My Mom was in London!!!

Assalamualaikum...

I should have posted this looong time ago but since the picture of the whole event were scattered between in my bestie handphone and her family handphones and cameras, so I need to wait until I have gathered all the photos to make it more interesting as most of the pictures were in other people possession >.<

so since my MASTER GRADUATION will be held on 6th May 2015, so my mom was so excited to come and witness the event as that will be my first graduation ceremony my whole life! huhu...she came with my bestie sister on the 28th of April 2015...they arrived around 5pm at London Heathrow airport...

tadaaa!!! the first appearance of my mom in my blog! ^_^v yes the one on the wheelchair is my mom...ya I know our feature is different...lolz! :p

since I have taken 2 weeks leave in January for my brother wedding, so I have to limit my day off but since my sv was so kind, she asks me to take few days off to bring my mom around and spend some time with her...so I have plan a few vacation with her together with my bestie family...

the first few days that she was in London I couldn't bring her anywhere since it was weekdays and I was busy in the lab...so on the weekend of the first week that she was here, I brought her around with the main aim was to buy her the winter jacket...eventhough it is spring, but since it was still very cold, I brought her to Shepherd Bush Market since thats where I could think of the best bargain that I can get :D

  

see the picture on the left? thats the winter jacket that I bought for her...only for GBP30 after a few times bargaining with the seller...fuuuhh~~ the best part is that since there are lootttsss of seller that can speak Urdu, so I ask my mom to speak with them in order to get cheaper price...hahahaha...

after that, I brought her to the must-visit-place in London ie London Eye and Big Ben

  

I am sooo satisfied that I manage to bring her to these places...thats my hope if in case I was too busy, at least, I can bring her here...Alhamdulillah He granted my wishes ^_^

next, we went to Southbank...I know beforehand that there will be an event called Malaysia Kitchen Spring Market and I laready aiming to bring my mom to this event so that she can experience going to an event here in London...so since she has knee problem and she is quite stubborn not to sit on the wheelchair, so we need to take buses to go to Southbank as tube station has lots of stairs and not all platform is step free

  

  

eventhough its easier for her to take buses than tube, I really do hope that she has the experience of taking tube in London and I manage to do that as well...ngeee ^_^v

Alhamdulillah she was happy when I brought her here...we ate Nasi Tomato while the weather was so crazily windy and she was so relax telling me that she is not cold! haha...but later, after a few minutes we sat in the cold windy weather, she cant stand it anymore and luckily that I brought her that jacket...pfftt~~

after that, I was sooo crazily busy in the lab because whenever my sv turns for night shift, (I work closely with a gynecology) the next morning I will have loads of sample to culture for my experiments...and unfortunately, when my mom was in London, the whole week was my sv's turn for night shift...huhu...but as I mentioned above that I have taken few leaves as to entertain her and bring her around UK, so on the 4th until 5th of May, we went to Liverpool and Manchester...the reason we went there was because thats where my bestie parents met and fall in love...cewaahhh~~ :-* 

since its an overnight vacation, so my bestie rent an apartment in Manchester as our tentative was Liverpool was the first destination and then we will have our overnight at Manchester with the plan for the next day was sightseeing in Manchester with the main destination was the stadiums!!! you know guys~~haha >.<

nothing much to say, lets enjoy the photos~~

  

I have did drove a car to Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield but this was the first time that we had to pay for a toll...this is when we want to enter Liverpool from London...when my bestie father told us that there will be a toll, I was skeptical about that since we never experienced that...I thought that would be like yearssss ago since he was there like 10 years (or more?) ago so might be that they have abolished the toll, but naahhh here we go...this is how the toll that we have to gone thru...I was so excited!!

  

this is how it works...there are counter just like in Malaysia with a staff that will collect money from you but however, that staff doesn't function here...I am not sure why, so what we need to do is just to throw the money in the basket as you can see on the left picture and the machine will print out the ticket for you...cool isn't??? this method have been told by my bestie father while we are on our way but I just can't imagine it until we reach here...wohoaaa!! my first toll experienced in UK!! :D oh btw, thats the only toll that we had to gone thru since on our way back, we were from Manchester...

  

I told you that our tour will be mostly about stadium, here it is!! Manchester United & Etihad Stadium :) since my mom was quite cold to come out from the car to join photoshoot in front of Etihad Stadium, so I took it as I am not a big fan of football and I am not sure whether I am coming back here for another trip...so just grab the opportunity and snap a photo as a proof that I have been to all these stadiums...haha  

   

  

it has been like 2 months since they come here but still I cant gather all the photos yet! so I dont have the photo on the accommodation :( but all I can say is the accommodation was superb...its an apartment with 3 rooms just enough for 11 people plus the house have sofa bed, so basically me and my bestie and the guys were sleeping on sofa bed...huhu...

after sightseeing Manchester, my bestie plan was actually want to go to Chestnut Wildlife Centre which I have been there but no posts on that!! haha...will do one day!! :p but since we took so much time at the Designer Outlet plus we were back on time since the park closes at 5pm, so we went to Peak District which I have been to as well but no posts! huhu

    

after that, I was busy with lab again until just before my moms flight on the 15th of May, I brought her to Wembley Designer Outlet to browse for her cooking set utensils...she wants me to bring her to Junction 32, Leeds where I brought tefal sets for my whole family...but unfortunately I can't bring her there, so I compensate that with Pro Cook brand! she just loves it as at least she brought something that she was yearning for when she is in London :D besides the outlet, since she was also looking for a handbag for her and for my sister, so I brought her to Baker Street which me and bestie just knew that there is a shop there that sell all the bags at only GBP30!! that shop was discovered by my bestie mom when she and her family was sightseeing London...so we went there and Alhamdulillah she grab 3 bags which she likes :D

  

  

  

brought her to park as well just so she experienced the differences of the park here and in Malaysia...first thought of having picnic here but then we keep changing our plan and keep moving around...the pic above was at Holland Park where you can see beautiful Tulips which they are lucky to see it since they came during early spring and after that we went to Speaker's Corner at Hyde Park

I am happy as I manage to fulfill all the plans that I have planned while my mom was here...I manage to bring her to variety of places in UK eventhough she has to stay a lot of her times in the house as she cant join my bestie family all the times since she cant bear to walk so much...on the 15th of May, I send her to Heathrow together with my bestie family...

  

please ignore my condition, I was just toooo tired! haha

she already in Malaysia (obviously! haha) when I post this! :p tq for coming and fill my fridge with lots of food stocks! hehe...take care of yourself ok mom! :-*

Bye~^_^v

Housewarming Party + Celebration Coming of Ramadhan + Birthday Celebration ^_^v

Assalamualaikum...

since I moved in into my new house, people keep asking me and my bestie when are we going to held a barbeque or party or housewarming when they saw our patio...the main aim they were asking that were because they would love to have barbeque at our house...I know the patio is very intriguing with even we were very excited when we moved in and we were waiting to have that as well especially during spring or summer, that would be the best weather to have outdoor activity...

therefore, after planning it for almost 2 weeks, me and my bestie have held it on last Saturday, 13th June 2015...since my birthday fall on Tuesday and the expected month of Ramadhan starts on the Thursday, so we celebrate my birthday in advance =D

    

    

 

our menu for that day was very simple...I made Kek Batik the night before, my bestie made Quiche & Potato Salad, Spaghetti Bolognese, and barbeque (chicken, sausage and burger patty)...

lucky us, Kak Sarah, one of our guest brought pasta and carrot cake, Kak Zada, brought another cheese cake and doughnut and Kak Aisyah brought blueberry cheesecake...lots of cake since we invited them to celebrate my birthday as well...haha that save my bestie from buying me a cake! >.<'

the best part of all is....................

  

barbeque!!!

fyi, we just bought the barbeque set a few days before the event! haha...quite cheap tho...only GBP20 :D

since we dont want our guest came without the main dish on the table, so we start barbequing around 2 hours before the event starts at 3pm...since we are an amateur, the chicken were not cook properly even after a while...so when our first guest arrived, which is my labmate, her husband actually took over the job and told us that the way we set up the fire was not correct!! haha...at the end, he took over the job together with the rest of the male guests that we invited, we end up entertaining the guests in the house~ i loike...thats the best part of it! haha...

    

  

  

tq to all the husbands for helping us barbequing!! tq to all the guest that came to our house and toning up the events as well as for the food! hope to held this kind of event more and more in the future~

Bye~^_^v

p/s: today is my birthday. Happy Birthday to me!! >.<"

Easthampstead Park Conference Centre

Assalamualaikum...

on the 19th - 22nd last week, I was not in London as I am attending Research Skills Development (RSD) course whereby a PhD student need to attend in their first 2 years of their study in Imperial College London...as I was not having load of works to do in lab, so I suggested to my sv that I want to attend this course as this course gives out 3 point for the overall requirements for PhD course...I registered for this course a few months before the actual event and the best part is that we can claim up to GBP60 which including return travel from London to Wokingham (where the course are held) since accommodation and food are free throughout the course!!! wohaaaa!!! >.< but total cost of travelling only cost me around GBP40 

eventhough this particular course is not compulsory for a PhD student, but the reasons why I chose this course is because of the 3 credit points but aside that is because I want to experience myself to stay at a particular place with different people from different background, cultures and countries...there are short courses that are being held as well that will only took around few hours during weekdays but with lower credit points and not much mingling around people, I chose this particular course instead! and all I can say is I love it! =D

so the day start with travelling from London where me and my bestie train ticket was at 5.15pm from Paddington and then we need to change at Reading and took another train to Bracknell...from Bracknell station, we took a cab to Easthampstead Park Conference Centre which is actually situated in Wokingham with the cost of the cab only GBP9

we arrived exactly at 6.30pm since the registration is between 6.30pm - 7pm...once reached at the registration area, we were given our room keys each on 2nd floor! ooh thats a relief because before that we were scared and worried if in case we need to share room with another participant :D

eventhough we get different rooms, but our room is near to each other...pfftt~ haha...since we pack our clothes together in one luggage, its vital that our room is next to each other ^_*

the accommodation area is in different building from the main building where the course will be held...just behind the main building, is the accommodation building...once we enter the room, we were shocked as the room was sooooo beautiful!!! 

  

the hallway to the rooms...our room number is W206 and W207 and it should be side by side but since there is a huge wall between it, its farther away...hahaha...oh my room is behind the wall, dont mistaken as if I wrongly pointed the arrow to the wall ^_^"

my room W207 :D excited to go in~ hehe

    

  

tada!!! nice right??! they even have extra blanket in each room...

the second thing that make us worried is the bathroom...but.....it seems like the they separate the toilet between male and female unlike the room, the room infront of my bestie room is a male room...haha...ooppss! :D

  

the male and female bathroom facing each other...just infront of female bathroom, situated the male bathroom but no worry, the bathroom is situated at each floor...so we are not that worried of having to queue for the turn...hahaha :)

once we have settle down, we went to the main building for dinner and the first session starts with the introduction of the course and the division into 4 smaller groups with each group consists of 8 people...I didnt have a look at their itinerary that they send to us via email so I have prepared the worst mentally and physically to wake up early in the morning and sleep late at night...but somehow I was shocked when I looked at the itinerary...everyday, the program starts at 9am and will finish at 10pm, there was only one day whereby we finish at 10.30pm and there was one day that we finish at 9pm!...how cool is that and how difference is that with Malaysia events where will alwayz start at 7am or the latest 8am and will only finish at 11pm or 12 midnight! just love the way their thinking that rest is the most important thing...if you dont have enough rest, dont expect that people will stay focus and enjoy the event! pfftt~~ -_-"

they have divided the activity into 2 groups whereby it will alternate between the large group and the smaller group...usually the activity will run in the smaller group and then we will meet up in the specific room that have been assigned to discuss the outcome with the smaller group...and that process goes everyday until late evening before dinner...we are not allowed to elaborate the activities as it should be a surprise for the participants! cheers! ^_^

my designated room with the smaller group in Periton room

the funny thing is that in every event when you are divided into smaller group, you usually need to come up with a group name...since no one has a better idea for the group name, so we go for the room name! so there goes our group name ---> Periton...lolz! >.<

enough space for everyone...and yes I sit infront of the tutor :D

while the break between the last activity to dinner is quite huge everyday, so I prefer to have a walk around the building as it used to be a palace but now its a centre where wedding ceremony, conference and other related events are being held

so below are the pictures that I took while I have a walk with the other participants into the woods surrounding the palace and inside the building

  

alwayz saw this kind of stairs in the British movie...hehe

  

the first thing that caught my eyes when the cab drove us here...it looks exactly like the movie!!! haha so excited~ :p the end of the road is where the Easthampstead Park Conference Centre situated

  

  

  

while walking into the woods surrounding the palace, I stumble upon few trees that attract my attention

  

the trees on the left was reallyyyyy huge!!!

  

and Christmas tree as well!!

during the last dinner, we have a proper dinner to mark the end of the course...eventhough we have been informed that they will not provide halal food thru email when were selected for the course, we knew that we need to be a vegetarian for 1 week...but how surprisingly that in each course, they are not only serve vege food, but they also serve fish dish which what we go for instead of vege food...and as for the dinner, even we cant have duck, we go for king prawn!!! tq to the course committee for considering having seafood instead of vege! muahh3 ^_^v

  

from left: Giu (France), Ranjhi (China), Richard (Brit), Elliot (Brit), Rosa'lia, Dominic, Addrianne (Hungary) and me! my small team~ :D

during our last day there, we were surprised with an incident whereby there was a theft case...do you know what they stole???

they stole the patio pavements along the 2 red arrow!! as what??? no one knew the value of it...haha...its actually quite hilarious when we knew what they stolen...what an odd of all the time that they had, they stole it when were there...hahaha...its a police case and we were actually waiting for it to capture the moment, but until the end of the day, the police never came...so we went back around 5pm with disappointment...eh! haha

Bye Wokingham~ such a nice place and great activity by RSD people! till we meet again...