London Self-Tour

A warm hot chocolate at Tate Modern's Cafe to smooth my legs nerve after round - town walking

 

This is my first experience exploring a new city alone without anything but only google maps and tube-railway maps in tow.

Plus all you need is a good faith, open heart and water-proof coats (incase it rains).

I gotta say, it was a lifetime experience that I'm so proud of. Whee.

Thank you H&H for the introduction to the experience!

 

From my journey, these are the bits I got from my own discovery to share with you gorgeous peeps!

• The London Bridge is 15 mins walk from the London Bridge station
• On your way to the Tate Modern from London Bridge station, you ‘ll past the Borough market, two London bridges that is photo-worthy which I don’t know what’s the bridges name, and The International Shakespeare Globe Centre
• You need at least 3 hours in Tate Modern to enjoy the exhibits. It is damn huge
• London’s Harrods is to die for. You can get all the high end brands from cosmetics brands, to Louboutin and Manolo’s, books to home furnishing and sportswear all under one roof. Memang wajib pergi
• The Hummingbird Bakery in Portobello market serves the most divine cupcakes. Sangat worth every penny

The cakes pantry in Hummingbird Bakery.

• Pak Awie in London serves good food with friendly ambience

• Makan' restaurant (owned by Malaysian) in Portobello Market serves common Malaysia food including curry puffs for those who misses what karipap taste like

• The Bayswater station and Queensway station is just 5 mins walk. It makes a hell lot of difference if you knew this instead of travelling down to the city just to switch to different train lines.

• The Malaya town with all the Malaysia community, halal foods, Malaysia High Commission is in Bayswater. 15 mins walk from Portobello market or drop at Queensway station or Bayswater station.

• Portobello market serves Halal Mexican chicken, cheap donoughts + éclairs and has spectacular collection of antiques/vintage range of accessories, watches and any type of collectibles,you name it

• Portobello’s are famous for it crepes and they’re big on Nutella spread. Worth a try as the crepe are more gooey than what we have in Malaysia.

• Oxford circus on Boxing Day is simply the best place to go ga-ga on your inner shopping goddess. They have excellent service to ensure no long queues at the cashier, smiley service in the changing room and friendly gesture that offers you fashion advice when you're shopping alone. Bliss

 

 

• Borough Market is something like Farmers market with beautiful market backgrounds.

• Camden town reminds me of Uptown Danau in Kuala Lumpur except its 4 times wide. A shopping heaven for street style-like fashion. Loads of Halal Food as well.

• The guards in Buckingham Palace changes duty-shifts at 11.30 am.

• The Clarence House and Buckingham Palace is only 3 mins apart. So go walk people!(For Kate-William lovers)

• If you choose to walk from Oxfords Circus station to Big Ben, you get to pass M&M chocolate store, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and St. James Park. It took less than 1 hour walk to reached all of the places

• The British Museum is epic and has the cosiest café for you to stop and have a hot coffee with brownies.

• If you go during Christmas, you can visit Winter Wonderland with your friends  to enjoy the rides.
• And finally, enjoy the moments and let yourself be free! Cause one thing I know if you are travelling in a different city is that no one knows you. So do the silly things that you always want to do in public and don't worry about the consequences. xoxo!

 

 

Listen

My happy face when I finally got to taste Italian homemade ice cream. Pure bliss

I know what is like to not be heard.

I know how devastating you feel when 

no one is listening to what you are trying to say.

I know how low you feel when you finally able to 

share your feelings and thoughts but 

they did not appreciate your effort and worst, 

they did not even acknowledge it.

I have met people who has the lowest ability to listen to you.

The people who shuts their mind when you try to tell them your part of story.

People who stood beside you but went silent the 

entire conversation and absorbing none of what you just said.

To this people, I bid them this message.

Listen.

Listen gracefully to the souls around you who are trying 

so hard to tell you something by showing you signs and 

words that you have ignored.

Listen to their problems and ramblings about all the 

silly things that go wrong in their life.

Don't try to solve their problems for them. 

God will help them on that.

Just listen to ease their burden for holding 

on to the hardship for so long.

Listen for the sense of reliefs that you will give them 

once they spilled their stories.

Don't judge or assume. Instead ask why and how.

Listen and filled your eyes with curiosity even its temporary.

Stop giving them your piece of mind.

Just listen and response positively.

Everyone is facing their own demons to overcome their

own personal battle.

You are not alone in this world.

It won't hurt to just listen and acknowledge the 

feeling and moments of other souls.

You too can share with the other souls in return.

You don't know that for some of these souls, 

they may have all the love and charity the world could offer, 

but bear their own challenge at heart.

They walk and run like a kid with cotton candy in a fair but

these souls may fall and cry when the curtains draw at night.

If we could only just listen and hold their hand.

Moves our lips and say, everything is going to be alright even 

though you know its not certain.

You have no idea the tremendous amount of change those actions

can be in their world of internal conflicts.

The simplest forms of act will lift the souls to a blissful bay.

The act of care and warmth that seem scarce these days.

Just listen. It would make a difference.

In Allah SWT graces, 

may He replace us with fortunes that our 

religion put forth in place of the sad memories 

and struggles of our grief. Amin.

                                                                            xoxo!

Ducks and Me

The grass has started to have ice freeze on the tips. Hello winter!

Hi!

Remember when I wrote about my first jog at the park?

I went for a run again yesterday but this time with a bundle of breads in tow for the ducklings.

The goal:
 45 mins run

10 mins feeding the ducks

Outcome:

20 mins run

5 mins feeding the ducks

Feeding the ducks is not as fairy-tale as it looks.

It was scary.

I thought duck-feeding are kind of cute.
There are like 50 of ducks and swans swimming at the lake when I went to stand by the lake fences.
So I tear up few pieces of bread chunks and throw it over to them.
They quickly peck to ate the food and then swim towards me for more.

Then 5 seconds later, it make sounds and signal the entire clan like  

"Woi, makan free, cepat datang!"

 Before I knew it, the duckling of all sizes came swimming its way to me and started to flew over the fences.

Who knew ducks could fly!

 I got scared when they all came hovering and started pecking for more. 

It was almost a horror moment for a girl who never had a contact with nature like me.

So I just quickly throw away the bread to the lake and run for my life.

Moral of the story : 

Do not feed the ducks. Ducks are scary

Bad ducky

xoxo!

Weekend trip to Edinburgh!

 Edinburgh was wicked.

 5 facts that I picked up when I was there

*Their buildings are medievally glorious
*Pound-savers along Nicolson Street sells the cheapest souvenir
*They're big on ghost and underground tunnels tour
*Their roads are up and down the hill
*The Queen's official residence, Palace of Holyroodhouse is just 20 mins walk from town

I was there and I had fun.

Alhamdulillah.

xoxo

Burn-crepe

Today I was running few errands in town since morning and came back to my room at 4 pm. 

I didn't had my lunch so I was hungry.

I took out one of these ready-made crepe (with the chocolate filling) in my kitchen and heat it up in the microwave for 1 minute.

I was supposed to heat it for 10 seconds but didn't aware that I hit the 1 minute button.

So while the crepe is heating up, I was checking the fridge for ingredients to cook my dinner and took out few pans from the cabinets.

Until, I smell burning chocolate in the kitchen...

I open the microwave and saw this

I quickly toss it the trash incase one of my hall-mates got into the kitchen and ask about the smell.
I don't want to be that girl yang-dia-ni-tau-ke-tak-nak-guna-microwave.
So I quickly hide the evidence

5 seconds later, one of my hall mate walks in to the kitchen.

Perfect.

He said "Ohh, smells like baking!" and smile.

I smile back and said " Its the crepe smell"

He said " Ohh..you were making one is it? Do you have the recipe with you? Can I see it?"

I wanted to said,

No, I bought it at the stores. Its ready-made. 

But I was so hungry that I microwave it with the plastics cover as well until it burned

But how I could I say that with the matsaleh eyes staring back at me.
Jatuhlah maruah orang Melayu kalau I cakap macam tu

Instead, I said this,

"Do you mind waiting for awhile, I'll get the recipe from my room for you"

So I went to my room, cursing myself for lying, and gone back to the kitchen.

Then we both share few recipes and cooking tips together and he parted.

Leaving me staring at the kitchen table and wonder.

My God, how can one burning crepe and a hungry tummy lead to me exchanging recipes with a matsalleh guy

*************

xoxo!

A day and two as an Indie Girl..

Self-snap. Takde kawan nak snap kan..

Hellooo people!

I'm gonna spill few stories about my days here in Middlesbrough.
A quick one.

• I met my first hall-mate here at my hostel on my first day. She's a Caucasian. It took us only 2 seconds to exchange hello's and she already invite me to have a cup of tea with her and brought me around town to show me few ropes. We bought some food and toiletries at few supermarkets together.So I da ada kawan matsaleh sekarang..WINK 
• I did not experience any jet-lag. Sumpah pelik! Maybe I'm a different species or something
• Over weekends most of the clothing shops has "weekend discount" up to 20% 
• Topshop outlets offer 20% discounts for students for ALL items at ALL times.
• Their second hand shops offer quality items and are in really good shape. The sell coats, clothes, electrical stuff like tvs, fridge at half the price from the originals. Bought this coat for 20 Pounds. Its a good bargain isn't it?

• Their main road in the streets where I live in is like what we call "jalan kecik" in Malaysia. So cute. Ada traffic light pulak tu. Hehe

• Loads of halal food and supermarkets around here. So there will be no such thing as kebuluran for me. You can easily find kebab, pizza, lamb chops, and Indian food restaurant. These are my dining food so far. Alhamdulilah

• Subway sini halal katanya

• This is what Brahim processed food look like, which I bought from Malaysia. Had that for lunch. Sedap!

• Haven't been to the classes yet but the class timetable changes every week and has been outlined for the entire semester.

• The have a shop called Poundland where they sell everything in 1 pound. Unlike Daiso, here they sell detergents, pots and pans, toiletries, food, chocolates with wide range of brands. 
• I'm not a fan of milk (except makan dengan cereals), but after tasted this Strawberry milk..memang sedap giler. It doesn't have that milky smell or taste. Its more like a mixture of strawberry and vanilla in a creamy liquid

• On my second day I met with other Malaysians who invite me to their house for lunch. The host was the most nicest  and accommodating Malaysian I have always dream to met. I nak snap more pics with them but it was my first visit there so..malu la. They served us Nasi Ayam (chicken rice), pavlova, keropok and fruit salad. 

Surprisingly I fit in to the routine here easily. Alhamdulilah.

That will be all for now. Will keep you posted.

xoxo. Love you!

Closing Bluepandacakes down

PickNik in Publika. Awesome food and a  smilling service

As most of you already know, I have a baking blog that goes by the name Bluepandacakes.

Its my baby project and has been  around for almost a year now for selling homemade cakes.

Throughout the year, the blog has received an overwhelming response for which I have never stop feeling grateful for that. 

The baking blog has been a beacon of light during the time I was going through a very hard times last year and made me realized that will power can always bring you to places.

Sadly I have to shut my baby Bluepandacakes down. Temporarily for a year. 

I have big plans to announce for next coming month.

So, this is the last RV that I'm baking for Bluepandacakes. 

I find it very sentimental to published this post. 

But, cheer up dear self, pray that everything turns out well in the end!

And as for now, keep your heads up about this blog whereabouts.

Cause I'm pretty sure this blog won't be closing down anytime soon.

Toodles!

XOXO. Love you!

Surviving on whsipers

5-days in Akademi Kenegaraan for training. 5 hari yang penuh keselesaan

Lately surviving life can be a struggle.
Accepting few unwanted facts in life can be a huge struggle to adapt.
There are moments where I thought to myself to just open your mind and let it be. 

To accept and allow life to unfold by itself. 

To believe concretely that God always has better plans for you.
To know that escape was never an option as this is your life. 

 I'm still in the midst of the processing to this mind settings.

However there are times when you feel like breaking down after handling so much crap,
the positivity will starts radiates inside you and my heart will say,
you've been through this crap a million times reena,
in the end its all going to be ok.

Then I lift my head up and face with the same crap again, 

my mind will says, ni semua sekejap je ni. 

This too shall pass like any other drama before this.

And when I'm facing all of this sadness alone,
deep down I knew that God has sets whats best for me and  its for my own good. 

It may not be for now but it will be someday.

Cause you know that God never make mistakes. 

Kita harus yakin dengan ketentuan-NYA. For this I will get up dan kuatkan semangat lagi.

At times when I feel I could not bare much longer, I would whisper to myself,  

Tuhan takkan uji hamba-Nya lebih dari kemampuan hamba itu sendiri. 

You can survive this. Take a look around you,

there are people who has suffer worst than you do.

Then there are times you ask yourself, why does God put you in this path 

when He knows you'll fail in the end.

You know the answer to this. Ada hikmah disebalik nya. 

There's always a silver lining in everything that happen. 

It might be for the experience or may be to learnt few life lessons. 

You know its for your own good.

But after awhile, 

when the whispers start to ceased and all you can see
is yourself as a smiling puppet yang menangis dalam hati.

A puppet that has continuously pray for ketenangan hati.

I know that God has always be with me and has help me tremendously. Masya-Allah.
But I just wish I could just go on and become stronger than this.

Thank you so much for dropping by and read this drappy story.
XOXO,  Love you

------------------------
 Sharing with a friend who listens over plates of these also helps.

Macadamia Cheese Cake and Flourless Choc Cake at Bens Gen Foodstore

Me and Instagram

Me and my bumblebees during our holiday in May '13

Hellooo peeps!

Happy Hari Raya to all you Muslim folks out there.

My hari raya was a blast. As usual the stomach went a little bit culture shock during the hari raya days due to the amount of food that I consumed. Food overdose during raya are one of the things I can't help myself .Moving forward, I want to share my stories about the hot apps intagram and me.

On my last night in kampung, my lady cousins and I went out for our late night supper session and they were all talking about instagram. As those who are closed to me already knew, I only indulge to download the new apps bila apps tu da nak habis season.

Over supper my cousins were browsing and showing me the photos on the apps. In return I thought the apps was kind of cool. So my lady cousins said to me,"open an instagram account lah. Good for stalking people now days."And so they showed me all the local and international artist instagram account filled with awesome and personal pics which look like super cool to share.By looking at all those amazing photos that my friends shared in instagram, it inspires me to do the same. I asked my cousins to thought me how to use it. I already downloaded the app so they thought me which button is for what and so on

Since we were already out that night, I thought why not upload a snapshot of us at that moment and announce to the world that I have an instagram account! I was really giddy with the excitement for my instagram debut. So we were camwhoring like crazy (as you can see all the vivid proof below)

After taking all the silly snap shots, its time to choose the best one to be publish in the apps.

And when its time to upload it, it cannot be done!!
What?

I have to crop those pictures and due to our giant faces that filled up the picture pixels,
the pic could not be uploaded. 

It was supposed to be my Instagram debut kot. Then my cousin, Miss H said she will try to reduce the pixels size using Squaready app and upload it. But karma just had to get in my way..the photos went missing in her phone when she tried to upload it on Squaready apps. Teknologi memang kejam. Here I am, super excited to launch myself on the new app and things just have to get in the way .Sigh. I guess me and the apps are just not meant to be. Its a sad fact. Just sad. 

                                                                       Till then, xoxo.

Tooth Extraction Recovery Advice

snap your happy pics after coming back from the dentist!

Hello people!

I just had my wisdom tooth removed.

As someone who already had 6 tooth extraction experience, I think I am allowed to give recovery advice to the needful.
You read that right, 6 aka six or enam tooth removed.
So me and my dentist, we go way long back together.
I knew my dentist since he first open the practice, he just recently got married at the time, had a child, went through divorce, now remarried again.
He knew me since my crooked teeth days, had number of fillings procedure, normal and surgical tooth extraction, scailing, annual dental check ups, braces, retainers issues and sampai jadi perempuan cantik macam sekarang ni. Eh?

So people, now you know my history,down you go and read my advice.
 Call me poyo for writing this post, but I feel its my duty to share this things with you gorgeous people.

Wink wink!

Before tooth extraction

• Adjust your appointment with the dentist in the morning 2-3 days before. 9-11am is the best time to go. Pagi-pagi bangun, pergi dentist. Kalu ngantuk pun, bangun jugak. Bear in mind that after coming back from dentist boleh sambung tidur balik.
• Before you go to the dentist, make sure you eat. Eat a proper solid food. As for me, I would have 2 slice of french toast with maple syrup and a cup of hot milo. If you feel like eating nasi lemak dengan sambal kerang tambah ayam goreng and chocolate milkshake ke, takpe, makan. Because nanti da tak boleh makan.
• Don't forget to cook a pot of porridge. Kalau malas, beli dekat McDonalds
• Prepare duit banyak-banyak. Dental charges is no joke.
• Then wear clothes that makes you feel confident. Confident clothes gives you positive vibes to walk in to the dentist. For ladies, jangan pakai clothes with wide neck line, nanti nak lie down kat atas dentist chair tu, your boobs will be floating ke atas. So wear proper clothes.
• Make sure your room is well groomed to receives a patient. Who's the patient? You la. Make up your bed, letak satu botol mineral on your bedside table. Make sure your favourite teddy bear or bantal busuk is placed on your bed. Prepare your favourite DVD'S by the DVD player. Once all set, then off you go to the dentist!

At the dentist

• Walk in and smile. Once you're in the room, recite all the prayers that you know and lie down on the dentist chair dengan hati yang tabah. The tag line that doctor always said for tooth extraction procedure is "Don't worry, you won't feel anything, just a little pressure that's all" . Believe it 
• Once the doctor start pulling out the giant metal syringe with a yellow liquid from the metal  tray, don't fret, that thing is your savior not your enemy. That yellow liquid is what keep your cheeks and gums numb during the entire process and after. 
• The normal process will took 5 minutes. And then you're good to go. Unless it requires surgery, then it will take longer.I did a dental surgery once. It took roughly around 30 minutes which you feel nothing during the entire process. And kalau surgery, the recovery process memang sakit, tak tipu. First 3 days tu memang merana, lepas tu ok da. 
• The nurse wil later subscribe you an antibiotics and pain killer. Hukum nya wajib hokey untuk habeskan antibiotics tu. Don't play-play with your meds.

After coming back from the dentist

• First thing first, snap a photo and update at twitter/instagram that you just had your wisdom tooth or whatever tooth removed. Macam ni ha.

• Then change into your super comfy clothes. Switch on the air cond, climb your make-up bed and pull you teddy bear for a hug and sleep.
• Sleep for as long a you like. No one will dare to come close to you because you just came back from the dentist for gods sake.. People.. please, respect the dental patient.
• Then woke up, tukar kapas and tidur balik
• Then woke up again, buang kapas, goggle and spit the blood clots in your mouth, then go and makan your porridge. The blood will stop flowing automatically. 
• Take a shower and wash your hair. Bila mandi basuh rambut lepas kena cabut gigi ni, nikmat dia satu macam sikit. Tak caya, try it!
• After shower, wear your pajamas,comb your hair nicely, switch on your favourite DVD'S and watch the movie peacefully like a patient. Once the day is done, go back to sleep

********************

As for tomorrow, braces yourself for the food marathon. This is what I had.

Hello wondermilk set for breakfast!

Say ola nachos for lunch!

And one carnivore Pizza for dinner!

See..tooth extraction can be fun if you know how to handle it. hehe.

Till then. adios!

xoxo!

March 2013 Summary

Had dinner at my favourite dining place, Passage Thru India in Bukit Damansara.

When I get my hands on the briyani and naan, I couldn't stop.

The mutton briyani and dhall is so succulent I even asked the waiter to pack the leftovers.

*************************

March evenings was filled with windy rains. 

Look at the blown out trees at the background.

**************************

The last banana toffee dessert I had was at Banquet in Bangsar Village.

The place closed down couple of years ago and my tummy has been longing for one.

Then I tried this at Bens Gen Foodstore though I'm not sure what it is called.

 It has toffee banana + biscuits + fresh cream all mashed up in one slice 

and OMG.. 

it was absolutely toffeeness-divine.

The dessert has instantly made its way in my top 5 dessert list.

**************************

New work place, new environment, new people and gorgeous outfits.

 They all wore pretty clothes and smitten shoes to work. 

So it sort of make me want to be pretty too.

Trying to be one lah at least. 

But being pretty takes time and effort.

And I was just not meant for that.

There was one time I was wearing make up and an eyeliner to work and yes, 

I did feel the extra confidence radiating within me but my goodness....

By noon I went to the loo and I saw a zombie staring back at me in the mirror.

My eyeliner was all over my eyes!

Then I remember I must have ter'gosok mata tadi.

Ish Ish.

Thats it.

Don't want to be pretty anymore.

Just a plain baju kurung, flats and a properly combed hair will do.

This is the part where I actually miss my internship at AGI.

During my internship, I can actually wear silly outfits like safety shoes and baju kurung like these.

I know I look like a monkey wearing boots. 

But at least I don't have to spent 2 hours every week thinking what

 clothes and shoes to wear for work.

************************

My new workplace is almost awesome.

I made new friends.

They were awesome.

Somehow they keep my mind off of things.

Which is good and also bad.

Good because meeting them was a blessing.

Bad because it means the past still lingers.

Regardless how much time had passes  by, it still creeps in.

And my darling bumblebees have been very busy with their job and studies.

I blame them for making me feel like this. Boleh?

Hee.

***********************

My silly funny sweet colleagues.

They almost made me swear not to publish this photo when I snap it but I just had to.

It would be a shame for me not to mention them here.

They never failed to made my day.

*********************

And I miss this two very dearly.

Love you.

xoxo!