak dia, Zahrah yang lahir kat sini masa dia baru mula PhD dulu.  Eyla masih maintain seperti dulu – ada chance la jadi besan I.. anak kami tu cam heavy couple yg tak leh dipisahkan bila berjumpa.  Lol.  Sadly, Syaimak tak join this time sbb family dia dtg bertandang ke Notts.  Ohh.. kami makan turkey panggang yang disediakan oleh Mas & Hana.  Pastu makan nasi & kari ayam.  Pehh!

Sudah makan, Zaki bawak kami round Glasgow City Centre.  Paling tak tahan tengok Hazeeq nyer posing nagn kengkawan dia.  Glasgow ni cantik.. sunyi sebab Xmas.  Kami je yang bermaharajalela kat city centre.  Malam, kami tidur kat Travelodge Paisley Road, Glasgow.  Puas berjalan!  Munirah lak sporting je ikut kami & tak merungut.  Sempat gak menghasut Amy join kami ke Inverness.  At least tak delah Munirah tu sunyi sangat.  Heheh.

Third day, 26 Dec dari Glasgow kami ke Glencoe.  Hari ni Boxing Day – seluruh UK on sale.  Singgah rumah Mas utk breakfast.  Depa yang lain pi shopping di Edinburgh Shopping Outlet.  Kami bertolak ke Ben Nevis Range konon nak main snow.  Sempat tangkap gambar kat Loch Lomond yang kononnya tempat paling cantik di Scotland(tapi Zaki kata Oban lebih cantik).  Sampai di Ben Nevis, tak de snow pun .  Tapi dapatlah naik gondola dan menikmati pemandangan yang masyaAllah cantiknya!  Malam tu kami tidur di Travelodge Inverness Fairways.  Terjumpa laks ngan Kak Ayu & Sally masa nak bertolak turun dari Inverness tu the next day.

Fourth day, 27 Dec, kami ke Stirling dan singgah di Queen’s View di Perth.  Pehh.. dinobatkan sebagai best spot oleh the Queen.. naik di atas tu tersengih tak berenti.  Cantiknya!!!  Tak terkata dan tak leh nak describe cantik dia tu.  Gambar yg u all tgk ni mungkin cantik but in real.. it’s beyond what you can describe.  Once you are up there, you don’t feel like you want to leave.  It is so peaceful and so beautiful!  Dari situ, kami terus ke turun terus ke Glasgow.Konon nak pi shopping di Bonny Pack.  Entah hape2x ntah.. depa ni lebih Xmas lak dari mat salleh.  Kami sampai disana jam 4.30 pm.. Kul 5 depa tutup!  Hee.. bencinya!  Tak hingin eden pi Bonnypack lagik!

Malam tu kami tido di Travelodge Perth Broxden.  Sejam jugak lah ride for nothing dari Glasgow tu.  The fifth day, 28 Dec kami ke Stirling – tempat di mana Braveheart film is all about.  Kami lawat Stirling Castle dan Stirling Bridge. Dan lepas tu ke Falkirk Wheel.  Falkirk Wheel – janganlah buang duit pi naik bot tu yek!  Heheh.. Buat masa betul.  Dari Falkirk, kami singgah ke Edinburgh Castle.  Pastu makan malam, sebelum bertolak balik ke Sheffield.

All in all.. penatnya!  Tapi sangat seronok!  Especially sebab ade dua org Mary Poppins yang sporting habis – Munirah & Amy.  Buat kawan si Hazeeq – siap sempat gaduh2x lagi kat belakang tuh.  Lain kali boleh ajak lagi.  Next stop – Wales & Cornwall.  Heheh..

Oh ye, for more interesting pics, do visit my flickr slides!

Wow.. brand new year! January 4, 2009

It’s been sometime since I last visit WordPress.  What a change!  I am now thinking hard.. trying to decide which is the best tool to adapt to link everything up and make my life simpler.  Let me see.. things I don’t want to throw away : My WordPress (coz I’ve tried some other blogs as comparison) and my Facebook.  I now have a Flickr account that I pay every year to get extra storage space but need to use external tool to edit the pics beforehand (red-eye reduction, blurry, sharp and contrast etc).  So in a nutshell, Flickr is a bit time and money wasting.  It’s easy to manage my pics with Flickr though, and I have tons of pics in there as well!  Well.. if I can invest some time to investigate further about Picasa and decide which is better, I would have the answer!

The thing about Flickr that I don’t like.. well.. actually, I love the fact about Fotopages that allow u to upload unlimited pics and write things about your pics.  It relates directly your pics and connect ideas that you want to present especially to your readers that won’t bother to click multiple pages to get their heads round. But.. the major disadvantage about Fotopages that stop me is : the ridiculous amount of time needed to upload your pics.  Not suitable for me, though.. I’m not that patient.  LOL.

So.. let’s see if I can have my WordPress linked with any of my Picasa/Flickr.  I love the fact about Picasa that it does come with editing tool as well(not like Flickr).  So.. let’s see..

Hey.. hey.. got the answer for the time being.  Now that WordPress has included Flickr widgets, so I might use Flickr widget for the time being.  As the problem with editing tools.. I might try Picasa or Picnik!  I’ve tried Picnik before and it looks good.

I’ve tried Photobox for free photo printing.  It’s rubbish.  Edited photos using Picnik turned out to be dull and darker than it should be.  Now I’m trying ArtCows from Hong Kong – with 1200 free prints, just see if it is any good

Visit to Europe 2008 October 8, 2008

This post is supposed to be made earlier – but I simply don’t have time to do it.  Can’t believe myself blogging while sitting in the lab – I’m supposed to do research!  Lol.  But anyway.. I’l do a bit at a time.  I must do it – or else I’ll forget (how about start writing ur research report, Shereen.. that is also something that you should start and things that you might forget!).  Ok.. that’s it.. the first attempt failed.  I’ll write something later when ‘the other half of me’ is not here

Michael Lynch lab, Sheffield, 11.56am, 08102008

Visit to South Yorkshire & Scarborough April 13, 2008

Salam sumer..

Dah lama tak update. Congrats to Ijal & Ani who just recently wed. Sorry I totally missed the date. But I’ve got something sorted for your reception at Ayah’s (thanks for Nisa’s help).

Also.. congratulations to Sue for being offered a job and will start the new journey very soon. Good luck, babe!

Arghh.. feels like going home to Malaysia. I want to meet everyone.. new family members who I’d missed (congrats to Ija/Han for newcomer Hanis and to Pait/Pern for newcomer Faridah). Even Hazeeq always wanting to go back to Malaysia coz once I’d promised I’d give him a brother and a sister once we get back to Malaysia. Har har.. So sorry guys, I don’t plan to get pregnant here in UK, especially now. There’s so many things to do here and though different people have opposite view abt it, I believe people have to respect one’s decision.

Ohh.. about Sufiah.. recent update. I want to apologize if my previous post hurt anybody’s feelings. But just to let u guys know, her family (Halimahton & co) has set up a blog to explain their views on the matter. Quite interesting. Probably you guys want to check them out before you made ur final judgement on the matter.. http://hyusof.com/.

Last two weeks, on 29-30th March 2008.. we went to North East England & Scarborough. The journey started at 10.00 am. We rented this Ford Focus Style make of 2007, 1.6cc. Oklaa.. not so bad. Comfortable for long journey.

First, we went to Kirklees Light Railway, in Huddersfield. Cute. 50 minutes return journey where we started the ride from the main station, through farms and countryside. So.. know what it taste like riding a steam train.

Next, we went to Eureka! Museum for Children, in Halifax. Hazeeq was so excited and the visit is worth all the penny! There so much thing to discover, and even for adults we would be fascinated at how little we know about things surrounding us. You need to spare minimum 3 hours to allow your children to take advantage of all the exhibits there.

We then arrived at the hotel, Green Gables Hotel in Scarborough. The suite is huge and comfortable. We have the lounge, kitchen, bedroom with 2 singles and 1 double and a spacious bathroom. Even the cookery was provided.

The next day, we went to the Scarborough beach. Scarborough is famous for its beautiful coastline. Cantik sangat! Though Malaysia has beautiful coastline as well, England has more ‘raw and wild’ kind of seaside. We can see people on yacht and motor skis not very far away from the beach. But well.. we might be too early for the beach. Hazeeq can’t take off his jacket and bring himself to build a sandcastle .

After checked out, we rushed to Sunderland. There we want to experience what it’s like to shop in a car boot sale along the coastline. The view is really stunning. But the price of goods there just as expensive as the view! He he.. Anyway, if you want to go to North East England, Sunderland might probably be the best place to stop for fuel filling coz it’s really cheap, even when compared to Sheffield. We also stopped there for lunch and relaxing.

On the way back to Sheffield, we stopped to take some pictures of the Windmill at Sheraton. It’s a bit modern but the view is beautiful.

And before we arrived at Sheffield, we also made a bit of detour to the Humber Bridge in Hull. Kinda Penang Bridge in Malaysia. We stopped there to take some pictures before arrived at our home around 10.00 pm.

In general, for just the three of us, we spent roughly less than £300, inclusive of accommodation, car rental, entrance tickets and fuel. We thought of going with some friends but no one interested and I am only available that week before heading for more busy weeks ahead before the conference. More pictures can be seen here.. and don’t forget to clevk on the ‘View as slideshow’.

Just before the conference in June 2008, I thought of visiting North East and North West England. We might celebrate Hazeeq’s birthday on the journey. As of my research, now I have completed 4 tests with analyses. And in this coming weeks before 1st June(where I’ll be heading for a conference in Holland), I’ll try to finish 2 more tests using different database(WOMBATS) and prepare for seminar presentation just before heading for visit to the North West & North East. Fuihh.. busy! Important dates :

14/04/08 – Start new tests for data collection
17/04/08 – Presentation in the Journal Club
01/05/08 – Presentation in the Seminar
03/05/08 – 05/05/08 – Visit to North East & North West England(Hazeeq’s birthday on the 4th)
19/05/08 – presentation for English Speaking class.
01/06/08 – 05/06/08 – Presentation in the ICCS conference, Holland

All this time, I need to complete the tests and more papers reading for the conference. And plus all the preparation before the presentations. Ehh.. do I really capable to go for the visits? Errkkk…

See you next time.. cheerios!