Little home project

Thought I might share some of the things I did ever since I moved into our new house in Manchester.

We are not blessed with a furnished house, that's right, the house was bare when we moved in. We had to scout for furniture ourselves, and we can't afford expensive furniture, really. I mean, even if we could, why would we, spend on something of a temporary basis? Too huge to lug them back in the bag with us later on!

First thing I bought was a small 4-seater dining table. Got it off a charity shop for GBP30. In the picture on the website it looked good but when I went to check out the item, gosh! Can see the pure creamy off-white colour that it used to be, under those years of stains me myself hate to figure out what. Geli! Anyway, considering the place and the price, it's a sinful of me to complain. Plus the guy at the shop suggested of a way to make it look almost brand new.

So I took his suggestion.

*Eee sapa laa tak reti nak minum/makan betui2 nih*

Almost new!

I used a super glue and a cheap fabric bought off Ikea for only GBP2.07 for 1.5m

Raya Haji 2010

Salam Aidiladha people!

We in the UK celebrate Raya a day earlier, i.e. on 16th November. Barely 2 months here, and comes the challenge of celebrating Raya without beloved families and friends!! And hubby has classes on the Raya day as well - can it be much worse?!!

Initially me and hubby planned to solat raya at this school in Cheetham Hill. The solat raya there will be conducted by the Malay community, for there are a lot of Malaysians in that area. But in the end we scrapped the idea as we are not familiar with the area, and it's a bit far from our place. Hubby went for solat raya with his uncle at a nearby mosque in Whalley Range where were live, but he said it was a whole new experience as the khutbah was in Urdu (the only words he understood were insaan & doonya). There was no takbir raya as well! Ohhh tak sah Raya without takbir raya ok!! Cara solat pun lain, and due to the health and safety issues/ regulations, korban activities were not done out in the open...don't know where. Maybe some pusat penyembelihan...

Since I am now a housewife(!!), I planned to cook some food and invite people over. Not that we know a lot of people here in Manchester though. Haha. So we invited a friend, Shaheeda with her husband and 2 adorable kids, and hubby's uncle and aunt.

And I cooked:

Nasi tomato

Ayam masak cabai hidup

Homemade popiah

Considering this is my first time whipping up these dishes, and the lack of the ingredients in my house - no bunga cengkih, bunga lawang, jintan manis etc, the taste is not too bad (quoting the visitors! Not me trying to be perasan! Haha)

A wise friend once told me, if you are in a foreign country, you can't depend on others to make you happy or create life experiences for you. You yourself have to create the mood for any occasions. In Malaysia you have the TV to air the takbir raya for you and your mom to cook ketupat and rendang. Kita just goyang kaki je tunggu tetamu mai rumah.

Here, I can choose to snuggle in my duvet and sleep well into the afternoon. No takbir, no Raya dishes. But then, what will I learn by doing that?

Even though this Raya is not as joyous and happening as back in Malaysia, I have never been this tired by preparing dishes, never.

Tired, but satisfied. Now where's the takbir raya mp3?

After 4 years...

Me & Hubby at The Beatles Museum, Albert Dock, Liverpool

I am back in this land of GB. That explains my long absence from blogworld. Those final few weeks before the departure were depressing, stressful and melancholic. First my resignation from the firm (finally! Bye bye EY!), then came Raya, packing up, meeting and saying farewells to friends and families...

I used to want to give my all to return here after I came back in July 2006.

Now? I wish I was more thankful and grateful for everything that I had back in my homeland.

Dasar manusia, memang tak pernah bersyukur dengan apa yang ada!!!

Anyway, hope I can learn and experience new things, to bring back sweet memories when our time is up. Not everyone dare to take this risk and be given this opportunity.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha to everyone!